USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Vol II > Part 30
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The latter attended the public and high schools of Pittsfield, and as a youth gained his first business experience in his father's store. His attainment of a proprietary interest therein and his majority were sim- ultaneous, and his subsequent purchase of his sisters' interest gave him the two-thirds interest above mentioned. His conduct suggests an inherited fitness, and he has the confidence of a large and growing patronage, and the community generally. He married, April 19, 1900,
Frederic . Smith
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Anna, daughter of George Crouss, formerly a cigar manufacturer of Pittsfield, now a farmer of Agawam, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Edwards. Jr .. have a daughter, Priscilla, and reside at No. 105 Bartlett avenue.
GEORGE T. WILDER.
One of the well-known photographers of Berkshire county, to whom the publishers of this work are indebted for some of the most artistic portraits contained herein, is George T. Wilder. The excellence of his work is further attested by the extent and high character of his patronage, embracing as it does many connoisseurs of photographic art. Mr. Wilder has occupied for a number of years an admirably appointed and thoroughly well-equipped studio on North street, Pittsfield.
FREDERIC SHERWOOD SMITH.
.A gentleman with broad experience in public works in his profes- sion of civil engineering is he whose name forms the caption for these memoirs. He is a native of Wallingford, Connecticut, born April 7, 1849, son of the late Spencer F. and Marietta (Bartholomew ) Smith, the former a native of Westfield, Massachusetts, the latter of Walling- ford, Connecticut. Spencer F. Smith was a son of Daniel Smith, also a native of Westfield, whose father settled in that locality from Con- necticut shortly after the war of the Revolution.
Frederic S. Smith received his education at Westfield, attending its public schools, its high school and Westfield Academy. Higher mathematics had an especial charm for young Smith and he gravitated naturally toward civil engineering, choosing that as his life work when a youth. Immediately following his academic course he took up the
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line and rod under the competent preceptorship of that widely and fa- vorably known civil engineer, Hiram Fowler, subsequently chief engineer of the Connecticut Valley Railroad and later its superintendent. Mr. Smith's first three years' employment was upon this road. He was next engaged in the engineering department of the municipality of West- field in the construction of its water works, and during this period was also of the engineering staff of the New Haven & Northampton (now New Haven) Railroad. In 1876 he was appointed inspector of masonry under and otherwise constituted as assistant to Chief Engineer L. F. Thayer in the construction of the North End bridge across the Con- necticut river at Springfield, and upon the completion of this work was similarly employed under Mr. Thayer in the building of the South end bridge at the same place. Returning to Westfield in 1879 he engaged under Chief Engineer L. F. Root as assistant engineer in the construc- tion of the Westfield River bridge, the changing of the river channel and incidental work growing therefrom. He was next ( 1880) em- ployed on the extension of the Northampton & New Haven road to Conway. For the following year and a half he was in the employ of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, during the early part of the period having charge of the building of the second track from Greenfield to West Deerfield, and latterly in state road construction work out of North Adams. In 1882 he opened offices at North Adams, pursuing his pro- fession of civil engineer from that headquarters up to 1900, since which time he has been located at Pittsfield as a more central point for his field of labor, which embraces principally Berkshire county.
He married, December 28, 1881, Sarah, daughter of the late Will- iam Taylor, of West Springfield. Four children born of this union are : Lucy, Florence, Earle and Harriet. The family resides at North Adams, and its church connection is Congregational.
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HERBERT S. WOLLISON.
Herbert S. Wollison, a well-known merchant and real estate owner of Pittsfield, was born in that city, January 28, 1864, son of Reuben D. and the late Mary (Stevens) Wollison. The father was born in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, January 10, 1824, son of George Wollison, a con- tractor, who resided in Valley Forge for many years, and passed his last days in Pittsfield. The maiden name of George Wollison's wife was Maria Royer. .
