History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 140

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 896

USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II > Part 140

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After leaving the academy he took up the work of a teacher for a considerable period, but never lost sight of his intended life-work, the practice of medicine.

As principal of the High School at Chicopee Falls he re- vived the thorough methods of his old preceptor, and many young men whom he fitted for college and for business bear willing testimony that their success in life has been largely due to the early and controlling impulse in the direction of thoroughness and accuracy imparted by him. He was a born educator, sparing no labor himself in the mastery of knowl- edge, and unwilling that any of his pupils should come short of the same standard of scholarship which he had attained.

- After entering active professional life he kept up a lively interest in popular education, and has been for many years prominent in the control of the public schools of his town.

But his life-work has been in his chosen field, to which he brought the same breadth of culture and thoroughness of re- search which he had developed in the work of a teacher. The power to diagnose disease with almost unerring certainty, whether it comes as the result of a long and varied experience or of hard study, or of an innate quality of mind, seems to have been at the foundation of his professional success. It may be safely said that no homeopathic physician in the Connecticut Valley commands a wider or more successful range of practice, or stands higher in the confidence of his patients and the community.

Notwithstanding his years and the exacting demands of his practice, he pursues his researches in medical science, as well as his favorite studies outside of the beaten path of his pro- fession, as regularly and enthusiastically as in his earlier years, the former as a duty he owes to his patients, and the latter for recreation. Possibly this relief in outside studies may be the reason why his years and labors sit lightly upon him. Certain it is that his powers of mind and body seem in nowise im- paired by the wear and tear of a long and arduous professional life, and bid fair to hold out for many years to come.

Dr. Alvord has been for many years a member of the Massa- chusetts Homeopathic Medical Society and of the American Institute of Homeopathy.

SAMUEL BLAISDELL, JR.,

was born in Boston in 1833. At the age of eleven years he removed to Great Falls, and did his first work in the cotton- mills of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company. At the age of eighteen he returned to Boston, and after trying several occupations, none of which suited his taste, he entered the employ of the Boston and Providence Railroad Company, and remained with them nine years, filling nearly every posi- tion of trust and responsibility on the road. Later he con- nected himself with the New York and Providence Steamship Company, removed to New York, and took charge of the husiness of the company at Pier I1, North River. At this time the company had the only line in the country carrying through freight from the east to the west, and frequently

loaded three large steamers per day, which at that time was justly considered a very large business. Mr. Blaisdell's busi- ness habits and the executive ability displayed attracted the attention of business-men, and upon the organization of the New York aud Baltimore Steamship Company he became resident agent and business manager of the line at Baltimore. The organization of this company proved a success, and its business was heavy. At the close of the war lines were put in operation to Savannah, Charleston, and Mobile, and Mr. Blaisdell cleared for Charleston and Savannah the first steam- ers that left the port of Baltimore after the Rebellion. He also sent the steamer " Kingfisher," Capt. Rector, into South- ern waters as a dispatch boat, bearing dispatches from Grant to Sherman. This was the first vessel that passed Fort Sumter with the United States flag flying after the evacua- tion. Ile remained in Baltimore five years, during which time he furnished the government with a large number of steamers for the transportation of troops and supplies.

In 1868, Mr. Blaisdell came to Chicopee, established the cotton business, and from small beginnings has built up an extensive business, aggregating one million five hundred thousand dollars annually. IIe is transacting the largest business of the kind in the United States outside the city of New York. In speaking of this enterprise The South says :

"The magnitude of the cotton interest demands the most economical treat- ment in all particulars, if the best results are to be sought and secured. The changed condition of affairs, imposed by the severity of the times, requires the utmost care at every point. To buy cotton cheap is not always to buy it well. Quality must determine value, and if it be not right in this particular, it may prove a dear bargain indeed.

"The merchant who huys and sells cotton does not always prove equal to the task of determining its quality. It is a weighty matter to make an inspection which shall prove entirely reliable. Could the merchant have the co-operation of the proincer, he would err far less frequently than is at present the case. To secure this, one condition is essential, and that is interest. Could the man who packs and ships cotton feel that his reputation and his success were at stake in every transaction he made, a motive would exist which would insure a great benefit to all interested.

