History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 16

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1464

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 16

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After his marriage, April 7, 1835, to Mary Fletcher Dresser (born September 19, 1813; died December 6, 1880), who became a worthy helpmeet in all his undertakings, they lived for a year on a leased farm on Allen Hill, near the old homestead, where their first son was born. Then, with assistance from his father, he purchased the farm in Grafton, Mass., now owned by George W. Fisher, and by hard work and rigid economy the soil was made to yield a profitable increase. In 1845 he bought a part interest, with his brother Waterman A., in the cotton-mill in what is now Fisherville. He took the superintendency, later bought the whole interest, and eventually associated with him his three sons as E. Fisher & Sons, which firm continued until his death. On January 27, 1881, the mills were burned, and a corporation was formed in the following spring, composed largely of his old business friends, and assumed in his honor the name

Everton Fisher

A D. Maria

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GRAFTON.

of Fisher Manufacturing Company. By direction of the company, as a testimonial of their high esteem, an excellent crayon portrait of Erastus Fisher has been placed in their office.

In 1861 he removed his residence to Worcester, while his business interests continued in the town of Grafton. He died at his home in Worcester, April State Legislature. 20, 1880, leaving behind him the example of a man who prospered in the good old-fashioned way, by his own productive industry and by honest methods.

In business life Erastus Fisher was characterized by invincible integrity, industry and perseverance. He was always a man of his word, abhorring deceit, and honorable in all his dealings and methods. Though quiet and unassuming, he was yet outspoken and resolute for the right. He was a good counselor, was possessed of a large fund of that uncommon thing called common sense, was wise in all his plans and energetic in their prosecution.

In his family-life he was a kind husband and a faith- ful and indulgent father. He endeavored to bring up his children in the way they should go, trained them to habits of industry and honesty and efficiency, and left them a priceless legacy in his counsels and example.

Politically he was a Whig, and cast his first vote for Henry Clay. Later he acted with the Republican party, and held strong anti-slavery sentiments. He cast his vote always and conscientiously at elections, was interested in the welfare of the town and ready to assist in public improvements. He had no desire for public office, but preferred to see others enjoying its honors and rewards.

He loved to spend his time apart from business hours in his home, yet consented to serve the town as selectman, and while a resident was a director of the Grafton Bank. He was also a member of the " Old City Guards " of Worcester.

He was interested in moral reforms, was an earnest and pronounced temperance advocate, and a total abstainer in practice.

He was a constant attendant on public worship and a professed Christian, he, with his wife, having joined the Evangelical Congregational Church in Grafton in 1842. He was benevolent toward his church, and interested in whatever tended to promote the kingdom of God. A handsome window, memorial to him and his wife, the gift of their sons, now adorns their church in Grafton and commemorates their virtues.

After his removal to Worcester he was a useful and valued member of the First Church (Old South) in that city, and served the parish as assessor and treas- urer. After his death highly eulogistic resolutions were inscribed upon the parish records, from which the following is an extract: "In the death of our highly esteemed brother the Old South Church and Parish have lost a wise counselor, liberal supporter, and an earnest and devoted friend,-one whose heart was as full of love as was his life of noble and generous deeds."

His children were Henry Dresser, born at Killingly, Conn., January 18, 1836, died in Worcester March 14, 1886 ; George William (born November 18, 1843), at present the agent of the Fisher Manufacturing Com- pany ; and Albert Laban (born March 10, 1846), also a resident of Fisherville, and lately a member of the

SAMUEL D. WARREN.

Grafton, a beautiful hill-town of the county, was the birth-place of one of the eminent business men of this country, born there September 17, 1817. His father, a typical New England farmer, had at one time been in business at the South. The early school- days of the subject of our sketch were passed in his native town. At the tender age of thirteen, his father being dead, he entered Amherst Academy, remaining there two years. Like many a country youth before him, young Warren was filled with the idea that Boston held for him fame and fortune, which in fact was true in his case.

