History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 188

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 188

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Mr. Barton was born in the picturesque town of Millbury, on the 18th of July, 1825, and is yet in the vigor of manhood. His education was better than that of several other prosperous individuals named in the present work, inasmuch as he added to his district school training an academic course. His father, Rufus Barton, was the parent of nine chil- dren, George S. being the youngest. At the age of twenty he left home and immediately applied him- self to learning the trade of machinist-the trade which of all others was no doubt best fitted to his genius and inclination, a fact which his subsequent uniform success has abundantly verified. We find him now, in the vigor of manhood, a person of dig- nified presence and genial manners, liberal in his views, and maintaining towards all classes the bear- ing of a gentleman. In politics he has always been a prononneed supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party.

It was not, however, in the manufacturing line which has here been chiefly spoken of that Mr. Bar- ton's skill, shrewdness and various talents have been exclusively exercised. In other pursuits he has been active, ever exercising those peculiar qualities that are sure, in the absence of casual interference, to lead on to fortune.

He has been an extensive traveler ; not so much in other quarters of the world as in our own country.

If he has not visited every State and Territory of the Union, he has almost every one, as well as some of the neighboring islands,-Cuba and Vanconver among the number. And having circulated among the more intelligent classes, with his observing and inquiring mind, he has stored up a fund of valuable and available knowledge, which he knows well how to use for himself and healthfully dispense to others.

Mr. Barton has had a son and daughter. The son, Charles S. Barton, is now president of the company of which his father is treasurer.

JOHN DANA LOVELL.

Mr. Lovell was born in Worcester on the 30th of April, 1818, and was the eldest son of Cyrus and Lois Lovell, then occupying a farm on the outskirts of the town ; and until he was thirty-eight years of age he pursued the vocation of husbandman as his chief en- ployment. His advantages for education were quite limited, the District School, with a year at Phillips Academy, Andover, supplying about all that he could gain. He taught two terms, after which, at the age of twenty, he settled on a farm.

When he had arrived at the age of thirty-eight Mr. Lovell disposed of his farm and stock and moved into the town, which had then adopted the city form of government. Here he continued somewhat in the agricultural line by establishing an agricultural ware- house and seed-store. This was in July, 1857 ; and lie followed the business nearly a score of years, or nntil October, 1875. At the latter date, having been so successful as to acenmulate such a fortune as was deemed sufficient for all necessary wants and reason- able desires, he retired from busy mercantile pursuits, and has since lived a life of ease, so far as the cares, perplexities and annoyances of active business are concerned. But he has by no means passed his time in "inglorions ease," without taking part in the mani- fold works of charity and benevolence, in which every true philanthropist delights to engage, and in which, at all times, there is enough to do. In all such works he has been active and liberal, to a degree that has received the merited applanse of every well- wisher to the community.

During these latter years, however, he has had much to do in a line that requires prudence, jndg- ment and no small amount of patience. The line here alluded to is that connected with the care and disposal of estates as trustee, executor or adminis- trator. He has had much of this kind of business in hand, and has succeeded in settling matters to the satisfaction of all reasonable parties concerned, which is saying a great deal, where so many conflict- ing interests and jealousies are liable to intervene to the entanglement of claims and interests and the disturbance of the peace of families.

And then, in other offices of honor and trust, he has employed many hours of labor and anxiety in

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the endeavor to secure what was equitable and right between man and man. He is a director in the First National Insurance Company, a trustee in the Me- chanies' Savings Bank, a trustee in the Rural Ceme- tery Association and a trustee in the Horticultural Society of Worcester County. His duties in these positions, and others not named, may well be sup- posed to require such unremitting attention that he can have little time to devote to indolent ease. He is not a shirk, as too many of us are liable to be in offices to which no pecuniary reward is attached.

As may well be imagined, with his time so filled, little coukl be spared for politics and the stirring af- fairs of public life; and, besides, his natural taste does not lead that way. He, however, never shrank from the duties that he felt it incumbent to assume. In 1867 and '68 he was an alderman, and in 1877 and '78 he was a Representative in the General Court.

