USA > Massachusetts > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Massachusetts > Part 10
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Benjamin Hastings was born in the village of Shirley, Massachusetts, the Hastings homestead being situated on the road which extended between Shir- ley and Lancaster, Massachusetts. He was the son of Benjamin Hastings, a very prominent farmer of Shirley, Massachusetts. The name Hastings is older than the Norman Conquest in England. It was also spelled Hastang. The castle and sea-port of Hasting were owned by the family that adopted the name as early as the year 911, before the Normans were in Gaul. For many years the Hastings family have lived in Shirley, Massachusetts, where they were renowned for their honesty and industry.
Benjamin Hastings, in whose memory we are writing, received his educa- tion in the common schools of his native town, and while this was a good education for a boy in those days, he greatly regretted in after life that he had not enjoyed the advantages of a college training. He endeavored all his
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life to compensate for his lack by doing much private reading, and fully ap- preciating how great is the privilege which one enjoys in the training received in high school, it became his purpose and determination that his chil- dren should never want for a good education. Mr. Hastings was brought up in the surroundings which have given to America its finest type of citizen and many of its greatest men. His childhood was spent on his father's farm, and when not actually engaged at his studies he assisted his father in the work of the farm, which undoubtedly did much to insure him the splendid health which he enjoyed in later life and which was such a valuable asset to him. While still a very young man Mr. Hastings left the parental roof and made his way to Concord, Massachusetts, where he felt that a larger opportunity awaited him. He engaged in business there on his own account by starting a general store in a small way. By honest methods and square dealings with his fellow-citizens, and giving justice to all, he was able to increase his busi- ness in a short time, and it was not long before Mr. Hastings was the propri- etor of one of the most successful stores in the town of Concord, Massa- chusetts. As a merchant he was noted for his kindliness to all who came into his store, customers and business men alike, and this same kindly nature shone forth to children, for when they came they received the same atten- tion and patronage as their parents or older people. Mr. Hastings continued in business in Concord for nearly twenty-five years, and during that period made many loyal and steadfast friends. His regard for the rights and in- terests of others was scrupulous and unvarying, and his honesty of purpose everywhere apparent. He was a man of great force of character, who seemed to at once inspire affection and respect on the part of all who came in con- tact with him, ever entering readily and with sympathy into the feelings and beliefs of others.
Having been raised on a farm, and having spent his early life at farm work, Mr. Hastings always possessed a strong interest for that line of work. He greatly enjoyed fresh air and out-door life, and so after twenty-five years of successful business in a general store he decided to again return to the farm and take up its many duties. Accordingly he sold his business interest in Concord, Massachusetts, and removed to Hudson, Massachusetts, where he pur- chased the property on Main street which was owned by Captain Frank Brig- ham. In a short time Mr. Hastings converted this property into tenements which he rented very easily, and this is now the site where the Mansion House stands, in Hudson, Massachusetts. Mr. Hastings then purchased a farm on the outskirts of the village in the town of Hudson, which he developed into a fine fruit farm. As part of this land was of a sandy soil, he decided to cul- tivate a vineyard, and for this purpose bought over three hundred sets to start his work in that line. After setting out his grape-vine plants, which takes three years before they bear fruit, Mr. Hastings also planted peach trees, and his peach orchard became one of the finest in that region. The first year that the grape-vines were to yield fruit the railroad company con-
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fiscated some of the land at the edge of the vineyard. They offered to settle with Mr. Hastings for one thousand dollars, which he would not consider, as he felt that four thousand dollars would just about be ample to reimburse him for the plants and the time and labor, expecting that year to reap results. He steadily refused to listen to any proposition made by the railroad, and after twelve years of litigation he was finally awarded what he had request- ed as damages. Mr. Hastings found a ready market for his grapes and peaches in both Hudson and Boston. As a business man he showed rare fore- sight and wisdom, and was an example of the successful man who succeeds by strict integrity and fairness in all his dealings. His business experience in Concord, Massachusetts, had been a valuable asset to him. Upon arriving in Hudson, Massachusetts, he advised Mr. C. L. Woodbury to start a cooperative store, which resulted in becoming a very successful enterprise, with the coach- ing and judgment of Mr. Hastings, who instructed Mr. Woodbury in buying and selecting his goods and also introduced him to the wholesale merchants in Boston. Mr. Hastings became the owner of considerable property in Hudson, Massachusetts, and the last years of his life were devoted to his real estate holdings and the management of his farm. From a very small beginning he developed a trade that won for him a place among the leading fruit growers of the country. Seldom had the death of any man so deeply affected those who knew him, and sorrow at his loss was general throughout Hudson, where he was best known.
