Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 101

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 824

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I > Part 101

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He married, February 5, 1884, in Worcester, Har- riette Merrifield, daughter of William T. and Maria C. ( Brigham) Merrifield, of Worcester. ( See Trow- bridge and Merrifield families). Their children: I. William Trowbridge Merrifield, born April 23, 1885, graduate of Amherst College, and instructor in Robert College, Constantinople. 2. Allan White, born June 20, 1886, a junior in Amherst College. 3. Cor- nelia Brigham, born July 14, 1888, a sophomore in

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Vassar College. 4. Katherine Maria, born Septem- ber 23, 1889. 5. Esther Louise, born June 28, 1891. 6. Malcolm Stuart, born November 22, 1892, died February 4, 1893.

MERRIFIELD FAMILY. Thomas Merrifield was an ancestor of Harriette (Merrifield) Forbes, wife of Hon. William Trowbridge Forbes, of Wor- cester, Massachusetts. His ancestry is not fully proved. It is possible that he was that Thomas born in Boston August 8, 1708, son of Joseph and Margaret (Warden) Merrifield. Joseph, born June 8, 1675, was son of Jolin and Sarah (Goad) Merri- field, John being the eldest son of Henry Merrifield, of Dorchester, and his wife Margaret, the original immigrants in this country.

The name of Merrifield has always been common in the south of England, especially in Devon, from which county Henry Merrifield is supposed to have come. As far as is known he was the only one of the name to come to New England until the eight- eenth century, and probably all of the name who figure in the early New England records descended from him. Thomas was a popular name in the family, and possibly some other Thomas may have been the one who was in Dedham, rather than this son of Joseph.

Thomas Merrifield lived in Dedham certainly from 1736 to 1752, the dates of birth of the first and last of his children recorded on the town rec- ords. No record of his death has been found. He married, in Groton, Massachusetts, July 12, 1732, Mary, born in Watertown August 29, 1711, daugh- ter of John and Rebecca (Waight) Anderson. Her father was a Scotchman; her mother a daughter of John and Mary ( Woodward) Waight, descended respectively from Richard Waite (I) and George Woodward (Richard I), both of Watertown. Among the children of Thomas and Mary ( Anderson) Mer- rifield was Timothy, mentioned below.

(11) Timothy Merrifield, son of Thomas Merri- field (4), born in Dedham, Massachusetts, January 4, 1739. He owned land there in 1765, when he deeded four acres to Ephraim Bacon, which bounded sontherly on his own land. There is, however, no recorded deed showing when he bought his Ded- ham farm. In Sherborn he purchased a hundred- acre farm on the road leading from Morse's farm to Daniel Whitney's, in 1778, and a few months aft- erward deeded one-half of it to his brother Asaph, and probably they lived here together until 1784, when they bought of Jonathan Amory, of Boston, one hundred and twenty-seven acres in what was then the easterly part of Holden, now West Boyls- ton. Their old house is still standing, now occu- pied by J. Lambert, and is evidently very old, prob- ably built about 1739, when the land was purchased by Joseph Woolley from Benjamin Flagg, Jr. It is very low-studded, with heavy timbers, wide floor boards, and large square bricks in the hearths. It had at the time of his purchase been recently the home of Paul Raymond. Asaph Merrifield lived here the rest of his life, and after his death the house acquired the curious reputation that old houses in the country sometimes did, of being haunted. Queer things happened to the passersby ; wheels came off their carts, etc., and thirty cats were known to be kept in one of the front rooms. It has, how- ever, outlived these superstitions and looks strong and solid for another century of existence. In 1786 Timothy Merrifield sold his half of the Holden farm to Joseph Dwelly, and bought of him the farm on the old turnpike, now Mountain street, Worcester, afterward known as the Merrifield farm, where he lived the rest of his life, dying in 1806.

His life was uneventful, with the exception of his serving as a private in the revolution. He married, 1766, Lydia Cheney, died in 1770. Her two children also died. He married (second), June 10, 1772, in Sherborn, Mercy Perry, who was mother of all his children that grew to maturity. She was daughter of John and Mercy ( Nelson) Perry, and was born in Sherborn, 1742. Her father was descended from John Perry of Roxbury, through John (3), and Samuel (2). Mercy Nelson was the daughter of Francis Nelson of Rowley, and granddaughter of Thomas Nelson (1). Children of Timothy and Mercy Merrifield : Alpheus, mentioned below ; Caro- line ; Chloe.

