Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 5

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 5

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In 1847 the two Washburns put in a rolling mill of their own at Quinsigamond, and soon the firm of Washburn, Moen & Company was formed. The same, however, was dissolved in 1849. the business going to Henry S. Washburn, a member of the firm. The firm of I. & C. Washburn that same year was dissolved and a division of the plant made, Charles taking the part at Quinsigamond. April 1, 1850, Philip L. Moen became a partner of Ichahod Wash- burn, the style of the firm being I. Washburn and

Company. Ichabod Washburn spent much time in experimenting in the tempering of wire that it might be put to various uses, and at the suggestion of Mr. Chickering, of Boston, he produced samples of piano string wire, an article which hitherto had been brought from England. That branch of the busi- ness has been conducted with success up to the present time, as well as other musical instrument wires. In July, 1859, Ichabod Washburn employed one hundred and twenty men and made three tons of wire per day. In 1863 he and his partner built a cotton-mill, which they operated about ten years, producing sufficient yarn to cover four tons of temp- ered crinoline wire per day. January, 1865, Ichabod Washburn and Mr. Moen changed the firm name to "I. Washburn and Moen Iron Works"-capital stock, five hundred thousand dollars. In 1868 it be- came the Washburn-Moen Manufacturing Company, with one million dollars capital. In 1889 the plant was operated by three thousand workmen. A few years since the whole business was merged into the American Steel & Wire Company.

Ichabod Washburn married (first) Ann G. Brown, October 6, 1823. She was the daughter of Mrs. David Brown, with whom he boarded in Worcester. One son was born to them, December I, 1824, but survived only a few days. Two daugh- ters were born to them: Eliza Ann, born June 4, 1826, married Philip L. Moen, and died at the age of twenty-six years; and Lucy Pamelia, born March 8, 1832, who died when twenty-two years old. The mother and little granddaughter soon passed from earth, leaving Mr. Washburn alone in the world. He founded the Worcester Memorial Hospital to the fond memory of his two daughters. For his second companion he married Elizabeth B. Cheever.

Of his political standing, let it be recorded that he was a strong anti-slavery advocate and gave of his means abundantly, and urged by a petition to President Lincoln the emancipation of the colored race. After he formation of the Republican party, he ever voted and worked and paid for the princi- ples it advocates. He believed that capital and labor should alike be busy and ever put to produc- ing for the world. He was state senator in 1860 and performed his part faithfully and well.

He was a life-long Christian and did very much to aid the church. He was one of the first four deacons of the Union Church, and assisted inateri- ally in building that church. He was treasurer of the Church Anti-Slavery Society in 1859. From his own funds, he erected the Mission Chapel on Sum- ner street, Worcester. Space in this volume pre- cludes the enumeration of but few of the benevo- lent causes and benevolent industries to which he gave most lavishly, believing as he did that money was made to use and to use for mankind. He was a systematic giver and in proportion to his income. He felt it a duty to donate, and like Peabody, his business multiplied on his hand by liberal giving to worthy causes, hence he headed all subscription pa- pers with a Christianlike pleasure. From him came twenty-five thousand dollars to further on the build- ing of the Mechanics' Hall, so appreciated today and for the past decades used for great audiences, re- ligious and political. He also was one of the origi- nal promoters of the "Bay State House." He de- spised intoxicating drinks and tobacco, giving time and wealth for their suppression. When he built his first lumber house, he would not ask men to help "raise" it, if they asked to have liquor, as was customary, but preferred to pay cash to men who would do it without intoxicants, furnishing instead lemonade and "small beer." Among his benefactions should not be forgotten the large amounts lie gave toward the erection and support of educational and

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Charles F. Washburn

WORCESTER COUNTY

religious institutions : Home for the Aged (eighty- five thousand dollars) : Memorial Hospital, the 'Freedmen's Cause, the Home and Foreign Missions, Orphans' Home, etc., scattered from Maine to Georgia. But even the lives of the truly great and good innst cease. Seized by a stroke of paralysis in February, 1868, he lingered on until death came December of the same year. His last words were spoken to a brother, "It is all right," and thus Wor- cester and the world lost one of her noblest sons, a self-made, wealthy, devoted Christian.

