USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 26
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Frederick Willard Bateman was born in Harvard, Massachusetts, December 17, 1852. His education was begun in the local common schools; later he attended Lancaster Academy, then entered Worcester Polytech- nic Institute, from which he was graduated in the class of 1871. The extensive railway construction activities at that period in process of development in New Eng- land engaged Mr. Bateman's attention for a considerable time, and through the succeeding years of his career he became broadly interested in hydraulic, municipal, and general engineering practice throughout this general section. Mr. Bateman's activities, however, were not limited even to the New England States, but reached throughout New York, Ohio, and various Middle States, many commissions of an exacting and important nature having been placed in his hands. He has risen to a position of large prominence in the engineering world of to-day. He was for several years consulting engineer for one of the leading railroad corporations of New England, and is now a partner in the firm of Parker, Bateman & Chase, civil engineers, with offices at Clinton and Fitch- burg, Massachusetts. Mr. Bateman is further affiliated as a director with the Chaffee Brothers Company of
Oxford, Massachusetts, and these various responsibil- ities give his name broad significance.
A Republican by political convictions, and always loyal to the interests of the party, Mr. Bateman has served in local public offices of greater or less importance for many years. First elected public library trustee of the town of Harvard, his residence community, Mr. Bate- man has also served as cemetery trustee, as trustee of the Warner Lecture Fund, and as a member of the Board of Health. His eminent usefulness in these connec- tions, and his progressive spirit towards all advance, led to his election as Representative of the town of Har- vard in the Massachusetts State Legislature, and in the deliberations of that body he participated to his own credit, his work also reflecting honor upon his constit- uency. It is all to little to say in appreciation of Mr. Bateman's career that he is one of the foremost citizens of Harvard, and holds a distinguished rank in his native State. Fraternally he is identified with the Boston Society of Civil Engineers; American Society for Test- ing Materials; New England Water Works Association ; also the Massachusetts Forestry Association; and his clubs are the Prescott of Clinton, and the Massachusetts Republican.
HOWARD H. CHASE, of Leominster, of the ancient Chase family founded in early Colonial days by Aquilla and William Chase, is of the New Hampshire branch, a son of William Howard Chase, born in North Weare, New Hampshire, March 18, 1857. He was a resident of Weare until 1882, having been in the insurance business and an overseer in the weaving department of the Smith- Converse Woolen Mills. He moved to Leominster in 1882 and became overseer in the E. M. Rockwell mills, a position he held for years. He then, in association with William Rodgers, founded the Leominster Worsted Company, of which he was treasurer until his death, January 4, 1918. Mr. Chase was also a director of the Leominster National Bank and a trustee of Leominster Savings Bank. He was an able man of affairs, a master of the manufacturing of worsted and a wise financier. A Republican in politics, he served Leominster long and well. He was a member of the Sinking Fund Com- mission for sixteen years; member of the Board of Water Commissioners twenty-five years, and twenty- three of those years was chairman. Under his direction the Fall Brook and Morse reservoirs were built and other vital improvements made. In 1916 Mr. Chase re- signed the place he had held so long. He was a mem- ber of the Masonic order; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Worcester Continentals; was an ardent sportsman, having hunted big game in the Rocky Moun- tains ; was a member of the Camp Fire Club of America ; Home Market Club; the Republican Club; Country Club and Sportsman's Association; and Leominster Chamber of Commerce. In religious faith he was a Unitarian, and when the church of that faith was erected he served as chairman of the building commit- tee. He was an ardent champion of the road committee of the Massachusetts Automobile Association. He was one of the pioneer automobile owners of the Leomin- ster section, and greatly enjoyed his tours. He was widely known and esteemed both as a business man and citizen, his genial, kindly nature making him a welcome
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addition to any group. He was held in high regard in the textile industry, and the Leominster Worsted Mills grew prosperous and greatly expanded during his tenure of office as treasurer.
William Howard Chase married Ann S. Harwood, born in Harvard, Massachusetts, died in Leominster in 1903, and they were the parents of Howard H. Chase of this review.
