Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 50

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 50

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He married. June 23, 1884. Rose Eva Field, born in Sunderland. Massachusetts. August 25. 1858, daughter of . Edwin Graves and Nancy S. (Clark) Field, of Worcester. Edwin Graves Field was born

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in Leverett, Massachusetts, March 24, 1823, died August 22, 1899: Nancy S. Clark Field was born in Sunderland, Massachusetts, November 5, 1822, died May 14, 1885. The children of Edward Pay- son and Rose Eva (Field) Ingraham were: Wini- fred Rose, born March 17, 1889. a student in the Worcester high school; Richard Edward, born Feb- ruary 27, 1902, died March 22, 1903: Roger Emory, born May 6, 1904, died February 25, 1905.

( VII) Albert Wellington Ingraham, second child and son of Dexter (6) and Lucina (Ball) Ingra- ham, was born at South Hadley, Massachusetts, No- vember 22, 1838. He was educated in the common schools of the town until the age of nineteen years, when he went to Hazardville, Connecticut, to take charge of the brass band at that place. He re- mained there until the spring of 1860, when he went to Newburyport. Massachusetts, to take the leader- ship of the band there and to teach music. He en- listed in August, 1861, as musician in the band, Seventh Maine Infantry, under the leadership of his brother, Emery D. Ingraham. After the band was discharged from the service, in the spring of 1862, he returned to his old home at South Hadley. He went to Newbern, North Carolina, in 1863, in charge of the Forty-fourth Regiment Band, returning home with the regiment in June. He went to Worcester in 1867 to tune organs for the Taylor & Farley Organ Company, then located, on Herman street, and was connected with this company for twenty years. He was also the leader of the National Brass Band from the time he came to Worcester until 1874, when he resigned and was succeeded by his brother. In 1886 he entered the employ of the Vocalion Organ Company, Summer street, under Bailey Hamilton, the English inventor of the vocalion, and remained after the busi- ness was bought by Mason & Risch, in 1889, until 1894. when he accepted a position with the Taber Organ Company as head tuner, which position he held for eight years. When the Taber business was sold he returned to the Vocalion Organ Company, where he has since been employed. He was formerly the director of the Worcester Orchestral Union, and a member of the Schumann Club. He attends the Piedmont Congregational Church and is a Repub- lican. He is a member of George H. Ward Post, No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic.

He married (first), November 29, 1860, Sarah Louisa Preston, born May 9, 1840, died March 19. 1874. daughter of Gardner and Amanda (Smith) Preston, of South Hadley. Gardner Preston was born March 31, 1798, and died January 24, 1876. He was a farmer, and was selectman and assessor of the town of South Hadley. Amanda (Smith) Preston was born January 7, 1805, and died Sep- tember 24. 1878. Mr. Ingraham married (second), January 4. 1882, Caroline Lucinda Nutting, con- nected for many years with Worcester church choirs. She was born at Brimfield, Massachusetts, April 18, 1850, and was the daughter of Calvin Ward and Mary (Poland) Nutting, of North Brookfield. Mr. Nutting was born July, II, 1817, died September 7. 1896; he was a farmer and shoemaker, and as "Dea- con Nutting" was well known for fifty years. Mrs. Nutting was born April 20, 1822, and died January 18. 1906. The only child of Albert Wellington and Sarah Louise (Preston) Ingraham is Nellie Louise, born December 10, 1863. She is a pianist of note. Was a pupil of G. Arthur Adams, B. J. Lang and Edward Mac Dowell.

