USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 28
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FRED LANE BUTLER, treasurer of the F. A. Whitney Carriage Company of Leominster, Massachu- setts, was formerly for many years a resident of Gard- ner, where he was associated with the Heywood-Wake- field Company, formerly Heywood Brothers & Company. He was born at Pittsfield, New Hampshire, June 13, 1868, son of Charles and Mary J. (Lane) Butler. His father was employed in a shoe factory at Pittsfield, and Mr. Butler grew up in that town.
He received his preliminary education in the public schools of Pittsfield, and after having completed his grammar school studies proceeded to the Pittsfield Academy. He completed a' full course of study at the academy, and having a natural aptitude for business and commercial subjects, proceeded to Bryant & Strat- ton's Business College at Manchester, New Hampshire, from which he graduated in April, 1888. After careful consideration he decided to begin his business career at Gardner, Massachusetts, where he was offered an ad- vantageous opening in the dry goods business. He found his connections at Gardner agreeable and maintained his association with the dry goods business for two years, until 1890. In that year, however, he decided to accept a position as bookkeeper with the firm of Heywood Brothers & Company, manufacturers of furniture and baby carriages. The connection then established was destined to endure for the next thirty-one years, and throughout the whole of that long period Mr. Butler's relations with the firm were of the most friendly and agreeable nature. During the early period of his em- ployment with this firm Mr. Butler began studying in
the evenings to better his position, and when this was later discovered by the treasurer, Mr. George H. Hey- wood, he suggested that Mr. Butler work in the various departments to gain a general knowledge of the business in both the office and the factory, and in 1897 he began this study of the working's of the organization, acquir- ing a practical knowledge through positions and actual work in the manufacturing and also in the business branches of the concern. Mr. Heywood was always his good friend; they made satisfactory arrangements for the continuance of this plan, which was followed by Mr. Butler until 1912, when his long and faithful services were rewarded by his election to the office of treasurer of the company. This position he was eminently fitted to occupy, and during the next eight years he was the active manager of the Gardner factory. In March, 1920, the office of general factory manager was created and he was selected for the position. In July, 1920, he was transferred to the executive office at Boston, ful- filling the duties of this office in addition to his work as treasurer. In December, 1921, to the great regret of his associates in business, he resigned and thus the long connection between the Heywood-Wakefield Company and himself was brought to an end.
During the next six months Mr. Butler was engaged in attending to various matters of private business, his interests in the business world being by no means con- fined to his connection with Heywood-Wakefield Com- pany. In July, 1922, he accepted the position of treas- urer and director of the F. A. Whitney Carriage Com- pany (q. v) of Leominster, and this position he still holds. The Whitney Company is widely known in Wor- cester County, and far beyond its confines as one of the most prominent carriage building companies in the State. Founded many years ago, it has from the be- ginning maintained the highest standards of craftsman- ship and has faithfully followed the best traditions of New England business enterprise. By his long experi- ence and thorough knowledge of every phase of office and factory management, Mr. Butler is well suited to the position of treasurer of the company, and his position of treasurer of the company, and his connection there- with seems destined to endure for many years to the mutual advantage of himself and of the company. Keenly interested in business prosperity and social wel- fare and progress of every description, Mr. Butler, before leaving Gardner had been very active in civic affairs. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the Chamber of Commerce of Gardner, and still retains his membership in that body. He was a member of the Board of Auditors of the town of Gard- ner for five years; he was also on the Town Advisory Board from 1912 until 1921, when it became a city. During the World War he was active in the drives of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was also chairman of the Public Safety Committee throughout that period. He is a director of the First National Bank of Gardner, which his removal to Leominster has not changed, as it has also not changed his many other business and social connections, although he is taking an active interest also in his present place of residence, being a director of the Merchants' National Bank of Leominster, and a member of the Leominster Club. He is also a member of the Gardner Boat Club, the Wor-
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cester Country Club, the Boston City Club, and the Monoosnock Country Club of Leominster, and he is also a stockholder and member of the Monoosnock Sporting Club, a large camp at Rindge, New Hampshire. A Mason of long standing, Mr. Butler belongs to Hope Lodge, Free and Accepter Masons of Gardner; Gardner Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Ivanhoe Command- ery, Knights Templar; he is a Past High Priest of the chapter and Past Commander of the commandery, and has always been a consistent and vigorous supporter of Masonic principles and ideals. In religious faith he is a member of the Congregational church of Gardner. In politics he has always been a staunch Republican. Mr. Butler enjoys all out-of-doors sports generally.
