USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Vol II > Part 7
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Mr. Plunkett governed his entire business career by one stead- fastly adhered-to rule: "This one thing I do," devoting himself en- tirely to the one occupation he had chosen, and resolutely declining to be drawn into any other. When scarcely eight years old he joined the church in Hinsdale, and that at that early age he well knew his heart and motives is amply evidenced by his unblemished Christian walk
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and conversation from that moment until the end of his life. He was more than a mere doer of the law; he was of a deeply religious nature. His sterling moral principle was fortified by a strong will, and, dealing with thousands. he was never open to hint of inexactness or injustice. That he excelled in judgment appears from the testimony of a dis- tinguished lawyer, who said, "I would as soon have his judgment on an important law case as that of a judge on the bench of the Supreme Court." In delivering the funeral discourse over the remains of Mr. Plunkett, on September 27, 1860, the Rev. Dr. Todd said: "During the thirty-five years he has been in this town he has risen in business. in character, and in influence. until he, who began life a poor, lame and diseased boy, became one of the most remarkable men Berkshire has ever raised." After the funeral the Berkshire Manufacturers' Asso- ciation adopted resolutions in which were contained the following ap- preciative sentences : "The commonwealth that he served well has lost one of her truest sons; his native county is sensible of its great loss : the town in which he spent his active life mourns; the large business community of which he was pre-eminently the protector, friend and guide. is bewildered with the sudden stroke: his stricken family, alas! may they have a stronger than human arm for their support in this dark hour. He was one of the originators of this association, and one of its presidents, one of its guiding counsellors. In his own line of business his opinions were positive authority, and for wisdom in human affairs generally, we do not often meet his peer."
Mr. Plunkett married, in 1841, Mary Kittredge, born in 1809, a daughter of Dr. Abel Kittredge. To Charles and Mary ( Kittredge) Plunkett were born five children, of whom the last survivor is a son, George T. Plunkett, owner and manager of the Plunkett factories. The public library in Hinsdale is the outgrowth of a bequest of five
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thousand dollars, made by a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Plunkett, and since then the Plunkett family have quadrupled this original bequest, making Library Hall one of the principal architectural ornaments and educational agencies of the town.
Abel Kittredge, M. D., was born in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, 1773; died in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, June 3, 1847 ; married in Hins- dale, 1795. Eunice Chamberlain.
Dr. Kittredge was descended from John Kittredge, who received a grant of land in Billerica, Massachusetts, in 1660. John Kittredge married, November 2, 1664, Mary Littlefield, born December 14, 1646. They had five children.
Dr. Kittredge studied medicine with his brother, Dr. William Kittredge, of Conway, Massachusetts, and entered upon practice in Dalton, whence he removed to Hinsdale, and then to Dalton again, finally settling in Hinsdale in 1832. In 1800 Governor Strong com- missioned him " surgeon's mate " of the Third Regiment of militia. In 1802 he located in Hinsdale and there practiced his profession until 1827, when he relinquished it on account of an eye ailment, his son, Dr. Benjamin F. Kittredge, succeeding him. Dr. Abel Kittredge there- after busied himself with agricultural matters, and became one of the largest farmers in the town. He reared nine children: I. Marinda, born 1798, became the wife of the Rev. Mr. Lombard. 2. William C., was a lawyer and judge, and became lieutenant-governor of Vermont. 3. Benjamin F., born 1802, a physician, before referred to. 4. Juditlı, born 1805, married a Dr. Wells, of Windsor. 5. Mary, wife of Charles H. Plunkett (see sketch). 6. Eunice, born 1811, married Hiram Pad- dock, of Hamilton, New York. 7. Sophronia, born 1816, married a Mr. Bardon, of Hamilton, New York. 8. Charles J., born 1818, who became a merchant and manufacturer (see sketch Zenas Crane). 9. Abel, born 1822, who was a farmer and manufacturer.
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HON. THOMAS F. PLUNKETT.
Thomas F. Plunkett. for many years actively identified with the business and social activities of Pittsfield and the county of Berkshire, was born in Lenox, Massachusetts, in 1804, the youngest son of Pat- rick and Mary (Robinson) Plunkett.