(III) Alpheus Merrifield, son of Timothy Merri- field (2), was born in Sherborn, Massachusetts, November 19, 1779. At the age of twenty-five he commenced his public career by holding that curious office, hog-reeve, to which it was the custom of the time to elect young men immediately after their marriage. In 1810 he was town constable and col- lector of public taxes, serving for six years. In 1812 and afterward he served on the school com- mittee of Worcester; he was also highway surveyor, assessor, overseer of the poor many years, and select- man five years, also a member of many important town committees, and was prominent in the First Uni- tarian Church, being deacon for twenty years. The early part of his married life was spent on the Mountain street farm, inherited from his father. He became a contractor and builder, carrying on business not only at home but in South Carolina. He moved to Summer street, where he died Jan- uary 3, 1852. He married, November 12, 1804, Mary Trowbridge, daughter of William and - Sarah (Rice) Trowbridge. They had eight children.

(IV) William Trowbridge Merrifield, eldest son of Alpheus Merrifield (3), was born at the Moun- tain street farm, April 10, 1807. At fifteen he com- menced to learn the carpenter's trade and served a seven year apprenticeship with his father. At twenty-one he entered into business for himself as contractor and builder, and built many of the im- portant buildings in Worcester, including the main structure of Worcester Academy, the Lancaster Mills, and many houses. In 1839 he purchased the lot on Union and Exchange streets, where he erected for renting purposes brick buildings, four stories high, covering about two acres. These were burned in 1854 and the present Merrifield buildings took their place. They were designed to furnish room and power to small manufacturers, and here Deacon Washburn laid the foundation of the wire industry ; Knowles and Crompton founded the loom works, and hundreds of other successful manufacturers were attracted to Worcester because it was possible to begin in a small way with little outlay of capital. These were the first buildings in Worcester of this nature, and they gave an impetus to the mechanical growth of the city which did much to determine her future. Mr. Merrifield was one of the founders of Union Church. He was always active in the agricultural and horticultural societies. Although not caring for public life, he served in the city government, being a member of the first city coun- cil, was also in the state legislature, for ten years was trustee of the State Lunatic Hospital, and was president for a number of years of the Worcester County Mechanics' Association. He died December 26, 1895, aged eighty-eight. lle had had only one illness in his life. When in town, as he almost al- ways was, he never failed to go to his office. He stayed at home the day before his death because it was Christmas Day, and not because he was ready to give up his work. He was twice married; first,

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April 27, 1830, to Margaret, daughter of Jabez and Nancy (Kingsbury) Brigham. Two children of this marriage survive: 1. William Frederic, born in Worcester, August 30, 1837; resides in Brook- line, Massachusetts. 2. Henry Kingsbury, born July 21, 1840, resides in Worcester. A grandson of his daughter Catherine, Guy Merrifield French, is liv- ing in Ottawa, Canada. He married ( second ), March 9, 1847, Maria Caroline, daughter of Charles and Susannah (Baylies) Brigham, of Grafton. One of their children is living: Harriette, wife of Will- iam Trowbridge Forbes, judge of probate for Wor- cester county, mentioned above. Mrs. Forbes was educated at the Oread Institute. She is interested in local history and genealogy, and has written many papers on historical subjects. She wrote "The Hun- dredth Town," sketches of the town of Westbor- ough, and edited the "Journal of the Rev. Eben- ezer Parkman." She has been regent of Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter, D. A. R., and is now a member of the State Council of the Massachusetts D. A. R.

TROWBRIDGE FAMILY. Thomas Trowbridge (1), of Taunton, England, the immigrant ancestor of both Judge and Mrs. Forbes, is the progenitor of all of the name in New England. He married Elizabeth Marshall.

(II) James Trowbridge, youngest son of Thomas Trowbridge (1), was an early settler in Charles- town; was lieutenant, selectman, clerk of writs, deputy to general court, commissioner, and deacon.

(1II) William Trowbridge, son of Lieutenant James Trowbridge (2), born November 19, 1684, married Sarah Ward.

