Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. IV, Part 86

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 86

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CLEMENT W. CUNNINGHAM, who for sev- eral years was actively identified with the American Steel and Wire Company, of Worcester, Massachu- setts, was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Novem- ber 10, 1843, the son of Edward R. and Rebecca A. M. ( Francesville) Cunningham, and was one of six children. Edward R. Cunningham was also a native

of Nova Scotia, Canada; lie engaged in mercantile pursuits and was a man of high standing; he and his wife are both deceased.

Clement W. Cunningham was educated in the best schools of his native place, served an apprentice- ship at carriage making, and in 1865 came to the United States, locating on a farm at Weston, Massa- chusetts, where he was for a time employed as a farm hand. He then moved to Worcester, Massa- chusetts, and was there engaged as a carpenter in a foundry. After leaving the foundry, he turned his attention to pattern making and met with suc- cess in that line; he subsequently associated him- self with the American Steel and Wire Company, in Worcester, Massachusetts, as head of the pattern department at the south works, and remained in that capacity until 1903. Mr. Cunningham was an excellent workman and rendered valuable services to the last named company. In 1903 he retired from active business life and moved to Millbury, Massa- chusetts, purchasing his present pretty home, the "Panorama Farm," where he devotes his time to the raising of small fruits, poultry and bees. Mr. Cunningham is a strong Republican, and although deeply interested in all public affairs he never aspired to the holding of public office. He takes a great in- terest in all that pertains to the welfare of the county, and is held in the greatest respect by his fellow townsmen. He is a member of the Masonic order and attends the Congregational Church.

In 1869 Mr. Cunningham was united in marriage to Miss Ella M. Bonzey, a daughter of Zenas and Betsey, of Millbury, Massachusetts, and of this union the following children have been born: Ella R., married Ward B. Clarke, Jr., of Oxford, Massa- chusetts, and they have three children: Mildred, Raymond and Lucille. Clement W., Jr. Clara S., wife of Henry M. Shepardson, of Oxford, Massa- chusetts. Edward F., married Emma S. Austin, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and they have two chil- dren : Edward F., Jr., and Winthrop.

DANIEL MACDUFF. Alexander MacDuff (1), the grandfather of Daniel MacDuff, of Millbury, Massachusetts, was born in Inveraray, Scotland, a descendant of one of the oldest and hest known families. The MacDuffs were located in Fifeshire before 1060. Alexander MacDuff was a millwright by trade and was employed in the same mill for more than fifty years. He married Elizabeth Stev- enson and they had eight sons and three daughters. Two of the sons-Alexander, Jr., and Allan-came to America. The former was for several years an engineer of an ocean steamship, with headquarters in Boston; he died in Cuba. The latter settled in Missouri.

(II) Daniel MacDuff, Sr., son of Alexander (I) and Elizabeth ( Stevenson) MacDuff, was born in Johnstone, Scotland, in 1822. and died in Glas- gow, Scotland, in 1872. He was for some years manager of a cotton mill in Glasgow. He married Margaret Storie, who bore him nine sons and two daughters, of whom eight married and four are in this country. Their children were: Alexander, Robert. Janet, now Mrs. Jamieson ; Daniel, William, Neil, Archibald, Allan, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Slater : John Reid and Thomas. The mother of these chil- dren came to this country and resided with her son in Worcester for some years, finally returning to live in Elderslie, Scotland.

(III) Daniel MacDuff, son of Daniel (2) and Margaret ( Storie) MacDuff, was born August 12,

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1850, in Airdrie, Scotland. He received his early education in the common schools there and subse- quently studied the higher branches in the evening schools. At the age of fourteen years he began to work in the lowest department of the flax thread mill. He was rapidly promoted until at the age of eighteen he was filling the position of foreman. In 1875 he became the manager of a thread mill near Bridport, England, whence he came in 1880 to North Grafton, Massachusetts, with his former em- ployers, Finlayson, Bousfield & Co., to take charge of their mill there. He remained in charge of this mill for twelve years, and during that period of time the business increased to such an extent that they were obliged to employ thie services of three hundred and fifty hands; when he assumed charge they were employing forty hands.

