USA > Massachusetts > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Massachusetts > Part 45
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Robert alonzo Houston
became the wife of Hon. John Orr; William, who served in the Revolutionary War; James; and Joseph. Three of the sons graduated from Yale College. Rev. John Houston died in Bedford, February 3, 1798, aged seventy-five years. His wife died in Bedford, July 4, 1798, aged seventy-two years.
(III) John (2) Houston, son of the Rev. John ( 1) and Anna (Peebles) Houston, was born in Bedford, New Hampshire, in 1760, and his death oc- curred in his native town in September, 1853. He spent his entire lifetime in Bedford, followed the occupation of farming, and was highly respected and es- teemed in the community. He married and was the father of the following children: Robert, who died at Bedford, December 12, 1869, aged sixty-nine years; John; William E., mentioned below; James, who died at Bedford, March 21, 1871, aged seventy-seven years.
(IV) William E. Houston, son of John (2) Houston, was born in Bed- ford, New Hampshire, April 12, 1801, and died in Holyoke, Massachusetts, July 30, 1879. He had a common school education, and in early life followed farming in Bedford and Goffstown, New Hampshire. Later he removed to Haverhill, New Hampshire, where he resided for eight years, during which time he followed farming and conducted a saw mill, of which he was the own- er. He learned the trade of carpenter during his young manhood, and this he followed in Nashua, New Hampshire, for five years, in which town he settled upon removing from Haverhill. In 1850 he came to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and engaged in farming at Smith Ferry, now known as the Abbott property. He was an earnest, industrious, upright and capable man, and a highly useful citizen. He was a member of the Baptist church of Holyoke, in the work of which he aided to the best of his ability. In early manhood he was an ad- herent of the Whig party, and later in life gave his allegiance to the Republi- can party, to which he adhered during the remainder of his days. Mr. Hous- ton married, December 20, 1825, at Goffstown, New Hampshire, Sarah Kim- ball, of that town, born December 19, 1800, died January 12, 1888, daughter of Richard and Margaret (Ferrin) Kimball, and a descendant of Richard Kimball, of old English ancestry, and who was one of the pioneers of Massa- chusetts, and the progenitor of a large and very prominent family. Children : I. Anna Margaret, born September 2, 1826, died August 10, 1895; she was the wife of John Roby Webster. 2. Nancy Melissa, born January 1, 1828, died August 25, 1883; she was the wife of Ebenezer A. Johnson. 3. Richard Kimball, born November 28, 1829. 4. Robert Alonzo, mentioned below. 5. Sarah Amanda, born March 3, 1834, died December 3, 1834. 6. William E., Jr., born January 3, 1836. 7. Sarah Amanda, born April 26, 1840, died Feb- ruary 25, 1868; was the wife of Edward A. Johnson. 8. Joseph Edgar, born April 4, 1842.
(V) Robert Alonzo Houston, son of William E. and Sarah (Kimball) Houston, was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire, August 18, 1831, and died in Holyoke, Massachusetts, October 14, 1916. He attended the public schools in his native town and in Nashua, and completed his studies in the
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Nashua Academy. He then learned the trade of belt making and roll cover- ing, but this not proving to his liking, he engaged in the photograph business with his uncle, William Kimball, in Concord, New Hampshire. Here his strict attention to his duties was a source of satisfaction to his employer, and he re- mained several years. In 1850 he located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and en- gaged in machine work in the United States Armory in Springfield, employed in the manufacture of rifles. Subsequently he became an employee of the Florence Sewing Machine Company at Florence, Massachusetts, continuing there for eleven years, and during the greater part of that time served in the very responsible capacity of superintendent of the testing department. On account of impaired health, he returned to Holyoke and resided with Whiting Street on his farm. Some years later he formed a partnership with Clark Ferguson, under the firm name of Houston & Ferguson, and they engaged in making and installing top roll coverings, an industry at that time allied with the cotton industry, and which trade he had previously learned. The shop was located near the old Mt. Tom Paper Mill, but as more modern appliances dis- placed the leather covered top roll in the manufacture of cotton goods, the firm discontinued business and from that time until his death, Mr. Houston lived practically a retired life. In 1884 he purchased six acres of land in what is now the residential section of Northampton street, Holyoke, and erected a handsome residence, equipped with every modern convenience and comfort, in which he spent the remainder of his days. He subsequently disposed of the remainder of the property in building lots, realizing handsomely on the investment. He devoted his time to gardening, and the last summer of his life he furnished a beautiful exhibition of Canterbury Bells at the Holyoke Pub- lic Library, and he took delight in being present while the blooms were on ex- hibition to hear the exclamation of admiration. Second to his gardens was his interest in fishing, and when the season was in full swing he, with several companions, went to the woods of Maine to enjoy that sport, his last trip be- ing two years prior to his death. In politics Mr. Houston was always a Re- publican. Although not active in civic affairs of any kind, and of a quiet and retiring disposition, Mr. Houston enjoyed a wide acquaintance. He was one of the charter members of the Pequot Club and retained membership un- til his decease. He was an attendant of the Second Congregational Church of Holyoke, in the work of which he took a keen interest, as he also did in every project advanced for the welfare of his adopted city.
