History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 25

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, editor
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 566

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 25

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(VII.) Mary Sigourney, daughter of Peter (2) and Lucia (Proctor) Butler, was born April 15, 1850. She married Peter B. Olney. (See Olney II).

GEORGE HOWARD HADLEY-In the indus- trial life of Worcester County, Massachusetts, the name of George Howard Hadley is one of prominence, his activities as a leading manufacturing executive of Tem-

pleton, Massachusetts, doing much for the prosperity and economic welfare of the community. His experi- ence in many fields of endeavor has given him a broad outlook for the work in which he is now engaged, and as a leading executive for two important manufac- turing concerns, Mr. Hadley is taking a very significant part in present day advance in this part of Worcester County. He is secretary, treasurer, and director of the F. W. Lombard Company of South Ashburnham, and a director, vice-president, and secretary of the firm of Hendrickson & Company, Incorporated, of East Temple- ton, Massachusetts.

Mr. Hadley's father is Lucien Norman Hadley, who is now retired at the age of seventy-eight years, after a long and useful life, and who is a Mason, holding the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and one of the honored and venerable figures of Templeton, who for sixty years has sung in the Uni- tarian church choir, and served for twenty-five years as treasurer of the Unitarian parish. The mother, Jeanette (Bourn) Hadley, died January 15, 1915, at the age of sixty-four years, eleven months. She was the oldest daughter of Isaac Bourn, who was the founder of the Bourn Hadley Company. She was a woman of strong character, very charitable, and an active worker in the Unitarian church, and was for many years treasurer of the Alliance of that church.

George Howard Hadley was born at Brooks Village, in the town of Templeton, Massachusetts, August 28, 1879. His education was begun at the Brooks Village district school, and he later attended the Templeton Center Grammar School, after which he was a student at the Templeton High School and was graduated in the class of 1896. Thereafter entering Becker's Busi- ness College of Worcester, Massachusetts, he was grad- uated from that institution in the class of 1897 as book- keeper and accountant, and from the same institution the following year in stenography and typewriting, being president of this class, 1908. Mr. Hadley's first busi- ness experience was in the employ of the Graton and Knight Manufacturing Company of Worcester, in the office of which concern he was active for about two years and two months. In May, 1900, he entered the employ of the Eastern Bridge and Structural Company of Worcester in their offices on Front Street, but later identified himself with the factory as assistant super- intendent. In February, 1903, Mr. Hadley formed a partnership with Irwin A. Drury formerly of Athol, Massachusetts, and purchased a market and grocery store at No. 253 Lincoln Street, Worcester. This en- terprise went forward under the title of Drury & Hadley for about two years, after which Mr. Hadley sold his interest to his partner and became a stockholder in the Menthol Products Company. He was made secretary of this concern and was thus engaged for about two years, when he severed his connections with the interest and came to Templeton. Here he purchased an interest in the Bourn Hadley Company, of which he became secretary and a director. In October, 1919, he interested himself in the manufacture of chairs with his brother, Herbert B. Hadley, and purchased the F. W. Lombard Company of South Ashburnham, Massachu- setts, Mr. Hadley becoming secretary, treasurer, and

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BIOGRAPHICAL

director, which offices he still ably fills. He has given considerable personal attention to the development and growth of this enterprise, but recently added to this interest further activities in the same general field. On May 5, 1923, in association with Emile Hendrickson, Walter Hendrickson and William E. Bourn, Mr. Had- ley organized Hendrickson & Company, Incorporated, East Templeton, of which he was chosen a director, also vice-president and secretary. This organization manu- factures reed chairs and tables, and the promise of the future is very bright, Mr. Hadley's chief interest, how- ever, remaining with the Bourn, Hadley Company, and especially in that department which is engaged in the manufacture of post office equipment, bank and store fixtures ; their market in this line covers chiefly all of New England and nearby States, but extends, in the port- able post office equipment, into every State in the Union.