As a party adherent Mr. Lovell was an old-time Whig; on the disruption of that organization he be- came a member of the Free Soil party, and thence passed into the present Republican party, in which he still remains, ever ready to liberally contribute for the maintenance of principles which commend themselves to him as best adapted to the general good.

In religion Mr. Lovell has always adhered to what is popularly known as the orthodox faith,-in other words, the faith of the old New England fathers,- the Trinitarian Congregational, And he has for these many years been so prompt in his religious duties and so liberal in his contributions for the maintenance of public worship, as well as all ap- proved charitable and benevolent enterprises, that he will be sadly missed when the hour for his final withdrawal arrives.

Mr. Lovell has been twice married. His first wife was Eleanor Winch, with whom he was united April 18, 1843, and who died April 26, 1882. His second wife, whom he married November 20, 1883, was Mrs. Ellen C. Bigelow, widow of Samuel T. Bigelow, and who was the mother of two daughters at the time of her marriage with Mr. Lovell, which daughters and their mother are still living.

A life so full of activity in business and in the performance of social duties as that of Mr. Lovell may well merit a more extended notice than is here given, at least for the sake of example. But some men are so sensitive as to having their trumpets blown, as the vulgar expression is, that one who would willingly accord what is really dne is restricted and admonished. To most of us a lively blast on the trumpet of praise now and then is quite refresh- ing, but Mr. Lovell is not one liable to appreciate laudation, and so no further attempt will be made to thwart his expressed desire.

EDWARD EARLE.

Edward Earle was born in Leicester, Mass., Feb- ruary 10, 1811. He was the fifth generation from Ralph Earle, who was one of the pioneers who settled in Leicester in 1717, and the seventh from Ralph Earle, who came from England about 1630. His father, Tim- othy Earle (a successful card-maker, like his brothers), was the fifth son of Robert Earle, Jr., whose five sons all settled on neighboring farms in sight of the pa- ternal home. His mother was Ruth Keese, from Peru, N. Y., to which place she removed from Dutchess County, N. Y., with her parents, when but four years of age, her father having purchased a large tract of land in the then wild region around Lake Champlain. Her mother was a talented member of the Halleck family and an intimate friend of many of the promi- nent personages of her time. From his mother's side he inherited, mainly, "that calmness and soundness of judgment " which were among his chief character- istics.

His father died when Edward was about eight years old, and his mother afterwards married her husband's brother Henry, who, being an invalid for a great part of his after-life, the care of the large farm and the management of the saw-mill upon it devolved upon Edward at a very early age. Here he developed those traits of industry and thrift which were natural to him and which were conspicuous throughout his life. He attended the district school and the academy in Leicester, and completed his education at Friends' School in Providence, R. I. He subsequently taught the school in the district in which helived. In 1832, soon after he had attained the age of twenty-one, he went to Worcester, Mass., and became engaged in mercantile business, temporarily as clerk in the flour and grain store of his cousin, Robert Earle, and after- wards in co-partnership with Gen. Nathan Heard.

On the Ist of October, 1835, he married Ann Barker Buffum, daughter of David and Susan Ann Buffum, of Middletown, R. I., a woman of great intelligence and decision of character, who joined heartily with her husband in the enterprises of benevolence and philanthropy which engaged so much of his time and attention.

Their only child, Anne Buffum Earle, married, in 1865, James S. Rogers, now of Rockport, Mass.

Before his marriage, in 1835, he had left the flour business and had become connected with Joseph Pratt, under the firm-name of Pratt & Earle. This house was for many years more extensively engaged in the iron and steel business than any other in Wor- cester County, and he retained his interest in it long after the establishment and the assured success of his additional business, as the senior member of the firm of T. K. Earle & Co.

Soon after the death of his uncle, Silas Earle, in 1842, his brother, Timothy K. Earle, then in his mi- mority, purchased an interest in the machine-card business of their late uncle, and after two changes in

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the firm, in a very brief period, Edward bought the interest of his cousin Timothy, and a co-partnership was formed with his brother Timothy K., under the title of T. K. Earle & Co., which continued until his retirement in 1869. For a short period after embark- ing in this business it was continued in the Silas Earle factory in Leicester, and then removed to Wor- cester.

