USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1876 to 1950, Volume II > Part 47
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HISTORY of SUTTON
Over the years, many families have lived in the six apartments and it would be difficult to make a complete list. At the present writing the tenants are as follows. No. 1, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Chase and daughter Debra, born in 1951. No. 2, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Dunn, with three children: Marie Theresa, Kathleen and Maureen. No. 3, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Stopyra and son Stanley. No. 4, Mr. and Mrs. Leo Lavalee and three children: Roderick, Norman and Kenneth. No. 5, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Vandal. Mr. Vandal is an ex-service man. No. 6, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Oles, a former service man and their two children: Nancy and Catherine
The Green block is no longer green but covered with wall shingles of a gray- ish color. Many other improvements have been made during the past years.
The last house in Sutton at the Grafton Line, on Providence St., is the house, long ago known as the "Bedlam Block." For years it has been owned by the same persons that bought the Green Block and the same holds true today. It is owned by James Hughes. Downstairs, the apartment is occupied by Mrs. Henry Gagne. On the next floor, Mrs. Arthur Gendron lives with her five children: James Jeremiah, Betsy, Sandra and Lorraine. Another family on the upper floor is that of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Bardieu, and their child Susan. Mr. Bardieu is an ex- service man.
The house beyond St. John's Church on Pleasant Street, going south, is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts. It was built about 1828 by David Wilkinson for the first rector of St. John's Church, Rev. Daniel Goodwin. Mr. Goodwin had nine children, all born here. When the Sutton Manufacturing Co. bought the village, the present rectory was sold with the rest of the village houses. The Slaters, however, were very kind to the church people and the Rectors were allowed to live in the house until about 1876. About that time the Superintendents of the mill were given the rectory and the house, now owned by Alexis Chausse, became the home of several succeeding Rectors. In 1910, Honor- able and Mrs. Charles Washburn of Worcester bought the "Rev. Goodwin" house and offered to give it to the Diocese, if the church building and surround- ing property were also turned over to the Diocese. This was agreed. They bought a strip of land between the Rectory and the Church, so that now the title to all property, used by the parish for church purposes, is in the name of the Trustees of the Diocese. The families of Rev. Preston Barr, Rev. Murray Elliott, Rev. Augustus Cribbe and Rev. Albert Greene have lived here since 1910. Rev. Norman Wray is the present Rector and resides here with his wife Lillian and children, Jane (1941), David Walker (1946) and Susan (1950). Miss Marion Wray, sister to Rev. Norman Wray, also makes this her home. She is a registered nurse, has had three years of service in the Army Nurse Corps and is a graduate of Simmons College.
The house has been greatly changed since the days of Rev. Goodwin. A porch has been built, partitions have been moved and modern improvements have been added.
The home of Alexis Chausse Jr. is on Pleasant Street, almost opposite St. John's Church drive. When David Wilkinson, in 1828, built the village, he evi- dently meant this house for a Superintendent's home. Sometime after the first Rector of St. John's Church, Rev. Daniel Goodwin, left Wilkinsonville, the Superintendents lived in the present Rectory and the Rectors, including Rev.
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Blodgett, Rev. Trussell and Rev. Hotchkiss made their home in the present Chausse house.
After the sale of the village, this property passed through several owners, including Mr. Amos Bartlett, who sold it to William J. Dunn. In Nov. 1908, Mr. Dunn sold to Archie Roux, who sold to Henry Benoit on July 27, 1909. He, in turn, sold to Joseph Benoit Jr., on Aug. 4, 1909. On Apr. 3, 1911, Joseph Benoit sold it to Henry Benoit and he, to Edward Vincent, May 25, 1917. On May 5, 1936, papers were completed by Edward Vincent making Alexis Chausse, Jr., and his wife, Stella, the owners of the property.
The outside of the house has remained much the same over the years, except for the addition of a garage. Inside, modern improvements have been added and the rooms upstairs make a comfortable tenement for a second family.
There are two Chausse children: Robert A., born in 1931, and Bette M. in 1938.
Mr. Chausse is Asst. Overseer in the Wuscanut Mill and Mrs. Chausse is an expert winder. Robert, the son, has been in service in the United States Navy.
Some of the families who have lived in the upper apartment include Mr. and Mrs. James Shore, now of Millbury, and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gendron. Mr. and Mrs. James W. Small are the present tenants.
The first volume of the History of Sutton states that the fourth house on Pleasant street, going south, was built by David Wilkinson for the cashier of the Bank. This must have been about 1825, so we have here one of the oldest houses in the village.
For a long time it was known as the "Grove House," because so many pine trees grew in the vicinity. Today the pine trees are gone.
