History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 97

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 97

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).

and shipping goods in the shoe manufactory which Mr. Harrub operated.

Though the original engagement with Mr. Harrub was but for a few months, Mr. Sherman's interest in the business was so great and his services so valuable, that his employer induced him to remain with him for the period above mentioned, at the expiration of which time Mr. Sherman, having determined to make the dry goods trade his business, went to Boston to endeavor to secure a position where, with much better opportunities to learn the whole business, he might fit himself to enter upon it on his own account, if he so desired.

Upon his arrival in Boston he called on Mr. Wil- liam F. Brett, who introduced him to his recent part- ner, Mr. Samuel Ellis, of Samuel Ellis & Co., 131 and 133 Federal Street, and Mr. Sherman at once entered the employ of this firm. Here he formed the acquaint- ance of Mr. Luther J. Brown, who later came to Fitch- burg, but who was then in the employ of Samuel Ellis & Co.

About this time the firm began to close out the stocks of several out-of-town stores owned by them, and also to dispose of superfluous stock. Mr. Sher- man was soon sent to Medford with a stock. Here he remained six months, applying himself early and late, sleeping in the store most of the nights.

From Medford he went to Duxbury, where he stayed about the same length of time, meeting with good success in both places, selling a large amount of goods and making money, while one of his employ- ers, Mr. Moore, with an assistant, sold a less amount and lost money at a store in South Abington.

Mr. Sherman then took charge of the East Abing- ton store for the next two years, as general salesman in dry goods, carpets, clothing, millinery, furniture, crockery, etc.

At the expiration of this time, the firm being finan- cially embarrassed, Mr. Sherman went to Dover, N. H., with a large stock of dry goods. Here he stayed six months, sending to the firm one-third more money per week than had been calculated upon.

In Dover Mr. Sherman, by close attention to busi- ness and unostentatious manners, gained the respect and formed the acquaintance of nearly all in the front ranks of business and society in the place. As an expression of regard at the time he left Dover, he was tendered a reception and presented with a hand- some gold seal-ring, upon which was inscribed the names of some of the prominent young men of the place; and since then this pleasant friendship has been kept up by both parties.

Mr. Sherman then engaged as general salesman at the East Abington store for about a year, and in February, 1855, came to Fitchburg to dispose of a stock of dry goods. Here, although located in the "Old City," a half-mile from the other three dry-goods stores in town, he was fairly successful, and enjoyed a liberal share of the trade from all parts of the town.

328

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

At the end of six months, believing that Fitchburg would in time be a prosperous city, Mr. Sherman purchased the stock of goods of his employers, and, with what money he had saved during his clerkship, commenced on his own account.

One of his salesmen was Mr. L. J. Brown, with whom he soon formed a partnership, which lasted about three years. In the meantime Mr. Brown married, and it was thought best to dissolve the part- nership ; and for the past thirty years Mr. Sherman has carried on his prosperous business alone.

He paid close attention to his business, and the opportunities made possible by the condition of the markets during the Civil War made it quite profitable, -buying largely when goods were offered at less than it was then possible to make them, storing them and selling on a high market. As profits accumulated, he invested them in securities, which, in most cases, appreciated as well as paid interest.

At several different times, as more room was needed, the store was enlarged, until 1870, when he moved into his present commodious store, in the then new Rollstone Bank building. At that time he added a stock of carpets, to which he gave much study and attention.

In November, 1867, he established a dry-goods store in Winchendon, which was profitably operated until November, 1885, when it was sold to W. A. Sanford & Son, of Brockton, being then located in the I. M. Murdock block.

Mr. Sherman has, at times, invested the earnings of his business in shipping, having been part owner in eight different three-masted schooners engaged in the coasting trade, one of them bearing his name.

He has always manifested kind feelings towards his competitors and neighboring merchants, and has at various times, aided them without extra remunera- tion.

In 1878 Mr. Sherman married Miss Clara Belle, daughter of Mr. Jonathan Moody, of Claremont, N. H., and has three fine boys.

He has, for many years, been a trustee of the Wor- cester North Savings Institution, and a director of the Wachusett National Bank since its incorporation, and one of its largest stockholders.