After his retirement from the firm of T. K. Earle & Co. he took no active part in business, although his time was fully occupied with his real-estate inter- ests, and in the management of public and private trusts. His public life began in 1843, as a member of the Board of Selectmen of the town of Worcester. In 1851 he was a Representative in the State Legisla- ture-the memorable year in which, after an " earnest and protracted struggle," Charles Sumner was elected Senator to the Congress of the United States. In 1853 he was a member of the Board of Aldermen of the city of Worcester, and from 1861 to 1871 he was a member of the School Board of the city, resigning his office in 1871 to accept the mayoralty, to which he was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. James B. Blake.

While on the School Board he was a zealous ad- vocate of the introduction of drawing into the public schools, was interested in the Training School, and afterwards in the establishment of the State Normal School. "He was always prompt in attention to business and level-headed, while not too conserva- tive."

As Mayor, he was an "honest, faithful and hon- ored public servant, careful of the rights and property of the citizens ; infusing by his personal presence and the purity of his private character into every depart- ment of the city government the ideas of honesty, justice aud frugality. His motto seemed to be 'Substance, and not Form,' and this idea pervaded his acts through life. His was a most illustrious ex- ample of that pure, original Quaker simplicity which adorns and beantifies, while it eunobles and Chris- tianizes everybody and everything with which it comes in contact.

" He always bore the burdens and honors of public office with quiet and nnostentatious dignity, and labored with his full ability faithfully to discharge all its trusts and duties. At the time when the Gov- ernment was seeking new methods of dealing with its wards on the frontier, he was selected by the Society of Friends as one of the Indian Commissioners, to act in consultation and connection with the commission appointed by the President. He personally visited the Indians in their places of abode, studied their condition and needs, and pressed his opinions with the vigor of one who knew whereof he spoke."

He was interested in the anti-slavery movement from the beginning. The wrongs and sufferings of the negro always worked upon his sympathy to a great extent, and his mind was busy with schemes

for the amelioration of the condition of the race generally, or for some individual member thereof. It was not unnatural, therefore, that after the procla- mation of emancipation was issued, he should seek to do something to help the colored people to take their proper place in the State and community. He was very early made one of the committee of New England Friends to investigate as to the most desi- rable place to establish a Freedman's Mission. To this end he, with others, visited various points along the line of division between the North and South. calling upon General Grant at his headquarters and making other interesting visits. Washington was chosen as the point for the operations of the com- mittee. He spent weeks and months there at differ- ent times attending to the interests of the mission. After that particular enterprise was abandoned, he continued to contribute to the good work through other schools, although he never took active part in the management of any other. He was also, for many years, a member of the committee in charge of the Friends' denominational school in Providence, R. I.

As a member of the State Board of Charities, and in his later years its chairman, he found a place where the innate tendency of his character, his earn- est conviction, clear insight and philanthropic heart made him of more value than men of more shining talents and of restless ambition could have been. He had no theories to defend; no cumbrous equip- ment of book-learning or class-prejudice in which to encase himself against the impressions of the heart,- the call of duty and of reason. He gave himself wholly to the monitions of the "inward voice," fol- lowing as that directed, no matter what might be the outward condition. This is a high quality, sure to give dignity to the conduct and opinions of men in whom it appears; and in Edward Earle it was tainted neither by self-conceit nor by any morose, suspicious or grudging sentiments. He was a plain, good man, with a serious kindliness of mien, and in spirit one of those

" Religious men who give to God and men their dues."

In his religious sympathies he was with the So- ciety of Friends, in which he was an active and prominent member. He was a Friend, indeed, worthy of the name which the followers of George Fox, with modest discrimination, had chosen for themselves.

