Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 7

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 7

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(VIII) Malachi F. Dodge, Jr., son of Malachi F. (7), born January 8, 1815, at Eden, Vermont, married, May, 1838, Charlotte A. Ober, of Hopkin- ton, New Hampshire, first, and after her death he married Hannah P. Edwards. Both are now de- ceased. They resided at Manchester, New Hamp- shire, and had following children : I. Infant son, died in 1841. 2. Edward O., born February, 1844; mar- ried Ellen L. Dearborn, deceased. 3. Thomas F., born October, 1846. 4. Willy H., born November, 1851, deceased. 5. James E., born March, 1854, resides in Manchester, New Hampshire, and al- though a Republican in politics has been city auditor for many years under the administration of both parties. 6. Frank E., born September, 1863, deceased.

(VIII) Having brought down from the English ancestor, the line of descendants to which our chief subjects belonged, it should here be stated that he of whom we write, Hon. Thomas H. Dodge (8), was born September 27, 1823, in the town of Eden, Lamoille county, Vermont. He is the fourth son of Malachi F. Dodge (7), and wife Jane Hutchins. Thomas H. had the early advantages of good dis- trict schools, as his father was a well-to-do farmer. The family later moved to the town of Lowell, Vermont, residing on a farm until he was about four- teen years of age, when his eldest brother secured a good position with a manufacturing concern at Nashua, New Hampshire, and the family removed there. Here he applied himself to his school duties and became a great admirer of Judge Edmund Parker, who was his Sabbath school superintendent. The Dodge family there were members of the Olive St. Congregational Church. Through the influence of Judge Parker, young Dodge resolved on becom- ing a lawyer and manufacturer. He proposed to his parents to bear his own expenses and thus showing what he could accomplish, agreeing to pay to his father a sum for the remainder of his time, as he had not yet reached his majority. He decided on learning the cotton manufacturing business, hence commenced at the bottom as a roll carrier, giving him a chance to understand all about the raw product and its preparation for spinning. All this time he was reading books on this subject. After earning sufficient money in the factory he entered Gymnasium Institute, at Pembroke, New Hamp- shire, where he rapidly advanced, and at the com- mencement delivered his first oration, "The Canadian Patriot's Address before his Execution." Learned state lawyers and jurists were present and he made a great impression upon all. One judge made the remark, "That lad has a bright and eventful future

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before him." And true it was. But little did they dream that within a third of a century this lad would stand so high as a manufacturer and in- ventor, as well at the forefront as an advocate and jurist in a special branch of law. He returned to the cotton mills, and in 1850 published his famous review of the "Rise, Progress and Importance of Cotton Manufactures of the United States." He was a close student in many branches of natural phil- osophy and chemistry. He was a born inventor, and knew to succeed he must needs be fully posted, hence his extra training along all mechanical lines occupied his time for years. Among his numerous inventions was his printing press, patented to him by the United States Patent Office, November 18, 1851. From the use of this and other inventions he received a large income at a time in his career of research and activities when most needed to send him up higher. Now having the funds-the product of his own brains-he decided to fit himself for law, and in 1851 he entered the office of Hon. George Y. Sawyer and Col. A. F. Stevens. of Nashua, New Hampshire. Having given three years close study, he was admitted to the bar at Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1854 he opened an office at Nashua. He was then thirty-one years of age. Aside from his own position as a lawyer he had gained prom- inence as a manufacturer and inventor of no small skill. By reason of these things, Hon. Charles Mason, then United States Commissioner of

Patents, was attracted toward this rising genius, and tendered him the position in the examining corps of the United States Patent Office. He was first assistant, but soon his peculiar ability and fit- ness caused him to be made an examiner-in-chief. As long as Commissioner Mason was at the head of the Patent Office, the advice and opinion of Mr. Dodge were constantly sought after. He was finally admitted to practice in the United States supreme court, and had very many large patent cases, some involving millions of dollars, in which he was eminently successful. His clients came from one ocean to the other, and from the forests of Maine to the cotton belt of the far away South- land. In the forepart of 1864, Mr. Dodge took up a residence in Worcester. He had an office and was a third owner of the Union Mowing Machine Company, at Worcester, which plant em- ployed many men and made goods for all parts of the country. In 1881, while still in an extensive law practice, he in connection with Charles G. Washburn, organized the Barbed Fence Company, of Worcester, of which Mr. Dodge was president. This was but the commencement of what has become an immense barbed wire industry. In 1883 the long years of brain work caused a serious break in his usual good health, and he was compelled to retire from the active routine of business cares to which he had subjected himself for so many years.