These varied and broadly useful activities have placed Mr. Hadley among the really noteworthy citizens of Templeton, and he has been active in many branches of civic and welfare advance. He has always stood for temperance, which is a strong trait in both branches of the family. He is a trustee of the Templeton Savings Bank, and the Jehu Richardson Fund and the Masonic Fund, the income of both the latter being distributed for charitable purposes, the trustees being chosen by the town each year. Mr. Hadley has served in this con- nection for a number of years. In the spring of 1923 he was elected Tax Collector of the town of Templeton. In 1918 Mr. Hadley took the civil service examinations for postmaster of Templeton and was appointed to that office, but the duties connected with it becoming too arduous with his other activities, he resigned in 1919. He is trustee and secretary of the Templeton Village Improvement Society, which owns the Templeton Inn. He is affiliated with Hope Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Gardner, and is a member of the First Parish Unitarian Church of Templeton, and has been president of the Young People's Union, which is con- nected with this church, since the year 1909. In Janu- ary, 1924, he was elected director of the new Gardner- Templeton Street Railway Company, a corporation formed, which purchased the street railway of the North- ern Massachusetts Street Railway Company to operate · from Riley's Switch and Baldwinville, through East Templeton to West Gardner, and South Gardner, thence to Greenwood Associates.

Mr. Hadley is one of seven children, his brothers and sisters being: I. Lizzie Etta, a teacher in Norwood, Massachusetts. 2. Arthur Lucien, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who married Nellie Richey, and they have three children, Gladys, Norman and Elizabeth. 3. Mary Ann, also a teacher in Norwood. 4. Lucy Jeanette, at home with her father. 5. Herbert Bourn, married Edith Beaman and they have five children, Willard, Violet, Robert, Adelma, and Herbert B., Jr. 6. Walter Norman, a' Harvard University and Law School graduate, mar- ried Ann Harris Crawford. In July, 1923, this brother became interested in the F. W. Lombard Company with his other brothers.

George Howard Hadley married, December 19, 1905, at Worcester, Massachusetts, Lydia Pauline Carr, born November 22, 1876, at Ellington, Iowa. Mrs. Hadley

is a daughter of Lewis Philip Carr, born in Meriden, New Hampshire, in 1847, and died October 7, 1912. He was master mechanic for the United States Hame Company, Andover, New Hampshire. He was a man of singularly lovable disposition, very fond of children, and deeply interested in educational advance, being a trustee of Proctor Academy, and a' trustee of the Uni- tarian church at Andover, New Hampshire. Her mother, Martha Elizabeth (Howes) Carr, was born in New York State, in 1847, and died February 24, 1916. Mrs. Hadley has two brothers, David Eugene and Lewis Philip, and one sister, Frances Permelia. Mr. and Mrs. Hadley have one son, Howard Carr, born October I, 1912, now (1924) in the sixth grade of the Temple- ton schools.

LESTER GILES TAFT-Among the younger men in the newspaper world of Worcester County, Massa- chusetts, Lester Giles Taft holds a prominent position as the publisher of the "Blackstone Valley News" and manager of the Uxbridge Printing Company, where the newspaper is published. Mr. Taft has had wide ex- perience in some of the leading newspaper plants of New England, and with his natural ability and deep interest in his work he is doing much for the local advance through the columns of his paper.

Mr. Taft comes of a noted family of Worcester County, for many years residents of Uxbridge, and his father, William J. Taft, is one of the foremost men of this section. An attorney and counsellor-at-law by profession and largely successful in his chosen field, William J. Taft has been identified with the public life of the town of Uxbridge for many years, and was long active as a member of the law firm of Dodge & Taft, located in the State Mutual Building in Worcester, Massachusetts. This partnership continued for a period of thirty years, having been formed in 1890, and in 1920 Mr. Taft removed his office to Uxbridge, where has has so long resided, and is now Town Solicitor of Uxbridge. It is frequently said of William J. Taft that he might have won greater honors in public life, for he was elected to the Massachusetts General Assembly in 1901 and 1902, but while his services as a legislator were above criticism and constructive in a large degree, he refused the re-nomination which was urged upon him and practically retired from public life, devoting his at- tention subsequently to his private practice. He is a prominent member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. The mother, Ella W. (Giles) Taft, is also still living and is a leader in social circles in Uxbridge.

