Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. II, Part 75

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 75

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(V) Aaron Parker, son of Timothy Parker, Jr. (4), was born December 13, 1767. He came to Holden, Massachusetts, before his father. and formed a partnership with his cousin, Aaron White. and kept a store in the house so long owned and occupied by him as a residence and which is still in good condition. He died October 7, ISII. his death being caused by a bruise in the palm of his hand from a spike pole in raising a barn on the Timothy Parker place. He married, April 2, 1794, Ruth Smith, who was born in Worcester, October 8, 1768. and died October 17, 1852. Their children were: I. Henry, born February 12, 1795, died May 27, 1700. 2. Aaron, Jr .. born October 10, 1796. mar- ried, May 29. 1823. Asenath Raymond, who died March 27, 1856. 3. George S., born August 22, 1798, died July 1, 1821. 4. Henry, born February 24. 1800, died March 31. 1854. 5. Elizabeth, born September 2. 1802, died October 24, 1822. 6. Timothy, born August 31. 1804. married, September 15. 1833, Lois Pollard Fiske. born March 17. 1806, died April 28, 1803. and had children. namely :

1. David Fisk, horn September 13, 1834 died Sep- tember 20, 1879. He married Hannah Maria Gar- field, May 21, 1862: she was born January 24, 1834. He removed to Worcester where he was an active citizen, member of Worcester Continentals, Me- chanics' Association, board of overseers of the poor,

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highway commissioner from 1867 to 1872, re-elected in 1876 and continued in office till his death. He was connected with Masonic bodies having reached the thirty-second degree. He was eminent com- mander of Worcester County Knights Templar, pres- ident of Relief Association and member of Wor- cester Lodge and Wachusett Encampment of Odd Fellows. Ile always took great interest in affairs of Holden, his native town.

2. Ruth Elizabeth ,born February 19, 1836, died August 26, 1863: married J. Howard Winn, at a sew- ing circle at the home of the bride, October 7, 1857. She left one 'child. Mr. Winn married (second) Amanda S. Forbes, April 5, 1866. He died July 10. 1870. Children of J. Howard Winn were: Fred Howard, born January 29, 1861 ; Mabel, born June, 1868, died May 15, 1886.

3. Mary Paine, born December 23. 1837, married, April 7, 1858, Captain Horace Hobbs, born Septem- ber 2, 1831. Children: Cora Louise, born June 12, 1861; William Herbert, born July 2, 1864. Horace Hobbs was second son of General George Hobbs, a major general in Massachusetts militia, and fourth in descent from Josiah Hobbs. the emigrant an- cestor, who came from England in 1671. His son fitted at Worcester Academy, graduated in ISS3 from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, with degree of Bachelor of Science, was principal of Boylston high school winter of 1883-84, took graduate work in mineralogy, geology, chemistry and physics at Johns Hopkins University, 1884-86, and at Harvard University in winter of 1886-87. Was fellow in geology at Johns Hopkins, 1887-88, received degree Doctor of Philosophy there in 1888. Studied at the University of Heidelberg winter semester of 1888-89 and traveled extensively in Europe during the year. Joined the faculty of University of Wisconsin in the fall of 1889 as curator of the Geological Museum and instructor in mineralogy. In 1890 was made assistant professor of mineralogy and metallurgy. This title was changed to assistant professor of mineralogy and petrology, advanced to professor of those branches in 1899. Joined the United States Geological Survey in 1885 as volunteer assistant. serving later in the year as field assistant. In 1895 was commissioned assistant United States geologist, position still held. Investigations for the government have been largely within the region of western New England, in preparation of a geological map of that complex area. Was secre- tary of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences. Arts and Letters, 1801-1893. Was secretary of section E, American Association for Advancement of Science, 1893-94. Was delegate of the United States gov- ernment to the seventh international congress of geologists at St. Petershurg in 1897. Has been editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin since it started in 1894. Married, June 23, 1896. Sara Kimhall Sale. of Green Bay, Wis- consin. One daughter, Sarah Winnifred Weston Hobbs. Has published many articles and books and papers on mineralogy and science series. Year books. Madison Literary Club and dynamical geology and petrology in International Encyclopedia published by Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1902.

