History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 186

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 186

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In March, 1833, Dr. Chandler went into the State Lunatic Hospital as an assistant to Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, then in charge of the institution. Here he remained till May, 1842, when he retired, his first

marriage taking place very soon after. In October of the year just named he took charge of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, at Concord, an institution built after a plan submitted by him. The management of this asylum was begun with small means, though much credit by local merchants was offered. It had the capacity of a hundred and twenty patients, and the first admission was in October. After a little more than three years it became nearly full and was out of debt, on a charge of but two dol- lars and twenty-five cents per week for the care and board of each inmate.

To the surprise and much against the wishes of the Board of Trustees, but in compliance with the earnest solicitation of friends, he resigned his charge there- a charge made pleasant to himself by his successful performance of the duties devolving on him, and by his successtul efforts otherwise in behalf of the insti- tution.

After an interval of a few months he succeeded Dr. Woodward as superintendent of the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester, which position he resigned in July, 1856, after ten years' service. During his resi- dence of twenty-five years in the two institutions (the one at Concord and that at Worcester) he had the charge, wholly or in part, of about six thousand insane persons. That at Worcester was always full while he was assistant, and at the time he was superintend- ent it was especially so, the number being at one time five hundred and sixty-eight.

Since leaving the care of lunatics he has made his home in Worcester. In 1862 he was at Fortress Monroe, as medical chief of the ship "St. Mark's," detailed to bring home the wounded in the Civil War, and in August took on board one hundred and thirty-four of -McClellan's wounded soldiers, to be landed in Chester, Pa.

Dr. Chandler has been called to fill various offices of a public and semi-public character, and has always acquitted himself with ability and discretion, meriting and receiving the approbation of his fellow-citizens. He has been an inspector of the State Almshouse at Monson, a member of the Legislature, a justice of the peace and an alderman of the city. He has likewise been a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and an honorary member of the New Hampshire and Connecticut Medical Societies. It may be mentioned, too, that he was commissioned as surgeon of a Light Infantry Regiment.

Dr. Chandler was united in marriage, for the first time, on the 4th of May, 1842, with Josephine Rose, daughter of Joseph W. and Harriet (Paine) Rose, and granddaughter of the late Dr. William Paine, of Worcester. The children by this marriage were Mrs. A. George Bullock and Mrs. Waldo Lincoln, of Wor- cester. His second wife was Mary E. Douglas, widow of Charles A. Wheeler, whom he married April 8, 1874, but by whom he had no children.

In 1867 Dr. Chandler, with two daughters, visited

William Workman

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Europe, where they remained two years ; and in 1874 he went again, with his second wife, remaining, as before, some two years.

It is quite unnecessary to enlarge upon the merits of Dr. Chandler as a citizen, as he is too well known to need anything of that kind. The respect that has been universally awarded him, these many years, and the success that has attended him in the various im- portant and often trying positions he has occupied, abundantly testify to his high character and worth.

WILLIAM WORKMAN, M.D.

Dr. William Workman was of Scotch-English de- scent. The ancient family seal has for its motto : " Non pas l'onvrage, mais l'ouvrier," which may in- dicate a French origin of the family. But it is known that the Workmans had lived for several generations in England. One of them was Rev. John Workman, a clergyman of the Church of England at St. Stephen's Church, Gloucester, a man of "great piety, wisdom and moderation." . He was prosecuted by Archbishop Laud, about 1634, for preaching against the use of pictures in churches, was suspended from the ministry, imprisoned and excommunicated, and died in consequence of the persecution which he suffered. A little later we find the name of William Workman, an officer in the English army, under Oliver Cromwell, who distin- guished himself in the campaign in Ireland in 1649, especially at the siege of Drogheda. He was rewarded for his services by a grant of large estates of confiscated lands in County Armagh, in the North of Ireland. In 1689 his son William was among the Protestants who were compelled to flee from their homes to the fortress of Londonderry, where they were shnt in by the Irish Catholic army, and suffered the horrors of that remarkable siege. The musket which he used during this siege is in the possession of a branch of the family in the old country. In the next generation a part of the Work- man family settled near the market-town of Coleraine, on the river Bann, in Ulster. Two generations later a number of families from Coleraine came to the United States, and founded a town of the same name in Franklin Connty, Massachusetts. Among these was the widow of William Workman, a grandson of William Workman of Londonderry, who crossed the Atlantic in 1735, bringing her son John, then a boy of six years. This widow was a woman of great force of character, a stanch Scotch Presbyterian, who lived to a great age. Her son, John Workman, lived in Deerfield, Mass., during his minority. He married Phehe Stewart, of Concord, Mass., and, about 1750, purchased a tract of nncleared land, in what is now the southeastern part of Coleraine, and erected on it a farm-honse, in which he lived more than sixty years. Two apple-trees, which are said to have been planted by him, are still standing. He died in 1813,