To the tri-mountain city he wended his way, seek- ing the prize before him. Disappointment was the result, and he returned to his native town. But he was made of the material that would not suffer him to remain in that limited field of action. Mr. Otis Daniell, a relative, saw the young man had a fixed purpose to rise in the world, and offered to him a position in Boston at small pay. The young man saw in this a beginning-a stepping-stone to greater things. He accepted the place with Grant & Daniell, paper dealers. His wages being low, he was com- pelled to be very frugal in his expenditures. His employers soon saw in him the qualities that go to make the successful man of business. Slowly but surely he was mastering all the details. His success was such, they decided, a few years after, to admit him a member of the firm, which then became Grant, Daniell & Co. Previous to 1853 the concern was engaged only in selling paper. At that time only a small portion of the paper used here was made in this country. Five miles from Mr. Warren's birth- place the first paper-mill in Worcester County had been established, in 1776, by Abijah Burbank. As a boy at school, young Warren had used paper bearing the Burbank water-mark. No doubt he had seen the vats of blue pulp and noted the process of paper- making in Millbury, crude though it was.

Perhaps memories of this mill were in his mind when, in 1853, he determined upon manufacturing paper himself. He accordingly leased a small mill at Pepperell, Mass., as an experiment. But, it proving too small a field, he abandoned it and bought mills at Cumberland Falls, Me. The mills were old and much in need of repair, and a fortune for those days was expended on them before he was satisfied. The best machinery known was introduced and every appli- ance to facilitate the business. It was a rule with him that to successfully do a job, good tools must be

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

used. At that time, it is said, he was deeply engaged in the manufacturing part of his business, leaving the other arrangements mostly with his partners.

The business at Cumberland Falls was successful in all its details. An enterprising community sprang up about there, in consequence of good management. An idea of the magnitude of the business of this firm in paper-making can be gathered when it is known that the daily production of the firm's mills in 1888 was forty-five tons of paper, and the same number of tons of wood-pulp. A small mill was bought in 1874 at Yarmouth, Me., where a series of experiments were begun in making pulp of wood-fibre by a chem- ical process. With a tenacity characteristic of Mr. Warren, he held on to his purpose until his fondest dreams were realized. The business successfully started grew until twenty-five tons daily were made, all of which was put on the market.

Another pulp-mill was set up at Cumberland Falls in 1879, to make the pulp for their own paper-mills. Not having reached the height of his ambition as a business man, Mr. Warren decided to add to their other business the importation of rags. Several journeys to Europe were made by him before his plans were all perfected. In this, too, he was also successful, his firm at one time becoming the largest importers of rags in the country. About 1875 the firm decided to abandon this part of the business.

Mr. Daniell having withdrawn from the firm in 1855, the name of Grant, Warren & Co. was used in the business until 1867, although Mr. Grant had died in 1863. S. D. Warren was now alone in this im- mense business, and continued so until 1871, when the firm became S. D. Warren & Co. Thus, by steady application to business, he had made for himself the place he sought. He had scaled the heights his am- bition had reared before him. His name was a power in the financial and business world. He had gone through the many paths of business for long years, and had come out with an unspotted reputation.

Respected by his fellow-citizens, he had been hon- ored by them with many important trusts, -a trustee of the McLean Asylum and of the Adams Nervine Asylum, a director in the First National Bank and of the Provident Savings Institution; also of the Fireman's Relief Fund.

His wife was Miss Susan, daughter of Rev. Dorus Clarke, D.D., by whom he had six children, of whom four sons and one daughter are now living.

Mr. Warren died May 11, 1888. His funeral was held at Mount Vernon Church the 14th, Rev. Samuel E. Herrick officiating. Memorial services were also held at the same hour at Cumberland Falls, where his large mills were situated. The burial was at Mount Auburn. He was a member of Mount Vernon Church, on Ashburton Place, and his Christian deeds are well known. Liberal in all useful ways, his heart was ever open to the needy poor. Broad in his charity, sweet memories cluster around his name.

His was a genial nature, ever looking on the bright side of life. For the young he ever had a kind word of encouragement and advice. Numerous instances might be given where he has assisted such to place and fortune.

As a business man he had few equals. His sterling integrity soon became known in the business world, and "his word was as good as his bond." His name sheds lustre upon the place of his birth. Fitting it is that his features should be preserved in the history of the county he loved so well.

GEORGE W. HAMMOND.

George Warren Hammond, eldest son of Josiah Hovey Hammond and Anna Grout (Warren) Ham- mond, was born in Grafton, Mass., April 4, 1833. His father was descended from Thomas Hammond, of Lavrenham, England, who came to this country in 1636, with his wife Elizabeth (Cason) Hammond. This family of Hammonds settled in Hingham and Newton, and for six generations the Hammond family lived at Chestnut Hill, where Josiah Hovey Hammond was born in 1806. The Warren family came from Wayland, England. Capt. Samuel Warren bought his land in Grafton of his brother, in 1731, who bought it of the Indians in 1728. A part of the old Warren homestead has remained in possession of the Warren family until recently, when it passed by will into the hands of the subject of this sketch.

