USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 14
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porations, and serves as a trustee of the Whitinsville Savings Bank, an office he has held since 1916.
Reared on a farm, he has never lost his love of the soil, and his chief diversion from the exactions of his professional vocation is found in conducting a dairy farm at Saxton's River, Vermont, under the name, "Green Mountain Farms." The farm comprises about six hun- dred acres, and includes the two hundred and twenty- five-acre homestead of his grandfather and father. One hundred acres are under cultivation. With ample pas- turage, he also raises all his feed and fills three large silos with winter fodder. The herd of fifty head of registered Brown Swiss dairy cattle produces not less than three hundred quarts of milk a day, and at times the quantity runs much higher.
Mr. Morrison has an aversion to the term "gentleman farmer," which often, if not generally, connotes con- ducting an agricultural enterprise at a financial loss. backed by the practical experience gained in his youth, he believes that farming can be made as profitable as any other industry by the application of scientific methods and the exercise of that care and sound judgment which are at the basis of success in every business. He is a lover of trees, and the subject of reforestation has claimed his interest for some time. It is safe to say that if a good percentage of people who own suitable land would follow Mr. Morrison's example, little con- cern need be felt for our future supply of lumber. Already he has set out 6,000 Norway spruce and some white pines on his "Green Mountain Farms." This is to be followed by other plantings, guided by the experi- ence gained in this first experiment.
The production of maple syrup and sugar is one of the three principal industries upon which the State of Vermont must depend. Yet Mr. Morrison is probably the first man to approach the subject of producing maple sap with a plan to which the term efficient might prop- erly be applied. At present the business is carried on in a very crude manner. No maple orchard has ever been set out in a systematic manner; the trees grow in clumps, here and there, and the sap is gathered in the same slow, laborious, expensive way followed by the forefathers. Mr. Morrison's idea is to set out maple seedlings six feet apart, making about twelve hundred to the acre. As the trees will be planted on a hillside, a system of piping can be used that will collect the sap from the trees and convey it by gravity to the boiler houses. This method will greatly reduce the expense of manufacturing, and at the same time increase the quan- tity of product. Mr. Morrison plans to tap every other row of trees in each direction when they are about fifteen years old. Besides yielding some sap, and thus getting an early financial return from the orchard, it is expected that this early tapping will kill the trees, which it is intended shall be thinned out and used for cord wood. This will not only give the remaining trees needed room for development, but it will provide a system of roadways which will enable sap to be gathered by teams should anything put the gravity system of piping out of commission.
When Mr. Morrison first broached this plan to the State Forestry Department of Vermont it aroused no enthusiasm; but he hammered away in persistent law- yer fashion until the spring of 1923, when he succeeded
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in closing a contract, by the terms of which the State of Vermont is to deliver to him 18,000 sugar maple seedlings, in the spring of 1925, at the cost of growing them. Maple syrup now sells for $2.50 per gallon, and it is safe to say the price will never be lower. It is expected that the orchard here described will yield 10,000 gallons per year when the trees have reached the sap-producing age. It is believed this is the first project of its kind in this country, and it is sufficiently unique and important to have gained special notice from the great editorial writer, Arthur Brisbane. In his column, "To-day," he said recently :
In one bright spot in Vermont, in the State nurser- ies, will grow 18,000 sugar maple trees. When three years old they will be delivered to a Mr. Morrison, who will plant them twelve hundred to an acre, on the side of a hill, that the sap, as collected, may run down by gravity.
Inferior trees will be cut for cord wood, thinning out the grove. The State will be enriched and the food supply increased. That's real civilization, better than war.
Interested broadly in all civic and social advance, Mr. Morrison showed his patriotism during the World War by serving as corporal in the Massachusetts National Guard, and he also served, without compensation (even paying his own expenses), as government appeal agent for seven towns under the Selective Draft. This was an arduous position involving much driving. It has already been noted that Mr. Morrison possesses the capacity for taking infinite pains, and his work as appeal agent was done with such characteristic care and thor- oughness, that the board accepted his decisions in every case. Mr. Morrison is a member of the Worcester County Bar Association, and his social affiliations in- clude Solomon's Temple Lodge, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons; the Composite Club, and the Congre- gational Club of Whitinsville. He is also a member of the Congregational Church Society of that town.
