USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Vol II > Part 14
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The late John Nicholas Chase, born August 2, 1818, located in North Adams in early manhood and there found employment in the cotton mill at Braytonville. He was capable and interested, and his ready grasp of all the details of cotton manufacture, coupled with in- dustry and integrity, led to his rapid promotion in the business and his eventual partnership association with John H. Orr in the operation of the Eagle Mill. Upon the destruction by fire of this plant Mr. Chase engaged in mercantile pursuits in North Adams, following which he re- engaged in cotton manufacturing with George French. He was latterly in the soap and candle manufacturing business in the same place. Mr. Chase was an ardent advocate of total abstinence and an enthusiastic member of the Rechabite Order, the then especially active and aggres- sive temperance order. He married, on September 10, 18.40, Tabitha Pike Gould, daughter of Deacon (as he was familiarly known) Willard Gould, who was one of the pioneer cotton manufacturers of North Adams. Mr. and Mrs. Chase were lifelong and consistent members
GrowChase
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of the Congregational church. He died June 13, 1887, and his wife February 1, 1853. Of their children, three attained maturity-Edward Nicholas, George W. and Emma.
Edward Nicholas Chase was a member of Hodges' Band of the Tenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, contracted a fever at Camp Brightwood, near Washington, and died September 25, 1861, the first martyr from North Adams in the Civil war for the suppression of the rebellion. His body was sent north under escort and lies in the ceme- tery at North Adams.
Emma Chase married Charles M. Cook (now deceased), of North Adams. Of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cook a daughter is deceased and five sons survive-Arthur, Herbert, George, Willard and Walter.
George Willard Chase received such education as was afforded by the public schools of North Adams, and found his earliest employment in the cotton mills under his father's supervision. For five years there- after he was variously engaged in clerical and bookkeeping capacities in North Adams. In August, 1865, he entered the shoe manufacturing establishment of C. T. Sampson, North Adams. In June, 1870, Mr. Sampson, being harassed by the dictation and exactions of labor unions, deputized his young assistant. Mr. Chase, to journey to the Pacific coast for the purpose of employing Chinese labor for his North Adams shoe manufacturing plant. Through Chinese merchants of California Mr. Chase succeeded in securing and returning with seventy-five China- men, and these were followed by seventy-five others, all being duly in- structed in and readily adapting themselves to the various branches of the manufacture of shoes to which they were assigned. The step led to much press comment, both favorable and adverse, throughout the United States. Notwithstanding very vigorous and aggressive opposition the
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Chinese laborers were retained in this employ for ten years. Mr. Chase remained in Mr. Sampson's employ until 1888, when the latter retired from business and Mr. Chase assumed its proprietorship and operated the plant until 1901, when it was discontinued. He has since been engaged in investment lines in connection with New York parties. He was from 1891 to 1902 of the board of directors of the North Adams Bank, and is now of the board of trustees of the Hoosac Savings Bank, North Adams. Upon the organization of city government at North Adams, Mr. Chase was appointed by Mayor A. C. Houghton as a member of the board of public works, rendering efficient service as a member of that body.
Mr. Chase has been especially zealous in assisting in the further- ance of such public efforts as have been made for the beautifying of North Adams, and privately was contributory in a notable way to the result in the remodeling and landscape gardening of the homestead on Chase avenue, where he resides. He is a member of the Massachusetts Board of Public Reservations. Mr. Chase was one of the organizers of the North Adams branch of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, and its presiding officer for some years, and served also on the Young Men's Christian Association state executive committee. He is a member of the North Adams Congregational church, and one of its board of deacons, and was for many years superintendent of its Sunday school.
He has been thirice married; in October, 1867, to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Cyrus R. and Martha E. Potter, of North Adams; two children born of this union died in childhood. Mrs. Mary E. ( Potter) Chase died in April, 1872. He married in May. 1875, Isabella R .. daughter of James and Janette ( Walker) Hunter, of North Adams. Mrs. Isabella R. ( Hunter) Chase died in April, 1877. He married,
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September 4. 1879. Grace, daughter of the late George W. Bancroft, of Groton, Massachusetts. Four children were born of this marriage : Helen Bancroft Chase, a former student of Wellesley; Edward Nicho- las Chase, graduate of Williams College, class of 1904; Margaret Chase. graduate of Vassar, class of 1905: George Bancroft Chase, student of Cornell, class of !909.
