USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Royalston > Reflections on Royalston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, U.S.A > Part 34
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He was prominent in politics and public affairs while residing in Enfield, and served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1897 and 1898, and as a member of the Senate in 1902 and 1904. He married Minnie Banks Rutter, of Chicago, in 1897.
4. Levi Harris Whitney, 4th child of Amos and Sophia (Harris) Whitney, was born in 1821; he remained on the home farm until after the deaths of his parents and his 1st wife; he was a deacon of the First Congregational Church from 1884 to 1893. He married, 1st, Susan S. - who died in 1889, at the age of 57 years. About 1893 he removed to Athol, where he married a 2nd wife, and he died there in 1909.
5. Abigail Augusta Whitney, born in 1825.
The Vital Records give the names of Charles, Ebenezer W., Edward, Ephraim, Lemuel and Levi Whitney, as fathers of 25 children born in Royalston in the early history of the town. The repetition of some of these names with some of the descendants of Amos Whitney indicates probable relationship. The Memorial states that Ephraim Whitney, known also as Elder Whitney, settled north of the Hutch- inson place, later the Raymond place, and that his daughter, Lucy Whitney, mar- ried Abijah Richardson, Jr., in 1821. The name of Ephraim Whitney appears in Mr. Caswell's list of early school committees for 1806, 1808 and 1817, and Lemuel Whitney for 1809. It is also stated that Ebenezer Whitney,-if not the Ebenezer first mentioned, then perhaps his son, nephew or grandson,-married Jane R. Clem- ent as late as 1848. But the absence of record or recollection of those numerous Whitneys for three-quarters of a century indicates that most of them must have died or removed previous to 1850.
THE BULLOCK FAMILY.
Richard Bullock, who settled in Rehoboth, Mass., in 1643, was probably the first of his name to come to the new country. The Bullocks who settled in Royals- ton were descendants in a direct line from this Richard Bullock.
Christopher, Ebenezer, Nathan and David Bullock, about 1770, bought from the Proprietors of Royalston, 3 lots, containing 34512 acres, in the extreme north- west part of the town, at 8 shillings per acre, according to the Memorial, which further states that they were all stalwart men, David being the tallest man in the town; but when they had their places well opened, and before they had lost the vigor of manhood, they shouldered their axes and were off again for a new coun- try, taking York state on their way.
Moulton Bullock, a cousin of the quartet above mentioned, came to Royalston from Rehoboth, before the Revolution, and took up a place in the northwesterly part of the town; he was a highly respected citizen, and for many years a deacon of the Baptist church; he died in 1818.
Hugh Bullock, a brother of Moulton, and cousin of the quartet, is said to have come in during the Revolution, and he settled on a place adjoining that of his brother, Moulton Bullock. He married Rebecca Davis, and they had 5 children. His wife died in 1809, and after his sons left the farm, he removed to the Center
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and built a house next to that of his son Barnet, at the location designated 9W on our map of the Center village, which was his home until his death, in 1837, at the age of 85 years.
The 5 children of Hugh and Rebecca (Davis) Bullock were as follows:
1. Rufus Bullock, born in 1779. In early life he worked on the home farm, and attended school, with such good results that he became an acceptable school teacher in his early manhood. A quotation from the Memorial on this matter is given on page 90, which states that "from school-teaching he turned his attention to trade, attending store, as clerk, till he was induced to open a store on the Com- mon, on his own account," etc .; and on pages 91 and 92 speculations are made on the development of his mercantile career, the locations of his establishments, etc .; while on page 56 a little story is told of how he "made over" the building on the Common long known as the "Bullock mansion," in which were combined his store and his residence. The little picture shows the establishment as it looked in 1873, after improvements had been made by his daughter Emily.
About 1825 Rufus Bullock acquired an interest in the textile mill at South Royalston, and a few years later the sole ownership, which he retained until the end of his life. Some details of this part of his operations are given on page 137. He retained his residence at the Center, and rode to his business at South Roy- alston and back home nearly every day. Strangers, seeing him as we school children sometimes saw him, in the years along from 1852 to 1857, crossing the Com- mon between his stable and the South Royalston road, seated in a simple open "buggy," drawn by a horse going at a gait that could hardly be called a "trot," would little have thought that he was a man carrying heavy business responsi- bilities, or that he had any more impor- tant errands than an old farmer driving leisurely into town for the mail, a plug of "terbarker," and a bit of post-office gossip.
