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 88
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Marshall Walcott was born in Bolton, September 25, 1844. He attended the Bolton public schools and after leaving the high school learned the car- penter's trade in accordance with the family custom previously referred to. Entering the employ of his uncle as a journeyman carpenter, he worked for him and others in that capacity for about twelve years, at the expiration of which time he turned his atten- tion to farming at the homestead, where he tilled the soil successfully until deprived by accident of the use of his right hand in 1900, when he sold the property and retired. He has been recognized as a successful breeder of blooded fox hounds and fancy poultry, and has been awarded prizes for unusually fine specimens of Buff Plymouth Rock fowls.
In civil affairs Mr. Walcott has rendered valuable services to the town, having been a member of the board of selectmen for a number of terms and its chairman for two years; has held other public offices such as overseer of the poor, highway surveyor, etc .. and is at the present time chairman of the board of assessors. He was one of the organizers of the local grange, Patrons of Husbandry, in which, in common with most of the residents of Bolton he takes a pro- found interest, he served as chaplain, overseer, lect- urer. treasurer, and master, and he is also master of the Pomona Grange, a higher body connected
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with the order. His religious affiliations are with the Unitarian Church. He formerly took much inter- est in local musical affairs being himself a musician of ability and he was the leader of the original Bol- ton Band organized by his brother.
Mr. Walcott married, November 13, 1868, Clara S. Whitcomb, of Bolton, daughter of Asa Oliver Whitcomb, of that town, and Susan Colby ( Stewart ) Whitcomb, of Franklin, New Hampshire. The chil- dren of this union are Minnie E., born January 13, 1871; Everett M., January 13, 1876; Myron Lyman, January 6, 1880; Julia Clara, September 19, 1882; and Ida Marion, December 24, 1890. Minnie E., is the wife of Emery P. Sawyer, of Worcester. Ever- ett M. Walcott, who is engaged in the coal, wood and ice business in Bolton, and has served as master of the local grange is unmarried. Myron Lyman Walcott married Etta Taylor of Hudson Massachu- setts. Julia C. married Frederick Brewer of Berlin, and has three children. Ida Marion Walcott is now (1906) attending the Bolton high school.
DR. EDWARD CARLTON DYER, deceased, was born in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, March I, 1815, a son of Henry Dyer, who was also a native of Sturbridge.
Dr. Edward C. Dyer was educated in the com- mon schools of his native town, and also at Leices- ter Academy. He began the study of medicine in New York city, and subsequently graduated from the Pennsylvania University. He was a student under Dr. William S. Saunders, of Sturbridge, and when fully qualified for his profession came to Spencer in the spring of 1845, and there practiced medicine up to the date of his death. He served as town clerk for a number of years, and was also a member of the school committee. He was identified with the Congregational church, and his political affiliations were with the Republican party.
Dr. Dyer married (first), May 26, 1846, Sarah W. Taylor, of Worcester. Massachusetts, daughter of Deacon Samuel Taylor. Mrs. Sarah (Taylor) Dyer died April 27, 1849, leaving one son, who died August 8, 1849. On September 11, 1850, Dr. Dyer married (second), Sophia C. (Cary) Davis, widow of Solon P. Davis and daughter of Thomas G. and Abbie Cary. Thomas G. Cary was a cur- rier by trade, and son of Seth Cary, of Putney, Vermont, a farmer. Five children were the is- stie of this union: Emma Sarah, born May 26, 1852. died April 5. 1853. Carrie E., born Au- gust 23, 1853, became the wife of William E. Cooper, of Montclair, New Jersey, who retired from busi- ness in 1902 and died April 17, 1903. Ellen Cary, horn December 30, 1855, died September 10, 1859. Sarah Worcester, born April 4, 1858, married Feb- ruary 14, 1883. Edward W. Prouty, son of Joel E. Prouty, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work, and their children are as follows: Joel Cecil. born April 9, 1886; Harold Dyer, born Janu- arv 22, 1888, died April 10, 1902; Edward Dyer, born February 15, 1896; Cheney Russell, born February 28. 1898, died March 3, 1903: and Ida Ethelyn, born July 22, 1899. Charles Edward, born April 19, 1861, married. December 12, 1883. Emma S., daughter of Frank Prouty. He died January 30, 1886. Dr. Dyer, the father of these children, after a life of usefulness, died July 1, 1865.