This house, like many of the others, was long owned by the mill Corporation. Later owners, according to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Minor, were Michel Auger and Mrs. Georgianna Vincent and on June 1, 1939, the property was bought from Mrs. Vincent, by Ernest and Gabrielle Minor. Mr. Minor is a machinist and there are two children: Theresa, born in 1935 and Ernest R. Minor born in 1938.
The Minors remodelled the house, making two tenements, adding two rooms and modern improvements, besides covering the outside walls with asbestos siding.
On Pleasant St., in Wilkinsonville, almost opposite St. John's Rectory, is what was long known as the Mitchel Auger house. Mr. Auger was a hard-working man and wanted a home. The story goes that sometime before the first World War, Mr. Auger acquired a piece of land from Joseph Shambo, then, almost alone, dug his cellar, laid up the wall and built his home. For the lumber, he bought an old house near Rice's saw mill in Millbury, tore it down and brought home most of the material by wheel-barrow, bicycle and other means. Some of the neighbors remember his coming on the street-car with bundles of boards in his arms. Few of us can really appreciate the task this man undertook and the disappointment he must have felt when the financial strain was too great and he had to give up the attempt to keep the property, when the six-room dwelling was nearly complete.
Joseph Marando later bought the house and land and made extensive improve- ments after fire partly destroyed the interior.
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Mr. and Mrs. Louis Gauderre lived with her father before Mr. Marando's death and have made this house their home. They have six children: Ronald Lida, Pauline, Harold, Diane and Dennis James.
The fifth house on the right, on Pleasant Street, going south, is the home of the Joseph Rzewuski Family. Mr. Rzewuski and wife, Cora, bought the land from George Paul in Nov. 13, 1940. They built the attractive cottage-type house and landscaped the surroundings.
They have two sons: Joseph Theodore Rzewuski, born July 25, 1938, and Ray- mond Arthur Rzewuski June 5, 1940.
Mr. Rzewuski is a salesman in Worcester.
The red brick-siding house on Pleasant Street, just beyond Rzewuski's home, was built by Oliver Laplante for Geo. Paul, in 1938, on land he bought from Joseph Shambo.
Mr. Paul was a retired railroad worker and a veteran of the Spanish War. He and Mr. Henry St. Germain made their home there until the death of Mr. Paul Dec. 29, 1943, and Mr. St. Germain followed in May 9, 1945.
Mr. John Argentati was given a life right to the property, and he and his wife, the former Hannah B. Carron, have made their home there since that time.
Mr. Argentati is a poultry farmer and maintains a large flock at all times with very successful results.
The second house on the east side of Pleasant Street, going south from Wil- kinsonville, long known as the "Beaudry Place," is owned and occupied by Walter Maynard and family.
The first house on this site was, for years, the home of the John Baker and John Demers families. The property, house and eight and one half acres of land, were a part of the Sullivan Newton estate and bought by Austin J. Kempton of Grafton. The old house was burned in 1941 and rebuilt in 1949. In 1894, Gil- bert Beaudry bought the property. Mr. Beaudry was a carpenter and he built the barn from the lumber grown on the place. After the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Beaudry the heirs sold to Walter F. and Azelia Maynard in 1920. Mr. Maynard is a mill operative and also played the fife and drum and did some teaching of both instruments.
There are nine children: Irene, born in 1915, married William Army of Millbury, has two children: Leonard, 1917, Franklin, 1919, married Beatrice Gallipo and lives in Northbridge, Lawrence, 1921, married Gladys Caston guay and lives in Fisherville, has three children, Eli, 1922, Virginia, 1924, married Donald Smith and lives in Millbury, has three children, Lorraine, 1927, married Walter Pierce, and lives in Millbury, has two children, Gloria, 1930, married Richard Johnson, lives in Worcester, Roger, 1933, is at home.
Eli served in the U. S. Navy during World War II.
Just above the intersection of Hartness Road and Pleasant Street, going South, is the house built and owned by George and Jeanette Vincent.
This property had belonged to Edward Vincent, father of George, since 1905, at which time he bought it from Mrs. Grace G. Kempton.
The present owners acquired the property March 28, 1944 and built the com- fortable, modern house. Mr. George Vincent is a loom-fixer by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Vincent have one daughter, Claire Jeanette, who was married May 22, 1943 to Francis Arthur Couture. They have one daughter.
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At the intersection of Pleasant St. and Dodge Hill Road is the new home of Eugene Vincent. Mr. Vincent and his wife, the former Claire Snyder, bought his house lot from George Vincent in 1949. This property was formerly owned by Edward Vincent, father of George, who, in turn, had bought it from Mrs. Grace Kempton of Farnumsville.
