Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. II, Part 4

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 732

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. II > Part 4

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WORCESTER COUNTY

of this kind are lacking in these qualities. The goods of the Royal Worcester Corset Company have stood the test of every exposition of the past thirty years. The product of the factory is sold direct to the retail stores all over the country. The capital stock of the company is four hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Fanning is president and chief owner, and Walter F. Brooks, his nephew, is treasurer.

Notable among Mr. Fanning's personal char- acteristics is his intense patriotism. He springs from men who fought in all wars in which our country has been engaged, even back to the French and Indian wars. In politics he is a Republican. He is a man of pronounced opinions and once he knows he is right, whether it be a business or per- sonal proposition that confronts him, he goes ahead and nothing stands in the way of his accomplishing his end. In business he is a disciplinarian, and his influence is felt everywhere in his great factory. Cleanliness, deportment, order, system and attention, which are so much in evidence about him, are the results of his constant care and training. In spite of an active business life, Mr. Fanning has found time to study men and things, conditions historical and geographical, keeps thoroughly in touch with the contemporaneous news of the time, and will stand in commercial history as a forceful illustration of what a man may be if he will.

Mr. Fanning married, at Worcester. September 28, 1859, Rosamond Hopkins Dawless, daughter of Young Simmons and Adaline Fidelia (Willard ) Dawless. She was born at Sterling, Massachusetts, May 6, 1837, died at Worcester, Massachusetts, De- cember 14, 1901. She is buried in the family lot in Rural cemetery, Worcester. Their children were: 1. Agnes Maria, born in Worcester, September 29, 1864. married, at Worcester, April 6, 1892, John Edward Lancaster, born in New York city, Decem- ber 1, 1863, died November 14, 1905. He was presi- dent of the United States Corset Company, formerly the Globe Corset Company of Worcester. Mrs. Lancaster was educated in Mt. Holyoke Seminary and Lasell Seminary, Auburndale, Massachusetts. Their children are: John Edward, born February 27, 1893; Robert Allan, born September 9. 1895 : Rosamond, born April 19, 1897. 2. Frank Everett, born in Worcester, March 20, 1869, died August 21, 1869. 3. Helen Josephine, born in Worcester. June IO, 1870, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke Seminary and College. class of 1891; resides with her father.

SMITHI FAMILY. John Smith (1). the immi- grant ancestor of Elliott T. Smith, Jesse Smith, Orrin H. Smith and Frank A. Smith, of Wor- cester, and that branch of the family to which they belong, was one of several among the first settlers of Rhode Island bearing the name of John Smith, and to distinguish him from the others he has been called by the trade he followed, "John, the Mason." There was "John, the Miller" and "Jamaica John," also in Providence, both progenitors of important Rhode Island families. The trade of mason and the allied trade of lime burning has been followed by many generations of the descendants of "John. the Mason." He was born in England and was among the early settlers at Providence, where he died in 1660. March I. 1654, he deeded a house and lot of Samuel Comstock's estate. He was living in Warwick, December 17, 1657, and was useful as a surveyor in the county. His second wife was Anne Comstock, widow of Samuel Comstock. She died in 1661. Among his children was John, Jr., sce forward.

(11) John Smith, Jr., son of John Smith (I). was doubtless born in England about 1625. He died

in 1687. He was also a mason by trade. He was admitted a freeman in 1670. He owned lot No. 42 in Providence and assigned it February 19, 1665. His name is on the tax list July 1, 1679. His will was presented for probate April 4, 1688. It was dated March 16, 1687. His executor was his son Joseph. He married Elizabeth who died 1706. The children of John and Elizabeth Smith were: Leonard, died unmarried in 1676; he was a witness on a deed of Roger Williams's in 1665. was admitted a freeman in 1670, was a deputy to the general assembly, resided at Providence and Newport, and left estate to brother John. John, died 1676 unmarried; was killed in King Philip's war. Benjamin, a mason, died unmarried 1716. Eleanor. married Eleazer Arnold. Joseph, see for- ward. Mary, married Thomas Hopkins.

(III) Joseph Smith, son of John Smith (2), was born about 1655. He also was a mason and joiner. He settled the estate of his brothers John and Leonard, who died in the same year. January 15, 1677. he sold to Ralph Paine, of Newport, land in Providence as administrator of his brother, John Smith, heir and executor of their brother. Leonard Smith. Ile was admitted a freeman in 1681. March 3. 1690, he sold other lands to John Keese, of Ports- mouth, as administrator of the estate of John, heir of Leonard Smith. He removed from Providence to Smithfield, Rhode Island, where he was living January 31, 1732, when he deeded to his son John one hundred acres and a quarter right to the com- mon land. He mentions Joseph, another son, with John in a deed of land dated March 31, 1735. form- erly of the estate of his grandfather, John Smith, deceased. The son Leonard is presumed to be named for his brother Leonard, whose estate he ad- ministered.