DANIEL A. WHITE, of Bolton, a retired busi- ness man and a veteran of the civil war, is a son of Samuel White and a lineal descendant in the
seventh generation of Peregrine White, who is dis- tinguished in history as the first white child born in New England. William White, son of Bishop John White, was among that little flock of non- conformists who, under the pastoral care of Rev. John Robinson, went from England to Holland in order that they might worship God unmolested ac- cording to the dictates of their conscience, and he subsequently accompanied them on their pilgrimage to the new world in the "Mayflower." At Leyden, July 1, 1612, he was married by Pastor Robinson to Susannah Fuller, a sister of Samuel Fuller, also a "Mayflower" Pilgrim. Susanna became the mother of two children, Resolved and Peregrine .. Resolved. was born in Holland at about the time when the decision was reached to seek a permanent resting. place on the other side of the Atlantic, and he was. no doubt named in commemoration of that event. The name of Peregrine signifies a pilgrim or stranger. The birth of Peregrine took place in the cabin of the "Mayflower" in November, 1620, after. the ship had anchored temporarily in the harbor of what is now Provincetown. William White died in Plymouth. March 14, 1621, and on May 12, fol- lowing, his widow, Susanna, married Edward Wins- low. afterward governor of Plymouth Colony- Susanna died in October, 1682.
Peregrine White went with the family of Gov- ernor Winslow to Green Harbor ( Marshfield ) about the year 1632. In 1647 he married Sarah, daughter of William and Elizabeth Bassett, who arrived at Plymouth in the "Fortune" in 1621. His children were: Daniel, Sarah, Mercy, Jonathan, Peregrine and Silvanus. From Peregrine, Sr., the line of de- scent is through Daniel, Thomas, Samuel, Enoch, and Samuel.
Daniel White, son of Peregrine, Sr., was born in Marshfield in 1649. In 1674 he married Han- nah. Hunt, of Duxbury, who bore him seven chil- dren, namely : John, Joseph, Thomas, Cornelius, Benjamin. Eleazar and Ebenezer.
Thomas White, son of Daniel, was born May 8, 1680. He settled in Scituate, Massachusetts. The christian name of his wife was Rachel, and his chil- dren were: Samuel, William, James, Thomas, Esther and Mary.
Samuel White, son of Thomas and Rachel White, was born about the year 1737, and his death occurred October 12, 1788. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Fosgate, and she became the mother of eight children, namely: Enoch, Robert, Rachel, David, Jonathan, Sarah, Benjamin and Beulah.
Enoch White, son of Samuel and Sarah ( Fos- gate ) White, was born December 18, 1757. He served in the revolutionary war under General Washing- ton. In 1797 he went from Bolton, Massachusetts, to Marlboro. New Hampshire, and March 3, 1801, married Hannah Hale, who was born in Stoddard, same state, April 23. 1776, daughter of Ambrose and Mercy Hale, of that town. She died March 22, 1820, and April 26, 1823. Enoch married for his second wife Mrs. Zeuriah (Capron) Converse. The children of his first union were: Lucy Hale, Sam- tel and Hannah, and of his second marriage there was a son, Ambrose C.
Samuel White, son of Enoch and Hannah ( Hale) White, and the father of Daniel A. White, was born in Marlboro, New Hampshire, December 23, 1803. He was reared upon the homestead farm in Marl- boro. and at the age of forty-six years removed to Fitchburg, this county, where he resided for one year. then to Clinton, this county, where he
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resided for some years. Possessing a robust con- stitution he preserved his strength and activity by the aid of constant exercise in the open air, and when ninety-one years old walked from Bolton to Berlin, a distance of five miles, to take the train for Boston, after a short visit he returned via the same route. His mental faculties were equally vigorous and his pronounced opinions in matters relative to politics and public affairs were forcibly expressed. Samuel White lived to the advanced aged of ninety-five years. A short time previous to his death he came from Boston to Bolton by train unattended and alone. He married, May 23, 1833. Harriet Wade, horn January 28, 1818, daughter of Daniel and Demmis (Blish) Wade. She became the mother of two children, Charles H., born July 3, 1834; and Daniel A., see forward. Charles H. White, who became a musician of note and estab- lished his resident in Boston was married in 1873 to Elizabeth A. Wheeler, born in Newburyport, Mas- sachusetts, June 29, 1843. Of this union there was one son, Charles Henry, born June 28, 1875, died in 1001.