His education was obtained at that excellent institution, the Lenox Academy. For two years he endeavored to follow a mechanical handi- craft, but such occupation was not to his liking, and, as a biographer has phrased it, he " entered the broad field of the world, traveling from town to town through eastern New York, conducting a trade with householders and country dealers-a trade which, in those days of in- frequent communication, rose to considerable proportions, meeting at the country inns the more social spirits of each village and listening with the hungry eagerness of youth to discussions of questions of the day, often viewed from standpoints quite novel to him." It was during these experiences that he gained a deep knowledge of men, a keen tact in influencing them, and a small amount of means-acquisitions which, he was accustomed to say, cost him the great labor of his life. With a small capital he went to Chester, Massachusetts, where he began the manufacture of slat window-shades. After these had gone out of fash- ion, he purchased a small cotton factory, which he conducted for a period of eight years. Having now accumulated what seemed to him a modest fortune, he came to Pittsfield (in 1836) and, carrying out a long proposed plan. purchased a farm, on Unkamet street, next east of the railroad.
Mr. Phinkett, however, was endowed with qualities which would not long permit him to sit down to the quietude of a farm life, and threc years afterward (in 1839) he engaged in cotton manufacturing in the
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city of Pittsfield, and which he conducted with great success until 1866, when he severed his connection with the enterprise. He had meantime become senior partner in the firm of Plunkett, Wyllys & Company, cotton manufacturers at South Glastonbury, Connecticut, of which his son, Major Charles T. Plunkett, became business manager. Without removing his residence from Pittsfield, Mr. Plunkett continued with this firm until his death. He was also president of the Union Manufacturing Company of North Manchester, Connecticut, of which his son, Thomas F. Plunkett, became treasurer.
Mr. Plunkett was an accomplished financier, and a figure of first importance in many of the largest enterprises of the city and county. For twenty-seven years he was a director in the Agricultural Bank, and its president for five years. He was among the most active of the officiary of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company from the time of its organization, and became president in 1861, succeeding Governor Briggs, deceased. His colleagues ungrudgingly conceded that his business talent and deep interest contributed materially to the remarkable success of the company. His services to the public were of great benefit. par- ticularly in connection with the institution of gas and water works, the projecting and building of the Housatonic and the Boston & Albany railroads, the removal of the county seat, etc. A Democrat in politics. official preferment did not come to him as it would had his convictions been with the party to which he was antagonistic. As it was, however. his successes were honorable, and his public service was most efficient and without smirch. He represented Chester in the legislature in 1834 and 1835, was chosen from Pittsfield to the same body in 1868, 1869 and 1875. and was elected senator from Berkshire county in 1842, 1843 and 1863. He was twice made the nominee of his party for lieutenant- governor, and once for member of congress. In official place he was
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enabled on occasion to exert a strong influence in favor of a cherished project, but this was always in behalf of a public end, and in none for personal aggrandizement. To again quote: "He was a man of original and energetic thought, uniquely fitted for the places which he filled. He was a close observer of men and things, with a happy faculty of adapting all he learned to whatever purpose he had in hand. His sympathies were quick, and nothing which pertained to the welfare of the community or of the country was foreign to them. For forty years he was fully identified with the public affairs of Pittsfield, and during all that time there was hardly a project for public improvement in whose discussion he did not take part, and few which he was not con- cerned in carrying out."
Mr. Plunkett was married, in April. 1830. to Miss Hannah S. Taylor, of Chester, who died in 1844. In October, 1847. he married Miss Harriet Merrick Hodge, of Hadley. Massachusetts. Mr. Plunkett died October 31. 1875.
The children of his first marriage were: William Robinson ; Sarah, married Edward Boltwood: Charles T .: Thomas F. Those of his sec- ond marriage were : Harriet : Helen Edwards, married James W. Hull: Edward Leicester, died 1890; Lyman, died 1890; Daisy. died 1 890.
WILLIAM B. PLUNKETT.
The broad grasp of business intricacies, the boldness of business conception, the spirit of progressiveness, and the will and integ- rity which were characteristics of the late General W. C. Plunkett are a part of the valuable heritage of his son, Williaam B. Plunkett. There has been manifest in the latter, too, a willingness to devote time and talent to the conduct of various public and private trusts. and in the
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advancement of the interests of both church and state he has been a val- uable factor.
