USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Holden > The history of Holden, Massachusetts. 1684-1894 > Part 21
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Being a man of strong mind, of broad yet conservative views, of large experience, and possessed of a tenacious mem- ory, he was well qualified to act as counsellor for such as might choose to avail themselves of his advice in business affairs. His townsmen chose him to represent them in all the im- portant offices in their gift, including Representative to the General Court in 1828, 1829, 1836, 1837, 1839, and 1840, and chairman of Selectmen and of Assessors at different times.
His religious life was noted for lack of anything of a spasmodic nature. At thirty-seven years of age he was chosen to the office of Deacon of the First Congregational Church, which office he held during the remainder of his consistent Christian life. His death occurred June 6th, 1870.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
MAJOR THERON E. HALL.
Theron Edmund, son of Edmund Trowbridge and Abigail Slocum Hall, was born in Sutton, November 8th, 1821. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of that town, with short terms at the academies at Plainfield and Leicester. At the latter place he taught in the public schools, previous to his marriage in May, 1843, to Jemima Wight, daughter of Billings Mann, of the firm of Mann & Marshall, then engaged in the manufacture of satinets in "West Village," Holden. He entered their employ and remained with them until their removal to Leicester, when he assumed charge of the busi- ness in Holden.
In May, 1858, he entered into partnership with Mr. William Howe of Holden, the business being carried on from that date under the firm name of "Hall & Howe." He held many re- sponsible town offices and for several years was a Deputy Sheriff. At the outbreak of the rebellion, in 1861, he retired from business that he might enter the service of his country.
He was active in the formation, and was the first Captain of Company I, Tenth Regiment, afterward Company B, Third Battalion of Rifles, and was, later, Quartermaster on the staff of Major-General Augustus Morse. After the attack on Fort Sumter he tendered his services to Governor Andrew, and en- gaged in recruiting and forwarding troops.
In the formation of the Twenty-First Regiment he was appoint- ed First Lieutenant and Adjutant and went into active service, remaining with the regiment until after the battle of Newbern, when he was appointed Chief-Quartermaster on the staff of General Reno, who commanded the Third Brigade of Burnside's Corps. After the death of General Reno, he was promoted to the staff of Major-General Burnside and assigned to the charge of the post at Aquia Creek, Va., an important distributing point for the Army of the Potomac. In June, 1863, he was transferred to Camp Nelson, Ky., and for a time acted as Chief- Quartermaster of Kentucky. Here he established the depot of
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supplies for the Army of the Northwest, and remained in charge until his resignation.
In 1864, having received authority from Washington, not- withstanding strenuous opposition of the native Kentuckians. under leadership of General Fry, commandant of the post, he inaugurated the enlistment of colored troops. Over twelve thousand colored men enlisted from this camp. At the close of the war he was Superintendent of the Refugees' Home, established in Kentucky.
He returned to Massachusetts with health much impaired, and although he was engaged in manufacturing in Sutton, Cherry Valley and Holden, 1865-1873, his strength would not permit the renewal of his former active business life.
In the session of 1866 he served in the State Legislature. He removed to Worcester in 1866. In 1873 and 1874 he was Secretary of the National Soldier's Home at Togus, Maine.
In November, 1875, he removed to San Diego, Califor- nia, hoping, by a change of climate, to regain his health, but the benefit derived was but temporary. He died in San Diego, August 4th, 1880, and was buried in Pine Grove Cem- etery, Leicester, August 25th, 1881, with Masonic honors, Theron E. Hall Post 77, G. A. R., of Holden, doing escort duty.
REV. ISAAC SMALL HAMBLEN.
The Rev. Isaac Small Hamblen was born in Limington, Me., March 24th, 1833. He was fitted for college at the Academy at North Conway, N. H., and was graduated from Waterville College, now Colby University, in 1858. For three years he was principal of Waterville Academy, now Coburn Classical Institute, proving himself a successful teacher. With health somewhat broken he left Waterville in 1861 to engage in busi- ness with his brother in Lovell, Me. With returning health the thirst for knowledge came back, and in connection with
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his business he studied law, and was about to be admitted to the bar, when his conversion changed his plan of life.