Mr. Butler married (first) Alice J. McGowan, who died September 5, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Butler had one daughter, Marguerite Ruth, born November 15, 1892, and who is Mr. Butler's only child. She was educated in Gardner Grammar School and High School, and took her preparatory course at Cushing Academy, re- ceiving her degree of A. B. in 1916 from Mt. Holyoke College. She married, August 7, 1920, Windsor W. Allen, treasurer of the Frank W. Smith Silver Com- pany of Gardner, and they have one child, Marguerite Allen. Mr. Butler married (second) Anna S. Moore, daughter of William and Ellen E. (Mower) Moore, of Peterboro, New Hampshire, April 27, 1918.
JOHN PATRICK LESLIE, president of the real estate firm of W. H. Leslie & Company, which has been largely instrumental in developing the west side business and residential sections of Leominster, Massachusetts, has had an extremely interesting business career. He was born at North Kingston, Rhode Island, March 27, 1873, son of John and Mary E. (Cronnelly) Leslie. His parents belonged to families that had long been residents at North Kingston, and closely identified with its social and commercial life.
Mr. Leslie received his education in the public schools of Rhode Island. After leaving school various plans presented themselves to him, but he was unable to decide immediately upon a life occupation, and considered that his time would be best spent if he obtained temporary employment that would enable him to acquire a trade and some knowledge of business methods, and, in gen- eral, enable him to attain a point of view from which he could survey his prospects and choose an occupation that would suit his abilities. Accordingly, he entered one of the North Kingston cloth mills and began to work as a weaver. Practical experience in the manu- facturing of textiles, obtained in this way, gave him ex- pert knowledge of piece goods, and in 1900 he moved to Leominster, where he capitalized his knowledge by setting up a cloth and remnant store. This venture was highly successful and might have attained large develop- ment, but the attention of its owner was turned aside to the business of buying and selling real estate. A study of the opportunities which Leominster at that time offered to a man with the vision and capacity to aid in the city's development caused Mr. Leslie to enter into part- nership with W. H. Leslie and John T. Cummings, and in connection with these partners he founded the firm of W. H. Leslie & Company, of which he is now presi- dent. The first office occupied by the new firm was at
No. 4 Water Street, but the firm moved to the Mayo Block as soon as that building was completed, and have maintained their offices in the same place ever since.
In 1915, owing to the fact that his partners purchased the Reliance Yarn Company of Norwich, Connecticut, as well as the Blackstone Stocking Company of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, practically the entire management of the real estate business devolved upon Mr. Leslie, and his responsibilities in this connection became very heavy. The firm had the misfortune to lose Mr. Cummings, who died April 14, 1918, and in the reorganization of the company that afterwards took place, Mr. Leslie became president, and Mr. W. H. Leslie was appointed to fill the office of treasurer, the firm continuing to be known as W. H. Leslie & Company. Mr. W. H. Leslie is now very actively engaged in the woolen business, and the management of his extensive interests in the manufac- turing field is of such a nature that he is no longer able to devote much of his time to the real estate busi- ness. 'A natural sense of property values and ability in the management of real estate have placed Mr. Leslie in the forefront of the business world of Worcester County. He is an exponent of modern methods, and has a very high idea of the duties and responsibilities of property agents, and believes that they should exert a strong influence upon public opinion, to the end that buildings and grounds may be kept in a good state of repair, and town planning and gardening be given at- tention. His own influence, and his ability to transform a bare subdivision into a neighborhood of real homes, has been making itself felt at Leominster for the past twenty-two years, and he still has many plans for im- proving the appearance of the city by the addition of new residences and business structures. In religious faith Mr. Leslie is a Catholic, being a prominent mem- ber of the congregation of St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church, where he takes an active part in the various parochial activities of the church. His recreational va- cations he likes to take at the seashore, usually at Nar- ragansett Pier.
