History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 150

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 150

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Albert F. Petter, died at Newbern, Jan. 28, 1863.

George S. Prouty, killed at Piedmont, June 2, 1864.

George L. Sherman, killed at Spettsylvania, May 12, 1864. Lyman Tucker, died at Alexandria, Sept. 11, 1804.

Alvin M. Thompson, died at Andersonville, - - , 1864.

Louis D. Winslow, killed at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864.

It has been stated, in an earlier part of this narra- tive, that the Congregational Church was the only church in the precinct at the time of its incorpora- tion as a town. Not an inconsiderable number of its people were connected with a Baptist society in Brookfield; but to that organization outside of the limits of the town, no special reference will be made.

The foundation of the Methodist Episcopal Society seems to have been laid about the year 1829. From that time until 1833 Sabbath services were held, with some intermissions, in the Old Congregational Church. In the latter year, on the 30th of January, a new meeting-house was dedicated, and in 1834 North Brookfield was made a station under the charge of Rev. Henry Mayo. The society, for many years after 1846, held services in the town-hall and other available places until their present church was dedicated, May, 1861. The following list of preachers up to 1885 is given by Mr. Temple in his history :

James Shepard 1841-42

C. W. Ainsworth 1843 44

Frederick Stewart.

1845

Albert A. Couk

181G

George W. Weeks.

1847

E. F. Newell

1847

Samuel A. Fuller.

187]

W. A. Cheney

.1872-73

E. H. Leeseman

1873

Reuben W. Ilarlow. 1874

P. Wallingford. 1852-53

George E. Chapman,

1875-76

M. Leffingwell

1854

W. J. Pomfret,

1855-57

J. W. Coolidge

1858-59

J. S. Barrows

1882-83

Daniel Atkins

1860-61

E. R. Watson.

1843

N. F. Stevens,

.1862

Porter R. Strattan 1884-85

On the 29th of October, 1853, a second Congrega- tional Society was formed, called the "Union Con- gregational Society." The church was organized June 7, 1854, and on that day Rev. Levi F. Waldo was installed. After his dismissal, June 13, 1856, the society remained without a pastor until the in- stallation of Rev. William H. Beecher, June 3, 1857. Mr. Beecher remained until May 14, 1861. After a short supply of the pulpit by Rev. J. E. Tower, Rev. Luther Keene was installed in 1862, and continued in the pastorate until April 29, 1867. Rev. John Dodge supplied the pulpit about three years and a

E. S. Chase 1863

Edwin S. Snew

1864-65

George Hewes

1866-67

Gilbert R. Lent 1868-69

L. P. Cansey 1870

Johu Goodwin.

1848

George Bowler

1849-50

John Goodwin ... 1851

J. M. Avann.

1877-79

John W. Fulton

18-0-81

547

NORTH BROOKFIELD.

alf from December 2, 1867, and was followed in a upply by Rev. Charles E. Coolidge for about a year and a half. On Sept. 6, 1876, Rev. George W. Wil- on was ordained, and remained until June 1, 1878. Rev. John W. Hird was installed March 28, 1879. The meeting-house of this society was built in 1854. St. Joseph's Parish, the Catholic Society, began to hold services in June, 1851. Soon after that date Worth Brookfield became a mission church of that in Vebster, and later of that in Ware, during which pe- 'iod it was under the charge of the pastors in those owns. While under the charge of Rev. William Moran, of Ware, the present church was hegun in October, 1866, and completed in July, 1867, and laced under the charge of Rev. Edward Turpin. After the death of Father Turpin, at the close of a ingle year's service, Rev. Henry M. Smyth was laced in charge, whose pastorate also was terminated y death at the end of three years.

Rev. Michael Walsh followed, and remained thir- een years, until his death, when Rev. James P. Tuite vas transferred from Clinton to North Brookfield. The society has a parsonage, with fifteen acres of and, a church and a cemetery of four acres, and is ree from debt. Its membership numbers nearly wenty-three hundred.