He was graduated from the Newton Theological Institution in 1868, and was ordained at East Abington, now Rockland, September 17th, 1868, where he was pastor until October, 1872. He then went to Winchendon, where he remained till March, 1880. From April 24th, 1880, to January 31st, 1886, he was pastor at Holden. After three months spent in Florida, and supplying the churches at Petersham, and Yarmouth, Me., for a time, he became pastor, November Ist, 1886, of the church at North Berwick, Me., where he remained till the close of April, 1891. He then accepted a call from the church in East Winthrop, Me, and removed to that place, but en- feebled by a recent attack of la grippe, he was unable to take up the work of the ministry there, and, consumption soon set- ting in, he died August 19th, 1891.
Mr. Hamblen possessed a keen sense of justice and love for the truth, strength of conviction and tenacity of purpose, and faithfulness and fearlessness in speech and action, when he saw the right. He was a diligent student of the Bible and from the pulpit and in the Sunday School set forth its truths with great clearness and force.
REV. JOHN S. HARADON.
The Rev. John S. Haradon was born at Mansfield, March 26th, 1815. At the age of nineteen he began teaching. His first school was in the town of Florida, and the school-house stood on Hoosac Mountain near the line of the tunnel. Hop- ing to secure a school in that neighborhood, he walked to Providence, R. I., and back to Florida in four days. He taught in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts for many years. He was ordained to the ministry at Manchaug, in Sutton, September 13th, 1858. He was pastor at Manchaug from 1858 to 1865; at Holden from 1865 to 1868; at Goffstown Centre, N. H., from 1868 to 1870; at Ayer from 1870 to 1873.
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THOMAS HENNESSEY.
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and at East Jaffrey, N. H., from 1873 until his death, August 4th, 1875. He was an earnest Christian man and is especially remembered as a faithful pastor who watched for souls and sought to win them. He was also everywhere a consistent temperance man and an active worker in that department of Christian endeavor.
THOMAS HENNESSEY.
Thomas Hennessey was born at Marysburg, County of Queens, Ireland, May 17th, 1847. He was the son of Martin and Mary Hennessey, who with their eight children emigrated to America November 2d, 1864, and found employment in a woolen factory at Winooski, Vt. In the winter of 1864 and 1865 Thomas procured work at pressing hay for the govern- ment, among the farmers of Vermont, and in 1865 he took charge of the work. The following two years he worked by the day as a stone mason. In 1868 he had a contract on the Woodstock Railroad in Vermont ; in 1869 he received the con- tract for the rock excavation on the Suncook Valley Railroad, in New Hampshire ; in 1870 he was engaged to take charge of the masonry on the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad ; from 1871 to 1873 he had superintendence of the masonry on the Massachusetts Central Railroad. He was next employed to to take charge of the masonry on the Lowell & Andover Rail- road. In 1875, after the Williamsburg disaster, Mr. Hennes- sey was employed to construct the masonry for the new dam. During the two succeeding years he had the contract for the masonry on a part of the Hoosac Tunnel Railroad.
January Ist, 1876, Mr. Hennessey married Mary Ellen, daughter of Dennis and Mary Jane Harrington, of Jefferson. Their seven children, all born in this town, except the second child, Dennis, whose birthplace was Princeton, are as follows :
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Martin Joseph, born February 7th, 1877.
Dennis Leo, born March 8th, 1878.
Mary Francis, born September 4th, 1879.
Thomas, born December 25th, 1881.
James, born October 11th, 1883.
Daniel, born July 11th, 1888.
William B., born February 26th, 1890.
In 1878 he was awarded the contract on the Manchester & Keene Railroad, doing work that amounted to $6,900, but for which he received only a ton of hay and $50 in money. When finished he returned to Jefferson, in the fall of 1878, $400 worse than nothing. But through the kindness of Mrs. Har- rington, he was set on his feet again, for her bank book was promptly placed at his disposal.
Among his works in Holden may be mentioned the grading about the residence of Mr. S. F. Morse; the building of the canal and wheel pit for Messrs. Howe & Jefferson ; the excava- tion and building of nearly all the cellars in Jefferson, for con- tractor W. E. Austin and others; building of two dams for Mr. C. G. Wood and the West Boylston Manufacturing Com- pany ; the work done in Grove Cemetery for Mrs. A. Coe, Mr. William Howe and Mr. Charles Flagg ; the lockup; the base- ment and grading for St. Mary's Church, and the exca- vation and stone work for the Damon Memorial. In neigh- boring towns his work has been varied and abundant, includ- the two dams for the town of Clinton; the dam and complete water system of the town of Brookfield ; a dam for the town of Southbridge ; the stone Baptist church in West Boylston ; the stone chapel and tomb in the cemetery there,-all these have been under his management. At the present writing, 1892, he is engaged in the construction of the $ 100,000 water system which the town of North Brookfield is putting in.
