History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 177

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 177

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Rock Bottom Mills and Factory .- From some refer- enee to him, on the town-books, we presume that Ebenezer Graves had a saw and perhaps a grist-mill, on the Assabet River, at Rock Bottom, as early as 1735. On the 19th of February, 1770, his heirs sold these mills to Timothy Gibson, who six years later deeded them to Abraham Randall. They were on the east side of the river, about five rods below the pres- ent factory dam. Mr. Randall died in 1815, and in a few years his sons sold the premises to Joel Cranston, Silas Felton and Elijah Hale. A factory for the mak- ing of cotton yarn was erected on the west side of the river, in 1813, by Silas Jewell and Joel Cranston, drawing the water from the Randall mill-pond. Some two years later Jewell sold his half of the factory to Messrs. Felton and Hale, and the firm then assumed the name of the " Rock Bottom Cotton and Woolen Company." The origin of the name Rock Bottom is a little uncertain. This is the first mention of it. Mr. Felton disposed of his interest to Messrs. Cranston and Hale in 1823, and then the firm was known as the " Rock Bottom Manufacturing Company." In the financial erash of 1829 the firm became insolvent. Mr. Benjamin Poor soon became the owner, who built a new dam above the old one, and erected a new brick mill and introduced improved machinery. The "Rock Bottom Company" was incorporated in 1836, consisting of Mr. Poor, Charles Bradley, John A. A. Laforest and associates, with a capital of $100,000. The company was not successful and became sub- stantially bankrupt in 1849. The mortgage on the property was then assigned to Benjamin W. Gleason of North Andover, and Samnel J. Dale, of Ware, and they took possession February 14, 1849, Mr. Gleason becoming the managing partner of the firm of " Gleason & Dale." Prosperity attended them, and in 1850 an addition to the factory and other improve- ments were made. But on the 9th of May, 1852, the mill was burned. A new brick mill, 125 feet long, fifty feet wide and four stories high, was completed in 1854. Mr. Dale died March 1, 1853, from the effects of a severe cold taken at the time of the fire. His

brother, Ebenezer Dale, then became a partner in the firm of "B. W. Gleason & Co." His connection, however, was little more than that of a silent partner, and agent for the sale of goods. Soon after the death of Mr. Dale, December 3, 1871, Mr. Gleason became the sole owner of the property, and on the Ist of Jnne, 1872, received into partnership his three sons, and the firm took the name of "B. W. Gleason & Sons," and so remained after the death of the senior member, and until November, 1887, when Stillman A Gleason retired from the firm, and it is now entitled . C. W. & A. D. Gleason," who continue the manufac- ture of all-wool flannels, turning out over a million yards per year, and giving constant employment to eighty persons. "The systematie organization of the business, the well established reputation of the firm, and the experience of several years under the supervi- sion of their father, have enabled the sons to maintain both the prestige and substantial prosperity of the concern."

PERSONAL NOTICES .- Hon. Benjamin Whitney Gleason was born at Petersham, Mass., October 12, 1806. He was descended, in the seventh generation, from Thomas Gleason, who was an early settler of Watertown, Mass., having located there previous to 1640, when his second child and oidest son, Thomas, was born. The latter removed to Sudbury in 1665 and thence to Framingham, Mass., in 1678, where he died, July 25, 1705. The fourth child and second son of this Thomas was Isaac, who, on arriving at manhood, removed to Sherborn, Mass., where he mar- ried Deborah Leland, the great-granddaughter of Hopestill Leland, who settled at Weymouth in 1624, and removed to Sherborn in 1653. The oldest son of Isaac and Deborah Gleason was also named Isaac. In early manhood he removed to Framingham, and thence, in 1757, to Petersham. His eighth child and fourth son was Joseph, who always, after the re- moval of his father thither, resided at Petersham, where he died in 1814, at the age of seventy-one years. He married, Angnst 14, 1766, Sarah Curtis. His second son and eighth child, also named Joseph, was born in Petersham, April 7, 1781, and married, October 24, 1802, Susan Whitney, daughter of Benja- min Whitney, a descendant, of the sixth generation, from Jolin Whitney, who settled at Watertown in June, 1635, and became one of the most influential citizens, and is supposed to have been the ancestor of all, or nearly all, of the numerous family of that name in the country. The Joseph Gleason last named, the father of Hon. Benjamin W. Gleason, was a farmer by occupation, and died when the sub- jeet of this sketeh was but two years old. Conse- quently the young lad was deprived of paternal care and influence during his childhood and youth, and he had only the meagre 'opportunity for an education then afforded by the common schools of a small hill- town of Woreester County. Mr. Gleason was there- fore dependent for his honorable career upon his na-

