USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 4
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Mr. Cotton married, November 15, 1866, Maria Plun- kett, of Athol, Massachusets, who died September 20, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Cotton were the parents of the fol- lowing children: Mrs. Joseph Egger, Frederick, John, Thomas, James, Mrs. Edward D. Leonard, and Mrs. L. N. Giddings, of Worcester.
There are few interests either of a public or social nature in the town of Athol which were not affected by the death of this worthy and broad-minded citizens. His lingering illness made the event one not unexpected, but when the news went abroad that he was gone the entire community mourned. His interest in every branch of progress had been so keen and his judgment in all serious affairs so wise and practical, that his loss was felt most deeply in every circle. His genial disposition had made him a friend of every man, and the thought that he has passed out of human reach brought sadness to all who had known him. His funeral services were largely attended and were held at the chapel at Silver Lake Cemetery, in charge of Athol Commandery, Knights Templar. He is gone but his memory remains for all whose privilege it was to know him, at once a benediction and an inspiration to higher effort.
CHARLES R. ABBOTT, M. D .- A prominent rep- resentative of the medical profession in this section of Worcester County, Massachusetts, is Dr. Charles R. Abbott, of Clinton, who has been engaged in practice here since 1913. Dr. Abbott came originally from San- bornton, New Hampshire, where he was born Septem- ber 7, 1883. The family were early settlers in that State. His paternal grandfather was Dr. James B. Abbott, who was born at Northfield, New Hampshire, where he was a practicing physician for twenty-six years, and a well known and highly respected member of the profession, having been president of the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1860. His grandmother was Sarah Gerrish, born at Canterbury, New Hampshire, and died in 1893. His father, Joseph G. Abbott, was also a native of Sanbornton, where he was born Novem- ber 4, 1845, and was engaged as a' travelling salesman until his death on March 25, 1914. His mother, Sarah A. (Peck) Abbott, was a native of Jericho, Vermont, whose birth occurred July 24, 1847, and who passed away February 25, 1915.
Dr. Abbott received his early education through the medium of the district schools of his native community and at Boscawen, New Hampshire, later entering the Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, of the same State, from which he graduated with the class of 1902. Fol- lowing this he went into business as a druggist at Han-
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James Cotton
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BIOGRAPHICAL
over, New Hampshire, continuing in this line for five years, after which in 1907, he took up the study of medicine at the Dartmouth Medical College, receiving his diploma with the class of 1911, and also the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The two years subsequent to his graduation he was house surgeon in the Worcester City Hospital, and at the end of this period, in 1913, he came to Clinton to establish a practice, and has remained here ever since, his offices being at No. 70 Walnut Street. He is also a member of the Clinton Hospital staff, as junior surgeon and Rontgenologist and surgeon for the Wick- wire Spencer Steel Corporation.
Dr. Abbott is a man of progressive character and keeps fully abreast of the times in his profession, main- taining membership in many of the leading professional organizations, including the American Medical Associ- ation, Massachusetts Medical Society, Worcester Dis- trict Medical Society New England Rontgen Ray So- ciety, and the American College of Surgeons. His col- lege fraternity is the Alpha Kappa Kappa of Dartmouth, and he belongs to Trinity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and is a prominent member of the local Cham- ber of Commerce. His religious affiliation is with the Congregational church.
Dr. Abbott married, in 1915, Gladys I. Jeffrey a native of Clinton. They have two children: Charles R., Jr., born February 26, 1917; and Constance, born April 29, 1919.
FRED T. COFFIN-Standing among the foremost manufacturers of Gardner, Massachusetts, Mr. Coffin holds a prominent position in the industrial world of Worcester County, and his activities as the founder and owner of the Coffin Chair Company place him in the front line of progress. Mr. Coffin is a son of Tristram T. and Esther (Gilman) Coffin. The father was born in Bath, Maine, and was a well-known manufacturer of currier's tools of Woburn, Massachusetts. He was a man of enterprising spirit, and his death at the com- paratively early age of forty-one years, in 1874, removed from the industrial circles of that section a man of genuine worth and ability. The mother, who was born at Dover, New Hampshire, survived him for many years, passing away in 1896, when about sixty-two years of age.