" That this may be done, and that it is done with marked and gratifying re- sults, is shown in the case of the house of Mess. s. Samuel Blais lefl, Jr., & Co., of Chicopee, Mass., who have developed this subject to large proportions. A few years since they established the business of supplying large corporations with cotton. Practically educated in its culture, and possessing a critical knowledge of its quality, they undertook to stand between the consumer and the producer, and to see that exact justice was done both. As a consequence the consumer suon found that his welfare was being very materially promoted, and that while he was paying no more for his cotton, he was actually making considerable siv- ing, both in quality and in price.

" This became the general experience of manufacturers whose orders were sup- plied through this house, whose business was soon largely increased, insomnch that shippers of the staple in all parts of the South became anxions to deal with them. From these numerous applicants they were enabled to choose those whose location and standing were such as to jusnre excellence and reliability. A standard was established, and its due observance must, in the inevitable course of affairs, determine the duration of business intercourse. All the while the consumer was receiving shipments of cotton, which, for uniformity and general excellence, surpassed his former experience, llis orders becumne constant, and the demand on the shipper was also large and frequent. All this came from a critical method in the business, which did justice to all concerned. Now the transactions of Messis. Samuel Blaisdell, Jr , & Co. have reached a significance which would surprise one not conversant with their history.

" The large shipments direct from the Southern planters are all consigned to Messrs. C. Il. Mallory & Co., of New York, who attend to the distribution to all parts of the country as ordered by Messis, Samuel Blaisdell, Jr., & Co. It will thus be seen this house possesses unsurpassed facilities in this respect, by which means the consumer is saved the expense of rehandling, storage, shipping, and insurance. The magnitude of their business secures for the buyer the cheap est freights, while their intimate knowledge of valnes is of great and constant ser- vice to him. Their large pecuniary resourers enable them to complete the most weighty transactions. They would appear to have in their power to confer great favors on both shipper and consumer, and they are surely accomplishing their work."

It is said that " nothing succeeds like success." Mr. Blais- dell almost from boyhood has occupied positions of trust and responsibility, and has brought to the discharge of his duty that foresight and executive ability which characterizes the lives of successful men. He has not taken an active part in polities since leaving Baltimore, although he has had tendered to him many positions of trust. He is and always has been

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

a Republican. In 1860, Mir. Blaisdell, married the only daugh- ter of 1 .. H. Crane, of Brattleboro', Vt .*

EMERSON GAYLORD,

son of Josiah Gaylord and Lucinda Smith Gaylord, was born in South Hadley, Mass., Sept. 2, 1817. His father died when he was seven years of age, and, the funily not being in very good circumstances financially, he was early left to depend upon his own individual resources. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to Seth Nyms, of Amherst, to learn the harness-making business, An apprentice in those days was called upon to do " chores," and render assistance in various ways outside the legitimate business. So it was with young Gaylord. He was ambitious and eager to succeed ; but, soon finding that he had so much farming and choring on hand that it left but little time to work at the trade, he remained but two months, when he returned to South Hadley and began the shoemaker's trade with George Kilbourn. Hle afterward purchased " his time" of Kilbourn for fifty dollars. The de- termination to succeed and become master of whatever busi- ness he engaged in was characteristic of him then as well as in later life, and he gave a Mr. Ely one dollar per week to teach him the art of making a first-class gaiter-boot. Ile continued working at his trade, and at the age of twenty-one years had saved forty dollars. After leaving the employ of Mr. Kilbourn, he worked for John Gaylord in the shoe busi- ness until 1840, and in the following year-1841-came to Chicopee and entered the employ of the N. P. Ames Com- pany, manufacturer of cannon, swords, and military accoutre- ments, including artillery-harness and saddles. His first work here was making harnesses for the Texan trade, and soon after it was extended to sword-scabbards and other military accou- trements. Mr. Gaylord entered this establishment with the will that characterized his previous career ; and, as illustrative of the esteem in which he was held by the company, it is stated that he first received seven shillings per day, which was after one month increased to one dollar and twenty-five cents. And in 1843, when the health of the foreman failed, Mr. Ames solicited him to take charge of the shop; but, instead of longer continuing as an employé, he contracted with the Ames Company for furnishing the leather goods. He continued in this business until January 1, 1856, when he purchased that part of the business, and added to the manufacture leather hose and machine-belting.

