USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Leominster > Leominster, Massachusetts, historical and picturesque > Part 12
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GEORGE SUMNER BURRAGE, fourth son of Captain Josiah, was born Aug. 10th, 1806. When twelve years of age he was apprenticed to his uncle, William Burrage, to learn the tanning and currying business. After serving his full time, he went to Boston, remaining several years in business for himself. In 1830, returning to his native town, he entered into partnership with his cousin, Capt. Leonard Burrage, in the old shop where he learned his trade. In 1845 this co-partnership was dissolved and for some years after he was engaged in the manufacture of shoes, but for the last twenty years of his life was not engaged in any special business. He was considered a sagacious busi- ness man, and was often placed in positions of responsibility and trust by his fellow townsmen. He represented his town in the Legislature in 1851, and cast, as he was sometimes pleased to term it, the vote which elected Charles Sumner to the Uni-
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ted States Senate, he being elected by one majority. His sym- pathies were with the Anti-Slavery and Temperance reforms in which he actively engaged at a time when those questions were extremely unpopular. At the time of his death he was one of the trustees of the Leominster Savings Bank and a member of the Water Board. For quite a number of years he was a mem- ber of the Orthodox Congregational Church, and in the forma- tion of the North Leominster Church he took an active inter- est. He died suddenly, of heart disease, at his residence in North Leominster, Sunday morning, Feb. 25th, 1877.
ALMIRA, the eldest daughter of Josiah Burrage, was born Feb. 16th, 1810. She lived with her parents until she married James H. Marshall of Leominster. After a long and severe illness, from which she appeared to be recovering, she died sud- denly, Nov. 10th, 1872, in Canada, where she had gone a few weeks before on account of her health.
The remaining daughters married out of town. SARAH ANN, the second daughter, married David McClure of Cambridgeport. MARTHA, the third daughter, married John Dallinger of Cam- bridge.
ELIZABETH SMITH, the fourth daughter, married Peter Far- well of Fitchburg. Their eldest daughter, Catherine S., mar- ried James N. Steele of Chicago, and now lives in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Farwell resided in Leominster, at one time, on the homestead farm of her father, until 1870 when, all but the youngest of the children having gone to Chicago to live, they also removed to that city.
The sons not already mentioned, engaged in business and spent the greater part of their lives in other towns or cities.
JOHN, the second son, was educated as a lawyer.
JOSIAH, the third son, was the first of the family to try their fortunes in Boston.
WILLIAM, the fifth son, worked for a time in the paper mills at North Leominster, and afterwards learned the trade of tan-
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ner and currier of his uncle, William, and his cousin, Leonard Burrage, and, at twenty-two years of age, went to Boston.
JOSEPH, the sixth son, also left the farm and apprenticed himself, as did Geo. S. and William, to learn the tanning and currying business at the old shop, then in charge of his cousin Leonard and George S. He, too, went to Boston and estab- lished himself in business in 1837.
JOHNSON C. the seventh son, early showed an inclination for trade, and at fifteen years of age, entered the country vari- ety store of George H. Hills in the center of Leominster. In 1835 his brothers, George S. and William, found him a situation in Boston.
ALVAH AUGUSTUS, the eighth son, at the age of sixteen, went to Boston at the proposal of Johnson C., and entered the store of Richardson & Burrage to learn the business of selling woolen goods. He was afterwards interested as a partner in several firms, his last business connection being with his brother, Charles H., and two other partners, under the firm style of Burrage Brothers, & Co., until Dec. 31, 1883, when Alvah A. Burrage retired from active participation in trade. At the great fire in 1872, all of the Burrages doing business in Boston, lost heavily; Burrage Brothers & Co., about $ 100,000 ; J. C. Burrage & Co., about $50,000 ; and Reed & Clesson, with whom Joseph Burrage was a special partner, lost $28,800.
While in active business Mr. Burrage served two years 1867 to 69, in the Legislature, and since his retirement from trade has served two years 1875-6, on the Board of Aldermen of Boston. About the year 1855 he became interested in genea- logical matters, and commenced making investigations and collecting material for a genealogical history of the New Eng- land branch of the Burrage family. Owing to business engage- ments and other duties, the materials and preparation of the work was not accomplished until 1877, when the Burrage Me- morial was published, Through the courtesy of Mr. Burrage
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RUSSELL & RICHARDSON SC
HOMESTEAD OF CAP. JOSIAH BURRAGE AS IT APPEARED IN 1830-1846.
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we are allowed to gather from its pages many of the facts here given, and also to republish some of the engravings of special interest to Leominster people. The old church at Norton Subcourse, built in 1387, is described as "a single pile and thatched, with a round tower and three bells." The engraving is a good representation of the church as seen by Mr. Burrage in 1886.