Fred T. Coffin was born at Woburn, Massachusetts, January 24, 1865, and his education was acquired in the public schools of Hubbardston and Gardner in this county. Only nine years of age when the death of his father occurred, and with no resources whatever, he was obliged to make his own way from this early age, and after reaching his seventeenth year he supported his mother and three sisters. Realizing the lack of oppor- tunities of an educational nature which he suffered from this necessity, the young man then took up regular courses of reading and study to suplement his limited advantages. Meanwhile, from his eleventh year, Mr. Coffin was employed on a farm, then later transferred his time to work in a saw mill and in this connection rose to the position of foreman. He was identified with saw mill activities until 1901, when he came to Gardner and secured a position with the John A. Dunn Com- pany, one of the leading chair manufacturing concerns of this community. From the first his advance was rapid. He spent six months in the capacity of cost clerk,
after which he was promoted to shipping clerk, and a year and half afterward he was made superintendent of the plant. In this important position he served the concern until 1910, when he resigned to engage in the manufacture of chairs for himself. He began operations at Hubbardston, where he continued for two years, after which he organized and incorporated the Gardner Chair Company, of which he was made treasurer and general manager. In the spring of 1917 Mr. Coffin sold his interest in this company to Joseph P. Carney and immediately after- ward established the present business in Gardner. With a factory at No. 450 Chestnut Street, he has developed a large and important interest in the six years which have intervene between that time and the present. He has built up the business and quadrupled its capacity. It is to-day one of the important industrial concerns of Gard- ner, taking rank with others of longer activity. Polit- ically Mr. Coffin is an independent, endorsing many principles of the Republican party, but while he is polit- ically interested in all public advance, he has never thus far accepted public honors or responsibilities. Fra- ternally he is identified with Gardner Lodge, No. 1426, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He also is a member of the Gardner Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Universalist church.
Mr. Coffin married (first), in 1890, Clara E. Smith, of Medway, Massachusetts, who died in 1920. He mar- ried (second), in 1921 Elsie Hockman, a native of Fin- land, who came to the United States in 1912, and they reside in Gardner.
RAYMOND L. MIDDLEMAS-Numbered among the successful business men of Leominster, Massachu- setts, is Raymond L. Middlemas, treasurer of the Leo- minster Savings Bank who after a wide and varied ex- perience in other institutions came to Leominster to accept the position in the institution with which he is now connected.
Born in Millbury Massachusetts, June 18, 1889, Ray- mond L. Middlemas is a son of George Edgar Middle- mas, a native of Middletown, Nova Scotia, who during the greater part of his active life was engaged as a me- chanic, and of Alice A. (Williams) Middlemas, who was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and is now living (1923).
Raymond L. Middlemas received his early education in the public schools of Brooklyn, New York, and upon the completion of his high school course there, became a student in Worcester Business Institute, of Worcester, Massachusetts. When his business training was com- pleted he found his first employment as clerk in the em- ploy of the Harrington & Richardson Arms Company of Worcester, with whom he remained for a period of three years. At the end of that time he associated himself with the Mechanics' National Bank of Worcester, where for one year he rendered efficient service and at the same time gained valuable experience. He then made a change, severing his connection with the Mechanics' National Bank in order to accept a position with the Worcester Mechanics' Savings Bank, where he remained for a period of ten years, serving as chief clerk. At the end of that time, in 1921, he removed to Leominster, Massachusetts, where he accepted the official position
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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY
of treasurer of the Leominster Savings Bank. Since that time he has proved himself to be an able, efficient, and faithful executive, and a man of integrity and honor. He has won the confidence and esteem of his associates in the bank and of the people of Leominster, and in the short time he has been a resident of Leominster, has made many friends. He is secretary of the Massachu- setts Savings Bank Officers' Club; secretary of the Massachusetts Mutual Savings Bank (Group Ten) ; and is a member of the Leominster Club. He takes an active interest in the welfare of the city of Leominster, and is always ready to give his support to those projects which seem to him well planned for the public good. His religious connection is with the Pleasant Street Baptist Church of Worcester.
Raymond L. Middlemas married, on June 2, 1914, Susie Bowater, who was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Gill) Bowater. Mr. and Mrs. Middlemas are the parents of two children: Elizabeth, born August 21, 1916; and Raymond L., born September 15, 1922.