A writer in the Memorial,-without doubt Rev. Ebenezer W. Bullard, who knew him most intimately, -- described his business habits in a way that showed BULLOCK MANSION, 1873. that it was not necessary for him to in- dulge in ostentatious display, or hustle and bustle and drive in order to "succeed," that is, "make money," in business. The reader will be interested in this notation of commendable business habits:
"Mr. Bullock made it a rule to expand his business as his means increased, never going beyond, but always occupying fully all his resources; and charging himself with the details, no less than the general management of his affairs. And so regular, and for a time so gradual, was his expansion, and so thoroughly did he train himself to a simple and systematic method, that he never lost his ability, as he never gave up the habit, of doing so, even when his business became various and heavy. Indeed, he seemed to find recreation in its variety, and both refresh- ment and power by turning from one branch to another in his daily routine. He kept up his interest in farming, and was often in the field, not as a spectator, or intermeddler, but a hearty laborer; and, while thus employed in the open air, gain- ing tone and vigor from manual exercise, or at a later period, while riding leisurely in his buggy to and from his factory in South Royalston, he performed a vast deal of head work, and saved a vast deal of office work. Few business men have been less dependent upon clerks, and voluminous accounts and documents. His mind was his office; and it was not only portable, but to be trusted, both with extended de- tails and general results.
"He engaged personally in manufacturing about 1825, and soon made this his specialty, and by means of which, in an establishment, not large, but well con- ducted, he built up a large and solid fortune, and became widely known as a man of established and growing wealth, of eminent business talents, of high moral
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worth, and of a freshness and vigor, which scarcely age itself could invade. While others, of more pretensions, went down in the recurring financial reverses, he had always at command reserved resources for biding the times, and, in the end, of legitimately advancing his fortunes."
It has been told that Mr. Bullock's acquirement of wealth began in his boy- hood, when his father gave him a lamb or a sheep, with the condition that he should care for it, and own all the increment from it. Probably it has never been told how large a flock he raised, how many tons of wool and mutton he marketed, or how many dollars he saved from his early operations in sheep husbandry; but it is ap- parent that with that incident he began a career of accumulation of material wealth so successful that about the first remark made in my hearing at the post- office store, after it was announced that he had "passed away," was that "He died wuth half a million dollars.'
The stories of some of the economies he practiced in his business are amusing, but they show that conservation as well as production were employed by him in his work of making a fortune.
Rufus Bullock was honored with many offices by his townspeople and those of the political districts of which Royalston was a part. He served as Town Clerk 2 years; Town Treasurer 13 years; Selectman 3 years; Assessor 8 years; Repre- sentative to the General Court 5 years; State Senator 2 years; Delegate to 2 Con- stitutional Conventions; and in other important positions. He was president of the Whig Association in Royalston in 1840, and President of the Day on the occasion of the unparalleled Whig demonstration, the story of which is told on page 164.
He was a Trustee of Amherst College, and the donor of a valuable telescope to that institution.
By his last will and testament he bequeathed to the Town a substantial fund for the benefit of the schools, and to the First and Second Congregational and the Baptist religious societies generous funds for their work. The details of these benefactions are given on pages 181 and 182.
Rufus Bullock married Sarah Davis, of Rindge, N. H., in 1808; he died in 1858, and she died in 1873, at the age of nearly 92 years. They had 6 children:
(1.) Louise Maria Bullock, born in 1809; she married Hiram W. Albee in 1838; he was a merchant at South Royalston, and postmaster there for some 13 years from the opening of the office; Selectman 4 years; Assessor 2 years; Representa- tive 4 years; she died in 1848. They had 4 children.
(2.) Emily Bullock, born in 1811. She retained her home at the old home- stead on the Common for the greater part or her life, with her mother and her aunt, Candace, while they remained; and after the death of her father, she made extensive improvements on the place, referred to on page 56; she married William D. Ripley, a gentleman who had resided in New York City, and who brought to the old town something of the effects of the metropolitan "atmosphere;" but not- withstanding the difference in speech, in garb, and in "style," Mr. Ripley fitted in well with the affairs of the town and in the management of his wife's real estate; they had "smart" horses and carriages, and he was often seen on the roads leading to the railroad station and to the adjoining towns, holding the reins and the tall whip like an accomplished coachman. Mrs. Ripley's benefactions to Royalston in- cluded the costly and excellent pipe organ in the First Congregational Church, the handsome American eagle vane on the cupola of the town hall, a generous share of the cost of the First Congregational parsonage; and she was ever ready to con- tribute her share, according to her means, to sustain the institutions and for the welfare of the community. The year of Mr. Ripley's death is reported as 1880; after that event Mrs. Ripley resided elsewhere than in Royalston a part of the time, and apparently she died in Philadelphia; I found no monument to either of them in a Royalston cemetery.