On January 27, 1907, Frank W. Morrison married Alice Parkis, who was born in Slatersville, Rhode Island, and they have one child, Frances Parkhurst, who was born November 2, 1907.
WELLS L. HILL, one of the important figures in the prosperous town of Athol, Massachusetts, who for more than half a century has been owner and editor of the Athol "Transcript," one of the most progressive weekly newspapers in Worcester County, Massachusetts, is a native of Athol, and a son of John C. and Dolly (Smith) Hill, this family being leaders in the civic and social life of the community for generations. Mrs. Hill was a granddaughter of Aaron Smith, one of the first settlers of the town. John C. Hill was prominent in the local world of finance and business, and the moving spirit in the organization of the Athol Savings Bank, which was incorporated in the year 1867.
Wells L. Hill was born in Athol, Massachusetts, July 25, 1850. Following his elementary studies he was overtaken by a calamity which in a man of lesser calibre would have precluded a life of such breadth of useful- ness. Recovering from a severe attack of scarlet fever, he was left totally deaf, at the age of twelve years. His speech and eyesight were spared to him, however, and with valiant courage he set to work to make something of his life, regardless of this handicap. He became a
graduate of Gallaudet College for the Deaf at Wash- ington, District of Columbia, and graduated as a member of the class of 1872. Early in the following year he pur- chased a third interest in the Athol "Transcript" and be- came its editor. Under his leadership this paper, which had previously had a short, but varied, history, was stabilized and became an influence for good both in the homes of the community and its surrounding towns and in the business life of his section.
The Athol "Transcript" was founded in the year 1871 by Lucien Lord, the leading real estate dealer of Athol, theretofore postmaster of the town, and also the builder of the Academy of Music. Associated with him in the "Transcript" business was Edward F. Jones, the most prominent local printer of that time, and Dr. Vernon O. Taylor, a highly esteemed physician of Athol, was made the editor. The first issue of the paper appeared on January 31, 1871. Not long afterward the first editor was succeeded by Colonel George H. Hoyt, a' veteran of the Civil War, who shortly before that struggle had become nationally famous as one of the defenders of John Brown in his trial following his historic raid at Harper's Ferry. Colonel Hoyt was in Kansas there- after until the breaking out of the Civil War, where he won his rank. He returned to Athol after the war, opened a law office and bought an interest in the "Tran- script." Upon Colonel Hoyt's election to the State Legislature he sold his interest to Edgar A. Smith, who had previously been a resident of Fitchburg, Massachu- setts, and at this time Mr. Hill bought his interest in the paper and became its editor. A few years later Mr. Hill purchased the interests of his partners, and he has since been at the head of the business.
Mr. Hill's policy has always been one of advance. A job printing department has kept pace with the news- paper in growth and usefulness, until now the plant is one of the most thoroughly up-to-date of any in the State, with the most modern improved machinery and equipment. They make a specialty of constantly adding new type faces and designs, keeping their equipment always fresh and complete. Two linotypes are now in use in the office.
The "Transcript" has always supported the principles and policies of the Republican party in political issues of local, State or national import, but has been and still is thoroughly devoted to the many branches of endeavor which count for local betterment and the integrity and security of the home. It has undergone many changes, improvements and enlargements during its life, and is now the largest weekly newspaper in this section of the State, printing from twelve to twenty pages, as required by its extensive advertising patronage. In fact, it is a broadly representative American newspaper of the better class, circulating extensively in Worcester County and north, west and eastern Franklin County. The head printer is W. Paul Cook, a graduate of Dartmouth Col- lege, and an expert craftsman.
Wells L. Hill married, May II, 1875, Abbie M. Earle, daughter of Luke and Lucy Abby Earle, of Greenwich, and their four children are: I. J. Clarence, a graduate of the Athol High School; entered the "Transcript" office immediately following his graduation, and is now general manager and associate editor of the paper and stands at the head of the business, a thoroughly pro-
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BIOGRAPHICAL
gressive young man of Athol. 2. Louètt E., who is a general assistant in the business. 3. Raymond E., who served in the World War with the rank of captain, and is now one of the publicity managers of the world-famous Winchester Arms Company, of New Haven, Connecticut. 4. Nettie E., who resides with her brother in New Haven.