Mr. Houston married, November 27, 1862, Polly Ann Street, born at Northampton, Massachusetts, December 1, 1837, a daughter of Alpheus and Sally Ann (Thorpe) Street. Children: I. Henry Street, born September II, 1863; married, June 1, 1886, Ada Belle Ham, a native of Wilton, New Hamp- shire, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Holyoke, daughter of Wil- liam G. and Lydia A. Avery. 2. Ida Pearl, born November 4, 1872, died June 15, 1908; was the wife of Rufus H. Chapin. 3. Robbie, born and died Sep-
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tember 7, 1874. Mr. Houston died at his late home in Holyoke, October 14, 1916, after a comparatively short illness, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. His death removed from Holyoke a man well known and highly es- teemed by all with whom he was connected, either in business or social life.
Andrew Buchanan
A MAN of splendid business ability and a citizen of highest stand- ing, public-spirited to a high degree, Andrew Buchanan left behind him not only an enduring monument in the important company with which he was so long connected, but in the hearts of all who came in direct contact with him. Always in- terested in public affairs, he was ever ready to lend a hand in any movement for the public good. He was deeply devoted to his home and family, there finding his greatest joy in life, but warm hearted and generous, his great heart going out to all, and he was the center of a very wide circle of true friends. He was a son of Robert Buchanan, founder of the firm of Buchanan & Bolt, wire weavers of Holyoke, Massachusetts, a busi- ness continued by his son, Andrew Buchanan, and now most capably man- aged by Mrs. Andrew Buchanan, who succeeded her husband in the presidency of the company.
Robert Buchanan was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1824, died in Hol- yoke, Massachusetts, October 27, 1894, scion of one of Scotland's distinguished families. When a young man he came to the United States, locating at Belle- ville, New Jersey. In 1876 he located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 1878 in Holyoke, where he founded the firm of Buchanan & Bolt, manufactur- ers of woven wire. The firm originally consisted of Robert Buchanan, his son, Andrew Buchanan, and John Bolt. In course of time Robert Buchanan re- tired, leaving his son and partner in charge of the business, which had been from its inception a most successful one. Robert Buchanan married Jean Mc- Vicker and had sons, Andrew and James, also a daughter, Jessie.
Andrew Buchanan was born in Belleville, New Jersey, October 5, 1850, died in Holyoke, Massachusetts, July 9, 1896. He passed his early life in Belle- ville, there was educated and began his business life. In 1877 he was en- gaged in Boston, coming to Holyoke in 1878 and associating with his hon- ored father as partner in the firm of Buchanan & Bolt. The partners con- tinued together until the retirement of Robert Buchanan, and built up a busi- ness, one of the most successful in the city. Andrew Buchanan succeeded his father as president of the company, which had become a corporation, and ex- erted his splendid executive and business talents to its management until his death, the business increasing with each succeeding year. He was a Republi- can in National politics, but in local affairs was thoroughly independent, sup- porting the candidates he judged best fitted for the offices they sought, re- gardless of party ties. He was a member of Common Council for two years, but never sought any public office. He was a member of the Masonic order,
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Andrew Buchanan
belonging to lodge, chapter and commandery; also was a Knight of Pythias, an attendant and generous supporter of the First Congregational Church.