Mr. Sherman served one year in the Common Council, and two years in the Board of Aldermen. He has, during his long residence in Fitchburg, gained the respect and esteem of the community, which he well deserves.

H. A. BLOOD.

Hiram Albro Blood was born in Townsend, Mass., February 3, 1833, and was the son of Ezra and Lydia Ann (Jefts) Blood; received an academical educa- tion in the town of his birth, and lived there until the age of eighteen, at which age he went to Worcester in search of employment.

At the age of twenty he entered the commission- house of Bliss, Sutton & Co., in Worcester, Mass., as a clerk, and became a member of the firm in 1854, at which time he opened a branch house in Fitchburg, and went there to live and has resided there ever since.

In 1857 he dissolved his connection with Bliss, Sut- ton & Co., and entered into a copartnership with William O. Brown, of Fitchburg, under the name of Blood & Brown, which existed until 1860, when Mr. Brown withdrew to enter the United States army, becoming a major of the Twenty-fifth Regi- ment, and a new firm was formed under the name of H. A. Blood & Co., which continued to carry on the business.

In 1865 Mr. Blood withdrew from all mercantile pursuits and became entirely interested in railroads, to the construction and operation of which he has ever since given his time and attention.

In 1865 he became connected with the Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad as a director and as its super- intendent and general manager.

He afterwards built, or was largely instrumental in building, the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg, the Framingham and Lowell, the Mansfield and Fram- ingham, and the Fall River Railroads, of which he successively became superintendent and general man- ager, and afterwards united and consolidated them, to- gether with the New Bedford and Taunton, and the Taunton Branch Railroads, into one system, under the name of the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad Company, reaching from Fitchburg and Lowell in the north, to Mansfield, Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River in the southern part of the State.

This system of railroads was for a time operated by Mr. Blood as general manager, and was afterwards united aud consolidated with the Old Colony Railroad Company, of which it now forms an important part.

In the construction of these railroads, and in their subsequent operation and consolidation, Mr. Blood was the moving and directing spirit.

In 1875 he procured the charter for the Wachusett National Bank, of Fitchburg, obtaining all the sub- scriptions to its capital stock, established the bauk and became its first vice-president.

He was the third mayor of Fitchburg, and was first elected by the Board of Aldermen and Commou Coun- cil November 2, 1875, to fill out the unexpired term of Eugene T. Miles, and, at the subsequent annual election in December, he was elected by the people, and was inaugurated January, 1876, and filled the office of mayor for one year and two months.

He is now chiefly interested in railroads in the State of Ohio, being the president of the Cleveland and Canton Railroad Company in that State, which position he has held since May, 1884, but he still re- tains his residence in Fitchburg, where he has an office as well as an office in Boston, Mass.

Henry & Goodrich

329

FITCHBURG.

It can truly be said of Mr. Blood, that he is one of Worcester County's representative men.

HENRY A. GOODRICH.

The name of Goodridge, or, as it is now commonly spelled, Goodrich, has been very closely identified with the history of Fitchburg ever since the incor. poration of the town.

David Goodridge, one of the original settlers of the town, was deacon of the First Church in Fitchburg and a member of the First Provincial Congress. Like most of his fellow-townsmen, he was possessed of but limited means, but his sterling worth and integrity and his belief in the dignity and efficacy of honest toil made him an influential citizen and caused him to be often called to fill positions of trust and honor in the little colonial town of Fitchburg. Succeeding generations have kept the family name in the same good repute, and two of Deacon Goodridge's great- grandsons-Alonzo P. and John Goodrich-have spent their long and honorable lives of usefulness in our midst. The former is still with us in the enjoyment of a hale and hearty old age, but John Goodrich, the father of the subject of this sketch, died in this city in April, 1888, at the age of nearly eighty years.

Henry A. Goodrich, the eldest son of John and Mary A. (Blake) Goodrich, was born in Fitchburg, November 22, 1830. His early education was ob- tained in the district schools of the town, and later he attended the Fitchburg Academy and the Fitch- burg High School.

He was one of the eight boys who attended during the first term of the High School, and the only one of the eight who remained permanently in Fitchburg. In 1849 he took a position as overseer in a woolen- mill, and in the course of the next four years saved money enough to start in business for himself.

