Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III, Part 41

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 772

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. III > Part 41

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Spooner. He married, June 20, 1705, Rosamond, daughter of Samuel and Mary ( Hathaway ) Ham- mond. She was born May 8, 1684, and died in 1727, The children of John and Rosamond were. Juduthun, Phoebe, John, Benjamin, Thomas, Peter, Elizabeth and Rosamond. Of Benjamin Spooner, son of John, and Eleazer, son of Benjamin, the writer is unable to gather any accurate information. Eleazer was residing in Oakham, this county, prior to the revolutionary war, and his son Andrew was a native of that town.

Andrew Spooner, grandfather of William R. Spooner, was born in Oakham, May 18, 1781, and died in Marlboro, New Hampshire, March 29, 1863. He married, December 10, 1805, Sally Adams, of Barre, and was the father of Marcus E., Festus, Elijah Allen, Daniel A., Celinda, Andrew, Sally, Albert and Edwin, all of whom were born in Oak- ham.

Marcus E. Spooner, William R. Spooner's father, was born October 10, 1806. He learned the shoe- maker's trade, which he followed in central New York for a number of years, and about fifty years ago came from Utica to Barre, where he continued shoemaking in connection with farming. He was a hard working and self-reliant man, and an upright citizen. His death occurred in Barre, June 28, 1887. On April 23, 1835. he married for his first wife Mary Bacon, daughter of Samuel Bacon, of Barre. She became the mother of four children, namely: Sarah, married William T. Pratt, of Worcester; Carrie, died October 1, 1857, aged nine- teen years, Albert B., died aged twenty years, Au- gust 20, 1864, from the effect of a wound received at the battle of Antietam during the civil war; and Elizabeth married Cephas Walker. These were all born in Florence, New York. Marcus E. Spooner married for his second wife Sarah Stephenson, daughter of William Stephenson, of West Swanzey, New Hampshire. She died January 29, 1901. The children of this union are: George MI., born May 3. 1856, died November 24, 1861; Frederick E., born January II, 1858, died Angust 28, 1861; Charles Edwin, born August 16, 1860, died February 17, 1905; William Roscoe, the principal subject of this sketch; Henry Minor, born January 4, 1864; and Lillian Eldora, born September 23, 1868. Henry Minor Spooner is now practicing medicine in Wis- consin. Lillian Eldora is now the wife of George J. Raymond and resides in Orange, this state.

William Roscoe Spooner was born in Barre, July 28, 1862. His education was acquired in the Barre public schools and Barre Academy, from which he graduated in 1880. When a young man he engaged in mercantile pursuits, including several years as assistant postmaster, and is now the pro- prietor of a general store at Barre Centre. In politics he acts with the Republican party, and hav- ing been elected town clerk more than fifteen years ago, has retained that office almost continuously to the present time. He has also served as chair- man of the board of health for ten years, and has acted as justice of the peace for the past fourteen years. During his term of office as town clerk he has compiled and published the vital records of Barre and several other useful works relative to local history and genealogy. In 1892 he was made a Mason in Mount Zion Lodge, Barre, of which body he was chosen worshipful master in its centen- nial year, and is a member of the chapter and com- mandery at Athol. He also affiliates with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, both the lodge and encampment, of North Brookfield. In his religious belief he is a Congregationalist and form- iii-10

erly officiated as secretary and treasurer of the Sunday school connected with that church.

Nr. Spooner married Mary J. Campbell, of Bos- ton, a native of Prince Edward's Island. They have no children. Mrs. Spoonter, who possesses literary ability of high order, is now the editor and pro- prietor of the Barre Weekly Gasette, a local news- paper which was established more than sixty-five years ago, and she is conducting that journal in a most enterprising and business-like manner.

FREDERICK ALBERT MCCLURE. William McClure (1), the immigrant ancestor of Frederick Albert McClure, city enginecr of Worcester, Massa- chusetts, was of Scotch parentage, born in the county of Antrim or Down, province of Ulster, Ire- land, about 1700. The McClure family of Ireland came from Galloway in Scotland a generation or two before, and the family today is numerous only in the county of Galloway, Scotland, and the coun- ties of Down and Antrim, Ireland. They were Scotch Covenanters, like their relatives and neigh- bors. Little is known of the immigrant William. He settled among the first in the township of Merri- mac. New Hampshire. He and his son, William McClure, were both on the tax list of 1749, and perhaps they had been there but a short time. There were several other McClures of the same stock, pioneers in southern New Hampshire, doubt- less near relatives. Robert McClure, the progenitor of the large family of this surname in Acworth, New Hampshire, was born in Ireland, 1718, son of Richard McClure, coming to America with some relatives when only nine years old, settling first in Hillsborough, later with his sons in Acworth. The first settler in Candia, New Hampshire, in 1743, was David McClure. All these settlers were Scotch Presbyterians, all from the same vicinity in Ire- land. In 1873 one of the foreign members of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society was Rev. Dr. William McClure, of Londonderry, Ire- land. The only child of William McClure (1), known to the descendants, was William McClure, see forward.