Mr. Hennessey has filled the offices of Field Driver, Con- stable, Highway Commissioner and Selectman in this town. As a member of the Law and Order League he, with others, did valiant service in putting down the illegal traffic in liquors , and greatly aided the cause of temperance and good morals
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COL. JOAB S. HOLT.
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He was also a member of the Committee of Arrangements for the celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the town.
JOAB SMITH HOLT.
Colonel Joab S. Holt was of English descent. He was the second son of Jonas and Anna Read Holt, and was born in West Boylston, October 25th, 1807.
On account of sickness in his father's family when about five years of age, he came to Holden to live with his grandmother, but was too homesick to remain very long ; two years later he came again and ever after continued to live on the same place : until the time of his death.
March 8th, 1834, he married Clarissa, daughter of Attai Hubbard. Their family numbered seven children ;
Marietta, born April 16th, 1838 ; married George Bascom, February 28th, 1865.
Henry M.,born April 23d, 1841 ; died October 14th, 1862, a member of Company B, Fifty-first Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers.
Clara Ann, born July 31st, 1843; married Ormond D. Kimball, November, 1876, and died in Manches- ter, N. H., July, 1878.
Ellen Maria, born September 27th, 1845; died October, 1862.
Frederick Taylor, born March 13th, 1849 ; married Julia, youngest daughter of Oliver Lowell, September, 1883. They have two children ; Clara Lowell, born November 12th, 1885, and Henry Ernest, born March 20th, 1889.
Joab Winthrop, born March 30th, 1852 ; married Stella, youngest daughter of Samuel and Nancy Howe Turner, October 29th, 1891.
Flora Celia, born January 23d, 1856; married Fred A. Harbison, June 29th, 1891.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
Colonel Holt was naturally ambitious. He early became active in military life, was commissioned Ensign April 13th, 1832, and rapidly rose step by step to the rank of Colonel which commission was conferred July 6th, 1837. Later he interested himself in railroad enterprise 'and was one of the original charter members of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad Com- pany, and was one of those who contributed most largely of their time and money to keep alive the charter. Though the original route was not followed, their untiring efforts finally re- sulted in building the road through the town, and thus not a little was added to the general prosperity of the community.
Colonel Holt was eminently public-spirited, and liberal in his support of the church and all enterprises for the ad- vancement of his town and county, and was honored by his , townsmen with places of trust and responsibility. He died January, 1869, at the age of sixty-two. His wife died October 17th, 1891.
MAJOR CHURCH HOWE.
Church Howe was born in Princeton, December 13th, 1839, and was educated in common schools and academy. He en- listed as a private in Company G, Sixth Regiment, April 16th, 1861 ; was promoted to Quartermaster-Sergeant, April 17th; passed through Baltimore April 19th, and remained with his regiment on duty till August. He was commissioned by Governor Andrew, August Ist, 1861, First Lieutenant and Quartermaster, Fifteenth Regiment. November 2d, he was detached from his regiment and assigned to duty as Ordance Officer on the staff of General Stone, commanding Corps of Observation at Poolsville, Md .; February 22d, 1862, he was assigned to duty as Senior Aide-de-Camp to General Sedgwick, commanding the Second Division, Second Corps, remaining with him through the Peninsula Campaign and into the Maryland Campaign, in which at Antietam, September 17th, he was wounded ; November 2d, 1862, he was assigned to duty on the
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staff of General Slocum, commanding Twelfth Corps, and was made Provost-Marshal of Northern Maryland and West Vir- ginia, with headquarters at Harpers Ferry; December 27th, 1862, he was again assigned as Senior Aide-de-Camp to General Sedgwick, who commanded the Ninth Corps, and later the Sixth Corps ; January 8th, 1863, he was commissioned Captain of Company K., Fifteenth Regiment, and March 13th, 1865, he was breveted Major. He took part in the battles of Ball's Bluff, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Gaines' Mill, Peach Orchard, Sav- age Station, Charles City Cross-Road, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Flint Hill, Second Bull Run and Antietam.
After the close of his military service Mr. Howe returned to Massachusetts and located in Holden, purchasing the mills at Quinapoxet and engaging in the manufacture of woolen goods. He was elected a member of the Board of Selectmen of the town and served as such during the years 1865 and 1866.