Reuben D. Wollison learned the paperhanging trade in his na- tive town, and coming to Pittsfield in 1848, established himself in the painting and interior decorating business, which for nearly forty years he carried on with signal success. Much of his work is still in existence to attest its thoroughness. Having accumulated a large amount of property, he retired from active business pursuits in 1887. During the previous year he had completed the Wollison Block, eighty-five feet front, one hundred feet deep, and four stories high, which is used for mercantile and office purposes, and is one of the best busi- ness buildings in the city. Reuben D. Wollison married, on August 1, 1852, Mary Stevens, a native of Pittsfield. Her birth took place at the corner of South and West streets, where the new Wendell House now stands, May 6, 1827. Her father, Abner Stevens, kept a general store, and he also manufactured drums, which he sent to all parts of the world. He acquired a large estate in Pittsfield which fell to his heirs. Mr. and Mrs. Reuben D. Wollison reared three children, namely : Henry V., Herbert S., and Robert M.
Henry V. Wollison, who is one of the most noted dentists of the world, left the United States after completing his professional studies and went abroad, first locating in London and later in Paris. He is now
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in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he has one of the finest equipped of- fices and laboratories in the world, and holds the appointment of hon- orary dentist to their Imperial Majesties, the Czar and Czarina of Russia.
Robert M. Wollison won distinction in college previous to his majority by passing an unusually high examination. He received his diploma at the age of twenty-one years, and is now one of the most successful practitioners (dental) in New York city.
Herbert S. Wollison entered the paperhanging business with his father when a youth, later spending some two years in a large concern in New York city. While there he attended a trade school, and won the first prize. Returning to Pittsfield he engaged in business for him- self in 1889, opening at first a salesroom on the second floor. Business increased to such an extent that better facilities as well as more space be- came necessary, and he now occupies a store on the ground floor, de- voted to interior decorations, shades, pictures, frames, and photographic supplies. During the busy season he gives employment to about forty men; he has gained a high reputation for completing his work in a thoroughly artistic manner. He is also interested in real estate and has charge of the Wollison block.
Mr. Wollison is a Freemason, being a past master of Mystic Lodge, and has occupied important chairs in Berkshire Chapter, Berkshire Commandery, No. 22, Knights Templar, and Berkshire Council, Royal and Select Masters. He also belongs to the local council of the Royal Arcanum. He attends St. Stephen's Episcopal church, and has been a vestryman for several years.
Mr. Wollison married, October 25, 1898, Miss Minnie Strait Beers, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, daughter of the late Elijah and Martha (Strait) Beers, of this city, formerly of New Lebanon, New York.
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THOMAS LAWRENCE BROOKS.
Thomas Lawrence Brooks. of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is a de- scendant of one of the early settlers in New England. The history of the Brooks family is closely interwoven with that of the United States, its settlement and progress. His ancestors came to this country from England in order to escape being subjected to the injustice of British rule, and in this country they always stoutly resisted all tyrannical abuse of power.
At the present time there are in Pittsfield but two directly de- scended Sons of American Revolutionary soldiers, and of these is Thomas Lawrence Brooks. His American ancestors settled in the Hartford Plantation, some having come direct to this Connecticut planta- tion, while others first settled on the coast of Massachusetts Bay, and afterward followed the trail to the Hartford colony. From Connecticut this family of Brooks followed the river northward and scattered in what was then a region very sparsely populated.
The first settler in Berkshire county was a Brooks, who with his family settled near what is now part of the city of Pittsfield. He had a large family, and Thomas L. Brooks is a descendant from his son Reuben, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and also in the war of 1812. He married Esther Clark. The Clarks were a Rhode Island family, and were among the first settlers in Pittsfield, living in the vicinity of where Peck's Mill now stands. Reuben Brooks was for some years proprietor of that famous hostelry, the Glen House, at Cotts- ville. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks were the parents of a large family of chil- dren, of whom but two now survive-Samuel D. and Thomas L. The elder, Samuel D. Brooks, makes his home in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he has been a practicing physician until his retirement, having
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nearly reached the age of four score and ten. He is a man of marked ability, and has been an honor to his native Pittsfield home in whatever he has undertaken.