In 1856 he received orders from the War Department for infantry accoutrements, and continued to fill orders for the same every three months up to 1861. Prior to the breaking out of the Rebellion he furnished first-class military accou- trements to the following Southern States, -Maryland, Vir- ginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi,-little thinking that those very accoutrements would so soon be used in a war to perpetuate slavery, and to break up the union of States in which the commonwealth of Massachusetts has ever played an important role. On the day Fort Sumter fell, Mr. Gay- lord had a stock of accoutrements for the South on hand, and on the afternoon of the same day received a dispatch from Col. Thornton, commanding at Governor's Island, N. Y., to ship to the government all goods on hand and all in process of construction. Soon after, a messenger arrived from Gov. Andrew with the same request for Massachusetts, He re- solved to divide them equally between the government and the State, and did so. Before night of the same day a noted speculator from New York arrived and offered Mr. Gaylord five thousand dollars more than he would otherwise receive. Mr. Gaylord's keen eye took it all in at a glance. He saw that they would, if once in the hands of this man, be sold to

the Southern States, and, being more patriotic than many in the North during the dark days of 1861-62, promptly refused the offer. The demand from the government for this line of goods now became large, and to till it he rapidly erected new and large buildings, increased his force to four hundred and fifty men, and shipped from eighteen thousand to twenty thousand dollars' worth of goods per week. In 1861 he also contracted for furnishing the government with leather mail- bags for a term of four years, and has taken it at three succes- sive lettings since,-twelve years in all.

In April, 1863, Mr. Gaylord organized his establishment into a stock company. Ile owns a majority of the stock, and has been president since its organization. Since the Rebel- lion, the business has been chiefly confined to cabinet-Jocks and regulation and society swords of the finest workmanship.

Politically, Mr. Gaylord has been a Republican since the organization of the party. He has manifested an interest in political matters, and was a member of the Legislature in 1866. Hle is a member of the Third Congregational Church. He married, in 1844, Jane Burnett, a native of South Hadley. They have one son, A. F. Gaylord, who is one of the stock- holders in, and treasurer of, the Gaylord Manufacturing Company.

It is readily seen that Mr. Gaylord has depended upon his own resources, but, being possessed of a determined will, coupled with business foresight, has been eminently success- ful; and the poor boy of 1830 is now one of the substantial and wealthy manufacturers of the Connecticut Valley.

EZEKIEL BLAKE.

The subject of this memoir was born in Londonderry, N. H., Jan. 9, 1811. His early days, without much opportunity for schooling, were spent in the cooper-shop of his father. But his home was not inviting at that period, for reasons needless to repeat, and after patiently enduring many trials he left his father's house at the age of seventeen. With all his worldly estate in a small bundle of clothes under his arm, he started on foot for Methuen, Mass., to see what he could do toward making his own way in life. Presenting himself to Mr. A. Adams, the manager of the cotton-mills there, he at once found employment. His purpose was to learn to be a manufacturer, and, like the sensible boy he was, he was will- ing to begin at the bottom. His engagement was for three years, at fifty dollars for the first, one hundred for the second, and one hundred and twenty dollars for the third, inclusive of board. Commencing in the mill-yard, he worked up gradu- ally through the picker-room, card-room, spinning-room, weaving-room, until, under the agency of Daniel Balch, he became an overseer in the mills which he had so lately entered as a boy with everything to learn. Energetic, observing, faithful in every position he held, from the lowest upward, he soon became thorough master of his business, and he did not fail to attract notice and lucrative offers in larger manufac- tories which required him.