George Warren Hammond's business career began at Cumberland Mills, Maine, April 12, 1854, under the care of his unele, the late Samuel D. Warren, of S. D. Warren & Co., Boston. Mr. Hammond became agent at Cumberland Mills in 1863. These mills manufacture paper of the finest quality and are among the largest in the world. In 1874 they began the de- velopment of the new industry of chemically-pre- pared wood-fibre, to be used in superior paper; this industry has been carried on at Yarmouthville, Maine, under the name of the Forest Paper Co., the sole owners being Messrs. S. D. Warren and G. W. Ham- mond.

Mr. Hammond married Ellen I. S. Clarke (October 15, 1874), danghter of Rev. Dorus Clarke, D.D., of Boston. Since that time Mr. Hammond has been a resident of Boston, although continuing the direction of his business in Maine.

As this history of Worcester County contains rec- ords of many of its pioneers and representative men, there seems a peculiar appropriateness in preserving here this mention of the four nephews of S. D. War- ren, which appeared in the Portland Advertiser, Mon- day, July 9, 1888, after the commemorative service to the late S. D. Warren had been held at Cumberland Mills and Yarmonth Mills, Maine. The Advertiser says :--

In this connection it is not inappropriate to refer to the four nephews of Mr. Wanieu, who were his special body-guard at the funeral in Bos-

Geo. NHammond

Jas . S. Storce

Il Forbush

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ton, May 11th. They were George W. Hammond, long associated with tha Cumberland Milla as agent and later joint owner with Mr. Warren in tha Forest Paper Co.'a mills, for the manufacture of wood-fibre, at Yarmouthville ; John E. Warren, present agent at Cumberland Mills, son of Joseph A. Warren, who was born in Grafton, Mass. ; Henry E. Merriam, agent of the Copseecook Mills, Gardiuer, Maine, and M. B. Mason, a partner in the Boston house of S. D. Warren & Co.

These nephews have faithfully sought to develop, not only the business, but the social and religious in- terests in their respective places. These men repre- sent the devotion, loyalty, integrity and ability essen- tial to success. Those who rightly appreciate the training of the home and the church, and who mark the influence of birth and family, will note with in- terest Mr. Warren's fortunate position in being sup- ported and succeeded by such men.

Three of the nephews mentioned are sons of sisters of S. D. Warren.

JAMES S. STONE.

There were two early settlers of the name of Stone, from whom most of the very numerous families of that name in New England are descended, viz., Simon and his younger brother Gregory. The latter moved from Watertown to Cambridge, probably about 1636. Gregory was the ancestor of the families in this town.

Nahum Stone, born 1753, married Hannah Haven, died August 30, 1803; he died September 7, 1821. Children : Gregory, born July 11, 1776, married Pru- dence Leland ; David, born January 18, 1778, died September 22, 1778; Albert, born Angust 5, 1779, married Sally B. Kimball ; Daniel, born December 4, 1781, married Sally Williams ; Josiah H., born June 28, 1783, married Betsey Bent.

Gregory Stone (Nahum), born July 11, 1776, mar- ried Prudence Leland, born 1778. He died 1810.

Albert Stone (Nahum), born August 5, 1779, mar- ried Sally B. Kimball.

He was a man of sound judgment and stern integ- rity, with a liberal turn of mind. He was much interested in town affairs, and always looked for the welfare and prosperity of the town. He held many town offices, such as selectman, overseer of the poor, assessor, and collector of taxes, and was Representa- tive for two years; he also served on various town committees of importance.

In early life he was a clothier by trade. He had a fulling-mill. About 1812 he built a two-story huild- ing for machinery for carding wool for farmers who made their own cloths, as everything was high dur- ing the war.

In about 1825 he, with his neighbors, sold out his farm in New England Village, and later bought on Brigham Hill, his honored wife being unwilling to move out of town and away from their numerous acquaintances.

