USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 2 > Part 12
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a & Francis
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TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
for the most part with the republican party. He has contributed not a little to the improvements of the town of Pittsfield, having built. besides his present beautiful residence on Wendell avenue. the residence on the same street now owned by JJames Hinsdale, Esq .: also a fine resi- dence on Sonth street, for his son Theodore Harold.
Mr. Clapp married, May 1st, 1845, Lucy, daughter of Levi and Welthy ( Whitney) Goodrich. Mrs. Clapp was born in Pittsfield. August 23d, 1825. Her family represent one of the oldest and most respected of Pitts- field's early settlers. Her father, Levi Goodrich, was one of its most valu- able and honored citizens.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Clapp are Agnes Margaret, Theodore Harold, and Lillian Porter. The two former are residents of Pittsfield ; the latter died in Paterson, N. J., March 14th, 1884.
ALMIRON D FRANCIS.
Almiron D. Francis was born in Pittsfield, Mass., May 11th. 1807, the second of a family of six children of Daniel H. and Mahala (Chap- man) Francis. His great-grandfather. William Francis, was a native of Wethersfield, Conn .. and was among the first settlers of Poontoosuck. He owned and carried on a farm in the western part of the town, where he died at the age of 88. Not only before the Revolution, but for many years afterward, he was held by his townsmen in extraordinary esteem for his discretion and integrity. " Governor Francis, " the soubriquet by which he was known in his later years, is still remembered with reveren- tial respect. He was one of the first town officers in 1761. He served many years as selectman. was a member of the committee of safety dur- ing the Revolution, and was active and prominent in all public affairs. He was a captain of militia during and after the Revolution, and was active in the suppression of the Shays rebellion. His son, Captain Robert Francis, was born in Pittsfield, married Sarah Hubbard, and had eight children. He was also a farmer and lived to the advanced age of 93.
Daniel H. Francis was the eldest son of Captain Robert. He spent his life as a farmer in the locality known as the " North Woods." in the northwestern part of the town, where he died in April, 1850, aged 67. His wife died in the same year, aged 65. He was one of the first mem. bers of the First Baptist Church of Pittsfield, in 1800. and served as their deacon twenty eight years.
Almiron D. Francis was born upon his father's farm in the . North Woods." where he lived until twelve years of age. He received his edu- cation in the public schools of his native town. About 1825 he com- menced working at the trade of carpenter and joiner, first with Deacon Charles Francis in the village of Pittsfield, with whom he remained about two years. From that time on until the year 1844 he was chiefly engaged at his trade. In the latter year he commenced working at the business of pattern making in Gordon MeKay's machine shop. He continued to
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work in this shop until about the year 1852, when, in connection with another employe, John E. Dodge, he bought out the business. which was then owned by the firm of MeKay & Hoadley. The business was continued about three years under the firm name of Dodge & Francis. David A. Clary succeeded Mr. Dodge in the spring of 1855, and the firm name became Francis & Clary. In 1865 Mr. Francis sold his interest in the business to Solomon N. Russell and retired from active business.
April 28th, 1829, Mr. Francis was married to Lucy, daughter of Captain John Churchill, of Pittsfield. Three children were the result of this union : Lucy Maria, died at the age of seven ; Henry Martin, died at the age of ten ; and James Dwight. the present treasurer and superin- tendent of the Pontoosue Woolen Manufacturing Company. The latter married Mattie, daughter of Justus Tower, of Lanesboro, in 1859. She died in 1882, leaving five sons : Henry Almiron, George Dwight, Freder- ick Tower, Clifford, and Robert Talcott.
Mr. Francis married for his second wife, April 23d, 1868, Mary E .. daughter of Abraham Jackson, of Hinsdale, and widow of Hosea Merrill. of Pittsfield.
Mr. Francis moved to the village of Pittsfield in 1844. For 40 years he resided on North street in the house now owned and occupied by Wil- liam H. Teeling. He removed to his present residence on Francis avenne in 1884.
He has never been an active politician, and has never held political office, though he has never neglected to discharge his duty as an elector, having been identified with the whig and republican parties.
At an early age he became a member of the First Baptist Church of Pittsfield. In 1857 he was elected one of its deacons, which office he still holds. In his business and social relations he has always been hon- est, truthful, and conscientious, meriting and receiving the respect and affection of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
CHARLES BAILEY, M. D.
