USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Reminiscences of Worcester from the earliest period, historical and genealogical with notices of early settlers and prominent citizens, and descriptions of old landmarks and ancient dwellings, accompanied by a map and numerous illustrations > Part 37
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ELISHIA WHEELER, shoe-maker, born in Plainfield, Conn., Nov. 18, 1797 ; came to Worcester sixty years ago.
SANFORD M. WOODCOCK, No. 37 Barclay street, card setter, was born in Rutland, Nov. 21, 1797, and came to Worcester over thirty years ago, from Leicester.
JACOB REED, stone cutter, son of Abel Reed, was born in Sudbury, Oct. 1, 1797 ; came to Worcester in 1855.
AARON WHITE, No. 121, Thomas street, born in Langdon, N. II., Oct. 16, 1797, wheelwright by trade, came to Worcester from Attleborough nearly fifty years ago, and drove stage to Providence for over thirty years till the opening of the railroad, alternating as driver with Anson Johnson.
LEMUEL GROVER, No. 68 Orange street, was born in Warren, Nov. 14. 1797, has been here thirty-five years, father of the late John Grover, rail- road-man.
CHARLES HADWEN, born in Newport, R. I., Jan. 4, 1797, was in mer- cantile and manufacturing business in Providence; came to Worcester in 1834, and purchased the farm (previously of Wing Kelley) on Hadwen Lane, . upon which he has since resided.
LOWELL RAWSON, farmer, 29 Glen street, born in Jamaica, Vt., May 9, 1797 ; has resided here four years.
CHARLES STILES, son of Jeremiah Stiles, was born Jan. 16, 1798, in the old Dr. John Green wooden dwelling which stood on the site of the present Five Cents Savings Bank, just north of the Green brick mansion. He is father of Major Frederick G. Stiles.
JAMES FULLER, born in Savoy, August 4, 1798 : machinist, came to Wor- cester in 1846, and worked first for Howe & Goddard, founders of the pres- ent establishment of Rice, Barton & Fales.
JAMES WHITE, born in Pomfret, Conn., Feb. 5, 1798. Ile is a carpenter and builder, well-to-do in the world, and satisfied with his pecuniary success. At the age of 79, he is hale and hearty, and at work superintending the erection of one of the largest blocks in the city. He was superintendent of construction of the Union depot, and of the Technical school, and many other large buildings in this city. He came here from Danielsonville, Ct., in 1824, to work for Wm. B. Fox, woolen manufacturer, and was afterwards in company with him.
LEE SFRAGUE, born in East Douglas, in February, 1798.
HON. STEPHEN SALISBURY, LL.D., born on the old homestead of his father, " Salisbury Mansion," March 7, 1798, (see page 255.)
SEWELL RICE, born Nov. 3, 1798, is great-great grandson of the original Jonas Rice, the first permanent settler in Worcester, (see page 40,) whose son Adonijah was the first white child born in Worcester, their descendant Sewell being born in the same house.
JOSEPH PRATT, No. 12 Benefit street, born in Orford, N. H., Jan. 3, 1798, carried on tailoring business on Leicester hill till about 1848, since which time he has lived in Worcester.
JOHN F. BOYCE, farmer, born in Rutland, November 12, 1798, came to Worcester in 1819 with his father, John Boyce, and settled on his present estate on Webster street, near Auburn line, then purchased of Joel Bixby, it being the same farm previously owned by Joseph Clark, great-grandfather of Joseph S. Clark, before he purchased the farm previously of the first Simeon Duncan, on the other side of the present Auburn line.
JACOB P. WEXLER, basket-maker, born in Germany, Nov. 8, 1798.
390
Reminiscences of Worcester.
JOHN MULCAHY, No. 7, Webster street, born in Ireland, June 21, 1798. Came to Worcester fifty years ago.
HON. ISAAC DAVIS, LL.D., born in Northboro', June 7, 1799 ; came here in 1821 ; studied law with his uncle, Gov. John Davis ; was mayor of Worcester in 1857, 1859 and 1861; senator in 1854; executive councillor in 1851-52; democratic candidate for governor in 1845 ; and has been president of the Board of Trustees of Worcester Academy for forty years from its foundation in 1834 to 1874.
JOSEPH PRATT, born in Milford, January, 1799, came to Worcester in 1825, had a blacksmith shop till 1829 on the site of the Wheeler foundry on Thomas street, and has ever since been in the iron and steel trade at his pres- ent location on Washington Square.
DEA. JONAS M. MILES, born in Shrewsbury, June 7, 1799 ; was deacon of the old church in Shrewsbury from 1829 to 1845, and of the Old South Church in Worcester from 1845 to 1859. He is father of the late Mayor Eugene T. Miles of Fitchburg.