Lester Giles Taft was born in Uxbridge, Massa- chusetts, May 16, 1892. His education was acquired in the local public schools, and following the completion of the grammar school course, and two years in high school, feeling no interest in a professional life, he ap- prenticed himself to the printing trade in the employ of the old Transcript Company of Uxbridge. After mastering the trade, Mr. Taft identified himself with newspaper work, securing a position on the New Lon- don "Telegraph." To gain breadth of experience, Mr. Taft left his first position and subsequently was active

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on the Worcester "Gazette," the Worcester "Telegram," and the Boston "American." He was also the editor and manager of the "Maine Woods," published by the J. W. Brackett Company of Phillips, Maine, for sev- eral months. To gain further experience in the mechan- ical departments of the trade, Mr. Taft then entered the employ of the Blanchard Press of Worcester, but when this plant was consolidated with the Commonwealth Press in 1913, he went to the D. H. Bacon Company of Derby, Connecticut, as foreman of their printing plant. Later he was active for a time as editor and manager of the Thompsonville (Connecticut) "Press." In 1916 Mr. Taft settled permanently in his native town of Uxbridge, and with his brother, Carlton W. Taft, who died of "flu" in December, 1918, organized the Ux- bridge Printing Company. In 1919 he purchased the Transcript Company plant and consolidated it with the Uxbridge Printing Company. He has since carried this interest forward with marked success, and the growth of the business, together with the constant ex- tension of the circulation of the paper, well appraise the ability and energy which he is putting into his work in this connection.

Mr. Taft's career has been interrupted only by his service during the World War. He was called out with the 6th Company, Coast Artillery Corps, Rhode Island National Guard, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, on July 25, 1917, and was later transferred to the 20th Com- pany, coast defences of Narragansett Bay, and was sent overseas to France with replacement troops as first ser- geant of Coast Artillery Corps. During the early part of his stay in France Mr. Taft was attached to the Heavy Artillery Training Battalion at Angiers, in the work of transporting replacements, but after the ar- mistice was transferred to the Anti-Aircraft Replacement Battalion, being stationed at Fort De Staine, France. Upon his return to the United States he received his honorable discharge at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, on January 28, 1919, with the rank of first sergeant. Mr. Taft went into the World War as a trained soldier, having been a member of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island National Guard for a period of eight years.

Upon his return to civilian life, Mr. Taft returned to his publishing activities in Uxbridge, and under his management the "Blackstone Valley News" has taken great strides. This paper is the sole successor of the former papers of the town, the Uxbridge "Compendium," the Uxbridge and Whitinsville "Transcript." The "Blackstone Valley News" is now the only newspaper published between Millbury and Woonsocket. The sheet is distributed in the towns of Uxbridge, North- bridge, Douglas, Mendon, Grafton, Sutton, Upton, Hope- dale, Millville, and Blackstone. Independent in its political utterances, the editorial policy of the paper is doing much for all advance and commands the respect and admiration of all the people, irrespective of political convictions. After the death of his brother, Carlton Taft, who died while Lester G. Taft was in France, a younger brother, William J. Taft, Jr., conducted the business until the return of his brother, who took him; into the business February 1, 1919.

Fraternally, Mr. Taft is a member of Manawa Tribe, No. 58, Improved Order of Red Men, of Uxbridge,

Massachusetts, of which he was first Chief of Records and is a Past Sachem; Nipmuc Council, No. 92, Degree of Pocahontas; Friendship Lodge, and Agawam En- campment, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Thompsonville, Connecticut ; Lieutenant Harold F. Flynn Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island; Waucantuck Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen.

Mr. Taft married, at New London, Connecticut, Sep- tember 9, 1913, Anna C. Cooney, of Whitinsville, Massa- chusetts, daughter of John J. and Rachael Cooney. Mr. and Mrs. Taft are the parents of three children: Theo- dore Roy, born October I, 1914; Lester G., Jr., born September 2, 1916; Virginia Madeline, born August I, 1918. Mrs. Taft is a member of Nipmuc Council, No. 92, Degree of Pocahontas, and is the present Pocahontas ; she is also a member of Waucantuck Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen.

EDWIN FRANCIS LILLEY-Few citizens of Mil- ford, Massachusetts, are more actively useful and more usefully active than Edwin Francis Lilley, whose mer- cantile endeavors have contributed to the commercial advance of the community, while his public service and fraternal activities place him among the really signifi- cant men of this part of Worcester County. An emi- nently practical man of marked executive ability, he has given to his work for the people the same energy and constructive effort that have placed him in the front rank of commercial progress. Mr. Lilley is a son of Thomas and Maria E. (Hanson) Lilley, esteemed resi- dents of Milford for many years.