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tive talent and great strength of character, together with such self-discipline and culture as he was able to secure in a lite characterized, especially in its first forty years, by repeated changes of business and loca- tion. He was emphatically a self-made man. When about fourteen years old he entered an establishment, in his native town, to learn the trade of cabinet-mak- ing, and served through the whole term of his apprenticeship with great fidelity, gaining an expert- ness in the use of tools and a general acquaintance with mechanical operations, which were of great value to him in his subsequent life.

Soon after reaching his majority he went to Graf- ton, Mass., and obtained employment in a cotton factory, at New England Village. He remained there about five years, working in the wood depart- ment of the machine-shop, which, as was usually the case at that time in cotton and woolen mills, was connected with the factory. Some portion of his work was the making of shuttles.

From Grafton he removed, in 1833, to Worcester, where he obtained employment, as a journeyman, in a machine-shop devoted to the manufacture of cotton and woolen machinery, and remained there four years. Leaving Worcester, he went to North Andover, Mass., and entered the employment of George H. Gilbert and Parker Richardson, manufac- turers of cotton and woolen machinery, under the style of "Gilbert & Richardson." This firm was dissolved in 1842, Mr. Gilbert removing to Ware, Mass., and engaging in the manufacture of flannels.

Mr. Gleason, on the 13th of July, 1842, formed a enpartnership with George L. Davis, who had been a fellow-workman with him in the employ of Messrs. Gilbert & Richardson. The name of the firm who then assumed the business was " Gleason & Davis." The partners were both in the prime of life, ambitious and enterprising, aud well adapted to work together. The previous experience of Mr. Gleason had thor- onghly fitted him to superintend the construction of the machinery composed of wood, while Mr. Davis had had a similar experience in the working of iron. Their business gradually increased until 1848, when Charles Furber, who for several years had been in their employ, was admitted as a partner, the firm as- suming the name of " Gleason, Davis & Co."

Soon after this change in the firm Mr. Gleason's health began to fail, and the indications of pulmo- nary disease became so apparent that he was &d- vised by his physician, as the only hope of recovery and of prolonged life, to spend the winter in a milder climate than that of New England. He accordingly made preparations to forthwith leave for Florida.

At this juncture it was suggested to him by his friend, Mr. Ebenezer Dale, of the firm of Johnson, Sewall & Co., commission merchants of Boston, who, with others, were large creditors in the insolvent Rock Bottom Company, of which we have previously spoken, that he should undertake to place the busi-

ness of that concern on a new and firm basis. The only apparent serious obstacle to a reasonable pros- pect of snecess was the precarious condition of his health. He, however, decided to take the risk, and, as we have before stated, entered into partnership with Mr. Samuel J. Dale, a brother of Ebenezer, above mentioned. The snecess attending the change of business, and the removal of Mr. Gleason to Rock Bottom, we have recorded in our sketch of the devel- opment of the water-power at that village.

In the antumn of 1875 Mr. Gleason suffered a slight stroke of paralysis, partially disabling him as to physical effort. Yet he continued in some meas- ure to superintend his business until 1880, when his failing health compelled him at least to lay aside all business cares and responsibilities, but he continued to take an interest in the occurrences of the day nearly up to the date of his death, January 19, 1884.

While he was residing at Grafton he made the ac- quaintance of Miss Louisa Fessenden, of Shrewsbury, who boarded in the same family with him, whom he married, August 31, 1831. She died May 8, 1858. By her he had four sons and a daughter, one of the sons dying when about ten years old.