at the age of eighty-four. His second son, Daniel Stewart, married Dorothy I'erry, of Westminster, and settled on his father's farm. He was a well-to-do farmer, who lived independently on his ancestral acres. He had twelve children, of whom eight lived to adult years. His farm, which has been in the possession of the family for four generations, is of excellent soil, and is situated in a beautiful hilly region. He died in 1855, at the age of eighty-four years.

His son William was the oldest of his children, and, therefore, inherited the name by which so many of his ancestors had been called. He was born January 21, 1798. He remained at home until he was nineteen years of age, doing his part of the work on the farm, attending such schools as were within his reach, and reading eagerly the few books which he could get in that remote rural town. Besides the Bible and the New England Primer, which were in every family, he read, during his boyhood, "Robin- son Crusoe," "The Story of Blue Beard," " Cinder- ella," "The Arabian Nights," "The Early Life of Napoleon Bonaparte," "Travels Among the Arabs in Central Africa," "Thaddeus of Warsaw," and parts of " Rollin's Ancient History." In due time he entered Hopkins Academy, in Old Hadley, then under the care of Rev. Daniel Huntington, and of Worthington Smith. Here he was prepared for college. But re- peated attacks of illness caused a general failure of health, which at length compelled him to give np the college course.

He began the study of medicine in 1822, in the office of Dr. Seth Washburn, of Greenfield. In the fall of that year he attended lectures in the Medical Department of Harvard University, and continued his studies there and with Drs. Flint and Mather, of Northampton, till August, 1825, when he received the degree of M.D. from Harvard. He began practice immediately in Shrewsbury, where he remained ten years. He met from the first sharp competition, but he deserved success, and won it, not only by his skill, but by the excellence and strength of his character. In 1828 he married Sarah Paine, daughter of Hon. Vashni Hemenway, of Shrewsbury, whom he sur- vived about four years. In 1835 he came to Worces- ter, where he lived more than fifty years. He retained for some time a large part of his business in Shrews- bury, in addition to the new business which he gained in Worcester. Dr. Workman was strongly attached to his profession, and devoted his whole energies to its exacting requirements. He was all his life an earnest and constant student, and kept well abreast of the rapid advances of medical science. He was for several years a contributor to The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. His articles are characterized by careful and accurate description of cases, and show that he possessed a thorough knowledge of his pro- fession. Of quick perception and sonnd judgment himself, he had a profound contempt for all shams and

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pretences, and was recognized as an able, progressive and conscientious practitioner. He excelled as well in the department of surgery as in that of medicine. Some of his surgical operations, which are remem- bered by his grateful patients, were remarkably bold and skillful. He had a good share of patronage from the leading families of Worcester, and was fre- quently called in consultation, not only in the city, but to other places in the State.

He became a member of the Massachusetts Medi- cal Society in 1831, was elected councilor in 1840, and held this position twenty-four years. He was chairman of the committee of arrangements at the annual meeting of the society held in Worcester in 1851, and delivered the annual address at the meeting in Fitchburg in 1852. He selected for his subject " The Ethics of the Medical Profession," and spoke with abundant illustration of the relations and duties of physicians to each other, to their patients, and to the community. It is a very elaborate address, full of wit, and shows a wide acquaintance with medical writers, as well as a broad view of the relations of the profession to society. It is an earnest plea for manly courtesy and unselfishness in all the dealings of physicians. Dr. Workman was also a member of the American Medical Association, and was frequently a delegate from the State Society at its earlier meetings. In 1831 he joined the Worcester District Medical Society, and for many years took a prominent part in its proceedings, serving on important committees, and occupying at one time or another all its offices, except that of librarian. He always retained his interest in the society, and two years before his death gave it his medical library. He was also a member of the Worcester Medical Improvement Society.

