Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. IV, Part 87

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 87

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Mr. Clarke married, December 5, 1865, Lucy D. Williams, who was born in Phillipston, Massachu- setts, February 19, 1841. daughter of John E. and Huldah Upham ( Shumway ) Williams. The chil- dren of this union are: Bessie Mary, born Septem- ber 22, 1866. married E. A. Lawrence, of Webster, August 28, 1902. Reginald Williams, January 2, 1868, president of the W. H. Burns Company of Worces- ter, married, August 25, 1899. Catherine Chisholm Thorn, of Toronto, Ontario. Louis Garret, March 5. 1870, a graduate of the Peoria ( Illinois) Optical College, and of the Waltham ( Massachusetts) School of Watch-Making, is now engaged in optical work in Worcester. On January 30. 1899. he mar- ried Mary Estey Hubbard, of Webster, and has one daughter, Avis Gertrude, born July 12, 1902.

BERNARD JOSEPH BERTELS, son of Anton and Anna Bertels, was born in Westfalen. Germany, 1852. His father was a restauranteur and farmer.

Bernard Joseph Bertels came to America at his majority. A brother who had preceded him kept a restaurant at New London. After working in different places and acquiring the knowledge of language and business here. Mr. Bertels looked around for an opening on his own account, and started the manufacturing of all kinds of sausages in a basement on Front street in 1881. He started in with one man, but his goods took so well in the markets that he employed four men, and kept them busy making sausages, bologna, pressed ham, and all other things that the markets asked for. After two years of prosperous business in the basement, Mr. Bertels rented the new block built by Samuel Alahiney on Church street and opened a regular New York delicatessen store. It was the first store that opened in Worcester for the sale

of cooked meats. all kinds of sausages, imported and domestic cheese, and all other delica- cies. His business was a novelty to the Worcester people. and housekeepers and others found it so convenient to go into the store and buy some cooked meats ready for table use. that the business soon was booming and the number of workmen were doubled to keep the store supplied. In 1893 the second store was opened on Pleasant street for the conveniences of the every day west side customers, whom all agree in saying. "We would not know what to do without that store of Bertels." At the present time (1905) the selling and manufacturing of the establishment of all kinds of sausages and cooked meats amounts to from 2,000 to 2.500 pounds daily. and the goods are sent all over New England and into New York state. The connoisseur in cheese always goes to Bertels, as only the very best grade of imported and domestic cheeses are kept.

B. J. B .. as often called by his friends, married, February 17, 1885, Josephine C. Lichtenfels, only daughter of the late George and Mary Lichtenfels, of Worcester. Three children were born, Helen Rosa, her father's housekeeper ; Marion, born 1887, bookkeeper for her father: and Bernard, born 1890, a student at the Worcester Academy.

Mr. Bertels' home at Lake Quinsigamond, named by Mrs. Bertels "Holmcrest," is one of the most beautifully located and kept places around Wor- cester. He was a pioneer among the residents along the shore. It was formerly a chestnut grove of about two acres, but is now beautifully developed. with all kinds of fruit trees as well as small fruits in the line of berries. The house is surrounded by all kinds of choice shrubs and flowers, with a fine view of the picturesque Lake Quinsigamond. In the summer time the visitor is amazed at the great variety of vegetation that few but experts can call by name. Mr. Bertels' most enjoyable time is when surrounded by friends at home, and whoever has visited there will not forget the hospitality they have received. He also takes great pleasure in cooking game and other special dinners for friends, of which he is considered an expert by all who have ever sat down and enjoyed one of his dinners. Mr. Bertels sustained a great loss on November 30, 1902, when he suddenly lost his good wife, who was a most devoted mother and a firm friend of every one who knew her.

Mr. Bertels is a thirty second degree Mason, a member of Quinsigamond Lodge, Eureka Chap- ter, Hiram Council and Worcester County Com- mandery. Knights Templar. He is also a prominent Odd Fellow, being a member of Worcester Lodge and of the encampment. He is an honorary member of the Worcester Continentals, and a member of Pearl Lodge, Knights and Ladies of Honor, and of tite Worcester Agricultural Society. He was form- erly very active in the Frohsinns, was president several years, and held the other offices in order. He was chairman of the building committees that erected the club house at the lake and planned the quarters in the building on Waldo street. He is an honorary and life member of the society. In politics he is a Republican, but could not be induced to accept an office.