Mr. Vincent has done a great deal of the building of his house himself. He is employed by the New England High Carbon Co., and completed his home in 1952.
There are two Vincent children: Gene Robert, born in 1949 and Michael Joseph 1950.
Mr. Vincent was a veteran of World War II and was a Private in the Medical Corps, Medical Det., 8th Reconnaissance Squadron.
Just beyond the intersection of Dodge Hill Road and Pleasant Street, is a cot- tage owned by Carlton and Barbara Flanders, bought in 1950 from John C. Dudley.
Mr. Flanders is a Sound Technician at the Fred G. Walters Co. in Worcester. He married Barbara Penwell and there is one child, Betty Ann. The Flanders family is very much interested in the Old Car Club of Worcester and the Sports Car Club of America.
The second house beyond the intersection of Dodge Hill Road and Pleasant Street, going south, is the home of Lawrence and Antoinette Auger. The two and one eighth acres of land on which the house is built was formerly a part of the J. C. Dudley farm and purchased by the Augers, in 1949. Mr. Auger did a large share of the building of the house and the family moved into four finished rooms during February of 1951. They expect to finish more space as needed.
Mrs. Auger was the former Antoinette Beique and there is one child, Linda Ann, born in 1949.
Lawrence was a First Class Private in the Medical Corps during World War II and served in the United States and Europe for thirty-two months.
The property above the Sutton Tool Co., on the right on Dodge Hill Road, is owned by Daniel and Evelyn Smith. The place was for many years owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Eustace Bashaw and their family of two girls and two boys. Of these, Amy married Mr. Moroney and moved to Upton. Ellen married Michael Mahan and moved to Worcester. George, who was a textile worker, was employed at his trade in various parts of the country. William A., the youngest, married Evelyn Bertrand of Dudley. Eustace Bashaw was a progressive farmer, specializing in the market gardening and poultry business, which he car- ried on until his death in 1918.
William A., who was possessed of great mechanical ability, took over the place upon the death of his father. He had previously bought land from his father and built a shop for the manufacture of edge tools, and carried on this business for some time. Later, he changed to the manufacture of shuttle irons, and built up a very prosperous business. His shop was destroyed by fire, in 1925, but he re- built on a larger scale, and at the time of his death, June 6, 1931, he had in- stalled machinery for the manufacture of the complete shuttle.
The property was then sold to the Woonsocket Brush Co., which continued the manufacture of shuttle irons and added some novelties. During this period, Wesley Morse acted as manager, and it was during this time that the shop was
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again partially destroyed by fire. The part destroyed was rebuilt in fireproof construction. Subsequently, Joseph W. Crowell leased the whole property and operated same. Daniel S. Smith purchased the farm and factory, in 1940, and operates the shop in conjunction with the D. T. Dudley & Son Co. with which he is affiliated.
Daniel and Evelyn Smith have four children: Nancy, 1930; Philip, 1933; Franklin, 1934 and Elizabeth, 1938. Daniel Smith has been Fire Chief for many years and has given much time and effort to the organization and accomplish- ments of the three fire companies in Sutton. Mrs. Smith is organist at Sutton Congregational Church, is a graduate of Worcester State Teachers' College and before her marriage taught in the Oxford Public Schools. She is very successful in the culture of roses. Nancy, who is now Mrs. William Baker, attended Clark College, is a graduate of Becker's Business College and is a Secretary at the new Memorial School. Philip is a student at Williams College and Franklin at Bates College. Franklin is a cellist in the Youth Orchestra of Worcester.
Mr. and Mrs. George Freeland, Mrs. Smith's parents, lived here for several years. Mr. Freeland died in 1943. Mrs. Freeland was Librarian and a Trustee of the Sutton Library for thirty-two years, a worthy successor to Miss Sarah Mills. She has been a member of the History Committee since its formation and has contributed greatly to the value of the volume.
The small cottage on the farm, south of the shop, is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. William Baker. Pfc. Baker is at present in the Air Force. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Freeland, whose home was recently burned to the ground, have also made this their temporary home. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett Judson and son Thomas lived here for a time, as did Mr. and Mrs. William Pelletier.
The "Little Red House" is still remembered by some townspeople. It was situated at the apex of the angle between the Bashaw and Dodge Hill roads, and was originally a blacksmith shop.
This little house, facing on the Dodge Hill Road, with the earth embankment coming to the eaves in the rear, was the home of many families; including that of Nelson Wood, whose grandson, Eugene Wood, is now an Elder in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, that of Daniel Hammond, who later moved to the Prentice Place, at what is now Dudley Square, and that of William Eliot, a stone mason.