His youth and middle life were laborious and suc- cessful. No dollar of his wealth was unjustly earned, or left harm or wrong behind in the earning. He did not crave excessive riches, but retired in due season from the accumulation of wealth to what was more consistent with his plan of life,-the moderate and benevolent use of it. He was a faithful steward of what was entrusted to his care, and no small part of his means, as well as of his time, was given to public uses or in acts of charity. The catalogue of

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his good deeds is too long to be written on earth, and no man took less pains to publish them. Of his public employments none were very conspicuous. Such he never sought, being more anxious to put his shoulder to the wheel than to ride in the cushioned seat.

It is worth mentioning that he was one of the founders of the American Social Science Associa- tion, having signed the call for the first meeting in 1865, and having heen a constant member after- wards, though seldom taking part in any but the business meetings. In this, as in many of his other affairs, his wife was one with himself, and they were earnest from the first that women should have a place in the government of the association, which has always been the case. In person he was tall, robust and fine-looking. He generally was blessed with excellent health ; but when a severe cold, taken in a damp, unheated car, on a raw spring day, devel- oped into pneumonia, his system failed to rally from the disease, and he quietly passed from this life on the 19th of May, 1877, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His connection with many and varied in- terests, and the esteem in which he was held by the community led to very general expressions of respect and sorrow in the public prints, from which, and from " Ralph Earle and his Descendants," by Pliny Earle, M.D., of Northampton, Mass., the foregoing account is mostly taken.

TIMOTHY KEESE EARLE.

As the stranger pauses to admire this elegant abode he naturally desires to learn something of the one by whom it was reared. To his many friends, and to the great body of his fellow-citizens who knew him in life, his history may appear almost too famil- iar to need recapitulation. He was born in Leicester, Worcester County, on the 11th of January, 1823, was a son of Henry and Ruth Earle, and a lineal descend- ant of the seventh generation of Ralph Earle, an early settler of Leicester. The great-great-grand- father of Mr. Earle was also named Ralph. He was a noted artist, and is supposed to have produced the first widely-known historical paintings in this coun- try, being four views of the Battle of Lexington. After the Revolution he went to England, studied under West, and became a member of the Royal Academy. Among his works while abroad was a portrait of King George III. After his return, in 1786, he exercised his skill in illustrating various

interesting scenes in American history and scenery, as well as painting a number of portraits of eminent men of the time, among them those of President Dwight, of Yale College, and Governor Strong, of Massachusetts. This Ralph's brother James was also an artist of note, but chiefly confined himself to por- traits. Several other members of the old Earle family of Leicester might be named, did space allow, and much added regarding their skill in the mechanic arts, their inventions and their enterprise, all which would tend to show that it was and is a family to which the industrial community, and all others in fact, are greatly indebted.

But it is to the late Timothy K. Earle, who died on the Ist of October, 1881, at the age of fifty-eight years, and whose portrait appears in connection with this sketch, that our remarks must chiefly apply. As before stated, he was born in the good old town of Leicester, January 11, 1823. He obtained the rudi- ments of education in the common village school, was subsequently a pupil in Leicester Academy and in the Friends' School in Providence, R. I. And thongh he did not professedly become what the world calls a scholarly man, he was yet competent to take an intelligent part in the discussion of the higher topics of the day. He became a resident of Worcester in 1842.

Of the many beautiful mansions that adorn the picturesque heights of Worcester, and by their solid- ity of construction, well-chosen and commanding situations, invite the notice of the passer-by, few equal that reared by the subject of this sketch. It is of stone, in a stately architectural style, almost ! stead is still occupied by the family, its many objects baronial in proportions, and commands interesting views of the city and surrounding country.

Mr. Earle was twice married, his first wife having been Nancy T., daughter of William E. Hacker, of Philadelphia, the marriage taking place September 12, 1849. By her he had five daughters and one son. Two of the daughters are now living-Marianna M., wife of Edwin Brown, of Worcester, and Nancy H. His second wife was Caroline C., daughter of Daniel Osborne, of Dover, N. H. By her he had three children, two of whom, Daniel Osborne Earle and Caroline Earle, are now living. The beautiful home- of refined ornamentation, the accumulations of wealth and taste, rendering it an enviable home, with only the recollection of the loss of the revered head of the household to mar the enjoyable serenity.