RALPH TRESCOTT LARCHAR is not only a prominent business man of Webster, but is also closely identified with the religious, social and fra- ternal interests, and is regarded as one of the most progressive young men of that town. His father, the late William James Larchar, who was born in Taunton. Massachusetts, was a jeweler by trade. He learned his vocation in Taunton. Massachusetts, subsequently establishing himself in business in South Framingham. Massachusetts, where he re- mained until the building in which his store was lo- cated was destroyed by fire, and in 1870 he located in Webster. For more than twenty years he con- ducted a jewelry store in that town with gratifying success and was highly esteemed both for his enter- prise and integrity. His death occurred in Webster, April 3. 1893. He was made a Mason in South Framingham and also joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in that town. In his religions be- lief he was a Congregationalist and in addition to being an active member of that church, he served upon its various committees, was in other ways in- terested in the moral and religious welfare of the community. He married Catherine Susanna Bur-

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gess, born in East Wareham, Massachusetts, 1850. She became the mother of four children, namely: Arthur Burgess, a graduate of the Worcester Poly- technic Institute, married Jessie Whitney, of Ware- ham, and has two children: Arthur Whitney and Elizabeth Larchar. Elsie Frisdale, Ralph T., see forward; and Forest Metcalf.

Ralph Trescott Larchar was born in Webster, December 12, 1874. He began his education in the Webster public schools and concluded his studies with a course in optical science at the Kline School of Optics, Boston. In 1893 he succeeded to the jewelry business formerly conducted by his father, and has ever since been recognized as the leading jeweler and optician in Webster. His business, which was established thirty-five years ago, has greatly expanded under his energetic supervision, and his progressive tendencies enables him to keep pace with the improved methods and advanced ideas relative ot the jeweler's art and the optical trade. In politics he acts with the Republican party. He affiliates with the Masonic fraternity and the Order of the Eastern Star, has gone through all of the chairs in the local lodge, Knights of of Pythias. He is also officially connected with the Congrega- tional Church, being at the present time treasurer of the society.

On May 23, 1903, Mr. Larchar was joined in mar- riage with Mabelle Hulsizer, daughter of -

and Ida M. (Terribury) Hulsizer, of Annandale, New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Larchar have one daugh- ter, Dorothy M., born March 10, 1904.

MRS. MARY ANN (FITTS) HILL, one of the oldest residents of Webster and a worthy rep- resentative of an old Massachusetts family, which was founded in America at an early date in the colonial period is justly entitled to a conspicuous place in the list of Worcester county's wives and mothers, who have attained the honorable distinc- tion of being octogenarians. Mrs. Mary Ann Hill, born Fitts, is of English origin and a lineal descen- dant in the eighth generation of Robert Fitzford (1), in Devonshire, who came to New England, accompanied by his wife Grace, and settled at Salem in 1638.

Their son Abraham, who was born in 1658, mar- ried Rebecca Bird, and was the father of Abraham Fitz.

Abraham Fitz (3) was born in 1693. He mar- ried for his first wife Margaret Choate, and for his second wife Mary Ross. He was the father of four- teen children.

Robert Fitz, son of Ahraham and Margaret (Choate) Fitz, was born in 1718. The maiden name of his wife was Hannah Dickes, and she became the mother of eleven children, among whom was Robert, whose birth took place in 1739.

Robert Fitz married Kezia Towne, and had a family of nine children.

John Fitts, son of Robert and Kezia (Towne) Fitts. and the grandfather of Mrs. Hill, was born in 1771. LIe married Rebecca Stockwell, and they were the parents of nine children, namely: Asahel, Asa Elliott, Francis, Paschal, John, Roswell, Ann Maria. Caroline and Bradford Phillips.

Asahel Fitts, Mrs. Hill's father, was born June 21. 1802. The active period of his life was spent in Webster, where he was successfully engaged in the manufacture of brick, and his death occurred No- vember 6, 1868, in East Douglas. On July 28, 1821,

he married Lois Emerson, who was born April 8, 1805. She survived her husband some nineteen years and died June 16, 1887. Asahel and Lois (Emerson) Fitts reared a family of five children, namely : Mary Ann. 'of whom later: Asel, born August 29, 1824, died October 12, 1904: Sarah Jane, born August 7, 1827, deceased ; Paschal D., born January 24, 1831, died June 16, 1877; and Henry Clay born May 19, 1841, died December 19, 1864. Henry Clay Fitts served in the civil war as captain and he had just received his appointment of major in the Third Rhode Island Cavalry when he was stricken with small pox and died at Donaldson, Louisiana. He was a brilliant young officer and would undoubtedly have attained still higher rank in the service, had it not been for his untimely decease. Asel Fitts, sec- ond child and eldest son of Asahel and Lois ( Emer- son ) Fitts, was a mechanic and a farmer. In 1852 he married Harriet N. Brown, daughter of John and Rebecca (Draper) Brown, of East Douglas, and her grandfather was a revolutionary soldier. Of this union there are two children, Ella Rebecca, born March 2, 1855, married John Royston, by whom she had a son, John A. Royston ; by a second marriage with Moses W. Hollis she had three children: Roy D., Harriet N. and Emily Aurelia. Mr. Hollis is deceased and his widow and children reside in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Emily Lois, born Feb- ruary 25. 1856.