In 1866 he was appointed by President Johnson Collector of Internal Revenue for the Eighth Massachusetts District. In 1869 he was commissioned by President Grant United States Marshal for Wyoming Territory and assisted in its organiza- tion.
In 1871 he removed to Nebraska and established " Walnut Grove Stock Farm," containing some two thousand five hun- dred acres, on the fertile prairie of Nemaha County, where he has since resided, engaged extensively in farming and stock raising. Ten years later the Missouri Pacific Railway came across the west line of the farm and there located the town of Howe, and six miles north, on a tract of four hundred acres, Mr. Howe and associates laid out the town of Auburn, the present county seat of Nemaha County with three thousand in- habitants.
Mr. Howe has taken an active part in the development of his adopted state. In addition to his farming interests he is engaged in banking and railroad building, being for several years Vice-President of the Nebraska extension of the Missouri Pacific system. He has been a member of the Nebraska Legislature in House and Senate from the same District for
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twenty years, and has twice been President of the Senate. He is a member of the State Board of Education, and was Ne- braska's member of the Republican National Committee from 1884 to 1888.
LEVI HUBBARD HOWE.
Levi Hubbard Howe was born August 23d, 1845. He was the third son of Silas and Persis Hubbard Howe. He was a farmer's boy, his whole life has been spent in the occupation of farming, and he takes pride in his claim to be "a Holden farmer." He remained at home with his father, until he ,was twenty-five years old. In 1871 he purchased a farm in the edge of Princeton, not far from the Holden line, and only about a mile from his boyhood's home. This place he carried on till 1884, when at his father's desire he returned to manage the old homestead, which he did until the death of his father, in October, 1891. In the spring of 1892 he bought the Ethan Davis place at the Center, which he has refitted so much as necessary with the intention of making it his permanent home.
In 1869, at the time of the great revival, he was baptized into the fellowship of the Baptist church, of which he has been a member ever since.
May 3d, 1871, he married Angelia R. daughter of William Moore of Holden. They have four children ;
Williamy J., born August Ist, 1874. Edith G., born December 22d, 1875. Clara Persis, born June 16th, 1877. Olive A., born February 2d, 1880.
SILAS HOWE.
Silas Howe was born October 5th, 1814, on his father's place in the extreme northern part of Holden. He was the son of Jotham Howe, who was the son of an elder Jotham Howe.
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LEVI H. HOWE.
SILAS HOWE.
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Silas Howe had an elder brother, Jotham, and two younger sisters, Elmira and Susan.
April 24th, 1838, he married Persis Walker, daughter of Benjamin Hubbard. After her death, February 22d, 1884, he married, November 6th, 1884, Malvina Henry, widow of Jona- than Dow. By his first wife he had eight children ;
Augustus F., born April 12th, 1839; died October 25th, 1879.
Charles N., born January 27th, 1841.
Frances A., born February 7th, 1843 ; died July Ist, 1869.
Levi H., born August 23d, 1845.
Mary C. born October 10th, 1847; died February 5th, 1869.
Joseph L., twin with the last named.
Hervey N., born June 4th, 1849; died September 27th, 1849.
Silas A., born September 18th, 1856; died August 6th, 1878.
Immediately after his marriage Mr. Howe settled on the homestead of his wife's father, which continued to be his home until his death. While he carried on the farm for more than forty years, this was by no means his only employment. He taught school for many years, even after his marriage and set- tlement on the farm ; he also busied himself in teaming, clearing woodlots, and burning charcoal and marketing it. The very considerable estate which he left at his death was gained by untiring industry, combined with great frugality and more than ordinary foresight and shrewdness. 3 He often remarked that he never knew what it was to be tired until he began to grow old. When a young man he used to work at the saw mill at North Woods all night and half the day following, eighteen hours out of twenty-four. It may pass as an example of his shrewdness or of his patriotism, that he invested largely in in Government Bonds during the dark years from 1861 to 1865.
He was accustomed to read considerably, and greatly enjoyed an argument, but he was an independent thinker. He liked to
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study things out for himself ; almost never taking a lawyer's advice as to his business ; usually consulting somebody, but quite likely going counter to their advice.
Mr. Howe held in town the offices of District School Com- mittee, Overseer of the Poor and Highway Surveyor.
After a prolonged, though not painful illness, he died at his old home, October 29th, 1891.
WILLIAM HOWE.