Howard H. Chase, son of William Howard and Ann S. (Harwood) Chase, was born in Leominster, Massachu- setts, December 18, 1889. He was educated in Leomin- ster public schools, passing from high school to Worces- ter Technical Institute, whence he was graduated B. S., class of 1913. From the schoolroom he went to the Leominster Worsted Mills, and there was privileged to have four years business association with his father. Upon the death of William H. Chase, in 1918, Howard H. Chase was elected president of the Leominster Wor- sted Company, founded by his father, and now for five years under the executive management of the son. The mills of the company are the largest woolen mills in Leominster, and the product is widely distributed.
Howard H. Chase has been and is very much inter- ested in the new Leominster Hospital, is on the finance committee, and active in the work. He is a director of the Leominster National Bank; director and vice-presi- dent of the Leominster Cooperative Bank; a member of the Leominster Chamber of Commerce; Monoosnock Country Club, Bass Point Club, and the Masonic Club. His fraternity is Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and he holds membership in the Masonic order. He is a Unitarian in religion, and is a member of the parish committee, chosen as chairman in 1922. He'finds recreation in hunting and fishing.
On September 16, 1916, Howard H. Chase married Ruth M. Tisdale, born in Leominster, daughter of Albert A. and Florence E. (Tenny) Tisdale. Mrs. Chase be- longs to the Fortnightly Club and the Musicale Club, being interested in both.
ALFRED NEWTON LITCH, for more than thirty years has been identified with the Leominster Worsted Company, of which he is now treasurer. Before com- ing to Leominster Mr. Litch had gained valuable ex- perience in two lines of activity and is well known in Worcester County as an able and successful business man and a public-spirited progressive citizen. While he now re- views a career of business achievement most creditable to him, he reached that position through hard work and close application to the business he had chosen as his life work. He began his connection with the Leomin- ster Worsted Company on a borrowed capital, and the success that has come to him has been fully earned. In the best sense of the term he is a self-made man. His business career began at the age of nineteen and now, at sixty-four, he is enjoying the fruits of those early years of devotion to the responsibilities he had assumed as a manufacturer and financier.
Mr. Litch inherited a keen business instinct and a natural inclination for trade through his father, Aaron Kimball Litch, a successful hardware merchant of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, the city of his birth. Aaron K. Litch was one of the original members of the Fitchburg Band, a well-known musical organization, of which he was for
many years leader and treasurer. He was also a mem- ber of Green's Orchestra, a leading organization of its kind in that section of the State. He married Abby Newton, born in Templeton, Massachusetts, who died at the age of seventy-eight years. Aaron K. Litch died in Worcester, Massachusetts, October 27, 1892, having retired from active business several years prior to his death.
Alfred Newton Litch, son of Aaron Kimball and Abby (Newton) Litch, was born in Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts, December 4, 1858, and after receiving a prac- tical education in the public schools of his native city, found his first employment in the office of Parks & Car- penter, steamfitters. He remained with that firm for three years and subsequently entered the employ of James Phillips, Jr., in what is now known as the Arden Mills, which connection he maintained for a period of ten years. During the period prior to going with Mr. Phillips, he was employed by J. B. Fransworth, in Leo- minster, and spent two years in New York City. In 1883 he removed to Leominster, Worcester County, per- manently, and in 1891 became associated with the Leo- minster Worsted Company, in the capacity of secretary and assistant treasurer. During the thirty-two years which have passed since that time, he has continued his official connection with that company, being now its honored treasurer, having been elected to that office in 1918. He is a man of sound business principles and has been an important factor in the upbuilding and pros- perity of the corporation, whose financial destinies he guides. In addition to his connection with the Leo- minster Worsted Company, Mr. Litch is president of the Merchants' National Bank of Leominster; president of the Leominster Cooperative Bank, and a member of the board of trustees of the Leominster Savings Bank. He is a member of the Leominster Chamber of Com- merce, and is actively interested in the advancement of the public welfare of Leominster. He was one of the men of that community that combined in an effort to raise the necessary funds to build and equip a new Leo- minster Hospital and now is serving that institution as a member of its board of trustees.
Mr. Litch holds fraternal relations with Leominster Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in social membership is connected with the Leominster and the Monoosnock Country clubs of Leominster, and the Fay Club of Fitchburg. His religious connection is with the Unitarian society. He enjoys travel, in fact that is his favorite recreation.
Mr. Litch married (first), on October 27, 1885, Mary Adams Porter, of Leominster, Massachusetts, who died September 26, 1893. Mr. Litch married (second), May 19, 1909, Alice Coles Robbins, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, daughter of Calvin and Julia (Coles) Robbins.
