USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume III > Part 52
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was both raised and expended for improv- ing the church property and carrying on its many activities.
Mr. Pratt, with his wife and daughter, have traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe. In June, 1896, when in London during the reign of Queen Victoria, Mr. Pratt was presented at the Court of St. James's at a levee held by Ed- ward VII and in 1924 while playing golf in France he had the pleasure of meeting Ed- ward VIII who was then the prince of Wales.
Mr. Pratt was chairman of the Massachu- setts Delegation for Herbert Hoover at the Republican Convention at Chicago in 1920.
August 3, 1932, Mr. Pratt as chairman of the committee having in charge the dedi- cation of the Hampden County Memorial Bridge gave the opening address on that occasion and presented the several speakers.
Mr. Pratt was one of the original mem- bers of the Dale Street Tennis Club; the North Branch Club ; a charter member and on the executive committee of the Spring- field Country Club ; a member of the Spring- field Canoe Club and held the club's paddling championship for two years. With the late Frederick Harris he bought property on Parker Street and organized the Angler's Club. He was a member of the Rod and Gun Club, the Winthrop Club, the Nayas- set Club, the Colony Club, the Gladden Club and at one time president of the Twentieth Century Club, member of the Longmeadow Country Club and Woods Hole Golf Club. For many years he was a leader in the man- agement of the Charity balls of Springfield.
Mr. Pratt owns valuable family heirlooms including some Paul Revere silver, a por- trait of his maternal ancestor, Captain Wil- liam Orne of Salem, painted by the distin- guished American artist, Gilbert Stuart, and a most excellent example of his work. He also owns a Chester Harding portrait of
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Samuel Orne, Esq., the son of Captain Wil- liam Orne, and a portrait by Chester Hard- ing of Mary Sanford Dwight, wife of James Scutt Dwight of Springfield, Massachusetts.
On June 19, 1895, George Dwight Pratt married Marian Kellogg, born in Palmer, Massachusetts, January 6, 1864. She was the only daughter of Philo Pratt and Seraph Caroline (Henshaw) Kellogg. Her father was a prominent citizen, a man of cultivated taste and very successful in business, what- ever he took hold of flourished. He was a man of recognized ability and undoubted integrity, born in Hebron, Connecticut, May 22, 1828. He came to Springfield in 1870 and was a pioneer in New England in the manufacture of envelopes and papeteries. He amassed a comfortable fortune of which he made generous use. He died December 13, 1892. He married Seraph Caroline Hen- shaw of Brookfield, Massachusetts, on June 28, 1858. She was born in Brookfield on December 27, 1829, the eldest daughter of Leonard and Lemira Henshaw, whose fam- ily became publicly known through David Henshaw, Secretary of the Navy in Tyler's administration. She died May 12, 1903. Mrs. Kellogg was active in the charitable and social affairs of Springfield. She was president for twelve years of the Home for Aged Women, and her daughter, Mrs. George Dwight Pratt was president of the Home for eight years. Mrs. Kellogg was the second president of the Springfield Women's Club. She was especially inter- ested in the home for friendless women and children, serving on the board of managers for ten years.
Mr. and Mrs. Pratt are the parents of one daughter, Carolyn, born in Springfield, Sep- tember 28, 1900, and a graduate of the Miss Hall School of Pittsfield and the Spence School in New York City. She was mar- ried, June 15, 1929, to W. Douglas Hopkins of Buffalo, New York. The wedding, a
charming and delightful event, took place at Inverbay, Woods Hole, the summer estate of Mr. and Mrs. Pratt on Cape Cod. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins have three children, Dwight Douglas, born July 26, 1931 ; Ann Kellogg, born November 18, 1932, and Richard Orne, born October 21, 1934.
(The Dwight Line).
The Dwight family, of old and illustrious Colonial stock, trace their American ances- try to John Dwight of Dedham, England, who came to this country during the latter part of 1634 or the early part of 1635, with his wife Hannah, a daughter and two sons. They settled in Dedham, Massachusetts, where he is listed as being one of the twelve persons to attend the first town meeting, held on September 1, 1635. On February I, 1644-45, he was among the forty persons that voted for the establishment of a free school, to be supported by a town tax, the first measure of its type to be adopted in America. As a member of that assemblage he was one of three men who were ances- tors of future college presidents ; namely, Dr. Wheelock, of Dartmouth, President Dwight of Yale, and Edward Everett, of Harvard. He became a freeman, May 2, 1638, was a selectman for sixteen years, and was also one of the founders of the Church of Christ, which was established in Ded- ham in 1638. His wife Hannah died Sep- tember 5, 1656, and he married (second) Mrs. Elizabeth (Thaxter) Ripley, widow of William Ripley, and previously widow of Thomas Thaxter, on January 20, 1658. By his first marriage he was the father of Cap- tain Timothy, of whom further.