CHARLES FRANCIS WASHBURN, secretary and vice-president of the Washburn & Moen Manufac- turing Company, was born in Harrison, Maine, August 23, 1827, and died in Worcester, July 20, 1893, a son of Charles and Zibeah Cary (Blake) Washburn. He at- tended the public schools of Worcester and prepared for college at Leicester Academy, from which he was graduated. He was prevented by illness from entering college, as he had planned, but he pursued his studies and extended his knowledge by private reading, and after an extended trip abroad, began his business career in the Washburn rolling mills at Quinsigamond. From the first he showed special aptitude for the busi- ness, and in many ways possessed the qualities that characterized his uncle as well as his father. He mas- tered thoroughly the details of the manufacturing end of the business, working successively in all the different departments, acquiring mechanical skill as well as a knowledge of the counting room. In 1857 he was ad- mitted to partnership under the firm name of Charles Washburn & Son. As new methods came into use and new steel products came into demand, the business ex- panded rapidly. The company kept pace with the ex- tension of uses for steel and iron.
After the consolidation of the plants under the name of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Com- pany, he continued active in the business as secretary and director, later vice-president. The greatest period of growth followed. Wire for every purpose was man- ufactured as the demand was created in invention. Be- tween 1860 and 1870 great quantities of wire were used for hoopskirts. Then came the use of wire for fences, and later, for telephone and telegraph lines, so new departments were added accordingly. Mr. Wash- burn devoted himself with the utmost energy to the management and development of the wire business, and to him belongs much of the credit for its growth and for placing the concern among the foremost wire mills of the country.
In politics Mr. Washburn was of the Free Soil party, one of the founders of the Republican party. Though his interest in municipal affairs and in politics was keen,
the demands of business upon his time and energy were so great that he had to decline to enter public service. The only office he held was in the Common Council. He was a communicant of All Saints' Protestant Epis- copal Church; active in various charities; vice-presi- dent of the Memorial Hospital; and president of the Home for Aged Women. He was always a student, and spent all his leisure hours in his library. In his death the city lost a strong, able, upright, conscientious and unselfish citizen.
Mr. Washburn married, October 10, 1855, Mary Eliz- abeth Whiton, eldest daughter of James M. Whiton, of Boston, Massachusetts, and Plymouth, New Hampshire. They had seven sons and one daughter: Charles Gren- fill; James M., who died in infancy ; Philip, born August 2, 1861, died October 6, 1898; Miriam, born July 12, 1864; Robert Morris; Henry B., born December 2, 1869; Reginald; and Arthur, born May 27, 1877.
WARREN HASKINS GOODALE, a successful business man of Leominster, Massachusetts, organizer and owner of the Goodale Comb Company, has since 1904 been engaged in the manufacture of celluloid hair- pins and combs. His factory is at the rear of No. 93 Water Street, and consists of four floors, which pro- vide space for the seventy employees required to pro- duce the large output which is sent from the plant to all parts of the country.
Mr. Goodale was born in Sterling, Massachusetts, September 3, 1877, son of Roland W. Goodale, a native of Temple, New Hampshire, who was engaged in farm- ing until the time of his death in 1915, and of Lucy E. (Haskins) Goodale, who was born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, and died in 1893. He received his early education in the schools of Sterling, Massachusetts, and of Leominster, Massachusetts, and then completed his preparation for active life by taking a commercial course in the Fitchburg Business College. He had begun work at the age of fourteen, and after completing his com- mercial course he found employment as factory hand in a comb factory, where he remained until 1900, gaining the experience which he needed for the successful manage- ment of a business of his own. Then, with partners, he organized the Columbia Comb Company, and the same year their factory burned to the ground. He then en- gaged in the horn manufacturing industry for himself, specializing in horn hairpins and a line of horn combs, changing in 1908 to celluloid. The enterprise has been suc- cessful from the beginning, and at the present time (1923) the Goodale Comb Company is ranked among the foremost manufacturers of high-grade hairpins in the country. Mr. Goodale is well known as an enter- prising business man of sound principles and excellent judgment, and he is often called upon to express his opinion concerning mooted questions in business affairs. In addition to his responsibilities as owner and man- ager of the Goodale Comb Company, he is president of the G. W. Lathe Shoe Company, with stores in Clinton, Leominster, Fitchburg, Greenfield, and Northampton, and is a member of the board of directors of Leominster National Bank.