The cut of the Capt. Burrage homestead was engraved from an oil painting by a young artist by the name of Burrage, an Englishman, painted in 1846-47.
Reference has already been made in the Military chapter, to the patriotic sacrifices of members of this family during the Rebellion. In order to make the list complete we give here- with the names of those of the tenth and eleventh generations, who enlisted in the Army and fought in defense of our country. Joseph Perrin Burrage, of Arlington, Thomas Fairbanks Bur- rage, of Roxbury, Henry Sweetser Burrage, of Fitchburg, Wil- liam Allen Burrage, of Leominster, Edward Carter Burrage, of Boston, George Francis Burrage of Leominster.
THE CARTERS.
Among the first to settle upon the territory known as the Lancaster New or Additional Grant, afterwards, (July 1740,) in- corporated as the Town of Leominster, were four brothers, sons of Samuel Carter of Lancaster. Nathaniel, who settled on Bee Hill in 1735, Jonathan, near Chualoom pond, Oliver and Jo- siah, whose lands extended from the bridge on Granite street to the top of Monoosnock; Oliver's being on the south side and Josiah's on the north, these two farms and a part of the one on Bee Hill being still occupied by direct descendants of the original owners. The tradition is that the father, Samuel, gave to his sons these farms, they choosing the location in the order of their birth, .
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These four brothers were of the fourth generation from Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, who is supposed to have been the first of this branch of the family in New England, thus : Rev. Thomas, Ist, Rev. Samuel, 2d, Samuel, 3d, Nathaniel, Jon- athan, Oliver and Josiah, 4th. From these, with but few excep- tions, were descended all the Leominster Carters.
Of the families of Nathaniel and Jonathan, very few remain who bear the Carter name.
Of the descendants of Oliver, who have made Leominster their home, was Mr. Wilder Carter, son of Dea. Ephraim, born Feb. 10, 1774, died Feb. 29, 1848. He occupied the original farm of his ancestor, represented the town in General Court in 1829-30-31, was engaged in the quarrying of granite on Mon- oosnock and the manufacture of brick. He had three sons, George R., born Aug. 3, 1806, who, after doing business in Boston and California, is spending his declining years among the scenes of his childhood. William Sawyer, born March 8, 18II, died June 6, 1847. He was associated in business with his father and interested in the improvement and progress of the community. Two daughters survive him : Mrs. Caroline I. Chaney, wife of Rev. George L. Chaney of Atlanta, Ga., whose summer home is on Carter Hill, and Mrs. Catharine S. Blunt of New York city. The other son died unmarried.
CAPT. JAMES CARTER, son of Josiah, above mentioned, born in Leominster, Dec. 12, 1778, died May 26, 1850, inherited the parental estate, the north farm on Carter Hill. He had eleven children who were esteemed and honored both in Leominster and the communities in which they settled. Two sons were educated at Harvard College, James G., graduated in 1820, and Henry in 1830. Artemas lived in and near Chicago, Ill., and was active in the support of Antioch College. The only sur- viving child is Josiah H. of Boston. Of the daughters only one, Catherine, born Sept, 17, 1803, died Feb, II, 1887, resided,
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BIOGRAPHY BY FAMILIES.
after marriage, in Leominster. She married, Jan. 28, 1824, James H. Carter, born in Lancaster, Mass., Feb. 6, 1794, died in Leominster, March 13, 1871, being his second wife. He was for many years a prominent business man of the town. Of their six children two are living, George E. Carter and the wife of Howard M. Lane.
SOLON CARTER, son of Capt. James, born in Leominster, Sept. 4, 1801, died June 23, 1879. He lived and died on the ancestral farm of his father and grandfather. He was, when a young man, a successful teacher in the schools of his native town, afterwards a useful member of the School Committee for many years, representative to the General Court in 1849-50, an intelligent and skillful farmer, esteemed and respected in all the relations of life. His children were :
SOLON A., born June 22, 1837, educated in the common and high schools of the town, resided for a short time in Keene, N. H., where he enlisted in the army, during the war of the Rebel- lion, and entered the service as Captain of .Co. G., 14th N. . H Vols., was afterwards promoted, and has been for several years Treasurer of the State of New Hampshire, residing at Concord.
WILLIAM W., whose sketch has already been given in the Educational chapter.
Two daughters, one, the widow of the late Henry T. Thurs- ton and the other, the wife of John M. Lockey, of Leominster.