While at Methuen he became an earnest Christian, and in his twenty-first year united with the Baptist Church in that place, then under the care of Rev. C. O. Kimball. In the year 1833 he married Miss Mercie Perkins, of Jaffrey, N. H., who still survives him after a happy union in a married life of nearly forty years, In 1835 a more important and lucrative post as overseer of the weaving in the " Boott Corporation" at Lowell called and kept him there for five successive years. In 1840 the charge both of weaving and dressing was pressed upon him from the Amoskeag corporation, at Manchester, N. H., which he accepted and most successfully held until the year 1846. During that year, after accepting and retaining for a time the office of superintendent of the Lowell Machine- Works, he resigned that post to accept the agency of the Chicopee Manufacturing Company, at Chicopee Falls, in the

* Mr. Blaisdell's cotton storehouse, at Chicopee Junction, with considerable stock, was destroyed by fire in April, 1879.

Omerson Gaylord

Ezekiel Blake

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ZMUL

Grand. Taylor

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HISTORY OF HAMPDEN COUNTY.

active duties of which most responsible position he remained till the morning of his sudden death,-a period of twenty- seven years. Under his agency the mills rose to be regarded as one of the most valuable and successful manufacturing properties in the country.

Ezekiel Blake for twenty-seven years occupied an official position which, in a village like Chicopee Falls, identified him directly or indirectly in some way with the life of almost every individual. Coming into the agency of the Chicopee mills in 1846, he as the years went on grew more and more into the thorough respect, confidence, and love of his neighbors and of all who knew him. This village, in which the best years of his life were spent, was very dear to him. Its interests were his interests ; its prosperity was his prosperity. Vigi- lant and faithful as he proverbially was to the special interests of his own great charge, he had ever an eye and an ear and a helping hand for every new business enterprise which prom- ised to bring thrift and additional prosperity to the village in which he lived. As president of two corporations, as director and stockholder in others, he has ever had an active share in the business life of the village. His co-operation and his counsel will long be missed in many a circle and by many a man. Though by his own special office placed in a position of great responsibility, and intensely devoted to his proper duties there, he was nevertheless emphatically a man of the people. He was not only the thorough master of his business as a great manufacturer in all the details of its operations, but also in every. department of business outside his own calling with which he was connected. ITis strong native intellect, his long experience, his clear practical judgment, joined with his ster- ling integrity of character, rendered him a counselor in many circles whose loss will long be felt. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and manifested a deep interest in religious matters. He died Nov. 27, 1872.

GEORGE DEXTER ROBINSON.

The Robinson family appears in the earliest records of the ancient town of Lexington, Mass., and its connexions were participants in the memorable affray upon Lexington Com- mon, April 19, 1775. The mother of the subject of this sketch, Mary Davis Robinson, is a descendant of the Davis and Hos- mer families of Concord and Acton, Mass., many of whose members fought for American liberty at Concord,

" Where the embattled farmers stood

And fired the shot heard round the world."

George D. Robinson, son of Charles and Mary Davis Rob- inson, was born in Lexington, Mass., Jan. 20, 1834. The family consisted of two children, George D. and an older brother, Charles Robinson, Jr., wbo has been mayor of the city of Charlestown, Mass., and is now a prominent lawyer in Boston. The Robinson home was upon a farm remote from neighbors and two miles distant from Lexington village. In his early boyhood George D. attended the district school, ranking first among his associates. At the age of sixteen he began attendance at the Lexington Academy, where he re- mained one year, and was then sent to the Hopkins classical school at Cambridge, Mass., the design of his father being to give him a good education, but with no purpose looking to the benefits of a collegiate training. While in the latter school he made such progress that the principal of the institution per- suaded his father to send him to Harvard College, and accord- ingly, in July, 1852, he presented himself for examination, and was admitted without conditions,-the only member of the class from that school who passed as creditably. Mr. Robin- son took high rank in his class in college, and in July, 1856, graduated among the foremost of its 92 members. In the winters of his junior and senior years he taught the district school in Lexington, where he had formerly been a pupil. Upon graduation he accepted the principalship of the high

school in Chicopee, Mass., and assumed the duties of the posi- tion Sept. 20, 1856, and remained in charge of this large school -averaging 125 pupils-until March, 1865, when he resigned. Mr. Robinson was very successful in the management of this school, and during his administration a course of study was adopted and many other reforms inaugurated which have contributed to the present high standing of the school, and it is but justice to say that his resignation was accepted with much regret. lfe at once went to Charlestown, Mass., and commenced the study of the law in the office of his brother, and after eleven months was, upon examination, admitted to the Bar at Cambridge, Mass., and on the 1st of April, 1866, returned to Chicopee and there entered upon the practice of the law, which he has since continued with marked success.