In a work such as this, it is impossible to give space sufficient to give at length, even an outline, of all of interest connected with this man's career, but in elosing this sketch, a brief review of some of the more important aets in both his private and publie life will be noted. He started out in life with a high aim. He worked his own way through school. He invented several cotton cloth- making appliances by which hundreds of dollars were saved each month by each cotton mill. He in- vented a printing press in the fifties, which principle carried out has given the world its great continuous roll printing presses. He improved the manner of making mowing machines, whereby over a million men's work is saved each haying season. He dis- covered the safety valve defect and has taught the

world much about the cause of steam boiler ex- plosions. He was a chief examiner and chairman of the board of appeals in the United States Patent Office, being appointed by Judge Holt, chairman, who succeeded Judge Mason as Commissioner of Patents. The latter office Mr. Dodge resigned in the fall of 1858. Some idea of the esteem in which Mr. Dodge's services were held may be gained from the fact that the venerable editor-in-chief of the National Intelligencer of Washington said that no other public officer had ever received such a genuine and high tribute as that which Commissioner Holt bestowed upon Mr. Dodge, which was as follows:

United States Patent Office

November 3, 1858.

Sir :- I have received with emotions of unmingled sorrow your letter of yesterday resigning the offce of examiner, the duties of which you have for years discharged with such distinguished honor to yourself, and advantage to the public interest. It would have been to me a source of high gratification could I have enjoy- ed for the future that zealous support which you have so kindly

afforded me in the past. While, however, I feel that your retire-

ment will be a severe loss to the service, as it will be a personal affliction to myself, I cannot be insensible to the weight of the considerations which have determined you to seek another and more attractive field of labor, I shall ever recall with the liveliest satisfaction the pleasant social and official relations which have marked our intercourse, and in accepting your resignation I beg

to offer to you my heartfelt thanks, alike for your personal friend-

ship and for the high, loyal and most effective co-operation, which in the midst of circumstances of difficulty and embarrassment you have constantly extended to me in the adminstration of this office. In whichever of the varied paths of life it may be your fortune to tread, be assured that you will bear with you my warmest wishes for your success and happiness.

Most sincerely your friend. J. Holt.

Mr. Thomas H. Dodge.

He was instrumental in bringing about a change in the United States Postal Department at Wash- ington, by which letters not called for, if containing a return card, would find their way back to the writer, without the long, expensive routine of going through the Dead Letter office. He has been an eminently successful patent attorney, handling in- tricate cases, wherein many millions of money have been at stake. He has been connected with vast mower and barb wire manufacturing industries at Worcester. He has given "Dodge Park" to the city-a gift royal in and of itself. He has, together with his truly estimable wife, been a faithful church and Sabbath school worker. They have donated large sums of money from time to time toward the building of church edifices in Worcester and other

places, including Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, and Union and Piedmont Congregational Churches. He has given to the Odd Fellows of Massachusetts the charming grounds upon which stands the State Odd Fellows' Home in Worcester, and then gave beautiful grounds adjacent known as Dodge Park. These were unselfish gifts, because he is not a member of this great order. He wrote a twenty page genealogy of one branch of the Dodge family in 1880. He was true and loyal to the Union cause in the dark and trying days of the civil war. He lived in Washington, D. C., and has home was ever open to those disposed to care for the sick and wounded soldiers. Both he and his truly good companion gave of their means and distributed delicacies of food, both in and outside the regular

hospitals. At no time did this far-seeing man ever doubt the final triumph which came to the Union cause. Not able himself to enter the army, he furnished a substitute at a cost of one thousand dollars-a young French Canadian, who served with great eredit, and rose to the rank of a commissioned officer.

Mr. Dodge was married June 29, 1843, to Eliza Daniels, of Brookline, New Hampshire, and to her he attributes much of his success in life, as she

STON

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ODD FELLOWS PROCESSION Passing Residence of Thomas H. Dodge after dedicating Odd Fellows State Home,'June 22, 1892

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has ever checred and encouraged his undertakings. The deep interest they have both taken in church work and the support of the same, with their in- terest in the Natural History Camp and the Summer schools for boys and girls, give the readers to know the tendencies of their minds. May 18, 1905, Mr. and Mrs. Dodge each donated five hundred dollars to the cause.