( IV) James Trowbridge, son of William Trow- bridge (3), born at Newton, Massachusetts, April 21, 1717, married, 1740, Jerusha, daughter of Rich- ard and Sarah (Fuller) Park. He was the first set- tler of the name in Worcester. He was a turner by trade. He came to Worcester in 1739 and bought of Matthew Clark his farm of sixty acres and his house on Tatnuck Hill. This farm is now the property of the Tatnuck Country Club. He lived there until 1747, when he sold it to Richard Flagg and bought near the Auburn line the farm which was for many years in the possession of himself and his son, the central part of which is now called Trowbridgeville. His old house stood until a few years ago. He also owned the mill privilege where he had a corn and a saw mill. He died July 21, 1806. Of his nine children only one seems to have remained in Worcester, William.

(V) William Trowbridge, son of James Trow- bridge (4), was born in the Trowbridgeville home- stead, Worcester, March 20, 1751. He served as corporal in the early days of the revolution, and also on the committees of correspondence. He was deacon of the First Unitarian Church for twenty years. He held numerous town offices, being con- stable, warden, collector of highway taxes, serv- ing on the school committee and on various other town committees. His mansion house, still stand- ing at Trowbridgeville, was built 1798-9, and was then considered one of the handsomest in Worces- ter. This reputation was owing, perhaps, to the wainscoting and interior finish, rather than to any special features of the exterior. William Trow- bridge died in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lewis Chapin, just over the line in Auburn, September 30, 1838. He was buried in the Mechanics street burying ground, Worcester, and when Foster street was continued to the Union Station and the bodies removed from that ground, his body and those of his family were taken back to his old farm and re-

interred in that part of it which is now Hope Ceni- etery. He married, December 12, 1776, Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Judith ( Stearns) Rice. They were the parents of Mary, who married Alpheus Merrifield, mentioned above.

HON. ALFRED S. PINKERTON. A citizen of Worcester since early youth, self-educated and self-made and prominent as a member of the Wor- cester bar, a former president of the Massachusetts senate and one of the honored councillors of the Republican state organization, a national figure in the Odd Fellows brotherhood, a gifted orator. Hon. Alfred S. Pinkerton stands high in the estimation of his fellow citizens not only of Worcester but to an unusual degree to others, near and far. He is one of the men that high honors make modest and retiring.

Mr. Pinkerton's father was a merchant at Lan- caster, Pennsylvania, dealing in hardware, iron and steel. He died when Alfred was a boy of fourteen and his mother came to Worcester to live, bringing lier two children, a son and a daughter. His school days were short. He had to become a bread winner when a mere child. He gathered his education as many good Americans have done without the aid of the school teacher. He was clerk in several Wor- cester stores and manufacturing enterprises, thus acquiring a thorough mercantile training. But he turned his attention to the law and decided to make it his profession. He studied in the office of the late Peter C. Bacon, of Worcester, was admitted to the bar in 1881, when he was twenty-five, and has ever since been engaged in the active practice of his profession.

He was a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives, representing ward two, in 1887- 88-89. Upon his first entrance to the house in 1887 he was appointed by Speaker Charles J. Noyes chairman of the committee on towns, a position which that year was a particularly conspicuous one by reason of several vigorous and hotly contested town division cases involving questions of unusual legal popular interest. These contests were heard in the first instance by this committee and later by the legislature : he was the spokesman of his com- mittee on the floor and successful in maintaining its contention. This was the year of the famous Bev- erly division contest and the spirited debates that marked this long struggle, as well as the Medford division issue that followed, which are memorable in the annals of the legislature and of the literature of town divisions.

In 1888 he was a member of the committee on the judiciary and of that on constitutional amend- ments, and was also a member of a special committee to represent the state in connection with the cele- brations commemorative of the settlement of the Northwest Territory. In 1890 he was elected to rep- resent the fourth Worcester district, which included the wards of Worcester, the city of Fitchburg and a number of towns, in the senate, and was that year chairman of the committee on constitutional amend- ments, and member of the committee on the judiciary, probate and insolvency, and of the special commit- tee to which was referred the first contested election arising under the new Australian ballot law. The report of the last named committee has been followed as a precedent in cases involving the construction of the law. In 1891 he was chairman of the com- mittee on the judiciary and by virtue of that posi- tion leader of the senate. He was also member of . the committee on probate and insolvency and chair- man of a joint special committee to consider state commissions and their relation to state governments.