In a carefully-prepared family history, entitled " Ralph Earle and His Descendants," compiled by Pliny Earle, of Northampton, is given a concise ac- count of the business career of Mr. Earle, from which the following is quoted : "He lived with his parents, and when not at school assisted upon the farm until after the decease of his uncle, Silas Earle, when he purchased, in company with Reuben Randall, the card-setting machines, which had contributed very largely to the growth of the estate left by Silas. The several changes of ownership of Randall's interest followed that purchase, until the final formation of the firm ' T. K. Earle & Company,' with Timothy K. and his elder half-brother, Edward Earle, as the sole co-partners, together with the removal of the business to Worcester, have also been mentioned. When this company was formed Timothy K. was still in his min-

William H Heywood

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ority, and neither of its members, had any practical ex- perience in the business. But Timothy K. was en- dowed with a large share of that mechanical ingenuity which had previously appeared in several mem- bers of the family. He was quick of perception, apt to learn, industrious, energetic and persevering, and not devoid, withal, of a justifiable ambition, while Edward was a careful and prudent financier, who had acquired a knowledge of mercantile principles and methods from his experience in another line of busi- ness, and who possessed a constitutional calmness and soundness of judgment matured by years and im- proved by practice."

Thus equipped at the beginning, Timothy K. de- voted himself to the work with a degree of assidnity and activity indicative, not only of a mind which ac- knowledges no criterion but success, but prophetic of the assurance of that success. It is not our intention, as not necessarily our province, to give a detailed ac- count of the business of T. K. Earle & Company, or the steps by which their establishment was enlarged, until it became, as it still continues to be, the most extensive of its kind in the United States. Edward Earle retired from it in 1869, and his interest was purchased by his half-brother, Thomas, who died in 1871. In 1872 Edwin Brown, of Worcester, son-in- law of T. K. Earle, became a partner, and in 1880 a company, under the name of " The T. K. Earle Man- ufacturing Company," was organized with T. K. Earle as president and Edwin Brown as agent and treasurer. Of Timothy K. Earle it has been justly said : "Quick to recognize ability in others, and to appreciate what was needed in his business, he always associated with himself employees and mechanics of only the highest ability."

Mr. Earle was long an ardent advocate of temper- ance principles, was a liberal contributor to that and other reformatory and benevolent causes, and his ex- ertions were so highly appreciated, and the reliance on his ability and integrity so great, that the "Pro- hibition " party, in 1880 and '81, nominated him for the office of Lientenant-Governor.

In religious sentiment Mr. Earle adhered to the Society of Friends, actively participating in their business meetings, and being sometimes a speaker in their worshiping assemblies.

The extensive business relations of Mr. Earle drew so largely upon his time and attention that he had little to spare for the duties of public office, for which, indeed, he had little taste or inclination. He served in hardly any office, excepting that of School Com- mittee.

WILLIAM HENRY HEYWOOD.

Mr. Heywood was born in Worcester on the 14th of April, 1817. He early became aware that his suc- cess in life depended on his own exertions, and, with- out a murmur at the apparently more fortunate situa- tion of others, or a shade of envy, addressed himself

bravely to the work before him. From the time he was able to wield the hoe and rake until seventeen years of age he labored on a farm, during which time he availed himself of the opportunities afforded by the district school to procure such education as would be required in the position he was probably destined to oceupy. Not only was this accomplished, but the foundation was laid for such after-acquire- ments as now enable him to maintain a most credit- able standing.

At about the age of seventeen years Mr. Heywood began his apprenticeship at carpentering. Appren- ticeship in those days was very different from appren- tieeship at the present time, and it may not be invid- ious to claim that while the labors and hardships of the apprentice of the old time were more burdensome than they could be now, more thorough instruction and discipline were acquired. The employment of machinery nowadays in every department of me- chanics and its adaptation to every detail has ren- dered much of the former personal skill obsolete. Mr. Heywood was a well-instructed workman, and successfully pursued the business of carpenter for some twenty-five years-till 1853. He then engaged in other occupations, that demanded less personal ex- posure.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 188

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