(II) Captain Timothy Dwight, son of John and Hannah Dwight, was born in England in 1629, and died in Dedham, Mas- sachusetts, January 31, 1718. He was five years of age when the family arrived in this country, was admitted as a freeman in 1655,
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and was active in the Indian wars, being cornet of a troop and later captain of horse. In connection with the latter activity he negotiated a treaty with King Philip. Cap- tain Timothy Dwight married six times, the line of descent being carried through his son, Captain Henry, by his third wife, Anna Flynt.
(III) Captain Henry Dwight, son of Cap- tain Timothy and Anna (Flynt) Dwight, was born in Dedham, December 19, 1676, and died in Hatfield, March 26, 1732. He was a prominent farmer and trader, served as jus- tice of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamp- shire County between 1727 and 1731, and was active in the purchase of the eight thou- sand acres of land given to the town of Dedham by the General Court in exchange for two thousand acres given to Natick. This site was developed into the community of Hatfield. Captain Henry Dwight mar- ried, August 27, 1702, Lydia Hawley, born July 7, 1680, died April 27, 1748. They were the parents of Captain Edmund, of whom further.
(IV) Captain Edmund Dwight, born Jan- uary 19, 1717, son of Captain Henry and Lydia (Hawley) Dwight, died October 28, 1755. He was a merchant in the city of Boston and served as an ensign in his Majesty's service, his company being pres- ent at the capture of Louisburg, June 4, 1745. On August 23, 1742, he married Eliz- abeth Scutt, who died in 1764. They were the parents of Jonathan, of whom further.
(V) Jonathan Dwight, son of Captain Edmund and Elizabeth (Scutt) Dwight, was born in Boston, June 16, 1743, and died in Springfield, September 5. 1831. As a youth he came to Springfield and worked for his uncle, a merchant. Royalist sym- pathies during the Revolution compelled him to retire from business. After the war he resumed activities. He purchased the site and contributed the money to build the
church now occupied by the Second Con- gregational Society (Unitarian) of the First Parish. He married three times, the line of descent being carried through his son, James Scutt, of whom further.
(VI) James Scutt Dwight, son of Jona- than and Margaret (Ashley) Dwight, was born July 5, 1769, and died March 18, 1822. September 21, 1794; he married Mary San- ford. She was born July 8, 1774, daughter of Captain Thomas Sanford, a merchant in Portland, Maine. She died December 7, 1844. "She was a refined, large-hearted, hospitable lady whose spirits were full of sunshine to all around her." "James Scutt Dwight was the leading merchant at Spring- field and a man of large enterprise and wealth. With his brother Jonathan he owned a store at the corner of Main and State streets in Springfield and branch stores in six other towns in western Massa- chusetts. He was most benevolent and was often called the poor man's friend." Mr. and Mrs. James Scutt Dwight had twelve children, the youngest, Lucy Gassett Dwight, who was said to closely resemble her mother.
(VII) Lucy Gassett Dwight, daughter of James Scutt and Mary (Sanford) Dwight, was born January 20, 1817, and died April 17, 1887. She was a brilliant social leader with keen mind and ready wit. She married William Wetmore Orne, son of Samuel Orne, Esq., and Lucinda Dwight (Howard) Orne, on May 6, 1834.
(VIII) Lucinda Howard Orne, born Oc- tober 8, 1840, and died December 29, 1895. She was the daughter of William Wetmore and Lucy Gassett (Dwight) Orne. Cheer- fulness and kindliness were the predominent elements of her nature. She was a woman of great courage and fortitude. On June 4, 1862 she married George Walter Pratt, who was born on February 13, 1840, and died November 1, 1867. They were the parents
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of George Dwight Pratt, whose name heads this review. Lucinda Howard Orne was a descendant of John Dwight of Dedham, England, through both her paternal and maternal sides, her father being of the eighth generation, her mother of the seventh.