PATRICK CONDON.
Patrick Condon, one of the most prominent Irish residents of Pitts- field, a public-spirited citizen and an ex-member of both branches of the city government. is a native of Ireland and was born in 1847. His parents, Patrick and Bridget ( Croidon ) Condon, were industrious farm- ing people who reared a large family of children, several of whom came to the United States.
Patrick Condon immigrated in 1868, and immediately after landing in New York went to Pittsfield, whither a sister had preceded him the year previous. Shortly after his arrival he entered the employ of Judge Curtis, at what is now known as Morningside, and was a farm assistant there for some time. He was next employed in constructing a railroad, and, relinquishing that occupation at the expiration of a year, he engaged in the trucking business in Pittsfield, which he carried on for about five years. The succeeding two years were spent in the employ of Owen Coogan, whose service he relinquished in order to accept an appointment to the Pittsfield police force, which he retained for a period of ten consecutive years, and as a guardian of the peace he served the city with diligence and fidelity. Upon his withdrawal from the police department he accepted the responsible position of special officer and watchman at the Stanley Electrical Works, in which capacity
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he continued a number of years, or until 1904, when he was appointed deputy sheriff and turnkey at the Berkshire County House of Correc- tion, and he is performing his numerous duties to the entire satisfaction of his superiors. In politics Mr. Condon is a Democrat, and has served with ability in the common council and upon the board of aldermen. His labors in the city government were characterized by an earnest de- sire to protect the interests of the municipality, and as a public-spirited citizen he is in sympathy with all matters relative to public improve- ments.
In 1875 Mr. Condon was united in marriage with Miss Mary Lally, daughter of Martin Lally, of Pittsfield. Their children are: Mary, who is in the employ of the Eaton-Hurlburt Paper Company ; John, married Ellen Powers, and is a member of the Pittsfield fire department ; Michael, an employe of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company in Springfield, this state; Margaret, who is employed by the England Brothers, Pittsfield; Catherine, who is in the employ of the Manhattan Shirt Company; Anna, a telephone operator; Patrick, who is serving an apprenticeship at the plumber's trade; Joseph and Agnes, who are attending school. Mrs. Condon has proved herself an excellent wife and a loving mother, having undergone much self-sacrifice for the sake of her children. The family attend St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church.
ALBERT S. FARNAM.
Among the numerous notably valuable products of Berkshire county the lime manufactured by Farnam Brothers Lime Company (now Far- nam Cheshire Lime Company) is said to be unequalled for building purposes, and the consequent large demand therefor has created one of the great and growing industries of Western Massachusetts. It was
Albert S. Hamam
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developed from the Stephen L. Northrup kiln, Cheshire, purchased in 1874 by the twin brothers Farnam, Albert S. and Alfred S., and these gentlemen added kilns from time to time until the utmost capacity of six was tested by the demands of the fast growing trade, and to these have been added four more by C. J. Curtin, New York, the present owner, who bought the business in 1905 from Albert S. Farnam, then sole owner, the latter having the previous year purchased the interest of his brother, Alfred S. Farnam. Albert S. Farnam is connected with the new company as treasurer.
The Farnam family is of English origin, the lineage of the im- mediate subject of this sketch being accurately traceable to the days of William of Orange. The name has been subjected to numerous forms of spelling, but originated in the combination of the words, fern and home. The Farnam family of America had its founders in the person of Ralph Farnham, who came from Surrey, England, in 1635, in the ship " James," and located near Boston.
Of his descendants, Joseph Farnam, great-grandfather of the brothers Farnam heretofore mentioned, brought his family from Con- necticut to settle in Lanesboro, Berkshire county, shortly before the Revolution. Among the patriot soldiers enlisted from Lanesboro was a Farnam, and family tradition is responsible for the story, no doubt true, that great-grandmother Farnam herself took the lead weight from the old family clock and moulded it into bullets for the minute-men who marched from the locality to participate in the battle of Bennington.
Of the children of the Farnam family of settlers in Lanesboro, Joseph (2) had a son Seth, who married Jane Harrison, the mother of the immediate subject of these memoirs.
Albert S. Farnam was born in Lanesboro, January 13, 1844, re- ceived a common school education, and followed the avocation of his
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forefathers, farming, up to the thirty-first year of his age, when he en- gaged in business as above narrated. He served for fourteen years as selectman at Cheshire.