Mary Ann Fitts was born October 24, 1822. In 1846 she was joined in marriage with Daniel K. Hill. He was born April 1, 1809, and the active period of his life was passed in Dudley, Webster and Oxford. For a number of years he was en- gaged in the bakery business, and for a period of twenty-one years managed the large boarding hoases connected with Slater's mills, Webster. Mr Hill died June 21, 1884. He was made a Mason in Wood- stock Lodge and at that time was the youngest mem- ber of that body. His religious affiliations were with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

George Kingsbury Hill, only child of Daniel K. and Mary A. (Fitts) Hill, was born in Webster, April 11, 1847. He was educated in the Webster public schools, and after completing his studies learned the shoemaker's trade. He subsequently was of the staff of clerks of the general store car- ried on by the Slaters in connection with their fac- tory, and he continued in that capacity for several years, then re-engaging in the shoe business up to within a year of his decease, December 10, 1890. He. was a member of the Masonic fraternity and I. O. O. F., and for twenty years was a member of the volunteer fire company of Webster. On January I. 1878, he married his cousin. Emily Lois Fitts, daughter of Asel and Harriet N. (Brown) Fitts, previously mentioned. Of this union there was one daughter, who died at birth.

ALVARADO ALONZO COBURN. Edward Coburn (1). born in England. 1618, was the first ancestor of Alvarado Alonzo Coburn, of Worcester, to settle in this country, and he is the progenitor of most of the families of this surname. He came to New England in the ship "Defence" in 1635, at the age of seventeen, and settled in Ipswich, Massa- chusetts, thence removing to Chelmsford, Massachu- setts. He was one of the first two settlers in what is now the town of Dracut. near Chelmsford and Lowell. He went there with Samuel Varnum. The descendants of these two men have from the first

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A. M. Cotum

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been the most prominent men of the town. Coburn bought his first land there April 3, 1671, of Thomas Henchman, and part of it is now or was lately owned by his descendants. He bought a tract of one thousand six hundred acres of land September 30, 1688, on the Merrimac river. Coburn and Varnum were, it is believed, 'neighbors in England as well as in New England. They came over about the same time, and were together all their lives at Ips- wich, Chelmsford and Dracut.

Edward Coburn died before the new town was incorporated in 1701, but his six sons were among the grantees in the Indian deed, April 4, 1701, when for three thousand pounds the township was bought of John Sagamore, of Natick. Edward Coburn died February 17, 1700. The petition of the inhabitants for incorporation, dated February 26, 1701-2, was signed by his sons. At that time the town had twenty-five families. The children of Edward Co- burn were: John, married Susannah Read, and had son John and other children; Edward, killed August 2, 1675, at Brookfield, Massachusetts, by the Indians; Thomas. Daniel, Ezra, Joseph, Robert, Hannah, mar- ried Thomas Richardson, September 28, 1682.

(11) Thomas Coburn and Jonas Coburn, grand- sons of one of Edward Coburn's sons, went from Dracut when young men and settled in Buckfield, Maine. Jonas married Lucy -, and had a family there. One of his sons was named Varnum, after the other first family of Dracut with which they intermarried. Thomas Coburn married Ruth

and their children, born in Buckfield, as shown by the records. were: Ruth, January 12. 1763; Thomas, May 16, 1766: Dolly, March 6, 1769; Sarah, Feb- ruary 25, 1073: Sibell, September 29, 1777.

(Il1) Thomas Coburn, son of Thomas Coburn (2), was born in Buckfield, Maine, May 16, 1766. He removed to Northfield, Vermont, in 1818, and with Isaac Hardin (who came with him from Maine, a young man he had brought up from a three months old child) bought a forty-five acre lot where Loran Fuller is now or was lately living. They built a log house in which they lived until they built the house now standing on the place. Thomas Coburn married (first) , and had a son Ira. He married (second ) Rebecca Warren, of Mon- mouth, Maine. She was born in 1774, and had one child, Washington, born in Northfield, Vermont, 1817. Thomas Coburn died in 1844, and his wife died 1839.