The place was later sold by Richard H. Dodge to William A. Bashaw, who tore down the house. The property is now owned by Daniel Smith.
At the intersection of Bashaw and Dodge Hill Roads, we find on the right, the home of Ralph and Marion Larsen. In 1939, Mr. and Mrs. Larsen bought the five-acre tract from John Dudley, being a portion of the old John Dudley Farm, which had been in the Dudley family since 1766.
Mr. Larsen cleared the land and used the lumber from the many pine trees, in his buildings. The modern house is entirely owner-built and has six rooms, with two bathrooms. Mr. Larsen raised foxes and mink, having at one time two hundred high-grade foxes and three hundred and fifty mink. Later, he built a large poultry house and had ten thousand chickens. He also raised Angora rab- bits on the property.
The Larsens came to Sutton from Worcester. Mr. Larsen is a Construction Engineer at Quonset Point, R. I. in the 1st Naval District. During World War
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HOMES of SUTTON
II, he served two years and eight months as Elec. Mate, 3rd Class on the U.S.S. Larsen.
There are two children: Ralph, Jr., 1940 and Mary Ann, 1944.
The only house on Dodge Road, which runs east from Dodge Hill Road, is owned by George Hutch. The site, says Volume I of the Sutton History, is one of the most desirable in town. There was formerly a large, roomy, old-fashioned home here, the home of Harvey Dodge. The farm, itself, has always produced a superior quality of fruit and other farm products. It has a northern slope and a plentiful supply of water.
No doubt the Drew Orchards officials realized the possibilities when they bought several farms in the vicinity in 1913-1914 and, it is reported, they wanted to own the entire top of Manlius Hill. The Dodge place came into their posses- sion and hundreds of fruit trees-mostly apple-were set out in neat, even rows, visible for miles, especially in the spring when the blossoms come. Mr. William Greene was made Superintendent of this wide acreage and the fruit was shipped to far distant points.
The Drew Orchards Co. sold the Harvey Dodge farm to Henry Kimball and a Wetherell family occupied the house. Later, Herbert Taylor bought one hun- dred twenty acres, including the dwelling. Mr. Taylor took down the house and built a new one on the site. Mr. and Mrs. William Mckenzie lived there with their two daughters, Dorothy, now Mrs. Ralph Hunt, and Shirley, Mrs. Armand Remillard. Mr. Taylor sold to George Hutch of Milford, and Walter Lappa and Marcel Gevray later came into possession of a section which included the house. Mr. Hutch is now owner of the property, which is called "The Skyline Orchards." The view from this place is one, long to be remembered.
At the crest of the hill on Dodge Hill Road, going south, we come to a poul- try farm owned by Alphonse and Mary DePoorter. The beautifully kept lawn and hedge make the neat house easily identified. The house was built by Joseph Trottier. It was taxed to him, in 1897, and was probably built a few years before that.
The story goes that the house was of unusually strong construction, with "double plastered" walls. There were two Trottier children: Joseph and Mary. Mr. Trottier married Ellen Bashaw for his second wife and brought with her two children by a former marriage, Louis and Nellie Young. Later there were two Trottier children, Fanny and Malvina.
In 1912, this property was taxed to Alfred Richer, who lived there with his wife for several years. In 1924, Hartwick Erickson was the owner and he sold it to Alphonse and Mary DePoorter, who are the present owners.
Mr. and Mrs. DePoorter came from Belgium and are fluent linguists. Mr. DePoorter came to this country, in 1914, and served in the Infantry in World War I. He became a U. S. citizen at Camp Devens in 1917. The DePoorters were married May 21, 1921. In 1929, they returned to Belgium for a visit and have since made many improvements to the place and have conducted a very successful poultry business.
We are told that Hector Chase's house, the first on Hartness road from Gen- dron Square, going east, was built by a man named Belknap. It afterwards belonged to Sullivan Newton who sold it to Edwin Hall in 1873. Mrs. Edwin
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Hall lived there for a number of years with her son, LeRoy, who was a well- known trapper and hunter. The property passed to Louis and Mary Lucier and in 1912 William and Rosanna Chase came into possession.
Mr. Chase was a foreman for the New England Power Co., and died in 1918, a victim of the influenza epidemic that raged that year. Mrs. Rosanna Chase died in 1933. They had five children: Hector W. born in 1910, married Elizabeth Giroux, Ernest L. 1912, married Jessica Kimball, Bernard A. 1915, married Olive Ingalls and have two children, Florence Rose 1916 (deceased) and Ray- mond L. 1917, married Gladys Minor. They live in Webster and have one child. Raymond attended Assumption College in Assumption P. Q., Canada.