In January, 1855, he entered upon his successful mercantile life by buying ont a hat and furnishing store under the Fitchburg Hotel. Here he remained until 1869, when he removed to his branch store, es- tablished some years previously, in Belding & Dickinson's Block. He had also, in the mean time,

started another branch store in Brattleboro', Vt. In Jannary, 1885, he moved into his present elegant and commodious quarters in E. M. Dickinson's new brick block, where, as senior partner, we now find him at the head of one of the finest and best regulated clothing and furnishing establishments in New Eng- Jand.

Mr. Goodrich married, in December, 1856, Miss Harriet Stebbins, daughter of John Stebbins, Esq., of Vernon, Vt. He has one son, William Henry, and one daughter, Mrs. W. L. Humes.

In addition to his mercantile pursuits, Mr. Good- rich has been largely interested in real estate opera- tions in Fitchburg. He was, at one time, half owner of the "L. J. Brown Block," and sold his interest to

Mr. Brown. In 1868 he bought the American House property, and later erected two large blocks on Day Street, one of which bears the name of "Goodrich Block." He sold the American House in 1874, and became a stockholder and director in the Haskins Machine Company, which proved to be a disastrons venture.

Like many other active and ambitious men, he has encountered reverses, but, by energy, perseverance and industry, has quickly overcome them, and started anew with a fresh determination to win success.

During the War of the Rebellion Mr. Goodrich was the treasurer of the Fitchburg " Bounty Fund," and collected and disbursed over $20,000, the greater por- tion of which was afterward refunded by the town. After the terrible battles of the Wilderness in 1864 he was sent by the town, with Dr. Alfred Hitchcock and E. B. Hayward, to look after the sick and wonnded Fitchburg soldiers in the hospitals at Fred- ericksburg and Washington. A reference to the files of the Fitchburg Sentinel about that time will show how thoroughly and conscientiously he performed his full share of the sad duty.

Mr. Goodrich has also been for many years a fre- quent contributor to the press on current topics. During the great "Silver Discussion," in 1878, he wrote a series of communications, which appeared in the Fitchburg Sentinel over the signature of " Inquirer," favoring the passage of the Bland Silver Bill. These communications were written in a clear and forcible style, and showed a thoroughly business-like familiar- ity with, as well as careful study of, the subject in hand. A correspondent of the Boston Herald said of these articles at the time,-"Our bankers and busi- ness men are considerably exercised at the appearance of a series of letters in the Sentinel, the past week or two, favoring the passage of the Bland Silver Bill. The Sentinel opposes the sentiments of these commu- nications editorially, but it is beginning to be evident that the unknown writer is more than a match for the newspaper men, at least in vigorous style, mastery of the arts of logic and power of special pleading."

In politics Mr. Goodrich has never been, in any sense, an extreme partisan. In early life he was a stanch believer in, and advocate of, anti-slavery prin- ciples. He served on the first " Free-Soil Town Com- mittee " with Moses Wood, Charles Mason and Henry A. Willis. His first vote was for John P. Hale for President. He has been a Republican since the party was organized ; but, being naturally independent, has not always fully acquiesced in every political measure advocated or adopted by that party. As a rule he has supported Republican candidates.

In 1869 and 1870 Mr. Goodrich represented his native town in the Legislature, being elected thereto as the Republican candidate, and served two years on the Hoosac Tunnel committee during the most im- portant epoch in the history of the great tunnel enter- prise.

330

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

At the organization of the city government he served on the Board of Assessors, and for several years was one of the trustees of the Public Library. In 1885 he was the Citizens' candidate for mayor, though practically a temperance man, but shared the fate of the entire Citizens' ticket, which was that year swept away by a tidal wave of radical prohibition.

He was active in organizing the Fitchburg Board of Trade, and was one of its first vice-presidents. He has been one of the managers of the Massachusetts Mutual Aid Society from its organization, and in 1887 was elected its president. In 1887 he was also presi- dent of the Merchants' Association and of the Ameri- can Pruning Company.

He is one of the trustees of the Worcester North Savings Institution, and a director of the Fitchburg Park Association.

Mr. Goodrich has always led a busy, active life, and has ever been ready to aid in the forwarding of all projects tending to increase and strengthen the pros- perity of his native town; and his high mercantile and social standing is the result of integrity, energy and perseverance.

