USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 72
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companies in New England, doing a very large business for its capital. Mr. Richardson was clerk and treasurer of the North Adams fire district from 1883 to 1891, during the time of the large and important increase of the district's water supply from artesian wells and the Broad Brook system. In this capacity he was enabled to render the town much valuable service. Mr. Rich- ardson was treasurer and manager of the United Zy- lonite Company from 1887 until the purchase of the zylonite works by the Celluloid Com- pany, something less than two years ago. The transactions of the Zylonite Com- pany amounted to several million dol- lars, and in the management of the affairs of the com- pany Mr. Richard- son showed marked ability and skill. In politics Mr. Richard- son has always been an earnest and zeal- ous Republican and is always ready to contribute in every legitimate way for the success of his party. He has never sought public office, the many demands of his business keep- ing him fully occu- pied. Mr. Richard- son enlisted in the State Militia in 1878, and for four years was in the service. He held commissions as second and first lieutenant, and at the time of his resignation in 1882 was the captain of Company F, Second Regiment of Infantry. Mr. Richardson was married, June 4, 1890, to Mrs. Alice Rudderow Bonnell, of Jersey City, N. J. They have no children. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Richardson is one of the most likable and popular men in his native town, to which he has ren- dered so many services.
FRANK S. RICHARDSON.
568
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
N. L. MILLARD, one of the successful shoe manu- facturers of North Adams, and long identified with its interests, was born in Stamford, Vt., where amid farm life his boyhood was passed. He was early dis- posed to leave the farm and enter upon more active pursuits, and began business life at North Adams in 1861, entering the employ of Ingalls, Tyler & Co., woollen manufacturers, as book-keeper, with whom he remained eight years. Mr. Millard comes from a sturdy, independent Ver- mont family, and his ambition was satis- L fied with nothing short of a business career on his own account. Accord- ingly, in 1869, hav- ing formed a partner- ship with his brother, E. R. Millard, who had been successful as a stock grower in the West, they, under the firm name of E. R. & N. L. Millard, and without any pre- vious experience in this line whatever, began the manu- facture of shoes. This industry had long had a foothold in the town, and they were attracted to . the success and ¿ owth with which it had been attended. They purchased of C. T. Sampson his old factory on Eagle Street, next to the river, and began in a small way, soon making one hundred and twenty pairs per day. With this small beginning the business steadily increased till after three years the demands upon them necessitated a product of nine hundred pairs daily. In 1874 Mr. Millard withdrew from the firm, selling his interest to his brother ; but he was not long out of the business of shoe manufacturing, as in 1875, by the purchase of the interest of H. S. Millard,
of the firm of Millard & Whitman, the firm of Whit- man & Millard was formed. This firm continued seven years, when, in 1882, Mr. Millard, through the the purchase of his partner's interest, became sole owner. Meantime, through the influence of growing competition, the methods of conducting the business of shoe manufacturing were changing and adjusting them- selves to new conditions. Mr. Millard was quick to discern the shifting conditions of business and the demands of compe- tition, and took an aggressive policy in the complete over- hauling of lasts, dies and patterns, result- ing in the production of good-style, medi- um and cheap goods which have met with a ready sale. In the exercise of this policy his business grew so that two ad- ditions have been made to the original plant. To-day, with a floor space of more than thirty thousand square feet and with an equipment of the best and most mod- ern machinery, Mr. Millard has facilities for the production of three thousand pairs daily. These goods are sold through his Boston office at No. 96 Summer Street to the wholesale trade only, his customers being found in nearly every large city in the Union. In November, 1892, Mr. Millard associated with him his nephew, Charles K. Millard, who for several years had filled an important place in the business, and the firm name is now N. L. Millard & Co. The future policy of this house will be to employ only the best workmen, to whom the highest wages will be paid, thereby insuring the best quality of labor and uni- formity of product.
N. L. MILLARD.
569
NORTII ADAMS.