His horizon was by no means bounded by his pro- fession. He interested himself in all that concerned the city of his adoption, aud although he neither de- sired nor held public office, endeavored to do his whole duty as a citizen, and gave liberally of his time and means to objects of public importance. From 1840 to 1850 he served with Hon. A. D. Foster and Rev. Drs. Sweetser, Hill, and others on the " Board of Overseers of Schools for the Centre Dis- trict," the latter part of the time as secretary of the board ; and also for several years on the Public School Committee, after Worcester was made a city. He was president of the Lyceum Society, and read before it a number of papers on scientific subjects. He was trustee of the Worcester County Institution for say- ings from 1848 to 1873, and was director in the Peo- ples' Insurance Company of this city from 1860 till its dissolution after the Boston fire in 1872. In 1862 he was appointed by Governor Andrew trustee for five years of the Worcester Lunatic Hospital, and was reappointed by Governor Bullock in 1867. At the close of his second term he was again appointed, but declined further service. At the time of the sev- en days' battles, in 1862, Dr. S. H. Howe, in behalf of

the Sanitary Commission, telegraphed him to send volunteer surgeons to act with that organization in caring for the wounded. Although then sixty-four years of age, he at once offered his services, and went to Fortress Monroe as surgeon, in charge of a government transport. He was among the earliest members of the Worcester County Horticultural So- ciety, was vice-president of the society from 1844 to 1853, and again in 1857, and was a member of its Board of Trustees as long as he could be induced to serve. The trustees say of him in their annual re- port : "His judgment was always sound and consci- entious, he was a rare adviser, and was seldom thrown off his balance. This society has lost by his death a life-long and consistent friend. Since his death his children have presented the society an ad- mirable portrait of him."

Dr. Workman continued in the practice of medicine, devoting to it his best powers of body and mind, until he was past the age of seventy, when he began to seek relief from its more arduous duties. But he contin- ued for some years longer to give professional advice, and to act in consultation. In the comparative leisure in which he found himself, he carried out a plan, which he had loug cherished, to visit Europe. He sailed from New York for Havre in the spring of 1870 with his wife and two danghters, and was absent a little more than six months, going south as far as Naples, and east as far as Vienna. He enjoyed this trip exceedingly, and was accustomed in later years to say that it had added ten years to his life.

In his religious views Dr. Workman was an Ortho- dox Congregationalist. He became a communicant in the Union Church, under the pastoral care of Rev. Dr. Smalley, in 1840. Although he was not inclined to make himself conspicuous in the meetings of the church, he was put forward to do a great deal of work on committees by both the church and the par- ish. He is spoken of, hy those who were conversant with him, as a steady friend of the church and its ministers, an attentive and appreciative listener to preaching, and an upright and consistent Christian.

After his retirement from active life he continued his habits of study, devoting much of his time to reading outside of his profession. He kept himselt well informed on the live issues of the day, as well as those of history, the study of which was his especial delight. His declining years were passed in the city which had been so long his home, in the companion- ship of his old friends and neighbors, in the house which he had built almost forty years before. He had a cheerful and beautiful old age, and died Octo- ber 17, 1885, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. His surviving children, a son and three daughters, were with him at the time of his death.

HON. SAMUEL WINSLOW.

Hon. Samuel Winslow was born in Newton, Mass., February 28, 1827, and received his early education

Samuel Hindlow

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the schools of that town. On leaving school he as employed in the manufacture of cotton machin- y, and in this occupation he displayed great indus- y and inventive skill. So rapidly did he advance at at the age of twenty he was made foreman in is shop, with over fifty men under his charge. He moved to Worcester in 1855, and on April 1st of at year formed a co-partnership with his brother, etli C. Winslow, and started a machine-shop. In e year 1857 they began the manufacture of skates, ith which industry he is even now identified. The orks were located in the old Merrifield building, in ypress Street, and they remained there for twenty- ne years. At the death of his brother, in 1871, Mr. Vinslow assumed the whole control of the business, nd continued it alone until the formation of the amuel Winslow Skate Manufacturing Company, in Lay, 1886, in which Mr. Winslow retained a major- y of the stock, and has since served the corporation 3 its president and treasurer.