The schools of North Brookfield have not been under the care of the old town of Brookfield since he incorporation of the Second Precinct, in 1750. n 1756 the town of Brookfield voted that the school- noney raised in each of the three precincts should eexpended within said precinct according to its pleas- ire. The Second Precinct, under this vote, assumed he right to levy and collect a tax within its own limits or the support of its own schools, and this right was always exercised during its life as a precinct. In .760 the Legislature confirmed the right, and the precinct huilt its school-houses, appointed teachers, und raised money for the support of schools.

In 1791 the precinct was divided into seven school listricts, and, until 1805, chose a School Committee to ake charge of all the schools in the precinct. Dur- ng the four years after that date each district chose ts own committee, but in 1809 the old practice was 'esumed. It is believed that the districts as formed n 1791 continued until the final abandonment of the chool district system, in 1869, except that in the nean time the central district had been divided into wo, thus making eight instead of seven. On the abandonment of the district system, the school-houses which had been built at the expense of the districts vere appraised at ten thousand dollars, and that sum vas raised by tax, and each taxpayer credited with is due share. According to the last report of the school committee there were, at the close of the last year, nineteen schools in the town, including the high school, which was opened August 19, 1857, under the care of O. W. Whitaker, a graduate of Middlebury College. The high school house, built in

1856-57, was burned May 14, 1878, and a new brick building was erected on the old site. For the year 1887-8 the sum of $8500 was appropriated for schools, in addition to the Dog Fund of $401.28 and the State Fund of $202.95.

The population of North Brookfield, in the early years of its municipal life, did not rapidly increase. In 1820 it was 1095 and in 1840 had only reached 1468. In 1875 it was 3749, in 1880 4459 and in 1885 4201. The advance in population was owing to the introduction and gradual enlargement of the manu- facture of boots and shoes in the town. Oliver Ward, of Grafton, first hegan the business in 1810, and in his shop many of those who, in later years, carried on a large business, served their apprenticeship. Mr. Ward's business rapidly increased, but in the panic of 1837 was so extended and incurred such serious losses that he abandoned and never resumed it.

In the mean time, the well-known firm of T. & E. Batcheller, both of whose members, Tyler and Ezra, had been brought up by Mr. Ward, started in busi- ness. The business of this firm was hegun in a small way hy Tyler Batcheller in 1819, who in 1825 took his brother Ezra into partnership and established the firm above mentioned. In 1830 Freeman Walker was admitted into the firm as a partner and the firm-name was changed to T. & E. Batcheller & Walker. Mr. Walker, however, retired in 1834 and the firm re- sumed its old name. In 1852 Charles Adams, Jr., Alfred H. Batcheller, Wm. C. King and Hervey I. Batcheller were admitted as partners, and the firm's name was changed to T. & E. Batcheller & Co. In 1848 Tyler Batcheller removed to Boston to take charge of the business, for the transaction of which, in connection with their manufacture, a store had been opened; and in 1860 Mr. Adams retired, followed soon after by Hervey J. Batcheller, and by Mr. King in 1865. Losses in Southern trade during the war caused a temporary suspension of the firm, from which, after the payment of all its liabilities, it soon recovered, and during which Ezra Batcheller died, October 8, 1862. The present firm-name is E. & A. H. Batcheller, and by the employment of not far from one thousand hands the annual product of the con- cern is not far from two millions of dollars.