Thomas L. Brooks, son of Reuben and Esther (Clark) Brooks, received a very limited education in his boyhood days, and early en- gaged in work on the farm in order to contribute toward the support of the family, who needed his little help to make a living. But the children were eager to overcome the handicap of small means, and soon had the farm on a prosperous and paying basis. At the age of twenty Thomas L. Brooks went west, and after staying there two years re- turned to Pittsfield, and went to work making window blinds, sashes, etc., at which he continued for a number of years. He finally returned to the old farm, where his early years had been passed, and cultivated it for some time. He retired from active work about twenty-five years ago, and since then has been taking life as easily as his active mind would permit him to do.
In 1844 he married Cynthia Wilcox, daughter of Henry Wilcox, of Lexington, New York, and to them one child was born in 1864- Reuben James Brooks, who married (first) Cora Salrum; she died soon after her marriage, and in 1889, he married Minnie Denison, daughter of Elijah Denison, of Pittsfield. They have one child-Herbert T., born in 1890.
Reuben J. Brooks is one of the promising young men in the city of Pittsfield. He is bookkeeper for the paper supply house of C. C. Henry, on Fenn street.
Mrs. Thomas L. Brooks died July 16, 1902, and her death was a severe blow to the devoted husband, who had enjoyed happy companion- ship with her through the long period of nearly sixty years. At the
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advanced age of eighty-five years he yet enjoys a fair degree of health and preserves his mental faculties without impairment. He makes his home with his son Reuben, on Fenn street, in the city of Pittsfield.
WILLIAM POMEROY BURBANK.
William Pomeroy Burbank, a prominent real estate dealer and builder of Pittsfield, is a native of Pittsfield, born in April, 1846. His parents were Abraham and Julia (Brown) Burbank, and his paternal grandfather was Arthur Burbank.
Mr. Burbank was educated in the public schools of Pittsfield, Lanesboro Academy and Eastman's Business College. From the last named school he was graduated in 1864. a youth of eighteen. He then went west to Omaha, driving an ox-team across the plains and up the Platte and Big Horn River Valleys. At that time the Indians were restless and ill-disposed, and the governmental authorities were endeavor- ing to pacify them. He saw fifty thousand of them congregated at Fort Laramie for the purpose of effecting a treaty. After crossing the mountains twice, Mr. Burbank settled at Helena, Montana, where he began working in the Last Chance Mines. What is now a flourishing and beautiful capital was then a hamlet of perhaps fifty inhabitants. Most of the men were rough miners, and many of them were rough and disposed to lawlessness. During his stay there, however, Mr. Bur- bank never locked his doors. He was a close acquaintance of X. Bid- dler, who, as head of the Vigilance Committee, kept order in the town. Mr. Burbank worked for about two years in the Last Chance Mine, and then bought a claim of his own, located where the city now rises fair. Even in the short time he was there he saw a marvelous growth in population, and the erection of fine blocks of buildings. Going from
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Helena to Fort Benton, he there boarded the " Viola Belle," which was the first boat to run up the Missouri river, and sailed down to St. Louis, whence he returned to Pittsfield.
The following day, September 4, 1867, he was married, and he at once assumed the management of the Burbank House, which had just been built by his father, and was considered the finest hotel in western Massachusetts. It faced on North street, had a large open lot in front, and contained sixty-seven rooms. Although it was considered a large house, its accommodations were soon found insufficient to accommodate all the guests. So rapidly did the business increase under skilful man- agement, that in 1871, about four years later, a second hotel, the New Burbank, was opened. This was nearer the railroad station than the old house, and contained nearly a hundred and fifty rooms. It had been built under Mr. Burbank's supervision, and was most admirably equipped. In a short time it became even more popular than the old house, and its host became widely known among the traveling public. Commercial travelers and others who were its frequenters made it a point to stay there as often as possible. The first child born in the old Bur- bank House was Mr. Burbank's first, and the first child born in the new house was William Roland Burbank, the eldest son of the family now living.