Daniel A. White was born in Marlboro, New Hampshire, August 12, 1836. After concluding his attendance at the Clinton (Massachusetts) high school, he learned the printer's trade, and followed it for some time as a journeyman. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted as a musician in the Twenty-fifth ( Massachusetts) Regiment Band, with which he served until incapacitated by fever and was finally mustered out on account of general orders discharging all regiment bands from the United States service. After recovering sufficiently to en- able him to resume the activities of life, he engaged in business in Clinton, establishing the firm of Tyler and White, his partner having been a comrade in the army, and that concern became exceedingly prosperous. After four years' partnership he bought Tyler's interest in the business and continued it for over forty years in connection with his farm- ing in Bolton, where he is not only widely and favorably known as a worthy representative of a noted family, but also for his prominence as a musician. In addition to his ability as a performer. which embraces a practical knowledge of most of the wind and string instruments in use, he was otherwise qualified to direct musical organizations with in telligence and precision, and formerly con- ducted bands and orchestras. His musical talent descended to his children, all of whom were in- strumentalists of ability, and at one time an orchestra composed entirely of the White family, at ages ranging from five to fifteen years, gave en- joyable and interesting concerts in the adjacent cities and towns. In politics Mr. White is a Republican. He attends the Unitarian Church.
He married, June 20, 1861, Ellen Hastings, of Berlin, this county, born June 9. 1841. They reared a family of five children, namely: Christopher S .. born 1863: Leila L. 1865: Charles L., 1868, died 1887: Cordelia H .. 1873: Peregrine H., 1875. Chris- topher S. White was married in 1891 to Mary S. Southwick, born in Berlin in 1866. Leila L. White married Professor Frederick W. Morse. of Berlin, chemist at Agricultural College, Durham, New Hampshire. Cordelia H. White, who is unmarried, resides in Berlin. Peregrine H. White, who de- veloped unusual precocity during his educational period, introduced at the age of thirteen years an in- novation to the people of Berlin in shape of a local newspaper called the Berlin News which he edited
and published successfully for some time, or until accepting the position of station agent on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. At the expiration of four years of service in that capacity he was promoted to a position in the superintendent's office and was subsequently appointed traveling freight agent of one of the large transporation lines running from New York. He married Sadie White Lawrence, of Taunton, Massachusetts, and has one child.
FRANKLIN WAYLAND PAGE, an enterpris- ing and prosperous business man of Worcester, is a descendant of an English ancestry, which nation has produced inany distinguished men both in civil and military life. The progenitor of this family in America was probably Robert Page, who settled in Kennebunk, Maine, probably in 1720. The early members of the family were Presbyterians, devout and pious, earnest and thrifty.
Enoch Page, great-grandfather of Franklin W. Page, was the father of a son, Enoch Page, grand- father of Franklin W. Page, a veterinary surgeon and farmer. He came with a large party of pioneers from Kennebunk, Maine, to Groton, Vermont, after the revolutionary war. He was the father of a son. Enoch Page, father of Franklin W. Page, born in Groton, Vermont, February 1, 1817. He was brought up on the farin at Groton and went to school in that town. He removed to Burlington, Vermont. when a young man, and there learned the trade of carriage-maker. Later he removed to Concord, New. Hampshire, and was employed by the Abbott, Down- ing Company, manufacturers of the famous Con- cord coach. He remained in their employ for three years, during which time he worked at carriage painting, and was foreman of the department. He then went to Milford, New Hampshire, and engaged on his own account in the manufacture of car- riages. After a period of seven years he removed his business to Springfield, Massachusetts, and from Springfield to Worcester, and in 1875 engaged in business in a shop at the corner of Pleasant and Russell streets, where he remained for seven years. In 1884 his health failed and he retired from active pursuits, his son continuing the business. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias, joining the order in Hartford, Connecticut.
Enoch Page (father) married Jane Elizabeth Moulthrop. born at Burlington, Vermont, July 9, 1815, daughter of Silas Moulthrop, a custom house officer at Burlington, and a descendant, on the ma- ternal side, of a Scotch ancestry. They had seven children, four sons and three daughters, three of whom are living at the present time ( 1906) : I. William, born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, June 6. 1847. is a carriage blacksmith by trade, and lives in Marlboro, Massachusetts; married Nettie Lang- don, of Springfield, Massachusetts. 2. Franklin Wayland (see forward). 3. Kate Elizabeth, born Lawrence. Massachusetts. April 1, 1858: married. Tune 1. 1882, at Worcester. Massachusetts. Abel Warren Baker, of Keene, New Hampshire. Mr. Paker was engaged in the wholesale and retail paper and wooden-ware business in Fitchburg. Massachu- setts: in 1800 he removed to California and is now located in Oakland, engaged in manufacturing min- eral waters. He has an extensive plant, having added. a few years ago, buildings costing over $10.000. They have one child. Sumner Baker. born October 16. 1886. Enoch Page (father died September 13. 1893. aged seventy-seven years;
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his wife died May 8, 1903, aged nearly ninety years. Their remains are interred in Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts.