Politically Mr. Hastings was affiliated with the Republican party, but never aspired to hold public office. He was an attendant at the Unitarian church, to which he was a liberal contributor. He was a strictly temperate man, never having taken liquor in any form during his long and active life, and in his last illness, when it was advised for medicinal purposes, he de- clined, for he felt that since he had lived for ninety years without it, he did not deem it necessary for him to take it then. In his younger life he was very fond of fishing and boating. He owned good thoroughbred horses and fine carriages, and derived great pleasure in driving.
Benjamin Hastings married (first) Miss Marble, a native of Worces- ter, Massachusetts, who bore him one child, Frank, who now resides at Junc- tion City, Kansas, and is messenger on the railroad there; he has two daugh- ters. Benjamin Hastings married (second) Catherine E. Wooster, June 22, 1866. Mrs. Hastings is a daughter of Benjamin and Louisa (Ball) Wooster, both of whom were natives of Newark, Vermont, where Mrs. Hastings was born April 12, 1825. Benjamin Wooster was for many years engaged in a meat market there, and had retired from all active pursuits the last years of his life. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Hastings were the parents of two children, as follows: I. Bertrand Wooster, who has been connected with the "Boston Post" for sixteen years; he was united in marriage with Annie Phillips, and they are the parents of four children, namely: Alice, Margaret, Catherine and Francis. Mr. and Mrs. Hastings reside in Waverly, Massachusetts. 2.
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William, who has been a salesman with a florist in Boston for seventeen years. Mrs. Benjamin Hastings attends the Unitarian church, and resides in Hudson, Massachusetts.
Benjamin Hastings was one of those rare men who was a friend to all humanity. The influence which he exerted in life was at once great and benefi- cent, and it is the task and privilege of those who come after him to keep it alive in the future.
Charles Anson Dale
T HE life of Charles Anson Dale was typical of that splendid set of New England men, so many of whom appeared during the last half of the nineteenth century, men who saw not merely the means to their own personal aggrandizement, but equally the advantage and development of the communities in which they lived. At that time they had not fallen into the mistake of so many of our modern captains of finance and industry, that of restricting themselves and sympathies to the limits of their own busi- ness interests, but were broad-minded enough to take a vital part in the pub- lic affairs, according to the standpoint of a faithful, public servant who places the welfare of his country, state or city before all personal considerations whatsoever. The death of Mr. Dale, which occurred at his home in Dorches- ter, Massachusetts, October 3, 1917, deprived that entire region of one of its most public-spirited citizens. The winning of success for himself was not, however, incompatible with the invaluable services rendered to the community- at-large. His character was of the highest and his benefactions most liberal. Mr. Dale's manners were always unaffected and marked by chivalrous high breeding, recognizing the rights of the lowest as well as those of the highest to the courtesies which sweeten the intercourse of life. In thought, word and deed his daily life was characteristic of a Christian and guided by Christian purity. Into the transactions of business, both public and private, as well as into the intercourse of society, also his domestic relations, he carried the prin- ciples of Christianity as the rule of conversation, the guide of conduct and the assurance of happiness here and hereafter. Mr. Dale wore well as a friend, and in him loyalty and large-heartedness were discernible that were unsur- passed. With all of the milder virtues there was added the mightiness of firm conviction and unswerving purpose.