Mr. Buchanan married, January 13, 1874, Grace E. Troop, of Belleville, New Jersey, but born at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Three of the children of Andrew and Grace E. Buchanan are living: Robert, treasurer of the Bu- chanan & Bolt Company; Jessie; Amy R., wife of Homer E. Rawson, of Kuna, Idaho. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Buchanan retained her interests in the Buchanan & Bolt Company, and is now its most efficient pres- ident, proving herself a woman of strong executive ability.
George Whiting Prentiss
W HETHER considered as manufacturer, financier or philanthro- pist, George William Prentiss must be accorded high rank among the honored, progressive and valued business men of Holyoke, who in their day and generation laid broad and deep the foundations upon which a great manufacturing commu- nity has arisen. He was one of the first manufacturers of his class to realize that Holyoke possessed potential greatness, and with his capital and his own strong personality he began the work of prov- ing his faith by his works. He was well advanced in octogenarian dignity when called to his reward, and all but twenty-eight of his eighty-six years had been spent in Holyoke, the little wire mill of 1857 having grown during these years into the great corporation known as George W. Prentiss & Company, and of which he was the executive head.
Prentice or Prentiss is an ancient surname, the spelling always having va- ried as it does to-day, branches of the same family using both "tice" and "tiss." The American ancestor of George W. Prentiss, of Holyoke, was Cap- tain Thomas Prentice, born in England in 1621, and is first of mention in America in the records of the First Church of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he having joined that church about 1652. He was known as the "trooper" from the fact that from 1656 he was lieutenant and captain of horse at Newton, Massachusetts, and it is a matter of record that "he and his troop of horse, owing to their sudden attacks and impetuous charges, were a terror to the In- dians." He led his troop at the "Swamp Fight," and when his long and use- ful life of public service was over he was laid to rest in the old burying ground at Newton with military honors, July 8, 1710.
He was succeeded by his son, Thomas (2) Prentice, a famous Indian in- terpreter, from whom the line of descent follows through Rev. John Prentiss, a graduate of Harvard, and the fourth pastor of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1705-48; his son, John Prentiss; his son, George Samuel Prentiss; his son, Samuel Prentiss; his son, Deacon Samuel Prentiss; his son, George Whiting Prentiss, to whose memory this tribute is offered. Deacon Samuel Prentiss, of the seventh American generation, married Clarissa Whiting, and moved to Claremont, New Hampshire, where he conducted a tanning business until 1857, when he returned to Massachusetts, settling with his son, George W. Prentiss, in Holyoke, where he died in 1877.
George W. Prentiss was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, October IO, 1829, and died in Holyoke, Massachusetts, April 2, 1915. He completed a high school course in Claremont, and after graduation obtained a position as clerk in a store at Fairhaven, Massachusetts. After a short term as clerk MASS .- 3-28
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George Wibiting Prentiss
in Bedford, Massachusetts, he entered the employ of the Henry S. Washburn Wire Works at Worcester, Massachusetts, remaining there three years. This was the beginning of his lifelong connection with wire manufacturing, the business proving very much to his liking and he proving his aptitude for the business. He won the high regard of the management of the works, and dur- ing the three years in Worcester acquired so thorough a knowledge of the business that he was sent to South Boston as manager of the Norway Iron Works owned by the Washburns. He remained in that position about three years, then decided the time had come to begin an independent career as a manufacturer. He chose Holyoke as a location, and in 1857 began wire manufacture in a small mill now owned by the Parsons Paper Company. He began with a partner as Prentiss & Gray, but in about a year purchased his partner's interest and conducted the business under his own name until 1871. The product of the mill found instant favor, and from an annual output of one hundred tons made by a force of eight men the plant grew to a point where as high as ten tons of finished wire were turned out daily by a force of one hundred workmen.
As the business grew, quarters more commodious and suitable were found in a building owned by the Holyoke Water Power Company. In 1871, the business becoming too important to be controlled by one man, Mr. Pren- tiss admitted his cousin, Marden W. Prentiss, to a partnership, he having been superintendent of the plant for ten years previous. The firm in 1871 planned and erected the plant substantially as it now stands, although other buildings have been bought and built. In 1877 the firm was further enlarged by the admission of William Albert Prentiss, a son of the founder. Later the firm was incorporated as George W. Prentiss & Company, the founder becoming the president of the company, a post he filled most efficiently until his death. As the years added their weight he gradually shifted the burdens of man- agement to younger shoulders, but until stricken with a fatal illness regu- larly visited the company's offices.