FREDERICK H. LEE, of the Lee Hardware Com- pany, has spent practically his entire life in Athol, Massachusetts. He is a descendant of two of the oldest families in the community, the Fish family, of which his father is a descendant, being one of the first group which settled in Athol, and the ancestors of the Lee fam- ily coming soon afterward.
Samuel Lee, father of Frederick H. Lee, commenced a retail business in 1854, and from 1854 to the time of his death, with the exception of one year, during which he built the hotel known as the "Summit House," in 1857-58, was engaged in retail business, founding the Lee Hardware Company in 1873. He took an active part in political affairs, and for many years was one of the active and progressive citizens of Athol. He married Hattie L. Nourse, of Wallingford, Vermont, and their children were: Richard H., who died in infancy, and Frederick H., subject of this review.
Born in Athol, Massachusetts, March 30, 1867, Fred- erick H. Lee received his education in the public schools of his native city. When school days were over he be- came associated with his father in the hardware business, and he continued to be his father's, faithful and efficient assistant to the time of the death of the latter, October 3, 1916. On January I, 1917, he formed a partnership with A. B. Perkins, and from that time to the present (1923) the partners have continued to conduct the busi- ness under the name of Lee Hardware Company. The concern sells, besides hardware, seeds and paints, and has built up a very large and profitable business. Mr. Lee is one of the corporators of the Athol Savings Bank, and he is generally known as a conservative business man, who may be trusted to see all sides of a business proposition, and also as one who is progressive enough to undertake a new enterprise. Politically, he gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Democratic party, and he has always been ready to bear his share of the burden of local public office. For fifteen years he served as a member of the School Committee, and at the present time (1923) is a member of the Cem- etery Committee. During the World War he aided in all the ways which citizens at home found to forward the work of the war, giving freely to the Red Cross work, and using his influence to insure the successful accomplishment of the work of the various war com- mittees of the community. Mr. Lee stands high in the Masonic order, being a member of all bodies, both York and Scottish Rites, as far as and including the consistory, where he received the thirty-second degree. In 1904 he was Commander of Athol Commandery, Knights Temp- lar, and for the past seventeen years he has been re- corder. He takes an active part in the work of the Unitarian church. He was a member of the Old First Unitarian Church of Athol until 1922, when through the efforts of Mr. Lee and Mr. F. E. Wing, the First and Second Unitarian churches were combined into one con-
gregation, which is known as the First Church, Uni- tarian, Inc., of Athol, Massachusetts.
, Frederick H. Lee has been twice married. He mar- ried (first) Emma J. Tooley, of Athol, who died in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1920. He married (sec- ond), at Boston, Massachusetts, Susan M. Perkins, the sister of his partner in business, and daughter of Rob- ert Rodger and Mary Jane (Wiggins) Perkins. His second marriage occurred in June, 1922.
HERBERT E. JENNISON, of Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts, holds a prominent position in the industrial af- fairs of the city, his position as a leading official of three important concerns placing him in the front rank of local industrial progress. Mr. Jennison is a practical business man, gifted with large executive ability and the breadth of vision which applies that ability to per- manently useful purposes.
As president of the Jennison Company, Mr. Jennison is taking a widely important part in plumbing, heating, and sheet metal activities in New England. In associ- ation with James H. Mack, Mr. Jennison took over this enterprise which was founded by A. A. Spear & Com- pany, then for a time conducted under the title of the C. M. Converse Company. As Mack & Jennison, the business went forward from 1885, at which date only about fifteen men were employed. The business then consisted only of local plumbing, heating, and sheet metal work. Throughout the entire subsequent period the same general line of advance has been followed, but the scope of the interest has extended very largely. They now have for many years taken care of the needs of mills and other industrial plants, also large buildings of every description, and their efficient work has brought them commissions from all parts of New England. This entire section now comprises their territory and they employ about two hundred and fifty men. On April I, 1923, the interest was incorporated under the laws of the State of Massachusetts for the sum of $250,000, Herbert E. Jennison becoming president, and Colonel W. H. Dolan, treasurer. Mr. Jennison is also president and treasurer of the Blake Pump & Condenser Company, with plant located at Sawyer Passway, in Fitchburg, and is an important enterprise in its field. This con- cern produces general pumping machinery, including the hydraulic apparatus for work of this kind, which was in great demand during the World War. Mr. Jennison's long experience has been of the greatest value in the progress of this company, which was incorporated in the year 1907. With F. C. Smith as works manager and during the busy season a full complement of men em- ployed, this concern holds a leading position in its field.
