USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1876 to 1950, Volume II > Part 38
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Mr. Armsby was a farmer, and also raised very fine fruit. After his death, Mrs. Sarah E. Wells came into possession of the place. Fred S. Smith and family carried on the farm for a number of years and, in 1918, Fayette Armsby King bought the property. He put in heat and made other improvements.
Mr. King was long employed by the Crompton Knowles Co., and later was agent for oil furnaces. He also served on the Sutton School Committee and was Town Auditor for several years. He died in 1944.
Mrs. King is widely known and respected in Worcester city and the county for her ability as a stylist in a Worcester Gown Shop.
There are two children: Pauline, who married C. Theodore Johnson, lives at Wedgewood. She is a graduate of Cushing Academy. Francis H. is a graduate of Worcester Trade School and is a carpenter.
It is interesting to note that Sarah King Bennett, who transcribed the records for Vol. I of the Sutton History, was a great-aunt of these children.
The Prentice Place, at the corner of Old Stone and Armsby roads, was owned by Professor George Prentice of Middletown College. It will be remembered as the home of Helen Prentice of the prodigious memory. She could recite chapter after chapter of the Holy Scriptures until, says Volume I of the Town History, "it was said she had learned the whole Bible."
This place was acquired by Sarah E. Wedge, in 1887, from the Prentice heirs and was, for a time, occupied by the Claflin family.
Miss Wedge had owned the property about two years when the house caught fire on a winter night and was entirely destroyed. The Claflin family escaped in their nightclothes and ran barefooted over the ice and snow to the nearest neighbor's home, the Stone place.
The little boy was in despair when compelled to put on a girl's dress, but nothing else was available. To this day, sixty years later, the boy, who brought some garments the next morning, can describe in detail the Claflin boy's relief and speed when he saw and slid into the boy's pants.
The old house was never rebuilt and not until 1951 was it used again as a home site. Donald and Jean Beckwith saw the possibilities there, however, and
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HISTORY of SUTTON
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HOME OF FRANCIS H. KING
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HOMES of SUTTON
bought the property from Mrs. Fayette King. The Beckwiths erected a beautiful, modern, four-room house. Mr. Beckwith did most of the work, unaided, and no one, who has not tried it, has the least conception of the work required to go into a pine grove and accomplish what he has, in so short a time. The children are, Francis (1938) and Shirley Ann (1951).
The brick house, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Mercure, is the first home beyond Wells's corner, going south on Old Stone Road.
A story relates that when Whiting Fisher was building it a thunder shower was coming up. Mr. Fisher, on the roof, kept working on the chimney. Light- ning struck the house, passed through his wet clothing and melted together the coins in his pocket.
This property was long owned by Aaron Day and later came into the posses- sion of his niece, Emma Day, about 1894. It afterwards became the property of Rowland Stockwell. Mr. Stockwell had two wives, Olive Lincoln and Ida Leland and no children.
During the time Mr. Stockwell owned the farm, he cultivated the land and sold market garden produce from house to house down the Blackstone valley. The Connecticut River Power Co. obtained a wide right of way through the property in 1913.
After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Stockwell the property was sold to Joseph Minor, in 1930. There are three Minor children: Evelyn, wife of Edward Gendron; Ernest, who married Gabrielle Corbeille and Lena, who is now Mrs. Asa Stratton. They all live in Sutton.
In 1930, the Connecticut River Power Co. widened the right of way through Mr. Minor's farm .
In 1941, Albert and Cecile Mercure bought the property. Mr. Mercure is a mechanic and is employed by the Socony Oil Co. in Worcester. They have four children: Mary Virginia, born in 1943; Cheryl, in 1945; Richard in 1947, and Dennis in 1949.
The Mercures have improved the inside of the house by adding many modern improvements.
Almost opposite the Old Stone School, on Old Stone Road, we find what was known for many years at the "Stone Place." Henry and Roxcyllana Stone bought the property from Edmund Day, brother of Aaron Day, who owned the brick house nearby.
When the Old Stone School had regular sessions, Mrs. Stone was a kind mother to the pupils. Many a bruise and cut finger and toe went to her for treatment. She also allowed the children to fill the "'water pail" at their spring near the house.
After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Stone, Joseph and Manuel Alves, natives of Cape Verde Islands, owned the property, in 1924. Later, Albert Yench bought the place and sold it, in 1926, to Joseph and Tofilia Faltanavic, who came to live there from Worcester with their family. There were seven children: Joseph, who was later graduated from Holy Cross College and now is at home; Mary, who married Merritt Learned; William, who married Laura Moe; Matilda, who married Henry Nettleblatt of Worcester, a manufacturer of jewelry; Phyllis, who married Herman Olson of Hartford; Victor, now at home; Albert, who
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married Margaret Splane and is employed by the U.S. Government in Kittery Point, Maine. He served in World War II.