CHAPTER LII.

BARRE.

BY MATTHEW WALKER,

BARRE is situated in the westerly part of Worcester County, about twenty-one miles northwesterly of Worcester, and is fifty-six miles from Boston by an old turnpike road, or by the Central Massachusetts Railroad sixty-one miles. It is in forty-two degrees and twenty-six minutes north latitude, and the eleva- tion of its Common in the centre of the town is nine hundred and ten feet above the mean level of the sea. The towship is nearly diamond shaped, its sides being very regular, two of them being about six and one- half miles long each, the other two about six and one-fourth miles each, containing an area of about forty-one square miles. This very regular plot seems to have been educed from the similar shape of the original grant of land of which it forms a part.

The early records inform us that the proprietors of Rutland voted, in 1715, to survey and set off into lots the contents of six miles square, to be granted to settlers in order to secure the performance of the conditions in the original confirmation of the title.

The surface is hilly, its soil a subsoil of clay with a loamy overlaying, thus forming a compact stratum of the nature of hardpan; it is very fertile, mak- ing it desirable, productive and valuable. In popu- lation, according to the census of 1885, it ranks thirty-second in the county, while in the relative proportion of its farm products it is third in rank, Worcester and Fitchburg surpassing it. It is es-

seutially an agricultural town, the formation of the soil being such as admirably fits it for tillage, mow- ing and pasturage, the bay crop amounting in value to about seventy-five thousand dollars per annum, and its dairy products to an equal sum, or, for the year 1885, to seventy-five thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven dollars. The valuation of the town, as returned by the assessors for 1888, is one million three hundred and eighty-five thousand and seventy- five dollars.

Its undulating surface affords picturesque views, and the highways, hard and well cared for, furuish fine drives, showing the well-preserved farm-houses and other buildings, as well as the beautiful struc- tures of the centre village and the more thickly- settled portions of the town, buildings kept neatly painted, and, with a background of living green, presentiug an attractive appearance.

The town is well wooded and watered, the princi- pal streams being the Ware River, which runs through the east and southerly portions, furnishing a water- power of considerable capacity ; the Cannestow and Burnshirt Rivers in the east part, the latter having several mill powers ; Pleasant Brook, a romantic and beautiful stream, partially concealed by forests, then leaping forth and glittering in the sunlight, and with its rugged bed and stony or mossy banks, attracting the gaze of the saunterer and inviting him to follow its windings; Prince River, which has its source in the north part, small streams flowing into and form- ing an artificial reservoir, covering about sixty acres, running almost directly south, having a number of water-powers which are used for various purposes; Dick's Brook, near the centre, flowing southerly and easterly, presenting a wild and romantic view as it turns with its swift current and considerable fall, leaping onward to Prince River ; Hill Brook, Silver Brook and other small streams, from their rugged and picturesque surroundings, serving to attract the attention of the mere stroller or the disciple of the piscatorial art ; Moose Brook, in the westerly part, rising to the north and flowing southerly through a number of fertile and highly cultivated farms, pre- senting to the lover of nature opportunities for a stroll upon its banks that will repay him for his time and exertiou. All these streams find their way into the Ware River.

In 1853, to increase the water-power of Prince River, a reservoir was constructed in the north part of the town; in 1868 the dam gave way, the most commonly accepted opinion being that it resulted from the effects of lightning, the heavy body of water sweeping away in its course most of the manufac- tories on the banks of the stream, only a part of which have been rebuilt. A loss of about two hun- dred thousand dollars was entailed upon the town in the destruction of roads and bridges and upou individuals by the carrying away of their property.

The geology of the town is not different from that

331

BARRE.

of the surrounding country, the rocks belonging to the Eozoic system. Bowlders abound here and there, and gneiss, granite and granitic gueiss form a large part of our natural scenery. In the north and westerly portions of the town runs a vein of stratified rock, which is utilized in foundations for buildings and for constructing walks. In the eastern and southern portions the division of the hills, forming a course for the Ware River, presents an interesting view to the trained or untrained eye. The wild and romantic scenery of the east part is worth more than a passing visit, and the water, dashing along its channel many feet below the roadway, with the sur- rounding wooded tracts and the green herbage, leads the thinking mind to a contemplation of grand and noble subjects.