(3.) Rebecca Bullock, born in 1814. She married Lord Nelson Wheeler, in 1839; he graduated from Yale College, taught school in various places, was princi- pal of the Worcester Manual Labor High School, and then of the Worcester High School, and finally, while holding the position of Professor of Greek at Brown Uni- versity, he had an attack of hemorrhage of the lungs, and soon returned to Royals- ton, where he died in 1855; his wife survived him for a few years.
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(4.) Alexander Hamilton Bullock, 4th child of Rufus and Sarah (Davis) Bul- lock, was born in 1816. The parents must have held that distinguished statesman, Alexander Hamilton, in high esteem when they chose his name for their son, a dozen years after his death, as the result of a duel with a political enemy, Aaron Burr. Alexander Hamilton Bullock acquired a good education, graduating from Amherst College in 1836; he taught school for 3 years, and then prepared for the practice of law, was admitted to the bar in 1841, and settled in Worcester, where he acquired a successful practice; but he disliked the controversies of the court room, and soon developed an agency of several important insurance organizations, and discontinued the practice of law. Later he became President of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company, President of the Worcester County Institution for Sav- ings, a Director of the Worcester National Bank, Chairman of the Finance Com- mittee of the Trustees of Amherst College, and a Life Member of the New Eng- land Historic-Genealogical Society. He was editor of a Worcester newspaper for several years, and ranked high as a writer and journalist; while his oratorical abil- ity was of a quality that always guaranteed appreciative audiences.
Accorded high political honors, he was elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the years 1866, 1867 and 1868. He had previously served as Mayor of the City of Worcester in 1859; also as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 8 years, during 4 years of which he was Speaker of the House; State Senator 1 year; Commissioner of Insolvency 3 years; and Judge of the Worcester County Court of Insolvency 2 years.
After his service as Governor he uniformly declined all offers of political posi- tion, and rejected propositions that he enter contests for offices, preferring to de- vote his time to the financial, humanitarian and other interests that claimed his attention.
Gov. Alexander Hamilton Bullock married Elvira Hazard, daughter of Col. A. G. Hazard, of Enfield, Conn., of gunpowder fame. Mr. Bullock died in 1882. They had 3 children:
[1.] Augustus George Bullock, born in 1847. Educated at Highland Military Academy, and at Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1868, after a year of travel in foreign lands, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Worcester. In 1883 he was elected President and Treasurer of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company, following his father in that interest, as he did in connec- tion with various other financial, commercial and philanthropic organizations and institutions. He married Mary Chandler, in 1871, and they are credited with 4 sons; one is Chandler Bullock, who has been a prominent attorney in Worcester for many years; his daughter, Margaret Chandler Bullock, was married, Oct. 17, 1925, to Edward Carrington Thayer, an attorney, of Boston; her sister, E. Noline Bullock, was one of the bridesmaids at the ceremony, and J. Rose Bullock, probably another sister, was maid of honor; these ladies appear to be of the 5th generation from Hugh Bullock, who settled in Royalston,-his great-great-great-grandchildren.
[2.] Isabel Bullock, married Nelson S. Bartlett, of Boston.
[3.] Fanny Bullock, married Dr. William H. Workman, of Worcester.
(5.) Charles Augustus Bullock, 5th child of Rufus and Sarah (Davis) Bullock, was born in 1818. Mr. Caswell, in mentioning Barnet Bullock's mercantile career, said that he "had associated with him his sons Calvin and Charles." It is probable that Mr. Caswell's informant, in mentioning Charles Bullock in connection with the store, had in mind this Charles Augustus Bullock, and not Charles Stuart Bnllock, Barnet Bullock's son, who was not born until 1841, and probably was not old enough to have served in his father's store before he closed it and retired from business. Mr. Caswell's notation that Charles A. Bullock was appointed postmas- ter at Royalston in 1841 seems to warrant the inference that he was employed in the Bullock store, and that the post-office was kept there while he was postmaster. The only other available information relating to Charles Augustus Bullock comes from the cemetery, where it is recorded that he died in 1850, and that his wife, Antoinette H. Bullock, died in 1861.