Fraternally Mr. Goodale is a member of Leominster Lodge, No. 1237, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; of Leominster Lodge, No. 86, Independent Order
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BIOGRAPHICAL
of Odd Fellows; and of Wachusett Tribe, No. 41, Im- proved Order of Red Men. He is well known in club circles, being a member of the Monoosnock Country Club, the Leominster Country Club, and the Bass Point Club. He is also a member and a director of the Leominster Chamber of Commerce; his religious affiliation is with the Episcopal church of Leominster.
Warren H. Goodale married, on April 25, 1900, Lotta E. Whipple, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, daughter of Weston W. and Mary Ann (Watson) Whipple. Mr. and Mrs. Goodale are the parents of two children : Elaine W., now a student in Vassar Col- lege; and George W., a junior in Leominster High School.
HERBERT WILLIAM ELLAM, M. D .- Holding a foremost position in the medical profession of Wor- cester County, Massachusetts, and counted among the largely successful practitioners in the realm of surgery, Dr. Ellam, of Gardner, is a noteworthy figure in pro- fessional activities in this section. He is a son of John W. Ellam, who was born in Yorkshire, England, and came to the United States in infancy, the family locating in Clinton, Massachusetts, where he was reared and edu- cated. For many years he was active in the newspaper business as proprietor and editor, first in Clinton, and later in Southbridge, Massachusetts. He is still living, although retired from active business interests, and making his home with his son, Dr. Ellam. He married Anna M. O'Brien, who was born in Harvard, Massa- chusetts, and died in Gardner, in 1915.
Dr. Ellam was born in Clinton, Massachusetts, Sep- tember 3, 1879. Attending first the Southbridge public schools, he was graduated from high school in the same community in 1897, and later, in 1900, he entered Har- vard University Medical School, from which he re- ceived his degree of Doctor of Medicine as a member of the class of 1904. Meanwhile, during the summers of 1903-04, he acted as interne in the Boston Floating Hos- pital. From 1904-06, he filled a similar position in the Worcester City Hospital, then, on June 13, 1906, he took up the practice of his chosen profession, opening an office in Gardner. Dr. Ellam has been heard to remark with a smile that his telephone number is thirteen and that one of his diplomas was dated on the twenty-third of the month, but it was clear that no superstition at- taching to these numbers has influenced him in his progress, for he has become one of the most successful practitioners in his field in Worcester County. Highly esteemed both in the profession and among the people, he has won his way to an enviable position both in med- icine and in surgery, and he has gained great breadth of experience through his military service in the World War. Dr. Ellam enlisted in November, 1917, as a mem- ber of the United States Medical Corps, was commis- sioned first lieutenant, and was sent to Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, where he remained until about the middle of June, 1918. He was then sent to the Army Medical School at Washington, District of Columbia, but two weeks later was transferred to the Harvard Medical School for special orthopedic training. Remaining at Harvard during July and August, he was sent on the first of December to the Post Hospital at Fort Meyer, Virginia, where he remained for about five months, then,
in the latter part of January, 1919, he was transferred to the Base Hospital at Camp Meade, Maryland. There he remained until his discharge on July 26, 1919, when he returned to Gardner to resume his professional career. Dr. Ellam is a member of the Gardner Chamber of Com- merce, of the American Medical Association, the Massachusetts State Medical Society, the Massachusetts Medico-Legal Society, the Worcester North District Medical Society, and the Gardner Medical Society, and is assistant medical examiner of the Second Worcester District. He has been a member of the surgical staff of the Heywood Memorial Hospital of Gardner since its founding; and also has had charge of the children's department of same for a some years. He is well known fraternally, being a member of Hope Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Gardner Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- sons ; Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 46, Knights Templar ; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston; and is also a member of Gardner Lodge, No. 1426, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His clubs are: The Harvard, of Bos- ton; the Worcester Country, the Oak Hill Country, and the Gardner Boat Club. He is still single.