In 1892 Mr. MacDuff became one of the part- ners of the firm of Whitney, MacDuff and Company, which rented a mill and water privileges at Mill- bury, and has since manufactured shoe threads and twines of linen. In 1898, as a result of business de- pression caused by the Cleveland administration, Mr. MacDuff sacrificed his interests to his partner and accepted a position with the Linen Thread Com- pany. The business was later incorporated as the West End Thread Company, and Mr. MacDuff has been general manager since 1903. At the outset the mill employed some thirty hands, but its capacity has been increased to two thousand spindles, and they now employ over a hundred hands, making it one of the large and prosperous industries of that section, and this growth is directly attributable to the capable business management, good judgment and executive ability displayed by Mr. MacDuff in his direction of its affairs. In politics Mr. MacDuff is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Second Congregational Church.

Mr. MacDuff married, December 26, 1876, at Johnstone, Scotland, Janet Allen Caldwell, born 1853, the younger daughter of William Caldwell, of Bridge of Weir, Scotland. The children of this union are: Daniel Milton, born May 23, 1878, in Burton Bradstock, England. attended the public schools of North Grafton, Massachusetts, and Wor- cester Academy, and is now at Rochester, New York, studying civil engineering. William Cald- well Clark, born 1881, attended the Millbury public schools, the high school for a year, and is now fore- man in the West End Thread Mill, associated in business with his father. He is a musician of some distinction and has played the violin on special oc- casions in many of the churches in Worcester and vicinity. Alexander Storey, born 1883, attended the public schools of Millbury and graduated from the high school; he was for four years employed in the Paterson National Bank and is now bookkeeper at the North Works of the American Steel and Wire Company, Worcester. Charles Pratt, born 1884, attended the Millbury public schools, went to Lis- burn, Ireland, with his parents, started as clerk for Duncan & Son, thence to Paterson, New Jersey, is now with Denholm & Mckay Company-the Boston Store-Worcester, and has advanced to the position of buyer for women's and children's knit under- wear, hosiery and gloves. James Allen, born 1886, was educated in Millbury and Paterson public schools and graduated from Becker's Business Col- lege, Worcester. He was two years with the Pat- erson National Bank of Paterson, New Jersey, and is now serving an apprenticeship in the steel busi- ness with the Worcester Steel Company. Allen W.

Sharp, born 1888, a member of the class of 1907, Millbury high school.

ISAAC HENRY EASTERBROOK, deceased, at one time a leading member of the Rhode Island senate and subsequently a prominent resident of Dudley, this county, possessed intellectual attain- ments of a high order, and was therefor super- abundantly qualified for the service in which he ac- quired an honorable record. The Easterbrook fam- ily was established in New England nearly two hun- dred and fifty years ago by the Rev. Joseph Easter- brook, who was born in Enfield, county of Middle- sex, England, about the year 1640, and emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1660. He was prepared for a collegiate course in England, and immediately after his arrival entered Harvard Col- lege, from which he was graduated in 1664. On May 3 of the following year he was made a freeman in Cambridge, and in 1667 was ordained to the ministry and installed as assistant to the Rev. Edward Bulke- ley, pastor of the church in Concord. After the death of Mr. Bulkeley in 1696, he succeeded to the pastorate and retained it until his death, which oc- curred at the age of about seventy-one years, Sep- tember 16, 1711. On May 20, 1668, he married in Watertown Mary Mason, who was born December 18, 1640, daughter of Captain Hugh and Esther Mason. His children were: Joseph, Benjamin, Mary, Samnel, Daniel and Ann. From him are descended all who bear the name of Easterbrook in New Eng- land.

Captain Isaac Easterbrook, grandfather of Isaac Henry Easterbrook, was born in Barnstable, Massa- chusetts, April 9, 1796. He settled in Hingham, this state, was a master mariner engaged in the coast- wise trade between Boston Harbor and the maritime provinces. His death, which occurred in Hingham, was the result of heart disease. He married, No- vember 5, 1820, Mrs. Susanna (Marsh) Lincoln, who was born in Hingham, August 13, 1799, died November 1, 1831. On January 28, 1833, he married for his second wife Louisa Easterbrook, of Barn- stable. His children were: Isaac, of whom later; Susan Marsh, born August 13, 1823, died August 28, 1825; Charles Gorham, August 13, 1825; Joseph B., September 12, 1827, died May 8, 1879; and Susan Marsh, 2d, December 1I, 1829, died February 19, 1879. Charles Gorham Easterbrook settled in Wey- mouth. Massachusetts, and for a number of years was editor of the Weymouth Gasctte. He married Flora Drew Humphrey.