Dr. Charles Bailey, although still in the vigor of his years, is, by nearly a decade, the senior physician of Pittsfield. When he first estab. lished himself here, in the winter of 1849-50, although the town and the surrounding country were far less wealthy and populous, and much less the resort of health seeking sojourners, there were in it. either as perma . nent or periodical residents, several medical men of more than local note. Most, but not all, of them belonged to the faculty of the Berk- shire Medical College, whose history is told in another department of this work, and of which he was a graduate. Others of equal reputation came in the same connection. But there does not remain in Pittsfield to day a single physician, whether of note or otherwise, who had so much as entered upon the practice of medicine until nearly ten years after Dr. Bailey opened his office here, nor until he had established a high professional reputation, and acquired a practice which extended
Galaxy- Pub Co Philade.
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through a large portion of the more highly educated families of the county.
So rapid and permanent success in building up a practice in a school of medicine then only recently and imperfectly introduced into Western Massachusetts, and whose principles were generally misunderstood. de- mands an explanation, especially when it was acquired in the face of a strenuous opposition strongly entrenched behind traditional teachings and opinions, and aided by other potent influences. That explanation we find in some of Dr. Bailey's natural characteristics which were well developed and liberalized by broad and varied studies under preceptors, and in circumstances which encouraged, and indeed compelled, independ- ent and investigating thought. What these were will appear to some extent in the brief sketch of his life which we are able to give.
Dr. Charles Bailey was born September 2d, 1821, in East Medway, Norfolk county, Mass., his father being Rev. Luther Bailey, of the First Congregational Church in that town. His grandfather was Israel Bailey, whose father emigrated from Bristol. England. Dr. Bailey received his classical education at Brown University, Providence, R. I., and began the study of medicine with Dr. Nathaniel Miller, who had recently been a. partner of Dr. John Collins Warren, the Boston physician and surgeon. famed for his services as head of the Massachusetts General Hospital and as professor in what is now known as the Harvard Medical College. but was then known as the Mason Street Medical School of Boston. In this institution Charles Bailey attended his first lectures. At about this time his preceptor, Dr. Miller, established a hospital, principally for the treat- ment of chronic surgical cases, at Franklin. within three miles of Dr. Bailey's paternal home in Medway. In this hospital his pupil was first assistant from time to time during his pupilage, during which he contin - ned to pursue his studies. He also acquired no little experience by at- tendance at the Chelsea Hospital.
By Dr. Miller's advice he then repaired to the Berkshire Medical College, at Pittsfield, which he entered as a student, receiving also the personal tuition of Dr. H. H. Childs, the distinguished head of the insti- tution, aside from its regular course.
The school was then at the height of its success both in reputation and in the number of its pupils, and Student Bailey distinguished him- self by the eagerness with which he pursued the prescribed studies as well as by his zeal for the general interests of the college. His most in- timate friend and co-worker was Dr. J. G. Holland, then of Northampton. since famous as journalist, poet, and novelist. The two men were chiefly instrumental in organizing the " Association of the Berkshire Me.lical In- stitution," a society consisting of the alumini and the students, and in- cluding among its objects meetings of the latter during term time for the discussion of other, as well as professional. subjects. The constitution was the joint work of students Bailey and Holland. It peritel for an address at commencement. Dr. "Bailey, a graduate of 1843, was unani-
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
mously chosen to deliver the society oration of that year. and having also been selected as the valedictorian of the class, the one address follow- ed close upon the other in the delivery. If the recorded action of the day does not flatter, both were of high merit. The class of 1843 numbered 175, many of whom attained professional success. That Dr. Bailey re- ceived the highest graduating honors marks the professional progress which he had made.
Dr. Holland graduated in 1843 and gave the ahunni oration in 1844. The two friends commenced the practice of medicine as partners at Springfield. Their early struggles together in this field had become pleasant themes of conversation when, many years afterward. they met at Dr. Bailey's dinner table. both prosperous men, although they had won success in widely different fields.