He was graduated from Monroe Collegiate Institute, and entered into business with his father, being admitted into the firm of Plunkett & Wheeler upon attaining his majority. The manufacture of cotton warps was continued under the above firm name until Charles T. Plunk- ett, younger son of W. C. Plunkett, was taken into partnership asso- ciation, since which time it has been operated under the name of W. C. Plunkett & Sons.
In 1879, William B. Plunkett was elected treasurer and manager of Greylock Mills, North Adams. This was converted into a gingham factory, and within three years, under his management, the output was tripled. These mills are now utilized as a manufactory of fine cottons, and are part of the plant now owned by the firm. Mr. Plunkett also effected the purchase of the Henry Miller mill, now known as Greylock Mill, No. 2.
W. C. Plunkett & Sons in 1879 absorbed the Adams paper mill and equipped the buildings with improved machinery for the operation of a cotton warps and cotton cloth manufacturing establishment. In De- cember, 1886, this last named mill was destroyed by fire, whereupon W. B. Plunkett established a new and separate company, rebuilding upon the old site, in 1889, a new and modern building, and installing therein an equipment of up-to-date machinery, the business being in- corporated as the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company, with a capitalization of a half million dollars, and W. B. Plunkett as treas- urer. Success attended the enterprise, and in October, 1891, the plant was duplicated and capital stock doubled. In 1895 the directors voted to again double the plant's capacity in a single mammoth structure, making in all three plants, with 155,000 spindies, operating about 3.700
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looms, and employing 1,500 operatives, upon an investment of two mill- ion dollars. In April, 1899, another half million dollars was added to the capital, and an additional gigantic mill built and put in operation. The executive grasp of this immense industry has been wisely placed throughout these years of wonderful progress with Mr. W. B. Plunkett.
Mr. Plunkett has served as member of governor's council, and for two years, 1898-99, was president of the Home Market Club when this protective association was at the zenith of its influence in national pol- itics and legislation. He has been delegate to numerous conventions, among the number the Republican national convention at Minneapolis in 1892. He was a member of the national advisory committee during Mr. McKinley's first campaign, and rendered conspicuously valuable service. He enjoyed the especial friendship of President Mckinley, who was Mr. Plunkett's guest at Adams upon several occasions while president.
Mr. Plunkett was in heartiest sympathy and co-operation with his brother Charles throughout the latter's successful efforts for the in- stallation of Adams' magnificent public library. The erection of the mon- ument to President Mckinley in Adams was due in large measure to the personal work of Mr. W. B. Plunkett.
Mr. Plunkett is president of the Greylock National Bank. Adams; is one of the board of trustees of the New York Life Insurance Com- pany and the North Adams Trust Company, and a member of the di- rectorates of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, the Berkshire Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Pittsfield, and the Mutual Fire In- surance Company of Boston. He has been a lifelong member of the Congregational church, and since 1888 superintendent of the Sunday school, which now has an average attendance of nearly five hundred. He is a member of the church prudential committee. He was a generous
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contributor and helpful factor generally in the building of the parish house and parsonage at Adams.
He married, January 1, 1873. Lydia F. French, of Adams. Two sons born of this union are William C. and Theodore R. Plunkett.
William C. Plunkett (2) is a graduate of Williams College, class of 1900. He is manager of the W. C. Plunkett & Sons cotton mills, Adams. He married Florence, daughter of J. M. Canedy, and has two children-William and Lyda.
Theodore R. Plunkett is in the employ of the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company, Adams. He married Benie, daughter of A. B. Daniels, treasurer of the L. L. Brown Paper Company, Adams.
THOMAS K. PLUNKETT.
Thomas K. Plunkett, deceased, for many years an active member of the Plunkett Woolen Company. was born in the town of Hinsdale, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, December 8, 1839, son of Charles H. Plunkett, whose biography is contained in this work.