REV. MARSHALL EVERETT MOTT -As Archdeacon of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, the Rev. Marshall Everett Mott today occupies one of the important administrative positions in the Episcopal Church of the State of Massachusetts. He has served in this capacity for the past fifteen years and prior to his coming to Springfield had been rector of several churches in the Diocese of Western Massa- chusetts.
The Rev. Marshall Everett Mott was born in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, March 9, 1866, the son of Daniel and Mary Victoria (Wiggins) Mott, both natives of his birthplace and now deceased. He received a general education in the pub- lic schools of Canada, later attended the Provincial Normal School there and then matriculated at the University of New Brunswick, from which he was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the class of 1889. After teaching for two years in a private day school, he entered the Episcopal Theological School of Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1894. The Rev. Mr. Mott's first appointment was minister-in-charge of St. Mark's Church, Leominster, where he served from 1894 to 1897. He then became rector of the Church of the Reconciliation at Webster, where he remained until 1910, when he became rector of St. John's Church in North Adams. In 1920, the Rev. Mott was made Archdeacon and Executive Secretary of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, with headquarters at Springfield.
He is a member of the Longmeadow Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, and a chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Mas- sachusetts; and is an independent Repub- lican in politics. The Rev. Mr. Mott finds his greatest hobby in gardening, a pastime he indulges in during his leisure.
On December 12, 1895, the Rev. Marshall Everett Mott married Mary Fleming, of Boston, and they are the parents of three children : 1. John Winthrop, graduate of the local schools and Williams College, who is a major of Infantry in the United States Army. He married Kelsey Martin, a daugh- ter of Colonel Martin, and they have two daughters: Kelsey Martin and Alice Mar- tin. 2. Alice, a graduate of Smith Col- lege, who was married to Major Henry W. Stiness. 3. Marshall Amos, a graduate of the Hoosic School, who attended Washington and Lee University for two years, and was graduated from Boston University. He is manager of the Better Business Bureau in Hartford, Connecticut. He married Mary Herman, and has one daughter, Mary Eliz- abeth.
REV. JOHN HARRISON NOLAN- For over twenty years the Rev. Dr. John Harrison Nolan has been one of the leading figures in the affairs of the Episcopal Church in Hampden County. During this period he has served as rector of St. Peter's Church in Springfield for fourteen years and since 1928 has occupied the post of City Missionary with offices in the Diocesan House. The work he has accomplished here throughout his long and distinguished career has won for him the universal esteem and affection of the public-at-large, who continue to recognize the valuable and use- ful contributions he is making on behalf of the social and civic welfare of his surround- ings.
Marshall & Matt
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Dr. John Harrison Nolan was born in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland, June 24, 1884, the son of Henry and Sarah (Har- rison) Nolan, both natives of his birthplace and now deceased. He came to this coun- try during his boyhood, received a general education in the public schools and after completing this part of his studies matricu- lated at Dartmouth College, from where he was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts de- gree in the class of 1904. He then began his ministerial training at the General Theo- logical Seminary in New York, where he re- ceived his degree of Bachelor of Sacred Theology and his Master's degree in 1907. Recently, in 1934, he was awarded the de- gree of Doctor of Divinity by the American International College.
Dr. Nolan's first appointment was as as- sistant at Christ Church in Fitchburg, Mas- sachusetts, where he remained from 1907 to 1908. During the latter year he removed to Portland, Maine, where he became Canon Precentor of St. Luke's Cathedral, and in 1910 he was named rector of Trinity Church in Lewiston, Maine. He continued in this capacity until 1914, at which time he was transferred to the city of Springfield as rec- tor of the St. Peter's Church here. After fourteen years in this post he was appointed City Missionary in 1928, an office which he has occupied since with outstanding distinc- tion and success. In connection with this work he now heads three city missions and has also taken over the work of several other leading public charitable institutions, including the Community Chest, which he has supported very actively for many years. He is chaplain of the Springfield City Home, and a member of the board of directors for the Family Welfare League and the Boys Club. As a leader in this phase of commu- nity life Dr. Nolan is regarded as having a wider knowledge of present day Springfield
and its people, both in high and lowly places, than any other man.