On November 24, 1904, he married Elizabeth A. Ward, daughter of Matthew and Ann (McLaughlin) Ward.
ALONZO AMASA BEMIS, one of Worcester County's prominent men in professional, public, and private life, is a descendant of an old and honored English family, emigrants of which came to America and settled in the New England States, where they and their numerous offspring exerted an incalculable influ- ence upon the growth and advancement of their several localities. To-day throughout the New England States are many hundreds who bear this distinguished pa- tronym. The numerous Bemis families of Spencer and of Worcester County, are all descended from Joseph Bemis, the emigrant ancestor, who was born in England in 1619, and came to America while a young man, settling in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he is listed as a planter as early as 1640. He became a town officer and one of Watertown's foremost citizens, his death occurring at that place in 1684. The lineal descent goes from Joseph to John (1), to John (2), to John (3), to Abijah, to John (4), to Samuel, and to Amasa, grand- father of Alonzo Amasa Bemis.
Amasa Bemis was born in Spencer, February 25, 1831,
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and married Laura Pike, a native of Brookfield, and they were the parents of Edwin Amasa Bemis, through whom the line continues. Edwin Amasa Bemis, the father of Alonzo Amasa Bemis, of whom this biograph- ical record, was born on December 25, 1824, at Spencer, Massachusetts, where he spent his long life as an agri- culturist, and where he died on November 27, 1887. He was married, at Spencer, in 1847, to Julia Draper Watson, who was born at Leicester on July 15, 1826, a daughter of Robert Watson, who was a descendant of an old Scotch family that at an early date emigrated to America, settling at Leicester, where scions of that patronym later became of great influence and importance. Julia Draper (Watson) Bemis survived her husband until 1908. To Edwin Amasa and Julia Draper (Watson) Bemis were born eleven children, two girls and nine boys.
Alonzo Amasa Bemis, the ninth child of Edwin Amasa and Julia Draper (Watson) Bemis, and a representa- tive of the tenth generation of the Bemis family in America, was born at Spencer, Worcester County, Massachusetts, on May 2, 1864. His early education was obtained in the local public schools, following which he entered high school. In 1885 he matriculated in the Dental Department of the University of Maryland, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1887, receiving the degree of D. D. S. After two years of study with Dr. A. A. Howland, of Worcester, before graduation, he engaged in the pactice of his pro- fession in West Brookfield, where he remained for three years. He then returned to his native city, where he opened offices and built up a large clientage, practising with steadily increasing success in the same suite of offices for a period of thirty-six years. Recently Dr. Bemis has removed his office to a new block, built ex- pressly by him for his dental practice, and here he con- tinues in a profession in which he has no peer in his native county.
Politically Dr. Bemis gives his hearty support and co- operation to the Republican party. He is a trustee of the Sugden Library, the Sugden Block, and of the Bemis Memorial Park Association, and a member of the Massachusetts Dental Society. His religious affiliation is given to the Congregational church, of which body he is a sincere member and an earnest worker.
Dr. Bemis married (first), October 4, 1887, Nellie M. Thayer, daughter of Clarke and Nancy Thayer, of Natick, Massachusetts. She died December 15, 1907, and Dr. Bemis married (second), April 8, 1911, Maud Etta Varney, daughter of Arthur W. and Cora L. (Baker) Varney, of Hermon, Maine.
Some years ago Dr. Bemis undertook the arduous task of compiling a complete and comprehensive gene- alogy of the Bemis family, which, with the able assist- ance of his mother, he brought to a successful comple- tion. This genealogy to-day stands as an invaluable historical record of a family whose members were pro- tagonists in the upbuilding and advancement of the early colonies. Alonzo Amasa Bemis maintains his residence at No. 12 High Street, Spencer, Worcester County, Massachusetts.
JOSEPH BURNETT-Every community owes much to those who have lived . and worked and contributed their share to the general welfare and have then passed
on to the "larger life," leaving behind them the founda- tions upon which others of later generations continue to build. Among those who, during an active life, founded business enterprises which are still growing, was the late Joseph Burnett, who for many years was well known in Boston and Southboro, Massachusetts, as the founder . and developer of the firm of Joseph Burnett & Company, later known as the Joseph Burnett Company of Boston.