Edwin Francis Lilley was born in Milford, Massachu- setts August 29, 1870. He received his education in the elementary and grammar schools of this community, but though his privileges in this line were limited, his ability as a student of men and conditions has supplemented his formal knowledge, and he was won large success. He became identified with the jewelry business at the age of thirteen years, entering the employ of C. W. Wil- cox, a prominent Milford jeweler of that day. Finding this business congenial and feeling that his natural taste for commercial affairs appraised latent ability, the young man started in business for himself in the same field in 1893. The intervening period of thirty years has meas- ured great advance in Mr. Lilley's business, and he is now one of the foremost men in his field in Worcester County. Far from confining his endeavors and activ- ities to his own individual progress, Mr. Lilley has al- ways taken the deepest interest in the public welfare. It was not, however, until the year 1909 that he accepted public responsibility, although from his majority he had been a worker in the ranks of the Republican party. He served on the Board of Selectmen of the town of Milford for two years (1909-1910), was chairman in 1910, and for years was chairman of the Town Com- mittee. His record in the duties which he fulfilled in the local affairs of a public nature was such that he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, taking up the duties involved by this honor in the year 1912, his reelection retaining him at the Capitol for a second term. His work as a legislator was construc- tive and permanently useful, and included his service on

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Wilder's grandfather, was a prominent farmer of Ster- ling in the early days, and Frank L. Wilder, his son, and Mr. Wilder's father, was a leading citizen of Sterling throughout his lifetime, being one of the founders of the present firm of Wilder, Walker & Davis Company. Frank L. Wilder married Mary L. Bruce, a daughter of Mark Bruce, and a member of a family founded in Sterling at the time of the earliest settlement here. Frank L. and Mary L. (Bruce) Wilder were the parents of four children: Anna M., born April 29 1860; Katy, born September 5, 1862; Arthur S., of further mention; and Emma A., born November 28, 1865.

Arthur S. Wilder was born in Sterling, Massachu- setts, March 6, 1864. His education was begun in the public schools of his birthplace. Later attending Leo- minster High School, he returned to Sterling upon the completion of his studies and engaged in farming on the old Wilder homestead. This estate has been in the possession of the Wilder family since the year 1783, and is one of the fine old dignified farm homes of Wor- cester County. Mr. Wilder has been successful in his agricultural operations, and in connection with these ac- tivities he has for some years also been associated with the firm of Wilder, Walker & Davis Company, lumber dealers of Sterling. This concern buys standing timber and disposes of fire wood and lumber entirely at whole- sale. This concern, in the establishing of which Frank L. Wilder bore a part, was from the beginning officered also by W. S. Walker and Jonathan A. Davis, these three progressive men having been associated throughout their lifetime. Arthur S. Wilder has been identified with the public service for twenty-seven years, having been elected to the local school committee in 1896, hav- ing served for nine ycars with that body. He also was active on the Board of Assessors, having served a sim- ilar period on that board. In 1922 he was elected to the Board of Selectmen, in which connection he is still en- gaged. Fraternally Mr. Wilder is affiliated with Trin- ity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Clinton; and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He attends the Congregational church.

Mr. Wilder married, on August 9, 1898, Ella C. Abbot, daughter of Harris and Caroline Ann (Greeley) Abbot, both of Wilton, New Hampshire. Mrs. Wilder is a granddaughter of Ezra and Rebecca (Hale) Abbot, her grandmother a native of Coventry, Connecticut, and a niece of Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary patriot. Mr. and Mrs. Wilder are the parents of five children: Flor- ence C., born August 3, 1899, a graduate of Smith Col- lege, class of 1922; Katherine A., born August 12, 1901, a graduate of Smith College, class of 1923; Frank Har- ris, born April 26, 1903, a junior at the Massachusetts State Agricultural College; Edwin Arthur, born March 13, 1906, a graduate of Leominster High School, now attending Cushing Academy; and Anna Hale, born January 14, 1909, now a junior at Sterling High School.

OLIVER MARTIN WING, a leading figure in the world of finance in Bristol County, Massachusetts, is a native and practically lifelong resident of Grafton, Massachusetts, and has for several years been treasurer of the Grafton Savings Bank, also of the Grafton Co- operative Bank. Mr. Wing is a noteworthy figure in

various branches of organized effort, chiefly along fra- ternal lines, and is bearing a constructive part in the economic security and progress of the day. He is a son of Hon. Henry F. and Mary E. (Tobey) Wing, his father formerly treasurer of the Grafton Savings Bank, and Representative to the State Legislature.