(6.) Rufus Henry Bullock, 6th child of Rufus and Sarah (Davis) Bullock, was born in 1821. After preparation for college and 2 years at Amherst, he became connected with the Bullock store, as clerk, or perhaps as partner. The cemetery record is that he died in 1855.
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2. Moulton Bullock, 2nd child of Hugh and Rebecca (Davis) Bullock, was born in 1783. It does not appear that he ever held any office or engaged in business in Royalston; and it is reasonable to suppose that he might have remained on the old home farm, and perhaps have died before he arrived at a notable old age.
3. Calvin Bullock, 3rd child of Hugh and Rebecca (Davis) Bullock, was born in 1785. He removed to Princeton, and became a merchant there. In 1813 he married Harriet Newton, of Royalston, daughter of Nathan Brigham and Mary (Stuart) Newton, and sister of the wife of his brother, Barnet Bullock; they had 2 children, who died young. This Calvin Bullock died in 1819; his wife died in 1816.
4. Barnet Bullock, 4th child of Hugh and Rebecca (Davis) Bullock, was born in 1798. As he was nearly 19 years younger than his brother Rufus, it is probable that Rufus had his trade emporium well established and needed the assistance of a helper as interested in the business as his brother would be likely to be, at about the time that Barnet was ripe enough to leave the farm and begin his career as a merchant; so that, when Rufus became proprietor of the mill at South Royalston, about 1825, Barnet was prepared to "take care" of the store, with such advice and counsel as Rufus might give during the portion of the time that he was not at the mill. And it seems probable that Barnet was connected with that Bullock store, from that time until it was discontinued,-as clerk, partner, or sole proprietor. Rufus' sons were all old enough to have been employed in that store during the latter part of its existence, and Barnet's son Calvin, and perhaps others of his sons, also helped in its operation.
Barnet Bullock served as Town Clerk 10 years; Selectman 3 years; and Rep- resentative to the General Court 1 year. For many years he held a commission as Justice of the Peace, which gave him the designation of Esquire following his name, and he was quite generally men- tioned as 'Squire Bullock. It is probable that during the term of his activities in connection with that office, he was better informed than any other person regard- ing boundaries, titles and other details appertaining to the ownership of real Residence of Barnet Bullock, 1873. estate in Royalston, the titles to much of which he had assisted in "conveying." His penmanship was not noted for its legibility, and it was told that on one occasion, when a document was taken to him with the request that he would read a part of it which the holder and others had been unable to decipher, the 'Squire was unable to "make it out," until he was in- formed that he had "drawn" the document, and it was in his own handwriting.
A few years after the store was closed, he bought the Jonas Pierce place, the location of which is designated at 15NE on our map of the Center village, and which is now, in 1926, known as the Lincoln J. Holden place; he pulled down the somewhat dilapidated old 2-story house and replaced it with the neat cottage, which was occupied for several years by Newell Knight, who assisted in the work on the farm, in which Mr. Bullock's son Charles also sometimes had a hand; while the old gentleman himself was frequently seen operating the hoe or the rake, not at any exciting speed, but with the extreme deliberation which characterized all of his actions and speech.
Barnet Bullock married Lucy Newton, daughter of Nathan Brigham and Mary (Stewart) Newton, in 1828; he died in 1884; they had 8 children:
(1.) Calvin Bullock, 2nd, born in 1829. He attended Worcester Academy, and . for a time assisted in his father's store. He removed to Toledo, Ohio, and became connected with the Wabash Railroad Company, of which he afterwards became Assistant Treasurer. He married Mary E. Miller, daughter of George F. Miller, of Royalston, in 1859; he died in 1870, after which his wife returned to Royalston,
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and made her home with her parents at the location designated 12C on the Common while they remained, and afterward at the same place until her death, in 1905. Calvin and Mary E. (Miller) Bullock had a child, whom we will designate as
Calvin Bullock, 3rd, born in Toledo before 1870. He attended school in Arling- ton and at Worcester Academy, and graduated from Williams College in 1892, and in 1893 he removed to Denver, Colorado, which has been his home since that time; following the trend of his family name, his business has been with financial affairs. He married Alice K. Mallory, of Norwalk, Conn., in 1892, and they have had 2 children. After the Miller place on Royalston Common had been "out of the fam- ily" for a time, he bought it back, and in 1918 made extensive improvements, and his family has usually occupied it as a summer home.