Children : Hannah, born May 23, 1804, married Benjamin Kingsbury ; Mary, born September 3, 1806, married Lincoln Wood ; Lorana, born August 19, 1808, married Elijah L. Case ; Sally, born August 27,

1810, married William E. Tidd; Martha, born Octo- ber 21, 1812, married Leander S. Pratt ; Albert G., born November 17, 1814, died March 7, 1818; James S., born July 4, 1816, married Mary L. Phinney June 13, 1838 ; Elbridge K., born August 23, 1818, married Jane E. Brown; Lucy E., born June 26, 1821, mar- ried William J. Eaton.

James S. Stone, born July 4, 1816, married Mary L. Phinney, June 13, 1838.

In addition to a very limited common-school edu- cation, he attended the Teachers' Seminary and Phillips Academy at Andover for about two years, teaching school during the winter seasons.

At the age of twenty-one years he engaged in the boot and shoe business for himself in Alton, Illinois. Selling out there in 1845, he came to Boston, resum- ing the same business in his own name, and after- wards was a partner in the firms of Fay, Jones & Stone and Fay & Stone. Giving up active business in 1875, he was later interested in real estate, and employed his leisure time for about ten years in building stores.

Children : Albert, born in Alton, Illinois, May 20, 1843, married Anna H. Putnam; Ellen Augusta, born in Boston August 9, 1846, died September 26, 1850; Edwin Palmer, born in Medford, Mass., Sep- tember 3, 1853, married Clara O. Leland.

Elbridge K. Stone, born August 23, 1818, married Jane E. Brown,

In 1840 he established himself in the jobbing and retail boot and shoe business at Quincy, Illinois, . building himself a store in 1857, continuing in the same line of business for twenty-five years ; and later on for eighteen years was superintendent and man- ager of the Horse Railroad Co. in Quincy, his son, E. K. Stone, Jr., succeeding him in that office. Once during his business life, owing to the general depres- sion that prevailed in that section of the country, lie found himself obliged to compromise with his cred- itors, but as soon after as he was able to do so, it afforded him the greatest pleasure to pay them all in full, with interest. He still resides in Quincy, Illinois, a much honored and respected citizen.

Children : Sarah E., born July 13, 1843, died May 27, 1848; Emily H., born February 12, 1846, died May 15, 1848; Mary J., born November 30, 1848, married H. Newhall; Elbridge K., born in the year 1850, married Cora Edison ; Charles E., born Septem- ber 19, 1854, died November 3, 1856.

JONATHAN CHESTER FORBUSH.

Silas Forbush, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a descendant of one of the old families of Worcester County, the family of Forbush being traced back as far as 1680, when they were settled in Marlboro'.

Silas Forbush was born in Grafton in 1795, and always lived there, dying at the age of ninety-two.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

His life was one of great industry, integrity and use- fulness. At an early age he began the business of manufacturing shoes, at which he continued suc- cessful for some years. Later he returned to his farm, in which he always took delight. During his entire long life he was a man of influence in the town, being called to many important trusts.

He was certainly the very model of the old-time, cheerful, contented and successful New England man.

Jonathan Chester Forbush was born in Grafton, July 14, 1825. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm, and his education was that of the common schools. Later he worked in his father's shoe-shop, where he continued till early manhood, when he be- gan the business of manufacturing shoes with Na- thaniel Brown, also a native of Worcester County. The firm remained in Grafton for about one year, when they removed to the then young city of Buf- falo, New York, where they have ever since contin- ned the business.

Mr. J. C. Forbush's life, both in a business and social way, has always been pleasant and very suc- cessful. Inheriting the sturdy traits of both his father and mother, he has always commanded the confidence and respect of the community in which he lived.

WALTER P. PHILLIPS.

Walter Polk Phillips was born June 14, 1846. Prior to his parents' removal to Providence, in 1859, the family lived on a farm near Saundersville. Mr. Phillips' father is Andrew Smith Phillips, now of Providence, and his mother, before marriage, was Roxana Minerva Drake, of Northboro'. In 1861, Walter secured employment in the telegraph office at Providence, with a view to becoming an operator. He was well advanced in his studies for a boy of fifteen, and so assiduously did he apply himself to the business which he had undertaken, that in 1867 he was formally recognized by Professor Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, as the most expert operator in the United States. The record made by Mr. Phillips, in that year, in a tournament in which many stars of the profession participated, has never been equaled.