The Batcheller family is descended from Joseph Batcheller, who came to New England from Canter- hury, England, in 1636, and settled in Wenham. By his wife, Elizabeth, he had Mark, John, Elizabeth and Hannah. John, the second child, married, in July, 1661, Mary Dennis; and second, in May, 1666, Sarah, daughter of Robert Goodale, of Salem. His children were Joseph, born in 1660; John, born in January, 1666-67; Mark, born in 1678; Elizabeth, Ebenezer, Hannah, Mary, Sarah and David. David, the last-mentioned child, married Susannah Whipple and had David, 1710; Susannah, 1712; Joseph, 1713; Nehemiah, 1716; Abraham, 1722; Amos, 1727; and Susannah again, 1731. Abraham, one of these chil-

548

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

dren, removed from Wenham, the old family home, to Westborough, and thence to Sutton, and married Sarah Newton. Her children were Abraham, 1752; Abner, 1755; Vashti, 1757; Joseph, 1759; Benjamin, 1762; Ezra, 1764; Sarah, 1766; and Amos, 1768. Ezra Batcheller, one of these children, moved from Sutton to Brookfield in 1802, and married, in 1789, Mary, daughter of Daniel Day ; and second, in 1814, Widow Ann Mayo. His children were Willard, born in 1789, and died in North Brookfield in 1853; Daniel, born in 1791; Tyler, born in Sutton, De- cember 20, 1793; Alden, born in 1796; Orra, born in 1799; and Ezra, born in 1801. Tyler Batcheller, one of the above sons, was the founder of the Batcheller business in North Brookfield. He married, April 6, 1819, Nancy Jenks, of North Brookfield ; and second, October 8, 1829, Abigail J. Lane, of North Brook- field. His children were Mary Day, born September 12, 1821, who married Abel Harwood, of North Brookfield; Martha Ann, born December 7, 1823, who married Aaron D. Weld, of North Brookfield ; Emeline, born December 22, 1826, who married Wm. C. King, of North Brookfield; and Hervey Jenks, who was born in 1828.

Ezra Batcheller, brother of Tyler and his partner, many years, born in Sutton July 21, 1801, married first, April 7, 1824, Relntia Parks, of North Brookfield, and second, March 25, 1851, Lutheria Cummings, of Ware. His children were Lucius Edwin, born July 6, 1825; Elizabeth Henry, born December 17, 1826; Alfred Hubbard, born July 23, 1830; George Ezra, born December 14, 1833; Mary Relutia, horn October 16, 1835, and married Josiah W. Hubbard, of Boston; George Ezra, again, born December 6, 1838; Sarah Cheever, born October 3, 1844, and Frank Arthur, born October 15, 1852.

Among the corporations and institutions in North Brookfield may be mentioned the North Brookfield Savings Bank, the North Brookfield Free Public Library and the North Brookfield Railroad Com- pany. The Savings Bank was incorporated March 3, 1854, and, according to its last report, its deposits were $519,427.02. Its officers at the same time were: S. S. Edmands, president ; Bonum Nye, treasurer; and Bonum Nye, clerk.

The Free Library may date its origin May 17, 1879, when, at a town-meeting, it was voted to accept various sums of money for its establishment. These sums created a fund to which the past and present scholars of the high school and citizens generally subscribed five hundred dollars; William H. Montague, one hundred dollars; Theodore C. Bates, five hundred dollars, and Alfred H. Batcheller one thousand dol- lars, with which trustees, appointed by the town, or- ganized the enterprise. The library, with a reading- room, was opened November 26, 1879. The town makes an appropriation annually for its maintenance, and its shelves now contain about four thousand volumes.

The railroad company was organized January 14, 1875, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollar .- ten thousand dollars of which was subscribed by in- dividuals, and ninety thousand dollars by the town. The road was opened January 1, 1876, and a lease for ten years, which has been renewed for an additional term of fifty years, was made to the Boston and Albany Railroad Company, that company supplying the roll- ing stock. During the time of the first lease of ten years the company received under its lease $24,443.74, or, in other words, a dividend on its stock of an aver- age of little less than two and a half per cent. per year.

