USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Leominster > Leominster, Massachusetts, historical and picturesque > Part 13
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BIOGRAPHICAL-CONTINUED.
from the regular weekly meetings of the board only ten times.
Mr. Smith often. served and honored his town in places of public as well as private trust. It must suffice to mention in this connection his service in the Legislature in 1882-3. As a Representative he did faithful and efficient service, honoring himself and the office which he held. Any mention of Mr. Smith would seem incomplete which did not make prominent his connection with the Anti-Slavery Reform and the cause of temperance. In those times when it cost something to be an anti-slavery man, Mr. Smith was such a man. He was a mem- ber of the Leominster Anti-Slavery Society, formed in 1838. Later he was associated with such men as Dr. Joel S. Bingham, Dea. Isaac Cowdrey, Isaac Smith, Jonas Colburn and Oliver Patch, in the Leominster branch of "The Anti-Man-Hunting League." At the home of Mr. Smith there was always a warm welcome for the fugitive slave. The story cannot now be fully told, but it should be said that in all the work of those hot and eventful years from 1840 to 1861, Mr. Smith bore earnest and honorable part.
Mr. Smith was also an earnest, consistent, and persistent friend of temperance. He gave time, money, and effort to the cause. Whatever he undertook he did with a will. His whole heart was in his work. Leominster has had few more honored citizens.
In 1835 Mr. Smith married Miss Eliza Taylor, who survives him.
[The foregoing sketch from the editorial columns of the "Enterprise ' is given here instead of in the business chapter on account of the sudden death of Mr. Smith at time of publi- cation.]
JONAS COLBURN. (Sketch in Manufacturing Chapter.)
DANA GRAHAM was born in Leominster, May 9, 1821. He was the eldest of a family of twelve children, and was appren-
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ticed to the comb making trade when sixteen years of age. After being associated with Mr. Charles L. Joslin for three years he removed, in October, 1850, to Lancaster, Pa., where he associated himself with John Shaffner of that city, and the comb manufactory at the corner of Market and James streets, was built. The firm of Shaffner & Graham was continued until 1870, when Mr. Shaffner died. Mr. Graham attended to all the details of the large industry until 1881, when he took his eldest son, John S., into partnership, the firm of D. Gra- ham & Son, continuing until the death of Mr. Graham the present year.
Mr. Graham was a man of excellent business qualifications. His ability was recognized in his adopted city. He was elected a member of its council for several years and was also chosen the first alderman of the ninth ward. In politics he was un- wavering in his support of the Republican party. He was prominently identified with the Masonic and Odd Fellow fra- ternities. He took an active interest in Fire and Building loan Association matters. He was President of the Washington Fire Company and Treasurer of the Union Building and Loan Association from its organization. Mr. Graham was married Jan. 19, 1848, to Miss Lucy M. Grant, of Northfield, Vermont, who survives him. Ten children blessed this union, five of whom are living, three sons and two daughters ; John S., Dana H., G. Atlee, Mrs. Lennie E. Herzog, and Miss Emma C., who was educated as a nurse in Blockley Hospital, Philadelphia, and who faithfully attended her father in his last illness. Mr. Graham died April 14th, 1888, and was buried with Masonic honors.
WINTERS DAY SOMERS was born in Rochester, N. Y., May 8, 1825. At an early age he removed to Newton, Conn., where he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1852 he came to Leomin- ster with Herman Botsford, (who returned to Connecticut in
JONAS COLBURN.
DANA GRAHAM.
WINTER D. SOMERS.
WILLIAM DURANT.
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1855); they began the manufacture of Horn Buttons in Morse. ville, in a building which has since been burned. Two years later he removed to the Carter shop where Rockwell's mill now stands. Here he formed a co-partnership with a Mr. Platt under the firm name of Platt & Somers. Upon the dissolution of this firm he purchased the shop on Central street where he carried on business until the time of his death.
Mr. Somers conducted a safe and successful business. He had the ability to use tools, was his own carpenter, blacksmith and general mechanic. He was careful and methodical in do- ing business, and prompt to meet his obligations. His death was caused by an accident on Monday morning, April 30, 1883, one of the saddest accidents that had occurred for years. While attempting to unwind a broken belt without stopping the power or slackening the speed, a loop of the belt caught around his wrist, drawing him up over the shafting, causing instant death.