(IV) Ira Coburn, son of Thomas Coburn (3), was born about 1810, in Buekfield, Maine. He set- tled in Northfield, Vermont, where his father located in 1816. He married (first) Clorinda Claflin, by whom he had eight children: Allen, Alonzo, Azro Ashley Buck, Loren, Clorinda Julia, Lemuel, Jesse Johnson, Jehiel. He married (second) Marcia -, by whom he had two children : Mary, Nel- lie. Ira Coburn died July 4, 1865. at South Royals- ton. Vermont.

(V) Jesse Johnson Coburn, son of Ira Coburn (4), was born in Northfield, Vermont, October 13, 1832. He acquired his early education in North- field and was brough up on the farm there. In 1849. when he was in his eighteenth year, he went to California, joining relatives who were there en- gaged in the search for gold. He was one of the youngest of the pioneers in the California gold fields, now generally known as "Forty-Niners." For same time he worked in the mining camps. and the wild and lawless conditions developed both his powers

of observation and a spirit of self-reliance and in- dependence. He had many thrilling experiences in the mountains and many encounters with wild beasts. During the three years of his stay in California his life was filled with excitement. But he was popular with his associates, and escaped personal difficulties common enough in that region. He was an expert with the rifle, one of the best shots in the camp. When he returned east he brought some gold with him, and having increased his store by shrewd trading he invested a large part of it in a large tract of low land, which he bought of Colonel Isaac Davis, along the shore of Lake Quinsigamond, ex- tending southeast for a mile nearly to the Boston and Albany Railroad. He proceeded to develop it, laid out streets and sold lots; houses sprang up in all directions, schools and churches were built, and he had founded the village of Lake View, one of the attractive suburbs of the city of Worcester. It was not long before the population of Lake View was over a thousand, and it has grown steadily as the street car service and other conditions have been improved. Lake View is a summer resort, but it is a permanent home for most of the people living there.

Wir. Coburn built the Quinsigamond House, now called the Hotel Belmont, and managed it for years. He was the pioneer in letting boats on the lake, and the business he founded has developed in the hands of his son to a large and prosperous concern. He developed Lincoln park and other pienic grounds on the lake. As the lake grew in favor he put steam- boats in commission to carry passengers, and started to build the old dummy road .in connection with H. H. Bigelow and others. This railroad connected the lake with the city proper, and was at first a narrow-gauge steam road, later a trolley, and is now leased to the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Company, and in summer is the best pat- ronized line in Worcester. Mr. Coburn was a direc- tor of the Worcester and Shrewsbury Railroad as the "Dummy" road was called. In 1876 Mr. Coburn turned over his boat-letting business to his son. In 1879 one of the steamboats on the lake was over- turned and several lives were lost. The shock of this accident affected his health, and in 1884 he dis- posed of all his business interests and retired. He died June 13, 1885. He was a genial, popular man, fond of good fellowship, and made many friends who deeply regretted his death in the prime of life. He was a man of marked public spirit. He gave to the city of Worcester twelve acres of land upon the condition that the city build the boulevard within two years. It was through his influence that the Insane Hospital was built upon its present site, at a time when the authorities were talking of locat- ing it where the Odd Fellows' Home now stands.

Mr. Coburn married three times. By his first wife, Helen Peebles, he had one son, Alvarado Alonzo. His second wife was Susie B. Lunt. of Maine. His third wife was Anna C. Perry, of Wor- cester, by whom he had four children: Jesse John- son. born October 8. 1873. married Belle Curtis, of Brookdale, St. Lawrence county, New York, De- cember 21, 1905: Clara Martha, born April 2, 1876;

graduate of Wellesley College; resides with her mother at 23 Oread street; Charles .Bertrand, horn July 27, 1878; Amy, born October 11, 1882, attends Wellesley College.

(VI) Alvarado Alonzo Coburn, son of Jesse Johnson Coburn (4), was born in Oakdale village,