In addition to Oliver Ward and the members of the Batcheller family, who have been prominent in the affairs of the town since its incorporation, may be mentioned: Hiram Ward, the firms of Johnson & Edson, and Dewing & Edmands, C. & D. Whiting, Whiting & Haskell, Whiting, Lowe & Co., Bond & Jenks, H. B. & J. N. Jenks, Woodis & Crawford, Jenks & Miller, Gulliver & Jenks, Gulliver, Duncan & Howe, Gulliver & Stone, P. K. Howe, Fullman, Liver- more & Montague, Olmstead & R. Walker and A. & E. D. Batcheller, all of whom have engaged at various times in the manufacture of shoes for long or short periods. Nor must mention be omitted of Theodore C. Bates, Amasa Walker, Freeman Walker and Charles Adams, jr., all of whom have been not only prominent and useful citizens, but well known and in- fluential in the walks of public life. Of Mr. Bates, who is still among the living, it is not proposed here to specially speak. It is sufficient to say that he is not only honored and esteemed among his neighbors and immediate friends, but has been deservedly the recipient of public honors whose measure, if his life and health be preserved, it is safe to predict, is not yet full.

Amasa Walker was born in Woodstock, Conn., May 4, 1799. He was descended from Augustine Walker, who was in Charlestown in 1641, and was the son of Walter and Priscilla (Carpenter) Walker, who removed while Amasa was yet an infant to the Second Precinct of Brookfield (now North Brookfield). He was educated in the common schools of North Brookfield, and in 1814, at the age of fifteen years, he entered a store in that town and afterwards one in South Brookfield, and finally the store of Moses Bond in North Brookfield. During most of the time from 1817 to 1820 he taught school, and in the latter year went into business in West Brookfield, continu- ing his interest until 1823. For a short time afterwards he was the agent of the Methuen Manufacturing Company, and in 1825 he removed to Boston, where he remained until 1840, a partner in the house of Carleton & Walker until 1829 and during the re- mainder of the time in business alone. In 1833 he delivered an oration before the Young Men's Society in Boston, in 1839 was president of the Boston Temperance Society, and in 1840 retired from busi- ness. In 1843 he returned to North Brookfield and in 1844 delivered a course of lectures at Oberlin

Aware Walker L

Tyler Balıkeller

549

NORTH BROOKFIELD.

College. In 1848 he was a member of the Free Soil National Convention at Buffalo and was the success- ful candidate of that party for the State Legislature. In 1849 he was chosen to the Senate and in 1851 Secretary of State. In 1853 he was a member of the convention for revising the Constitution of the Commoowealth and in 1854 was chosen president of the North Brookfield Savings Bank at the time of its organization. In 1859 he delivered a course of lec- tures on political economy in Amherst College and in 1862 was chosen a Representative to Congress. In

1867 he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Amherst and died at North Brookfield, October 29, 1875. He married, July 6, 1826, Emeline, daughter of Jonathan Carleton, of Boston, who was at that timehis partner in business. On the 23d of June, 1834, he married Hannah Ambrose, of Concord, N. H., whose three children survived him.

Francis A. Walker, of Boston, is one of these children and was born in Boston, July 2, 1840. He removed with his father to North Brookfield in 1843 and was educated in its public schools preparatory to his admission to Amherst College in 1856, from which institution he graduated in 1860. He studied law with Charles Devens and George F. Hoar, then in partnership in Worcester, and in 1861 was made sergeant-major of the Fifteenthi Massachusetts Regi- ment of Volunteers, under the command of Colonel Devens. On the 14th of September, 1861, he became assistant adjutant-general on the staff of General Darius N. Couch, and on the 23d of December, 1863, a colonel on the staff of the Second Army Corps. In 1865 he was breveted brigadier-general. He was wounded at Chancellorsville. captured at Ream's Sta- tion and confined in Libby Prison, and on his ex- change left the service on account of impaired health. After his discharge he taught two years in the Wil- liston Seminary, was then for a time connected with the editorial department of the Springfield Republican, and in 1870, after having had charge for a time of the Bureau of Statistics, was made Superintendent of the National Census of that year. He is now at the head of the Institute of Technology in Boston.