(IV) Leonard Smith, son of Joseph (3), was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, about 1715. He married Elizabeth , and their children, born at Smithfield, Rhode Island, were: Jonathan, see forward; Sarah, born February 5, 1745-46: Leon- ard, Jr., September 29, 1748; Simon, October 29, 1754.

(V) Jonathan Smith, son of Leonard Smith (4), was born at Smithfield, Rhode Island, August 9, 1741. He settled in the adjacent town of Cumber- land, Rhode Island. He was a soldier in the revo- lution, with the rank of lieutenant in Captain Kim- ball's company, Colonel Hutchinson's regiment. from Providence county. He married Rebecca Nichols, of Rehoboth (by Elder Daniel Miller). April 7, 1768. He married (second) Margaret The children of Jonathan and Rebecca Smith, born in Cumberland, were: Jesse. January 6. 1762 or 1769; Sylvester, see forward. The children of Jonathan and Margaret Smith, born in Cumberland, were : Jacob. April IS. 1779: Margaret, December 13. 1781. (VI) Sylvester Smith, son of Jonathan Smith (5). was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, De- cember 15. 1772. He was a lime burner by trade and three of his sons, who followed this trade, set- tled in Rockland, Maine, viz .: Leprelet (or Pre- late as it is spelled in Rhode Island records). Lewis and Charles W. Sylvester Smith married, June 22, 1794. Luruhamma (generally spelled Ruhammah) Goff. of Smithfield. The marriage was performed by Holliman Potter, justice, whose very name has a clerical sound. Sylvester Smith lived in Smith- field, his children were horn there and he probably died there. The children of Sylvester and Ruham- mah Smith were: Anna, born January IS. 1795; Jesse, November S. 1796; Prelate (Leprelat, as spelled in the Rockland records). May 13, 1802, mar- ried Mercy -- , settled in Rockland, Maine, re-

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PUBLIC LITERARY

Jesse Smith

WORCESTER COUNTY

moved to the west; Lewis, December 26, 1803, see forward; Charles Westcott, August 13, 1809, mar- ried (first) Almira Achorn, December 26, 1833; (second) Betsey Currier, January 1, 1843; removed to West Camden, Maine; Lydia, August 20, 1814.

(VII) Lewis Smith, fourth child of Sylvester Smith (6), was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, December 26, 1803. He was in the lime burning business and removed to Rockland, Maine, to carry on the lime business there. He came to Worcester in 1849, where for many years he was engaged in the lime business. He died March 15, 1867. He married Maria Rice in Rhode Island. Their chil- dren were: George L, born June 4, 1826; Manly S., June 11, 1828, is a sea captain in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts ; has several children; Abigail P., August 4, 1831, married John Bird, of Rockland, Maine; children-William and Abbie, living: Elliott T., sec forward; Jesse, see forward; John W., May 16, 1839, at Rockland, enlisted July 12, 1861, in Company D, Fifteenth Regiment, and was killed at Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861. He was unmarried ; Harriet Elizabeth. June 15, 1841, married Rev. James Taylor, who survives her; James W., resides in Boston; Orrin H., born in Rockland. All of the eight children living in 1849 came to Worcester with their parents, and the family has for the most part made Worcester their home ever since.

(VIII) Elliott Tolman Smith, son of Lewis Smith (7), was born in Rockland, Maine, July 31, 1833. He was sixteen years of age when the family moved to Worcester, on his birthday, July 31, 1849. He spent his boyhood in Rockland, where he attended the district schools and learned his first lessons in business. He went to work for the Western Rail- road, now the section of the New York Central be- tween Worcester and Albany, and remained in this business three years, most of the time in the freight department. He was then employed by Hitchcock & Muzzy, manufacturers of firearms in the Merri- field buildings until 1857. The winter of 1857-58 he spent in New Orleans in the lightning rod busi- ness. He began in business for himself in Wor- cester at the corner of Shrewsbury and Millbury streets, where the Smith-Green Company is still located. That was in 1858 and nearly fifty years find him still in business in the harness among the most successful merchants of Worcester. His groc- ery store was in a building used by his father to store lime.