Deacon William Howe was born in Holden, in which town he has all his life resided, June Ist, 1814. He was the son of Thomas Howe, who was born August 19th, 1785. The parents of Thomas Howe were Jotham and Dorothy Howe. Mr. Howe's mother was Sally, daughter of Hezekiah and Lucy Raymond Walker. She was born May 30th, 1787.
The subject of our sketch was the third child and third son in a family of fourteen children, of whom ten lived to maturity and eight still survive. They were as follows :
Amasa, born November 13th, 1807; died July 21st, 1876. Lyman, born December 13th, 1811 ; died September 2Ist, 1882.
William, born June Ist, 1814.
Thomas, born April 8th, 1816.
Joel, born May 11th, 1818.
Sarah, born May 3d, 1820; married Danford Hall.
John W., born January 11th, 1822.
Nancy Judson, born March 19th, 1824; married Samuel Turner.
George, born May 25th, 1827.
Abby, born January 5th, 1832; married Warren L. Gleason.
Four other children died in infancy.
William Howe lived at home, attending district school both summer and winter till eleven years old. After that he attended
William Howe
٠,
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school only in winter, working on the farm with his father and brothers during summer.
In 1839 he settled on a farm of his own in the northern part of Holden, which he carried on with marked industry, energy and success till 1858. In that year he formed a co-partnership with Major Theron E. Hall, and engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods, in the village of Drydenville, now Jefferson, where he resided till 1889, when he moved to Holden Center and erected the house in which he now lives.
His partnership with Major Hall continued two years, when Martin V. B. Jefferson purchased the interest of Major Hall, and business was continued under the firm name of Howe & Jef- ferson for twenty-six years. The skill and success of this firm in the manufacture of woolen goods is sufficiently shown by the facts that when they commenced manufacturing they ran one set of woolen machinery, and that, when the partnership was dissolved, they were running twelve sets, with a corresponding growth of Jefferson, which has come to be one of the most attractive and flourishing manufacturing villages in Central Massachusetts.
January Ist, 1886, Mr. Howe disposed of his interest in the business to his partner.
Mr. Howe married, in December, 1839, Mary Ann, daughter of John Jefferson. Mrs. Howe died June 10th, 1887. His family consists of three daughters :
Augusta F., born August 10th, 1842 ; married, August 15th, 1861, M. V. B. Jefferson, now of Worcester. Anna M., born: July 27th, 1844 ; married, June rst, 1865, Addison N. Putman, who died August roth, 1878. Dora L., born October 23d, 1856; married, November 8th, 1877, Henry W. Warren, of Holden.
Mr. Howe has been repeatedly chosen by his fellow citizens to responsible positions in town affairs. He has been eleven times a member of the board of Selectmen for the town of Holden, holding the office, when first chosen, for six years in
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succession. He was also chosen to represent his district in the Legislature of 1878, serving upon the Committee of Com- merce and Manufactures.
Mr. Howe has maintained an active and honorable connec- tion with the Baptist Church for more than sixty years. In 1873 he was chosen deacon of the Church, the duties of which office he still efficiently discharges. His parents were constit- uent members of the Holden Baptist Church, and not less than thirty members of their family, near and remote, have been connected with it during its history, covering now four- score years. Mr. Howe's many excellences, his good judg- ment of men, his wisdom and tact, his gentle firmness and unwearied patience, and his spotless honor-have endeared him to all who may claim his friendship, as well as to his family, and have made him highly respected and esteemed in still wider circles, as well as in church and town where best known.
WILLIAM HOWE, D. D.
William Howe, D. D., was born in Worcester, May 25th, 1806. By the death of his father, he, at a very early age, with three other children, was left dependent upon his mother. In this bereavement, aid from the "Father of the fatherless" came in the person of William Metcalf, a Christian and highly respected citizen of Holden, who, touched by Christian sympathy, took the boy into his own home and cared for him as a father.
The religious instruction in the family and the constant in- culcation of the principles of the Bible, followed by example, made indelible impressions which quickened into life those germs of character which were permanent in after years.
At length there came a dark day when health failed and hopes for his chosen calling in life vanished. This was a great affliction to him but he often refers to it as one of his greatest blessings. God had other purposes to be revealed. God's
WILLIAM HOWE, D. D.
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truth, and His claims upon the service of intelligent beings, ever before him, so deeply impressed his mind that at a time of religious awakening he accepted Christ as his Savior, entered upon a new life, and was received into the Baptist Church of Holden, of which Rev. John Walker was then pastor. He at once commenced an active Christian life, everywhere testifying of the grace of God.
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