(VIII) Hon. Charles Washburn, twin brother of Ichabod Washburn, was born in Kingston, Massa- chusetts, August II, 1798. He selected as his voca- tion the profession of a lawyer, and after receiving the advantages of a common school education en- tered Brown University, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1820. He was admitted to the bar, and in 1823 was practicing his profession in Otisfield, Mainc. The following year he removed to Harrison, same state, where he continued to labor in his chosen profession, gaining special distinc- tion as a lawyer. During the years 1830 and 1833 he served his district in the Maine legislature. In 1835 he came to Worcester, Massachusetts, to join his brother Ichabod in the wire industry, and in 18.42 the firm of I. & C. Washburn was formed and two years later the rolling-mill at Quinsigamond was built. 111 1849, through a dissolution of the firm and a division of the property, the plant at Quinsigamond came into the hands of Charles Washburn, who was actively engaged in conducting this branch of the wire business, which he continued until the year 1868, when the Washburn and Moen Manufactur- ing Company was formed, this industry becoming a part of the great business plant, As early as 1849 Mr. Washburn served as a member of the school committee; in 1849 and 1850 he was chosen a mem- ber of the common council, having been president of the same for three years; in 1851 was a member of the Massachusetts legislature, and in 1854 served in the board of aldermen. Mr. Washburn retained an interest in the firm of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, and was a member of the board of directors up to the time of his death, October 27, 1875.

Mr. Washburn married Zibeah Cary Blake, dauglı- ter of Grenfill Blake, of Otisfield. Maine, November 30, 1826; she died August 12, 1845. Their children were : Charles F. (IX), born August 23, 1827; Grenfill B., May 16, 1829; Lucia B., October 29, 1730; Grenfill H., April 20, 1833; George I., May 26, 1835: Henry B., November 10, 1837; Maurice B., July 25, 1839; Zibeah C., April 15, 1844; Maurice, August 9, 1845. Charles Washburn married for his second wife Anna F. Brown, February 2, 1847. There were three children of this marriage-a son John, and two daughters, Ellen and Anna.

( IX) Charles Francis Washburn, son of Hon. Charles Washburn, having acquired an excellent education in the schools of Worcester and Leicester Academy, from which he graduated, was prevented by illness from attending college, but he added to his academical knowledge a liberal store of general information from his personal reading and observa- tion. After an extended trip to Europe he entered his father's rolling mills, and from the beginning gave evidence of that mechanical skill and business sagacity that characterized him in his later career. He mastered every detail of the industry, working in all departments, and gaining perfect mastery of them. In 1857 he was admitted to partnership with his father under the firm name of Charles Wash- burn & Son. The business expanded rapidly as new methods made possible new products, and the Quinsigamond plant was finally incorporated, in

1869, with that on Grove street as the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, and grew to oper- ate a capital of $1,000,000, and gave direct employ- ment to some four thousand people. Originally re- stricted to the manufacture of wire for card teeth and other similar purposes, the factories began the making of telegraph wire as soon as the Morse in- vention had demonstrated its practicability, and in IS50 was begun the making of piano wire, in which the product of the Washburn mills soon superseded the English make in the markets of the United States. The company met every necessity as it arose where wire could be used-wire for hoop skirts between 1860 and 1870, and after that the great demand for all varieties of barbed wire for fencing. During the last ten years it has produced vast quantities of iron and steel cables and ropes, spiral springs, etc., and, following the introduction of electric energy for heating, light and power, thousands of tons of wire annually for these pur- poses. The yearly output of steel is about 40,000 tons, and of all products about 100,000 tons. In1 1891 the company also established works at Wau- kegan, Illinois, with wire capacity nearly equal to that of the parent establishment.

In the capacity of secretary, director and vice- president of the corporation, Mr. Washburn con- tinually took a leading part in the administration of its business, and to his perseverence and sagacity was largely due the great advancements which were made from time to time in the development of its usefulness and importance, a signal attestation of this fact being found in his securing to his company the conrol of the barbed wire patents.

Deeply absorbed in his business Mr. Washburn held aloof from public concerns, except in one in- stance where he served the city as a member of the common council. He was deeply interested, how- ever, in benevolent and philanthropic works, and rendered zealous and useful service to two of the most notable and praiseworthy institutons of his city, acting as vice-president of the governing board of the Memorial Hospital, founded by his uncle, Ichabod Washburn, and as president of the Home for Aged Women. Of a sincere, christian tempera- ment, he was a communicant of All Saints' Protest- ant Episcopal Church. He was a warm advocate of free-soil principles in his early days; was an original member of the Republican party, and affiliated with it earnestly and effectually during the remainder of his life. He was a man of culture and refinement, delighting in healthful and ennobling literature, and devoted his leisure hours to his home and library. He died July 20, 1893, leaving behind him to his family and the community the fragrant memories which cling to a noble and useful life in those broad ways where such an unselfish man can make his every act a benediction upon the thousands who surround him.