HAMILTON MAYO-With the passing of Ham- ilton Mayo, on January 26, 1924, Leominster, Massachu- setts, suffered a loss that from the viewpoint of the en- tire citizenry of the section was incalculable, inasmuch as Mr. Mayo bore the title of leading citizen, that in- cluded the exemplary civic virtues of right living and of noble dealing. Standing unequivocally for the highest ideals in the community, he was a man who weighed
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matters carefully, judged impartially, and administered honorably. Half a century ago he was admitted to practice at the bar, and continued in his profession up to the time of his last illness. He was widely read in the law, and his advice was repeatedly sought in intri- cate legal matters; he was honored with office in civic institutions of both State and town, and in his turn honoring such institutions with his membership and presence ; he was likewise, an official in all organizations established for the progress and general usefulness of the town; was a liberal, though unostentatious dispenser of charity; and at his passing Leominster could truly say : "A great man among us is fallen to-day."
Mr. Mayo was born at the family homestead at West- minster, Massachusetts, February 26, 1851, son of William and Mary Mayo, neither of whom survives. There he attended the public schools and prepared him- self for his life work, and was graduated from Meriden Academy in 1869; from Dartmouth College in 1873; and from the Albany Law School in 1874. In 1874 he was admitted to the bar, and in February of 1875, opened an office in Leominster. In 1883 he was ap- pointed trial justice, holding that office four years. Up to the year 1917 he was president of the Leominster National Bank, resigning then, and being succeeded by Fred A. Young. Mr. Mayo continued as a director, and was also actively interested in the Leominster Savings Bank, as a member of the corporation and board of in- vestment and trustees. He served Leominster in the State Legislature in 1904-1905, and as Town Auditor and chairman of the School Board, and had been a trustee of the public library since 1907, besides filling minor offices from time to time. He was elected to the City Council when Leominster became a city, and was subsequently president of the Council. He was the first president of the Leominster Home for Old Ladies, and was prominent in the Leominster Historical Society. His fraternal affiliations were with Leominster Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, since 1876; and his clubs were the Leominster and the Monoosnock Country Club. He was one of the most active and valued mem- bers of the Unitarian church.
He is survived by his wife, Laura S. Mayo, a daugh- ter, Esther W., wife of Dr. Willard H. Foss; a son, Councillor Winthrop M. Mayo; and a sister, Mrs. Emma F. Creed, of Gardner, Massachusetts.
FRANK E. KINSMAN passed away at his home in Leominster, Massachusetts, on February 5, 1924, a prom- inent townsman of that community retiring from life's action ; and all who know aught of the wonderful story of the beginnings and the development of the telephone, were aware of the fact that a pioneer inventor in that sphere of world-wide usefulness had died. Few men living in our day, either in this country or elsewhere, had been more closely identified with the various tele- phone interests, nor more vitally related to the origin and the simple equipment of the childhood day of the great invention. An inventor of note, he was chief among those who worked to introduce the earlier mech- anisms and methods that helped to establish the busi- ness of the telephone. His life was signalized through- out by kindred discoveries, and it is recorded that he
had received some fifty patents for his inventions. Be- sides his telephone patents he patented the devices for automatically controlling the motive power and the airbrakes of railroad trains; and later he put them in operation in the express services of the New York City subway and the Boston Elevated Railroad. Mr. Kinsman was a pioneer in these matters; a member of leading engineering associations; and in his home city prominent in many lines for his efforts for the public good and general progress. He was a son of Cyrus and Helen Dorothy (Allen) Kinsman, both lifelong resi- dents of Leominster.
Frank E. Kinsman was born in Leominster, Massa- chusetts, August 14, 1852, and received his education in the public schools of this city. Throughout his life he gave his complete attention to the discovery and applica- tion of inventions that have proven of unbounded sig- nificance to the advance of civilization. Besides his many other activities in the telephone world, he was the first to design and work out the central office system, and to build a central office telephone line, this taking place early in the summer of 1876. In 1877 he estab- lished the telephone central office business in Chicago, and in less than a year after he went there, invented the multiple telephone switchboard, which has become the vitally important element in the telephone central office system of to-day. During the years 1879-1880, he was the first superintendent of repairs and attachments of the New York Telephone Company, from which posi- tion he resigned to form the firm of Kinsman & Toby, of which he was president until 1890, during which time the low tension circuit arc lamp and many other electrical improvements were introduced under his di- rection. From that time onwards he was consulting engineer for several large electrical and business estab- lishments, and in 1907 became president of the Kinsman Block System Company, which owns his automatic control patents referred to.