One of the marked features of Mr. Gleason's char- acter, which contributed very largely to his prosper- ous career, was his strong self-reliance. With nothing of that vanity or arrogance usually resulting from an overweening self-esteem, he had that confidence in his own powers, and in the results of his own observation and experience, that induced him to undertake a busi- ness wherein there had been repeated failures on the part of others, and then to pursue his own course, giving his personal attention to what many would consider unimportant details, which could have been attended to by others, as well as to matters of great weight and importance. This he was able to do by his tireless industry, systematic methods and remark- able executive ability.

Again, he had great will-power, which enabled him in middle life, when his physician and others feared a fatal result, to resist and throw off disease, and so to renew his vitality that he nearly reached the allotted three-score and ten years of human life before he was compelled to abate his active labors. This enabled him, before he had placed his business upon the sub- stantial basis of assured success, to overcome difficul- ties which, to a less determined spirit, would have seemed to be, and indeed would have been, insnr- mountable.

Again, he was remarkably shrewd and sagacious, and had a very clear and quick perception of those facts and principles whereby he was enabled to cor- rectly decide questions of the utmost importance to mercantile success, and to the favorable manage- ment of a large mannfacturing establishment. Hence he could not be duped by others, while he accorded to them all they could rightfully claim for themselves. Once more, he was economical. Some one has said

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that this is "the guardian of property, the good genius whose presence guides the footsteps of every prosperous and successful man." This most excellent trait of character, while in him it did not degenerate into parsimony, was nevertheless manifest in his preference, everywhere, in his mills, on his farm, about his home and in his numerous tenements, for the substantial and useful, rather than for the showy and merely ornamental. This characteristic, as with many other men who, beginning life without money, and dependent wholly upon their own exertions, have become wealthy, contributed largely to his success, for his early savings became the foundation of a future large accumulation.

To these innate faculties, which contributed so largely to his prosperous career in life, he added those genial qualities of mind and heart that made him a most agreeable companion and won for him the uni- versal respect and esteem of those with whom he was more or less intimately connected.

He always manifested a deep interest in the educa- tional affairs of the town, and especially of the village where he resided, which owes its development, during the last forty years, to the growing industry under his charge, and also in the social, domestic and personal welfare of his employés. . He was also a liberal con- tributor to the support of the religious society in the village. Though it was of a somewhat different faith from that with which he had previously been con- nected, he did not deem it necessary, as too many sometimes do, to go out of town for religious instruc- tion, but sought to build up a prosperous society at home. And to the several pastors of the village church he was ever a judicious counselor, an efficient supporter and a personal friend. He was prompt to extend sympathy, encouragement and needed pecun- jary aid to his employés and others of the village, when in trouble, sickness, bereavement or other eir- cumstances, even if they were sometimes in the fault. He was a genuine lover of law and order, a friend of the down-trodden and oppressed, and during the War of the Rebellion he was a firm and faithful supporter of the government, using his great influence in the town to secure the men and the means needed to preserve the nation's life.

Having a natural love for rural pursuits, he found his recreation in the superintendence of a large, well- managed farm, and in the rearing of domestic animals of the first quality.

Though deeply interested in public affairs at home and abroad, his engrossing personal business left him little time for such official service to the town or State as his townsmen sought to secure from him, and for which no one of the citizens was more eminently qualified. He, however, in 1859, and again in 1872, represented the town in the lower branch of the Massachusetts Legislature. He was also a member of the State Senate in 1860 and 1861.

