USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Petersham > Sketches of Petersham natives and adopted citizens > Part 10
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Political.
Mr. Cook was elected special county commissioner for the County of Worcester in 1889, county commissioner in 1892, suc- ceeding Charles J. Rice of Winchendon, which office he has since held, making the longest continuous service of any county commissioner in this county since the office was established.
During this time the new court house at Worcester was
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erected, in which he took an active part, both in the selection of plans for the buildings, and in its construction and furnishing. all of which were carried to completion within the original legis- lative appropriation. For architectural beauty and convenient transaction of business good judges are unanimous in the opinion that there is no superior county court house in this Common- wealth, many of which have largely exceeded it in cost.
Extensive additions and changes have been made in the jail and house of correction buildings at Worcester and training school at Oakdale, also important improvements in the court house, jail and house of correction buildings at Fitchburg. With these special large expenditures and ever increasing county ex- penses, made mostly by legislative action, together with the urgent demand in these later days, for the extravagant use of public funds, Worcester County stands alone among the larger counties of the Commonwealth free of debt.
Mr. Cook has always been of the opinion that the pay as you go policy for general expenses is the correct standard to follow. and possibly this in part accounts for the financial condition of Worcester County today.
There are many very important matters which may be brought before the Board of County Commissioners effecting public and private interests for their consideration, the settle- ment of which requires sound business judgment, good common sense, with a thorough knowledge of the law.
The long continuance in this office of the subject of this sketch would indicate that he possessed these qualities in a meas- ure satisfactory to the public.
Sandford B. Cook
The death of Sandford B. Cook at Petersham, Nov. 24, 1903, removed one who had served the town with fidelity and success in many capacities. He was born in Athol, May 6, 1832, his parents being Benjamin and Betsey (Stratton) Cook. His father was a farmer of moderate means, so he was obliged to begin work on the farm at quite an early age, attending school summers and winters until he was eleven years old, after which, until he was nineteen, he attended the winter term only. In 1849 he moved with his father to Petersham. By working
SANDFORD B. COOK
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on the farm and by teaching he earned sufficient money to con- tinue his studies, attending Wilbraham Academy for a time, and afterwards New Salem Academy, where he fitted for col- lege. In 1856 he passed the examination for admittance to Amherst College, and was granted a state scholarship, but to his great disappointment he was unable to carry out his plans for a college course. He turned his attention to teaching, and it was his principal occupation for many years. He presided over every district in Petersham, besides conducting a select school at the Center. He was for a time principal of the Athol High School, and also the Farmers' Hall Academy in Goshen, N. Y., where, besides the common branches, he taught the higher mathematics, Latin, Greek, philosophy, astronomy, physiology, and chemistry. He also held positions in Illinois, New Jersey, and Ohio.
Mr. Cook served on the school board of Petersham for eleven years ; as selectman, six years ; on the board of health, nearly five years ; and was town clerk at the time of his death, having held that office since 1882, nearly twenty-two years.
Mr. Cook was active in the Grange, holding the office of state deputy for fourteen years, state chaplain, six years, and state overseer, two years. He was master of Petersham Grange from its organization in 1875 to 1882 and again held the office in 1893 and 1900. He was the secretary for eight years, and was the lecturer at the time of his death. He was appointed justice of the peace in 1884 by Governor Robinson, and notary public in 1902 by Governor Crane. His service was always characterized by an obliging spirit and the greatest fidelity. He was a member of the Unitarian church, and had served as parish clerk and collector, and as superintendent of the Sunday School.
Jan. 1, 1860, Mr. Cook was married to Miss Lydia A. Peirce of New Salem, who was also a graduate of the Academy and a school teacher, and who survives him. Besides his wife Mr. Cook left four children, Clinton C., a druggist in Orange; Allen R., a landscape gardener in Farmington, Conn .; Mrs. Ermina E. Dodge of Philadelphia, and Mabel A., living at home.