Franklin W. Page was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, June 6, 1852. He received his educa- tion in the schools of that town, and learned his trade at Milford, New Hampshire, with his father. Later he became associated in business with his father, and when the latter retired he continued the business, their shop at that time being located at No. 160 Union street. In 1892 he removed to No. 66 Thomas street. and there remained seven years. The following six years he was located at No. 103 Piedmont street, and then purchased the land at his present location on Abbott street, and erected two shops. The paint shop is twenty-eight by forty-eight feet, and the blacksmith shop twenty-six by fifty feet. A large business has been done by the con- cern in carriage painting, but the chief business at present is the manufacture of wagons, of which Mr. Page has made a specialty. The buildings are lo- cated on a lot containing seventeen thousand square feet. Mr. Page is a member of Central Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mount Vernon Encampment, and of Patriarchs Militant, Grand Canton, of Worcester.
He married, in Boston, Massachusetts, Decem- ber 19, 1896, Mary L. Jones, born in Charlton, Mas- sachusetts. September 11, 1876, daughter of Albert Jones. a lumberman, who at one time operated a saw and grist mill in Charlton, and his wife. Julia Seism ( Tucker) Jones, daughter of Daniel Tucker, who was the owner of a farm which was purchased from the Indians; the farm is still owned by the family and has been in the Tucker name for gen- erations ; the original deed thereof is framed and hangs in the old Tucker homestead in Charlton, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are now living in West Somerville, Massachusetts. Their children are: Addie Isabel, married Clarence A. Carpenter, of Charlton, Massachusetts; Mary L. (Mrs. Frank- lin W. Page) : Bertha Marion, died in infancy ; Hattie Alberta, married John F. Tenney, of Spencer, Massachusetts : Harry Albert, unmarried, resides at home: Anne Frances, unmarried, resides at home. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Page are: Ruth Kate, born November 14, 1897: Marion Etta, born De- cember 18, 1899; Helen Jane, born August 4, 1901.
FRED ELLERY WILDER. Thomas Wilder, ancestor of the Wilders of Sterling and other Worcester county towns, immigrated from England and took the freeman's oath at Charlestown in 1651. He settled in Lancaster in 1659, six years after the incorporation of that town, and resided there until his death, which occurred in 1667. His immediate descendants participated in the defence of Lancaster and other frontier settlements from the attacks of the hostile savages during King Philip's war (1675-6), and in the summer of 1704 one of them-Lieutenant Nathaniel Wilder, was killed while defending the town against a large force of French and their Indian allies. The posterity of Thomas Wilder are not only found in Massachusetts, but are now distributed through the New England, mid- dle and western states. and some of them have dis- tinguished themselves in their chosen fields of use- fulness.
Jonathan Wilder, a descendant of Thomas Wilder, and the grandfather of Fred E. Wilder, was a life- long resident of Sterling. His long and honorable career as a town official was signalized by a stead-
fast adherence to principles of integrity in the dis- charge of his public duties, and in addition to hold- ing all of the important town offices he served as overseer of the poor for twenty-seven years. As administrator of estates he was ever faithful to the trust confided to his charge and as arbiter in set- tling disputes among his neighbors he always ad- justed their difficulties judiciously and to the entire satisfaction of all parties concerned. Jonathan Wilder married Betsey Roper.
The father of Fred E. Wilder was Fauson Wilder, and his mother was before marriage Mary Bea- man. When a young man Fauson Wilder spent some time in the west, but the greater part of his life was devoted to agriculture in his native town. Mary Beaman, who is still living and resides in Sterling, is a descendant of Gamaliel Beaman, the first white settler in that town. She is also descended from Peregrine White, who was born in the cabin of the "Mayflower," November 20, 1620, and is dis- tinguished in history as the first white child born in New England. Fauson and Mary Wilder be- came the parents of six children, namely: Fred Ellery, Moses Harry, Herbert Sawyer, Harriet, Jose- phine B. and Sarah Jane. Moses H. and Herbert S. reside in Sterling and are the principal subjects of other sketches in this work.