After a most successful experience, Mr. Burbank discontinued the hotel business some sixteen or eighteen years ago, and since then he has devoted himself almost exclusively to real estate and building trans- actions. He has erected more than a hundred buildings in the city, the greater number for residential purposes, not confining his operations to any one part of the city. although he practically limits himself to the best residential districts. He is the largest contracting builder in the city. It might be said that he and his father, who carried on extensive
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building operations, have built the greater part of the city. He formerly made the plans himself, but now employs an architect. His houses are fitted with all modern appliances and improvements and find a ready sale. They include some apartment houses and some marble structures. For the past seventeen years Mr. Burbank has made his home at the corner of First and Lincoln streets, in one of the handsomest residences in the city. Previous to that he lived in Francis avenue for a number of years.
Mr. Burbank's wife, whose maiden name was Harriet R. Merrill, is the daughter of Noah Merrill, and a native of New Lebanon, New York. Mr. Merrill, who was born May II, 1818, in Litchfield, Con- necticut, removed to New York state when about twenty years old, and there has carried on extensive operations as a contracting builder. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Burbank, was before her marriage Mary Irene Warden. She was born in West Lebanon, New York, September 4, 1824. Mrs. Burbank was born on August 7, 1846. She was educated in the public and private schools of her native town, and at Wyomanock Seminary, in Columbia county, where she studied for three or four years prior to her marriage. She is connected by membership with the First Congregational church of Pittsfield, and is an active worker in the Free Will Society of the church.
Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Burbank, two are de- ceased ; one of them, Abraham, a child of remarkable lovable nature, died of scarlet fever at the age of two years. The surviving children are: May Pomeroy, who is at home with her parents ; William Roland; Abraham; Ottilie Elizabeth, and Edward Pomeroy. William Roland was a student at Chester Military Academy for four years, being while there one of the officers of his class. He subsequently entered Yale Law School, but after remaining there a year he decided that the pro-
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fession of law would not be entirely congenial to him, and consequently withdrew and went into the hotel business. He is now of the Yates Hotel, at Syracuse, whither he was called from the West End Hotel at Long Branch. He has a fine position and is filling it with credit. Abra- ham Burbank, who was named for his grandfather, was educated at the Friends' School in Providence, Rhode Island. During the last two years he has been at Syracuse in the employ of the Swift Beef Company. He is now bookkeeper and collector, being the youngest man in any of the numerous offices of the company to hold so responsible a position.
In politics Mr. Burbank is a Republican, but his many business in- terests have made it impossible for him to take an active part in po- litical matters.
GEORGE WESLEY BURBANK.
George Wesley Burbank, a builder and real estate owner and im- prover, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was born in the city in which he now resides, November 8, 1837, a son of the late Abraham and Julia N. (Brown) Burbank, and grandson of Arthur and Sarah (Bates) Bur- bank.
George W. Burbank attended the public schools of Pittsfield until fourteen years old, and afterward continued his studies at the acad- emies in Hinsdale and Wilbraham. Returning to Pittsfield he worked with his father until he received a practical knowledge of carpentering and building. Subsequently, with ten dollars in his pocket. he went to Boston and there shipped on board the " Ringleader," a modern built clipper, destined for San Francisco, California. The voyage around Cape Horn was completed in one hundred and eight days, a quick trip for those times. In the spring of 1855 he arrived in San Francisco, and for some months worked in a nursery. Later, in company with a
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farmer by the name of Dickinson, he made a bay press. the first ever built on the Pacific coast. He then cut hay, pressed it, and sent it in bales to San Francisco, just across the bay from where he was located. re- ceiving one hundred and twenty dollars a ton for all he could ship in that manner. In 1857, after an absence of two years, with fourteen hundred dollars in cash, which he had saved in California, he returned to his native city. After that he was variously employed in different places, working a part of the time in building the railway between Flint and Holly in Michigan, being for a few months also in Saginaw, Michigan.
On April 18, 1861, Mr. Burbank went as one of the old Allen Guards to Springfield, where it was made a part of the Eighth Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, with which he proceeded to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Annapolis, Fort McHenry. Federal Hill. Relay House, and thence back to Baltimore, where the regiment was stationed until the expiration of his three months of enlistment. He saw some exciting times in that short period under General Butler. On one occasion, when they were sailing from Havre de Grace to Annapolis, the pilot ran the boat aground. and all on board had a narrow escape from death. Mr. Burbank subsequently re-enlisted for two years. With the Army of the Cumberland he went through the south to Atlanta, Georgia, and with the Army of the Gulf was in many active engage- ments. He was captured by the rebels between Murfreesboro and Nashville, and again in Louisiana, but, being familiar with the ways of the south through his previous employment by the government as civil engineer, he made his captors believe he was a southerner, and by his shrewdness escaped both times.