Ar. Washburn married, October 10, 1855, Mary, the eldest daughter of James M. Whiton, of Boston, Massachusetts. Eight children were born to them, all sons except one, and all excepting one son sur- vived their honored parent. The children were : Charles G., born January 28, 1857: James M., died in infancy, December 27, 1858; Philip, born August 2, 1861, died October 6, 1898; Miriam, born July 12, 1864; Robert M., born January 4, 1868; Henry B., born December 2, 1869; Reginald, born October 13, 1871; Arthur, born May 27, 1877. Reginald Wash- burn married, August 26, 1903, Dorcas, daughter of Hon. Edward S. Beadford, of Springfield, Massa- chusetts. Philip Washburn married, June 5, 1883, Miriam Phillips, youngest daughter of Rev. R. S. Storrs, D. D., of Brooklyn, New York. He had five daughters, two of whom died in infancy.

WORCESTER COUNTY

(X) Robert Morris Washburn, son of Charles Francis and Mary Elizabeth Washburn, was born in Worcester, Jannary 4, 1868. He was educated in the public schools, and was graduated at the Worcester high school in 1886. He received the degree of A. B. from Harvard University in 1890. He then studied law for one year in the office of Rice, King & Rice. He was then admitted a member of the second-year class at the Harvard law school, where he remained for one year, and in November, 1892, was admitted to the Worcester county bar. He is a practicing lawyer at 314 Main street, Worcester. He is unmarried, living at the homestead estate, 42 Elm street. He is a member of the Republican city committee, 1906, and a vice-president of the Repub- lican club of Massachusetts, and a member of the Republican Club of Worcester. He is also a mem- ber of the Worcester Club, and Quinsigamond Boat Club.

(X) Hon. Charles Grenfill Washburn, son of Charles Francis and Mary E. (Whiton) Washburn, was born in Worcester, January 28, 1857. He began his education in the public schools of his native city, was graduated from the Worcester Polytechnic In- stitute in 1875, and from Harvard University in 1880. He subsequently took up the study of law and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1886. He has been constantly identified with the manufactur- ing interests of the city. In 1880 he established the business now conducted by the Wire Goods Com- pany, with which he is still connected. In 1882 he became treasurer and manager of the Worcester Barbed Fence Company, which was subsequently absorbed by the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, and from 1884 to 1891 was a member of the last named corporation, and during a part of that period served in the capacity of director and executive officer.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Washburn was a member of the Massachusetts house of representa- tives in 1897-98, in which body he served the first year on the committee on mercantile affairs, and the second year as chairman of the committee on taxation. On the expiration of his term in the lower branch he was elected to the state senate from the first district of Worcester, serving two terms-1899 and 1900. In 1902 he was a member of the com- mittee to revise the corporation laws of Massachu- setts. He was a delegate to the Republican national convention in Chicago, and the Massachusetts mnem- ber of the committee appointed to notify Theodore Roosevelt of his nomination. He was elected No- nember 6, 1906, to the sixtieth congress from the Third Massachusetts District. He is a trus- tee and president the

of Worcester Poly- technic Institute.

He married, April 25, 1889,

Caroline Vinton Slater, daughter of Horatio N. Slater, of Webster. Their children were: Eliza- beth, born 1892, died in infancy ; Slater, born August 5, 1896; Charles Francis, born May 10, 1898, died December 19, 1902; Philip, born October 4, 1899; Esther Vinton, born August 10, 1902.

Mrs. Washburn is a great-granddaughter of Samuel Slater, founder of the town of Webster, and a manufacturer of much importance in his day. He was a native of Derbyshire, England, and when fourteen years of age was apprenticed to Jedediah Strutt, a partner of Arkwright, the cele- bratcd pioneer in cotton manufacture. The offer of a premium for the introduction of the Ark- wright machinery into the United States brought him to America at the close of his apprenticeship. He arrived in New York about December 1, 1790, and established at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, a manufactory for cotton yarı. In 1812, in partner- ship with Bela Tiffany, of South Brimfield, Massa-