ASA L. ABBOTT, mechanic, No. 100 Summer street, born in Dublin, N. H., April 10, 1799, removed to Brookfield, Vt. ; has resided in Worcester since 1870.
HIRAM GORHAM, brick mason, was born in Hardwick. Aug. 30, 1799, first came to Worcester in 1823, and worked for Col. Peter Kendall and Timothy W. Bancroft, builders, on the first half of Goddard's Row, then erected, and also on the Centre Church, built the same year.
DARIUS RICE, born in July, 1800, son of Darius and Anna (Stevens) Rice, and great-great-grandson of the original Gershom Rice from Sudbury, the second permanent settler in Worcester, (see page 42,) whose wite was Eliza- beth, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Haynes) Balcom of Charlestown. Darius Rice and John B. Pratt, both practical farmers of considerably more than fifty years' experience, were the two earliest to bring milk and vegetable products to market among the citizens of the central village, nearly fifty years ago.
JOHN WINTER, 78 Thomas street, lobster dealer, was born in New Castle- upon-Tyne, England, Aug. 4, 1800 ; been in Worcester twenty years.
CAPT. SALMON PUTNAM, carpenter, born in Sutton, Dec. 27, 1800, has re- sided in Worcester thirty years. Now farmer in Holden.
GEORGE BROWN, farmer, Fowler street, born May 5, 1800.
HALSEY HILL, wool-carder, No. 23 Webster street, was born in Mendon, Jan. 1, 1800 ; came to Worcester forty years ago, and first worked for Wm. B. Fox, and then for L. Capron and N. R. Parkhurst at the present Curtis & Marble factory on Webster street.
HENRY W. MILLER, born in Westminster, Sept. 9, 1800, came to Wor- cester with his father, John Miller, in 1804, (see page 260) ; apprentice to the second Daniel Waldo, whom he succeeded in the hardware business in 1822, having ever since remained on the same location.
JAMES REDICAN, umbrella-maker, 38 Hermon street, was born in Sligo County, Ireland, Feb. 2, 1800 ; came to Worcester twenty-eight years ago.
SOUTHWORTH A. HOWLAND, born in West Brookfield, Sept. 11, 1800, came to Worcester in 1821, bookseller, stationer and publisher, till 1852; been since engaged in the insurance business.
CLARENDON HARRIS, born in Dorchester, Sept. 8, 1800, (see page 182) ; bookseller and publisher in Worcester from 1823 to 1844; has since been secretary of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company.
SOLOMON PARSONS, farmer, born in Worcester, October, 1800, on the old homestead of his father, (see page 155.)
391
Reminiscences of Worcester.
OSGOOD BRADLEY, born in Andover, Jan. 15, 1800; came to Worcester in 1822, and started a carriage manufactory on School street ; removed to Wash- ington Square in 1835, when he began making railroad cars, and is still in the business with his sons Henry O. & Osgood Bradley, Jr.
AARON B. W. BULLARD, born in Buckland, April 21, 1800. He is the in- ventor of the celebrated " Bullard's Oil Soap," which for the last forty-five years has been a household necessity in New England.
NATHANIEL C. MOORE, farmer, Salisbury street, born October , 1800.
ASAHEL FAIRBANKS, shoe-maker, born in Athol, May 6, 1800, came to Worcester in 1855.
LEWIS HOLBROOK, farmer, No. 12 Sever street, born in Grafton, in Oct., 1800. Came here in 1872.
REV. WILLIAM H. SANFORD was born in Belchertown, Feb. 14, 1800 ; graduated at Harvard University in 1827, in the class with Rev. Dr. Seth Sweetser, President Felton of Harvard University and President Stearns of Amherst College ; studied theology with his father-in-law, Rev. Ethan Smith, at Hanover, N. H. ; was settled pastor over the old church at Boylston from 1832 to 1857 ; then founded the firm of Sanford & Co., booksellers and sta- tioners, of which he is still at the head, with his sons.
AMOS STEARNS, NO. 21 Piedmont street, brush manufacturer, born in Medford, May 16, 1801, been here since 1833.
CONSTANT SHEPARD, No. 12 Crown street, collector, born in Sharon, Vt., Feb. 3, 1801, been here thirty years, bill collector, and still at it.