Mr. Dodge is a man of distinguished presence, dignified. yet genial. His has been a life of great usefulness. He is noted for liberality of mind and kind hospitality. The warm place he holds in the affections of the people, in a community in which he has done so much good work, and spent so large a portion of his useful and honorable life, is the best evidence of his work as a citizen whom all Massa- chusetts may well be proud to own.

AUGUSTUS GEORGE BULLOCK. Richard Bullock. (I) the emigrant ancestor of A. George Bullock, of Worcester, settled in Rehoboth, Mass., in 1643. He was a man of some prominence in the town. Among other positions he held was that of town clerk in 1659. He married (first), August 4, 1647, Elizabeth Ingraham, probably daughter of Richard Ingraham. a settler of Rehoboth : he married (second) Elizabeth Billington, September 21, 1660. His children were: Samuel, born August 19. 1648; Elizabeth, October 9, 1650; Mary, February 16, 1652: Mehitable. April 4, 1655; Abigail, August 29, 1657; Hopestill. December 26, 1659; Israel, July 15, 1661 ; Mercy, March 13, 1662, died March 19, 1663: John, May 19, 1664; Richard, March 15, 1666-7. (II) Samuel Bullock, son of Richard (I) and Elizabeth (Ingraham) Bullock, was born at Reho- both, Massachusetts, August 19, 1648. He was a farmer and lived at Rehoboth. His name appears in the list of proprietors of Rehoboth in 1689. He was a contributor to the fund raised for de- fence in King Philip's war in 1675. He married (first) Mary Thurber, November 12, 1673. He mar- ried (second) Thankful Rouse, May 26, 1675. Their children were: Mary, born October 4. 1674; Eben- ezer, February 22, 1676; Thankful, June 26, 1681; Samuel, November 7, 1683: Israel, April 9, 1687; Daniel, 1689: Richard, July 1, 1692; Seth, September 26. 1693.

(II) Ebenezer Bullock, son of Samuel Bullock (2), was born at Rehoboth, Massachusetts. February 22. 1676. He married Sarah Moulton, March 29, 1698. They resided at Rehoboth. Their children were: Mary, born June 6, 1699; Mehitable, April I, 1701; Samuel, November 17, 1703; Hugh, April I, 1706; Aaron, 1707; Squier, March 4, 1709; Mir- iam, September 30, 1711; Thankful, May 23, 1714; Katherine, died December, 1707; James, August 21, 1-16.

(IV) Hugh Bullock, son of Ebenezer Bullock (3). was born at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, April I. 1706. He married (first) Anna Cole, 1733; (sec- ond) Mehitable- He resided at Rehoboth. His children were: James, born Decem- ber 17, 1734; Alethea, March 12, 1736; Ebenezer, June 30. 1739; Sarah, August 17, 1741; Moulton, November 5, 1743; Prudence, May 6, 1746; Hugh, August 12. 1751; Barnet (records give Barnard), June 20, 1773.

(V) Hugh Bullock, son of Hugh Bullock (4) and Anna Cole, was born August 12, 1751, at Rehoboth, Massachusetts. His brother Moulton re- moved to Royalston, Massachusetts, before the rev- olution and settled there. Moulton's farm was owned in 1865 by Jason Fisher. Hugh went to Royalston during the revolution. Hugh Bullock's farm was north of his brother's. After his sons

were grown up and engaged in other business he built a house on the common, west of his son Bar- net's house. This house was occupied in 1865 by C. Il. Newton. Hugh died in this house in 1837, at the age of eighty-five. His wife, Rebecca (Davis) Bul- lock, died 1809, aged fifty years. Hugh Bullock was one of the company that started for Saratoga to repel the invasion of Burgoyne. He was in Captain Peter Woodbury's company, Colonel Job Cushing's regiment, which reinforced General Stark at Bennington, Vermont The children of llugh Bullock (5) were: Rufus, born September 23, 1779: Calvin; Moulton, born 1787, died 1865; Bar- net, horn 1798, died 1884; Candace, was living in Royalston 1865.