(VII) Nathaniel Hoyt Ingraham, third son and child of Dexter (6) and Lucina (Ball) Ingraham, was born at South Hadley, Massachusetts, June 4. 18.41. He received his education in the common schools of that place, finishing at the age of nine-

teen in the high school. He then went to New York city and took charge of a dormitory in the New York Juvenile Asylum, a position which he held until January 1. 1862, when he returned to South Hadley. In the following August he enlisted in Com- pany F, Forty-fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, under Colonel Francis E. Lee, and was attached with his regiment to the Eighteenth Army Corps. He went to Newbern, North Carolina, where he was in the service for nine months. He was in engagements at Goldsboro, Whitehall, Plymouth and Little Washington, and was mustered out June 18, 1863. Upon his return to Boston he found em- ployment in the organ factory of Mason and Hamlin, and learned the trade of "tuner." After three and a half years with this Boston firm he came to Wor- cester to work for the Taylor & Farley Organ Com- pany, where he remained for two and a half years. He went to New Haven in 1868 to work for the New Haven Organ Company, and remained with that com- pany six years. He finally returned to Worcester and entered into partnership with William B. Taber to manufacture organs under the name of the Wor- cester Organ Company, later the Taber Organ Com- pany. The product of this firm is known all over the country, their chapel and parlor organs ranking among the best. The Taber Organ Company was established in 1872 as the Worcester Organ Com- pany. Shortly afterward Mr. Taber bought the busi- ness and Mr. Ingraham became his partner. The Taber Organ Company was organized in 1877, and for many years Mr. Ingraham was president and William N. Taber was treasurer. Mr. Ingraham re- sides at No. 4 Woodbine street, and since the organ business was sold a few years ago, has managed a manufacturing company on Keese street. He has been connected with many musical organizations, and was a member of the old Worcester Orchestral Union and the Schumann Club. He is a member of George H. Ward Post, No. 10. Grand Army of the Republic. He attends a Congregational church and in politics is a Republican.

He married, September 15, 1868, Martha A. Put- nam, born June 21, 1849, daughter of Ephraim and Harriet (Speare) Putnam, of Boston. Mr. Putnam was for many years a stage carpenter at the Boston Theatre. The children of Nathaniel Hoyt and Mar- tha A. (Putnam) Ingraham are: Rena May, born August 2, 1869, married George J. Legasey, of Wor- sester ; he is station agent at Lincoln Square, and they have one child, Ruth Geraldine: William Field, of whom later; Blanche Nathalie, born October 31, 1873, married Frank Robbins; Myrtie Dexter, born October 29, 1879; Nathaniel, born July 26, 1888, died July 29, 1888.

(VIII) William Field Ingraham, second child and eldest son of Nathaniel Hoyt (7) and Martha A. (Putnam) Ingraham, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, November 6, 1870. He removed to Wor. cester, Massachusetts, with his parents, in 1874. His education was acquired in the public schools of Wor- cester, and after graduating from the high school he began his business career as clerk for a firm conducting a fire insurance business. Later he was appointed a special agent for the Phoenix Assurance Company of England for the state of New Jersey, and he resides in New York city. He married, January 25, 1898, Maud N. Hayford, of Worcester, Massa- chusetts.

(VII) William Field Ingraham, fourth son and child of Dexter (6) and Lucina (Ball) Ingraham, was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts, August 26, 1843. He was educated in the common and high schools of that town. Early in life he began the study of music, and soon displayed unusual

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musical talent. He became proficient in playing the piana, violoncello and organ and gave instruction on those instruments. When he was but fourteen years of age be was the organist of the Old First Con- gregationalist Church of South Hadley. This posi- tion he resigned when he enlisted in the spring of 1861 in Company F, Fourty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers. While still in the service he died in the hospital at Newbern, North Carolina. after a brief illness, January 24, 1863. He was unmarried. In a family of exceptional musical ability, he is pronounced by general consent to have been the most gifted of all.

(VII) Mary Lucina Ingraham, fifth child and only daughter of Dexter (6) and Lucina (Ball) Ingraham, was born at South Hadley, Massachusetts, November 16, 1845: She received her education in the public schools of South Hadley, and at the age of seventeen years began the study of music. She was a pupil of Madame Anna Bishop, of New York city, and later of Madame Rudersdorff, of Boston. She was the leading soprano in various churches in Boston, Worcester, Norwich and New Haven ; has now retired from active work and is living in Wor- cester, Massachusetts.