ADDISON C. CARTER, son of William, also a descendant of Josiah, was born in Leominster, June 16, 1832. He taught in our Public Schools, and attended Groton Academy. He after- wards spent three years in the West. Returning East in 1862, he spent about six years in Worcester. The last fifteen years of his life he was employed in J. H. Lockey's Piano Factory. He died Jan. 21, 1887. He was a faithful, industrious man and was respected by all who knew him.
BARTIMUS CARTER, son of Joseph Warren, who also de-
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LEOMINSTER, HISTORICAL AND PICTURESQUE.
scended from Josiah, was born in Leominster, Dec. 27, 1800, and died April 3, 1879. He spent his whole life in Leominster, was interested in all that concerned the welfare of the town and its inhabitants, had a kindly greeting for all, particularly the young. He was a comb-maker in the days when the work was mostly done by hand. His surviving children are an un- married daughter and Chauncy W. Carter.
CHAUNCY W. CARTER, son of Bartimus, born in Leominster, Nov. 5, 1827, was educated in the public schools of the town, and at Wilbraham Academy, studied law in the offices of Joel W. Fletcher, Esq., of Leominster, and Bacon & Aldrich of Worcester, was admitted to the Bar in June 1857, began the practice of law in Gardner, Mass., in August of the same year, returning to Leominster five years later. He has been a mem- ber of the Board of Assessors and of the Selectmen and was ap- pointed Trial Justice in Sept. 1883. He has two sons, Alfred F., born in Gardner, Mass., May 10, 1862, now residing at Sherborn, Mass., and Robert L., born in Leominster, March 30, 1869, studying law in the office of his father.
The facts relating to this family are taken from the Carter Memorial, for the use of which, we are indebted to Mrs. Chauncy W. Carter who gave several years to the labor of col- lecting material and carefully preparing it for publication in that volume.
THE HILLS.
The family of Hills was for many years identified almost exclusively with the comb business of Leominster, the mem- bers of which are referred to in that connection. Mrs. Chas. W. Drake, of this town, a memberof the Hills family, is inter- ested in preparing a genealogy of the family, which she hopes at some future time to publish.
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BIOGRAPHY BY FAMILIES.
THE JOSLINS.
This family is one of the oldest in the history of the town. Peter Joslin, a grandson of the ancestor of the family, in America, early in the seventeenth century, purchased a large tract of land in the north easterly part of the town, (Leomin- ster) known as "Joslin Hill." He was a son of Nathaniel and Sarah Joslin, and was born at Lancaster in 1665. He lived to the great age of 94 years. His grandfather, Thomas Joslin, with his wife, Rebecca and five children, the youngest, Mary, but one year old at the time, came to America from England in the ship "Increase", in 1635. He took up his abode at Hingham for a few years, and thence removed to Watertown, where he resided until 1653, when, with his son Nathaniel and the other members of the family, he joined with a few others and settled in the valley of the "Nashaway," afterwards Lan- caster. The records show that Thomas Joslin and Nathaniel Joslin signed the first agreement or covenant for a local gov- ernment, Sept. 12, 1654. Thomas Joslin died 1660, leaving a will recorded at Cambridge. Nathaniel Joslin married Sarah King of Marlborough, 1659, and resided at Lancaster until the destruction of the settlement by the Indians in 1676, when he escaped with his family to Marlborough, where he afterward lived and there died, 1694, leaving a will which is on record at Cambridge.
Peter, on attaining his majority, returned to Lancaster and occupied the ancestral lands. He married Sarah Howe of Marlborough. This wife and three small children were killed by the Indians, July 18, 1692, while the husband and father was absent from home. His second wife and an infant child suf- fered a like fate. As the issue of a fourth marriage there were born three sons, one of whom was John, and it is from him that the writer's family descends. The order of the genera- tions are, Thomas (I) the Emigrant, Nathaniel (2), Peter (3)
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LEOMINSTER, HISTORICAL AND PICTURESQUE.
John (4), John (5), Elias (6), Elias (7), Charles L. (8). John (4) was active in town matters. John (5) was in the Revolutionary war when a young man, and became an honored and respected citizen. Like his father he was deacon of the church, and for some thirty years town treasurer. He was also representa- tive to the General Court.
History in detail shows that the family furnished its quota in all the struggles in behalf of civilization, independence, and the preservation of the country's liberties. Mary Joslin, the infant of one year when the family came to America, became the wife of Roger Sumner, son of the emigrant William Sum- ner, who settled in Dorchester. Roger Sumner signed the Lancaster covenant, 1659. Sumner and family escaped the massacre of 1676, and soon after removed from Lancaster to Milton where he afterward lived. His wife survived him several years, dying at an advanced age. Roger Sumner was ancestor of the late Hon. Charles Sumner. Nathaniel Joslin and Roger Sumner were executors of Thomas Joslin's will. From this ancestry the Joslin family has become numerous and is scattered through many of the states. The writer has had correspond- ence with members of the family in eight different states of the Union, and all trace their lineage back to Thomas as the common ancestor.