Christopher, Ebenezer, Nathan, and David Bul- lock also settled in Royalston about this time. The history of Royalston states that they were cousins of Hugh and Deacon Moulton Bullock. They were all stalwart men. David being the tallest man in town. Their stay in town was short. When they had their places well cleared and were in the full vigor of manhood they went westward, following the tide of settlers from the Atlantic states inland after the revolution.

(VI) Rufus Bullock, son of Hugh Bullock (5), was born at Royalston, Massachusetts, September 23, 1779. He was perhaps the most distinguished man who spent his life in the town of Royalston. He died there January 10, 1858. With small means he laid the foundation of a good education and be- came an acceptable school teacher before he was of age. He taught school several winters and worked out at farming in the summers. He was clerk in the country store, and finally opened a store on his own account on the common. The business prospered and he led the life of a country merchant the remainder of his days, accumulating a fortune for his day and enjoying to a remarkable degree the respect and confidence of the people of the vicinity. Mr. Bullock made it a rule to expand his business as his means increased, never going beyond but always using fully what he had. He al- ways gave every detail of his varied business in- terests his personal supervision. He began to manu- facture at his inill in South Royalston, which was very successful. He always conducted a farm and took time to work in the fields himself, notwith- standing the demands of his store and factory. He seemed to find recreation in the variety of his interests.

Mr. Bullock often served the town in public of- fice. He was town clerk in 1812 and 1813. He was selectman in 1811-12-13. He represented Royalston and his district for five years in the general court. He was in the state senate 1831-32. He was dele- gate to the constitutional conventions in 1820 and 1852, and was once chosen a presidential elector. He left $5.000 in his will to the Congregational church, in which he always took a profound inter- est ; he gave $2,500 to the Baptist Society; $2,500 to the Second Congregational Church at South Roy- alston; $5,000 to the town of Royalston for schools. A significant proviso of the last named bequest was that the town must keep the cemetery in re- pair or forfeit the money. The condition of the old graveyards of Massachusetts at times has been a reproach to civilization in this state. Mr. Bul- lock's bequest will doubtless save the graves of Roy- alston from desecration and neglect. Mr. Bullock was a trustee of Amherst College and presented the telescope for the observatory.

He married, May 4, 1808, Sarah Davis, of Rindge, New Hampshire. The history of Royalston says of her : "She still survives (1865) and lives among

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us, the same industrious and cheerful matron of the olden type, whose wisdom and energy helped to build the house; and who is still spared to enjoy it, when builded, and still to attract the children and the children's children to the ancient home- stead." Of Mr. Bullock it says: "He was a pa- triot of the early type-a gentleman of the olden school-a friend to be trusted, a man whose prin- ciples bore the test of intimate acquaintance and in- spection, and whose influence, unobtrusive but po- tent, has been eminently useful." Their children were: Maria Louisa, born October 14, 1809; Emily, born September 10, 1811, married W. D. Ripley, died May 1, 1904; Rebecca, born April 28, 1814, married Nelson Wheeler; Alexander Hamilton, born March 2, 1816, died January 17, 1882; Charles Augustus, born 1818, died August 25, 1882; Rufus Henry, born January 9, 1821.

(VII) Alexander Hamilton Bullock, son of Rufus Bullock (6), was born at Royalston, Massa- chusetts, March 2, 1816. He entered Amherst Col- lege in 1832, was a diligent student and on his graduation, in 1836, delivered the salutatory ora- tion at commencement. In the catalogue of his contemporaries at college are found the names of Rev. Richard S. Storrs, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Bishop Huntington and other famous men. After graduating he taught school for a short time at Princeton, N. J., and then partly at the wish of his father and partly on account of his own inclination entered the Harvard Law School. After leaving the law school he spent a year in the office of the well known lawyer, Emory Washburn, of Worcester, where he gained a good knowledge of the details of legal practice, and in 1841 was admitted to the bar. Senator Hoar said of Mr. Bullock: "He disliked personal controversy. While he possessed talents which would have rendered him a brilliant and per- suasive advocate, the rough contests of the court house could never have been congenial to him. He was associated with Judge Thomas as junior coun- sel in one important capital trial, in which he is said to have made an eloquent opening argument. He had a considerable clientage for a young man, to whom he was a safe and trustworthy adviser. But he soon established a large business as agent of im- portant insurance companies and withdrew himself altogether from the practice of law."