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Clinton C. Cook
Mr. Cook was born in Hardwick, December 9, 1864, the son of Sanford B. and Lydia A. (Peirce) Cook of Petersham. He spent his boyhood days on a village farm in Petersham, where he learned the rudiments of hard work. When a young mall he took up the trade of apothecary, and after working several years in Athol, Boston and Barre, went to Orange 16 years ago, where he bought the store formerly owned by A. B. Foster. He had since carried it on successfully. Mr. Cook's father was prominent in the public affairs of his town, where he was for' many years town clerk, and a member of the board of selectmen and school committee. Mr. Cook was brought up in an atmos- phere of public service, and was well fitted to be town clerk of Barre, which position he held during the last four years of his residence there. On Sept. 20, 1887, he married Lottie A., daughter of the late Dennis and Amanda A. (Fairchild) Gage of Athol. Besides his widow he leaves one daughter, Mrs. Er- nest L. Johnson of Orange, a mother, Mrs. S. B. Cook of Pet- ersham, two sisters, Mrs. Augustus Dodge of Springfield and Mrs. E. O. Coolidge of Petersham, and a brother, Allen B. Cook of Farmington, Ct.
During his residence in Orange he was an active and public- spirited citizen, helping in every way without ostentation to promote the general welfare. He took much interest in politics, but never cared for political preferment for himself. A year ago, however, he was induced to accept the nomination as Re- publican candidate for representative, and he made an excellent showing at the polls, the Progressive combination alone defeat- ing him. This year the same nomination again came to him and it is generally believed he would have been elected had his health permitted him to remain in the field. The precarious condition of his health was not fully known outside of Orange, and the news of his death caused great surprise out of town.
For nine years he was a member of the local school commit- tee and was also a member of the library trustees for a number of years. He was a prominent member of the Orange Bont and last year its president, likewise being active in numerous social organizations. He was also a trustee of the Orange savings bank. In fact, wherever he could be of any assistance in the
CLINTON C. COOK
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civic and social life of the community he was only too willing to lend his efforts. When the town hall was rebuilt, Mr. Cook was chosen one of the building committee, and much of the work of superintending the construction finally developed on him. He was fully equal to the occasion and won the confi- dence of all by his faithful and successful handling of the job. It was in a large measure due to this public service that his name came forward for the honors of representative candidate.
Mr. Cook was a well known horseman and was much in de- mand at local fairs as starter and judge in the horse races. He was an admirer of good horse flesh and always had one or two good horses in his stable. Mr. Cook was a member of Social lodge of Odd Fellows and Hockanum tribe of Red Men. A man of quiet ways, he was personally liked by all the people, and his death is a real loss to the town.
The maternal great great grandfather of Clinton C. Cook, was George Zachariah Hatstat, a Hessian soldier who took a part in the Revolutionary War. He was the only son of one of the King's Courtiers, and while hunting with his father in the Black Forest Mountains, he was kidnapped or stolen by officers of the army, taken to Hesse and pressed into service in a com- pany made up of boys who had all been taken in a similar man- ner. They were sent to America with a portion of the Hessian troops to aid England in subduing the Yankee rebels. Natur- ally these boys rebelled against the method of their seizure and agreed to return to their native land at the very earliest oppor- tunity. However, a terrific storm arose while they were at sea, and George Hatstat, a lad of sixteen, made a solemn vow to his God, that if he were delivered that time he would never tempt the mighty sea again! The sympathies of these boys were more with the repellious Yankees than with their own officers, but to refuse to fight meant sure death, so they agreed to put only powder in their guns and allow themselves to be taken prisoners in the first battle. They were quartered in Rutland, Mass., till the war was over, then they were discharged.
George Hatstat married Beulalı Martin, daughter of Wm. Martin of Rutland, and worked for awhile for John Chandler in Petersham as a potter. Later, he settled in the west part of Petershanı, and was there as late as 1807. The oldest daughter,
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Lucy, born Jan. 7th, 1783, married Wm. Merriam and died in the home of hier grand daughter, Mrs. Sanford B. Cook, Jan. 9th, 1880. Her daughter, Ermina Merriam, was born Oct. 4th, 1809, married Frederick Peirce, and is well remembered by most of our townspeople. She died in 1907 in the home of her daughter. George Hatstatt's widow, Mrs. Beulah, married Samuel Stone of Petersham in 1823 and is buried in the west cemetery.
Joseph S. Gates
(13/1) Gatos 120h
The Honorable Joseph S. Gates was born in Petersham, October 3, 1856, the youngest of nine children. His father was Sylvanus Howe Gates and his paternal great grandfather Howe was among the first to settle Petersham. His mother, Louisa Parmenter, was born in Petersham, had been a school teacher there and was closely connected with the work of the Unitarian church of the town.