S. PROCTOR THAYER was born in North Adams, July 1, 1853. He was educated at the Drury High School in North Adams and at Williams College, where he was graduated with honor in the summer of 1873. While in college he was one of the editors of the Williams Review, a college paper, and was the chairman of the committee of arrangements for class day. After graduation he engaged in teaching as assis- tant in the high school in North Adams and as princi pal of the high school in Cheshire, Mass. Afterwards, in 1874, he went to Boston, and studied law in the office of Alfred Hemenway and James P. Farley, Jr., in Barristers' Hall on Court Square, Bos- ton, and entered the law school of Boston University, where he graduated in 1876. In May of the same year he applied for admission to the bar of the Supreme Court for Suffolk County, and after examina- tion his petition was granted. He re- turned to North Adams after his ad- mission to the bar, and since that time he has been engaged in practising law with his father, Hon. Shepherd Thayer, under the style of S. Thayer & Son. After his return to North Adams he was elected a member of the School Committee of that town, which office he held for fifteen years successively. During that time he was very active in all matters per- taining to school work, and many improvements in the educational system and school buildings of North Adams were suggested and carried through by him. Upon the separation of the town of North Adams from the old town of Adams he issued his warrant for the first town
S. PROCTOR THAYER.
meeting of the new town of North Adams, and he has been prominent in all public matters connected with the town since he became of age. He was a member of the original committee that established the public library, and the arrangement and classification of its books and the first' catalogue were made under his direction. He drafted all the bills which provided for the present water supply of North Adams, and was one of a committee of three which constructed the Broad Brook water supply system, at a cost of over a quarter of a million dollars. He assisted in writing several school-books, some of which are in use to-day, and he has written a short history of Berkshire County and various lectures and articles upon educational and other subjects. He was twice appointed special justice of the District Court of Northern Berkshire, which office he re- signed upon his election as member of the Legislature. He was a member of the House of Repre- sentatives for c years of 188€ and 1881, and served on the committees on the Hoosac Tunnel and Constitutional Amendments. He
was elected senator from the Northern Berkshire Dis- trict in 1884 and 1885, and served in that body as chairman of the committees on the Hoosac Tunnel, Public Service, Education and Bills in the Third Read- ing. Mr. Thayer has always been a Republican in politics, and his services have been frequently in request as a stump speaker and as manager of local political campaigns, in which he has been very successful. He is unmarried.
570
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
JAMES HUNTER was born in the town of Gala- shiels, Scotland, June 8, 1806. On both his father's and his mother's side he came of good stock. His paternal grandfather was for a long time a prosperous merchant of Leith, so that his father, Andrew Hunter, grew to manhood with the privileges of the genteel fam- ilies of those days, and married Mary, the daughter of Laird Blaikie, one of the leading citizens of Galashiels. Four sons and one daughter were born to them, but the family fortunes were soon changed by great losses in the East India trade, and the sons, therefore, inherited little except the stock of intelli- gence and manly in- dependent qualities of character which come of good ances- try. They, however, all received a good education at a pri- vate school for boys in Edinburgh, where James Hunter was sent when nine years of age, and remained six years. At the age of fifteen he was ap- prenticed to Alexan- der Sanderson to learn the business of woollen manufactur- ing, and in 1829 he married the daughter of Thomas Walker, who was one of the old manufactur- ers and a prominent citizen of Galashiels. Great depression overtook the manufacturing interests of Scotland during the early thirties, and Mr. Hunter emigrated with his wife and two children in 1833. For five years he lived in Otsego County, N. Y., working at his trade. In 1838 he went to North Adams, and soon became superintendent of a part of the mill of Brown & Tyler, afterward Brown & Harris. In 1846, with others, he built the first cotton mill at Greylock, and, in 1847, exchanged his share of
this mill for the furnace property in North Adams. Though this was a new business to Mr. Hunter, he made it successful by patient industry and an intelligent study of its natural development, and the present large and prosperous business of the James Hunter Machine Company, of which James E. Hunter, the oldest son, is at the head, has been the outgrowth of these small beginnings. Mr. Hunter, as an employee, always gave more than was expected of him. He once said : " I am happy to think that no human being ever lost a dollar by me," and then added, " or a moment's work when I was employed by others." He was the true and kind friend of his employ- ees, the confidential adviser and helper of many, and just, gen- erous and devoted to the interests of his patrons. He was the consistent advocate of temperance, edu- cation and religion, intelligent as to pub- lic questions and loyal to American institu- tions, but ever re- taining an ardent love for the land of his birth. He was for several years presi- dent of the Berkshire National Bank. At the time of his death, in 1891, he had been senior deacon of the Congregational church for a long term of years. Mr. Hunter's persevering industry, his courage in overcom- ing difficulties, his strictness of life and stern honesty, his intelligent methods of meeting the demands of bus- iness, make him a typical adopted son of America ; but more than that, his pleasing and cheerful manners, his personality, which stood for all that is best and purest in character, and his life of gentle usefulness to others make him a fitting example for emulation to the young
JAMES HUNTER.