(1I) William McClure, son of William Mc- Clure (I), settled with his father in Merrimac, New Hampshire, before 1749. He was born in Ireland, about 1725. He settled permanently in Merrimac and his farm is still owned and occupied by his descendants. He married Nancy Arbuckle, about 1755-60. She was the sister of William Arbuckle, who settled in Merrimac in 1748 and became a prom- inent citizen. Nancy was born on shipboard on the way to America. McClure was a soldier in the revolution, a sergeant in Captain Joseph Moor's company, Colonel William Prescott's regiment, at the siege of Boston, in 1775. He was corporal in Captain William Barron's company, Colonel Isaac Wyman's regiment, which was raised for the Ar- nold expedition against Canada in 1776. Children of William and Nancy McClure; William, see for- ward; John, born about 1765, married Hannah and had children-John, born May 1, 1790, married, November 11, 1811, Polly Boutell, of Am- herst; Thomas, born October 18, 1791.

(III) William McClure, son of William Mc- Clure (2), was born in Merrimac, New Hampshire, August 12, 1762, died November 16, 1824. He mar- ried there (by Rev. Jacob Burnap), October 12, 1783. Rebecca Danforth, born June 20, 1760, sister of Deacon Solomon Danforth, of one of the old Massachusetts Puritan families. The immigrant ancestor, Nicholas Danforth, came from Framing- ham, England, in 1634, and settled in Cambridge,

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Massachusetts; was proprietor and selectman there ; admitted freeman March 3, 1635-36. His son, Thomas Danforth, was deputy governor and judge ; another son, Rev. Samuel Danforth, became a cele- brated minister, colleague of Rev. John Eliot, of Roxbury, the Indian Apostle. William McClure was a farmer and followed his father in the own- ership of the homestead. He was in the revolu- tion also for a short time. Children of William and Rebecca McClure: Martha, born August IS, 1784; William, born July 7, 1786, see forward. Cap- tain Samuel, born December 1I, 1789, married, March 20, 1821, Mehitable Wilkins and had: Sarah Adeline, born December II, 1821; Samuel Ormon, born August 26, 1824. Betsey, born November 23, 1791. Polly, born September 28, 1795. Francis, born August 8, 1799.

(IV) William McClure, son of William Mc- Clure (3), was born at Merrimac, New Hamp- shire, July 17, 1786, and died there April 12, 1876, aged nearly ninety years. Ile settled on the home- stead at Merrimac and resided there all his life. This farm is about a mile eastward from the village of Merrimac and five miles from Nashua. He left the farmi. to his son Newton, who remained at home with his father, and the heirs of Newton now own the place. William McClure married, December 23, 1813, Polly (Mary) Danforth, of Merrimac, born September 17, 1788, died Novem- iber 23, 1860, at Merrimac. She also belonged to the Danforth family of Billerica and Merrimac. Their children: I. Charles Edwin, see forward. 2. George, born January 26, 1819, died July 15, 1895. 3. Newton, born January 7, 1823, died October I, 1899; married, October 7, 1851, Hepzibah Swain; had children-Frederick, now of Nashua; Mary; his widow resides on the homestead in Merrimac. 4. Mary, died about 1896, at Nashua, New Hamp- shire, unmarried.

(V) Charles Edward McClure, son of William McClure (4), was born in Merrimac, New Hamp- shire, October 27, 1814. He settled in Nashua, New Hampshire, and engaged in the grocery business, wholesale and retail, with his brother George. After retiring from this business he traveled for a Boston grocery house for several years. He died January 7, 1892. He married, September 10, 1837, Lucinda (Smith) Shattuck, daughter of Jo- seph Smith, who was born April, 1786. She was born in Maine, December 11, 1813, and died at Nashua, July 27, 1875. He was a member of the Third Congregational Church of Nashua, joining in 1875. His wife was also a member. Their chil- dren : Emma Augusta, born April 21, 1839. George Dana, born May 7, 1844, died November 29, 1879, in Greenville, Michigan; resided in Indianapolis, Indiana; was a traveling salesman; married Nora C. McNeely, born July 30, 1845; she and their only son, Charles, are also deceased. Frederick Al- bert, born August 1, 1852, see forward.