Freeman Walker was the brother of Amasa, and born in North Brookfield December 12, 1803. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, having, in addition, the advantages of one term in the Monson Academy. In the winter of 1822-23 he taught school in Western (now Warren), and in 1823 entered as clerk the store of Newell & Taintor. In the latter part of that year he went to Methuen to take charge of a store connected with the Methuen Manufacturing Company, of which his brother Amasa was agent. In 1826 he joined his brother in Boston, and hecame a clerk in his employ, in which position he continued until January 1, 1830, when he became a partner in the shoe manufacturing company of T. & E. Batcheller & Walker at North Brookfield. In 1834 he retired from this firm, and in 1835 began

manufacturing shoes on his own account, and so con- tinued until 1842. As moderator, selectman and overseer of the Poor he commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and as Representa- tive to the General Court in 1840 and 1841, and as Senator in 1852, 1853 and 1861 he had opportunities of a wider field of action, He married, June 3, 1830, Mary, daughter of Amos Bond, of North Brookfield, and died July 13, 1883.

Charles Adams, Jr., was descended from Henry Adams, who came from England and settled in Brain- tree. He was the son of Charles Adams, a physician in Antrim, N. H., and was born January 31, 1810. He received his education partly from the public schools and partly from private instruction under the care of Rev. John Bisbee, of Brookfield, and Rev. Josialı Clark, of Rutland. He went to North Brook- field in 1832, and entered the business office of T. & E. Batcheller, where he remained twenty years as book-keeper. In 1852 he became a partner in the firm and so continued until his retirement in 1860. Besides holding various town offices he was a Repre- sentative to the General Court in 1850-51-52 and 1862; a State Senator in 1865-68; a member of the Excu- tive Council in 1867-68-69-70, and treasurer and receiver-general of the Commonwealth from 1871 to 1875 inclusive. He received the degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College in 1878, and died at North Brookfield April 19, 1886.

With these sketches, this narrative, short as itis, must be closed. The writer is aware of its imperfections, but they are such as must be attributed to thie scan- tiness of material essential to its completion. As was stated by him in his sketch of Brookfield, he has been indebted in its preparation to Mr. Temple, the historian, who has so thoroughly gathered the har- vest that little has been left to those coming after him but the satisfaction of entering his granaries and filch- ing from his store.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

TYLER AND EZRA BATCHELLER.

The following account of this firm, and the men who were associated in its management, was prepared by Mr. Charles Adams, Jr., and was the last literary work of his life. It is printed, without alteration, from his manuscript.

Of all the men who have been citizens of this town since its incorporation, no one, probably, has done so much to promote its material growth and prosperity as Deacon Tyler Batcheller ; and a history of the town, without a brief sketch, at least, of his active and use- ful career, would lack an essential element. He may truly be called the founder of the now large and flourishing central village of North Brookfield. He

550

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was born, as will be seen in the genealogical record, December 20, 1793, in the town of Sutton, where he lived with his father till April, 1802, when the family removed to this town, which, however, was then the North Parish, or "Second Precinct in Brookfield ;" his father purchasing of Solomon & Edmund Matthews, by deed, August 19, 1801, and for many years occupying the farm ever since known as the " Batcheller place," now (1885) owned by J. Winslow Bryant. At an early age, probably in his fifteenth year, he went to Grafton and learned the trade of shoemaking of Mr. Nathan Johnson. At the close of his apprenticeship there he returned to North Brookfield, and was employed in the establishment of Mr. Oliver Ward, who, in 1810, had commenced in this town the manufacture of " sale shoes," the first and only manufactory of the kind in the State, west of Grafton. In the family of Mr. Ward he found a pleasant and congenial home for about eight years.