When Leominster was a town, Mr. Kinsman was a member of the Board of Selectmen; a member of the Planning Board, and served as Superintendent of Streets. He had been Councillor from Ward One for several years. In his fraternal affiliations he was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons; of the Knights Templar; and he was a Noble of Mecca Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was a member of the American Society of Electrical Engineers ; the Telephone Pioneers of America; the American Signal Association; and of the Merchants' Association of the city of New York, in which he served on various important com- mittees. He is survived by his wife and three children : Cyrus Kinsman, of Detroit, Michigan; Annie and Grace Kinsman, of Leominster ; and by a brother, Arthur Kins- man, of Baltimore, Maryland.
HARRY WILLIAMS GODDARD, president of the Spencer Wire Company of Worcester, Massachu- setts, was born at Holyoke, September 14, 1863, son of Dorrance Sibley and Mary Howe (Williams) God- derd. He attended the public schools of Worcester. After two years in the high school he left to work in the wire mills of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company at Quinsigamond, beginning as a scale boy.
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weighing wire. After two years, however; he returned to school and spent a year in Wilbraham Academy. At the age of seventeen he started in the wire business again, literally at the foot of the ladder, in the employ of the Spencer Wire Company, then located in Spencer, doing all kinds of work and mastering every detail step by step, and when he came of age he was made super- intendent of the mill, succeeding the president of the conpany, Mr. Sugden, who had previously been his own superintendent. At that time the Spencer Wire Com- peny was an old and somewhat conservative concern, growing from small beginning to a place of importance, employing seventy-five hands. Mr. Goddard was also secretary of the corporation. After the death of Mr. Sugden, in 1895, Mr. Goddard bought of his heirs his interests in the company, and obtained a controlling interest, continuing as principal owner to the present time, and as president and general manager of the com- rany. In 1900 a big step forward was made by erecting a new and model plant in Worcester at the corner of Webster and Jacques streets. The general offices were moved to the new location and the business rapidly extended. The company manufactures all kinds of uncovered steel and iron wire and employs at present (1917) about eight hundred hands. Mr. Goddard is treasurer of the Hobbs Manufacturing Company. For ten years he was president of the Springfield Drop Forging Company, and is now president of the Mills Woven Cartridge Belt Company of Worcester.
In 1903 he was elected president of the Board of Trade (now the Chamber of Commerce) of Worcester and reelected the following year. Under his admin- istration, the activities of the board were extended in all directions, and its usefulness greatly increased. When President Taft, then Secretary of War, came to Wor- cester in 1905 to speak at the annual banquet of the Board of Trade, Mr. Goddard had the pleasant duty of entertaining him at his beautiful residence on Salisbury Street. In politics Mr. Goddard is a Republican, and he has always taken an active part in public affairs, serving as delegate to the various nominating conven- tions. He is a director of the Mechanics' National Bank and trustee of the People's Savings Bank; mem- ber of the Maine Coast Club, the Quinsigamond Boat Club, the Commonwealth Club, the Tatnuck Country Club, and the Worcester Country Club.
In a sense Mr. Goddard is one of the self-made man- ufacturers of the city. Beginning as a laborer himself, he has possessed the proper point of view in considering the needs and ambitions of those in his employ. He made a small plant a great industry by his force of char- acter, insight, and energy. Inheriting a taste and apti- tude for his business, he has made the most of his opportunities, and by his success has helped materially in the growth of the city. His place among the leading manufacturers of the city has been fairly won by force of ability, character, and tireless energy.
Mr. Goddard married, December 14, 1887, Grace Wat- son, daughter of George and Eleanor Watson, of Spen- cer. Their children are: Eleanor Grace, born March 25, 1889; and Marion Williams, born August 29, 1893.