Thomas K. Plunkett acquired a liberal education in the public schools of his native town and the Hinsdale Academy, the latter insti- tution being then under the management of Mr. I. N. Lincoln. He was engaged with his brother George T. Plunkett and others in the operation of the Plunkett Woolen Company, an industry established at Hinsdale by his father, Charles H. Plunkett. He followed the fair and broad- minded characteristics of his father, and was a just judge between em- ployer and employee. He always took an active interest in all measures that pertained to the welfare and development of the people, and his heart and purse were open to the needs of the poor and afflicted. Al- though not actively interested in political affairs, yet he served as repre-
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William R. Plunkett.
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sentative from his native town to the Massachusetts legislature during the years 1868 and 1869. He was a regular attendant of the Congrega- tional church, an adherent of the principles of Democracy, a charter member of Globe Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Hinsdale, and a member of Mystic Lodge, of Pittsfield. He was passionately fond of high-bred horses, and was the owner of from twelve to twenty of these noble animals.
On May 22, 1866, Mr. Plunkett was married to Abbie L. Taylor, the tenth child of Otis and Parmelia (Clapp) Taylor, and her birth oc- curred in Chester, a neighboring town, August 30, 1843. The mar- riage ceremony was performed by Kinsley Twining, a relative of the Taylor family, and of this large and influential family, besides Mrs. Plunkett, there are surviving, Mrs. Lucy E. T. Foote, of West Med- ford; Otis S. Taylor, of Springfield ; and Ambrose Taylor, of Hinsdale.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Plunkett are: M. Louise, born in 1874; and Charles H., born in 1876, and now deceased and whose per- sonal memoirs are contained in this work. Mr. Plunkett died July 21, 1878, and his demise was sincerely mourned by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
WILLIAM ROBINSON PLUNKETT.
William R. Plunkett, deceased, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was, during a long and unusually active career, a leader in the commercial and financial affairs of Berkshire county, and his name was held in honor for the masterly ability and sterling integrity which it repre- sented.
He was the eldest of the sons of Thomas F. Plunkett ( see sketch herein), and in him reappeared the fine mental traits and strong per- sonality of his sire. He began his education in the Chester public
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schools, later entered Phillips Andover Academy, and was then for two years a student at Yale College, where he made special preparation for a law course, which he later pursued at the Harvard Law School. Returning to Pittsfield, he had the advantages of practical instruction in the offices of Rockwell & Colt. The senior member of this firm was Julius Rockwell, for many years justice of the Massachusetts su- perior court, and Mr. Colt was one of the leading justices of the Massa- chusetts supreme judicial court. Under these excellent practitioners Mr. Plunkett received an excellent legal training, and he was admitted to the Berkshire county bar in 1855. Shortly afterward he formed a partnership with James T. Robinson, who was later judge of the Berkshire county probate court. This association was soon terminated, Mr. Robinson removing to North Adams. In the years following Mr. Plunkett built up a large practice. He was seldom seen in court and seldom had a jury case. He was a rarely gifted counsellor, and followed an office prac- tice, in which he continued even after becoming immersed in his large business concerns, and until the very day of his death.
Mr. Plunkett found his introduction to business affairs outside his profession through the necessities of his father, whose aid and legal counsellor he was. He thus became connected with the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, of which he became president in 1878. It was under his administration that this company had its most substantial growth and came to be recognized as among the most important in the world of life insurance. He was also vice-president of the Agricultural National Bank, one of the strongest financial institutions in all New England. As treasurer of the Pittsfield Coal Gas Company he was largely instrumental in extending its works and increasing its output throughout the city of Pittsfield and in Dalton. In all these and other
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corporations with which he was connected Mr. Plunkett maintained an unflagging interest.
For many years Mr. Plunkett had been closely associated with the Pontoosuc Woolen Company, and he was long its president and the manager of its large affairs. This corporation possesses an ancient and honorable history. It was founded in 1825 by Henry Shaw, of Lanes- boro, and has been during its entire career one of the strongest con- cerns in its line in the United States.