(VI) Frederick Albert McClure, son of Charles Edward McClure (5), was born at Nashua, New Hampshire, August 1, 1852. He was educated in the public schools there, graduating from the Nashua high school in 1869. He chose engineering for his profession and after some instruction from private tutors came to Worcester and entered the office of the city engineer, Phinehas Ball, who was afterward mayor. (See sketch). At that time the city of Worcester was passing through the first great period of growth. The streets, the sewers and the water system made large demands on the engineering department of the city. Mr. McClure came into the department at a favorable time to ac- quire considerable valuable experience in his pro-

fession and also special knowledge of the condi- tions and needs of the city which it has been his duty to serve so many years. He assisted in the construction of the first sewer system of the city, built in Mayor Blake's administration. He also worked in the street and water departments. Hav- ing a natural gift as a draughtsman he became an expert also in the practical field work of his pro- fession. He left the city engineering department to go into the engineering force of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad Company and helped construct the line from Worcester to Gardner, Massachu- setts. At that time the railroad system of the coun- try was in process of development. He went west and became an engineer of the Union Pacific Rail- road to Ogden. In the early seventies the section through which this road was built was unsettled and the work was not without its dangers as well as its hardships. Upon ending his services with the rail- road company he went into the employ of the gov- ernment and surveyed the forty-third parallel, the boundary between Nebraska and Dakota, from the Kaya-Paha river to Wyoming. This was the south- ern boundary of the lands of the Sioux Indians who, two years later, waged a desperate and bloody war against the government. Mr. McClure lived the frontier life, now to be found nowhere in this country, and helped to blaze the trail of civilization across the plains. The experience of Mr. McClure on the western plains and mountains, building rail- roads and staking the boundaries of states then unsettled fitted him for the most difficult and dan- gerous problems of his profession. He returned to Worcester in 1875 and was engaged in the rail- road construction necessitated by the building of the Union Station there. He was in the engineer- ing departments of the Boston, Barre & Gardner and of the Norwich & Worcester railroads, locat- ing the tracks and approaches to the station. After one season spent in the west again, he returned to Worcester in 1878 and has made his home there ever since. He was again called into the service of the city as assistant city engineer. He was first an office assistant, then in the street department and finally came to have charge of the designing and construction of the city sewers, and he was made superintendent of sewers in 1890. Two years later, in November, 1892, he was elected city engi- neer to succeed Charles A. Allen, resigned.

Mr. McClure has had charge of the most im- portant engineering enterprises of the city of Wor- cester since he has been head of the engineering department. The city was forced by legislation action to erect works for the separation and purifi- cation of sewage to prevent the further defiling of the Blackstone river, and it became Mr. McClure's duty to plan and operate, as superintendent, a suc- cessful system that has became the model for other municipalities all over the country. These works in 1906 take care of between sixteen and seven- teen million gallons of sewage daily. The water system of the city has been doubled since Mr. Mc- Clure has been in charge of the city engineering. He has built six reservoirs and is at present busy on the development of the Asnebumskit reservoir to increase the supply still further. In all the par- ticulars that go to the making of a first class water supply, pressure, quality of the water and capacity for storage, the city of Worcester is most fortunate. Its resources have been wisely developed, especially during the past fifteen years. Mr. McClure las de- voted himself unreservedly to his profession. He has no other business and few social interests. He is a member of Rising Sun Lodge of Free Masons of Nashua, New Hampshire, and of Aletheia Grotto,

PUPLIC LIO: RY

Gustavs B. Williams

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No. 13, Veiled Prophets, a Masonic body, of Wor- cester. He was formerly a member of various en- gineering societies. Mr. McClure is a Republican, but has never been active in politics and, regard- less of political conditions, seems to have retained the entire confidence of the mayor and city council. The experience of Mr. McClure, extending over almost the whole history of the engineering depart- ment of the city, makes him of great and increas- ing value in his present position.

He married, May 29, 1883, Ida Evelyn Whittier, daughter of Dr. Daniel B. Whittier, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. She came from the same family as John G. Whittier, the poet. Their only child is Evelyn, born August 27, 1887, graduate, 1906, and was class orator of the Whittier School, Mer- rimac, Massachusetts. In music she is a proficient pianist, and also studies vocal as well as instru- mental music.