Throughout his residence in this city he has been active socially. For many years he has been a member of the Springfield Kiwanis Club, which he headed as president in 1924. He fraternizes with the Hampden Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, where he also holds membership in Melha Temple. For thirteen years Dr. Nolan has been identified with the 104th Infantry of the National Guard, where today he is chap- lain and holds the rank of major.
His vast experience in social welfare work, coupled with a scholarly nature, have gone to establish Dr. Nolan among the fore- most sociological authorities in the State of Massachusetts. Thus from 1923 to 1932 we find him a member of the Springfield Col- lege faculty, where he held the chair in sociology and social ethics. He has also been a member of the Springfield School Board since 1929. As a native of Ireland he has maintained a deep interest in that country and written extensively about it. his most widely read work being a book entitled, "The History of the Irish of the North of Ireland in America." Dr. Nolan finds his principal recreation and pleasure in the game of golf and fishing.
On June 23, 1910, Dr. Nolan married Sophia Wallace, of Fitchburg, and they are the parents of five children: I. Sophia W .. a graduate of the local schools and Welles- ley College ; she married Frank H. Sellars, III, and they have one son : Frank H., IV. 2. Charlotte Crocker, who graduated from the McDuffie School and Smith College; she is now teaching at the Waynefleet Private School for Girls in Portland, Maine. 3. Kathleen, a graduate of the Springfield Classical High School. 4. John H., Jr., a graduate of Phillips-Exeter Academy and now a member of the freshman class at Har-
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vard University. 5. Herbert Wallace, who is attending the Buckingham Junior High School.
RT. REV. THOMAS FREDERICK DAVIES, M. A., D. D .- Bishop of the Prot- estant Episcopal Diocese of Western Massa- chusetts for a quarter of a century and presi- dent of the Province of New England dur- ing the closing years of this period, the Rt. Rev. Thomas Frederick Davies was one of the most distinguished figures of his genera- tion in New England religious life. His zeal and devotion as a Christian leader and his abilities as an administrator brought him a wide influence both within and without the church.
Bishop Davies was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 20, 1872, a son of the Rt. Rev. Thomas Frederick Davies, then rector of St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia but later Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, and of Mary Lang (Hackstaff) Davies. He was descended of a long line of clergymen and prelates and thus may be said to have come to his own career by natural inheritance. Educated in the Prot- estant Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia and at Yale University, he was graduated from the latter institution in 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Subsequently he traveled and studied abroad in Germany and Italy. He prepared for the priesthood of the Episcopal Church at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, taking the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1897. Always a brilliant student, he achieved a notable record in both university and semi- nary and was prominent in extra-curricular activities in addition to his scholastic attain- ments. Later, in 1907, the honorary degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Yale University and in 1911 and 1912 the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the General
Theological Seminary and Amherst College respectively.
Bishop Davies was ordained as a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1897 and as a priest in 1898. In the former year he was appointed curate of the Church of the Incarnation in New York City, serving there until 1900, chiefly in work among the East Side foreign population. From 1901 to 1903, he was rector of Christ Episcopal Church, at Norwich, Connecticut, and from 1903 to 191I was rector of All Saints Church, in Worcester, Massachusetts. On May 10, I9II, he was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, succeeding the Rt. Rev. Alexander H. Vinton, first bishop of the diocese and on October 18, 1911, was consecrated with impressive ceremony at All Saints Church at Worcester. Christ Church, Springfield, he organized in 1929 as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. During the intervening years his devoted and energetic leadership had brought about a notable strengthening of the diocese. "Bishop Davies' administra- tion of the diocese," it has been written of him, "was singularly successful, witnessing a constant growth of the parishes in num- bers and influence. He confirmed thousands of persons, ordained a large number to the ministry, established a pension fund for the clergy who had been retired, and was par- ticularly interested in missions. He built up the work of religious education greatly, conducted special classes for the clergymen of the diocese, built up the endowment fund of the diocese, raising it from $105,000 to more than $200,000, and so great was the in- crease in property value of the diocese that in 1931 this was considerably more than one million dollars.
"One of his greatest efforts was for larger salaries for the clergy under him. He also worked for church pension fund relief. He
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was largely responsible for the increase in circulation of the 'Pastoral Staff,' one of the most attractive church monthly periodicals."