For past seven years has been on United States Government Survey through Berkshire Hills, Grey- lock and western Connecticut. 4. Albert Worthing- ton. horn December 23. 1839. died October 1, 1866. 5. Horatio Paine, born February 22, 1842, died April 7, 1860. 6. Naomi, born October 27, 1844, died June 3, 1864. 7. Alonzo, born July 29. 1845. died March 27. 1855. 8. Ellen, born March 5, 1848. died Sep- tember 10. 1866. 9. Emma Jane, born June 11, 1849, married Wilber F. Rice, December 2, 1886, settled

in Arredonda, Florida. 7. Mary, born July 1, 1806, married, September 15, 1833. Horatio W. Paine, and had one child, Mary Janette Paine, a graduate of the Framingham Normal school, taught several years in Holden and elsewhere, died in Geneva, New York, October 26, 1892, leaving by will the greater part of her estate to the Holden Congregational church, of which she and her parents had been members, as a memorial; Mary Paine died Novem- ber 29, 1880. S. Ruth, born October 7, 1808, mar- ried the Rev. Albert Worthington, had three chil- dren, died April 17, 1871. 9. Naomi, born May 4, ISII, died September 28, 1813.

(VI) Henry Parker, son of Aaron Parker (5), was born in Holden, Massachusetts, February 24, 1800, and died March 31. 1854. He was but eleven years old when his father died. He attended the public schools and by improving every opportunity secured a good education, excelling in penmanship. He became a teacher, traveling extensively in the west to teach penmanship, and upon his return east built a house, store and cabinet shop in Millbury, and lived there several years after his marriage. Four of his children were born in Millbury. In 1834 he sold out his business there and removed to Holden, living for three and a half years on the old homestead. He then bought the Artemas Bart- lett place, now owned by his son, Charles E. Parker. He went west again, however, and selected a quarter section in Illinois, then the far west, intending to locate there. At this period, just before the out- break of the civil war, the friends and foes of the slave power were struggling for the possession of the west, and Mr. Parker believed that the only way to keep the west free from the extension of slavery was to get northern men to settle there.

He issued a call "to all opposed to the extension of slavery and would like to form colonies to emi- grate to the west" to meet at the City Hall, Wor- cester, Tuesday, April 18, 1854. This call was signed "Plebeian" and published in the Daily Spy, March 21, 1854, and editors favorable to the idea were asked to copy the notice. The anti-slavery papers endorsed the movement and great interest was aroused. The meeting was attended by dele- gats from towns in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. John Milton Earle, editor of the Spy, called the meeting to order and stated that the sudden death of the one who had issued the call had prevented the making of any arrangements. But the meeting was organized, letters from Charles Sumner, Horace Greeley and Joshua R. Giddings were read, resolutions were adopted, and other con- ventions of the kind followed. The movement thus began resulted in sending colonies to Kansas and Nebraska, and Worcester was a centre of this form of anti-slavery activity.

Mr. Parker married, April 9. 1828, Matilda Perry, born April 4, 1805, died October 16, 1860, daughter of Deacon Moses Perry, of Worcester. Their four eldest children were born in Millbury, and the remainder in Holden. Their children were as follows: I. Emeline Matilda, born April 13, 1829, died April 16, 1843. 2. Elizabeth, born June 23. 1830, died September 21. 1853. 3. Henry Baxter, born November 30, 1831, died November 21, 1897. 4. Charles Edwin, born October 20. 1833. attended Leicester Academy, Amherst and Westfield Acad- emy, taught school in West Boylston and Westboro, learned the trade of carpenter, working summers and teaching winters, served the town of Holden as assessor, school committee, trustee of Damon Memorial Library, and selectman in 1885-86-89-90. He married. November 21, 1861, Adelaide S. Collier, daughter of Francis A. and Eliza Collier, and their children are: Samuel Perry, born December 30,