From early manhood Mr. Bullock took a decided interest in politics. The prominence of his father in political circles may have increased a natural taste for public life. He was particularly well versed in constitutional law and that fact, together with the well defined convictions he held, gave him in debate and in administration great advantages. He was originally a Whig. Step by step he advanced to the highest position in the commonwealth. He was a member of the house of representatives for eight years, first in 1845, last in 1865. In 1862- 63-64-65, during the civil war, all legislative positions were of extraordinary importance and in- volved great responsibility. He was exceedingly popular among his colleagues. He was a state sena- tor in 1849, judge of the Worcester county court of insolvency for two years-1856-8, having served as commissioner of insolvency since 1853. He was mayor of Worcester in 1859. The greatest event of his public career was his service as governor of the commonwealth in 1866-67-68. At his first elec- tion he received nearly 50,000 votes more than his opponent. Governor Bullock had many opportuni- ties to serve in high positions in the national gov- ernment. Among other places that he declined was the mission to England offered him by President Hayes.

In financial, humane and all reformatory move-

ments Governor Bullock was active and efficient. He was president of the State Mutual Life Assur- ance Company, and of the Worcester County In- stitution of Savings; director of the Worcester National Bank; chairman of the finance commit- tee of the trustees of Amherst College, and a life member of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society. While editor and publisher of the Daily degis (now The Gazette) he displayed marked ability as a writer and newspaper man. He re- ceived the honorary degree of LL. D. from Amherst and Harvard Colleges. He was a great friend of learning, interested in all educational institutions.

In 1869 he visited Europe with his family. Upon his return the following year he was received with a public demonstration to welcome him home and give evidence of the respect and love of his towns- men. Governor Bullock was an orator of great power. A volume of his addresses was published. Senator Hoar, who made a special study of orators, said of Gevernor Bullock's speeches: "Above all, he possessed, beyond any of his living contemporar- ies, that rare gift of eloquence which always has been and always will be a passport to the favor of the people where speech is free." His eulogy of President Lincoln in Worcester in 1865 was one of many notable public addresses that he delivered. He delivered the commemorative oration at the centennial of the incorporation of his native town of Royalston.

Governor Bullock married, 1844, Elvira Hazard, daughter of Colonel A. G. Ilazard, of Enfield, Connecticut, founder of the Hazard Gunpowder Manufacturing Company. Their children were: Augustus George, born at Enfield, Connecticut ; Isa- bel, married Nelson S. Bartlett, of Boston; Fanny, married Dr. William H. Workman, of Worcester.

(VIII) A. George Bullock, son of the late Alex- ander H. (7) and Elvira (Hazard) Bullock, was born June 2, 1847, at Enfield, Connecticut. His life has been spent from infancy, however, in the city of Worcester. He attended the Highland Military Academy and graduated there in 1862. After two years of preparation under Professor E. G. Cutler he entered college in 1864. Professor Cutler, his tutor, was afterward professor of English literature at Harvard. In 1868 Mr. Bullock graduated at Harvard College. Soon afterward he began the study of law in the offices of the late Judge Thomas L. Nelson and the late Senator George F. Hoar. He was admitted to the bar and entered upon the practice of his profession. His career as a lawyer closed with his election to the presidency of the great insurance company, although a legal train- ing is perhaps most essential in the education of the executive head of such a corporation. Certainly Mr. Bullock's legal experience increased his effi- ciency and augumented his success in developing the business of the State Mutual Company. His predecessor in the presidency was Philip L. Moen, who completed the year to which Mr. Bullock's father, Alexander H. Bullock, had been elected in January, 1882, his death two weeks later making a vacancy. In the following year A. George Bullock was elected. New methods were introduced and the company grew amazingly. This company began its business in Worcester in 1845. Its first first presi- ident, John Davis, its third president, Alexander H. Bullock, and its vice-president, Emory Washburn, were at various times elected governor of the com- monwealth. The second president of the company, Isaac Davis, was almost as prominent in public af- fairs as his uncle who preceded him. He was president twenty-nine years. A vice president and one of the organizers was John Milton Earle, who was editor of The Spy for so many years. In

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Mex. H. Bullock

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al. Bullock

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recent years, under the present management, the business of the company has increased phenomenally. The company has among its assets one of the at- tractive office buildings of Boston and the most val- uable office building by far in Worcester, contain- ing two hundred and one offices.

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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 7

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