Mr. Winslow began his public career in Newton Tpper Falls in the year 1848, as a member of the rudential Committee for the employment of teachers nd the charge of the schools in that village. He as soon after elected clerk of the corporation, which rganized the Boston and Woonsocket Division of hat is now the New York and New England Rail- oad.

Mr. Winslow was a member of the Common Coun- il of the city of Worcester in 1864-65. He was a lepresentative from the Tenth Worcester District in he Massachusetts Legislature in 1873-74, and in 885 served as alderman to fill a vacancy. In 1885 e was elected mayor of the city of Worcester for the nsuing year by a sweeping majority, and has since een elected to the same position for the years 1887, 38 and '89 by very large majorities. His record as ayor has been of the highest order, as is attested by is four successive elections to the position. He was trustee of the Worcester County Mechanics' Asso- iation from 1868 to '71, its vice-president from 1884 0'86, its president in 1886, and declined a re-election o the presidency in 1887 on account of his duties as nayor.

In December, 1888, Mr. Winslow was elected a di- ector of the Citizens' National Bank, and at the an- qual meeting of the corporation in January, 1889, vas re-elected a director, and was subsequently lected to the presidency by the Board of Directors. He was also elected a trustee of the People's Savings Bank in January, 1889.

Mr. Winslow is one of the few men of to-day who an trace with pride his continual growth of charac- er in the eyes of his fellow-citizens, and who can ook back upon a business career which has been one of steady increase from year to year and prosperous in every sense.

It is now his good fortune to be possessed of a lib- eral share of this world's goods, and he distributes

them with a charitable but judicious hand. During his whole life he has been very generous, although his acts of kindness have seldom been known by others than those who have been directly benefited. Before he had even reached the age of man's estate Mr. Winslow began his self-sacrifices by depriving himself of a large share of his income for the sake of educating his brothers, although older than himself.

It can be said, in conclusion, that the esteem in which Mr. Winslow is held by his neighbors and fellow-townsmen is due to a life based upon the prin- ciples of integrity and industry.

JOHN M. EARLE.

John Milton Earle, born in Leicester April 13, 1794, was the eldest of the nine children of Pliny and Patience (Buffum) Earle. His father was the pioneer, in America, in the manufacture of machine cards for the carding of cotton by water, or by some other mo- tive-power than that of the human hand; and an interesting account of his life and work will be found in the history of Leicester in its appropriate place in these pages. Most of the children of Pliny Earle inherited the strong intellectual traits of both of their parents, three of the sons devoting themselves to literary or professional labor. John Milton Earle was educated at the academy in his native town. He was for a few years clerk in the store of the Northbridge Cotton-Mill at Whitinsville, in which his father had an interest; but in 1816 he came to Worcester and, with Anthony Chase, (afterwards his brother-in-law,) opened a "country store" on the north corner of Main and Thomas Streets. In 1823 they purchased the Massachusetts Spy, to the columns of which Mr. Earle had already been a contributor, and of which he was to be, for thirty-five years, the editor and principal manager, and for fifteen years of the time the sole proprietor. Mr. Earle was an editor of the same class with Nathan Hale and William Cullen Bryant. Firm in his honest convictions, he was con- scious of the responsibility of his position, and he set forth his views with a clearness of style that com- manded the intelligent assent of his large circle of readers. The Spy, in Iris hands, was not a party "organ," but was always a little in advance of the conservative judgment of a people second for intelli- gence to none other in the world. In the best days of the Whig party Mr. Earle, although more radical than they upon the question of slavery, labored to secure the election of its candidates. But in 1848, when his neighbor and friend, the late Hon. Charles Allen, returned from the National Convention at Phil- adelphia, where he had repudiated the nomination of Zachary Taylor for President, as made for the aggran- dizement of the slave power, Mr. Earle, hesitating only long enough to consider if the time was ripe for the new movement which Judge Allen was leading, esponsed the cause, and now more beartily than ever

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

before labored with his pen to secure the spread of the at length accepted doctrine of a free soil and free men.