After four years of medical life at Springfield Dr. Bailey removed to the then new town, now the busy city of Holyoke. Dr. Holland had ac- cepted an invitation to become associate editor of the Springfield. Repub- licun, which led him finally entirely away from his original profession. Dr. Bailey narrowly escaped the same fate, having amused the leisure which always falls to the lot of a young physician, by writing novels. Circumstances, however, led him in a different direction. Two years of arduous practice at Holyoke so impaired his health that he was obliged to seek relief in a trip to the South. His health was materially improved by the change of air but not completely restored, and on his return to the North he was induced to take a course of lectures at the Filbert Homeo- pathie Medical School in Philadelphia, where he became an enthusiastic disciple of Hahnemann.
This enthusiasm was not diminished by the complete restoration of his own health under homeopathic treatment. But Dr. Bailey is far too philosophic a man to throw away what he had learned in one school of medicine because he has adopted the general theory of another. He is no fanatic. but acknowledges truth wherever he has found or can find it in the science which has been the study of his life.
In May, 1846. Dr. Bailey married Miss Caroline W., daughter of Levi Goodrich, a prominent citizen of Pittsfield and a member of one of its old families. In the winter of 1849 50, as has before been said, he estab- · lished himself in this town as a homeopathic physician, and soon obtained a practice of a remarkably honorable character, extending through a large surrounding region. He has never ceased to be a student at home, but in three extended trips through Europe, and in two visits to the West Indies, and one to the Pacific Coast. while other objects of interest have been keenly enjoyed by him, the hospitals and other places where dis. ease could be studied have most attracted his attention. He has thus not only kept pace with the marvelous advance of medical science during the last forty years, but his individually familiari .d himself with all the ills of human nature with which the learned physician am deal, both
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AMB. Wellington
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physical and mental : and obtained a great aptitude in diagnosis and a wide knowledge of remedies.
Aside from his profession, but in accordance with that department of it which is called distinctively " sanitarian," he built " Greylock Hall," the summer hotel in Williamstown, in connection with the Sand Springs, which has since become a famous health resort.
Dr. Bailey still continues the practice of medicine and surgery in connection with his son, Dr. Edward L. Bailey, who graduated at the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y .. in the year 1851.
H. B. WELLINGTON.
Ever since the organization of Berkshire county it has been distin- gnished by the uniform fitness of its high sheriffs for the place of its chief executive officer. With few exceptions they have served by suc- cessive appointments or reelections, for long terms, and their conduct in office has proved them to have rare qualifications for it; but, in the opinion of those best qualified to judge, none have in this particular ex- celled the present incumbent, Hiram Bartlett Wellington. This is doubt- less due to the fact, which will appear from our sketch of his life, that, to a natural aptitude for the place, he has added a special training for it such as is received by few public officers, except in cases where a pro- fessional education is specifically required.
Sheriff Wellington was born in Williamstown, September 12th, 1840. being the son of Harvey and Emeline Bartlett Wellington. His mother was a daughter of Luther Bartlett, who, in 1809, removed from Brook- field, in Worcester county, to North Adams, where he established a tan- nery on a site near that afterward occupied by the iron works on the northeast side of what is known as Furnace Hill. on the grounds owned by the Messrs. Arnold. His house stood near the summit of the hill. In May, 1822, he removed to Williamstown, where he long carried on a tan- nery on Water street. in which his son-in-law, Sheriff Wellington's father, was also engaged. For many years he was the village trial justice and was commonly known as " Squire Bartlett."
On his father's side Sheriff Wellington's great-grandfather was Roger Wellington, of Lexington, and his grandfather, Eli Wellington. of Brookfield, who married Margery Rich. Their son. Harvey, was born at Brookfield.
Sheriff Wellington received his school education at Drury Academy. in North Adams, and at the Lenox Academy, both institutions being then in high repute. Drury Academy was under the charge, as princi- pal. of William P. Porter, afterward a lawyer at North Adams, where he was an early partner of Senator Dawes. At the age of twenty Mr. Wel- lington entered the office of Judr . Henry W. Bishop, of Lenox, one of the ablest lawyers in Berkshire, as a student, but in 1861 High Sheriff Root offered him an appointment as one of his depaties, which he ar- cepted, and consequently never applied for admission to the bat.
