Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. IV, Part 102

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 710

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. IV > Part 102

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hundred and fifty men. They left Worcester for camp in Readville, August 12, 1864, and were mustered in at the last named place August 19, as the Twentieth Unattached Company, Heavy Artil- lery. The company then went to Galloupe's Island, Boston Harbor, for organization, August 25. They sailed from this place for Washington, on the

transport Ben Deford. September II. WVcre as- signed to duty at Fort Stevens, Maryland, Septem- ber 15. and remained there until September 28, when the company was ordered to report to Fort Tillinghast, Virginia. It was on duty there with the Nineteenth Unattached Company, Heavy Artillery, under command of Captain Wade, the post comn- mander. While at Fort Tillinghast it was organ- ized with eleven other companies into a regiment and was designated as Company D, Fourth Regi- ment. Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, with William. S. King as colonel. From November 27, 1864, until the mustering out in June, 1865, the company did duty at Forts Whipple, Richardson, and Berry, Vir- ginia. It arrived in Boston, June 2, 1865. without the loss of a single man; from there went to Read- ville, where it was mustered out, August 1, 1865.

After returning from the war Mr. Cutler en- gaged in the teaming business at the corner of Jack- son and Beacon streets. He bought his first teams from his former employer, E. C. Cleveland, partner in the firm of Cleveland & Bassett. His first con- tract was to haul six thousand feet of lumber for Hon. Ellery B. Crane, who was at that time in the lumber business. Mr. Cutler was then associated with Benjamin W. Dean, in the moving of build- ings. Mr. Cutler furnishing the horses needed in the work. Mr. Dean was the pioneer in the building moving business in Worcester, and on some occas- ions used as many as forty horses and oxen on one piece of work at one time. Mr. Cutler later took utp this business alone, and has for many years been the leader in it in this section of the country. He has moved a barn, forty by one hundred feet, con- taining about one hundred tons of hay ; he has raised many old buildings so that extra stories could be built under the old structures. All the leading contractors in Worcester and nearby towns employ his services. He makes a specialty of handling heavy machinery. At the beginning of the present year (1906) he moved a piece of machinery weigh- ing thirty tons, on one pair of trucks. He has the most improved facilities for handling heavy work, both in machinery and buildings. He was for a time in partnership with Charles Tatman, of Stur- bridge, doing business under the firm name of Cutler & Tatman. For a number of years he was engaged in carrying pleasure parties on trips and rides in sleighs and stage coaches, or "barges." as they are called. His place of husiness is located at No. 29 Lagrange street, and his residence is No. 30 Lake street. In politics he is a'Republican. His industry, application. and excellent business methods have not failed of their natural result. Mr. Cutler is now on the high road to prosperity, and he may with truth say that he owes it all to his own unaided efforts. He is a self-made man, one of the sort of whom our country may well be proud. ready to do his duty to the fullest extent toward his country, as well as to serve his private interests.

He married, November 26. 1867, Georgia A. Davis, born November 26, 1847. daughter of Samuel Davis. of Holden. They have one child, Ida M., born May 21, 1872, residing with her parents.

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BROWN FAMILY. James Brown (I), one of the early settlers in Hatfield, is believed to be the ancestor of the Brown family of western Massa- chusetts from which Irving Swan Brown and Luther C. Brown, of Worcester, arc descended.

(II) James Brown, son of James Brown, of Hatfield, was one of the proprietors and first set- tlers of Colchester, Connecticut, in 1714, with his sons, James, Samuel, Thomas and William.

(III) Samuel Brown, son of James Brown (2). was born about 1680. He was a town officer of Colchester. He married at Colchester, May 12, 1713. His wife died, after having one child. July 2, 1714. He married (second) Priscilla Kent, April II, 1715. The son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Collins) Brown was: Daniel, sce forvard. Children of Samuel and Priscilla ( Kent) Brown were: David, born May 29. 1716, married Abigail Mills, March 9, 1739; Samuel. December 12, 1718, died October 5, 1719; Elizabeth, November 16, 1720; Samuel, March 10, 1723: Samuel. August 17, 1729: Abner, March 25, 1730: Mary, February 13, 1732.

(IV) Daniel Brown, son of Samuel and Eliza- beth (Collins) Brown, was born in Colchester, June 12, 1714.