He married, February 20, 1865. Laura .A., daughter of Pardon and Charlotte ( Fuller) Belcher. Mrs. Farnam died in 1893, leaving two children. Harry M., and Charlotte J. Farnam. Harry M. Farnam is a lime manufacturer of North Adams, lessee of kilns owned by his uncle. Alfred S. Farnam. He married Louise, daughter of Louis Heisler, of Lanesboro, and has two children. Geraldine and Lillian. Charlotte J. Farnam married Dr. Ralph H. Williams, dentist, of Pitts- field, and has a son Kenneth.
CECIL CALVERT GAMWELL.
Among the progressive and successful business men of Pittsfield is Cecil C. Gamwell, born July 22, 1854, son of the late Lorenzo and Emeline A. (Varney) Gamwell. Lorenzo H. Gamwell was born in Tyringham, Massachusetts, March 31, 1821, and died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. November 1, 1896. His widow resides in Pittsfield. The father of Lorenzo H. Gamwell was Aaron Gamwell, who died when thirty-six years of age. Aaron Gamwell married, at Hinsdale, Febru- ary 13. 1820, Lydia Matthews, born 1799, daughter of Samuel and Lydia Matthews. Aaron Gamwell was a resident of Tyringham in 1825. subsequently settling in Washington, Massachusetts. After his decease his widow removed to Pittsfield, where she died in February, 1857
Cecil C. Gamwell was educated in the public schools of Pittsfield. His first business connection was in the office employ of Rice, Robbins & Company (now Robbins & Gamwell). of Pittsfield. In November. 1876. Mr. Gamwell established himself in business in Pittsfield as a
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dealer in coal and wood, in which he continues to be engaged, and has achieved a significant business success. He has been a considerable in- vestor in local real estate, much of which he has improved by the erec- tion of substantial business and residential structures. He was one of the early stockholders of the original Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company, is a trustee of the Berkshire County Savings Bank, director of the Berkshire Mutual Fire Insurance Company, an original stock- holder and incorporator and present director of the Berkshire Loan and Trust Company, and an original stockholder of the Third National Bank of Pittsfield. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is affiliated with Berkshire Commandery, Knights Templar. He is a member of the Baptist church of Pittsfieldl, and has served on its finance and prudential committees.
Mr. Gamwell married. July 26. 1876. Virginia, daughter of Silas and Pamelia J. ( Tuller ) Church, of North Egremont, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Gamwell have five children: Clarence L., a graduate of Williston Seminary, and now associated with his father in business ; Mabel C., wife of William H. Rockwell, of Pittsfield ; Virginia, Pa- melia, and Cecil C. Gamwell, Jr.
ALBERT C. HOUGHTON.
Of the men whose achievements in the world of manufacture have been of longest significance in Berkshire county, the gentleman whose name introduces this narrative takes conspicuous rank. He is a native of Stamford. Vermont, and, starting in life with no other capital than his hands and brain, has triumphed over obstacles which would have defeated most men, and today occupies a leading position among the progressive, successful business men of the United States.
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His especial prominence is as president and principal owner of the Arnold Print Works and tributary cotton mills, consisting of com- modious brick structures covering over fifteen acres of ground, and fur- nishing employment to several thousand people to whom a million dol- lars of money yearly is disbursed for services. It is one of the largest concerns in Massachusetts under single control, the leading establish- inent of its kind in the United States for variety and excellence of pro- duction, and is not surpassed in facilities or organization by any rival in Europe. The fairness of its methods in dealing with employes is suggested by the fact that it has been free from labor troubles through- out its development.
Mr. Houghton has given efficient service as a trustee of Williams College, state director of the Fitchburg Railroad, president of the North Adams Savings Bank, vice-president of the Adams National Bank, North Adams; director of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, Pitts- field ; and World's Fair commissioner (1893) by appointment of Gov- ernor Brackett.
He has been active in his identification with Democratic party in- terests in North Adams, and liberal in its behalf in his contributions of both time and money. but has held aloof from political preferment. He was first mayor of the city of North Adams, and delegate to the Demo- cratic national convention in 1892. He was also president of the Young Men's Democratic Club, North Adams.
ALBERT HENRY SIMMONS.