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1862; Jennie Mabel, June 12, 1864; Frank Carlton, August 10, 1867; Florence, June 25, 1870, died Au- gust 13, 1870; Alice Louise, September 29, 1873; and Charles Henry, June 12, 1871. 5. Theodore, born November 10, 1835, married, June 28, 1869, Nannie Vinnedge, died in Lawrence, Kansas, January 9, 1871; they had one child, Ida Amelia, born June 28, 1870. 6. Amelia, born December 9, 1837, at- tended Holden high school in 1854, also Leland Seminary, Townshend, Vermont, and Williston Seminary, and graduated

from Mystic Hall Seminary, West Medford, Massachusetts, February, 1858, receiving a gold medal. She married, Decem- ber 18, 1862, Isaac Hildreth, born April 5, 1832, taught the senior department at Holden Centre, sum- mer of 1858, and two winter terms subsequently, and also in many districts outside, including Nos. II, 3 and 6. They had two children : Lillian Matilda, born February 1, 1866, graduated in June, 1886, from Worcester high school. received a diploma from Holts Normal Music School in Lexington in 1892, received a certificate for one year's course in Kindergarten in 1895, diploma for full course in 1896, and a diploma from Normal Art School in Boston in 1897; she died December 19, 1901. \Val- ter Henry, born October 26. 1867, graduated from Worcester high school in 1886. college course, 1887, Amherst College, 1892, with degree of Bachelor of Arts. He married Margaret Giles Bradford, born November 4, 1865, graduated from Boston Uni- versity in 1887. July 25, 1898, in the year at Am- herst, Professor Genung suggested that he try for the degree of Master of Arts by writing a thesis on some subject pertaining to his work, accepting his work in the New York News Bureau for six years, as an equivalent for one year of post-graduate work: he did so, and received the degree at the commencement, 1904. 7. Alfred, born February 17, 1840. died March 2, 1840. 8. Edward, born No- vember 1, 1841, married, December 30, 1865, Mary Augusta Chenery, of Holden, born May 24, 1847, and their children are: Cyrus Chenery, born Au- gust 10, 1867; Susie Adelaide, born February 19, 1870; and Edward Albert, born September 16, 1872. The mother of these children died September 17, 1874. Mr. Parker married (second), May 7. 1879, Hattie Louise Mee, born August 24, 1851, and their children are: Izetta Amelia, born May 17, 1885; and Percy Edgar, born January 3. 1891, died Febru- ary 13, 1891. Edward Parker enlisted in Company .D, Twenty-fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, mustered in September 27, 1861, and took part in the following engagements: Roanoke Island, New- bern, Kinston, Gum Swamp, Port Wathal, Arrow- field Church, Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor, and in the trenches in front of Petersburg from June to September, 1864. He was mustered out October 20, 1864. He returned to Tennessee and served in the quartermaster's department until the close of the war. He was then honorably discharged, and re- ceived a pension for disabilities received in the serv- ice. 9. Matilda. born February 6, 1844, a graduate of Westfield Normal school, married, October 5, 1877, the Rev. George Morris, in San Jose, Cali- fornia. George Morris was born in Bristol. Eng- land, April 10, 1837, educated in University College, London, England, and was foreign missionary in the South Seas for nearly ten years. He went to California, November, 1870, where he has con- tinued his professional work as a minister of the Congregational church. About five years since, by a painful accident. he became almost blind, the partial sight of one eye only being saved. He has been an active temperance advocate, writer and lecturer, and beside his pastoral duties several churches have