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The last named committee was one of great import- ance under the circumstances. The then Democratic governor, William E. Russell, had made in his inaugural address a violent attack upon the system of state commissions and contended for a greater degree of executive authority. In consequence of his inaugural address the general subject of state com- missions, their powers, duties, authority and relation to the state government, were referred to this special committee, of which Mr. Pinkerton was chairman and of which Josiah Quincy, late mayor of Boston, was a member. The committee held numerous hear- ings, and was allowed to sit in recess, and made an elaborate report prepared by Mr. Pinkerton to the legislature the following year. The Democratic members made minority report upon certain phases of the situation. This report, following a campaign in which commissions were Freely discussed, formed the basis of future legislation on the subject of commissions. Its suggestions and recommendations are worth the attention and study of those interested in the uses of commissions as an auxiliary of state administration.

The senate of 1891 was tied politically between the Republican and Democratic members. Mr. Pink- erton was chairman of the Republican steering com- mittee and spokesman of the Republican side, a po- sition requiring much tact and parliamentary skill, but so well was the work done that in 1892 he was elected president of the senate by the unanimous vote of both Republican and Democratic members, and the same compliment was given him the year following. During his occupancy of the chair he was made chairman of a special committee to sit during the recess and consider the laws relative to corporations other than municipal; the report of this committee drafted largely by him is exhaustive and comprehensive. It has been the basis of much subsequent legislation to prevent the watering of stock and otherwise to guard the interests of the stockholders. As a result of this investigation and report, the private investor is protected by law, probably as much as the law can protect him, from loss and depreciation of stocks while by later legis- lation great progress has been made in regulating the public service corporations.

In 1895 he was chairman of the committee to re- vise the rules of the legislature. He declined a re- nomination in the following year and has since been engaged in the practice of law, giving freely of his time to party interests and public affairs. As a pre- siding officer he won an enviable reputation as a parliamentarian and for impartiality. While he was the president of the senate a number of close par- liamentary questions came to him for decision, and his rulings have since been followed as precedents. He seldom reserved his decision on points of order and questions to be decided, but almost invariably decided them forthwith. It is a proof of his knowl- edge of parliamentary law and practice as well as of his judicial mind to note that in every instance his rulings were sustained. He is and for several years has been the chairman of the executive committee of the Republican state committee, and has de- clined election as chairman of the committee. He has been secretary and is now chairman of the Re- publican county committee of Worcester county. He is vice-president of the Middlesex Club, a famous organization of men prominent in business and politics. He has been one of the prominent cam- paign speakers of the Republican party for many years, and has been the orator on many occasions of public interest. He was for several years di- rector of the Public Library.

He is also known for his leadership and honors

in fraternal and secret orders. Ile is past master of Althelstan Lodge of Masons, a member of Eureka Royal Arch Chapter, Hiram Council and Worcester County Commandery of Knights Templar.

He became a member of the Worcester

Lodge of Odd Fellows i11 18-8.

and was noble grand of the lodge in 1881. He was

elected grand master of Massachusetts for the year beginning August, ISSS, and was the young- est man ever chosen to fill the position. He was elected to the sovereign grand lodge the following year, but resigned before taking his seat, entering that body as representative in 1890 and was con- tinued as a member until his election as deputy grand sire at Dallas, Texas, and as grand sire in 1898 at Boston. During his service as grand sire, at the head of the Odd Fellows of the United States and of the world, he devoted a large part of his time to the order. The good results of his labor are apparent in the prosperity that is attending the organization. He had the satisfaction of having all his acts and one hundred and sixty-four decisions approved. As an attorney Colonel Pinkerton, to use the title by which he is generally known, has had to do with some very important and noted cases. At present his time is almost exclusively given to. the practice of his profession.

Mr. Pinkerton was born at Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, the son of William Cooper and Maria (Fiske) Pinkerton, March 19, 1856. His mother was a daugh- ter of Samuel Fiske, of Lexington, Massachusetts, lineal descendant of one of the emigrants who founded the commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1630-40. His paternal grandfather was Henry Pink- erton, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who married into the well known Atlee family of Pennsylvania. The Pinkertons were early settlers of Pennsylvania, com- ing from England. His father died at Scranton, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1871; his mother died while visiting her sister at Cambridge, Massachu- setts, in 1886. The children of William C. and Maria Pinkerton were: 1. Alfred S., born March. 19, 1856, married, August 18, 1904, Betsy Howe Chapin, daughter of Willard and Lydia Chapin, of Malden, 'Massachusetts 2. Ella, born June 28, 1858, married A. M. Weeks, of Princeton, Massachusetts, in 1877, and has two children: Alice E. Weeks, born December 7. 1877, married Harry Alexander, of Upton, Massachusetts ; William J. Weeks, of Prince- ton, born July 26, 1882.