Upon his return to Pittsfield at the close of the war, Mr. Burbank began operating in real estate. In addition to building the lower end of
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Burbank street, he built Spring and Winter streets, and the Rice Silk Mill, one of the finest in the city He also erected the West Street Block, and many smaller buildings, and more than a quarter of a century ago he put the steeple on the Episcopal church in Lanesboro. He has erected many buildings on Sumner street, opened two new streets, built and fur- nished a large greenhouse, which he afterward sold, and in all these undertakings gave employment to many men, who were under his per- sona! supervision. He is a strong Republican in politics, and though not an office seeker in any sense of the word, accepted the nomination for alderman, but was defeated by eight votes only. He is a member of W. W. Rockwell Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and attends its various reunions. He attends and supports the Memorial church of Pittsfield.
Mr. Burbank married, June 8. 1859, Samantha L. Stearns, daughter of Silas Stearns, of Windsor, Massachusetts. They are the parents of three children: 1. Clarissa M., wife of W. L. Belknap, and mother of three children : Willie L., Stella and George. 2. Julia L., wife of L. D. Case, of Pittsfield, and mother of three children: Verona, Florence and Wesley. 3. George A., a resident of Boston, Massachusetts.
DENNIS MORRISSEY.
In the career of Dennis Morrissey, of Stockbridge, are worthily exemplified the industry. business ability and public spirit characteristic of the best class of Berkshire county's Irish-American citizens. He is the son of Michael and Margaret (Buckley) Morrissey, who were mar- ried at Lenox. where their son Dennis was born May 6, 1856.
Dennis Morrissey received his education in the public schools of Housatonic and Great Barrington, Massachusetts: learned the trade of
Simnie Mominy
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carriage-making in the carriage-making department of the New Haven. Connecticut, plant of A. T. Demorest & Company. New York City. For five years following his mastery of the trade he continued in this employment. In the autumn of 1880 he came to Stockbridge, where he established himself in business as an independent manufacturer. He prospered and is now recognized as one of the leading carriage-makers of Berkshire county. His place of business is fully and completely equipped in the best and most approved manner, the work produced is of the first quality, and he has constantly on hand a stock of carriages of every style, together with every description of carriage goods, in- cluding harnesses, blankets and robes. His already large patronage is steadily increasing. In keeping with his reputation for progressive- ness Mr. Morrissey, recognizing that the automobile had come to stay. established at Stockbridge in 1904 a well equipped automobile station, and purchased also for renting purposes a large touring car. His pa- tronage in this direction has grown to large proportions. Close and unremitting as is his application to business he does not allow it to absorb his whole time, and never fails to perform all the duties of a citizen. Although not an office seeker he was in a manner forced to enter the political arena. In 1903 John Burns, who had held the office of select- man for eleven years and was again a candidate, died suddenly on the very eve of the election. Mr. Morrissey was nominated in his place and was defeated by only five votes. His efficiency and capability could not be more emphatically attested than through the enthusiasm with which his name was again received for re-election in 1904, when both Democratic and Republican caucuses nominated him by acclamation. and he was re-elected by an overwhelming majority. Mr. Morrissey was his party's choice for representative in 1902, and while he was de- feated he had a gratifying vote in both Stockbridge and Lee, running
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ahead of his ticket seventy-six votes in the former and eighty-seven votes in the latter. Mr. Morrissey married, in Stockbridge, Catherine Hannan, of Guilford, Connecticut, and they are the parents of three daughters and one son. The children are: William, who is engaged in the automobile business at Stockbridge; Theresa W., a student at North Adams Normal school; Margaret and Katharine. The family are members of St. Joseph's church, Stockbridge. Mr. Dennis Mor- rissey is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
E. HERBERT BOTSFORD.
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