GUSTAVUS BROWN WILLIAMS. John Williams (1), from whom Gustavus Brown Will- iams is directly descended, was a weaver. He mar- ried in 1727 Dorcas Curtis, formerly of Roxbury, but later of Dedham. Their children were: Ex- perience, born July 31, 1730; Sarah, September 5, 1732; John, November 25, 1734; Stephen, March IO, 1736. (Record in Bible from the press of Isaiah Thomas, 1791). Dorcas (Curtis) Williams was de- scended from William Curtis, who married Saralı Eliot, sister to John Eliot, the "Apostle to the In- dians." The Curtis line runs from William through John and Jonathan to Dorcas, who became the wife of John Williams. William Curtis had a son Philip, who was a lieutenant, and was killed by In- dians near Mendon in King Philip's war, November 9, 1675. His widow, who was Obediance, daughter of John Holland, asked for aid for herself and her seven children. She subsequently married Banja- min Gamlin, of Roxbury.

(II) Stephen Williams married Lydia, daughter of John Hicks, of Sutton, Massachusetts, born in 1736. Their children: Chester, born September 26, 1767; John, 1769; Stephen, see forward. Stephen Williams as a boy went to live with the Rev. Dr. Nathan Webb, the first minister in Uxbridge, and resided with him probably until he was of age. After working with one Samuel Taft, he purchased from the town a tract of one hundred acres, "min- isterial land," controlled by Dr. Webb. There is a tradition that he paid for the same by selling hoops to be shipped to the West Indies. The greater part of this land has always remained in possession of the descendants of this original owner, and who take great pride in this long preservation of the patrimonial estate. Steplien Williams bore a part in the revolutionary war. marching from Uxbridge with Captain Thaddeus Read's company of the Third Worcester County Regiment. He enlisted July 28, 1780, marched to Tiverton, Rhode Island, by order of council, in July, and was discharged August 7, 1780, having served fourteen days. He became prominent in the affairs of Uxbridge, and was one of the incorporators of the old Hartford Turnpike, built prior to 1800, extending from Medfield through Medway, Mendon, Uxbridge and Douglas to the Connecticut line and thence to Hartford.

(III) Stephen Williams was born September 8, 1779, and died April 6, 1851. He married Nancy Baylies, born April 20, 1782, died August 6, 1843. Their children: 1. George, see forward. 2. Nelson, born January 31, 1806, died May 1, 1875. He mar- ried Mary Paine; their children: Frederick G., Alice, married Horace Hapgood, no children ; Ar- thur H., unmarried; Ellen M., married Quincy

Clark, one child, Alice, who married Irving B. Dodge, of Grafton. They have one child, Barbara. 3. Sarah, born September 21, 1808, died May 28, 1891, unmarried. 4. Betsey, born November 8, 1810, died December 29, 1898; married Valentine M. Aldrich, no children; she was his second wife, Abigail, her younger sister, being his first wife. 5. Nancy, born October 27, 1812, died February 25, 1897, unmarried. 6. Eleanor, born February 18, 1815, died December 12, 1841, unmarried. 7. Stephen, born September 11, 1817, died 1903; married Sarah D. Aldrich, sister of Valentine M. Aldrich. Their children : Jacob A., and Mary J. 8. John, born De- cember 23, 1819, died March 16, 1891. 9. Abigail, born January 7, 1823, died December 13, 1849; mar- ried Valentine M. Aldrich, and had children : Eleanor, living, and Baylies W. and Elizabeth, de- ceased. 10. Nicholas B., born September 22, 1825, married Charlotte E .. Newell, died March 3, 1894. Their son, Horace N., married Caroline A. Peirce, of Providence, and they have two children: Char- lotte and -

(IV) George Williams, born January 21, 1804, died December 1, 1888. Married Delilah Morse; their children : I. Rev. Edward Franklin, D. D., born July 21, 1832, is a Congregational minister, and resides in Chicago, Illinois; married Jane Pit- kin; no children. 2. Gustavus Brown, see for- ward. 3. James H., died 1839, aged eleven months. 4. Horace W., died 1841, aged six weeks. 5. Emily A., born June, 1843, died at the age of thirty years, unmarried.