CHARLES ERNEST GREEN-When a child of ten years, Charles E. Green came to the city of Leo- minster, Massachusetts, and there has established a busi- ness which is recognized as the leading pharmacy in that city. He is also widely associated with fraternal and social organizations of the community. He is the grandson of Andrew J. Green, born in Melrose, Massa- chusetts, where he was engaged in the shoe industry, and served his country during the Civil War. He married Sarah Peterson, of Nova Scotia, and to them was born a son, Charles A. Green, at Reading, Massachusetts, August 2, 1862, who is now treasurer and manager of the Whitney-Reed Corporation. He married Emma Woolridge, of England, and they are the parents of Charles Ernest Green, of this review.
Charles Ernest Green, son of Charles A. and Emma (Woolridge) Green, was born at Wakefield, Massa- chusetts, March 16, 1887, and after completing the pub- lic school course in Leominster, began an apprentice- ship at the drug business with C. F. Nixon, which con- tinued for four years. Passing the State board examina- tions for registered pharmacists, he was associated with F. P. Porter in the drug business for nearly three years, leaving to accept a position with Liggett & Company, in Brockton, Massachusetts, where he remained only a short time. Following that, he was manager of a drug store in Fitchburg, and in 1915 returned to Leominster to en- gage in the drug business independently, purchasing for this purpose the business then operated by Frank I. Pearson. This store has been under Mr. Green's man- agement ever since, and is known as the Green Drug Store.
Fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He also is a member of the Sons of Veterans, Leominster Club, Monoosnock Country Club, and the Chamber of Commerce; also of the Wholesale Drug Company of Boston, Massachusetts, of which he is a stockholder; and of the Massachusetts State Pharma- ceutical Association. Mr. Green enlisted in the United
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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY
States Army in March, 1918, and was stationed for four- teen months at Base Hospital, Camp Devens, Massachu- setts, with the rank of private of the first class, and was master of the medical and surgical wards there. Mr. Green is a member of the Unitarian church. He is fond of golf, touring and fishing, these being his favorite rec- reations in his hours "off duty." In politics he is a Re- publican.
Mr. Green married, June 20, 1923, Madge Anna Emory, daughter of Francis F. and Helen (Ackerman) Emory, of Fitchburg. Mrs. Green was educated in the Fitchburg grammar and high schools, and Sargent's School for Girls at Boston, then for two years was a student in nursing at Newton Hospital, Newton, Massa- chusetts, receiving a diploma as a registered nurse. When the United States declared a state of war with Germany, Miss Emory volunteered her services, was sent overseas, and for nine months was in France, where she saw war in all its horrors while doing her work of mercy and love. Upon returning to the United States, she pur- sued a special course of training in public health, then for three years was in charge of the Industrial Health and Welfare Work among the factory workers of Ware Shoals, South Carolina. After resigning that position she toured Europe and visited the battlefields of the great World War. She returned to the United States in the spring of 1923, and was married to Charles E. Green on June 20, following.
CHARLES BRADLEY SMITH-Among the largely successful industrial executives of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Charles B. Smith holds a leading posi- tion in the progressive city of Fitchburg, as sole owner and active manager of the Star Worsted Company of that place. A leader in various branches of public ad- vance, influential in all endeavors for the industrial or civic welfare, Mr. Smith is a prominent figure in every civic and social interest. He is a son of Charles Watson and Abigail W. (Crocker) Smith, his father for many years identified with the boot and shoe industry, and in the year 1864 a member of the Home Guard in the city of Worcester.
Charles Bradley Smith was born at Paxton, Massa- chusetts, March 9, 1857. The family removing to Worcester in his childhood, he attended the public schools of that city and was graduated from the Worcester High School in the class of 1874. His early business experience was in the woolen textile industry at the Beoli mill of Rockwell & Phillips, of West Fitchburg, Massachusetts, now owned by the American Woolen Company. Having become identified with the textile industry, in the year 1882 he entered the organization of the Fitchburg Worsted Company, of Fitchburg, and was active with this concern for twelve years in the ca- pacity of a designer of fancy worsted fabrics. This mill is also now owned by the American Woolen Company. In the year 1894, in association with the late Mr. C. T. Crocker, Mr. Smith purchased the Star Worsted Com- pany in Fitchburg, and for eighteen years these able and progressive men carried the business forward, developing it largely and placing it among the really important in- dustries of Fitchburg. In 1912 Mr. Smith became sole owner of this interest, which he still holds. As an in- dependent plant this enterprise is taking a very prom-
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