Further active as the owner of another interest known as the Thomson Company, Mr. Jennison is in this con- nection participating in the continuous forward move- ment for the benefit of dumb animals. The business con- sists of the manufacture of zinc horse collars, and was founded in 1877 by Alexander Thomson. During Mr. Thomson's activities he conducted the business under the title of the Thomson Steel Horse Collar Company, and for more than thirty years, or until his death, carried the interest forward successfully. It was then taken over by Mr. Jennison, who conducts its affairs under the title of the Thomson Company. Mr. Jennison has
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not exploited the affairs of this concern as extensively as in the case of his other interests, but its growth has been steady and its field of distribution is principally furnished by the United States Government and various city fire departments still using horse-drawn equipment. Within the past four years important improvements have been made in the construction of the collar, which is now pronounced by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to be the best device ever invented for the horse. In these varied activities Herbert E. Jennison bears a progressive and useful part in present day affairs and, interested in all progress, he endorses constructive effort in every line of advance.
MARTIN VAN BUREN HOWE, the venerable and honored head of the well-known chair manufac- turing concern of Howe, Spaulding Company, Incor- porated, is still one of the active figures in the business life of Gardner, Massachusetts. Although he is in the eighty-seventh year of his age, he is still alert to the conditions of the moment and as active as many men a quarter of a century his junior. He is first at his desk in the morning and one of the last to leave at night. Loving his work and uneasy when not busy, he is one of the best informed men of the day regarding conditions and prospects in the chair manufacturing in- dustry. Mr. Howe is a son of Spooner and Phoebe (Briggs) Howe, his father a native of Jamaica, Ver- mont, and his mother of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The father was a shoemaker by trade in the early period when all work of this kind was done by hand, and con- ducted a shop in Jamaica, Vermont, until the time of his death. Both Mr. Howe's parents died in Jamaica many years ago.
Martin Van Buren Howe was born at Jamaica, Ver- mont, April 7, 1837. His education was received in the little country school house on the edge of the woods, about three miles from the village of Jamaica, and he completed the course available in his sixteen year. Born on the farm, he bore a part in the activities of the place even as a child, and when his schooling was completed took up the work of the farm, taking a man's place beside his step-father. His tastes, however, inclined him more to a business career, and in 1855 he came to Massachusetts and found employment in a chair factory in East Templeton. About two years later he went to Ashburnham, Massachusetts, and entered the employ of the Winchester Brothers, also chair manufacturers, with which firm he remained for about ten years. Dur- ing his connection with the Winchester interests Mr. Howe worked for about six years in the machine shop of the plant, learning the machinist's trade, as well as that of pattern maker. In April, 1867, he resigned from their employ and came to Gardner, Massachusetts, where he entered the machine shop of the Heywood Brothers & Company. About a year later he was trans- ferred to the chair department of the same concern, and was for some time active in contract work, having sixty-five men under him. This work continued for about four years, then he was placed in charge of the wood working department of the same concern, in which connection he served for about fifteen years. In March, 1900, Mr. Howe resigned from this position to engage in business for himself, founding the present interest
of Howe, Spaulding & Company, his son-in-law, George W. Spaulding, being his partner in the business. A period of widespread financial depression came on shortly after the establishing of this interest and during that time Mr. Howe managed to keep his head above water. Thereafter, however, his advancement was rapid and his success became an assured fact. He went forward with the courage of a man who has been tried and has proven his own ability, and he has developed one of the successful chair manufacturing concerns of Gardner, incorporated July 1, 1923, as Howe, Spaulding Company, Incorporated; M. V. B. Howe, president and treasurer ; G. W. Spaulding, vice-president ; G. M. Howe, clerk. He is one of the oldest men still active in the business life of this city, and both among his associates and employees is looked up to and revered. Among the people generally, he is most highly esteemed, and although he has few interests outside of his business, he has always lent his influence to any movement which had for its purpose the progress of the community or the welfare of the people.