(V) Collins Brown, who is presumed to be the son of Daniel Brown (4), named for his mother. settled in Chicopee, Massachusetts, but re- moved later to Masonville, Delaware county, New York. He married Margaret Chapin, daughter of John Chapin, who was born May 1, 1753, married, August 5. 1775, Margaret Ely. His father was Phineas Chapin. Children of Collins and Mar- garet Brown were: Abel, see forward; Patty, mar-

ried Ichabod Whitney and had three children ; Quzrtus, married Thirza Smith and had eight chil- dren: Ara. married Silas Kneeland and had nine children : Ann, died unmarried; Polly, scalded to death; Collins J., married Sarah Griswold and had three children ; Unevilda, married David Teed and had six children; Mary Ann, married Stephen Whitman and had nine children.

(VI) Abel Brown, son of Collins Brown (5), was born in Connecticut or western Massachusetts. His birth is not recorded at Springfield, although it is believed that he was born there. He was born about 1780. He is described in the Biography of Rev. Abel Brown. his son, as "a respectable farmer of retired habits, known but little abroad." He lived in Springfield, Massachusetts, during his youth and early manhood. In 1821 he removed with all his family to Fredonia, New York. and later he and part of the family settled in Wisconsin. He mar- ried Joanna Lyman. daughter of Timothy Lyman, of whom a sketch appears herewith. The sons and grandsons seem to have inherited strong family characteristics from the Lyman family. Their chil- dren : Son, Thomas. Abel, see forward; Edwin, Cynthia. the only daughter. was a missionary : she married Reuben Mercer. and settled in Missouri where she died November. 1840; Lyman, born Au- gu-1 2.1. 1822.

(VII) Rev. Ahel Brown. son of Abel Brown (6). was born in Springfield. Massachusetts, Novem- ber 9. 18to. died in Canandaigua, New York, No- vember 8. 1811. He had a short but very useful and eventful life. He was the third of six children in a family where close economy and prudence had to be exercised. His early opportunities for edu- cation were slight. When he was twelve years old he began to help in a store and in his early teens was eager to follow a mercantile life. Later he

became very religious and determined to become a preacher. The family removed to Madison county, New York, in 1821. He joined the church at Fre- donia when he was nineteen. Two years later he entered the Literary and Theological Seminary at Hamilton, New York. His description of life at this institution seventy-five years ago in a letter to his sister is interesting: "We rise in the morning at half past four, assemble at five and attend prayers (O. Cynthia it is a pleasant place). Breakfast at about half past six. We have porridge and bread for breakfast-meat, sauce and bread for dinner or leave the meat and take butter. as we choose. For tea, we take cold water, bread and butter. This is the fare of most of the students of the abstinence society, but tea, coffee, etc., are furnished for those who wish them." He had to depend on his own exertions for support while in school. He had the best wishes of his parents and he used often to write of the religious instructions received at home. He seemed to practice self-denial in addition to the hardships of his situation as we see it. He visited hospitals and had two Bible classes and two Sabbath schools on Sunday while in the seminary. He began to preach also and in 1832 preached nine times in Springfield and also in other places. In one of his letters that year he says of his old home : "Grandmother Pendleton is still living, although ninety-four years old. She is a poor, helpless, in- sensible old lady. I have visited the houses and farm where I was born, but it does not appear as it did in childhood. The beautiful bed of lilies is gone. The stately oak has been removed. The shed has fallen and decayed. The fine peach trees are not seen and even the house itself is decayed and fast falling to pieces."

In 1832 his sister became a missionary largely through his influence and went to Sault St. Marie to work on the frontier among the Indians. Later she went west of the Mississippi river to the Shaw- nee Mission on the northwest frontier of Missouri with Mr. and Mrs. Merrill. Their work was among the Ottoe Indians. They endured many hardships, including scanty provisions. A characteristic letter from Rev. Abel Brown at the time his younger brother was thirteen years old admonished him for not being able to read his Greck testament as readily as Virgil.

He went into the mission work in New York state when churches and Sunday schools were few and inadequate for the needs of the people, especi- ally in the counties of Madison, Courtland, Cayuga, Erie and Chautauqua. As a licentiate preacher he visited Oswego in the summer and fall of 1835. His fiancee, Miss Mary Ann Brigham, was his as- sistant in 1835 at Auburn, gathering statistics, visit- ing families, helping in temperance work to which his attention was given more and more. They were married December 4, 1835, and continued their work together.