In 1819 he commenced business on his own account, at the " Wetherbee house," so called, which stood on the spot now occupied by the house of Mrs. Erastus Hill. Having married, the same year, he resided there with his family; the back part of the house serving as his manufactory. At first his entire busi- ness consisted only in what shoes he could make with his own hands; soon, however, taking into his service one or two apprentices, and his brother Ezra, who had already learned the trade of Mr. Ward. The first shoes he made were chiefly of a low-priced quality, especially adapted to the Southern trade. These he packed in empty flour-barrels and consigned to Mr. Enoch Train, who in those days ran a line of sailing packets between Boston and Havana. On these small consignments a large per cent. of profit was realized. In 1821 he purchased the "Skerry house" and farm in the centre of what is now the main village of the town, expecting to enter into pos- session the first of the following April; but in February, 1822, his dwelling and shop at the Wetherbee place were totally destroyed by fire, and he at once removed his family to his new purchase, the "Skerry house," where he resumed and continued his business in an out-building on the premises, until 1824. In that year, having previously taken into his service several additional employés, he built a small two-story shop, which is now a part of the immense structure known far and wide as the " big shop," into which Jannary 1, 1825, he removed his business, and at. the same date took into partnership his brother Ezra, continuing the same business, though somewhat enlarged, under the firm of T. & E. Batcheller. From this time forward to the end of his life the two brothers were associated as partners through all the changes in their business; and in giving a history of it, their names cannot be dissociated. Tyler, the senior, attended to the purchase of stock and to all other business abroad ; while Ezra was the efficient and popular superintendent, almost always at home,

and at his post, giving direction to all matters per- taining to the manufactory. Harmonious in all their business relations and interests, as well as in all measures devised for the public weal, the act of one was the act of both; and in most matters their names were usually coupled, and they were familiarly spoken of as "the Deacon and Ezra."

They now added to their business the manufacture of " Batcheller's Retail Brogan," an article adapted to the New England trade, and kept for sale in all the stores in this and many of the neighboring towns ; their main business, however, being the manufacture of goods for the Southern and Western States. The firm of T. & E. Batcheller continned, with a con- stanily increasing business, until January 1, 1830, when, by the admission of Freeman Walker, it was changed to "T. & E. Batcheller & Walker." The business having largely increased, the factory was now enlarged to three times its original size. In 1831 they introduced the manufacture of Russet Brogans, specially for the trade of the Southern States-the first that were made in Massachusetts. They soon became a leading article in the shoe trade and con- tinued to be so for many years. Mr. Walker retired from the firm in 1834, and the firm resumed its former style of "T. & E. Batcheller." At this time the business had increased from its small beginnings to what was then considered very large; but the manu- facture for an entire year then was probably no more than the product of a single week in the "big shop" at the present time. Nothing that could properly be called machinery had been introduced to prepare the stock for bottoming. none of which was done in the factory, but was put out and done by workmen in their small shops in this and most of the towns in the vicinity-in some instances the stock was carried to a distance of twenty to thirty miles.

The firm of T. & E. Batcheller continued until June 10, 1852, when Charles Adams, Jr., Alfred H. Batcheller, William C. King and Hervey J. Batcheller were admitted to the firm, and its style changed to T. & E. Batcheller & Co .; meanwhile a store had been established in Boston for the transaction of their business, and Tyler Batcheller had found it necessary, for greater convenience, to remove his residence to Boston the latter part of 1848. . Mr. Adams retired from the firm January 1, 1860, the firm-name remain- ing the same, and Hervey J. Batcheller retired soon after. The business had then increased, from the day of small things, to nearly a million and a half of dollars annually. In April, 1861, the Southern Rebellion broke out, paralyzing for a while almost the whole business of the country. This firm suffered with the rest, and their business being very largely with the Southern States, their losses were propor- tionally large. A suspension was inevitable, and they were temporarily under the general financial clond. But an arrangement, highly honorable to them, was soon made, and in a few months they were enabled

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 150

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1576

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576