The development and management of his wire mills fully tested his physi- cal and mental strength for many years, but as partners were admitted and the burdens shifted to the corporation's officials, he was freer to take active part in other important institutions of his city. He was a director of the Deane Steam Pump Company of Holyoke, treasurer of the Holyoke & West- field Railroad Company for several years, but his principal outside connection was with Holyoke's financial institutions. He was for many years president of the Holyoke Savings Bank, and when he finally surrendered the executive management he retained his membership on the board of directors, thus con- tinuing a potent force in the bank's affairs until his death. He was for many years a director of the Holyoke National Bank and at one period its able pres- ident, and also served the Third National Bank of Springfield as a member of its board of directors.
His was not a sordid nature, selfishly seeking his own aggrandizement,
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but with a broad public spirit he aided in all movements for civic betterment and moral uplift. He was very popular in his city, and had he chosen to enter the political field would have gone to higher position. But he steadfast- ly refused the importunities of his friends, and beyond service on the Board of Aldermen from Ward Six in 1874-75 and as a member of the Board of Sinking Fund Commissioners for a number of years, his deep interest in civic affairs was as a private citizen. He served as a director of Holyoke Public Library from its earliest days, and was ever a warm friend of that valuable institution, also of the Holyoke City Hospital. He was a member and a strong pillar of support of the Second Congregational Church, and was affiliated with Mt. Tom Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
So the life of a good man and valuable citizen was passed, although the foregoing but dimly outlines his usefulness and value to his community. No words can express the beauty of his character nor the depth of his influence. With a strongly developed character, upright, honorable and just, went a charming personality. His open, frank face and kindly eyes were but the win- dows of his soul. Said one of his intimates: "It makes no difference on what errand you go to Mr. Prentiss he smiles." And he smiled from his heart, smiled on the world, smiled at his office and he smiled at home. His was a world of sunshine, happiness and love, exemplifying Byron's line "Hap- piness was born a twin."
Mr. Prentiss married, May 30, 1852, Jane D. Washburn, of Kingston, Massachusetts. They were the parents of a son, William Albert Prentiss, mentioned below, and a daughter, Clara Jane, born February 18, 1862, mar- ried William B. Tubby, of Greenwich, Connecticut.
Talilliam Pollock
T "HE cotton manufacturing industry of this country owes very much to the impetus given it by experienced and enterpising men from Scotland, well schooled in that line. One of the most noted of these in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was William Pollock, born at Neilston in Renfrewshire, Scot- land, in 1809, son of George Pollock, a writer of the signet, or an attorney, who spent his entire life in his native land, and dying left behind him the record of an active and useful life.
In his youth William Pollock learned the trade of cotton spinner in which he became adept, and by industry, prudence and thrift accumulated a small amount of capital, a portion of which he expended in removal from his native land to Canada in the year 1835 in an effort to enlarge and improve his opportunities. There he purchased a farm of about one hundred and fifty acres, but at the expiration of six months, having tired of the occupation of farming, he again sought employment at his trade. He then removed to Brainard's Bridge, New York, and there entered the employ of Gershom Tur- ner, proprietor of a small cotton mill. Here he evinced great aptitude and soon gained promotion, finally being appointed superintendent of the mill. He was also employed by James Turner, a son of his employer, to start an- other factory at East Nassau, New York, a task which he successfully per- formed. In 1840, after having spent about four years in the employ of the Turners, he removed to South Adams, Massachusetts, and there engaged in business on his own account. He entered into a partnership with Nathaniel G. Hathaway, under the firm style of Pollock & Hathaway, and hired a small mill known as the Brodly Mill, on the premises since occupied by the Adams Paper Company, then owned by George C. Rider. The partners were men of energy and enterprise, industrious, persevering, painstaking, progressive in their ideas and methods, and consequently their business prospered from the beginning, bringing to them such large returns that in 1842 they had accumu- lated sufficient capital to enable them to purchase the property. Three years later they further added to their holdings by the purchase of a mill priv- ilege below their factory, and in 1846 erected what was known as the Stone Mill, subsequently owned by the Renfrew Manufacturing Company. In 1848 Mr. Hathaway disposed of his interest in the business to Hiram H. Clark, the style of the firm was changed to William Pollock & Company and so continued until July 28, 1855, when Mr. Pollock purchased his partner's in- terest and the business for some time thereafter continued under the name of William Pollock. In 1865 he admitted to partnership his nephews, James Renfrew, Jr., and James C. Chalmers, who had been in his employ for some
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William Pollock
ten years, and the firm again became William Pollock & Company. In 1866 the newly established firm purchased the mill privileges and land now occu- pied by the brick mill of the Renfrew Manufacturing Company and the foun- dations of the mill were laid in the following spring.