Joseph Faltanavic, Sr. died in 1948. He was a Fireman, 1st Class, employed in Worcester.
In a grove of trees almost directly behind the Old Stone School, on land owned by the Faltanavic family, is the home of Merritt Learned. Mr. Merritt E. Learned from Meriden, Conn. first built a camp for vacations, in 1936. He has since made many improvements and additions until it has become since 1940, a comfortable and attractive year-round residence.
Mr. Learned married Mary Faltanavic Oct. 22, 1924. They have two children, Grace, born Oct. 15, 1927 and Arthur N., born Jan. 20, 1929, both natives of Meriden, Conn.
Arthur was graduated in 1950 from Yale University as Bachelor of Engineer- ing. He is also an accomplished pianist. Grace, a registered Nurse, is a grad- uate of the Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia in the class of September, 1948. She has also continued her studies since graduation.
Mr. Merritt Learned is a veteran of World War I, 102 U.S. Infantry, 26th Division.
The Learneds, as a family, have traveled widely, giving their children a broad education outside the schoolroom. Mr. Learned is now retired.
The Ellis Place, formerly known as the "Anderson" or "Shambo Place," is on the corner of Old Stone and Smith roads.
This place was sold to Joseph H. Shambo by S. H. Bowker, in 1877. Mr. Shambo sold to Arthur Hammond, who lived there about three years, then sold the place to William E. Smith, after which Asa J. Ellis purchased the property. Asa J. Ellis died June 13, 1934 and his wife, Mrs. Naomi B. Ellis, in 1949.
The present owner is Jesse E. Ellis, son of Asa and Naomi Ellis. He has four children: Barbara, who married George Lunt of Worcester; Naomi, married to Everett Inglesby of Springfield; Jesse married Gertrude Couture of Millbury; Gordon, born Sept. 2, 1930. Mr. Ellis is a machinist by trade. Electric lights and other modern improvements have been added recently.
This is one of the older houses in town and an interesting feature, which was more or less common in the days of the early settlers, still exists. This is a dug- out on the sunny side of a knoll where the original settlers spent their first winter. The dugout on the Ellis place was used for many years as a poultry shelter.
Tradition has it that the Ellis house was one of the four houses built by John Hicks, who came to Sutton, in 1730.
Daniel Scannell, sometimes called Scanlon, lived in a house on an almost overgrown cart road, near the Ellis place. A few hundred feet from the traveled way may be found the remains of the old cellar hole.
It is said that Scannell used to go to Worcester to church at Easter every year, there being no church of his faith in the vicinity. The story continues that he also stayed over for a few days and enjoyed the strong waters, found in the city. He was a hard worker, raised a family of children and, according to the old maps, owned what we know as the Amour place. He had difficulty with his speech, which may account for the uncertainty regarding his name.
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The "Mineral Spring Fruit and Poultry Farm" is located on Smith Road, and the house is the last one on the road. The present owners are Josephine and Theodore Amour.
This place was acquired by Eva S. Bancroft in 1877, then by Joab T. Wood- ward. He had three sons and four daughters: Ida, who married Edwin Johnson of Worcester; Harry, who married Adelaide Aldrich of Millbury; Percy, who married Rose Glenner of Killingly, Conn .; Hattie, who married George Gill of Whitinsville; Fannie, who married Alonzo Gill of Whitinsville; Anna, who re- mained unmarried; Josiah, who married Grace Spencer of Grafton.
The place was next purchased by Joseph A. Valcourt, in 1897, who sold it to Lucy Newell in 1904. George F. Andrews became the owner in 1905 and sold to Frank E. Barnes in 1910. Mr. Barnes sold to William E. Smith, in 1911, and at his death it became the property of Josephine and Theodore Amour.
Mr. Smith, a retired sea captain, remodeled the house, beautified the sur- roundings and specialized in the fruit and poultry business.
Over 1500 apple and pear trees have been planted, and the old dam, across the brook near the house, has been rebuilt. The beautiful pond, thus formed, has been stocked with gold fish and planted with colored pond lilies. A mineral spring is one of the attractions which gives this place the name of "Mineral Spring Fruit and Poultry Farm."
Mrs. Josephine Amour has resided here with her family of four sons and three daughters. Napoleon B. married Rose Bouvier of Sutton; Fred V married Lena Caplette of Grafton; George E. married Harriet Foshay of Millbury; Lena married Leo Girardin of Grafton; Beatrice married O'Neil Drolet of Grafton (deceased); Theodore J., Josephine and Beatrice remain at home.