Before coming to Rock Bottom he had become in-

terested in other manufacturing enterprises. From 1847 until his failing health, in 1880, admonished him to relinquish some of his cares, he was a director in the Norway Plains Company, at Rochester, N. H. He then declined a re-election. In July of that year the company unanimously passed this resolution : " That the stockholders of the company have learned with regret that the failing health of Benjamin W. Gleason has made necessary his withdrawal as a candidate for re-election to the Board of Directors, and they wish hereby to express and to place on record their hearty thanks for his faithful service to the interests of the company, continued for so long a time, Mr. Gleason having served as a Director for thirty-three years." He was also, for several years, a director, and one year the president, of the Cabot Manufacturing Company, at Brunswick, Me. At the meeting of that company, October 20, 1880, it was voted that "the stockholders desire to place on record their sense of the long and val- uable service which he has rendered to that Company, and his constant devotion to their interests." These resolutions clearly indicate how highly he was appre- ciated by the business men with whom he had been associated. From 1871 to 1880 he was one of the directors of the Worcester Manufacturers' Mutual In- surance Company. Thus by his efficient management of a large and growing industry, and his remarkable snceess in that department, together with his un- wavering fidelity in all the positions he occupied, Hon. Benjamin W. Gleason most completely estab- lished his claim to an honorable place among the representative textile manufacturers of the United States.

John Green .- One of the most notable residents of the town, in its early history, was John Green, who, after some years' residence in Charlestown, returned to England, and, being a man of much ability, was in high favor with the famous Oliver Cromwell, by whom he was made captain of the guard at the dock- yard at Deptford, and clerk of the Exchequer. Upon the restoration of Charles II. he returned to New England, and finally came to Stow with bis sister Mary and her husband, Thomas Stevens, to whom was assigned one of the original twelve foundation lots. Mr. Green remained here until his death, and was buried in the old cemetery at the lower village. His will was dated September 4, 1688, and he prob- ably died soon afterwards, as his will was probated February 21. 1688-89. He was evidently a man of wealth, owning much real estate in Sudbury. His library alone was valued at twenty pounds, and was an unusually large collection of books for those times.

Hon. Henry Gardner .- Probably the most distin- guished native of the town was Hon. Henry Gardner (H. C. 1750). He was the son of Rev. John Gardner, and was born November 14, 1731. He represented the town in the General Court most of the time from 1757 to 1775. He was a member of the Provincial

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Congress that met at Salem, October 7, 1774, and was chosen treasurer of the Province by that body Octo- ber 28, 1774, which office he held until the adoption of the State Constitution in 1780, when he was chosen the first treasurer of the Commonwealth, and continued in that office until his death, October 7, 1782, aged nearly fifty-one years. He was also a member of the Provincial Congress that assembled at Cambridge, February 1, 1775, and also at Watertown, May 31st of the same year. He was chosen coun- cilor May 30, 1776, and was re-elected until the Constitution rendered him ineligible. He was a jus- tice of the peace throughout the State, and for some years was one of the judges of the Common Pleas Court for Middlesex County, and he was one of the original members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On announcing his death, the papers of that day spoke of him as " a courageous, uniform, industrious patriot, and a discreet, humane and up- right judge." He removed from Stow about the year 1778. He married, September 21, 1778, Han- nab Clapp, of Dorchester, and was the grandfather of ex-Governor Henry J. Gardner.

Hon. Edwin Whitney, the subject of this sketch, was born at Harvard, Mass., Oct. 2, 1812. He was the son of Cyrus and Mary (Whitney) Whitney, grand- son of Isaiah and Persis (Randall) Whitney, great- grandson of Isaiah and Elizabeth (Whitney) Whit- ney, and undoubtedly descended from John and Elinor Whitney, who settled at Watertown, Mass., in 1635, though, on account of the loss, or perhaps more properly the neglect of records, that fact cannot now be clearly established. He was born on the old home- stead occupied by his ancestor, one of the first settlers of what is now the town of Harvard, and which has remained in possession of the family down almost to the present day. Having grown up on a farm, he was early inured to manual labor. While residing at the family estate he attended the common schools of his native town until he was prepared to enter those of a higher grade, when he went to Brattleboro', Vt., and became a student of the academy of that place. Here he applied himself with great diligence in preparation for the study of his chosen profession of law. About the year 1834 he commenced the reading of law in the office of Judge Cheever, of Albany, N. Y., where he remained two or more years. From thence he went to New York City and completed his course of professional studies with Judge Morrell, of that city. Having been admitted to the bar, he at once became associated with Judge Morrell in profes- sional business. For some years he was constantly employed as a public administrator of the city, in which position he was quite successful. But, at the solicitation, as we are informed, of Col. Elijah Hale, he left New York in 1844 and removed to Stow, where he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. He soon became one of the most prominent and respected citizens of the town, always desirous and