ASA WALKER, merchant tailor, 365 Main street, was born in Upton, Jan. 5, 1805, (son of Ebenezer Walker,) and came to Worcester in 1826, and learned the tailor's trade of Albert Brown, (founder of the present firm of W. & T. Brown, then located in the old wooden building north of Dr. Green's brick mansion on Main street.) Mr. Walker began business in the wooden structure on Front street, which stood on the site of the old Theatre building, then removed to the Upham block, now owned by John Goodwin, on Main street, opposite the Centre Church, and then to Gov. Lincoln's building on the south corner of Main and Thomas streets. He has occupied his present location on Main street for thirty-five years. Among his earliest customers, when he first opened on Front street, was Isaiah Thomas, for whom he made a pair of short breeches.
TOBIAS BOLAND, railroad contractor, born in Ireland in 1805, came to this country in 1826, residing in New York till 1832, where he built among other enterprises the Third Avenue railroad to Harlem. Afterwards resided in Baltimore, Washington, Mount Vernon and Boston ; was intimately ac- quainted with John A. Washington and George Washington Parke Custis. Came to Worcester in 1834; was a heavy contractor in the building of portions of the Boston and Worcester, Boston and Providence, Norwich and Worcester, and Western Railroads. He also built nearly all the houses on Temple street, and some on other streets, and was a principal contributor to the building of St. John's Church.
Of the natives of Worcester, now resident elsewhere, the oldest is William Trowbridge, born on the old homestead of his father and grandfather in Trowbridgeville, Oct. 15, 1790, (see pages 43 and 362,) for many years past residing in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
The next oldest, and of nearly the same age with the above, is Levi Gates, son of Simon Gates, born on the old homestead of his father and grandfa- her, at the head of Gates' Lane, near New Worcester, in May, 1790. He was one of Capt. Samuel Graves' company who marched to Boston in Sep-
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
tember, 1814, making four in all from Worcester, now living. He now re- sides in Washington ferritory.
GEORGE BANCROFT, the most distinguished native of Worcester resident elsewhere, was born Oct. 3, 1800, in the ancient dwelling for many years past owned and occupied by John B. Pratt on Salisbury street, where Dr. Bancroft then lived.
GILL VALENTINE, born in Hopkinton, in September, 1788, for many years city auditor, surveyor, &c., in Worcester, now a resident of Northborough, is the oldest former resident of Worcester now living.
THOMAS KNIGHT, for seventy years past a resident of the far west, was born in 1797 upon the old homestead of his father, Wm. Knight, which stood upon the north side of Clark street, long since torn down. He is probably one of the numerous descendants of Edward Knight, who settled in that vicinity at the first organization of the town on what has since been known as the John F. Clark farm. He came on here a few months ago, for the first time since he went west, and identified the site of his fa- ther's old homestead which he had left seventy years before when a lad of ten years.
DESCRIPTION OF FRONTISPIECE.
The frontispiece represents a view of Worcester in 1836, looking north from a point near the middle of Franklin Square. The first building on the right is the ancient dwelling of Hon. Charles Allen, built in 1788 by Col. Daniel Clapp, (see page 29.) Next is the venerable Old South Church, and then the Town Hall, as they appeared forty-one years ago. The old " Com- pound" building, on the north corner of Front street, is hidden by the old "one horse shay" unfortunately just at that time passing by. The repre- sentation of the old United States Hotel building, next north with its swinging sign, is a fine one. Farther north may be seen the continuation of Main street, with faint views of the old " Central Exchange," " Central Hotel," and other structures lost in the distance.
On the immediate foreground on the left may be seen the embankment built nearly three-quarters of a century ago, which long since became a thing of the past, (the last bank wall, built when Main street there was cut down and widened several feet in 1854, having replaced the former bank wall built early in the present century.) Over this embankment was the passage way leading to what was called " Nobility Hill," on which had just been erected, when this view was taken, some of the finest residences in the town. First on the left is the residence of Dr. Joseph Sargent, built in 1828 by the late Dea. Benjamin Butman who occupied it for several years. Next north is the venerable historic mansion of the late Judge Ira M. Barton, erected about 1752 by Sheriff Gardner Chandler, (see page 21.) Next north is the man- sion of Hon. Isaac Davis, then just built, (removed in 1873 to Piedmont street, when the present brick blocks were built on its site.)
In the rear, a little south of the latter, is the ancient residence, a century and a half ago, of Rev. Isaac Burr, (see page 119,) removed to Blackstone street in 1841, when Levi A. Dowley built on its site his residence afterwards owned and occupied by Ethan Allen, the latter structure (now occupied by Dr. F. H. Kelley) being removed to its present location on Main street in 1854 to give way to brick structures. On the corner of Main and Pleasant streets is seen the present three-story brick structure erected in 1835 by Levi A. Dowley with its original cap roof. Just south of the latter is the little wooden structure where John Nazro, John Foxcroft and other eminent merchants, who occupied the Burr house, kept store subsequently to 1775.
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