In addition to his general administrative duties as a diocesan, Bishop Davies was very active in wider denominational interests and was called to many offices of honor and re- sponsibility in the church. In 1926 he was elected president of the Province of New England of the Episcopal Church. He was also a member of the commission to revise the hymnal of the Episcopal Church and of the commission to revise and enrich the Book of Common Prayer ; was a trustee of the General Theological Seminary; and in 1910 was dean of the delegation which repre- sented the Diocese of Western Massachu- setts at the General Convention of the Church held in Cincinnati. The value of his services was very well recognized not only in his own diocese but throughout the church and on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his consecration as a bishop, which was celebrated with fitting cere- monies at Christ Church Cathedral, Spring- field, he received felicitations from the clergy and others in all parts of the world.
Bishop Davies took an active interest in the general life of Springfield, where he so long made his home, lending his support to all worthy civic and community movements. He was associated with a number of lay in- stitutions of the city and in 1933 was elected a director of the Union Trust Company of Springfield. He was a member of the Nay- asset Club, the Colony Club and the Long- meadow Country Club, of Massachusetts ; the University Club of New York; the hon- orary scholastic fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa ; the Yale Chapter of the Psi Upsilon Frater- nity ; and the Yale senior society, Skull and Bones. In the fall of 1918, during the period of the World War, he served as a representa- tive of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion with the American Expeditionary
Forces in France, performing a remarkable labor of service in the prison camps and else- where. Bishop Davies was the author of a number of published volumes, including : "All Saints Sonnets," privately printed in 1910; "Priestly Potentialities," Longmans, 1917; "Personal Progress in Religion," Morehouse, 1925; "The Charm of Trees," Revell, 1929; and "The Diversion of Staying at Home," privately printed in 1935; "After Confirmation, What?" Morehouse, 1936.
On February 24, 1930, at Emmanuel Church, Boston, Bishop Davies was married to Anne (Thayer) Patten, daughter of Na- thaniel Thayer, of Boston. She survives him.
Bishop Davies died at his summer home in Lenox, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1936, following a brief illness. As a Chris- tian leader his influence was felt throughout a wide area and his death was mourned as a major loss not only by his church, but by the people of western Massachusetts who knew and loved him for his true piety, his preëminence of mind and character and the warm humanity which distinguished him throughout his life.
GEORGE WILLIAM PRENTISS-As treasurer and general manager of George W. Prentiss and Company at Holyoke, George William Prentiss continues in the third gen- eration the connection of his family with an enterprise which had its origin in the little wire mill opened at Holyoke by his grand- father in 1857. During the intervening dec- ades it has grown steadily and is today one of the best known manufacturing houses in the wire industry.
George Whiting Prentiss, the grandfather, was a native of Claremont, New Hampshire. Born on October 10, 1829, he completed his education in the town of his birth and for a number of years thereafter was variously employed. He served his apprenticeship in
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the manufacture of wire in the Henry S. Washburn Wire Works at Worcester, and was subsequently appointed manager of the Norway Iron Works in South Boston, a plant owned by the Washburn interests. After some six years he decided to begin an independent career and in 1857 established his wire mill in a small plant now owned by the Parsons Paper Company. The original firm of Prentiss and Gray was succeeded in 1871 by a company of which he was sole owner. Meanwhile he had established a sat- isfactory market for his products, whose ex- cellence won for the Prentiss name the fine reputation in the industry which it has ever since enjoyed. From an annual output of one hundred tons made by a force of eight men, the plant grew to a point where as high as ten tons of finished wire were turned out daily by a force of one hundred workmen. Larger quarters therefore became essential and this need was met in 1869 when Mr. Prentiss purchased land on Dwight Street, Holyoke, and erected mill buildings of his own. At that time valuable water rights were reserved to the company's use. In 1871 Mr. Prentiss erected the plant which remained substantially intact, except for necessary additions, for many years. In the same year he admitted to partnership his cousin, Marden W. Prentiss, and in 1877 the firm was further enlarged by the admission of his son. Subsequently the company in- corporated under its present name and at that time Mr. Prentiss assumed the office of president which he filled with distinction un- til his death. He was associated as an offi- cer or director with other important local enterprises, including the Deane Steam Pump Company, the Holyoke and Westfield Railroad Company, the Holyoke Savings Bank, of which he was president over a long period, the Holyoke National Bank and the Third National Bank of Springfield. He was also very active in Holyoke public life,
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