Fred Ellery Wilder was born in Sterling, June 27, 1859. His education was begun in the public schools of his native town and concluded at the Boylston (Massachusetts) high school. He be- gan the activities of life as a farm assistant, was subsequently employed as a teamster and finally served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. His natural ability as a mechanic enabled him to advance rapidly in his trade, and with the neces- sary practical experience he not only became an expert workman but developed into a skillful and reliable builder. For some years he resided in Clin- ton, this county, where he built a number of hand- some dwelling-houses, and he also erected residences in Fitchburg, Worcester, the Newtons and else- where. Some two or three years ago he returned to Sterling. where he now owns and occupies a desirable residence located in close proximity to the business centre of the town, and he is still carrying on a large business. While residing in Clinton he served as one of the engineers of the fire department in Clinton and Sterling. In politics he is a Republican.
In 1884 Mr. Wilder married Carrie Lee, sister of Charles Lee, superintendent of the Boston & Maine Railway, and she died in 1889. His present wife, whom he married in 1892, was Minnie Fol- som, daughter of George Folsom, of Clinton, super- intendent at the Lancaster mills. Of the latter union there is one son, Ellery Folsom Wilder, born Sep- tember 22, 1894.
JAMES FRANCIS KENDALL, proprietor of the well known Kendall Farm on Kendall Hill. n Sterling, belongs to one of the oldest families in that town. He is a son of Daniel Kendall, and a direct descendant of Samuel Kendall, who was one of the first settlers of Sterling. Samuel Kendall went to Sterling when it was known by its original Indian name of Chocksett, and in 1718 he received, from Messrs. Wilder and Sawyer, the title to a tract of land to whom it had previously been deeded by George Tahanto, the nephew of Sholan, sachem of the Nashua Indians, who dwelt in the vicinity of the Wahshaccum Ponds. This tract of land, which has
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ever since remained in the family's possession, was deeded by Samuel Kendall to his son Josiah, and subsequently inherited in turn by Ethan, Luther, Daniel and James Francis Kendall, and is now con- ducted by his son Luther B. Kendall Hill was named for the family, and its representatives for nearly two hundred years have figured promi- nently in the political and religious affairs of Sterling.
Daniel Kendall, James F. Kendall's father, pos- sessed a natural genius for handicraft, and was noted for his ability as a mechanic. He was also a man of marked personal character, firm in his adherence to a principle which he believed to be right, and at the dawning of the abolition movement he was one of the first seven men in Sterling who had the cour- age to declare publicly, both verbally and with their votes, that slavery should be abolished. When it is considered that such a bold and pronounced atti- tude was at the time attended with imminent per- sonal danger, his superior moral courage stands forth in its true light, and his name is entitled to an honorable place among the heroes in civil life who paved the way for the final establishment of universal freedom in the United States. Daniel Kendall married Elizabeth Jewett. He died in Ster- ling. January 13, 1892. Mrs. Kendall died January 14. 1892, one day after her husband's death.
James Francis Kendall was born in Sterling, June 11. 1840. After concluding his attendance at the public schools he assisted his father in carry- ing on the homestead farm. and eventually suc- ceeded to its possession. This property, which has been aptly called by some appreciative visitor "the farm beautiful," occupies a conspicuous as well as a desirable location on Kendall Hill, and from its summit is obtainable a charming view of the sur- rounding country in every direction. The present owner not only values it for its fertility, but also for its ancestral associations, and thus far no financial offer has induced him to part with it. He zealously preserves copies of the original deeds of the prop- erty given by father to son: also the family clocks, pewter ware, warming pans, and various other im- plements of antiquity, all of which he considers as part and parcel of the family homestead, and he therefore prizes the estate far beyond the range of a money value.
In politics Mr. Kendall is a Republican, and from the time of his majority has been interested in civic affairs, being particularly active in town meetings. When a young man he performed the duties of village constable in a most satisfactory manner, and he subsequently served for various lengths of time as assessor, overseer of the poor, and on the cemetery committee. In 1864 he mar- ried Anna Elizabeth Payne. of Providence, Rhode Island, daughter of James W. and Elizabeth Payne. She became the mother of four children: Luther Barker, born October 10, 1866; William Daniel, January 14. 1877. manager and treasurer of the firm of W. D. Kendall & Company. 166 Main street, Wor- cester. Massachusetts, who carry a full line of elec- tric light supplies, electric bells, etc., formerly with Plummer. Ham & Richardson; Mary Elizabeth, May 7. 1881 (died in infancy) ; and Clarence Francis, January 8, 1884. Luther Barker Kendall, who is now serving upon the school board and is a deacon of the Congregational Church, is following in his father's footsteps both as an able farmer and a public spirited citizen. . He married Lula Gallop. of Worcester, and has one child, Elizabeth Gertrude.
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