been built under his supervision and labors. He first settled in Alameda, then went to the Catalina Islands, California, but later returned to Alameda. Their children were: Albert Howard, born Janu- ary 26, 1879; Earnest Theodore, born September 12, 1880; Clarence Edwin, born June 18, 1883; and Raymond Irving, born March 18, 1886. IO. Free-

man, born September Io, 1846, died October 8, 1846. II. Gilbert, born July 28, 1848, married, September 13, 1870, Jennett Sophia Palmer, born February 8, 1851, in Nova Scotia, who bore him two children : Alva Gilbert, born March 3, 1872, died October 7, 1872; Louella Jennett, born March 9, 1873, mar- ried Albert A. Wilder. 12. Gilman, born July 28, 1848, married. December 30. 1869, Angela Maria Morey, born September 25, 1851, and their children are : Berthier Gilman, born April 24, 1871, married Sofia Carlson, October 17, 1900; she was born Feb- ruary 9, 1857. Eva Angie, born March 1, 1874, married Herbert Leander Jillson, June 3, 1896, he was born September 19, 1869.

(VII) Henry Baxter Parker, son of Henry Parker (6), was born in Millbury, Massachusetts, November 30, 1831. He was only four years old when the family moved to Holden and settled there. He was educated in the Holden public schools and at Leicester Academy. He learned the trade of car- penter. Most of his ancestors in the Parker line had been carpenters and wood workers. He settled in Northfield, Massachusetts. He married in Chi- cago, Illinois, September 18, 1856, Hannah Maria Caldwell, born February 19, 1833, died January 20, 1809. At the time of his marriage he went west to Leavenworth, Kansas, and bought a quarter sec- tion of land and located on it, but for various reasons sold out and returned to Northfield, Massa- chusetts, early in the year 1860, where he built a . sash and blind shop at Gill Station, on the Con- necticut river, where he conducted a thriving busi- ness for many years. Henry Baxter Parker died November 21, 1897. Their children were as follows : I. Arthur Henry, born in Northfield, Massachu- setts. March 4, 1860, married Alice Edson Stone, April 20, 1886: she was born April 28, 1865, died December 9, 1890; they had one child, Alice Ruth, born November 28, 1890. He married (second), June 5. 1894, Eva Maria Wilson, born in Wor- cester, June 7, 1869, and they are the parents of one child, Edith Mabel, born September 26, 1898. 2. Ida Maria, born February 27, 1862, graduated from Glenwood Seminary, Brattleboro, Vermont, 1883. She had been teaching in Shenandoah. Iowa, for a year, when she was brought home to Northfield on a bed and died in about two weeks of consumption. her death occurring Sunday, February 22, 1885. 3. Wil- lis King, born August 1, 1863, married, in Orange, Massachusetts. December 23, 1885. Jennie Clara Deloy, born August 24. 1864, in Warwick, Massa- chusetts, and their children are: Leon Wilis, born September 16. 1886: and Harry King. born Sep- tember 15, 1888; Willis King Parker died January 14, 1800. 4. Ella Mav. born March 23. 1866, mar- ried, May 27. 1807. Charles Williston Paine, born November 14. 1853: he has one child by his first wife. Ida Paine. 5. Cora Matilda, born August 10, 1868, married. April 30, 1890. Ozro Daniel Adams, born in Sherburn. Vermont. January 25. 1861, and they have one child. Florence Hannah. born in Put- ney, Vermont, Anril IT, 1801. 6. Charles Rufus, horn Julv 15. 1871. married. March 31. 1806. in Bernardston, Massachusetts, Fannie Mav Kellv. horn Iowa Falls, Iowa. Mav 27. 1860. daughter of Enos and Sarch (Lair) Kellv. and they have four chil- dren: Walter Raymond. born January 14. 1800; Helen May, born January 29, 1900; Willis Kelly,

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born June 27, 1902; and Ernest Albert, born Janu- ary 24, 1904. 7. Leon Percy, born December 29, 1878, died February 18, 1879.