Oliver Martin Wing was born at Grafton, Massachu- setts, September 3, 1859. Attending the elementary and grammar schools of his birthplace, he was graduated from the local high school in the class of 1877. Vari- ously employed for a time he became identified with the J. S. Nelson & Son Shoe Company, of Grafton, in the year 1881, and for a full quarter of a century was active with this concern. From that time until 1920, a period of thirteen years, Mr. Wing was active with the F. E. Powers Company, of Worcester, Massachusetts, in ca- pacity of secretary of the organization. Since 1920 Mr. Wing has been active in his present office as treas- urer of two of the leading financial institutions of Grafton, as mentioned above. His work in this con- nection places him in the front rank of financial ad- vance in this community, and his long experience in the business world contributes in no slight degree to the security and prosperity of these institutions. Frater- nally Mr. Wing is a member of Franklin Blue Lodge of Grafton, and of both the York and Scottish Rites of the Masonic order, including Eureka Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Millbury, Massachusetts; Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters, of Worcester, and Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar. He is a member of the West Congregational Church, of Grafton.

Oliver Martin Wing married, at Grafton, Massachu- setts, September 17, 1885, Amy E. Putnam, daughter of George E. Putnam, and they are the parents of three children : Alice Christine, born November 10, 1886, a graduate of Vassar College, class of 1908, now the wife of S. Lathrop Davenport, their three children being Jean Wing, Phylis, and Fayer, all born in Danvers, Massachusetts; Nelson, born December 12, 1887; and Philip Henry, born December 26, 1896. Nelson Wing is a graduate of Worcester Institute of Technology, class of 1909, and is now active as a civil engineer on the New York Central Railroad, being detailed to Washington, District of Columbia. Philip Henry Wing attended Massachusetts Agricultural College, enlisted in the United States Navy during the World War, and was active in convoy duty during that period.

LAURENCE JOHN DALY-Participating in a very definite and progressive way in the activities of his day, Laurence John Daly, of Webster, Massachusetts, is bringing to bear upon the progress of his residence community strong influence in the right direction. As editor of the "Webster Evening Times," his survey of of passing events reveals the thoughtful and forward- looking attitude of the man whose energies are conse- crated to the well being of the people. Mr. Daly is a son of John and Hannah (Harney) Daly, his father a machinist throughout his lifetime, and a man of the highest integrity.

Laurence John Daly was born in Sturbridge, Massa- chusetts, April 20 1885. Receiving his early education

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in the public schools of his birthplace, he later attended Hitchcock Academy at Brimfield, Massachusetts. En- tering the newspaper world as a young man, Mr. Daly was first affiliated with the "Worcester Telegram" in the capacity of reporter, and remained with that sheet until accepting the editorial chair of the "Webster Evening Times" in the year 1917. Giving to the ad- vance of this newspaper the constructive endeavor of the natural executive, and bringing to bear upon its im- provement the experience gained in his work as a re- porter, Mr. Daly has greatly increased the circulation of the "Times" through his editorial policy, and it is now considered one of the outstanding dailies of Central Massachusetts. He gives his editorial sanction to every local movement which promises to benefit the people, and is considered one of the thoroughly noteworthy men of the day in journalistic affairs in this State. Fra- ternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus of Webster, and attends Saint Louis' Catholic Church.

Laurence John Daly married, in Warren, Massachu- setts, October 9, 1903, Josie Sullivan, daughter of Pat- rick and Elizabeth (Welch) Sullivan, and they are the parents of two children : Mary Elizabeth, born March 8, 1905; and Laurence John, Jr., born November 18, 1918. The Daly residence is at No. 14 Whitcomb Street, Webster.

FREDERICK WILLARD BATEMAN, a distin- guished figure in Worcester County, Massachusetts, whose natural ability was supplemented by a comprehen- sive educational preparation for his life work, and whose part in the engineering world has been one of impor- tance, is still broadly active in his chosen profession, and his record of public usefulness links his name with some of the most honored positions of the Common- wealth. Well known in fraternal and social circles, he is highly esteemed by all with whom he comes in con- tact. Mr. Bateman is a son of William Frederick and Louisa Harrod (Willard) Bateman, his father active for many years as railroad station agent, also as Post- master of Still River, Massachusetts.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 25

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, editor Publication date: 1924 Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 566

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, editor
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 566