The birth of Charles Anson Dale occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, on Salem street, the date being November 13, 1868. He was the eldest son of John Anson and Catharine (McNeal) Dale. The Dale family came from Eng- land, and Mrs. John Anson Dale was of Scotch descent. John Anson Dale was a son of Ebenezer Dale, who was a member of Frothingham & Dale, pioneer dry goods merchants of Boston. Ebenezer Dale was one of the historic "For- ty-niners" who journeyed to California, when the great gold agitation broke out there upon the discovery of that precious metal. He felt the lure of ad- venture which the stories from that romantic region possessed, and embarked to seek his fortune in the West.
John Anson Dale, the father of him in whose memory we are writing, was for many years the buyer for Mr. Houghton, a member of the firm of
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Houghton & Dutton, dry goods merchants in Boston. He died in May, 1915, at the age of sixty-five years; his wife followed him one month later, her age also about sixty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. John Anson Dale became the parents of six children, namely : I. Charles Anson, of whom further. 2. Christine, who became the wife of Nathaniel Francis, of Brookline, Massachusetts. 3. Sarah, of Westwood, Massachusetts. 4. John Franklin. 5. Mary, who be- came the wife of William F. Hosman. 6. Clara, wife of William J. Barrett.
Charles Anson Dale obtained his education in the public schools of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and upon the completion of his studies there be- came engaged in a dry goods store. His father and grandfather achieved suc- cess in the dry goods line, and it was only natural that the son and grandson should turn toward that endeavor when seeking a place for himself in the business world. Mr. Dale then decided to take up engineering, and for this purpose entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later he became associated with the Fenton Mechanics Works, and did much work at the State House in Boston. When still a young man he enlisted in Company A, Fifth Cadets, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, under Captain Stover. When the Spanish-American War was in progress Mr. Dale found himself in the service of his Government, and was commissioned to mount the large guns at Fort Warren and Fort Strong. Upon the completion of the war Mr. Dale returned to the place of his birth. His unusual aptness had already manifested itself, and attracted the attention of all who came in contact with him, the result of which was that he became the recipient of many offers of employment in dif- ferent lines of work. Out of all these he accepted the superintendency at the Quarantine Station located at Gallops Island, receiving this appointment during Mayor Fitzgerald's administration. Later, during the Curley admin- istration Mr. Dale was appointed building inspector on account of his thor- ough knowledge of building construction and engineering. Mr. Dale proved to be a hard and conscientious worker. It is said by many of his friends that his close application to his work in a great measure hastened his end.
Mr. Dale's integrity and honor were never impeached and this fact, com- bined with his genial manner, his courtesy and consideration of all men, and a certain intrinsic manliness, which showed in his every action and word, made him an extremely popular figure and won him a great host of friends whose devotion he returned. His life was a short one, his death occurring in his forty-seventh year, but even in that period he had made himself respected in the community. Not only were his ideas powerful, but his maintenance of them was of a kind to impress those about him and cause them instinctively to defer their opinions to his. It was this quality which made him so quickly assume a position of influence in the city which he called home, and in the various activities in which he engaged. Of course there was something else beneath this that insured, as it were, his success in life. No man, however powerful his personality, can retain his hold of success and influence without a founda- tion of those sterling virtues that are so conspicuous in the hardy stock from
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which Mr. Dale was sprung. Honesty, perseverance, self-control, must all be present or men will not be led. But all these traits of character Mr. Dale pos- sessed in full measure, as well as many other qualities of manner and bearing which, if not so fundamental, at least contributed potently to the general ef- fect which his personality produced.
Besides his prominence as building inspector in Boston, Mr. Dale was well known as secretary of Ward Seventeen. He took a deep interest in po- litical affairs and was a stern advocate of civic righteousness. He was a Dem- ocrat and a member of the Democratic Club. Taken from every angle he was a man of the most sterling quality and one whom any city might well be proud to number among her citizens. It is true that Mr. Dale was a young man, and that death had claimed him when in the very prime of life, but his ca- reer had already reached a point where it could be prophesied that a brilliant future lay in store for him. In his religious belief, Mr. Dale was a devout member of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. His popularity was attested by the volume of beautiful letters and memorials sent to his wife and daugh- ter at the time of his death.