(IX) Arthur Henry Parker, son of Henry B. Parker (8), was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, March 4, 1860. He attended the public schools of his native town. His first position was in the factory of the New Home Sewing Machine Company at Orange, Massachusetts, where he had a part of the middle finger on his left hand cut off by a circular saw. About the year 1878 he came to Worcester and followed the trade of carpentering and wood- working, which his ancestors have followed for hun- dreds of years. He worked for three years for W. H. Hackett, the grocer, and then entered the railroad business as telegraph operator. He was employed for eight years on the Worcester & Nashua Railroad and on the Fitchburg Railroad. He was station agent at Holden, Massachusetts, on the Fitch- burg Railroad, but left there to become clerk for the superintendent of the Worcester division of the Fitchburg Railroad in Worcester. He left the rail- road business in Worcester to enter a new line of work at which he has been very successful an! for which his early training and mechanical ability thoroughly fitted him. He began in the wire goods business as salesman and afterwards was general sales agent for the Wire Goods Company of Wor- cester, which was organized by Charles G. Wash- burn. and he retained his connection therewith for thirteen years. In 1901 he organized the Parker Wire Goods Company, of which he is president and treasurer, and began manufacturing in a shop at No. I Assonet street. He manufactures many special- ties in wire and wire hardware, and the business has been exceedingly prosperous. He was also the founder and is serving as treasurer of The Wor- cester Supply Company, No. 9 Pleasant street, Wor- cester, dealing in photographic supplies and sport- ing goods.

Mr. Parker is well known in Masonic circles. He has been prominent in the various bodies for many years. He is a member of Quinsigamond Lodge, Eureka Chapter, Hiram Council and the Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar ; the Worcester Lodgs of Perfection; Goddard Coun- cil, Princes of Jerusalem; Lawrence Chapter, Rose Croix; Stella Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; Aletheia Grotto, M. O. V. P. E. R .; Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine. He is a life member of Worcester County Mechanics' Association. He is a member of the Worcester Board of Trade, the Frohsinns, the Hancock Club, the Tatassit Canoe Club, the Wor- cester Automobile Club. Worcester Council No. 136. United Commercial Travelers of America, in which he has had most of the offices at various times. He is an officer of the Grand Council of New Eng- land of the United Commercial Travelers of America.

Ile married, April 20, 1886, Alice Edson Stone, born April 28. 1865, died December 9, 1890, daugh- ter of James Munroe and Hannah Abby (Loring) Stone, of Holden, Massachusetts. They had one daughter, Alice Ruth, horn November 28, 1890. Mr. Parker married (second), June 5. 1891. Eva Maria Wilson, horn in Worcester, June 7, 1860, daughter of Charles W. Wilson, of Worcester, and they have one child, Edith Mabel, born September 26, 1808.

Charles E. Parker, son of Henry Parker (7), was born in Millbury, Massachusetts. October 20, 1833, died at his home in Holden, Massachusetts, May 22, 1906, from the effects of a stroke of paralysis which he suffered about a week before his death. When he was a year old his father's family re- moved to Holden, Massachusetts, where he lived for seventy years. During his early youth he at-