She married (first), May 18, 1875, George Arthur Adams, born November 13. 1848, died October 28, 1889. He was a gifted musician and a noted organ- ist ; was the son of Hon. Charles Adams, Junior, and his wife, Eliza Cummings, of North Brook- field, Massachusetts. Sbe married (second), Octo- ber 3. 1893. Charles W. Delvey, of Worcester, born January 13, 1848, died April 29, 1903. The chil- dren of George A. and Mary Lucina (Ingraham) Adams were: Arthur Ingraham Adams, born No- vember 26, 1883. died June 29, 1905: Mabel Cum- mings Adams, born May 9, 1886, died March 8, 1888.

JOHN WILSON BISHOP, of Worcester. Massachusetts, whose name has been identified for thirty years with some of the largest building opera- tions in the United States and Canada, was born in Prince Edward's Island, May 29, 1846. His father was William Bishop, a ship carpenter, who migrated from Plymouth. England, in 1819, and was for many years employed in the dockyards at St. John's, cultivating also a small farm at White Sands in the south of the island. He married, March 27, 1838, Sarah Hooper, daughter of William Hooper, who was also of English birth. They had nine children : Rachael, born February 12, 1839, married. June 30, 1861, W. M. White, resides at Attleboro, Massachu- setts : Elizabeth, born December 8, 1840, died in in- fancy; Elizabeth, born July 14, 1842, died 1857; Anne, born June 1, 1844, married Jonathan Davison, resides at Lonsdale, Rhode Island ; John Wilson, born May 29. 1846; Sarah, born May 5. 1843. unmarried. resides at Lonsdale, Rhode Island; William, born August 17, 1850, resides at Lonsdale, Rhode Island : Maria, born July 20. 1852, married Daniel Andrews, resides at East Providence, Rhode Island : Nathaniel Smart. born November 29. 1854, married Annie Tucker. of Smithfield, Rhode Island, resides at Providence.

In 1857 the family removed to Lonsdale, a mill village in Rhode Island, where, following the custom of the times. John was put to work in the cotton mills. Here he worked until his fourteenth year when he left the mill to learn the carpenter's trade. He was first with Ezra Bliss, of Pawtucket, with whom he spent two years. Later he went to Provi- dence and worked a year for John and Charles Hull. contractors of that city. During this time his op- portunities for schooling were very slight; altogether

he had not more than a year's regular instruction. But with the same tireless energy and perseverance which in later years characterized all his great opera- tions he applied himself evenings and during every spare moment to laying the foundations for that remarkable fund of practical knowledge and in- formation which was to win for him a place among the most successful organizers and projectors of his generation.

Mastering his trade Mr. Bishop began to look about him for a more promising field and in 1867 decided to make Worcester his home. There his first employer was H. W. Eddy, whose shop was on Norwich street. Later he worked for George and Amos Bigelow, for William Sibley and for Thomas G. Learned and George S. Clough, both while they were partners and for each afterwards. In the fall of 1874 Mr. Bishop went into business for himself. His shop was on Central street, and here he took his first contract, which was to build brick stables for Harrington Brothers on Central street. Next he built a residence for Thomas Eaton on Boynton street and one for C. S. Goddard and W. B. Fay on Irving street. The business was successful from the start, and in 1879 he entered into partnership with George H. Cutting under the firm name of Cutting & Bishop. For fourteen years this firm stood among the foremost in Massachusetts in the extent of its operations. In May, 1893. the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Bishop continued in busi- ness alone under the name of J. W. Bishop & Co. In 1899 the business had assumed proportions which induced Mr. Bishop to incorporate it the better to handle the wide territory over which he was now operating, and under the corporate name of the J. WV. Bishop Co. the business has since been conducted with offices in Worcester, Providence, Boston and New York.