Mr. Gates was educated in the public schools of Petersham as a boy, but went to Westboro in 1873, when he started as clerk- in the store of one Samtel Griggs, a store which would now be called a department store. He was then sixteen years of age and entirely without capital and with a meagre education. However, he subsequently bought out this store and is at present still rin- ning it, being also a partner in the Lewis Lice and Fly Destroyer Company, a growing manufactory of the town of Westboro.
In 1882 he married Miss Helen Hardy of Boston, who died in 1885. In 1888 he again married, this time Miss Lillian Bar- rows of Westboro. He has two daughters, one a graduate of Wellesly, wife of a prominent young doctor, and the other a student at Simmons College, Boston.
Mr. Gates has always been interested in the Unitarian churel of the town of his adoption, having been superintendent of the Sunday school for fifteen years and a member of the parish com- mittee for the last twenty-five years.
For twenty-six years Mr. Gates has been interested in civic affairs, having held many offices during this time. He was Auditor seven years, Town Clerk fifteen years, and Collector nine years, and still holds these offices, several years being the nomince of all parties. He has been an earnest worker on the
JOSEPH S. GATES
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Republican Town Committee for seventeen years and chairman for ten : also president of the Board of Trade for five years.
In 1908 the town elected Mr. Gates as its Representative in the 10th Worcester district, and he was again elected by the dis- trict in 1909, because of his good work the year before, although it was not Westboro's turn again. In 1911 Mr. Gates was elected as Senator of the Fourth Worcester district and again in 1914 he was returned to the House of Representatives, selected by the Republican party as the only man who could win out in the dis- triet, split up as it was.
During his years at the State House he was successively Clerk and then Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Chairman of the Committee on Prisons, Chairman of the Committee on Towns, as well as a member of several other important commit- tees. He did effective and conscientious work on each one of these. His work on Agriculture and on Fish and Game was especially productive of good and was much appreciated through- out the State.
Mr. Gates has always been interested in legislative matters and feels that the success he has had has been due to hard work and the determination to succeed in whatever he undertook. He has always worked for the good of his town and the state at large and the people for whom he stands feel that he is a sincere and loyal representative of their interests.
Charles Gates
(74 )
Charles Gates, son of John Gates and Betsey Gleason, and grandson of Samuel Gates and Mary How, was born Nov. 5. 1808, on the Gates farm in the eastern part of Petersham. Here he lived as a boy and was educated in the town schools. Little is known of his boyhood. He was the only son who lived beyond infancy, but he had two sisters, Harriet and Elizabeth.
May 31, 1832 he married Mercy T. White, who died in 1834. They had one son, Alfred White Gates. Charles Gates married for his second wife, Mary Ann Tower, March 7, 1836. They had six children, Marcia J., M. Josephine, Ella F., John T., Elizabeth L. and Charles W. Gates.
Mr. Gates was an active member in the Universalist church
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and a personal friend of the Rev. Hosea Ballou, the founder of Universalism.
. He was engaged in the palm-leaf business from 1850 to 1866 and from 1864 to 6 conducted a grocery store in the building now owned by the Grange.
The palm-leaf was bought in crude form and split before it was sent to the farms in Petersham and surrounding towns where hundreds of women and children braided it into hats.
Later he manufactured "shaker-hoods." The "webs." "binds" and "notched braid" were made in the homes, then taken to the shop (now Grange Hall), where they were made into hoods. Fifty or more people, mostly girls, were kept busy making these hoods which when finished were shipped to New York and Boston.
Mr. Gates was an expert dyer of palm-leaf and often did this work for others. Green and black were the popular colors and he was one of the first to dye palm-leaf green successfully.
During 1867-68 he had a tinware shop and hardware store in Athol, which made tinware and sent the old familiar tin peddler carts around the country selling goods in exchange for paper, rags and other barter.
Charles Gates was of a pleasant, genial disposition, generous and honest. He died April 4, 1872, and is buried in the Ledgeville cemetery.
J. Henry Goddard
Mr. J. Henry Goddard was born in Petersham, Dec. 23, 1827. and received his education at the district school of his time. At the age of eighteen he went to Barre as an apprentice to the printing business and served three years in the office of the Barre Patriot, then published by N. F. Bryant. Several years later he became proprietor of the Patriot by purchase from Hon. P. M. Aldrich and continued its publication until it was united with the Barre Gazette.