ready to do what he considered for the best interests of the community. Though a man of unassuming manners, he was nevertheless possessed of those ster- ling qualities of mind and heart that prepared him to take a leading position in the community where he resided. He was gifted with a good degree of public spirit, so that for nearly forty years he was a constant and efficient promoter of those measures calculated to advance the prosperity and development of all those interests conducive to the general welfare of the town and the intelligence of its inhabitants. For a series of years he was an active member of the School Com- mittee, and a portion of the time was also the effi- cient superintendent of the schools, in which he was deeply interested; and in various other positions he proved himself a faithful servant of the people among whom he lived. Not only in secular matters, but also in religious, his interest was strong and un- wearied. He was an active and most devoted member of the First Parish Religious Society, which for a long period he served as one of the standing com- mittee and a prominent supporter. To whatever was conducive to the welfare of the church of which he was a communicant, or of the cause of temperance, which found in him an unfaltering friend, as well as in everything calculated to promote sound morals and good citizenship, he was ever ready to lend a helping hand and bid it a hearty God-speed. Not only was he desirous of furthering every project designed to ad- vance the progress of universal education, general morality and practical religion, but he also could in- spire others to aid in the promotion of those noble objects. He was largely instrumental not only in in- ducing his friend, Col. Elijah Hale, a man of wealth and yet childless, to present to the First Parish the par- sonage-house and grounds now owned by them, but also to give the generous fund of $5000 to establish and help support the High School, which bears the honored name of the donor. All this most unmistakably shows how thoroughly he had the best interests of the town at heart. Few towns have found a truer or more loyal adopted son than he.

For some years previous to May 16, 1883, when occurred the two hundredth anniversary of the incor- poration of the town, he was active in collecting material which would serve to illustrate the progress of the town during the two centuries of its existence. In previous years he had served as chairman of many important committees, and he was made chairman of the committee of fifteen, chosen by the town, April 3, 1882, to arrange for the approaching bi-centennial celebration, and was also selected as the president of the day, and for nearly a year was untiring in his efforts to make the occasion one of credit to the town. Though overruled by a majority of the committee in some of his plans, he still labored with unflagging zeal to make the celebration a success. But he was not destined to see the long-looked-for day ; for on the 7th of March, 1883, a little more than two months

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before the celebration was to take place, after an ill- ness of a few days of pneumonia, he passed from the mortal to the immortal sphere.

The committee in rendering their report of the celebration to the town, in 1884, speak of Mr. Whit- ney in these words : " His long and minute acquaint- ance with the history of the town, together with the large amount of statistical, biographical and other valuable information which he had gathered, made his death a great loss to the committee and the town."

While he practiced law to a considerable extent after his removal from New York, the duties of his profession were somewhat subordinated to the man- agement of a large farm that devolved upon him, and to the care of other extensive real estate of which he was the owner.

Though originally identified with the Democratic party, he earnestly espoused the anti-slavery move- ment that resulted in the formation of the Republi- can party. During the War of the Rebellion he was among the foremost of his townsmen in the support of those measures that led to the triumph of the great principles of freedom and equality embodied in the Declaration of Independence made by our Revolu- tionary fathers.

He represented the town in the lower branch of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1846 and 1847; and again, the district of which Stow was a part, in 1879. He was a member also of the State Senate for the year 1850.

He married, October 26, 1841, Miss Lucia Mead Whitney, daughter of Moses and Lucy (Gates) Whit- ney, of Stow, who still survives. She is a lineal de- scendant of Thomas Gates, one of the original twelve settlers of the town, and was born on the farm that he occupied. They had no children.

In addition to those already mentioned who have held important positions in public affairs, either na- tives or residents of the town, may be added the name of Hon. Rufus Hosmer, who was a member of the Governor's Council in 1839, and died at Boston, April 19th of that year while in office.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 177

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034