Isaac Easterbrook, Jr., father of Isaac Henry Easterbrook, was born in Hingham, September 17, 1821. In 1834 he went to Boston, where he served an apprenticeship of eight years at the carpenters' trade, and eventually became a successful building contractor in that city. In 1886 he retired from business and died in Boston, June 6, 1888. He mar- ried, October 27. 1846, Caroline Atwood Lewis, who was born in Hingham, September 23, 1823, and was the third daughter of Elijah W. Lewis, whose brother Hosea was the father of Ida Lewis, the famous Lime Rock Light House heroine. Mrs. Isaac Easterbrook died in Boston, January 8, 1886. Isaac and Caroline A. Easterbrook were the parents of two children, namely: Isaac Henry, and Carrie Marsh, who was born in Boston, October 25, 1859, and died in Hingham, September 4, 1864.

Isaac Henry Easterbrook was born in Boston, May 23, 1849. He pursued the primary branches of his education in the public schools and was pre-

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pared for Harvard University at the Boston Latin School, but owing to his impaired health he con- sidered it advisable to enter the State Agricultural College at Amherst, from which he was graduated in 1872. Realizing the absolute necessity of con- tinuous out-of-door employment he turned his at- tention to agricultural pursuits, and in 1876 settled upon a farm at Diamond Hill in the town of Cum- berland, Rhode Island. About the year 1888 he removed to Dudley, where he continued to carry on farming operations, and he resided there until his death, which occurred May 27, 1901.

In politics Mr. Easterbrook was a Democrat, but luis absolute freedom from partisan prejudice gained for him the confidence of his fellow-citizens, irre- spective of party, and his public service record was an extremely honorable onc. For three consecutive years (1885-86-87) he was a member of the Rhode Island senate, serving for two years upon the com- mittee on education, and in 1887 he was assigned to the judiciary committee, having as associates the Hon. Samuel R. Honey, Leiutenant-Governor Stearns, Hon. N. F. Dixon, afterward United States senator. and the Hon. Oscar Lapham, subsequently member of congress. Among the various important questions which came before that body was the act relative to the division of the town of South Kings- ton. His continuance in the Rhode Island senate was prevented by his removal from the state, and sometime after settling in Dudley he was chosen a member of the school board, but the serious physical disability which had long antagonized his activities, both public and private, at length compelled him to withdraw permanently from public life. In his re- ligious belief he was a Unitarian.

On October 5. 1872, Mr. Easterbrook married for his first wife Annie Patten Preble, who was born in Cherryfield. Maine. October 5. 1864. She died in Hingham February 15, 1876, leaving no chil- dren. His second wife, whom he married May I, 1879. was Emma Frances Davis. She was born in Dudley, December 22, 1852, daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (Larned) Davis. She is of revolutionary ancestry on the maternal side and through her grand- mother. Elizabeth (Eaton) Larned, is a descendant of Rev. John Eliot, the apostle. Elizabeth (Eaton) Larned lived to be more than one hundred years old. and her death occurred at Central Falls, Rhode Island, in July, 1890. She was the mother of thir- teen children, of whom Elizabeth, who married Reu- ben Davis, was the second in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Easterbrook became the parents of seven children, namely: Mary Louise, born January 6. ISSO; Elliot Davis. November 12, 1881 ; Caroline Elizabeth, December 17, 1883; Bertha, January 30, 1885; Isaac Harold. August 18, 1887; Ralph and Ruth, twins, October 5. 1889. Mary Louise, who was a graduate of Nichols Academy, Dudley, died December 12, 1903: Elliot Davis died October 3. 1888; Carrie Elizabeth and Bertha were graduated from Nichols Academy in 1903. Mrs. Easterbrook is still residing in Dudley, and the farming interests of her late husband are now in charge of her son, Isaac Harold Easterbrook.

ARTHUR EUGENE HAYER. The family of Hayer, represented in the present generation by Arthur Eugene Hayer. of Worcester. Massachu- setts, is descended from an old Conneticut family. The name from time to time has been spelled Hare, Haire, Hair and finally Hayer. William Hair, a clothier, removed from Providence, Rhode Island,

to Brookfield, Worcester county. Massachusetts, and married, February Io, 1725, Elizabeth Owen, aged fourteen years. They were the parents of a num- ber of children, among whom was a son, John, born in Brookfield, Massachusetts, 1732, married Agnes Steele, in 1758, and settled there. Among their children was a son, William, born May 9, 1773. The next in line of descent was Roswell Hair, of Thomp- son, Connecticut, and among his children was a son. William Hair, born in Thompson, Connecticut. William Hair was a mill operator. He married Lucy Chaffee, of Thompson, and their children. were: William Dayton, born July 25, 1856, a farmer at Sturbridge, Massachusetts: and Arthur Eugene, born December 22, 1858. William Hair was in a company of Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and died during his services at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as also did his brother and a nephew.