The Burnett family is one of the oldest in New Eng- land, having been established there by Robert Burnett, who came to Dorchester in 1638. He located at Lynn Meadows, now known as Reading, in 1701. Benjamin Burnett, a son of the immigrant, located in Hopkinton, and their grandson, Charles Ripley Burnett, married Lavinia Matthews, of Southboro, since which time this branch of the Burnett family has been identified with that town. Charles Ripley Burnett's brother, Dr. Joel Burnett, was a graduate of Harvard Medical School, and was the first to announce the theory of the trans- mission of disease by means of germs. In his research along that line he was assisted by his son, Waldo; but they were so far in advance of their time that the idea, now almost universally accepted, was then derided.
Joseph Burnett, son of Charles Ripley and Lavinia (Matthews) Burnett, was born in Southboro, Massachu- setts, November II, 1820, and died in Southboro, Au- gust II, 1894. He received his early education in the district schools of his native town, and afterward pur- sued the higher English branches and Latin in the Wor- cester schools. He grew up on the farm where his father had settled, and when school days were over apprenticed himself to a druggist in Worcester, named Spurr. When he was seventeen years of age, seeking a wider field for his energies, he went to Boston and entered the employ of the famous druggist, Theodore Metcalf. His energy and ability as well as the knowl- edge gained in the Worcester pharmacy enabled him to render valuable service, and he was made a partner in the business. In 1854 he sold his interest back to Mr. Metcalf, and began business for himself as a manufac- turing chemist, locating on Central Street, in Boston. That enterprise has become one of the largest extract manufacturing concerns in the world. At that time flavoring extracts were made by druggists, and Mr. Burnett was the first to manufacture extracts on a commercial scale in the United States. His first place of business was a small space in a building on Central Street, Boston. The business grew steadily and more space was added, until in 1893 larger quarters were rented on India Street. There Mr. Burnett continued to develop a steadily growing enterprise as long as he lived. The present plant, which is the last word in modern construction and equipment, was built about 1920 by his son, Harry Burnett (q. v.).
Mr. Burnett's Southboro home, where his summers were spent as long as he lived, and his winters until 1875, when he first occupied his Beacon Street resi- dence in Boston, was the Deerfoot mansion, which he built about 1850. He eventually became the owner of an estate in Southboro of five hun- dred acres, which gave employment to many. When Joseph Burnett first went to work in Boston, Southboro had no railroad facilities, and it was necessary for him to travel from Southboro to Marlboro by stage. At
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the time of his death he was probably the oldest com- muter on the line. Outside his business and his family Joseph Burnett's chief interest was the town of South- boro. He was the founder of Deerfoot Farm, and im- ported one of the first herds of thoroughbred Jersey cattle brought to America. That was in 1854. He was much interested in religious work and education. He founded St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and after con- ferring with Dr. Coit, of St. Paul's School, of Concord, New Hampshire, who heartily approved of the idea and gave the assistance of his advice and experience, Mr. Burnett founded St. Mark's School at Southboro, an institution that has not only accomplished much in giving splendid preparatory training to boys but has done much to spread abroad the fair fame of the town of Southboro. In 1878 and 1879 he was president of the Bos- ton Druggists' Association. In 1865-66 he was president of the Middlesex South Agricultural Society. He was also one of the fifty members of the Commercial Club of Bos- ton, a body representing, as has been well said, the "old school of merchants, renowned for their integrity and conservatism, honored by all men." Originally a Daniel Webster Whig, Mr. Burnett in his later years was a firm friend and supporter of President Grover Cleve- land. He never sought office, but was sometimes induced to accept a position of public trust, the duties of which he failed not to discharge with ability and faithfulness. Appointed as Prison Commissioner by Governor Rice, he was chairman of that body while in charge of the erection of the Women's Reformatory at Sherborn. In Southboro he served for a time on the School Board, as Road Commissioner, and as chairman of the Building Committee of the town hall. A zealous churchman, for- merly a vestryman of the Church of the Advent in Boston, St. John's Church of Framingham, and of St. Paul's of Hopkinton, Mr. Burnett at the time of his departure from this life was senior warden of St. Mark's Parish, Southboro, of which he was one of the founders in 1860. The stone church was given by him to the parish in 1862. The death of Mr. Burnett, which occurred on August II, 1894, was caused by an accident while he was out driving. Sincere sorrow was felt by all who had known him. Habitually considerate of others, sweet-tempered, courteous, and kindly, Mr. Bur- nett had won the regard of many friends. In South- boro his loss was felt as a public calamity. On Wednes- day, August 15, at St. Mark's Church, at 10:30 A. M., the impressive funeral rites were conducted by Bishop Lawrence, assisted by the Rev. G. S. Converse, D. D., and the Rev. A. St. John Chambre, archdeacons. Sor- rowing kindred and friends filled the church to over- flowing, conspicuous among the mourners being some who had been his employees for thirty years.