On December 1, 1891, Charles Anson Dale was united in marriage with Catherine M. Treanor, of Boston, a daughter of Richard and Rose (Murray) Treanor, both now deceased, and members of old Boston families. To Mr. and Mrs. Dale one child was born, Madeline. For many years Mr. and Mrs. Dale lived on Clifton street, Dorchester, Massachusetts, but at the time of Mr. Dale's death their residence was at No. 435 Columbia road, Dorchester, where Mrs. Dale and her daughter, Madeline Dale, still reside. Mr. Dale was a "home man" and did all in his power to render his beloved ones happy. His work and study occupied the greater part of his time, so that he did not have any leisure hours to spend in clubs and other organizations.
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James Barrett Wood
S OME time during the year 1638 there came to the plantation of Concord one William Wood, of Matlock, Derbyshire, Eng- land. He was accompanied by his wife, Margaret, and his children, Michael and Ruth. Probably Mary, the wife of Mi- chael, was one of the party. Shattuck, the historian of Con- cord, has reason to believe that this William Wood was no other than the author of that quaint and interesting book, "New England's Prospect," published in London in 1634. Other historians and ped- igree-tracers find cause to doubt Shattuck's conclusions, some of them claim- ing that the distinguished author of the "Prospect" (who was prospecting in the Bay Colony for four years previously to 1633, when he returned to Eng- land to publish his book) never came back to New England. However this may have been, we may safely assume that William Wood, of Concord, was a man of capacity. He was one of the first three assessors for Concord, appointed by the General Court in 1640, and filled many other important of- fices. Michael, his son, had a house and lot near the Common. Afterward a homestead was established west of the Sudbury river (the property includ- ed the site (1909) of Mr. John F. McCallar's house) ; and here lived William and his son, Michael, and here, in course of time, lived William's grandson, Jacob, and his great-grandson, Ephraim, and his great-great-grandson, Eph- raim, Jr. The latter, a justice of the Court of Common Pleas, an ardent pa- triot and one of the coterie that founded the Social Circle, lived for a time after his marriage near the spot on Wood street on which stands the house of the master of the Concord School. He built the present house in 1763 and established his home there. The eldest of his ten children was Daniel, a young soldier of the Revolution and quartermaster of a Concord company that was sent to aid in suppressing Shays' Rebellion. Daniel Wood bought the Melvin farm (so called) in the North Quarter, recently owned by Mr. C. E. Jennings, and in the house yet standing were born his son, James, and his grandson, James Barrett, the latter being the eighth in this line of Concord men, none of whom, during a period of little less than two hundred years, had removed from Concord, and each of whom, with the exception of the emigrating father and son, had been born in one of three, or, at the most, four houses. Theirs was a family of public-spirited, worthy citizens, self-respecting and respected. In them fondness for their town and loyalty to its interests and institutions were instinctive, hereditary.
James Barrett Wood, whose paternal ancestry has thus, in part, been sketched, was born September 23, 1824. He was the son of James and Riz- pah (Farmer) Wood, and was one of seven children. He was an amiable
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youngster, shy and sensitive to ridicule. When old enough he was sent to the near by school,-District School No. 6, and later to the High School (kept in what is now the Masonic Building), to Mr. Goodnow's private school, and, for a few terms, to the Academy, conducted by John and Henry Thoreau. Not long after leaving school, he was in Manchester, New Hampshire, for a time, in lumber mills, doing what even-handed employers called "learning the business," which in his case consisted in running a circular saw and striving to conquer homesickness. Information about the circular saw having reached his parents, he was summoned home in haste, and returned with no parts of him missing. He taught school for a winter in Carlisle. Some of his flock, rude farmers' boys, older than their youthful instructor, whom they knew well, were unruly and inclined to make trouble. Experimentally, they called their master "Jim" to his very face, and in other particulars failed to main- tain that high standard of propriety which the heroes of the contemporaneous Rollo Books so irritatingly exemplified. Despite these annoyances, James B. Wood conducted his school with dignity and success, and finished the term with credit to himself and, doubtless, with profit to his charges. But he did not like the work; and when one day his father inquired if it wasn't about time to look for another school, James B., with considerable alacrity, replied that if he must choose between the schoolhouse and the