In 1835 temperance reform was unpopular. He was "mobbed, cowskined, knocked beside the head and assaulted five or six times during the year." He became an Abolitionist in the full sense of the term and entered the lists at every opportunity. At Auburn he barely escaped with his life. A mob of five hundred collected around the hotel. He managed to get out of the hotel and through the crowd, but was pursued for eight miles. A man on horseback who had been paid to kill him caught up with him, hut was persuaded to ahandon his purpose by a five dollar bill. The mob was led by

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prominent grocers who then sold West India goods generally. In 1836, at Westfield, New York, he was whipped by Dr. C. Jones, who thought he had been slandered in a sermon.

He was ordained November 16, 1837, at North- cast, Pennsylvania. He accepted a call to Beaver, ' Ohio, the next year, and worked in the adjacent towns of Bridgewater, Old Brighton and New Brighton, Fallston, Freedom and Chippeway. He was active in the Underground railroad to aid slaves on their way to Canada and in 1838 was arrested once for this work. The evidence was lacking, though he was, of course, guilty and gloated

over his success in the escape of the slaves. In April, 1839, he was appointed agent of the Western Education Society and helped in the effort to raise $80,000 to form a college. "There is a great neces- sitv," he wrote, "for a wholesale business to be done in educating promising young men and women. At least 10,000 teachers of common schools are wanted now to instruct over 500,000 children desti- tute of educational opportunities in the valley of the Mississippi."

In July, 1839, he accepted a commission from the Massachusetts Abolition Society, and subse- quently settled as pastor of the Baptist Church in Northampton in that state. His wife was active at this time as lecturer for the Moral Reform Society and the New England F. M. Society. Both temperance and anti-slavery movements began to show signs of progress, and in Auburn, where a few years before Mr. Brown had been mobbed, the man who had horsewhipped the preacher turned his liquors into the gutter and joined the reformers, many of whom were in the mob also. He became associated in the publication of the "Tocsin of Lib- erty" with E. W. Goodwin at Albany, New York, in 1842. Ile was active in the organization and work of the New Yorw Anti-slavery Society, in which twelve counties were represented. He was prose- cuted by pro-slavery men for alleged libel of Henry Clay, Thurlow Weed and others, but the cases were finally nolle pross'd. Often he had to leave his house on account of threats to destroy it. He was mobbed again in 1842 at Auburn on account of his abolition speech.

His wife died in 1842, at the age of twenty-seven, ending at an early age a very useful career. She was then the editor of the "Golden Rule" published at Albany. She was the founder of the Orphans' Home in that city. She left two children: Walter and Charles. Mr. Brown married (second), May 15. 1843, Catherine Swan, daughter of Samuel Swan, of Hubbardston, Massachusetts. She was then the agent of the Eastern New York Anti-slavery So- ciety. She assisted Mr. Brown at his meetings, singing and speaking. In 1843 they visited Michi- gan and in November returned to Massachusetts, where Mr. Brown and Lewis Washington spoke at Boston, Lowell, Andover and other places. Vio- Jence at their meetings was the rule rather than the exception in New York state. Even Mrs. Brown was assailed with eggs and other filth at a meeting in Westport. At Troy the mob prevented their meeting. and they were stoned and beaten on their way from the hall. Mr. Brown died after a short illness, November 8, 1844, at Canandaigua, New York. where he was buried.

"In every department of Anti-slavery enterprise he exhibited a spirit that could not rest while so much was at stake and so much required to be done. In circulating anti-slavery publications, in urging

religious denominations to practice the principles they avowed and by their presses, ministers, influ- ences and benevolence and societies to assist our colored brother who was bleeding in the porch of the sanctuary-in bringing the political parties at the north from under the thralldom in which they were kept by the slave power, in assisting as a mem- ber of the Vigilance Committee trembling Ameri- cans to the number of not less than a thousand to the shelter afforded by a monarchical government from the inhuman monster walking at large and claiming property in human flesh.

"He was a pattern to believers-a living argu- ment against unbelief. As a lecturer he produced an impression deep and lasting and if some of his arrows were not fully polished, they were less easily removed from the mind in which they had been fastened."

His widow married (second), in 1855. Rev. Charles Spear, a Universalist minister of Boston, noted for his work in prison reform. The only child by the second marriage was : Abel Swan Brown, see forward.