Mr. Somers was not only a prominent business man but a public spirited citizen. He was a member of Wilder Lodge, F. and A. M., for about twenty years, and was also connected with Jerusalem Commandery of Fitchburg, in whose affairs he took a deep interest. In Oct. 1852, previous to removing to Leominster, he was married to Miss Phœbe Sherman, who, by her sympathy and encouragement did much to help him in his business. They had two children, both daughters, one of whom is the wife of Henry Edgerly and the other is the wife of A. S. Paton.
At the funeral services Wilder Lodge and Jerusalem Com- mandery attended in a body, and many places of business and stores were closed as a mark of appreciation and respect.
HIRAM W. PITTS was born Dec. 2, 1814. The following year his father, James Pitts, removed with his family to that part of the town of Lancaster, Mass., which is now included in
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the town of Clinton, and built a grist and saw mill and a small cotton factory on the mill privilege now occupied by the Lan- caster mill.
Hiram was employed from the age of eight to eighteen in the cotton mill, and the latter part of the time in the grist mill. Upon the death of his father he, in connection with his broth- ers, ran the cotton mill in the manufacture of satinet warps, until 1842, when he sold his interest to his brothers and went to Worcester to run a woolen mill. The mill property in Lan- caster was soon after sold to E. B. Bigelow, the present Lancas- ter mills corporation being formed and succeeding to the owner- ship. From Worcester Mr. Pitts went to West Fitchburg, taking charge of a mill for Col. Ivers Phillips, two years after removing to Fitchburg, taking on contract the factory now a part of the Pitts mill, then much smaller than at the present time. After two years he went to Saquoit, N. Y., and in com- pany with Edwin F. Wheeler began to run a mill by contract. For several years thereafter he was interested in various manu- facturing enterprises in different places.
In 1849 he entered into a ten years' partnership with Benj. Marshall, one of the founders of the long celebrated Black Ball line of packet ships between New York and Liverpool, who had withdrawn from commerce and engaged in manufacturing. The factory was located at Middleboro, Vt. In addition to this in 1867 he took into his own hands the factory in Fitchburg, removing his family to Leominster, Mass. In 1876 he erected a new mill in Fitchburg, now known as the Pitts mill. .
Mr. Pitts married, in 1842, Betsey S. Burditt of Leomin- ster, who died in 1843. In 1846 he married Mary A. Merriam of Fitchburg. The children are Abby E., B. Marshall, and Etta L. B. Marshall Pitts was the efficient assistant of his father in the office, and upon his death, Dec. 22, 1881, succeded to the business. He was also chosen a Director in the Safety
Van Slyck & Co Boston
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Fund National Bank of Fitchburg, a position his father held up to the time of his decease.
WILLIAM DURANT was born in Lancaster, Mass., 1803; he came to Leominster in 1840, where he pursued his avocation as blacksmith, until within a few years of his death, in 1879. He was deeply devoted to the interests of Free Masonry, being one of the founders and first Master of Wilder Lodge in this town. The great moral reforms of the present age found in him an earnest advocate, being among the first to enlist in the cause of temperance, for which he suffered quite a little perse- cution. " Dare to do right," was his motto through life.
In 1830, he was married to Marina Prescott, of Groton, Mass. Two sons and a daughter reside in Leominster.
SAMUEL GARDNER WILDER was born in Leominster, June 20, 1831. The family, in 1844, settled in Illinois, then on the frontier. From thence the subject of this sketch crossed the almost trackless mountains and plains to California in 1852. There he was employed by the Adams Express Co., having, as an associate therein, his future Honolulu fellow citizen, Mr. R. W. Laine.
Mr. Wilder arrived in Honolulu in the Clipper Ship White Swallow, in the year 1857. The same year he married there Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. G. P. Judd, the bridal couple making their honeymoon trip in the White Swallow to New York. On returning to the Islands Mr. Wilder went into sugar planting at Makawano, Maui, but this enterprise was brought to an unfortunate termination by the destruction of the plantation by fire. Afterwards in company with Dr. Judd, he started a plantation at Kuola, Oahu, but owing to the poor soil this was abandoned. He was next engaged in the auctioneer business with E. P. Adams & Co., and later in the lumber busi- ness with Hon. J. I. Dowsett, soon after, buying Mr. Dowsett's interest. This continued one of the leading branches of busi-
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ness to the last. In nothing, however, was Mr. Wilder so identi- fied with the life of his adopted country, as in the remarka- ble development of Inter-Island Steam Navigation. The flotilla which he gathered together consisted of the steamers, Kilauea, Likelike, Mokolii, Lehua, Kinau, and the Kilama Hon. After the arrival of the Kinau in 1883, Mr. Wilder formed the Wilder Steamship Co., that has since conducted business under his presidency. The corporation also acquired the barque J. A. King, employing her in the large lumber business of Wilder & Co., between Honolulu and Pugent Sound.