In 1855 Mr. Pollock took up his residence in Pittsfield and he continued to make his home in that city for the following eleven years. He was inter- ested in various manufacturing industries of Berkshire county, in addition to his South Adams mills, which greatly increased in value as time passed. His surplus capital was invested in other manufacturing enterprises and he became a large owner in the Taconic Woolen Mill Company, the Pittsfield Woolen Company of Pittsfield, the Washburn Iron Company of Worcester, and the Toronto Rolling Mills in Canada, all of which were of great magnitude and importance, adding considerably to the development and progress of the cities in which they were located. He was also actively interested in enterprises of a different character, serving for several years as a director and vice-presi- dent of the Pittsfield Bank; was a director of the Western Massachusetts Fire Insurance Company; was a State director of the Western, now the Boston & Albany Railroad, and was one of the trustees of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company. This diversity of service attested to the varied qualifications ex- emplified in the active career of Mr. Pollock, who was a leading factor in the industrial growth and development of Berkshire county, a man of untir- ing industry, esteemed as an upright business man and a good citizen. Through his energy, shrewdness and excellent management, he accumulated a handsome fortune, a large portion of which he dispensed with generous hand. On the organization of the Forty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers in 1861, Mr. Pollock testified his patriotism and devotion to his adopted coun- try by equipping one of the companies of that regiment at his own expense. This was known as the Pollock Guards. His family home in Pittsfield, known as "Grey Tower" was one of the most charming country seats in the entire State of Massachusetts, comprising two hundred acres, upon which were erected extensive greenhouses and other structures which added greatly to the beauty of the estate, and the vast lawns laid out in a most tasteful man- ner with all kinds of flowering shrubbery and massive trees were a delight to the eye of every beholder.
Mr. Pollock's first marriage occurred in Scotland and by this marriage he had a daughter Margaret, who married Benjamin Snow, of Fitchburg, Mass- achusetts. He married (second) Lucy Jillson, of South Adams, Massachu- setts, their only daughter dying in childhood. He married (third), October 17, 1855, Susan M. Learned, sister of Hon. Edward and George Y. Learned, prominent citizens of Pittsfield, and daughter of Edward Learned, contractor of the Boston Water Works. She bore him five children: I. George Ed- ward, born August 30, 1856, vice-president of the New York Herald Com- pany, New York City. 2. Sarah McA., born November 10, 1857; married. November 15, 1882, Edward Livingston, of New York, and now resides in
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France. 3. William, born April 2, 1859, died November 1, 1916; was a resi- dent of Pittsfield; he married (first) Mrs. Fannie D. Greenough, daughter of James Dawson, of Wilmington, North Carolina, and they were the parents of a daughter Margaret; he married (second) Mrs. John A. Kernochan (Louise Marshall) born in New Orleans, Louisiana. 4. Edward Learned, born December 1, 1862, at one time connected with the New York, New Haven Railroad Company and afterward with the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific; he married Katherine McAlpine and has two sons, Edward and Wol- sey, both graduates of Trinity College, Hartford. 5. Charles Manice, born July 29, 1864, died December 2, 1901 ; married Sarah McAlpine who with one child, Gladys, survives him.
In 1866 Mr. Pollock, feeling the need of rest and having a desire to visit the scenes of his childhood and young manhood, went to Europe, but his health had been so undermined by his untiring devotion to business that the rest and change did not prove as beneficial as was expected. Although every- thing possible was done for his recovery it was unavailing, and upon his re- turn to New York he repaired to the Fifth Avenue Hotel where his death occurred December 9, 1866, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. Thus passed away one of the representative citizens of Berkshire county, a man noted for his many excellencies of character, a man who won for himself friends, afflu- ence and position, who by the strength and force of his own personality over- came obstacles, whose mind was ever occupied with projects for the advance- ment and welfare of the city of his adoption. He was survived many years by his widow, who passed away in the year 1892.
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