While our geological formation is leading us to an analysis of its construction, we may find, in sep- arate forms, some of the minerals that constitute our granite. We have mica, feldspar, iron pyrites, beryl and garnets, and of the latter some beautiful speci- mens have been obtained. Fine specimens of rutile were formerly obtained in the north and west parts, but of late years the diligent searches of the ama- teur mineralogist have gone unrewarded, so far as this interesting mineral is concerned.

In the northerly part of the town is an extensive deposit of plastic clay, of a rich variety, tending some- what to marl. Bricks were made of this quite exten- sively some sixty and more years ago, but as no sand of the proper quality with which to temper the clay could be obtained, except by trucking it a distance of several miles, the cost of manufacture was so great that, in the competition of trade in other towns, the business here became unprofitable, and was aban- doned. In the south part of the town a bed of clay was worked to great advantage fifty to sixty years ago, the sand required for its manufacture into bricks being found a short distance easterly ; but this bed ceased to yield a proper amount of clay, and was finally abandoned as " worked out." A short distance from this old bed it is shrewdly surmised that another de- posit exists, and, at a favoring time, trials will be made of the quality of the material.

Under the head of topography we must refer to the forests of the town. The somewhat broken surface of the land, the natural quality of the soil, including its rocks, and the general inclination and the number of its water-courses, lead us to adopt the theory that this was not, in its primitive days, an unbroken wilder- ness; that the land in a large proportiou of the pres- ent township was well wooded is indisputable, and the early settler here found his way hither, and by mark- ing trees could retrace his path with much less diffi- culty. In subsequent years the forests became one of the sources of a livelihood in the way of clearing the timber, not only for obtaining improved land, but for the manufacture of pot and pearl-ashes, and these were made in considerable quantities, the towns to the south

of us furnishing excellent markets for these pro- ducts.

The elevation of the town from its southern to its northern extremity is quite marked, the difference in height between the Plains and the " Common " at the centre being, as furnished from the minutes of rail- road surveyors, about three hundred feet, or an aver- age of about one hundred feet to the mile, and from the " Common " to the northerly limits of the town, the ascent, though less marked, is about two hundred feet additional, thus making a difference in our eleva- tion between the extreme northern and southern boundaries of about five hundred feet. While there is so great a difference in the elevation from north to south, the difference from the extreme eastern to the western corner is but slight; hills abound from east to west, but the elevation finally assumed is nearly the same. In the north part of the town is Hawes' Hill, which, next to Mt. Wachusett, is the highest point of land in the State east of the Connecticut River.

With the town of to-day so well laid out, with its good and numerous highways, its well-constructed and beautiful houses, its fertile fields and farms, and with a people, social, thrifty and hospitable, engaged in farming and business ventures of various kinds, the contrast now with the wooded and unsettled ter- ritory of two hundred years ago exhibits wonderful changes. The first time any white man traversed this section was in 1635, when an expedition was sent westerly from the Plymouth colony and penetrated as far as the Connecticut River. It is very probable that the report of this expedition referred to the meadow lands and to the natural fertility of the soil, and, in after-years, as the settlers in the east increased in numbers, they continued to move farther westerly, and settled various townships in what is now Worces- ter County, the first settlement being at Lancaster, in 1743. Brookfield was settled in 1673-74, and, in 1681, the General Court appointed a committee, who pur- chased a portion of the southern part of the present Worcester County ; December 22, 1686, old style, or January 2, 1687, of the present style of reckoning dates, the territory which now embraces Rutland, Oakham, Barre, Hubbardston and portions of Paxton and Princeton, was purchased of five Indians " dwell- ing in His Majesty's territory in America," by Henry Willard, Joseph Rowlandson, Joseph Foster, Benja- min Willard and Cyprian Stevens, "in consideration of twenty three pounds in hand paid, and for them- selves and all of their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, freely, fully and absolutely give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoffe, make over and confirm unto the above-named Willard and others, a certain tract of land, meadows, swamps, timbers, intervales, containing twelve miles square," the bounds being carefully described in the deed, and these Indians covenanted that they were the lawful owners of all the lands, " or any other matter, be it mine or mines,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 97

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