The rapid growth of great business enterprises in America during the past fifty years has become so common as to be accepted as a matter of course. But it is a mistake to overlook the fundamental truths which govern success, and the career of John WV. Bishop contains a valuable lesson as illustrating that individual effort and individual worth must. after all. remain its true basis. A business such as he is the head of today can never owe its upbuild- ing to anything but the personal factor. What it is he made it. He worked hard and he worked late, and he never ceased to learn and apply. He learned from his triumphs and he learned from his defeats, and his lessons became a part of his capital for the future. In like manner he capitalized his rare judg- ment of men, his foresight, his faculty of quick and unerring decision ; all his own ability and the abilities of those he gathered around him he made a working force of and directed it steadily at the objective point. Thus, in one word, the secret of his business is effectiveness, and the secret of its effectiveness is its organization, and here his powers are at their highest. Whenever he undertakes a great building project he first organizes it in every department and detail until the whole becomes an engine with its potentiality centered under his hand. He reduces every detail to a science and then studies it in its relation to every other detail, and thus mastering them all comes to know and understand the whole as a man knows and understands the five fingers of his hand and how to use them.

Although he has devoted thirty years to busi- ness and has reached the age of sixty success has not abated Mr. Bishop's efforts nor has its rewards spoiled his energy. He gives to his business today the same constant care and attention as in the early years when he was struggling for recognition. Then

LUCY PUBLIC

f. D. Bishop

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the success of his first undertaking, though amount- ing to but a few thousand dollars, meant the good or bad beginnings of his reputation, and it is only too natural that the young contractor should have exerted himself to the utmost; but today with a business running annually into the millions he is as jealous of the maintenance of that reputation as he was thirty years ago of its building up, and to that end the successful man of sixty feels him- self as much bound by his business and his obliga- tions to his clients as he was as a struggling be- ginner. A recognized expert in matters of con- struction Mr. Bishop's opinion and judgment are naturally widely sought, and many of the best known architects and engineers in the country are glad to supplement their technical knowledge with his wide and practical experience, and in the exercise of this high responsibility, as in all his dealings, Mr. Bishop's opinions have never been known to be influenced by private motives.

While Mr. Bishop's opportunities to become in- terested in various enterprises have naturally been numerous during the many years of his active busi- mess life, it has been his rule to confine his activ- ities almost wholly to his own business or to indus- tries closely connected thereto. He has organized at different times a number of subsidiary companies to engage in the manufacture of products used in his own business, and these have been without excep- tion highly successful. He is treasurer of The Clason Architectural Metal Works, president of the Rhode Island Brownstone Works and of the Rhode Island Machine Co., Providence enterprises, and is also interested in a number of Worcester's leading industries, though not actively. He is well known among Masons and Odd Fellows, belonging to Athelstan Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and to Eureka Chapter, R. A. M. He is a member of Worcester Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of Wachusett Encampment. lIe is a member of the Worcester County Mechanics' Association and also of the Worcester Board of Trade. He and his family attend the Pilgrim Congregational Church.

Mr. Bishop married, January 4, 1870, Sarah A. Foster, daughter of Thomas R. and Sarah Jane (Fales) Foster, of Holden, Massachusetts. Their children are: Mina, born January 24. 1871, died in infancy: William Thomas, January 25, 1872; Frederick Herbert, November 19, 1874, died in in- fancy; Florence Jane, August 24, 1875; Marion Edith, August 16, 1877, married, March 4, 1897, Thomas H. Coe, of Worcester, they have three chil- dren, Dorothy, John Bishop and Thomas Hamilton ; John Warren, January 14, 1880; Sarah Adelaide, July 6, 1881 : Alice Maria, July 7, 1884, died in in- fancy; Nathaniel Smart, January 31, 1886, died April 13, 1904. Mr. Bishop and his family reside at 1212 Main street. William T. and John W., Jr., are associated with their father in business, Wil- liam T. being vice-president of the company. He is likewise prominent in Masonic circles being a mem- ber of Athelstan Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Worcester Chapter. R. A. M. and Hiram Council, R. and .S. M. Florence J. has taught in the public schools at Providence, Rhode Island, but is now residing with her parents.