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In November, 1880. he was elected high sheriff, his term of office to begin on the 1st of January, but in the interval Sheriff Root died on the 3d of December. the 25th anniversary of his appointment by Governor Gardner, and Mr. Wellington was appointed by Governor Long to fill the brief vacancy. From 1861 to that date, a period of nineteen years, he had been a deputy sheriff. Hisresidener was at Lenox until January 1st, 1871, when, the county seat having been changed to Pittsfield, and the new jail finished, he removed to that towa where he took the post of deputy jailor and assistant to Sheriff Root in reorganizing the prison under its new conditions, which included other changes besides that of location, the residence of the sheriff at the house connected with the jail being one of them. This reorganization was an ardnous and perplexing work which occupied most of Mr. Wellington's time and thought for a year ; but it has borne much good fruit. At the end of the year he re- sumed his active duties as a deputy sheriff, and continued them as we have said.
When Mr. Wellington was chosen high sheriff in 1880. he determined to apply the principles of what has since become known in popular par- lance as "civil service reform" to all his appointments of deputies. Ideal perfection in these selections, or anything approaching it, is unfor- tunately impossible : but he was resolved to make use of the best material which he could get. and to appoint no man for any other reason than his qualifications for the office of deputy sheriff, which he esteems at least quite as difficult to fill properly as that of chief. Cirenmstances which it is not neccessary to recite have rendered the strict carrying out of this purpose a peculiarly delicate and difficult task. He nevertheless did so carry it out.
This was displeasing to a few of his political friends in some localities. and gave rise to some vexations, though .petty, annoyances. It also led to some trifling opposition in the same quarters to his reelection in 1883 : but the general approval of his official conduct was so strong that he was renominated by acclamation and reelected by the usual majority ; some of the members of the political party to which he was opposed giving him their votes.
While Mr. Wellington was deputy sheriff he received and acted under several other important commissions and appointments. Since 1863 he has been a justice of the peace. In the same year Governor Andrew appointed him special coroner for Berkshire, an officer designated to act in cases when the high sheriff is a party, or when he is otherwise in- capacitated. He held this place until the Legislature of 1877 substituted for it that of special sheriff. to which he was appointed, and which he held until his election as high sheriff. In 1863 he was also appointed United States deputy provost marshal. During the last year of his resi. dence in Lenox he was treasurer of that town.
For many years, while 1. J. Waterman, Esq., was register of probate, he had his office with him and acted as his assistant, being several times
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appointed temporary register when Mr. Waterman was absent. In the same line of duty he was frequently appointed administrator and execu- tor of estates, and assignee in insolvency cases. In matters of probate and insolvency he is especially well informed.
In these various positions Mr. Wellington built upon the foundation he had early laid by study of the law a wide and exact range of knowl- edge, which gives him rare qualifications for the office of high sheriff. as well as others.
A leading Pittsfield member of the bar, and one not given to flattery, but of a critical disposition, tells us with great emphasis that he con- curs in the opinion he has heard expressed by the judges of the courts who have had opportunity to learn Sheriff Wellington's capacities, that he is unrivalled in his intimate and accurate knowledge of the statutes and other laws applicable to probate and insolvency cases, the adminis- tration of estates, the duties and responsibilities of sheriff's, and every. thing of a kindred nature.
Coming from the source it does, this is indeed high praise. The learning thus attributed to him, combined with a dignified and courteous demeanor, a stern regard to justice, and unblemished purity of life, go far to make a perfect sheriff.
In 1863 Mr. Wellington married Miss Naney B., daughter of Marshall Sears, of Lenox, and has seven children.
EDWARD S. FRANCIS.
For more than a century the Francis family have been respectable cit- izens of Pittsfield, and for nearly a century members of it have been con- spienons in its history. The family must have been one of the earliest in New England, for within 35 years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth we find four of the name mentioned in the records of Reading. Dorchester, Cambridge, and Hartford, Mass., and Wethersfield, Conn., in a manner which indicates that they were not very new comers. The similarity of the Christian names given to the children also shows that they were of kindred with each other.
James and Edward S. Francis trace their descent from Robert, of Wethersfield, Conn. We have no record of the precise date of his set- tlement in that town, but in 1653 he bought a settling lot upon which he was already living and upon which some of his descendants still live. The records of Wethersfield show seven children born in that town " to Robert Francis and Joan, his wife :" Susann in 1651, Robert in 1653. Mary in 1656, John in 1658. Abigail in 1660, James in 1662, and Sarah in 1664. Robert, the father, died in 1712, his wife. Joan, having died in 1705.