(VIII) Abel Swan Brown, son of Rev. Abel Brown (7), was born july 3, 1845, at Hubbardston, Massachusetts, where his mother was living with her parents two months after the death of his father. His mother married (second ) Rev. Charles Spear, of Boston, and Abel was brought up in Hubbards- ton by his grandparents. His grandfather, Samuel Swan, was a country squire, a man of large influence in the community. He went to school in Hubbards- ton until he was sixteen years old, when his grand- father. after the death of his wife, removed to Worcester to live with his son, George Swan, a prominent lawyer. He had also one term of school in Boston. The boy entered the dry goods store of Josiah H. Clarke and soon demonstrated his ability as a salesman. At the age of twenty he entered the employ of Lathrop, Ludington & Co., a large dry goods house in New York, where he was associated with his uncle, Reuben Swan, and after three years he went to H. B. Claflin & Co., in New York, where he held a responsible position for eleven years. Mr. Claflin was formerly in business in Worcester and established in New York one of the largest dry goods houses in the United States.

In 1880 Mr. Brown formed the Syndicate Trad- ing Company with offices in New York and branches in Manchester, England; Paris, France; St. Gall, Switzerland ; and Chemnitz, Germany and he was elected president, a position he held for the remainder of his life. The original firms in the company were the following department stores: Adam, Meldrum & Anderson of Buffalo; Callender, McAuslan & Troup of Providence : Brown & Thompson of Hart- ford: Forbes & Wallace of Springfield: Sibley, Lindsay & Curr of Rochester; Taylor & Kilpatrick of Cleveland. Other department houses. includ- ing the Denholm & Mckay Company of Worcester joined soon afterward. until the company com- prised a dozen of the largest and most progressive department stores of the country. The Syndicate Trading Company has come to be the largest buyers of goods of this character in the United States, buying over twenty millions of dollars worth of goods a year. In 1800, when the senior partner of the firm of Denholm & Mckay died, Mr. Brown acquired a controlling interest in the corporation which owned the Boston Store in Worcester. He became its president and after that he spent a part of each week in Worcester and the remainder in

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New York. He was subsequently also president of the Pettis Dry Goods Company of Indianapolis, and vice-president of the Callender, McAuslin & Troup Company and of the Doggett Dry Goods Company of Kansas City, Missouri.

He married. June, 1869, Charlotte Connah, daughter of John Connah, Jr. and his wife Keturah, of New York city. They resided in Brooklyn until 1880, when they made their home in Passaic, New Jersey. Mr. Brown had one of the most elaborate and beautiful homes in the town. It is located at the corner of Paulison and Pennington avenues, and is still occupied by his widow. After he became interested in the Boston Store in Worcester, he. made his summer home there and built "The Hermi- tage." He bought a large tract of land on what is known as Rattlesnake hill, including the former home of Solomon Parsons, the hermit, who was widely known in the county for his eccentricities. Parsons had a temple and dceded the spot to the Almighty, recording the conveyance by cutting the words on a flat rock which remains an object of curious interests to visitors. Mr. Brown built his house near the hermit's dwelling and called it "The Hermitage." It is very secluded. Mr. Brown owned some six hundred and fifty acres about the house and called the place "Wildwood Park." He entertained freely and once a year he provided a day of enjoyment there for the employees of the Boston store. His mother lived there with him. While he was in Worcester he attended the Main Street Baptist Church, and was a member of the Bible class of the Hon. Joseph Il. Walker. He removed to New York and became a member of the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn, of which he was superintendent of the financial department, member of the music committee and trustee and chief organizer in 1877 of the Young People's Bap- tist Union, the most active organization of that denomination in Brooklyn. Mrs. Brown was also an active worker in the church and both were prom- inent in musical circles. Mr. Brown being president of the Philharmonic Social. At Passaic Mr. and Mrs. Brown joined the First Baptist Church, of which he was a trustee and chairman of the music committee.

He was a man of public spirit and civic pride. When he removed to Passaic it had a population of ·6,000 and at the time of his death it had 30.000. He organized the movement to erect the city hall, one of the finest in the state of New Jersey; also the public library building and the Passaic Club house. Mr. Brown organized the Citizens' Im- provement Association, which has since grown to be the Board of Trade, and became a powerful factor in local affairs. He took a leading part in the organization of the Young Men's Christian As- sociation of Passaic and served from the first until his death on the board of directors, giving valuable assistance in building the new headquarters. To the Young Men's Christian Association as well as to the General Hospital and to other institutions he was a generous and judicious contributor.