Identified with the furniture trade of Adams for more than a quarter of a century, Mr. Simmons is widely known as an able and reliable business man. and his present warerooms constitute one of the best emporiums for the display of merchandise in this locality.
AH Simmond
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He was born in Poestenkill, New York, March 16, 1849. His parents, Abraham C and Selinda (Amidon) Simmons, came from Poestenkill to Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in 1857, settling in Williamstown. There young Simmons attended school for a limited period, and at an early age went to Cohoes, New York, where he was employed in a grocery and provision store conducted by his elder brother, George Simmons. When sixteen years old ( 1865) he went to Troy, New York, where he entered the employ of Robert Green. a prominent furniture dealer of that city, and learned the upholstery business, which he followed as a journeyman continuously until 1879. In the latter year he purchased the furniture establishment at Adams, which had been carried on for many years by Sanford Stetson, and for a period of nearly thirty years has conducted a successful business, which developed with the growth of the town and is now one of the leading establish- ments of its kind in western Massachusetts. In 1902 he purchased the old St. Charles Roman Catholic church, to which he added a brick front and otherwise remodeled the building to meet the demands of his con- stantly increasing business.
Mr. Simmons is a member of the board of trustees of Adams Savings Bank. He is well advanced in the Masonic order, being a member of Berkshire Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons: Corinthian Chapter, Royal Arch Masons: and St. Paul's Commandery, Knights Templar. He is a member of the Baptist church of Adams, and served as treasurer of the fund of the building committee which erected the new edifice erected in 1891.
On November 14. 1871, Mr. Simmons was married, in Troy, to Miss Mary A. Campbell, a native of Scotland, daughter of James and. Ann (Drummond) Campbell. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons are the parents of four children :
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I. Louis A. Simmons, engaged in the undertaking business in North Adams. He married Miss Gertrude Rhodes, of North Adams, and they have one child, Dorothy.
2. Arthur C. Simmons, who is connected with his father's busi- ness. He married, September 20, 1905, Miss Rena Bowen, of Pitts- field.
3. Edith M., a teacher in the high school in Irvington, New Jersey.
4. Dr. Fred Albert Simmons, who was a student at Brown Uni- versity when war was declared between the United States and Spain. He enlisted as a volunteer, and was wounded in the battle of El Caney. After the close of hostilities he resumed his studies at Brown Univer- sity, and graduated with the class of 1890. He then took up the study of medicine, pursuing the regular course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York city, and graduating in 1903. His profes- sional preparation was further augmented by the valuable observation and experience acquired during eighteen months of continuous service at the Staten Island General Hospital. In December, 1904, he located for practice in Brockton, Massachusetts, and is recognized as one of the most promising of the younger physicians of the city. He married, September 6, 1905, Miss Geneva Cobb. of Providence, Rhode Island.
JOSEPH DIMOCK HOWE, M. D.
Dr. Joseph D. Howe, a successful physician of Cheshire, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was born in New Baltimore, Greene county, New York, June 4. 1869, son of the late Dr. Elliott C. and Emily (Sloan) Howe, the former a native of Connecticut.
The late Dr. Elliott C. Howe pursued his profession in Troy, and
PH. Dolan
1. 6. Dolan
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subsequently in Yonkers, New York. He died in 1899. His wife, who now resides with her son in Cheshire, is a daughter of the late Thomas W. and Mary (Hayden) Sloan, of Hartford, Connecticut, and is a descendant in direct line from patriot soldiers in the war for in- dependence, by virtue of which Dr. Howe is a member of the Society of Sons of the Revolution.
Joseph Dimock Howe received his general education in the schools of Yonkers, New York, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and was grad- uated from the medical department of Tufts College with the class of 1898. A short period of initial practice in Becket was followed by his permanent location in 1902.at Cheshire, Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, where he has won recognition as a capable and conscientious practitioner. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Societies.
DOLAN BROTHERS.
PETER C. DOLAN.
PATRICK H. DOLAN.
Applied electricity with its revolutionizing influences in the world's civilization has had no results so far-reachng as those growing out of the use of this mysterious power in the operation of street and suburban railway systems. In no community have the diverse benefits resultant therefrom been more obvious than to Western Massachusetts, where the credit is due to the gentlemen whose names introduce this narrative, for not only taking the initiative steps for development of this character on broad lines, but as the direct, potent factors in the accomplishment of large and beneficent results.