tended the common schools there. When he was seventeen, together with his brother and sister, he was sent to Leicester Academy for two terms. Dur- ing his school days he assisted his father on the farm. and he returned from the academy to help on the homestead. The following fall and winter he at- tended school at Amherst, Massachusetts, and later at Westfield Academy. Mr. Parker taught school in the towns of West Boylston and Westboro. In the spring of 1853 he began to learn the trade of carpenter, at which he worked during the summer, teaching school in the winter term. When his father died he returned to the home to help his mother in the care of the family of six, the two youngest of whom were but five years and a half, and to carry on the farm at Holden. By hard work and persist- ent energy, united with good judgment and com- mon sense, he improved the farm and made it one of the best in the town. He became a leader among the farmers of the county. A man of strong char- acter, decided opinions, upright and honorable, he had great influence wherever he chose to exert it. He was a member of the Farmers' & Mechanics' Club of Holden, the Horticultural Society of Wor- cester, the Worcester Agricultural Society, Worces- ter Society of Antiquity and the Sons of the Amer- ican Revolution, Cattle Owners' Association, Fruit Growers' Association, Bee Growers' Association and many other organizations. He believed in the im- portance of co-operation among farmers and men in the same line of business. He was apposed to secret societies, however, although his father was a Free Mason. He was naturally conservative in huis opinions and was particularly opposed to the com- pulsory vaccination laws. He supported his opinions on this and kindred subjects by vigorous articles in the newspapers, as well as by speech in private and public. He was thoroughly in earnest in anything he undertook to prove or to do. He was a constant attendant of the Congregational church and served on its committees. He was active in the political world. In 1886 he was chosen a member of the Holden school committee and served the town in that office seven years. In 1885-86 he was on the board of assessors, and in 1888 was chosen secre- tary of the committee on the dedication of the Da- mon Memorial (see sketch) and was chosen on the board of trustees by re-election until 1893. In 1885- 88-89-90 he was elected on the board of selectmen, and was chairman during his last term. In 1885, in behalf of the board of selectmen, he effected a loan with the Worcester County Institution of Savings of $34,000, the selectmen and treasurer giving seven- teen notes of $2,000 each at four per cent, for which, however, the town received a premium of $646, so that the actual rate was only three and three-quarters per cent, making a saving of interest as shown in the report accepted by the town in 1886, amounting to $1,200 annually. In 1889 he was chosen chair- man of the committee to investigate the care of the poor of the town. After considerable inquiry, the committee recommended co-operation with other towns in the care of paupers and the overseers of the poor in adjacent towns were invited to meet in conference. As a result the Poor Farm Association was formed, consisting of the towns of Holden, Hubbardston, Paxton, Princeton, Oakham and later Westminster. The net saving effected by the change in methods amounts to $1,200 a year with no diminu- tion in the comforts of those cared for. When the first three years for which the association was formed expired in April, 1893, the arrangement was renewed for five years, Mr. Parker serving as chair- man of the committee in charge. In 1890 Mr. Parker was appointed justice of the peace. In 1898 he was

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elected representative to the general court. He has attended many state and other nominating conven- tions of the Republican party as delegate.

He married, November 21, 1861, Adelaide So- phronia Collier, born October 6, 1837, daughter of Francis Augustus Woodbridge and Eliza ( Humes) Collier, of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Her father was a machinist, living most of the time in Wor- cester. Mrs. Parker was educated in the public schools of Worcester and at the private school of Miss Potter, Pleasant street. In 1854-55 she was a student at the Oread Institute, Worcester. The children: 1. Samuel Perry, born December 30, 1862, married, December 4, 1884, Isabella A. Thomas, of Spartansburg, South Carolina, and they have: Whit- ner Roland, Florence Elizabeth, May Adelaide. 2. Jennie Mabel, born June 12, 1864, married, June 17, 1896, Albert Osgood Condon, of Holden. 3. Frank Carleton, born August 10, 1867, married, June 29, 1899, Luella E. Potter, of Holden; they have two children-Harold Carleton, born June 5, 1901; Bur- ton Cranston, born May 27, 1904. 4. Florence, born June 25, 1870; died August 13, 1870. 5. Charles Henry, born July 10, 1871, married, February 9, 1899, Inez Eldora Jordan, and they have two chil- dren-Marion Jordan, born March 5, 1900; William Clayton, born March 2, 1904. 6. Alice Louise, born September 29, 1873, married, June 21, 1899, Fred E. Ladd, of Worcester, and they have two children- Dorothy May, born May 13, 1900; Milton Parker Ladd, born September 23, 190.4.

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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 75

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