The farm is traversed by the high tension lines of the Connecticut Power Co., and also by the Worcester-Providence Turnpike, which latter was built in 1941.
The Bates Homestead is located in the easterly part of Sutton on Old Stone Road, the only house between Lincoln Road and the Central Turnpike. This street is sometimes called Bates Road.
In 1730, John Hicks came to Sutton from Westborough with his brother-in- law, The Rev. Ebenezer Parkman, on an inspection visit to Sutton Parish. He was so pleased with the town he decided to settle in the vicinity. He bought a large tract of land, including a part of the present Purgatory, and became one of the early Selectmen. His son, John Hicks, was killed in Cambridge, April 19, 1775, during the Concord-Lexington raid by the British. (Westborough, Mas- sachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts Histories)
He built homes for himself and his three sons on his property and the Bates House, now owned by Claude E. Bates, was the fourth and was built in 1750. This dwelling is one of the oldest in town and was occupied first by Zachariah Hicks, and to date, two hundred years later, the ownership has never gone out of the family.
The house was built around a huge stone-based brick chimney and has eleven rooms. The only structural change ever made during the two centuries was the addition of an ell in 1870. Before 1949, when electricity was installed, the Hicks and Bates families have lived under the same condtions as their fathers and grandfathers.
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"Electricity will do much for more comfortable living" says a member of the family, but we still retain the features that have endeared this old house to the many descendents of its first owner, John Hicks.
Many stories are told of the old-fashioned hospitality found there and the parties when "everybody had a good time down at Hicks's."
Claude E. Bates, born in 1893, seventh generation in direct line from John Hicks, now owns the farm. He is the fourth son of George Clarendon and Jennie Lowe Bates and grandson of Maria Hicks, who married Clarendon H. Bates. The four sons of Maria and Clarendon Bates were: Frank, Fred, Willard and George Clarendon, the youngest, who was born in 1860. When George Clarendon was two weeks old, his father, Clarendon, died and his mother, Maria, later married Rufus Barnes of Boylston, Mass. Three children were born to this marriage, Daniel, Betsy and Charles Barnes. The son, George Bates, was reared by his grandparents, the Hiram Hickses, father and mother of Maria Hicks Bates.
George acquired the family farm from his bachelor uncle, Champney Hicks (1836-1919), brother of his mother, Maria, and son of Hiram Hicks. George C. Bates (1860-1926) married Jennie E. Lowe (1864-1911) of Sutton. Seven children were born to them. They were: Fred C. (1882-1901); Louis Dexter (1885-1948) married twice, Helen Hines, and Mattie Aldrich, Upton; Walter
) married Beulah Wood, Worcester, three children; Claude
Baker (1887- E. (1893- ) married Mary A. Whittles of Worcester, five children; Margie
Irene (1897- ) married William E. Cummings, Northbridge, six children;
Paul R. (1899- ) married Bessie Tracy, Ellsworth, Maine, three children; Clarendon P. (1901-1948) married Flora Whittles, Worcester, twin boys.
The sons of Maria Hicks and Clarendon Bates were all railroad men. Fred traveled westward and finally settled in Phoenix, Arizona. Frank, Willard and George were employees of the B. and A. Railroad and George was a veteran railroad telegrapher and tower operator. He also did farming and teaming.
The different owners of the Bates place have been ardent hunters and fish- ermen and experts in the breeding and training of hunting dogs. Champney D. Hicks and George C. Bates specialized in pointers while Claude E. Bates favors the old-fashioned black and tan fox-hounds.
Claude E. Bates inherited the farm from his father, George C. Bates, in 1926. The children of Claude and Mary Bates are Myron (1920), Elinor (1922), wife of Ralph H. Currier, John Edward (1924), Charlotte V. (1926), wife of James E. Stockwell, and Jane Elizabeth (1933). Claude E. Bates has done gen- eral farming and was employed as foreman on road maintenance. He was with a roofing concern in Providence, R. I. prior to service in World War I.
Pfc. Claude E. Bates was in France in Battery E, 305 Field Artillery, 77th Division (Liberty) for two years. Corp. John Edward Bates, son of Claude E., had three years' service as electrical specialist in the Army Air Corps, with the Troop Carrier Command, E. T. O., March 1943-March 1946. This unit carried personnel and supplies from a base in France to points in Norway, The Netherlands and Great Britain.
MCCLELLAN ROAD
The Kelley Place, so called, is located on the Mcclellan Road, midway between the Old Stone and Dodge Hill Roads. This property was formerly
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owned by Reuben Dodge and it was acquired by Job Rawlings, previous to 1905.