In March, 1860, he bought the Gazette of N. F. Bryant and successfully continued its publication in connection with a large job printing business until November, 1872, when he sold out the office. Later he was employed as proofreader at Charles Hamilton's office in Worcester and for several years as assistant
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foreman at the office of the Worceter Evening Gazette.
Mr. Goddard was originally a Whig but had been a Repub- lican since the organization of that party. In the fall of 1861 he was chosen to represent his district (then Hardwick and Barre) in the House of Representatives at Boston and was reelected the following year.
In 1851 he married Helen Alexander of Keene, N. H. Mr. Goddard died in March, 1895.
George Sumner Grosvenor
George Sumner Grosvenor was born in Petersham. Nov. 25, 1831, attended Wilbraham Academy before entering college at Amherst in 1854, and graduated in 1858. In 1859 he was ap- pointed Principal of Trenton Academy in Trenton, N. J. He held that position until June, 1875, when he resigned ; was admitted to the bar as attorney in 1875 and as counsellor in 1878. He was the son of David K. Grosvenor and Irana G. Goddard. In poli- tics he was a Republican.
Jonathan P. Grosvenor
Born in Petersham in 1816, the son of David Hall Gros- venor, received his education in the public schools of the town, brought up on a farm, learned the carpenter's trade ; removed to Lowell when it was a young city at the time they were building the big mills. He was a contractor and builder, later an inventor and improver of moulding machinery and a manufacturer of the same, with salesrooms in Boston. New York and Chicago. He was an expert chirographer.
He married in 1842 Lydia Elvira Farrar. She died in 1848. They had several children that died in infancy and one daugh- ter. Elvira Frances, 18 years old. In 1849 he married Louisa Goddard of Petersham, sister of Stephen D. Goddard. They had two children, Horace Prescott and Etta F.
Charles Ames Fobes
Was born in Marion, Iowa, in 1859, came to Petersham about 1866, obtained his education in the public schools of the town. In 1878 went into business with H. N. Tower & Co., grocers, of
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this time. About 1882 he withdrew from the business. Later he went to Pasadena, Cal .. and was in trade there a few months, returned and made Petersham his residence until 1891, when he removed to Worcester and became a member of the firm of Putnam & Fobes, grocers. 600 Main street. Two years later returned to Petersham, preferring, as he said, to live "where I know everyone and where everyone knows me." He bought the old Postoffice store, was postmaster and storekeeper and had one of the first, if not the best general stores in the vicinity. Held the office of postmaster until 1904. About that time the firm name was Charles A. Fobes & Co., Charles E. Osgood was the company.
Mr. Fobes died suddenly on a trip to Kingston, Jamaica, March 11. 1905. He left a fegacy of $4000 to Petersham for school purposes in memory of his mother. Elizabeth Gates Fobes, and also the same amount to the town of Oakham, Mass .. in memory of his father, Peres Ames Foles, towards a library building.
Mr. C. E. Osgood, his successor, has been postmaster since Mr. Fobes' death in 1905, being relieved in 1914 by the appoint- ment of Mr. Frank E. Gibbs, in sympathy with the present Demo- cratic administration. Mr. Osgood is serving his second year on the board of Selectmen. He is a very popular man.
Erwin Oren Hathaway
Erwin Oren Hathaway, a son of Leander T. and Ellen J. ( Spooner ) Hathaway, was born Nov. 8, 1867. in the Wilson house at the southwest corner of Petersham common. Nearly the whole of his boyhood days, however, were spent on the farm situated about three-quarters of a mile southwest from the com- mon, where his mother now resides. He attended school in the "Old Brick" schoolhouse and in the ell of the Nichewaug until he was sixteen years of age, when he began teaching school in Barre and after two years entered the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and graduated from the civil engineering course in 1889 and has been engaged in that profession ever since.
Some of the principal projects with which he has been iden- tified are the abolition of grade crossings in Massachusetts and New York, the construction of many of the electric railway
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systems in Eastern New England, the construction of the Met- ropolitan acqueduct between Clinton and Northboro, besides many municipal improvements. In 1900 he moved to Nashua, N. H., where for nearly five years he was City Engineer and for eight years was Division Engineer in the N. H. State Highway Department. At the same time he carried on a private engineer- ing business.
In 1913 he received an appointment as Senior Highway En- ginner in the U. S. office of Public Roads. This position involves traveling in various States of the Union and the construction of roads in many of them. At present he is in charge of the con- struction of the Maine Post Road, a $250,000 contract, which is being carried through by the Federal government and the State of Maine.