Four great grandsons of this Robert, all sons of the third John in the family, settled at Pittsfield about the close of the Revolution. Their names were John, Josiah, Lake, and Eldad, and all settled upon farms
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in the north and northwest parts of the town. John became the first pastor of the Baptist church in Pittsfield, as is elsewhere related.
Josiah, the grandfather of Edward S. Francis, was born in Wethers. field iu 1765, and died in Pittsfield in 1855. He had six sons and three daughters, the fourth son being James, who was born November 8th. 1805, and who married June 14th, 1832, Miss Sarah F., daughter of Cap- tain John Churchill, a noted and sterling citizen of the west part of Pitts- field. Mrs. Francis died November 23d. 1882.
James Francis has been closely identified with the interests of the town in its upward progress since his boyhood. He was actively engaged in originating three libraries : one in the west district with which a young men's lyceum was afterward connected, one in the central village, and then the town library which grew to be the Athenaeum. When he was a young man one of his companions found him reading Paley's Philosophy, and asked to be permitted to join him in systematic readings of instruc- tive books. Others joined them, and out of this incident grew a literary and debating society to which Mr. Francis traces much of his success in life.
Mr. Francis represented the town in the Legislatures of 1840 and 1841, and served also in several local offices, always to the satisfaction of his constituents.
He was one of the founders and original corporators of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, and continued one of its directors, serving on the finance committee, and as vice president, until it had attained the solid foundation upon which its present magnificent prosperity has been built up.
In 1854, in company with S. V. R. Daniels, he purchased the prop. erty known as Jubilee Hill, from the fact that the hill upon which the Berkshire Jubilee of 1844 was held, occupied a large part of it, although it extends far beyond that avenue. It covered 130 acres, and was the property bought by Dr. Timothy Childs of the town in 1773; but in 1854 there was only one house upon it. Now the residences of Mr. Francis and his son, and of Mr. Daniels, with their grounds, ocenpy a large part of the summit, aud some of the most populous and beautiful streets of the town cover much of the remainder. In 1869, in company again with Mr. Daniels, he purchased the Ezekiel R. Colt farm of over 200 acres, most romantically situated on the eastern border of Lake Onota. Through this farm they built an avenne four rods wide and over a mile long. affording free access to one of the most beautiful sheets of water in America, with- out expense to the town or county.
Now, in the evening of his days, Deacon Francis has the satis- faction of seeing built up around him hundreds of dwellings on the streets of Jubilee Hill. and many of them the result of poor men's savings, aided by the facilities for purchasing lots provided by him- self.
In 1835 he was chosen deacon of the First Baptist Church. of which
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his uncle, Rev. John Francis, was first pastor. Both he and his son have been liberal contributors to this church. not only by large pecuniary aid to the building of its church edifices and the support of its public worship. but by personal effort. In the church Deacon Francis was closely allied with Governor Briggs, who was his warm and intimate friend in the church and in social life.
His son. Edward Stillman Francis, the special subject of this sketch. was born at Pittsfield December 20th. 1835. He was educated in the pub- lic and private schools of Pittsfield, and at the age of seventeen became a clerk in the Pittsfield Bank, then just established chiefly by the younger and more ambitions business men of the county, although they had a sufficient number of the oldest and most cautions associated with them. David Carson, of Dalton, being president. Mr. Francis continued with this bank for three years. advancing in grade under Junius D. Adams, one of the most competent cashiers and one of the best of men. Attain- ing his majority in 1856, he accepted the cashiership of the Shelburne Falls Bank, in Shelburne Falls, Franklin county. a pleasant location of some business importance. It is evidence of Mr. Francis' filling this po- sition well that on the resignation of Cashier Adams in 1863 he was re- called to the Pittsfield Bank to fill the vacancy. The bank had from the first been well conducted and had now assumed an important and influ- ential position. Its officers were gentlemen of reputation and business ability, some of them being veterans in finance and some full of early vigor, but all governed by the true principle of banking. They found in Edward S. Francis the very ideal representative and agent whom they desired. The bank has had an uninterrupted success from its organiza- tion, and has passed unscathed through more than one dangerous finan- cial crisis ; and not only unscathed, but without the most remote fear in the community with regard to its safety. In the twenty-two years of Cashier Francis' management it has steadily increased the volume of its business, meeting all demands upon it promptly and returning regular and enviable dividends to its stockholders while accumulating a satisfac. tory reserve fund.
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