Sir Henry Joslin (Josselyn) who was Deputy Governor of Maine under Mason, left no issue. Dr. John Joslin, his brother, and author of "New England's Rarities Discovered," published in London, 1672, and "Two Voyages to New England," pub- lished 1675, lived and died a bachelor. The claim made by some writers that certain branches of the family sprang from one or the other of these sources, is not founded in fact. Thos. Joslin who settled in and died at Lancaster, 1660, is the founder.
MAJOR ELIAS JOSLIN was born Nov. 10, 1795, and died July
CL Jostin
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BIOGRAPHY BY FAMILIES.
II, 1874. He was a life-long resident of Leominster, and tock a lively interest in military matters. He was a member of Capt. Tenney's company, at the time the requisition was made for troops in the war of 1812. He was promoted through the different grades until he held a major's commission. He married, Nov. 17, 1799, Elizabeth Stearns, who died Jan. 24, 1885. Their surviving children are William, the eldest, who resides in Illinois, Charles L. in Leominster, and John E. in New Hampshire, Mary E., married N. G. Thom, and resides in Haverhill, James T. is a resident of Hudson, Mass., Martha A. (Mrs. W. B. Tisdale) in Leominster, Col. Geo. C. in Boston, and Ellen L. who resides in Cambridge, Mass.
CHARLES L. JOSLIN, son of Major Elias Joslin, was born in Leominster, Jan. 12, 1823, attended the common schools of the town, and at the age of 16 was apprenticed to learn the comb. makers' trade with Thomas G. and Joseph G. Merriam, who carried on business in the old house where Mr. Joslin's grand- father and father both lived, and where the town farm buildings now stand.
Having finished his apprenticeship at 21 he remained until the death of Mr. Thomas G. Merriam, some two years later, in 1845, when he came into town, and in company with another young man, the late Dana Graham, bought out Mr. Luther Longley, and carried on business under the firm name of Graham & Joslin, locating in the second small building beyond the Welcome blacksmith shop on Central street. Here their business increased so rapidly that at the end of two years they were obliged to look for more room with sufficient water power, to secure which some thirty-five acres of land with a dwelling house thereon was purchased, and the dam which flows the pond known as the Union Comb Co. pond was put in. Here in 1846-47 Mr. Joslin built a factory. He also commenced housekeeping in the dwelling referred to, in which Mrs. Mun-
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ger now lives, on Union St. In their new factory the firm carried on business some two years, when Mr. Joslin sold his interest to his partner, and engaged in business with his broth- er-in-law, Mr. E. G. Adams, building a factory on Union street. In 1857 this building was sold to Pollard & Butterick, removed to near the hotel and used by them in the clothing business until it was destroyed by fire. The firm occupied a portion of the Lockey shop, east of and adjoining the Old Colony R. R., which was burned and again rebuilt by Mr. Lockey. Mr. Adams being in failing health, Mr. Joslin purchased his interest and in the spring of 1871 bought of Putnam & Phelps a tract of land on which he built the main part of the present A. W. Williams factory, and in company with W. L. Palmer and A. W. Williams began the manufacture of horn and rubber jewel- ry. The firm was then Joslin, Palmer and Williams, but after about five years Mr. Palmer sold out to the remaining partners and the business was conducted by Joslin and Williams until 1883, when Mr. Joslin disposed of his interest to Mr. Williams and retired from active business. Mr. Joslin has been a direct-or in the National Bank from the time of its organization in 1864, and is at present Vice President of the Leominster Savings Bank. He also served the town several years on the board of Selectmen, and in 1859 represented his district in the Legislature. He married, Oct. 28, 1846, Martha J. Adams, of Townsend. Their children are Martha D. who married John T. Brown, for many years in the establishment of A. T. Stewart in New York ; Clara A. who married J. Wm. Wetherbee of this town; Mary E., and Charles A., the youngest, who married Alice, daughter of Geo. F. Morse, and is the present town clerk and treasurer of Leom- inster.
JAMES T. JOSLIN, (to whom we are indebted for the facts relating to the Joslin family), is a resident of Hudson, Mass,
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BIOGRAPHY BY FAMILIES.
He made a choice of the legal profession and is now a success- ful practitioner in that town. He has for years been interested in securing facts relating to the history of this family, and has now a large amount of valuable material which it is his purpose at some time to publish.