571
NORTH ADAMS.
G I ILBERT L. JEWETT, a member of the Massa- chusetts Legislature and a representative work- ingman of North Adams, was born in South Deerfield, Mass., Dec. 22, 1839, and is a son of James M. and Sophrona Jewett. He is one of a large family of chil- dren, and, like thousands of New England boys, in his youth attended the district school in winter and worked manfully in the summer. Later on he attended the Dickinson Academy at Deerfield. The success which he has attained in life has been the reward of his own efforts. With the exception of his army service, Mr. Jewett was by calling a fairly prosperous farmer in South Deerfield until the year 1885, when he moved to North Adams. Since that time he has been a shoe cutter, and can fairly claim to be one of the represen- tative working men of that prosperous town, intelligent, in- dustrious and frugal. Mr. Jewett's war re- cord is not unlike that of thousands of others. He was a brave and honorable soldier, and the rec- ord is pleasing to him, his friends and acquaintances. He
GILBERT L. JEWETT.
enlisted Feb. 9, 1864, and joined the regiment to which he was assigned, the Twenty-first Massachusetts Infantry, at Annapolis, Md. While a member of the regiment Mr. Jewett participated in nine engagements, and was taken a prisoner near the Weldon Railroad, Aug. 19, 1864. He was confined at first in Libby Prison, then at Belle Isle, and being very ill had the good fortune to be taken to a hospital at Richmond, Va. He was finally exchanged and went to Annapolis. While a prisoner, the Twenty-first Regi-
ment had been consolidated with the Thirty-sixth, and Mr. Jewett joined that regiment. He served honorably and with great credit. Mr. Jewett is a member of Charles D. Sanford Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of North Adams, and has been its commander, and held other positions of responsibility in the order. He has ever been ready to do his share of the work of that organization, and to contribute his share to the charity fund. In politics Mr. Jewett is an earnest and loyal Republican. In I 891 he was the candidate of his party for State rep- resentative in the First Berkshire Dis- trict, and was hand- somely elected. He did excellent service on the Military Com- mittee in the House, and he was honored with an appointment by Speaker Barrett, as a member of the Legislative Commit- tee to represent the State of Massachu- setts at the opening and dedicatory exer- cises of the World's Columbian Exposi- tion at Chicago, in October, IS92. At the State election in November, IS92, Mr. Jewett was again elected to the lower branch of the State Legislature. His constituents were certainly well pleased with the record which he had made the first year in that body, for at his second elec- tion he received one thousand eight hundred and forty- five votes to one thousand two hundred and ninety-four in 1891. He enjoys a widespread popularity among his fellow-members of the Legislature, regardless of party. Mr. Jewett was married, March 4, 1861, to Miss Arvilla C. Wood. Their only child is an adopted daughter, Lilly M., who is nine years old.
572
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
J OHN BRACEWELL was born, June 18, 1837, in felt. For just twenty years he continued in his position
Clitheroe, England. His father, Miles Bracewell, from his early boyhood had been engaged in printing calico, and at the time of his death was the senior part- ner and principal owner of two print works-one at Oakenshaw, Lancashire, and another at Kersal Vale, near Manchester, England. When eighteen years of age Mr. Bracewell had established such a reputation that he received the offer of a position as assistant manager in the Mer-
rimack Print Works, Lowell, Mass., and remained there five years and a half, winning for himself a distinguished rep- utation. Certainly, it argues some un- usual qualities in his work while there, some extraordinary gifts and capacities in his nature, that could have led the Cocheco Manufac- turing Company of Dover, N. H., to call this young man of twenty-three years of age to its most re- sponsible position,- that of manager of its print works. Soon after entering upon his new duties Mr. Bracewell took advantage of the sus- pension of work in the manufactory, made necessary at that period of the Civil War, to enlarge his scientific knowledge by attending lectures on chemistry at Har- vard College. He studied with great thoroughness this science during a five months' course, and at the same time directed the many repairs and changes which were being made in the print works at Dover. With the beginning of the year 1861 Mr. Bracewell took up his residence in Dover. The remarkable enterprise and judgment of the new manager made themselves at once
JOHN BRACEWELL.