(V) Gustavus Brown Williams was born Octo- ber 28, 1834, in Uxbridge. He attended the public school, Uxbridge Academy, and Thetford Academy and entered Dartmouth College, from which he graduated with the class of 1858, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He had for classmates some notable men, among them John E. Sinclair, who became a professor in the Worcester Polytech- nic Institute, and Judge William M. Chase, of the supreme court of New Hampshire. Until the break- ing out of the war he taught public schools at Bell- ingham, Douglass, Sutton, Upton, a Blackstone pri- vate school for one year, the Uxbridge public high school for two years, also the Upton high school for the same period. September 6, 1862, he enlisted in Company K, Fifty-first Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and was soon promoted to sergeant. He participated in the North Carolina campaigns of that and the following year, was engaged in the battles of Kineston, Whitehall, Goldsboro, and others. He was honorably discharged with his regiment July 21, 1863. Returning home, he located in Mendon. Prior to his enlistment in the army he had read law under the preceptorship of S. A. Burgess, now of Worcester. He now completed his legal studies, and opened a law office in December, 1876, in Mil- ford, where he has since continued in the practice of his profession. In 1893 he received his third son, Wendell, into partnership with himself, under the style of Williams & Williams. Mr. Williams has given much service to the public. During his resi- dence in Mendon he was chairman of the board of selectmen for fifteen years, and for many years served upon the school committee, having immediate charge of the schools for seven years. He is inter- ested in the Macomber Association of Uxbridge Academy. At the request of people of Mendon he prepared the very interesting and exhaustive narra- tive of that town which appeared in Hurd's "His- tory of Worcester County" in 1889, and which well displays his historical and literary ability. He was active in organizing the Milford Hospital Corpora- tion, of which he is president and member of its

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managing board. He has long been a member of the Congregational Church, first in Uxbridge, later in Milford, and interested in its work; was recently made deacon; is also an officer of the Mendon Historical Society.

Mr. Williams married, April 26, 1859, Bernette Hill, born April 26, 1837, died April 10, 1880. Their children: 1. Myrtie, born June 9, 1861, educated in public school, graduated from Mendon high school, class of '81 ; entered Wellesley College, and sus- pended her studies there after one and a half years on account of the illness of her mother. She took private tutorship in Latin and Greek. June 14, 1883, she married J. I. Wheelock, of Southbridge; their children: Mildred, Carl and Amy. 2. Hill, born October 19, 1862, died September 25, 1898. He attended the public grammar and high school in Mendon, and was two years a student in the Chicago University. He followed the electrical profession with Thomson-Houston Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, and was for seven years aft- erward superintendent of an electrical light and power establishment in Petersburg, Virginia, where he married Evelyn F. Underhill, formerly of Mill- ville, Massachusetts. In 1895 he returned to Mil- ford and entered the coal business with his brother Eben. He was for one year principal of the Men- don high school. He has traveled extensively. 3. Berton, born July 21, 1864, was a student in the Mendon schools, Wilbraham Academy, and Dart- mouth College, from which he graduated in 1888 with the degree of bachelor of letters. After his graduation he went to the General Electric Com- pany in Lynn, and was employed afterward as an electrical expert in Petersburg, Virginia; Bangor, Maine; and Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he has long been assistant superintendent of the Woon- socket Electric Light & Power Company, with large responsibilities. January 17, 1899, he married Caro- line Mason, of Woonsocket, and they have one child, Mason P. Williams. 4. Wendell, born April 3, 1866, was a fellow student with his brother named above, rooming with him, both receiving hon- orable mention in mathematics, and both receiving the same degree. After graduation he taught in the Mendon high school the year of 1888-89, then enter- ing the Boston University Law School, from which he graduated with his B. L. degree, magna cum laude, in 1891. He practiced law in Uxbridge, until he became professionally associated with his father. He married Sylvia W. Hayward, of Ux- bridge, no children. 5. Eben, born September 8, 1867, died October 14, 1900. He passed through the grammar and high school of Milford, and grad- uated from Dartmouth College in 1890 with the degree of B. L. He was a distinguished athlete, winning many prizes; and for three years was on the University base ball team, (having the distinc- tion of heing on that team during his sophomore year). He was for one year principal of the Sawin Academy, Sherhorn, Massachusetts, and then for four years principal of the Milford high school. He subsequently entered into partnership in the coal business with his brother, Hill, and was so engaged until his death, at the age of thirty-three years closing a useful and honorable career. The csteem in which he was held was indicated by the fact that the selectmen requested the closing of all business houses at the hour of his funeral. October 29, 1891, he married Edith C. Blanchard ; their children : Hilda C., born September, 1892; Margaret; and Windsor B. 6. Lena, born May 31, 1869, was edu- cated in the Mendon grammar and high school, at- tended Mt. Holyoke Seminary, and took a kinder- garten course under Miss Lucy Wheelock, connected

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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. III, Part 41

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 772

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 772