Maria Fiske, mother of Colonel Pinkerton, was born at Lexington, Massachusetts. Her father's family follows. Samuel Fiske came to Lexington when a child and lived with John Chandler, who had him baptized at Lexington, May 29, 1803. He was born at Salem, Massachusetts, September 30, 1789. lle married, January 25, 1818, Cordelia L. Tufts, of Charlestown, who was born January 7, 1795. She died April 15, 1833. He removed from Lexington to Shirley and later to Worcester, where he died October 25, 1844. Ile was a representative in the- general court from Lexington in 1828-29-30. Their children were: 1. Lucy Ann, born at Kinderhook, New York, May 7, 1819, married, October 12, 1841, Joseph P. Hale, of Bernardston. 2. Ammi R., born at Charlestown (now Boston), Massachusetts, Sep- tember 28, 1820, married, December 28, 1846, Phebe James, of Newburyport, Massachusetts. 3. Augusta, born at Lexington, December 31, 1822, married. September 3, 1848, Timothy W. Wellington, moved to Shirley, Massachusetts, thence to Worcester. 4. Lucretia, born July 12, 1825, married, October 19, 1845. William Hudson, of Lexington, who was a soldier in the civil war, was in the signal corps in Burnside's expedition to North Carolina, died of

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disease, August 20, 1862, leaving John A. Hudson, born December 26, 1846, and William F. Hudson, born October 3, 1848. 5. Ardelia L., born April 20, 1827, married, April 20, 1847, Lucius W. Pond, who became one of the most prominent manufacturers of his day in Worcester. 6. Maria, born December 20, 1828, married, April 21, 1853, William C. Pinker- ton, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (See parents of Hon. A. S. Pinkerton.) 7. Lydia, born July 27, 1830. S. Samuel, born March 23, 1833, went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, inarried Amanda Stod- dard, of Philadelphia.

HARRINGTON FAMILY. Chauncey Good- rich Harrington was born in Worcester, June 30, 1826, in a house that stood on the west corner of Park and Salem streets, which at that time was occupied as a public house, his father, William Har- rington, being the landlord. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native town, and after passing through the various grades he found employment with a maker of spectacles, then a Worcester industry. He later worked in a fac- tory in Millbury, where carpenters' and gardeners' tools were made.

In the fall of 1850, the Harrington block, corner of Main and Front streets, was built by his father, and Chauncey G. Harrington, in company with Ed- ward Bemis, opened liere a store for the sale of boots and shoes, the style of the firm being Bemis & Co., the location No. 2 Harrington corner. Al- though the firm name was subsequently changed to Bemis & Company, Mr. Harrington continued a member of the firm until the spring of 1873. During the summer of that year he, accompanied by his wife, made a trip to Niagara Falls, Toronto, and down the River St. Lawrence to Montreal, thence to the White Mountains, where on June II, while making a tour by coach from the Crawford House, and on the way from Bethlehem to the Profile House, a most thrilling accident occurred in which Mr. Harrington met with a narrow escape from death. Two coaches each drawn by six horses left the Crawford House in the morning, both well laden with passengers and their baggage. The ride to the town of Bethlehem was one of special pleas- ure. Here a short stop was made to allow the passengers to partake of light refreshments and stretch their limbs. At the appointed time, when the signal was given, each one of the jolly party clam- bered into their proper places and the two coaches with their precious human freight started from the Sinclair House at a rapid clip amid the waving of handkerchiefs and cheers from the patrons of the hotel, responded to by the passengers with songs of music, the swinging of hats and waving adieus as they whirled along over the smooth road in the di- rection of the Profile House. The second coach carried eighteen passengers, nine including Mr. Har- rington on the top and nine including Mrs. Har- rington on the inside. There were also upon the top of the coach several heavy trunks, making the vehicle rather topheavy. For some distance the two coaches traveled within easy communication of each other, but on reaching a certain house the driver of the rear coach halted for a few minutes, when on again mounting the box the forward coach was out of sight. The driver as well as the horses being apparently eager to overtake their leader, and the road for a considerable distance being descend- ing, the coach was soon proceeding at a fearful speed, and as the attempt was made to pass a curve in the road near the foot of Whitcomb hill, was overturned throwing the nine persons and the trunks that were on top of the coach in a heap by the road

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Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 101

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 824

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 824