He was a Republican in politics and a close student of public questions. He worked for good government in local affairs by his influence and ex- ample, but had to decline offices, for want of time. He was a member of the Passaic Club, the Wor- cester Club. the Tatnuck Country Club, the Union Teague Club, Merchants' and Wood Club of New York, the New England Society. the Sons of the American Revolution of New York City, the Kenil-

worth Literary Society and the Young Men's Chris- tian Association of Passaic. He belonged to the New York chamber of commerce and was on the original committee sent to the monetary conference at Indianapolis. He loved music and often gathered. musical people about him in his home. He was no mean performer on the violin and he rejoiced in the musical talent shown by his sons. He was a very hospitable man with a strong love for his native town. On one occasion he entertained at "The Hermitage" three hundred guests who were born in Hubbardston or whose parents came from that town.

Mr. Brown's death, in the very prime of life, was a great loss to the mercantile world and was regarded in the light of personal bereavement by many business friends and employees, as well as by his immediate family. It was an early age for one of his large usefulness to die, but the length of such a man's life is measured by his achieve- ments, rather than by his years. The resolutions adopted at the time of his death by the city council of Passaic contained this paragraph: "In his private life, in his business career and in the active interest taken by him in public affairs, he has left a note- worthy example and one that reflects credit upon himself and lustre upon the community in which he took such pride. He was exemplary in his priv- ate life and character, a man of liberal disposition, abundant in his benevolences, which were always bestowed with judgment and without ostentation. We record with satisfaction the fact that his name has become widely known and highly esteemed far beyond the city in which he lived as a business man of sterling character and unusual ability and capac- itv. On the foundation of strict integrity and sound business principles he built up a large commercial structure, the uprearing and conduct of which called for the shrewdest husiness instinct and sagacity, the most practical common sense and unwearying per-onal energy and industry." He died September 6, 1899.

The children of Abel Swan and Charlotte (Con- nah) Brown were: Irving Swan, see forward; Luther G., see forward.

(IX) Irving Swan Brown, eldest son of Abel Swan Brown (8), was born in Brooklyn, New York. December 20, 1870. He attended the public and private schools of Brooklyn, New York, and Passaic. He attended Princeton University, being in the class of 1893. He became associated with his father in his various business interests. . He re- moved to Worcester in 1897 and became the vice- president and general manager of the Denholm & McKay Company, popularly known as the Boston Store. The firm of Denholm & Mckay was estab- lished November 26. 1870, in what is known as the Walker building. Main street, corner of Mechanic, by William A. Denholm and W. C. McKay. In the first year a business amounting to $242,000 was done and success was assured. The concern grew rapidly. and the store was enlarged and the staff of clerks constantly increased. At length the need of more space made further additions necessary after all the available space had been taken. In 1882. after the firm had failed in its efforts to buy the building and build the needed addition, the offer of Jonas G. Clark to build the block now occupied by the Boston Store, was accepted. The new quart- ers were occupied September 21. 1882. The growth of the business continued until at present it occu- pies practically the entire building. It is the largest

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department store in central Massachusetts. Over five hundred persons are employed and there are now fifty departments. A complete history of this remarkable business would fill a volume by itself. At no time in its history has it been more successful and grown more rapidly than in the past ten years, when it was under the management of Irving S. Brown. July 1, 1906, Mr. Brown sold his interest in the Denholm & McKay Company to his brother, Luther C. Brown, who became vice-president and general manager. Mr. I. S. Brown now plans to travel extensively abroad with his family. Mr. Brown is also a director of the Syndicate Trad- ing Company of New York, of which his father was the founder and president. Also a director .of the Pettis Dry Goods Company, of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a member of the Worcester Club, the Hermitage Country Club, the Commonwealth Club, the Tatnuck Country Club, the Tatassit Canoe Club, the Brookline Country Club, the Boston Ath- letic Club, the Princeton Club of New York, the Sons of the Revolution. Mr. Brown is a Republi- can. He loves music and enjoys travel. Although he devotes himself to business thoroughly he takes time annually for trips to the southern countries or abroad for rest and recreation.

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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. IV, Part 102

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 710

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 710