Mr. Wilder's political record, no less than his commercial career was marked by his rigorous individuality.
For his active services in securing the election of King Lunalilo, the latter appointed Mr. Wilder to the House of Nobles. Upon the death of Lunalilo, Mr. Wilder espoused the cause of the late King's rival, David Kalakaua. The present King summoned Mr. Wilder to his Cabinet in 1878 in which he was Minister of the Interior until August 1880, when he retired suddenly at the inception of the Moreno fiasco. He had been raised in the meantime to membership of the Privy Council of State, continuing a member of the House of Nobles also. Mr. Wilder's Administration of the Department of the Interior was characterized by a well defined policy of internal improvements. Besides the construction of roads and bridges and other public conveniences, he initiated and carried out the project of a Marine Railway, which was constructed in 1882. In 1881 he built the Kohala railroad from Mahukoua to Niulii on the Island of Hawaii and in 1884, acquired the Ka- huliu Railroad on Maui by purchase. One thousand men were furnished employment by Wilder & Co., the Wilder Steamship Co., the Railroad, and others of Mr. Wilder's large concerns.
As President of the Legislature to which he was elected
HON. SAMUEL GARDNER WILDER.
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last year Mr. Wilder showed the qualities of a practical parlia- mentarian, prompt and precise in his rulings ; combining rare tact with energy in the dispatch of business. The King had conferred upon Mr. Wilder the distinctions of a Knight Com- mander of the Royal Order of Kalakaua, and Grand Officer of the Royal Order Crown. His death occurred July 28th, 1888, after about a month's illness. The funeral was attended by the Cabinet Ministers and the Legislative Assembly in a body, and by a concourse of people probably more numerous than had attended any funeral there except of royal personages.
Mr. Wilder leaves a widow and three sons, two daughters and four grandchildren. His first born son lost his life by an accident. His son, G. P. Wilder was married last year and one of his daughters is Mrs. C. L. Wight of Kohala. The surviv- ing brothers are Wm. C. and John K. Wilder.
MR. JACOB COLBURN was born in Leominster, May 23d, 1806. He learned the comb makers' trade of James H. Carter. He was married April 25, 1831, to Miss H. Spaulding, and in 1840 went into business for himself, continuing in the same for a quarter of a century, until the time of his death which occurred July Ist, 1865, having spent his whole life in Leomin- ster.
MAJOR THOMAS SIDNEY BENNETT, fourth son of Calvin and Hannah Fletcher Bennett, was born in Leominster, May 22d, 1810. He attended school in his native town until he was fourteen years of age, when he served an apprenticeship of seven years in the horn comb business, with the late John Kendall of this town. He was married at the age of twenty- three years to Sarah Newton Boutelle, who, with their two daughters, is now living, two sons having died ; seven grand- sons survive. In 1837 he removed to Philadelphia, but in a few months returned to Leominster, where he followed his trade until his death, March 9th, 1881.
"Major Bennett," as he was frequently called, was enrolled
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in the Leominster Artillery Company before the age of man- hood, and received his commission as Major, in the second Brigade, in 1838, from Gov. Edward Everett, being honorably discharged in 1841, when the Battalion under his command was disbanded. His great interest in military affairs continued through his life, and during the late war he did all in his power to aid and comfort those who were comrades with his only son, the late Capt. Eugene A. Bennett ; making visits to Washing- ton, Poolesville, Md., and other places, while spending a win- ter at Annapolis, employed for the soldiers, and also went to Antietam battlefield, in company with Rev. Eli Fay and Dea. I. Cowdrey, to relieve the needs of Leominster soldiers.
The poor fugitive from slavery's bonds, was welcomed as a guest in his home and many of dusky hue were there enter- tained. In 1850 he purchased a pew in the Unitarian Church, and was for several years its sexton. No hour was too early or too late, for him to faithfully TRY to attend to his duties. A member of the L. F. D., he served as steward and foreman of the old "Torrent No. 1," devoted and efficient, ever ready to do his part when action was needed. At social gatherings, or when sickness and death came to his friends and neighbors, his kindly services were often rendered, and when past the allotted age of man, after a frugal and temperate life, he was called to depart, leaving friends to enjoy the reward of his labors, he went in peace to his rest.