The J. W. Bishop Co.'s offices and inill are located at 107 and 109 Foster street. Here all the wood and ornamental iron work is gotten out, while the structural iron and stone work is gotten out at the Providence plants. The Providence of- fice is located at 417 Butler Exchange and is in charge of O. D. Purington. The Boston office is in the Essex building at 683 Atlantic avenue, and is in charge of Heywood S. French. The New York

office is at 353 Fifth avenue, and is in charge of Robert F. Brown. The present officers of the com- pany are : J. W. Bishop, president; William T. Bishop, first vice-president; H. S. French, second vice-president : Herbert N. Leach, treasurer, and Robert F. Brown, secretary.

The monuments to John W. Bishop's long and successful career as a builder are numerous and enduring. The costly palaces of Newport and Lenox, the great government, state and municipal buildings throughout the country which he has erected, will represent to the next generation both his genius and its reward; but as enduring will be the story of his rise from humble beginnings to a foremost place in the business world, a story which will worthily add to a record of achievement in which the history of industrial progress in America is peculiarly rich, and the lesson of it will remain an incentive and an influence for good so long as pluck, ability and success are recognized and ad- mired by the youth and manhood of America.

FALES FAMILY. James Fales (I), was the emigrant ancestor of Mrs. John W. Bishop, daughter of Thomas R. and Sarah J. (Fales) Foster. James Fales, or Vales as the name was often spelled, came from England to Dedham, Massachusetts, in the year 1650. There in 1654, he married Ann Brock. They had seven children, three sons and four daughters. Their sons were: James, born July 4, 1656, settled at Walpole, married Dorothy Fisher and has many descendants there ; John, Octo- ber 6, 1658, married Eunity Hawes, settled at Wrentham, where his descendants still live; Eben- ezer, February 1, 1661, settled on the old homestead at Dedham.

(Il) Nehemiah Fales, son of Ebenezer Fales (I), was born at Dedham in 1695. He married Mary Carew, of Dedham, January 31, 1720. Their recorded children are: Nehemiah, died November 9, 1720; Nehemiah, born November 8, 1724.

(III) Nehemiah Fales, son of Nehemiah (2), born November 8, 1724, married Susanna Searles, at Dedham, June 27, 1745. Their children were : Lemeul, born August 19, 1747: Nehemiah, February I, 1749, married Sarah Whiting, October 10, 1772; Ebenezer, died April 20, 1761, an infant.

(IV) Lemuel Fales, son of Nehemiah Fales (?), settled at Holden, Massachusetts, about 1786 and died there February 14, 1826. His wife Elizabeth died February 4, 1838. Their children were: Sarah, born in Dedham, June 16, 1775; Eleanor, born in Dedham, December 16, 1777, married Joel John- son, of Pelham, Massachusetts, February 7, 1808; Betsey, born in Dedham, June 4, 1779, married David Kimball, at Holden, Massachusetts, December 26, 1801; Ambrose, born in Dedham, December 28. 1780, married Amy Newell, March 8, 1804; Hannah, born in Dedham, September 7, 1782; Lemuel, born in Dedham, March II, 1785, settled in Alburg, Ver- mont; Anna, born in Holden, April 14, 1787, mar- ried Hugh Johnson, of Henderson, New York, December 5, 1815: Samuel Damon, born in Holden, June 15, 1789; David, born in Holden, May 17. 1791 ; John, born in Holden, May 28, 1793: Leonard, born in Holden, March 16, 1798, married Saralı Gray, April 17, 1834, settled in Holden, died Feb- ruary 21, 1839.