These years witnessed a series of brilliant successes. He showed himself to be a genius in his profession. To his originating, creative mind he joins an unusual power of adapting to his own uses suggestions coming from whatever source. By his sheer abilities, his in- domitable energy, his quickness of insight, his tireless perseverance and his perfect command of the minute details of every branch of his work, he soon lifted the Cocheco goods to the very head of their class, and held them there to the last day of his ser- vice. During his residence in Dover he endeared himself to all classes of peo- ple by his large - hearted liberality, his great geniality and his keen per- sonal interest in whatever affected the welfare of the city or the condition of every individual in it. Though born and educated an Englishman, he early became an ardent, patriotic American citizen. In January, ISSI, Mr. Bracewell removed to North Adams, and pur- chased a third inter- est in the Freeman Manufacturing Com- pany of that place. The same success which was acquired in Dover has followed his abilities into the great business which he represents at North Adams. The Windsor calicoes, and other products of the Freeman Manufacturing Company, already stand in the market among the fore- most of their class. Mr. Bracewell served on Gov. Pres- cott's staff, with the rank of colonel. He has been a member of the Republican State Committee. Dartmonth College conferred on him the degree of M. A. in 1877.
573
NORTH ADAMS.
H. TORRIE CADY, of North Adams, is one of the live, energetic manufacturers of the town. He was born in North Adams, Jan. 17, 1844, and is in the prime of life, with his best years for work and develop- ment before him. His parents were Alanson and Jane A. Cady, and both were of vigorous New England stock. The father at one time was a large land-owner, and in the earlier years of the town contributed materially to its growth. Mr. Cady was educated in the excellent
schools of the town, and was graduated at "Old Drury" Academy. In the early days of the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Cady enlisted in Col- onel Morrison's fa- mous Black Horse Cavalry of New York, but was discharged on account of his youthful years. He has been urged to become a member of Sanford Post, Grand Army of the Repub- lic, but has always declined, never de- siring to claim more than is justly his due. The veterans, how- ever, know Mr. Cady as one of their warm friends, who is always ready to assist them in the their work or charities. In 1866, when he was only twenty-two years old, Mr. Cady began in a small way as a shoe manufacturer. From that day to the present his business has grown steadily and prospered. There have been changes and partners and able lieuten- ants, but the growth has been steady, until to-day Mr. Cady gives employment to two hundred and seventy-five hands ; his yearly pay-roll amounts to $110,000, and the annual output from his factory is five hundred thousand pairs of shoes. Mr. Cady's shrewdness and tact have been illustrated in his dealings with his employees. He
H. TORRIE CADY.
has had no so-called labor troubles, and that is due to his good judgment. Like all other manufacturers, Mr. Cady desires a successful and remunerative business ; he knows that a liberal spirit, a desire to treat his em- ployees fairly and generously in wages and hours of labor has a tendency to cause them to work for his interest. In other words, they realize that prosperity for their employer means increased wages and comfort for themselves. Mr. Cady in politics is a Republican, and he has been an earnest worker for the success of his party, In 1889 he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Represen- tatives, receiving a very handsome vote, and the following year he was elected a member of the State Senate, defeat- ing the strongest candidate that the Democrats could name. While a mem- ber of the House he served on the joint standing committees on Banks and Bank- ing and Federal Rela- tions. When a sen- ator he served on the committees on Man- ufactories, Roads and Bridges. He de- clined to accept a renomination as a senator, although sure of an election. He is vice-president of the Berkshire National Bank and one of the directors ; he is also a trustee of the North Adams Savings Bank, and president and one of the directors of the North Adams Gas and Electric Light Company. Mr. Cady was married to Miss Harriett E. Cook, of Cheshire, Mass., June 14, 1868. They have one daughter. He was a delegate-at-large to the Re- publican National Convention of Minneapolis, and was a strong supporter of President Harrison's candidacy.