Associated with Mr. Earle in the conduct of the Spy, from 1849-58, was Mr. Thomas Drew,1 himself a striking character. Mr. Drew, in a letter to the writer of this notice, under date of October 25, 1888, says: " Among the historic characters of Worcester County, Mr. Earle is entitled to a place in the front rank for what he was and for what he did. There is probably no other man living who appreciates as I do his sublime faith in the triumph of a righteous cause, and his heroic, self-sacrificing courage in sustaining it. .. . He had a broad-gauge mind, intensely hu- mane sympathies, and as much self-sacrificing spirit as any of the old martyrs who were burned at the stake. In 1848, after the Buffalo Convention, of which he was a member, I think that rather than recede from the grand position in which he placed the Spy, he would have cheerfully fulfilled all the Scrip. ture requirements of a 'burnt-offering .? "

Although Mr. Earle's chief delight was in literary work, he was not a recluse. His keen interest in public affairs led him to accept the unsought calls of his fellow-citizens to hold some of the offices at their disposal. He was a member of the lower branch of the Legislature in 1844, '45, '46, '50, '51 and '52, and State Senator in 1858. During his first term he was able to exert an influence much greater than new members generally acquire. His views in opposition to capital punishment, and the disinclination of poli- ticians to take a decided ground, as he did, on the temperance question, gave him a prominent position. At this session a resolve was introduced, fixing the compensation allowed to counties for the support of lunatics not committed to the State Hospital. The allowance to Suffolk County was to be cut down some two thousand five hundred dollars. The resolve of course met with vigorous opposition from the Boston delegation, who, with the aid of members from other counties which would be similarly affected, succeeded in voting it down. Mr. Earle, convinced that such was to be its fate, voted with the majority and was thus entitled to move a re-consideration. Renewing the contest, he secured the passage of the resolve. The Boston Post, announcing the result, said : " Mr. Earle, of Worcester, did this by pertinacious persever- ance." At the same session a bill was introduced relating to life insurance. In this Mr. Earle saw a covert hostility to the formation of a life assurance company in Worcester, as was proposed. The bill had a strong backing, and, after passing the Senate, was carried through its first debateable stage in the House by vote of two to one. In the subsequent dis- cussion upon its final passage, Mr. Earle was left to

oppose it alone. But the force of his argument con- vinced his hearers, and the bill was rejected by about the same majority that had before voted in its favor. In his later years of service he was especially conspic- nous in advocating the secret ballot and in securing the election of Charles Sumner to the United States Senate. He was a member of the Convention of 1853 for the revision of the State Constitution. There he advocated the district system of representation in the Legislature and radical changes in the mode of appointment of various officers, taking it from the Governor and giving it to the people.

The recreation of Mr. Earle was found in botany, conchology and horticulture. He was both a theoret- ical and a practical botanist. His collection of shells, one of the finest in the State, he gave, a short time before his death, to the Worcester Natural History Association. His garden was full of the choicest fruit- trees which he tended with careful hand; and he was a recognized authority on all horticultural matters. He was one of the founders of the Worcester Horti- cultural Society, and for several years its president.

On a motion of Mr. Earle, offered in a town-meet- ing, held November 8, 1847, it was voted to petition for a city charter. The charter was granted, and Mr. Earle was elected a member of the first Board of Aldermen. He was one of the vice-presidents of the Worcester County Institution for Savings, and a director in the State Mutual Life Assurance Company from its organization to his death.

In 1859 he was appointed by Gov. Banks, commis- sioner to examine into and report upon the condition of the Indians and their descendants domiciled in the Commonwealth, for the information of the General Court in regard to their population, their social and political condition, and their educational, religious and municipal organizations. He devoted nearly two years to the task, and in 1861 made an extended report, which is a marvel of conscientious and intelli- gent investigation, thoroughly performed.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 186

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