( V) Ambrose Fales, son of Lemeul Fales (4). married Amy Newell and had six children: Sarah Jane, born at Holden; Leonard, married Sally Gray ; Ira, married Adaline King, settled at Monson, Massachusetts; Mary married Porter Tower, re- moved to Minnesota, died there; Susan, died young ; Sarah Jane, born November 18, 1827, married

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Thomas R. Foster, December 24, 1845; they were the parents of Mrs. John W. (Foster) Bishop.

Lemuel Fales, of Dedham, Massachusetts, was a private in Captain Joseph Guild's company of min- ute men in Colonel Greaton's regiment, which as- sembled on the Lexington alarm April, 1775. He was also in Captain George Gould's company, Col- onel Paul Sargent's regiment, August 1, 1775. Hc was in Captain Joseph Lewis' company, Colonel William McIntosh's regiment in 1776. He was a corporal in Captain Timothy Stow's company, Col- onel Ephraim Wheelock's regiment at Ticonderoga, 1776. He was in Captain Robert Smith's company Lieutenant-Colonel Symmes' regiment in 1778.

FOSTER FAMILY. Hon. Samuel Foster, who was born in England in 1619 and settled in Ded- ham, Massachusetts, was the progenitor of the Fos- ted family to which Mrs. John W. Bishop belongs. He married in Dedham, Massachusetts, May 30. 1647. Esther Kemp, daughter of Edward Kemp, of Wenham. She died April 16, 1702. He removed to Wenham in 1650, and afterwards to Chelmsford, which town he represented in the general court in 1679. While in Wenham he was a member of the Rev. John Fiske's church there. He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of the new town on the west side of the Concord river, afterwards called Chelmsford, and when the church was organ- ized there he was chosen its first deacon. The Foster homestead was on the lower edge of the northeast corner of Robbins Hill not far from the center of the village, now or lately the home of George A. Parkhurst, the town clerk. He also had other grants of land. In 1666 he was styled lieutenant. In that year he was appointed with two others to lay out land and to view fences. He and his son Samuel and his grandson Samuel pur- chased of Jonathan Tyng in 1675 his interest in five hundred acres of land in Wamesit on the Concord and Merrimac rivers, twenty acres of which they gave to encourage the erection of Hale's mill. In 1675, in King Philip's war, the whites in reprisal butchered the old men left at home by the Indians. Deacon Foster opposed this act and sought to have it punished, but without success. He died July 10, 1702, aged eighty-three.

The children of Samuel and Esther (Kemp) Foster were: Hannah, born 1649, married, June 18, 1705, Benjamin Barrett, of Chelmsford ; Samuel, 1650, married Sarah Keyes: Eli, 1653, married Judith Keyes; Edward, April 30, 1657; Esther, Novem- ber I, 1659, married, July 1, 1681, Abraham Foster, of Andover, Massachusetts ; Andrew, April 30, 1662, died December 20, 1671; Abraham, October 27, 1664, died December 7, 1671 ; Nathaniel, October 14, 1667, married Frances Lovejoy; John, September 28, 1671, died December 13, 1671.

(II) Samuel Foster, son of Samuel Foster (1), was born at Wenham in 1650. He married, May 28, 1678, Sarah Keyes, daughter of Solomon Keyes. She was born in 1657 and died in 1738. He died July 21, 1730. Their children were: Anna, born December 3, 1684; Joseph, November 14, 1686, died January 29, 1689; Edward, January 29, 1689, mar- ried Remembrance Fletcher: Moses, October 4, 1692; Sarah, August 14, 1694; Andrew, March 28, 1695, married Mary Blodgett; Jean, October 28, 1696, married, April 8, 1717, John Senter, one of the pro- prietors of the Scotch-Irish town of Londonderry, New York; she died there in 1765; Samuel, died December 17, 1698; Samuel, died February 18, 1718; Joseph, married Thankful Walker; Elizabeth, spinster, made Robert Foster, son of her brother Joseph, her heir, November II, 1734.

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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 50

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