To them is due the credit furthermore of not only building, splen- didly equipping and capably operating thirty miles of trolley lines; it was their education of the residents and traveling public in Berkshire
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county which necessitated and paved the way for similar excellence of service on lines subsequently established by another company.
The Messrs. Dolan, who established and successfully operated for some years a street railway line in New Britain, Connecticut, came to Pittsfield in 1893 to inaugurate an active and aggressive campaign in the improvement an extension of the Pittsfield street railway, which they had purchased the previous year. The property consisted of less than three miles of road, and was being operated on the horse-car rails with rolling stock consisting of horse-cars transformed in the crudest way, for operation by electricity. A franchise was immediately secured for the taking up of the old and the laying of new tracks, incidental to which much time and money was expended in grading and ballasting. Modern cars were substituted for the old ones. An extension to Dalton was early planned, and became an accomplished fact by 1896. A through line to North Adams was next contemplated, and this was pending for a number of years, during which time the West Pitts- field line was projected and constructed, and put in operation by 1898. During this period also, the new car house-the present headquarters of the company-was erected, a handsome and substantial structure at the corner of North and Waconah streets. In 1899, for the purpose of establishing a through county line-north and south-companies were organized and stock therefor subscribed in Lee and Great Barring- ton. These plans, though well devised in the interests of the general public, were vigorously opposed by some of the especially influential and the wealthy summer residents of Lenox, who succeeded in rendering them nugatory. The building of the South street line was next pro- ceeded with, and completed to the Country Club, located at the extreme southern terminus of the thoroughfare named. In 1900 a franchise was applied for and secured through to Cheshire, and the line completed
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within the two following years at an especially large expense, involving the surmounting of numerous unusual engineering obstacles growing out of the mountainous character of the country traversed by the line. The line in question is one of the most popular summer lines in America, commanding exquisite views of the most charming scenery in the Berk- shire Hills.
The Lake avenue line was next constructed (in 1904), and was extended in 1905 to Onota Lake and Peck's Mill on the north. In 1905, also, the Tyler street line was built.
This year ( 1906) will witness the completion of the company's new power house, now in course of construction on Seymour street, directly south of the site of old horse car barns.
In 1902 the Messrs. Dolan invested largely in the Hoosac Valley Street Railway Company's stock, and have been largely instrumental in the subsequent material development, improvement and extensions of that system. They occupy official relations in both companies, Peter C. Dolan being general manager, and Patrick H. Dolan superintendent of the Pittsfield Street Railway Company, and both being general man- agers of the Hoosac Valley Street Railway Company. These gentlemen were early stockholders of the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company and original stockholders of the Berkshire Loan and Trust Company, Patrick H. Dolan being one of the board of directors of the latter in- stitution.
Mr. Peter C. Dolan married a New Britain (Connecticut) lady, a former schoolmate, and has a daughter and four sons: Miss Grace: Frank; Charles; Frederick. and George Dolan. The family are mem- bers of St. Joseph's church. Pittsfield.
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MRS. MARY L. HINSDALE.
Mrs. Mary L. Hinsdale, wife of James H. Hinsdale, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was born in Ware, Massachusetts. She is a descendant of Captain Joseph Hooker, of Massachusetts, and is a daughter of George H. Gilbert and Elizabeth J. Hooker, his wife; granddaughter of Hosea Hooker and Eliza Underwood, his wife; great-granddaughter of John Hooker and Hannalı Field, his wife; and great-great-granddaughter of Joseph Hooker and Ruth Powers, his wife.
Joseph Hooker ( 1704-1784) commanded a company of minute- men at the Lexington alarm. He was born in Greenwich, Massachu- setts, where he died.
THOMAS D. PECK.
Thomas Dowse Peck, during his entire life actively interested in manufacturing and financial affairs in Pittsfield. numbers among his ancestors who were early settlers in New England, the Rev. John Loth- rop, the Rev. Chad Brown, Joseph Collier, Edward Patterson, Robert Sanford, John Baysey, Robert Reeve. Thomas Bliss, Jeremy Adams, John Nott, Thomas Birchard, Thomas Lee, Matthew Beckwith, Lyon Gardiner, Stephen Backus and William Hyde. The founder of the family in America was
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