Mr. and Mrs. Goddard made known their intention to erect a home for the corporation known as the Home for Aged Men, in Worcester, in memory of Mr. God-
dard's father and mother, at the meeting of the trustees, April 5, 1917. The new fireproof structure was to cost $75,000 or more, and to be a model of its kind, extend- ing greatly the usefulness of the institution. It was to be erected on the old site of the institution, at No. 1199 Main Street, the old building to be taken down. A building committee, consisting of Mr. Goddard, Francis H. Dewey, and Franklin B. Durfee, was appointed at the time.
WALTER REEVES DAME-Immediately after the incorporation of Clinton, Worcester, Massachusetts, John Thompson Dame, father of Walter Reeves Dame, began the practice of law there, being the pioneer law- yer of the town. He was a son of Dr. John Dame, an eminent physician of Lyme, New Hampshire, and a State Senator. Dr. John Dame married Abigail Thomp- son, and their only child was John Thompson Dame.
Walter R. Dame, of this review, was of the eighth American generation of the family founded in New England by John Dame, born in England about 1610, who came to New England about 1633, settled at Dover, New Hampshire. John Dame was a deacon of the first parish church at Dover in 1675, and had his first grant of land at Dam Point. He and Nicholas (Dame were signers of a petition to the Governor of New Hampshire in 1689. He married Elizabeth Pom- fret, daughter of William Pomfret, and they were the parents of six children. From John and Elizabeth (Pomfret) Dame the line of descent is traced through the generations as follows :
(II.) William Dame, born in Dover, New Hampshire, October 14, 1652; and his wife, Martha' Pomfret; six children.
(III.) William (2) Dame, born in Dover, New Hampshire, November 14, 1686, and his wife, Sarah Kimmin; four children.
(IV.) William (3) Dame, born February 20, 1710.
(V.) Theodore Dame, born about 1740, and his wife, Martha. Theodore Dame was a soldier of the Revolu- tion and settled in Oxford, New Hampshire, and was a man of prominence. He was a lieutenant under Arnold in his attack on Quebec.
(VI.) Dr. John Dame, born June 7, 1773, a noted physician of his day, and his wife, Abigail Thompson.
(VII.) John Thompson Dame, born in Oxford, New Hampshire, October 21, 1816, and his wife, Eliza Elmira Reeves.
(VIII.) Walter Reeves Dame, of further mention.
John Thompson Dame, of previous mention, was early orphaned, and was reared in the home of a cousin, whom he always remembered with love and gratitude. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1840 with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and later prepared for the profession of law under private preceptors and at Har- vard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and began private practice in Marlboro, Massachu- setts, going thence in 1844, to Lancaster. He remained in practice in Lancaster for five years, serving the last two years as Police Magistrate. On April 1, 1850, he moved to Clinton, Massachusetts, then newly incorpor- ated, and the same year was appointed Police Magis- trate. He held that office until 1858, when he ex- changed it for the office of Police Justice, an office he
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held until 1863. The resolutions adopted by the bar as- sociation at the time of his death, are:
As a magistrate and practitioner, he brought to the discharge of all his duties, an intelligent and compre- hensive knowledge of the law, a well-trained, vigor- ous mind, habits of untiring industry, and a strong love of justice which always distinguishes the impar- tial judge and the successful, upright lawyer. He had a keen sense of the obligations of his profession to the community, and he used his influence and oppor- tunities as a counsellor to discourage strife and pro- mote a peaceful settlement between contending par- ties. While always true to his clients, and faithful and painstaking in his clients' cause, he was equally loyal to the court, and in all his transactions as a law- yer, he kept both the letter and the spirit of the attor- ney's oath.
Mr. Dame was a Democrat in politics, and under President Pierce was appointed Postmaster of Clinton, and reappointed under President Buchanan, serving from September 7, 1853, until April 6, 1861. He was a staunch Union man, and it was on his motion that Clin- ton appropriated money for the relief of soldiers' fam- ilies. He was a member of the School Committee for seventeen years, and chairman all but three of those years. Although called the "watch dog of the treasury," he was most liberal in appropriations for the schools, and was deeply interested in the Bigelow Free Public Library, which he served as director. He wrote a his- tory of Clinton for the county history of 1879, his useful life closing in Clinton on July 3, 1894, "a life fraught with blessings to the town, both in deed and example, a life of service, both through private and public channels, a life of high ideals in education, of unswerving integ- rity, and of Puritan simplicity."
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