In 1934 Hector W. Chase bought the property. He is a machinist and has been employed by the Whitin Machine Works for a number of years. He has been active in the Fire Department and Police work, having served as Constable for years.
The Hector Chases have had three children: William Norman, born in 1935 and Lawrence John in 1943. Francis, the twin brother of the latter, died when a small infant.
Champ's Inn, at the corner of Hartness and Boston Roads, formerly known locally as the "Horatio Chase Place," and at one time the site of the No. 12 Dis- trict School, was sold to Simon Savaria by Sandford H. Chase and other heirs of Horatio Chase in 1893. Since then it has served as a hotel known as the "Cen- tral House." Mr. Savaria sold it to Christine L. Gaines in 1901, and Joseph Vigeant purchased the property, in 1906.
In 1909-1910 this place was known far and wide as the "Gold Mine." During this period, Sutton was the only town within a wide radius that permitted the sale of intoxicating liquors, and the thirsty ones from Worcester and up and down the Blackstone Valley swarmed to the gold mine. The bar, said to be the "longest in the world," measured 132 feet, and the opening day, May 1, 1909, brought over 5000 customers. Special cars labeled "Gold Mine Only" shuttled back and forth from Worcester every fifteen minutes during the busy hours. Order was maintained at first by Constable Fred L. Batcheller and later by Her- bert Chase, and the small lockup improvised for the occasion was kept full to overflowing. One customer who had been stored there for the night, had his stay brightened and his thirst alleviated by a sympathetic friend, who, in the small hours, hoisted on a fishpole a pint of whiskey to the barred window.
These golden days, however, lasted for one year only, and Mr. Vigeant con- ducted the hotel until 1939 when it was purchased by Oliver E. Champagny, who, with Mrs. Champagny and family, have resided here since that time. The place has been remodeled and modernized and is now known as "Champ's Inn." The Champagny children are: Lillian, who is Mrs. Girardin; William; Oliver, a veteran of World War II; Evelyn, now Mrs. Butler and Barbara, who married Dexter Fitzgerald.
The St. Amour house is very near the intersection of Hartness Road and Pleas- ant Street.
The house, now occupied by Frederick and Albine St. Amour and family, was built by Mr. St.Amour. It is a very comfortable cottage-type building with a separate garage. Mr. St.Amour bought the land in 1939 from Herbert Chase. It was previously owned by George Paul and, at one time, was a portion of the
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Sullivan Newton estate. After Mr. St.Amour had built his house and garage, in 1940, he acquired the small hill toward Pleasant Street. This he has made a level field, greatly improving the surroundings of his home.
Mr. St. Amour is a lineman for the New England Telephone and Telegraph Co. He married Albine Caplette in 1922 and there were five children: Alfred J., born in 1923, married Stella Kozial; Florence M., 1924, married Stanley Krula; Richard J., 1929, married Carole Jacques; Loretta M., 1935; Pauline M., born in 1928, died in 1932.
When Wm. Gendron found what seemed to be a never-failing spring of clear water, he decided to build a home at the intersection of Pleasant Street and Hart- ness Road.
He bought the property in 1939 and by hard work and perseverance his owner- built home became a reality. His wife, the former Louisa Malo, worked hard, also, to give needed assistance and encouragement. There were ten children: Wm. Jr., 1896, who married Florence Jarvis, Eva Gauvin, 1898, who married Louis Gauvin, Frank, 1900, who married Emily Kenley, and was a serviceman in World War I, Edward Gendron, 1901, who married Evelyn Minor, Agnes, who married Wilfred Auger, Mary, 1907, who married Stephen Stewart, Alice, 1909, who married Chas Katenas, Arthur, 1915, who married Blanche Gagne, Clarence, 1918, who married Mary Ceccerini and Henry, 1913, who was killed Dec. 23, 1944 by a schrapnel wound while serving in the 643 Tank Destroyer Battalion. Henry had lived in Sutton his entire life. He was known as a hard worker and as a pupil in Grade School, worked on the milk truck before the opening session. He was employed by the New-York New Haven Railroad and at the Felters Co., in Millbury.
After his death, in Belgium, the Town of Sutton named a Memorial Square for him at the intersection of Hartness and Boston Roads, in Wilkinsonville. It was dedicated Memorial Day, 1952, and will be a perpetual memory spot to show that the friends and neighbors have not forgotten the sacrifice of Henry Gendron.
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