A. M. POLLEY was born in the town of Shirley, in 1810. He came to Leominster at an early age, and worked for Col. Asa Longley at the shoe business from the age of 14 to 21. For a time he engaged in business as a custom shoe maker. He was afterwards associated with Isaac Smith in the firm of Polley & Smith, in the manufacture of boots and shoes at wholesale until 1860. The firm of A. M. Polley & Son was formed in 1862, occupying a building near the hotel, since
JACOB COLBURN.
MAJ. THOS. S. BENNETT.
A. M. POLLEY.
JAMES B. GALLUP.
LUKE WILDER,
HENRY A. WILDER.
.
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burned, afterwards a building across the Square where Wood's block now stands, and later removing to the present location in Monoosnock block. Mr. Polley was an active temperance man, and an ardent supporter of the Anti-Slavery cause in its dark- est days. He was interested in military matters and was one of the early and prominent members of Wilder Lodge, F. & A. M. He died Sept 18, 1880.
JAMES B. GALLUP was born in Clayville, a village in the town of Foster, Rhode Island, July 28, 1821, and came to reside in Leominster about the year 1840.
He entered the employ of G. & A. Morse and Jonas Colburn, working at the trade of comb maker. He afterwards went to Northboro, where he formed a copartnership with Calvin B. Cook for the manufacture of combs. Subsequently in that place he engaged in business with Samuel Woodward, and on his own account entered into numerous speculations, among them being the business of buying and selling wood- land, in which he was very successful. Returning to Leomin- ster some time previous to the war he engaged in the comb business with Philander Woodbury. Afterwards in the same business with B. F. Blodgett. After the dissolution of this firm in 1867 he became a member of the Union Comb Co. In 1872 the comb factory of this corporation was destroyed by fire, after which a new company was organized with Mr. Gallup as President, an office held by him until his last sickness.
At the age of nineteen he married Miss Orissa Wheelock of Leominster, and their only son, George B. Gallup, was one of the first to enlist from this town, and gave his life as a sac- rifice to the cause of the Union.
His second wife was Dorothea Wheelock. He married for his last wife Sarah F., daughter of Jacob Colburn, who survives him.
Mr. Gallup was a successful business man, but never sought
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public or political office. He was known among his acquaint- ances as a kindhearted, generous man. He died at his resi- dence on Lancaster St. August 31, 1884.
PHILANDER WOODBURY was born in Bolton, Mass., Oct. 2, 1831. When a boy he came to Leominster and learned the comb makers' trade of Emerson Prescott. He then went to Northboro and worked at his trade a few years, and while there married. He returned to Leominster in 1859, going into busi- ness with Mr. James B. Gallup. Three years later the partner- ship was dissolved and he bought out the business of Mr. Prescott, carrying it on for two years, when he was again with Mr. Gallup for a year, at the end of which time, in 1867, he felt obliged to seek a change of climate. He went to Minne- sota and engaged in buying and selling lands, but he failed to regain his health and died Dec. 13, 1871.
LUKE WILDER was born Sept. 25, 1786, and died June 22, 1864. He was a blacksmith by trade, as were his father and grandfather before him, and in 18II he built the dam on Mechanic street now owned by John Mather, where for many years with trip hammer works he manufactured axes, scythes, and other edge tools, sending them abroad, many of them to the great west, so that (as Gov. Everett once remarked) "one could hardly travel in any direction without finding a Leomin- ster axe."
HENRY A. WILDER, son of Luke Wilder, was born Aug. 6, 1812, and died Dec. 15, 1882.
MAJ. AMOS HAWS. In 1795, Benjamin Haws, the grand- father of Mr. M. D. Haws, purchased a large tract of land in the southwest side of the Nashua river, including the property now owned by the family. The next year he moved here from Nor- folk County. At that time his son Amos was only two years old. The family had, it would seem, a natural aptitude for the boot and shoe business. At least four generations, in a direct
AMOS HAWS.