The business grew steadily. In 1868 he took up the wholesale department and found that more at- tractive than the retail business. In 1870 he turned over the retail business to his brother and there- after has devoted his attention to jobbing and whole- sale business. At that time he took as partner Charles A. Bigelow. For fifteen years the business continued under the name of E. T. Smith & Co. Upon the death of his partner in 1885 Mr. Smith formed a new partnership with Charles F. Bigelow. Frank A. Smith, Charles A. King, F. B. Waite and Charles H. Robinson. The two latter soon with- drew from the firm. The present E. T. Smith Com- pany was incorporated in 1896 with a capital stock of $100,000 with Elliott Smith. president: F. A. Smith, his son, vice-president; C. F. Bigelow, treas- urer, and C. A. King, secretary. The large block erected by Mr. Smith in 1874 in Washington Square was occupied until 1893, when the company moved to its new building on Summer street and the Smith-Green business has since occupied the older building.

Mr. Smith's recreation and amusements have heen largely out of doors. He is a lover of nature and enjoys fishing and hunting. He is a member of

the Worcester Sportsmen's Club. He is a member of the Board of Trade, and is a well known Free Mason, belonging to Worcester County Command- ery. Knights Templar and the other Masonic or- ganizations of the city. He resides at 839 Main street, where he has a handsome home. Mr. Smith's business ability has placed him in the front rank of merchants. His long and uniformly successful ca- reer gives him a place among the foremost men of business in this section. His personal character has won him the respect and confidence of his associates and fellow-citizens to an unusual degree.

Mr. Smith married, January 12, 1860, Elizabeth C. Campbell, of Worcester, and their only child, Frank A. Smith, born April 1, 1864, is now the treasurer and manager of the house of E. T. Smith Company.

(VIII) Jesse Smith, son of Lewis Smith (7), was born in Rockland, Maine, March 27, 1836. He attended the district schools of his native town and those of Worcester after the family removed in 1849 to that city. He began his business life in the clothing store of D. H. Eames, then Thayer & Eames, then and now at the corner of Main and Front streets, Worcester. He was a clerk in this store for nine years. In 1861 he began business on his own account in Lewistown, Maine. After five years he returned to Worcester to enter partner- ship with his brother. Elliott T. Smith, in the retail grocery business on Shrewsbury street. In 1870 the partnership was dissolved E. T. Smith went on with the wholesale business and Jesse Smith took the retail business in company with the late Henry A. Green, who had been with the firm for some time. The retail store was carried on until the death of the junior partner under the name of Smith & Green, a name familiar to all residents of Wor- cester for a generation. The present name, Smith- Green Company, was taken in 1893 when the busi- ness was incorporated, with Mr. Smith as president and owner of the property. In addition to the ordi- nary grocery business the firm made a specialty of lime and cement, the line in which Mr. Smith's father had dealt years before, and eventually this branch of the business became the largest part of it.

In 1894 Richard C. Cleveland, who married his daughter, became connected with the business, treas- urer of the company, and later, after Mr. Smith's death, the head of the house. His firm was one of the largest and best known retail- provision and grocery stores in this section. Mr. Smith was a prominent citizen in every sense of the word, al- though he never held public office. He was at- tractive personally and popular among his friends. In Masonic circles he was quite active. He was a member of Athelstan Lodge, Worcester Lodge of Perfection, Hiram Council. Lawrence Chapter, Rose Croix: Worcester County Commandery. Knights Templars, and the Massachusetts Consistory. He was treasurer of the Worcester Masonic Charity and Educational Association. He was also mem- ber of the Commonwealth Club, the Tatassit Canoe Club and of the Worcester Board of Trade. He died suddenly November 18, 1897.

Of Mr. Smith's character, Rev. Dr. Alomon C. Gunnison pastor of the First Universalist Church, of which Mr. Smith was a member. now the presi- dent of Washington University. said at the time of his death: "He was a man of marked integrity. In all the close competitions of business he kept himself unsullied by deceit. He was honorable in his dealings, scrupulously honest in word and deed, winning success by no unworthy practices, but by an industry that was tireless and a thrift that was persistent. *

* He was a sunny-hearted man;

WORCESTER COUNTY

and the sunshine that was in his heart not only illuminated his own me and made it genial, but it warmed the social atmosphere in which he moved. Every life he touched ne gladdened. His speech was cheery, because he was filled with good-will to men. He had friends because he showed himself friendly. No neighbor was switter in sympathy or more ready with offices of neighborly good-will. He was not only charitable in his deeds and words, but was equally kind in all his judgments. He was slow to believe ill of others, as he was quick to contradict detraction of friends. If he heard unkind criticism with gentle rebuking, he showed the picture's other side, and magnified men's virtues when others re- viled their faults. He had that rare insight of love which saw the good rather than the evil that was in others, and he remembered the good and forgot the bad. There are few qualities of greater worth than this. Every man is a benefactor to his kind who throws a ray of sunshine across the path in which men bear their burdens, who gives the cour- age of a new hope to those who struggle, and illumi- nates and warms with the sunshine of his own good will those who are heavy laden. This was his mnis- sion in life; and it made men love him while he lived, and caused a great throng to rise up and call him blessed."