Arthur Eugene Hayer, second son of Willian and Lucy ( Chaffee ) Hair, was born at East Wood- stock. Connecticut, December 22, 1858. He attended the schools of his native town and those of Stur- bridge and Brimfield, Massachusetts, and later pur- sued a course at Eastman's Business College, Pough- keepsie, New York. He began his business career by learning the trade of carriage manufacturing with the firm of H. Haynes & Son, carriage makers, at Sturbridge, Massachusetts. He also learned the trade of carriage painting, becoming a thorough and competent workman and skillful with the brush. Later he was in charge of a department of the car- riage factory of S. R. Parker, of Millbury, Massa- chusetts, and the duties devolving upon him were discharged in a highly creditable and efficient man- ner. July 1, 1885, he engaged in business on his own account in Worcester. Massachusetts, securing a small shop at Webster Square, and there he built up a large and prosperous business in the making and repairing of carriages and vehicles. In 1900 he moved to more commodious quarters at No. 548 Park avenue, and here he has specially fine facilities for all departments of the work, which includes that of painting, repairing, building and horse shoeing. In all his business tranactions Mr. Hayer has ac- quitted himself in such a way as to gain the con- fidence and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact. and his enterprise and capability is recog- mized throughout the community. Mr. Hayer is a Republican in politics, takes an active interest in public affairs, and was for a number of years a mem- ber of the Republican city committee. He is past noble grand of Worcester Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of Montacute Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Board of Trade and other organizations.

Mr. Hayer married. January 21, 1886, Alice A. Tatman, daughter of Samnel D. Tatman, of Wor- cester, Massachusetts. (See sketch of the Tatman family elsewhere in the work. ) They have three children, namely : Edith Elizabeth, born in Worcester. October 15, 1886: Myron Tatman, April 29, 1890; and Burton Samuel, February 24, 1899.

SEARLES-CORBIN FAMILIES. Mrs. Selina Searles, born Corbin, widow of the late Jonathan Bacon Searles, of Webster, is a daughter of Carlton and Lucy ( Suverin) Corbin, of Dudley, this county. and is therefore a representative of one of the old- est settled families of that town. Her grandfather was Joshua Corbin, and her great-grandfather was James Corbin, who settled in the south-westerly part of Worcester county during the very first years

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of the eighteenth century. James Corbin was one of the original proprietors of Dudley, and was the first to sign the articles of association formulated for the incorporation of that town, February 2, 1731-32. The farm which he cleared from the wild- erness and occupied for the remainder of his life, remained in the possession of the Corbin family for a period of two hundred years, or until 1905. Joshua Corbin, son of James Corbin, was born in Dudley, 1757, and resided there during his entire life, which terminated January 7, 1852, at the ad- vanced age of ninety-five years. He served as a soldier in the revolutionary war. His wife was be- fore marriage Rhoda Wood, and she became the mother of twelve children.

Carlton Corbin, son of Joshua and Rhoda (Wood) Corbin, was born at the family homestead in Dudley, May 8, 1805. He was a lifelong resi- dent of Dudley and died in his seventy-fourth year, December 23, 1878. He married Lucy Suverin, who was born in Union, July 12, 1808, and her death occurred in 1892. Carlton and Lucy Corbin were the parents of the following children: Vernon, Windsor, Selina, Harriet, Carlton Otis, William, Henry Harrison, Horace, Lucy Ann and Elvira.

Selina Corbin was born in Dudley, July 20, 1836. She married, November 26, 1861, John Bacon Searles. The Searles are an old Sturbridge family. John Bacon Searles was born in that town, May 5, 1809, son of Peter and Maria ( Bacon) Searles, both of whom were descended from early settlers in that locality. His mother died when he was five years old and his father, who shortly afterward married a second wife, placed him legally, or as it is sometimes expressed, "bound him out," in the care of a man who gave little or no heed to the . moral obligation involved in such transactions. As a consequence he received no educational advant- ages, was otherwise ill-treated and his boyhood and youth was to him a period of misery and toil. Ile possessed inherently the qualities, which, when matured, constitute an upright manly character, and in the face of the counteracting influences frequently produced by abject servitude he preserved his in- tegrity, guarding it forever afterward as a legacy of far greater value than any other worldly pos- session. When free to begin life for himself he en- gaged in threshing grain and in due time, by practic- ing the most rigid economy, he accumulated the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars. Locating in Webster in 1845 he entered the meat business in company with one Charles Allen, who, taking advantage of his partner's illness, sold the business and absconded with the entire proceeds. Undaunted Mr. Searles re-established himself in trade, this time in the fish business, and he was identified with that line of trade in Webster for a period of thirty-five years. In 1879 he retired from active business pursuits. Dur- ing his long and honorable business career he ac- quired a reputation for reliability and fair dealing which gained the esteem and confidence of his mer- cantile contemporaries, as well as all others with whom he came in contact, and his death, November 18, 1883 was the cause of general regret. Mrs. Searles is still residing in Webster, where she has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who ap- preciate her numerous commendable qualities.