Mr. Howe married, on February 10, 1860, Sarah S. Metcalf, of Ashburnham, Massachusetts, who survived until recent years passing away on June 28, 1922, after sixty-two years of happy married life. Mr. and Mrs. Howe were the parents of four children: Two sons and two daughters, of whom three are living; Alice M., the wife of George W. Spaulding, a member of the firm of Howe, Spaulding Company, Incorporated; Herbert L., active in business in South Gardner; and George M., assistant manager for Howe, Spaulding Company In- corporated.
ALVAN TRACY SIMONDS-As the present head of an interest which for upwards of a century has been carried forward under the administration of members of his family, Alvan Tracy Simonds holds a position of wide usefulness, and in carrying this enterprise to its present importance he has won large success. The Simonds Saw and Steel Company, of Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts, is a leading concern in its field in the United States, and is one of the foremost industrial organiza- tions of Worcester County.
The Simonds family came from England to America in early Colonial times, and early records give the name of the pioneer as Samuel Simonds, Gentleman. He settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts, and was considered a leader in the little company of Puritans who settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony, serving as deputy and assistant under Governor Winthrop, and in the year 1673 becoming Deputy Governor of Massachusetts.
Abel Simonds, the eighth generation in direct descent from Samuel Simonds, was born in Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts, December 10, 1804, and died in the place of his birth, April 22, 1874. As a young man twenty-eight years of age, he became active in business in partnership with A. T. Farwell, purchasing a mill privilege in West Fitchburg. There in 1832 he built his first shop, which formed the nucleus of the present interest, and this business was conducted under the firm name of J. T. Farwell & Company. In the year 1851 the partnership was dissolved and Abel Simonds continued the business independently until 1864, when he retired, and the enter- prise was taken over by his sons and another associate,
M.V. B. Have
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under the title of Simonds Brothers & Company. The personnel of the company was then Alvan A. Simonds, George F. Simonds, and Benjamin Snow. Prosperity and steady growth continued the rule, and the necessity for the expansion of the plant became imperative. Ac- cordingly, in 1868, the business was incorporated as the Simonds Manufacturing Company, among its charter members being : George F., Alvan A., Thomas T., Daniel, and Edwin F. Simonds. A new and for the time highly modern structure was erected at the present location in the city of Fitchburg. Up to this time the business had comprised the manufacture of mower knives and planer knives, and for about a decade no radical change was made in the product. In 1878 they disposed of their interest in the manufacture of mower knives, at the same +ime enlarging the other department, also beginning the manufacture of saws. In this new branch they employed n entirely new system of tempering and straightening which turned out a product greatly superior to any previously made. Two years had been devoted to ten- tative developments in this special field, beginning with circular saws, and after the department was established they added cross-cut, band, and hand saws. Meanwhile, for twenty years, from the date of incorporation until the year 1888, George F. Simonds ably filled the office of president, and great credit is due to his far-sighted management and excellent judgment for the breadth of activity which was eventually attained. George F. Simonds then resigned to form a new company and enter a different field of endeavor, and he was succeeded by Daniel Simonds, who filled the office of president from 1888 until his death, which occurred May 5, 1913. Alvan A. Simonds left the concern in 1875. Before and during the presidency of Daniel Simonds a definite policy of expansion was followed. Branch offices were opened at intervals in the following cities: Chicago, Illinois, (1880); San Francisco, California, (1886) ; New Or- leans, Louisiana, (1888) ; Portland, Oregon, (1891); New York City, (1892) ; Seattle, Washington, (1898) ; Montreal, Quebec, (1906) ; St. John, New Brunswick, (1906) ; and Vancouver, British Columbia, (19II).
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