Mr. Smith married, February 17, 1859. Jane Hopcroft, daughter of Henry Hopcroft. She was born in England. After coming to America the family lived at Fort Plain, New York. Mrs. Smith survives her husband and resides in her old home, 35 Oread street, Worcester, with her daughter, Mrs. R. C. Cleveland. The children of Jesse and Jane ( Hopcroft) Smith were: Harry Lewis, born An- gust 7. 1807. in Worcester, died there February 9, 1876; Herbert Jesse, born in Worcester. October 9. 1869. died there August 7, 1870; Gertrude Elizabeth, born April 13. 1872, married R. C. Cleveland.

(\'711) Orrin II. Smith, son of Lewis Smith (7), was born in Rockland, Maine, December 9, 1846. He came with the family to Worcester in 1849 and has since lived in that city. He went into the rail- road business and was for a number of years loco- motive engineer on the section now known as the Boston & Albany Railroad. For many years he has been in the retail grocery business at 143 Graf- ton street in company with C. M. Crockett. The firm name is Smith & Crockett. He is married and has one daughter. Flora.

(IX) Gertrude Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Jesse Smith (8). was born in Worcester, Massa- chusetts, April 13, 1872. She was educated in private schools in Worcester and Greenfield, Massachusetts. She married, September 26, 1894, Richard C. Cleve- land.

Richard C. Cleveland was born in Danville, Quebec. September 30 1871. He is the son of Clarence Chester and Fluvia E. ( Cleveland ) Cleve- land. ( See Cleveland Genealogy for his ancestry.) When fourteen years old he went to Beloit, Wiscon- sin, to school and there fitted for college. Ile en- tered the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he was graduated in 1803. He returned to his home in Canada and worked for a time for the Rand Drill Company of Montreal. In 1804 he came to Worcester and associated himself with the Smith- Green Company. After the business was incorpor- ated he became the treasurer of the company, and in 1807, after the death of Jesse Smith, he became the president and treasurer. The retail meat and grocery business was sold a few years later to Walker Armington and the entire attention of the company given to the lime and cement business. The other officers of the corporation are members

of Mr. Cleveland's family: Mrs. Jesse Smith, and Mrs. Cleveland, who is clerk of the corporation. Mr. Cleveland is a member of Quinsigamond Lodge of Free Masons, Hiram Council, Worcester County Commandery. Knights Templar; of the Tatassit Canoe Club, the Uptown Club, the Tatnuck Country Club and the Worcester Club. He is a director of the Merchants National Bank of Worcester. Chil- dren of Richard C. and Gertrude Elizabeth (Smith ) Cleveland are : Bruce Cleveland, born May 31, 1897 ; Chester Bissell, May 22, 1902.

(IX) Frank Albert Smith, son of Elliott Tol- man Smith (8), was born in Worcester, Massachu- setts, April 1. 1864. He received his education m the public schools of Worcester, taking a two-year course in the classical high school. In 1880 he went to work for his father's firm, E. T. Smith & Co., then on Shrewsbury street, as clerk in the office, continuing until 1885, when the new com- pany was formed, after the death .of Charles A. Bigelow. At that time Charles F. Bigelow, Charles A. King. F. B. Waite and Charles H. Robinson as well as Mr. Smith became partners. Later Mr. Waite and Mr. Robinson withdrew from the firm. In 1896, when the firm became a corporation, Frank A. Smith was elected vice-president and Charles F. Bigelow, treasurer. On the death of Mr. Bige- low, in 1900, Mr. Smith became the treasurer also, and at present is vice-president, treasurer and man- ager of the concern. Mr. Smith attends All Saints' Episcopal Church of Worcester. In politics he is a Republican. He is a prominent Free Mason, mem- ber of Quinsigamond Lodge, Eureka Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, Hiram Council of Royal and Select Masters, Worcester County Commandery Knights Templar; Massachusetts Consistory. Thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Masonry. He belongs to Aleppo Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.

He married (first). June 20, 1888, May L. Wal- worth, of Worcester, who was born February 13, 1865, daughter of George and Ella ( Pierce ) Wal- worth. Her father was a merchant at Coventry, Vermont. He married (second ), March 4. 1902, Mary C. Duval, of Springfield, Massachusetts, who was born January 2, 1872, daughter of Peter C. and Clara Duval. Her family originally came from France.