poor-house, he should cheerfully select the latter. This unpleasant alternative was not forced upon him. Another course lay open. He remained with his father, helping with his brothers in the summer time to cultivate the large and well-conducted farm and, during the winters, cutting the wood and timber from the wood- lands, sometimes for his father, sometimes on his own account, for he had begun to invest his savings in property of that sort and had already shown good judgment in his purchases and business ability in disposing of his commodi- ties. He was prominent among the younger men in his part of the town and was commonly among those chosen to represent the North Quarter on social and patriotic occasions. The dancing-school and particularly the singing school gave him much pleasure, and he sang a very good bass. He was en- rolled in the Concord Artillery in 1845 (Lieutenant John S. Keyes being then one of the officers of that organization), was lieutenant in 1850, and was elected captain in 1851. About the year 1850 he formed a partnership with Mr. George L. Prescott for the sale of lumber, wood, and coal. The business was conducted with considerable enterprise. Among other dealings, the firm bought a large tract of standing wood on Fairhaven Hill, which was cut and sold to the Fitchburg Railroad Company. The partnership was dissolved in 1853, when Mr. Wood bought in Vermont, on the tops and slopes of the Green Mountains, a large area of wood and timber land, eventually fifteen hundred acres, and went there to live. He bought a mill and began to cut down the spruce and hemlock, marketing his lumber mainly in Troy and Albany. On June 28, 1856, he married, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Ellen Smith Old- ham, of Pembroke, Massachusetts, and brought back his bride to East Dorset,
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which was their residence during their stay in Vermont. Three of their chil- dren were born in East Dorset and three after the removal of the family to Concord. The children were: Caroline Prescott, married Sherman Hoar; George Miller; Julia Smith, married Herbert W. Blanchard; Richard Farmer, married Victoria Phelan; Isabel Rizpah; and Winthrop Barrett, married An- nie C. Millett. George and Isabel died in infancy.
One of his old neighbors has written thus of him: "No nicer man ever lived than Major Wood. He was always jolly and the best of company. He was one of East Dorset's best citizens, free to give for any worthy cause, a man with a great deal of influence. I got my start through Major Wood." Others who knew him well in Vermont have spoken in like terms of his stand- ing in the community there.
During the Civil War, Mr. Wood was one of the persons appointed to re- cruit the First Vermont Cavalry Regiment. This was in 1861. The regiment was raised under the direct authority of the United States Government, no state law then authorizing the recruiting of cavalry. Forty-two days after the authority was given the regiment was in camp, its uniforms provided and its horses on the ground. Mr. Wood recruited Company G, the Benning- ton company. He did not go with the regiment to the war. The little family at home and, more particularly, certain debts that he had assumed for the car- rying on of his business, which could not be left to others to discharge, seemed to make it imperative that he remain in Vermont. His decision to do this was formed with reluctance, for he had at heart the interests of the or- ganization and the cause in support of which it had been raised. On Janu- ary 18, 1865, he was commissioned a major in the Eleventh Regiment of Ver- mont militia. About two years later, the number of infantry regiments, which had been increased to twelve, was reduced to three by act of the Legislature, and the Eleventh Regiment was thereby disbanded.
Having disposed of the business in Vermont to advantage, Mr. Wood returned to Concord in 1869. He had prospered and had rebought from Cap- tain Barzillai N. Hudson the business in which he had formerly engaged, and once more established himself in his old quarters near the Fitchburg Railroad station. He continued to conduct this business until the time of his death, the last few years in partnership with his son, Richard F. He was glad to be back in Concord. For a time he lived on Middle street, in a house which he bought and enlarged, and then purchased a larger house on Main street, which continued to be his home for the remainder of his days. He became a mem- ber of the Social Circle in 1878, taking the place left vacant by the death of Dr. Josiah Bartlett; was treasurer of the First Parish for twenty-six years, at the church of which society he was a regular attendant; was a men- ber of the Board of Selectmen for four years, serving as chairman throughout his term of office; and was one of the committee in charge of the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the Concord Fight. He was elected a member of Corinthian Lodge of Masons in 1870, having previously been made
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