chusetts, under the firm name of Slater & Tiffany, he began the erection at Webster, Massachusetts, of mills for the manufacture of cotton yarn. During . the war of 1812 the firm also engaged in the mann- facture of broadcloth. In 1816 Mr. Slater purchased the interest of his partner, and afterwards associ- ated with himself Edward Howard, a practical cloth maker. In 1829 Howard sold his interest to Samuel Slater and his sons-George B. and Hora- tio N. Slater-who conducted business under the firmt name of Samuel Slater & Sons. From 1835, the year of the death of the senior Slater, the sons conducted the business until 1843, when occurred the death of George B. Slater and Horatio N. Slater succeeded to the sole management, in which he continued until his death, in 1888, when his nephew and namesake, the father of Mrs. Charles G. Washburn, became the owner and manager. The business after the death of H. N. Slater, Jr., was incorporated as S. Slater & Sons. Samuel Slater, the emigrant, was twice married. First, October 2, 1791, to Hannah, daughter of Oziel Wilkinson. She died about 1812, and about 1817 he married Esther, daughter of Robert Parkinson, of Philadelphia. His first wife bore him nine children, of whom the sev- enth was Horatio Nelson Slater.

(VII) Hon. William Barrett Washburn, son of Asa and Phebe (Whitney) Washburn, and grandson of Colonel Elijah Washburn and Captain Phineas Whitney, was born in Winchenden, January 31, IS20. He fitted for college at the Westminster and Hancock Academies, and was graduated from Yale College in 1844. He clerked three years and then engaged in the manufacture of doors, chairs and wooden-ware at Erving. In 1857 he moved to Greenfield, where he lived at the time of his death, October 5. 1887. He was a member of the house of representatives in 1850 and of the senate in 1854. He was a member of congress from 1863 to January I, 1872, when he resigned to be inaugurated gov- ernor of Massachusetts. April 17, 1874. he resigned as governor to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Charles Sumner in the United States senate, liold- ing the office until March 4, 1875. For many years he was president of the Greenfield Bank and one of the trustees of Yale College and an overseer of Amherst College. He married, September 6, 1847, Hannah Sweetster by whom were born two sons and four daughters.

(IX) General Francis Washburn, son of John M. Washburn, was born July, 1838, at Lancaster, his parents having the April previous removed from Boston. From the academy of his native town, at the age of sixteen years, lie went to serve a regn- lar term in the Lawrence Machine Company's shop. He next went to the Scientific School of Mining and Engineering at Freiburg, Saxony. When in 1860-1861 the civil war cloud darkened our fair national sky, he wrote, "I must hasten my return. If the war comes, I shall sail at once." In Decem- ber, 1861, he was given a commission in the army, which he used as soon as he waited to see his father pass from earth. He was mustered in as sec- ond lieutenant in the First Massachusetts Cavalry, the history of which is well known in the war de- partment. He became captain, lieutenant-colonel, and in February, 1865, commissioned as colonel, which he held at the time of his death. He was mortally wounded in the brilliant engagement at High Bridge, Virginia, April 6, 1865. His bravery was noted by the then Lieutenant-General Grant, at whose request lie was commissioned brigadier- general. Here men fought hand to hand, an un- common occurence. He fell from saber stroke and pistol shot. He was brought home to the house of his brother, Hon. John D. Washburn, where he

IBLIC

Cewashburn

WORCESTER COUNTY

shortly gave up his young life, being but twenty- six years of age. He was called the "White Knight of Modern Cavalry."

(1X) Hon. John D. Washburn, born in Boston, March 27, 1833, was the oldest son of John Mar- shall and Harriet (Kimball) Washburn. His par- ents removed to Lancaster when he was five years old and there his youth was spent amid those beauti- ful surroundings. In 1853 he was graduated from Harvard College, entering the law, first studying with Hon. Emory Washburn and Hon. George F. Hoar in 1854, finally receiving a diploma from the Harvard School in 1856. He practised in Worcester with Hon. H. C. Rice. He made for himself a place of importance among insurance circles, as legal adviser. Later he succeeded Hon. Alexander H. Bullock as general agent and attorney of the in- surance companies in 1866. Through this associa- tion he became connected with Governor Bullock as chief of the staff from 1866 to 1869, receiving a colonel's commission. From 1871 to 1881 he was trustee of the Worcester Lunatic Hospital, and from 1875 to 1885 filled a similar place in the School for Feeble Minded. He was a member of the house of representatives from 1876 to 1879, and a senator from Worcester in 1884. From 1866 to 1880 he was a director of the Citizens' National Bank. He was also a member of the board of investment for the Worcester County Institution for Savings; also trustee and treasurer of the Memorial Hospital. In 1883 he became president of the Merchants' and Farmers' Insurance Company. For many years he was the councilor and secretary of the American Antiquarian Society. During the latter years of his life he was appointed as minister to represent this country in Switzerland.