BALL FAMILY. John Ball (1). who settled at Wat.rtown, Massachusetts, in 1650, was the pro- genitor of Phinehas Ball, late mayor of the city of Worcester. of Rev. George S. Ball, of Upton, and of most of the Worcester county families with this surname. He is said to have came from Wiltshire in England. He was admitted a freeman of Watertown. May 22, 1650. He removed to Concord and died there 1655, on November I, according to one record, but was according to another buried on October 1, 1655. The inventory of his estate was filed in the Middle- sex court.

The three children of this John and Elizabeth Ball were: Nathaniel, who settled in Concord, in the part now included in Bedford: married, Feb- ruary 7, 1670, Margery Bateman, widow of Thomas Bateman, of Concord, Massachusetts, and had four children: Ebenezer, Eleazer, John and Nathaniel ; John: Abigail (posthumous) (?), born April 26, 1656. at Watertown, Massachusetts.

( II ) John Ball, son of John Ball (1), was born about 1620 He was a tailor by trade. He married Elizabeth Peirce, daughter of John Peirce, of Water- town. ( See sketch of descendants of John Peirce in this work.) His wife died after a trying illness. He married (second), October 3. 1665. Elizabeth Fox, daughter of Thomas Fox, of Concord, after-

WORCESTER COUNTY

ward of Watertown. He had five children by the first marriage and one by the second, if the records are complete. October 21, 1665, be sold his farm at Watertown, purchased originally of John Lawrence, and settled at Lancaster, where, with his wife and infant child, he was slain by the Indians in the at- tack of February 20, 1676 (new style), in King Phil- ip's war. His estate was administered by his son, John Ball, Jr., appointed February 1, 1677-8.

The children of John and Elizabeth ( Peirce) Ball were: John, born 1644; Mary, mentioned in will of John Peirce's wife: Sarah; Esther, born about 1655: Abigail, born at Watertown, April 20, 1658, died young. The children of John and Eliza- beth ( Fox) Ball were : Joseph, born March 12, 1609-70.

It appears from the history of Lancaster that John Ball (2), who was killed as stated above, was one of the first three settlers in Lancaster as early a> 1043, a fact that explains perhaps why so little is to be found about him in the Watertown records. Lancaster was originally called Nashaway. It was purchased of Sholan, sachem of the Nashaways, by Thomas King and others and comprised a tract eight miles wide by ten miles long, and the deed was approved by the general court. The company in accordance with their agreement to make a set- tlement sent three men, Richard Linton, Lawrence Waters and John Ball, to whom lots were given, to make preparations for the general coming of the proprietors.

Winthrop in his history under the date of May. 1644. stated that many from Watertown and other towns joined the plantation at Nashaway and wished to call one Mr. Noreross to be their minister, but they were not encouraged as there were no houses built in the settlement. At the end of 1644 there were but two dwellings in the place, occupied by Ball, Linton and Waters. The two latter remained and their descendants have figured largely in Lan- caster history.

(III) John Ball, son of John Ball (2), was born in Watertown. 1644. He married, October 17, 1665, Sarah Bullard, daughter of George and Beatrice . Bullard, of Watertown. He lived most of the time at Watertown, but presumably had interests at Lan- caster and vicinity, whither several of his children went.

The seven children of John and Sarah (Bullard) Ball were: Sarah, born July 11, 1666, married, March 13, 1684-5, Allen Flagg, of Watertown, by whom she had nine children ( Benjamin Flagg, brother of Allen Flagg, was one of the sureties on the bond of Phinehas Ball's guardian) : John, born June 29, 1668, died at Waltham, October 24, 1752, aged eighty-five years; James, born March 7, 1670, died February 22, 1729-30: Joseph, born May 4. 1674. will proved April 8, 1730: Jonathan, born March 29. 1680, died about 1727; Daniel, born Au- gust 2. 1683. died March 9, 1717-8: married, October 10, 1708. Mary Earle and had: Mary, born Decem- ber 27. 1700. who married Joseph Mixer and settled in Shrewsbury : Lydia, baptized August 7, 1715, mar- ried Samuel Harrington, of Waltham, Abigail, born October 5. 1686.

(IV) Jonathan Ball, son of John Ball (3), born March 20, 1680, died about 1727. He married Sarah Whitney, January 5. 1700-10. They settled at Water- town but he may have lived for a time at Lancaster. The birth of their youngest child is recorded at Waltham, although born in Watertown.

The children of this Jonathan and Sarah ( Whit- ney ) Ball were: Sarah, born in Watertown, 1710; Jonathan, born in Watertown, married Martha , and lived for a time at Lancaster, where

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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. II, Part 4

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 732

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 732