574
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
A MONG the many able young business men of Western Massachusetts there is none who is better known than William Arthur Gallup, treasurer and clerk of the Arnold Print Works of North Adams. He was born Oct. 28, 1851, and is the son of William W. and Eugenia O. Gallup. He was educated in the public schools of North Adams, and while still a youth obtained a practical business training in the store of his father, who was one of the leading merchants of the town. After several years' experience obtained in this way he entered the store of Briggs & Boland, who were merchant tailors, and after working there for a time he entered the Adams National Bank as a clerk in 1869. He remained there for a year, and in 1870 entered the employment of Har- vey Arnold & Co., calico printers, as an office boy. The training he had re- ceived in his father's store and the expe- rience gained in his connection with other establishments, stood him in good stead, and his promotion was steady in his new place. The print works were destroyed by fire in 1872 and were rebuilt in 1873, and through all the vicissitudes of the concern he retained his connection therewith until 1876, when the corporation of the Arnold Print Works was organized, and Mr. Gallup as one of the charter members was elected clerk and director. The same year he also entered into partnership with Edwin Barnard in the clothing business, and this con- nection was continued until $881, when he withdrew from the firm to concentrate his attention on the large and growing manufacturing interests with which he was
concerned. In 1877 Mr. Gallup purchased his father's interest in the cotton manufacturing firm of Gallup, Houghton & Smith, who operated the Beaver Mill, and in 1878 Messrs. Gallup and Houghton bought out Mr. Smith, and the copartnership then formed continues to-day. In 1883 Mr. Gallup was made treasurer of the Arnold Print Works, and still holds that position. He was also treasurer of the North Pownal and Williams- town Manufacturing companies from 1877 to 1882, and is still a director of those concerns. Mr. Gallup has never held political office, al- though his opinions are pronounced, and as an independent Cleveland Democrat he holds an influen- tial position in his party. He has been identified with St. John's Episcopal Church of North Adams for many years, and for fifteen years has been a vestryman of the parish. He is a lib- eral supporter of the church, but his bene- factions have not been limited to the ecclesiastical organi- zation with which he is connected. A large and well - appointed addition which was made in 1892 to the North Adams Hospital was his gift as a memorial to his wife, who died Oct. 31, 1889. The business abilities of Mr. Gallup have placed him in a commanding position among the business men of Western Massachusetts. His high character and steadfast integrity have won for him the respect of the community in which he dwells. Mr. Gallup's future business career promises to be one of still greater benefit to the town and State, of which he is a valued and thor- oughly representative citizen.
WILLIAM A. GALLUP.
ADAMS
LUX ENG CO
A BEAUTIFUL New England town, with a population of 10,000; with the best of schools, churches and libraries ; with diversified industries giving employment to the people ; situated in a beautiful valley, which is surrounded almost on every hand by rugged hillsides, the famous Berkshire Hills, with Greylock towering over all, - such, in brief, is the town of Adams as it exists to-day. This is a different picture from that of the wilderness. The valley of the " Hoosuck " it was then called. Captain Thomas Wells petitioned for a survey and opening for settlement, and Captain Ephraim Williams, from whom Williamstown takes its name, was made the chairman of a commission to lay out the towns. That was in 1738. Two years later three townships were mapped out. East Hoosuck was one of the three, and that constituted what is now Adams and North Adams. Oct. 15, 1778, a special act of the Legislature permitted the changing of the name of the plantation of East Hoosuck to Adams, a name given in honor of Samuel Adams, the illustrious leader of the Revolution, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and afterwards governor of Massachusetts.
Cotton manufacturing has been one of the principal industries of the town since 1810, when the first cotton mill was erected in the north part of the town by Benjamin Sibley, Captain Jeremiah Colgrove and others, and it would be interesting, if space permitted, to trace the growth of that great industry down to the present, and compare the little, almost insignificant, mills of that time with the magnificent mills of to-day, the superb factories of the Berkshire and Renfew companies, hardly surpassed in the world, and equipped with the best machinery that mechanical skill can produce. It is worthy of note that the first factory in Adams proper was the old Plunkett Mill, there being only a grist mill preceding it. From that time to the present the name of Plunkett has been an honored one in the manufacturing industries of Berkshire.
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