Mr. Plunkett was at the same time loyally devoted to the city and county which were the scene of his broadly useful effort, and he was a potential leader in all that could conduce to their interests and promote their fame. He was particularly devoted to the Berkshire Athenaeum, of whose board of trustees he was a member from 1871 to the time of his death, and one of his most meritorious services in behalf of that excellent institution was rendered in next to the last year of his life. 1902. Hon. Zenas Crane had made known his desire to give to Pittsfield and Berkshire county a beautiful museum of natural history and art, and he intrusted to Mr. Plunkett and ex-Mayor Hawkins the task of organizing it, and it was largely through Mr. Plunkett's instru- mentality that the Museum and Athenaeum were united under one management. Mr. Phinkett often set aside a business or social en- gagement in order to give his attention to some matter of importance in connection with the Athenaeum. He early approved the reopening of a reading room in the Athenaeum. and he made the Athenaeum and other local institutions the recipients of gifts of substantial value, be- stowed in a quiet, unostentatious way in keeping with the traditions of the family. Ile was a member of the committee appointed in 1871 to procure the erection of the soldiers' monument, and he had but re- 8
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cently interested himself in a movement for the removal of that stately shaft to a more eligible site.
Mr. Plunkett was a fine type of the true American citizen. Shirk- ing no duty or responsibility in his relation to his fellows, a delicate sense of honor held him aloof from actual public service. More than once he was offered the mayoralty of his city, but invariably declined, notwithstanding the fact that his wide knowledge of municipal affairs and great capability made him a logical candidate. He based his declina- tion upon his connection with various corporations, and the impro- priety of his sitting upon a legislative body which had power to restrict or enlarge their powers and privileges. He constantly allied himself with the best elements of his party, exerting himself to maintain a high standard for public officials, and he did not hesitate to express his dis- approval of injudicious policies and objectionable candidates. In 1876, after much solicitation, he accepted the Democratic nomination for the lieutenant-governorship on the ticket with Charles Francis Adams.
Mr. Plunkett was a man of fine literary tastes and excellent social qualities. He was a member of the Monday Evening Club, whose meet- ing he habitually attended, and his papers. replete with wit and humor. and with unconscious revelations of his own keen perception and fine ideals, were always heard with peculiar interest. He was a public speaker of more than ordinary ability, but in later years declined in- vitations to take the rostrum. He was a graceful writer, and one of his most finished efforts was a particularly interesting historical paper on "The Old Elm." written the year before his death, on the occasion of Peace Party Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, erecting a sun dial monument in city hall park.
Mr. Plunkett was twice married. His first wife was Miss Eliza- beth Kellogg, eldest daughter of the late Ensign H. Kellogg. After
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her death, he married her sister, Miss May Kellogg, who bore him three children-Thomas F., a graduate of Princeton University, who is now engaged in the Pontoosuc Woolen Mills: and Elizabeth and Marion. For many years the family home has been the old Appleton mansion on East street. made famous by the delightful poet, Henry W. Long- fellow, as the scene of much of his literary work. On the stairway still stands the clock which Mr. Longfellow made the subject of one of his sweetest bits of verse. "The Old Clock on the Stairs."
Mr. Plunkett died on the evening of December 7, 1903, at the age of seventy-two years. The sad event was a dreadful shock to the entire community. He was in usual health and spirits, had attended to con- siderable business during the day, and was spending the evening at the residence of Mrs. Ensign H. Kellogg. When about to leave for his home, he complained of an ill feeling due to heart failure, and he expired within a half hour. The entire city was at once plunged into mourn- ing. The flags on all public and many private buildings were placed at half-mast, and the city council held a special meeting to arrange for a public funeral. The general sorrow was voiced by Mayor Sisson, who said: "Probably no man of the present time has rendered more con- spicuous service, without ostentation, to the town and city of Pittsfield. than has Mr. Plunkett, whose sudden demise we are now called upon to mourn. In his death Pittsfield sustains a public loss that can neither be estimated nor compensated."
CHARLES HENRY PLUNKETT.
Among the records of the Plunketts of Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, the narrative of whose careers forms a distinct and important feature of this publication, should be included that of the late Charles
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Henry Plunkett. who, although a much younger man at the time of his decease than others of the name whose memoirs are contained herein, was of such fair promise and proved so abundantly equal to the efficient performance of such important trusts as to warrant the belief that, had he been spared to round out a ripened manhood, his achievements would have marked him a leader in the industrial world.
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