Politically, Mr. Robinson is a Republican, and, like every true citizen, has ever taken an active interest in political mat- ters. He was in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1874 as a member of the House of Representatives, serving on the judiciary committee. In 1876 he was a member of the State Senate, serving as chairman of the committees on the judiciary, probate and chancery, and constitutional amendments. In the fall of 1876 he was elected representative to the Forty- Fifth Congress of the United States from the Eleventh Dis- triet of Massachusetts to succeed Hon. Chester W. Chapin, and in that body was assigned to the committee on the im- provement of the Mississippi River, and the committee of ex- penditures in the department of justice. In the fall of 1878 he was re-elected to Congress, and is now a member of the committee on the judiciary.

Mr. Robinson has ever been actively interested in the ad- vancement of the interests of the town and State, and has always considered it his duty to meet unhesitatingly all the claims fairly made upon the citizens. Ile has always mani- fested an active interest in religious matters, is a Unitarian, and has been thoroughly and earnestly alive to the support of the liberal faith, rendering assistance in the Sunday-school and in all departments of church work.

Mr. Robinson rose rapidly in his profession, and soon took front rank among the leading members of the Bar of Western Massachusetts. As a legislator he was watchful of the inter- ests of the whole people, and measures touching the advance- ment and welfare of the State found in him a fearless advocate.

GEORGE SYLVESTER TAYLOR,

son of Sylvester Taylor and Sarah Eaton Taylor, was born in South Hadley, Hampshire Co., Mass., March 2, 1822. IIe re- moved with his parents to Chicopee Falls when but six years of age, and attended school at Chicopee and Springfield, laying the foundation for his subsequent successful business career. He commeneed a general mercantile business at Chicopee in 1844, in company with Mr. Shackford, under the firm-name of Shackford & Taylor. Ile continued in this business nineteen years, and then formed a copartnership with Bildad B. Bel- cher, in the manufacture of agricultural implements at Chico- pee Falls. In 1864 the firm was changed to a corporation, with Mr. Taylor treasurer, and Mr. Belcher agent. In 1868 the latter resigned, and Mr. Taylor was appointed, since which time he has held the position of agent and treasurer. In 1863 the business was not in a prosperous condition, but since that time has increased gradually, and is now large and highly successful.

Politically, he is a member of the Republican party, and has served in various official positions within the gift of his fellow-citizens. Ile has filled various town offices, and was special judge of the Chicopee police court, upon its organiza- tion in 1860. In the same year he represented this distriet in the Legislature, and in 1869 represented the Western Hamp- den District in the State Senate.

In religious matters he has also been active. He is a member

984

THISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

of the Congregational Church, and has officiated as superin- tendent of the Sunday-school a quarter of a century, and as deneon twenty-two years, having been chosen to the latter position June 20, 1857. Mr. Taylor married, Nov. 25, 1845, Asenath B. Cobb, a native of Princeton, Mass. Their family

consisted of seven children, four of whom are living, viz., Ella S., wife of Henry Lyon, of Chicopee; Edward S., who resides in Chicopee, and is paymaster at the Musgrave Alpaca Company ; William C., who is now engaged in the mercantile business in Boston ; and Albert E.

PALMER ..

GEOGRAPHICAL.

PALMER lies farthest to the northeast of any of the towns of Hampden County. It is very irregular in outline, and is bounded north by Belchertown and Ware, in Ilampshire County ; south by the town of Monson, Hampden County ; east by the towns of Warren, Worcester County, and Brim- field, Hampden County ; and west by the towns of Wilbra- ham, Ilampden County, and Belchertown, Hampshire County. It comprises 17,216 acres of land.

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History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 140

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 896

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 896