JOHN MILTIMORE CLARKE. A native of the Keystone state and a veteran of the civil war, John M. Clarke sought his fortune in New England some thirty years ago and found it in Webster,

where he is now living in retirement. He belongs to an old Pennsylvania family which was estab- lished in Indiana county during the eighteenth cen- tury.

William Clarke was a lifelong resident of In- diana county. His earier years were devoted to agriculture, but later in life he engaged in the hotel business and for many years was the proprietor of Clarke's Hotel, a much frequented hostelry located upon the Indiana and Cambria county line. He lived to a good old age and his death occurred about the year 1883. His wife, who was before marriage Sarah Lynn, became the mother of four children, whose names were: George W., Ellen, Caroline and William Jackson.

George W. Clarke was born in Indiana county, May 5, 1813. He assisted his father in farming, later becoming associated with him in the hotel, and he eventually engaged in that business on his own account as proprietor of a hotel in Armagh, Pennsy !- vania. For a period of fifteen or twenty years he officiated as overseer of the northern turnpike be- tween Armagh and Ebensburg, and he served as burgess of the borough of Armagh for a number of terms. In 1852 he removed to New Florence, Penn- sylvania, and conducted a hotel there for the re- mainder of his life, which terminated in 1887. He married, April 25, 1838, Mary A. Hughes, who was born about the year 1821, daughter of Edward or Edwin Hughes, a soldier in the war of 1812-15. Her death occurred October 19, 1899. George W. and Mary ( Hughes) Clarke were the parents of eight children, namely: Currance Clarke, born Oc- tober 27, 1839; John M., March 24. 1841; Sarah Elizabeth. March 27, 1843: Mary Margaret, Janu- ary 4, 1845: Lydia Caroline, December 26, 1847; Edward Washington, December 15, 1851 ; Cecilia, May 4, 1855; and Lillian, July 1, 1860.

The birth of John Miltimore Clarke took place in Armagh. March 24, 1841. He acquired his edu- cation in the public schools of Armagh and New Florence, in which latter town he resided until he was eighteen years old, when he was attracted to the middle western states as an advantageous lo- cality for a young man to begin the activities of life, and he settled in Earlville, Illinois. On June 8, 1861, he enlisted for service in the civil war as a private in Company D. Twenty-third Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Captain S. A. Simison and Colonel James A. Mulligan, which was known as the Irish Brigade. Assigned to duty in Lexington, Missouri, the regiment had the misfortune of fall- ing into the hands of the enemy, by whom it was paroled and at the expiration of its four months term of service was discharged at St. Louis. Re- turning to Illinois Mr. Clarke engaged in mercan- tile business as a clerk, and subsequently was em- ployed in securing subscriptions for Abbott's "His- tory of the Civil War." After spending a year at his home in Pennsylvania he again visited Illinois. and opening a general store at a business centre of considerable importance in Livingston county, he continued in trade for some time. In 1873 he went to Hall county, Nebraska, where he turned his at- tention to farming and stock raising, but the grass- hopper pest proved so disastrous to his crops as to completely discourage him. Having thus far rea- lized but little success in the middle west he now looked to the east, and coming to New England in 1874 he was so favorably impressed with the busi- ness possibilities in the town of Webster as to perma- nently locate there, His initial business enterprise

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in the last consisted of a box factory and a saw mill, which he auspiciously inaugurated, and although his progress was somewhat retarded by a fire, he rebuilt and subsequently sold. In 1877 he went to Boston, where he remained some three years, but eventually returned to Webster, and January 1, 1880, established himself in the grain trade. This busi- ness proved exceedingly satisfactory and he con- tinued to conduct it for a period of nearly twenty years or until November, 1899. when he retired. Mr. Clarke is prominently identified with the Grand Army of the Republic in this locality, having held all of the important offices of Post No. 61, of Web- ster, of which he is now a trustee, and he is post- commander of the Worcester county division, con- sisting of sixteen posts.

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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 86

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