· He married in 1860 Mary F. Putnam. Their daughter Edith, in 1884, married Richard Ward Greene, of Worcester. He died April 4, 1903, leav- ing a record in itself, a royal legacy to any com- munity. He was one of nature's own noblemen. Even to the most humble of his constituents, he would grant a personal favor and special attention. It is believed that exposure to the hot sun, while visiting in Paris, affected his head and that from this was traced his lingering illness and final death. (VIII) William Ansel Washburn, deputy sheriff of Worcester, was born in Paxton, Massa- chusetts, August 14, 1837. He was the son of John and Nancy (Bemis) Washburn. His grandfather was Francis Washburn, born in Brockton, 1769, died 1844; the great-grandfather being Jacob Washburn, born in the same place.

John Washburn, William Ansel Washburn's father, was born in Leicester, November 14, 1800, and died in 1867. He was a shoemaker and black- smith and drove the stage inany years between Bos- ton and Worcester. He married Nancy Bemis in 1831. Their children were Delia, William A. and Alice (twins), and Julia.

William Ansel was reared to farm life and then learned the trade of shoemaker with his father. When eighteen he left home and came to Worcester, securing employment in the Hospital for the Insane for four years. Then he clerked for a time, but soon began as a nail-maker in the factory of Prouty & Allen. He was finally appointed a patrolman on the police force in 1865, and two years later was made assistant-marshal, holding the same from 1873 to 1880; again in 1883, and from 1886 to 1893. In 1893, he, by appointment, was made deputy sheriff and deputy jailer. Like many another modern man, he is closely identified with civic societies, including the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. He is a Knight Templar. Politically he affiliates with the In his religious belief he ad-

Republican party.

heres to that of the Universalist faith. November 29, 1860, he married Emily Delano, of Provincetown, Massachusetts.

(VII) Hon. Peter Thatcher Washburn, once governor of Vermont, was born in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, September 7, 1814, and died at Wood- stock, Vermont, February 7, 1870. He was the son of Reuben and Hannah Washburn. The father was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, December 30, 1781. When Mr. Washburn was but three years of age his father removed to Cavendish, Vermont. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1835, and began law practice in 1838 at Ludlow, Vermont. He be- came one of the most marked political figures in the state. For eight years, from 1844 to 1852, he held the office of supreme court reporter. In 1853-54, he was in the legislature, and when the rebellion broke out he raised troops and entered the service as lieutenant-colonel of the First Regiment from Ver- mont, being stationed at Fortress Monroe. He only remained in the service about three months, and in 1861 was appointed inspector-general of Vermont. September, 1869, he was elected governor of Ver- mont. He was active with his pen, and in 1844 published a "Digest of Vermont Reports" and many other works of value.

BARTON FAMILY. Hon. Ira Moore Barton was a gentleman of unusual qualities as a scholar, jurist and judge. He was born in Oxford, Massachu- setts, October 25, 1796, and was of the fifth genera- tion from Samuel Barton, of Salem, Massachu- setts, 1693, and of Sutton, 1718. After preparation by a private tutor and at Leicester Academy, he entered Brown University and was graduated from that institution in 1819. He began the study of law with Samuel W. Bridgham, of Providence, con- tinuing his legal education with Sumner Barstow, of Sutton, and Hon. Levi Lincoln, of Worcester, from whose office he entered the Harvard Law School, graduating in 1822. He immediately estab- lished an .office in Oxford, where his recognized ability and skill as a legal adviser and advocate soon brought him a large practice.

For three years (1830-31-32) he represented the town of Oxford in the state legislature, and in 1833-34 represented the county of Worcester in the state senate, serving for a time as commissioner for the revision of the statutes. He removed to Worcester in 1834, and two years later was ap- pointed by Governor Edward Everett judge of pro- bate for the county of Worcester. As the duties of the office did not require his entire time, he continued his practice in other courts. In 1844 he resigned as judge of probate to devote his entire time to his growing practice. In 1840 he was chosen presi- dential elector, and in 1846 represented the town of Worcester in the house of representatives in the state legislature. He rendered efficient service in behalf of his constituents and the state, exerting himself earnestly in favor of an act to extend the equity and jurisdiction of our highest court. In 1844 Judge Barton took as law partner Peter C. Bacon, also of Oxford, and two years later William Sum- ner Barton, eldest son of the judge, was taken into the firm.

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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 5

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