It was afterwards owned by Elizabeth Rawlings, who sold it to Paul Walko- wich. William T. Stockwell later bought the place and sold part of it to the present owner, Arthur Dwelly Keown.
The house was burned about 1930 and in 1938 the hurricane destroyed the barn. Today, only the cellar hole and a "door rock" give mute evidence of a former residence.
The first house beyond Dodge Hill Road, going east on McClellan Road, was long known as the Reuben Dodge Place, and is now owned by Arthur Dwelly Keown, who lives there with his family.
After the death of Reuben Dodge, his heirs sold the place to Charles Snow and he, in turn, to Napoleon Goulet. In 1913, the Drew Orchards added this farm to their fruit-raising project. Three thousand apple trees and the same number of peach trees were set out and William A. Greene was manager. In the spring when the blossoms come, these trees on the hill may be seen for miles and many visitors drive from a distance to enjoy their pink and white beauty.
Arthur Daniel Keown, owner after Drew Orchards, was born in Florida. His father was engaged in early citrus industry there. The son, Arthur Daniel, came north to attend Mt. Hermon School in Massachusetts, and later married Alice Dwelly. He was in the fruit and produce business in New York City and Wor- cester before coming to Sutton. There were two children: Arthur Dwelly and Ruth Keown. Mr. Keown Sr. died in January, 1946 and the property passed to his son.
Arthur Dwelly went to Mt. Hermon School and to Princeton University. In 1931 the College sent him to England with the Princeton athletes to compete with other colleges in the track team events. He married Astrid Carlson of Worcester and they have two children, Anne Grace and Arthur Dwelly Jr. Mrs. Alice Dwelly Keown lives at the farm with her son's family.
Ruth attended the Northfield Preparatory School as her mother had done and was graduated from Wellesley College in 1936. She married Sibley Higgin- botham and they live in Wollaston.
On December 4, 1927, during the coldest night of the winter, the large barn and carriage-shed burned to the ground. It has been replaced by a packing shed which includes, not only the barn cellar, but the whole of the barnyard as well.
An interesting fact about this place is that the water supply, planned more than 74 years ago by Reuben Dodge, still functions. To this day, the same old lead pipe brings a continuous flow of water from the old dug-out spring on the hill, down to the house.
The second house on Mcclellan Road, east from Dodge Hill Road, was built in 1850. This place has changed owners as follows: Richard Gamage to Sarah R. Gamage 1874; then to Charles St. Germaine in 1898, who sold the property to Thomas and Allida Vachon in 1911.
There were three children: Rose, who married Henry Minor; Wilfred, who served in World War I and Romeo.
After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Vachon the property was bought by Henry F. and Rose Margaret Minor, in 1927. They have enlarged and modernized the house and improved it in many ways.
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HISTORY of SUTTON
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HOME OF HENRY F. MINOR
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HOMES of SUTTON
There have been two barns on the Minor Place. Barn No. 1 was struck by lightning Aug. 14, 1918, on the day of the Old Stone School Annual Reunion. Another barn was built, 100 feet distant, and the hurricane destroyed that in 1938. The Minors have decided not to have a barn !
Mr. Minor is a woodworker and is employed by the Waterhouse Furniture Co. of Webster. He has served as town Constable for many years.
They have had eleven children. Henry Edward, born in 1916, was married to Florence LaForce of North Grafton. Lewis Thomas, born in 1917, married Doris Soderberg of Worcester. Helen Pershing, born 1919, married Bernard Fogarty, Sergeant in Air Force, World War II, from Dover, N.H. Rose Louise born in 1920, married Edward Haley, Upton, Mass., Sergeant in State Guard. Grace Naomi, born in 1922, married Ronald Bradford of Upton, 2nd Class Petty Officer in World War II. Gladys Catherine, born in 1924, is married to Raymond Louis Chase, Sutton, Mass. Alice Berneta, born 1927, is a registered nurse at Worcester City Hospital and lives at home. John Elmer, born in 1928, died in 1936. Joseph Robert was born in 1931. He is now Seaman 1st Class in Submarine training. Dorothy Marion, born in 1932, is student nurse at Wor- cester City Hospital. Norman Richard, born 1934, is to enter Holy Cross Col- lege in the Fall of 1951.
At the Alumni banquet of Sutton High School in 1951, Mrs. Minor was especially honored for having been the only mother in Sutton to have had eight children graduated from Sutton High School.
The Drake house stands high on what used to be known as Manilaus Hill. It is the first house beyond Henry Minor's, going east on Mcclellan Road, at the sharp bend of the highway.