In 1892 he married a schoolmate, Nina V. Russell, of Peters- ham, daughter of Warren and Sarah A. Russell, and they have three sons, Leander Russell, 22, a Senior in Yale University ; Chester Erwin, 19, a graduate of Nashua High school, and Her- bert Frederick, 8, in the third grade.
He is a deacon of the First Baptist church of Nashua and previous to his Government appointment was president of the church society, a director and vice president of the Nashua Board of Trade, a director in the Y. M. C. A., Past Regent and Trustee in the Royal Arcanum, and clerk of the Nashua Board of Public Works. He is a member of the American Road Builders' Asso- ciation and of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers.
He has always retained a strong attachment to his native town and never misses an opportunity to visit the scenes of his boyhood and to renew old acquaintances.
His present home is at 63 Berkeley street, Nashua, N. H.
Merrick E. Hildreth
Son of Elijah and Malinda ( Williams) Hildreth, born in 1840, brought up on a farm, educated at the district schools, was Selectman and Overseer of the Poor 26 years and chairman 25 years, was elected Representative to Legislature in 1911, repre- senting the towns of Athol. Petersham, Phillipston, Dana and Royalston. He was for several years one of the firm of (). H. Goodman & Co., North Dana, palm leaf hat manufacturers.
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His father had been Selectman and Overseer of the Poor many years, so that he was quite familiar with its duties when he succeeded him.
He bequeathed $1000 to the town for school purposes. He married in 1908 Delia Maria Glazier. She died in 1911, Mr. Hil- dreth in 1912. Of the five Hildreth families living in Petersham in 1807 there are none of their descendants living at this date. He was a man of good judgment, honest and a faithful public servant. In politics, a Republican.
The following resolutions were passed by the town at a town meeting held in March 1912, on the life and services of Mr. Merrick E. Hildreth, which were presented to him a short time before his death :
Whereas, His illness deprives us today of our highly es- teemed fellow townsman, Merrick E. Hildreth, for many years chairman of our board of Selectmen,
Resolved, That we place upon our records the cordial ex- pression of his long and useful services, of his character as a cit- izen, neighbor and friend, and of our best wishes for his restoration to health, and that we send him a copy of our reso- lutions.
F. J. Holman
Son of John M. and Eunice Sanderson Holman, was born in Petersham, Mass .. December 20th, 1852. Began his business life in Boston in 1871, the year of the Great Fire. A failure in health necessitated a residence in Texas for a time: returning again to Boston, he remained there several years. Later he was for a time with the Springfield Republican and afterwards was with a lumber firm in Springfield as an accountant, until business reverses caused the retirement of the firm. He then returned to Boston in the employ of a chemical house for some seven years. going from there to Brattleboro, Vt., as the General Agent of the Vermont Loan and Trust Company. In 1895 he became president of the company and removed to Spokane, Wash., where he has since resided. In 1910 he retired from active business.
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Mary Ann Howe
Born in Petersham in 1812, died April 15th, 1874. Was the last of the old-time tailoresses, who went about from house to house making suits for the men and boys of the family. Or- iginally, the material was of homespun, later, "Store cloth" took its place as the mills superseded the family loom, both, finally, giving place to the "ready made." She was one of Petersham's notable and worthy women. She was a woman of more than ordinary ability ; and her literary attainments, con- sidering her opportunities and the times in which she lived, were marked. Some of her poems are still preserved and show evidences of deep thought and insight into human nature, that rare gift, which so few possess. Nothing is known of her par- entage or childhood further than that she was brought up by an uncle and aunt, William and Caty, or "Catherine" Howe, a brother and sister, whom Miss Howe looked after and cared for in their old age, as faithfully as an own daughter could have done. In those days there was but little that woman could do for self-support other than teaching school, domestic service, or getting married. Of the latter, it is not known whether the op- portunity was ever offered. However, as already stated, she chose the vocation of tailoress. Hers was a busy life, compara- tive leisure came only in the Summer, while in the Fall she had to fit boys out with clothes to wear to school in winter, which hurried her, as so many wanted her at the same time. After the boys, came the men, which kept her on the go carly and jate until late in the Spring. She made her home with Mr. and Mrs. John M. Holman for many years, on the "Street." A few years before hier death she bought her a home on "West Main Street."
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