Mr. Phillips was now of age; he had recently married Francena Adelaide Capron, of Attleboro', and having made his mark as a telegrapher, he decided to take a step forward and enter journalism. With this object in mind, he began a special course of study, which, he being a natural and persistent student, rapidly fitted him for newspaper work. During the next five years he combined with his telegraphic duties a great deal of newspaper writing of various grades, ranging from ordinary reporting to editorial writing and hook reviewing.

In 1872 Mr. Phillips established the Attleboro' Chronicle and, pushing it quickly to phenomenal

success, disposed of it advantageously and went to New York. Here, in due course, he found his way into the service of the Associated Press, with which important organization he met with marked success. His value was recognized in 1878, in his selection for the head of the Associated Press at Washington. Remaining at the capital until 1883, when his reputa- tion as a journalist and litterateur was largely angmented, Mr. Phillips returned to New York in that year, and assumed charge of the United Press, of which he was made and continues to be the secretary and general manager, as well as one of its principal owners.

This organization, although the product of fifteen years of experiment and unflagging endeavor, was a weak and ineffective competitor of the Associated Press when its affairs passed to Mr. Phillips' hands. Under his charge the United Press has become a power in the land, and a most prosperous business under- taking. It was long since recognized by its rival, the Associated Press, as a legitimate competitor, and in the place of hostility, formerly existing hetween the two organizations, there have come, under Mr. Phillips' administration, most radically changed con- ditions, which contemplate self-respecting co-operation and a greater degree of usefulness for both, than was possible in the past or dreamed of for the future.

Mr. Phillips' management of the United Press has served to permanently fix his status as a man of affairs, and it is as a business man that he is now best known after having successively won a reputation in telegraphy, in journalism and in the wider field of general literature.

JONATHAN D. WHEELER.

Hon. Jonathan D. Wheeler was born August 14, 1806. At the early age of seven he came to Grafton, and resided with his paternal uncle, Jona- than Wheeler, Esq., and while here entered Leicester Academy, from which place he graduated. After graduating he studied languages with Dr. Dodgett, and in 1823 he entered the firm of Earle & Chase (J. Milton Earle and Anthony Chase), in Worcester, as clerk. After remaining here a few years he went to Weston and engaged in mercantile business, where he remained for three years, subsequently entering the employ of the Bottomly Manufacturing Co., in Leicester, as chief clerk in their office. In 1829 he came to Grafton and purchased the store of Samuel Harrington, and, with Ebenezer Aldrich as partner, conducted the business. While in this business he married Elizabeth Davenport, of Mendon, daughter of Benjamin Davenport ; she died May 15, 1832.

In 1832 he sold out his interest in the concern to Jonathan Warren, and removed to Boston, where he conducted for five years a domestic goods commis- sion business at No. 75 Kilby Street, under the firm- name of Farnum, Mills & Wheeler. During the

Or ale P. Philipg

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last two years the firm-name was Pierce, Mills & Wheeler.

October 13, 1834, he married for his second wife, Caroline A. Norcross, of Boston, daughter of Otis Norcross, Esq., and sister of Hon. Otis Norcross, ex-mayor of Boston. In 1837 he formed a co-part- nership with Benj. Poor and conducted an extensive commission business for nearly two years. In 1839, with Peter Farnum, he purchased of the Wadsworth Manufacturing Co. at Danville (Barre), Mass., the large woolen-mills, and for a short time conducted an extensive manufacturing business.

He subsequently sold out to his partner and returned to Boston. Moving again to Grafton in 1843, he entered into business with Samuel Harring- ton (firm-name Harrington & Wheeler), and after a short time purchased what is now known as the Wheeler Cotton-Mills, West Millbury.

In 1863-64 he was a member of Gov. Andrew's Council from the Sixth Councilor . District. In 1868 he represented the Second Worcester Senatorial Dis- triet and was chairman of the committee on the Troy and Greenfield Railroad ; he declined a re-elec- tion. Since the organization of the Grafton National Bank he has been a director, and was president from 1864 to 1882.

He was selectman for three years, and one of the trustees of the Grafton Savings Bank from its organi- zation.

CHAPTER CXXV.

SUTTON.1

BY J. W. STOCKWELL.

THE township of Sutton was purchased by certain persons residing in Boston, of John Wampus and others, Nipmug Indians, and is described as a tract of waste land eight miles square, lying between the towns of Mendon, Worcester, New Oxford, Sher- burne and Marlborough, embracing within its limits an Indian reservation four miles square, called " Hassanimisco."

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 16

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1464