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in the town of West Boylston, Massachusetts, June 8, 1855. Two years later his mother died, and . he was taken to live with his grandparents in South Royalston, Vermont. He lived and worked on the farm and went to the public schools until ten years old, then entered the Friends' School at Providence, Rhode Island, a boarding school, where he remained until nearly fourteen. He came to Worcester and was for two years a student in the high school, leav- ing school to work for his father at Lake Quinsiga- mond. When he was twenty-one, in 1876, he went into the boat-letting business on his own account. He had at first only four Whitehall boats, keel boats with smooth seams. His location at first was on the point of Wachusett Island where the boat house is now. The next place used by his father for letting boats was where the restaurant and bowling alley now stand in Lincoln Park. Later the boats let at the present location of the dancing pavilion, and then where the footbridge leads to the island. Before 1876 there was no boat house, and the Coburns had only a small building in which to keep the oars, etc. The first boat house built by Mr. Coburn when he started in business for himself was located between the theatre in Lincoln Park and the present boat house of the A. A. Coburn Company. This shop was two stories high, and the lower floor was used to store boats, while upstairs Mr. Coburn began his boat building and repairing business. In 1898 the tise of canoes on Lake Quinsigamond may be said to have begun, and Mr. Coburn added canoes to his equipment. In 1905 there were fully four hundred canoes on the lake. Mr. Coburn owns one hundred and twenty-five and cares for seventy-five others, and has also sixty or more boats to let. In summer the livery is a busy place. In winter the shop where new boats are made and old ones put into shape for the following season is the scene of activity. The present building has about eight thousand square feet of floor space in the boat house, and about half that space in the shop upstairs. It was built in 1891 by the Consolidated Railway Company which con- trols the park. The Coburn business was incorpor- ated in 1904 under the laws of Massachusetts with a capital of $15,000. A. A. Coburn is chief owner, president and treasurer ; Frank A. Bemis, vice-pres- ident : and Mrs Addie J. Coburn, secretary. The Coburn boat business is the oldest and by far the largest on the lake. The oldest firm in this line next to the Coburns started about twelve years ago. Besides the business in Worcester the Coburn com- pany has a livery at Lake Whalon, in Fitchburg, in many ways a more popular resort than the Wor- cester Lake. In 1905 they had twenty-five canoes and sixty boats in commission there.

Mr. Coburn is well known among Free Masons of this section. He belongs to Montacute Lodge; Worcester Royal Arch Chapter ; Hiram Council ; the Worcester Lodge of Perfection: Goddard Council, Princes of Jerusalem; Lawrence Chapter of Rose Croix: Stella Chapter. Order of Eastern Star. He is also a member of Worcester Lodge of Odd Fel- lows; of Regulus Lodge, Knights of Pythias; of Worcester Lodge, 243. Order of Elks; the Wachu- sett Boat Club, and the Lakeside Boat Club. In polities he is a Republican and attends the First Universalist Church.

Mr. Coburn married, November 21, 1881, Addie Jane Booth, of Worcester, in that city. Their chil- dren were: Alvarado Booth, born September 28, 1882, died young: Charles Jesse, born November 27. 1885, died January 10, 1899.

MARSHALL WALCOTT. The Walcott family of Bolton went there from Stow, which adjoins Bol- ton on the east, and it was formerly noted for pro- ducing mechanics of ability. It has also sent forth musicians of some celebrity, and as agriculturists many of its representatives have attained prosperity. During many years it was a family custom for the male members to learn the carpenter's trade, and Freeman Walcott, an uncle of Marshall Walcott, was a prominent building contractor of Worcester county in his day, having erected residences, church edifices, schoolhouses, hospitals and factories in Bol- ton, Clinton, Maynard, Milford, South Framingham and other towns.

Jonas Temple Walcott, father of Marshall Wal- cott, was born in Stow, June 17, 1805. He was the son of a carpenter and served an apprenticeship at that trade in the shop with his father and brothers. He followed that calling as a journeyman for a long period but eventually engaged in operating a grist mill at Bolton, and in connection with that business carried on a farm. He married Mary Knight, born in that part of Bolton which is now Hudson, June 17. 1799. (died July 9, 1876), daughter of David and Hepsibah (Wilkins) Knight, the former of whom operated a small woolen inill. Jonas T. and Mary K. Walcott were the parents of five children, namely : Lucy born February 23, 1835 : David Knight, born December 15, 1837: Marshall, see forward: Albert E., born November 4, 1846; and Charles Freeman, born March 26, 1851. Lucy married Rufus R. Wheeler of Berlin this county and became the mother of five children. David Knight married Per- sis V. Cutting, of Berlin, and has two children. Albert E. married Luella Hamilton, of Bolton, and has one child. Charles Freeman Walcott, who or- ganized the first brass band in Bolton and was its manager, afterwards acquired considerable celebrity in the west as a musician, and died in Elkhart, Indi- ana, July 28, 1894. He married for his first wife Abbie Babcock, of Berlin, who bore him two children. For his second wife he married a native of Maine. His third marriage which proved an unfortunate, one, was with a lady musician of Chicago, and he subsequently obtained a legal separation.

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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 87

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