COL. GEORGE C. JOSLIN. Sketch in the military chapter.
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CHAPTER X.
BIOGRAPHICAL -- CONTINUED.
R. JOEL SMITH was born in Leomin- ster, August 23, 1812, and was, at the time of his death, just past seventy- six years of age. He was a son of Joel and Abigail Smith and was one of four brothers. The oldest only is now living. At an early age he was left to the care of an uncle, Mr. James Divoll, whose residence was on Prospect street, North Leomin- ster. On a farm, located off this street, as it turns towards Shirley, Mr. Smith spent his boyhood until his fourteenth year. He was educated in the Public Schools of this town. At the age of fourteen he went to Wilton, N. H., for the purpose of learning the carpenter's trade. His reason for giving up this plan may be stated in his own words. "My weight at that time was ninety pounds. After eleven months service my weight was reduced to eighty pounds. Taking the advice of my uncle and elder brother I returned to Leominster and served an apprenticeship with Jonas Colburn, for the comb business." That this change was a wise one, Mr. Smith's skill as a workman and success as a manufacturer of these goods is sufficient proof. When his trade was learned, after the man-
JOEL SMITH.
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BIOGRAPHICAL-CONTINUED.
ner of those times, Mr. Smith worked for some years, as a jour- neyman combmaker. In 1836 he began business for himself in company with George W. Smith and John Nourse. The shop where they manufactured combs, stood just south of the spot now occupied by the " Leominster House." Some years later Mr. Smith was in business with Abel Chase and Oliver Patch, in a building which stood on the site of what was afterwards the Union Comb Shop, now the Richardson Carriage Co.'s Works. When the building was enlarged and the Union Comb Co. formed, Mr. Smith became President of the Co., the other members being Mr. Stephen Tisdale, John Bates, James Gallup.
Mr. Smith was President of this company for five years, from 1867 to 1872. The property was wholly destroyed by fire in 1872, and after the shop was rebuilt, the company was changed and Mr. Smith withdrew. He soon started again for himself in a part of the Lockey Piano Shop, which then occupied the site of Valpey & Anthony's Shoe Factory. Here in 1879, Mr. H. R. Smith, a son of Isaac Smith, was received into the busi- ness with his uncle. The firm was known as Joel Smith and Company, and continued business until 1885, when Mr. H. R. Smith withdrew. During this time the firm met with a severe loss in the fire which wholly destroyed that part of the Lockey Piano Shops, which stood south of the railroad. After the fire the business was again started in a shop connected with the factory of W. D. Earl & Co. Here Mr. Joel Smith continued to manufacture horn goods after Mr. H. R. Smith left the firm, until he moved (within the present year) to more convenient quarters in a part of the comb shop of Mr. A. W. Williams. Here he was doing business with Mr. John Bates at the time of his death.
The circumstances attending the death of Mr. Smith were, as follows : As usual Mr. Smith had witnessed the annual pa- rade of the Fire Department, in the work and good name of
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which he was greatly interested. He was, so far as known, in his usual health. Late in the afternoon he had spent some time in conversation with Mr. Gardner Morse as to matters of mutual interest and memory. As the early evening was cool, Mr. Smith said he would go to his home and get warm before it was time for supper in the Town Hall. He was present at the supper, and took part in the speaking which followed. Pre- vious to the supper, he and Mr. F. A. Whitney had made this agreement : That Mr. Whitney should call upon Mr. Smith for a speech and upon its delivery should pay a certain sum-to be named by Mr. Smith-to the Fire Department. This arrange- ment, so pleasantly conceived, had just been as happily com- pleted, when Mr. Smith turned to leave the Hall and died almost instantly of heart disease.
Some mention should be made of Mr. Smith's work outside of his own private business. He was a man who never thought that all his time and energy ought to be consumed for his own personal profit. So far as town matters go, Mr. Smith was a liberal and public spirited citizen. Of this his whole history is ample proof. Nothing which would in his judgment aid the town, was foreign to his thought or labor. He served the peo- ple well, and was honored by them in many ways.
Mr. Smith was one of the original corporate members of the Leominster Savings Bank and a member of the Board of Trustees from its first organization in 1867, also a member of its Investment Committee from 1873 until his death. He was appointed a Director of the First National Bank of Leominster, Sept. 20, 1875, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his former partner, Oliver Patch, and was elected President in 1884. He was a Director in the Leominster National Bank from its organization in July 1884. During the more than thirteen years he was Director, (with the exception of the time he was absent as a member of the Legislature), he was absent
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