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line, have made the manufacture of these articles a successful calling. But the father of Major Haws was not wholly occu- pied with the boot and shoe business. He, also, owned and worked a farm. On this farm young Haws was employed until he reached his majority. He then began the manufacture of boots and shoes in the shop owned by his father. This shop stood nearly opposite the present home of Mr. M. D. Haws, North Leominster. This business he continued until he bought the Grist and Saw Mill from the heirs of Israel Nichols, in 1830. A few years later he sold the mills to Jonas Kendall & Sons, who bought them to get full control of all the water power. When there was not water sufficient for both their paper mill and the grist mill, the latter was stopped, to allow the paper mill to run. The farmers and others were so disap- pointed and troubled because they could not get their grain made into meal as heretofore, that, knowing Mr. Haws had a water power privilege farther down the river upon his own land, they made up a subscription, which they presented, to encourage him to build a new mill. Upon the receipt of their subscription in 1837, he built a saw, grain and flour mill upon his land, which required a canal of about 100 rods from the main stream. During the nine years while Mr. Haws run this mill, the average quantity of grain ground annually was 15,400 bushels, nearly one-fifth of which was wheat, besides running his saws in the mill most of the time during each year.
In the History of Leominster, by David Wilder, on pages 123-4-5, we find this statement : "There is one fact connected with the erection of the mills, too good to be withheld from posterity, viz .: From time immemorial, it has been the custom, in this town, whenever the mills, dwelling houses or other buildings of individuals shall have been swept away by floods, or destroyed by fire, for the inhabitants, generally, to raise funds by subscription or otherwise, to enable such individuals
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to rebuild, without the expectation that such funds will ever be returned, but I have never known of but one instance of funds having been raised in this way to encourage an individual to commence a new work. That a handsome sum was raised by subscription, and given to Major Haws to encourage him to undertake the work in his private capacity. This he did, and after improving the mill profitably for a number of years with characteristic honesty and honor, he called on all the contribu- tors then living, and very unexpectedly to them, refunded to each the full amount of his subscription." It may be added to the foregoing record, that some of the contributors remarked when receiving back their subscriptions, that they wished that they had given more, for Major Haws had kept the money for them, and now they had it, while if it had been left with them, they should have spent it. Mr. Haws believed in the efficiency and took a strong interest in the Military arm of the State and Nation. When the call came for State troops, in 1812, to re- port at Boston, he was just recovering from a severe illness. But he was very earnest in his desire to go with the Artillery Company of which he had lately become a member. His father, however, strongly opposed such action on the boy's part, and only yielded on the personal assurance of Captain Tenney that he would look after him. Then the father took the boy in his carriage and started after the company, overtak- ing them at Concord. Then young Haws left the carriage and took his place in the ranks and marched to Dorchester Heights. When the company was ordered home a, few weeks later, he returned with greatly improved health. At a later period he was Captain of the Company, and Major of the Battalion of Artillery to which the Company belonged. Mr. Haws served the town on the board of Overseers of the Poor and on various Committees. He had the confidence, to an unusual degree, of his fellow citizens ; he was a prompt and efficient man of bus-
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iness and no matters of his own, or interests of others com- mitted to him, were left until to-morrow, when they could and ought to be cared for at once. Major Haws belonged to the sturdy, downright and upright, New England type of charac- ter, which sets its seal upon the Nation's charter of liberty.
CAPT. THOMAS HILLS, son of John and Sarah Hills, was born in Leominster, April 7th, 1784. He was, for many years, a prominent manufacturer of horn combs, conducting the busi- ness at his place, located in the Southwesterly part of the town familiarly known in those days as "Manchester," but more gen- erally known as the "Hill Road." In those days this portion of the town, where now no manufacturing whatever is carried on was a noted locality for the manufacture of combs, and many of our old comb makers served their apprenticeship with Thos. and Charles Hills.
It seems worthy of mention that for the distance of nearly a half mile, in this neighborhood, in a northerly direction from his home there were ten or eleven families, and nearly every one bore the name of Hills, and those who did not were in some way related to that family.
For many years he was identified with the military. In 18II he was appointed a Sergeant in a company in this town, then attached to the 4th Reg., 2d Brig., 7th Div. of the militia of Mass. The Regiment, at that time, was commanded by Lieut. Col. Israel Nichols of this town. Later on he was pro- moted, respectively, as Ensign, Lieutenant and Captain of the company, receiving this latter commission May 31st, 1816, his commission being signed by His Excellency Gov. Caleb Strong. He filled this position until his resignation Feb. 17th, 1818. In the fall of 1814, during the war of 1812, Capt. Kilbourn's company, in which he was at that time holding the position of Ensign, was ordered to Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, for gar- rison duty, where they remained for sixty days,
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