Joseph Burnett married, in 1848, Josephine Cutter, daughter of Edward and Ruth (Torrey) Cutter, of Boston, Massachusetts, and they were the parents of twelve children.
Robert Manton Burnett, son of Joseph and Josephine (Cutter) Burnett, who with his brother, Harry, con- ducts the manufacturing business of the Joseph Burnett Company, and is also the head of Deerfoot Farm. Deerfoot Farm comprises about one thousand acres, and is in every respect a model farm. By example and precept Mr. Burnett has probably done more to raise
the standard of farming and dairying in Southboro and vicinity than any other individual. The farm has busi- ness connections with one hundred and twenty other farms, and for thirty-five years Mr. Burnett has been long helping farmers to get fair prices for their prod- ucts. He has for some years taken a prominent part in State politics and has served as chairman of the Democratic State Committee. He is treasurer and di- rector of the Deerfoot Farm Company, and a member of the board of directors of the Boston "Herald," Incor- porated, of the Boston and Maine Railroad, and of the Eastern Advertising Agency. His home is in Southboro, Massachusetts.
Harry Burnett, son of Joseph and Josephine (Cutter) Burnett, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, December I, 1850. His education was begun in the local schools of his birthplace, and he was graduated from St. Mark's Preparatory School, class of 1869. Thereafter entering Harvard University, he was graduated from that insti- tution in the class of 1873, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Upon the completion of his studies, Mr. Bur- nett associated himself with his father, who was then at the head of the firm of Joseph Burnett & Company, manufacturing chemists of Boston, and has been con- nected with this concern ever since. He has now for many years been treasurer and general manager of the enterprise, and has been a definite influence in the de- velopment and expansion of the business to its present great proportion. The concern manufactures flavoring extracts of every kind, coloring pastes, and other articles in this same general class for culinary purposes. In various avenues of advance Mr. Burnett is broadly in- fluential, especially in those organized efforts which count for the welfare or security of the people. He is manager of the Massachusetts Hospital and treasurer of St. Mark's School of Southboro, a position which he has held since the year 1894; and is affiliated unoffi- cially with many other organizations, being also treasurer of St. Paul's Cathedral. He is a member of the Har- vard and Tavern clubs, and of the Somerset Club of Boston, Massachusetts.
STANLEY H. WHEELOCK-The Wheelock fam- ily of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, of which Stanley H. Wheelock is representative, have, since the time of Jerry Wheelock, of the sixth generation, been residents of Uxbridge, and identified with woolen manufacturing. Jerry Wheelock was a member of the firm of Daniel Day & Company. Daniel Day the builder, in 1810, of the first woolen mill in the vicinity of Uxbridge. Jerry Wheelock retired in 1846, and was succeeded by his son, Silas Mandeville Wheelock, who for sixty years was connected with woolen manufacturing companies. He, in turn, was succeeded by his sons, one of them, Arthur Wheelock, whose life has likewise been spent in woolen manufacturing in official position. To the business followed by his father, grandfather, and great- grandfather came Stanley H. Wheelock, from the modern training of The Lowell Textile School, and in turn he has taken a leading position in the textile trade as secretary-treasurer of The Stanley Woolen Company of Uxbridge.
The family is traced in England back into the cen- turies to the founding of the village of Wheelock, to
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Stanley At. Wheelock
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which village in 1285 Hugh de Wheelock secured from Robert Manning all claim to the village. To this estate Thomas de Wheelock later succeeded, and was made Lord of Wheelock Manor. The Wheelock Coat of Arms is as follows :
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