According to Vol. I of the Town History, this site is where one of the very oldest homes in town was built. The present house is nearby and probably the one erected by John Ford in 1857. Mrs. Eliza Rawson once owned the place and with her husband and her son George were long-time residents. There have been several owners during the years following until Carl Carlson came here about 1910 with his family. There were three children.
In 1914, the Drew Orchards Co. bought the property. They, in turn, sold to Henry and Margaret Parmenter, who lived there with their twin daughters Ruth and Esther until the deaths of both mother and father.
Ruth and Esther attended Sutton Schools, and Esther became a trained nurse. She is now employed by Belmont Hospital in Worcester. She has one son, Don- ald Minor. Ruth has been a textile worker for a number of years.
In 1938, the hurricane blew down the garage and the house chimney, besides doing other serious damage. The sisters repaired the house and added some modern improvements. In 1945, Milton Drake bought the place from Ruth Parmenter and Esther Minor, and the twins moved to Fisherville.
The Drakes have continued the improvement of the house. Mr. Drake is a mechanic and is now employed at Quonset, R. I. There are three children; Mary Elizabeth, born in 1938, Milton, Jr. in 1940 and David John in 1945.
Adelard and Viola Renaud have recently bought this place.
The first house on Leland Hill Road near the Central Turnpike is owned by Ralph Dykstra.
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HISTORY of SUTTON
Volume I of the Town History states that the first house on this farm was built by Elhanan Batcheller in 1835.
He was a grandson of Abraham Batcheller who built the homestead on Lin- coln Corner. There were two sons; Amos and Harrison J., commonly known as "Harry" Batcheller, who made their home here. The first house was burned, but about the year 1882, Horace W. and Clara I. Going bought the land and the barn from Harrison J. Batcheller. They built a new house and lived there with their family.
There were six children: Leona Mary, born in 1876 and died one year later; Albertus, born in 1878, married Eldora Vaughan, and after her death in 1939 went to Leicester where he died in 1945; they had one son, Clarence Wilder; Leonice, born in 1881, married George Randles; Walter Robert was born in 1884 and married Hattie Humes; Milton Winthrop, born in 1888, married Marion McLean and died in Florida in 1949; Bernice Hazel, born in 1893, died in 1912.
Another fire destroyed the buildings, in 1910. The farm was sold, in 1911, to George C. and Leonice M. Randles.
They built a new house and barn and for many years conducted a successful market gardening and poultry business. George C. Randles died in 1930 and Mrs. Clara Going in 1937.
In 1942, Mrs. Leonice Randles sold the place to Ralph Dykstra who culti- vates the farm. He is also employed at the Belmont Hospital in Worcester.
Everett and Dorothy (Dykstra) Quillen and Linda Alva Knight have also lived in this home. There are two Quillen children, Raymond Everett, born in 1945, and Clara Jean, born in 1946.
Everett G. Quillen served in the Army during World War II.
Next on the road, the Calmer Farm, now the home of the Brigham family, was formerly known as the Royal Penniman Place. Dr. John Wesley Brigham, the first member of the Brigham family to settle in Sutton, was in the eighth generation from Thomas Brigham, who came to Cambridge from England in 1636.
Dr. John Brigham settled first on the old Whitcomb Place, called later the Moe Place. In 1873, or about that time, he moved to the Royal Penniman estate, which has since been the Brigham homestead.
At his death in 1898, his eldest son Dexter Alonzo became owner of the estate and spent a lifetime modernizing it. He was also one of the most up-to- date farmers in town.
He married Jennie Burnap and there were five children: Ethel, who married Bertram Vrooman and moved to Fisherville; Minnie, who married Burton Stowe of Millbury; Alice, married to Oscar Stowe of Millbury; Mabel, married to William Stockwell, and John who married Grace Maclaren and remained on the farm.
Dexter Alonzo was a prominent and useful citizen of the town. He served as Selectman, Overseer of the Poor and Chairman of Assessors. Mr. and Mrs. Brigham were very active in the Congregational Church of Sutton and Mr. Brigham served as Deacon for many years, superintendent of the Sunday School and was chairman of the Finance Committee at the time of his death. He was well known for his benevolences and generosity to all worthy causes.
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For many years the Brighams and Stockwells opened their homes to the former pupils of the Old Stone School at their annual reunion in August. People who attended will long remember the barrel of lemonade, the market baskets over- flowing with bananas and probably a dozen or more watermelons.
The former pupils brought their families and the house was filled with the little folks and the oldest men and women, who exchanged happy reminiscences to the accompaniment of the rocking of many chairs.
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