(2.) Brigham. Newton Bullock, 2nd child of Barnet and Lucy (Newton) Bul- lock, was born in 1831. Mr. Crane and Mr. Caswell have a story that he was em- ployed in the Estabrook store and post-office several years in his youth, which, in view of the fact that his father, Barnet Bullock, was probably at that time oper- ating what would ordinarily have been regarded as a "rival" store on the opposite side of the Common, seems peculiar; but when we take into account that the Esta- brook, Barnet Bullock and Newton families were considerably inter-related by marriages, as told on page 232, and that the Bullock families had more sons than could possibly be needed as clerks in any one store in Royalston, we may well allow that it was wise judgment on the part of a merchant to permit his son to be em- ployed by another merchant who might be regarded as his rival in trade.
In the autumn of 1851 he left the Royalston High School, then in charge of the Cundalls and another instructor (see page 102), and became a clerk in the office of the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad Company, in Fitchburg. It is probable that Barnet Bullock was a stockholder in that company, which gave him an oppor- tunity to claim a "position" for his son. He retained that position until 1874. This was probably about the time that the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad was leased by the Fitchburg Railroad Company, and the Fitchburg offices were removed and consolidated with those in Boston. Mr. Bullock was Cashier of the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad Company for a few months in 1874, and then became connected with the Home Savings Bank, of Boston, where he remained until 1882. Early in 1882 he returned to Fitchburg and became Cashier of the Fitchburg Na- tional Bank; in 1888 he became President of that institution, and retained that position for the remainder of his life. In 1894 he was chosen Treasurer of the Fitch- burg Savings Bank, and held that office until 1904, when a law debarring officers of commercial banks from holding offices in savings banks went into effect. He was a Director of the Fitchburg Railroad Company and of several other corporations and manufacturing concerns. While he undoubtedly had his own opinions on politi- cal matters and public questions, and voted accordingly, he never took any active part in politics, never held a political office of any kind, and probably never de- sired to hold one. He was sound and reliable in financial affairs, and conserva- tive and practical in all matters. He was connected with the First Congregational (Unitarian) Parish of Fitchburg. Always keenly interested in his old home town, he retained the home of his parents on Royalston Common, and it is still held by his family.
Brigham Newton Bullock married Flora Belle Ripley, of Fitchburg, in 1888. He died suddenly, in Boston, in 1906. They had a son, Richard Bullock, born in 1892. He has served as director and trustee of several business and financial insti- tutions, and has achieved a reputation as a magazine writer on wildwood hunting and kindred sports.
(3.) Barnet Ellis Bullock, 3rd child of Barnet and Lucy (Newton) Bullock, was born in 1833. Perhaps he helped in his father's store, but quite early in his career he became engaged in work in connection with railroads, contracting for supplies, etc .; it was at one time stated that he was connected with the Erie Railroad. Later he was the owner of large farms in Michigan, and resided in Toledo, Ohio, during the winters. He married. He died at Samaria, Mich., in 1913.
(4.) Lucy Lee Bullock, 4th child of Barnet and Lucy (Newton) Bullock, was born in 1835; she remained at the old home on the Common throughout her life, and died there in 1882.
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(5.) Elizabeth Candace Bullock, 5th child of Barnet and Lucy (Newton) Bul- lock, was born in 1838, and died in 1843.
(6.) Charles Stuart Bullock, 6th child of Barnet and Lucy (Newton) Bullock, was born in 1841. He remained at home longer than any of his brothers, probably, attending school, and assisting his father in his farming operations. He was for a time employed in the freight office of the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad, at Fitchburg, while his brother, Brigham Newton Bullock, was connected with the passenger department office there. Later, about 1877, he went to Killbuck, N. Y., probably following his brother, Barnet Ellis Bullock, to that locality, where he was engaged in mercantile and lumber business. Mr. Caswell stated that he had "not been engaged in business since 1900," leaving the inference that he had continued in it up to about that time; but I have positive knowledge that he was employed as a clerk in a coal office in Fitchburg at some time in the 80s, as I was employed in the same building, although I cannot fix the exact year. He returned to Killbuck, however, and resided there until the end of his life.
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