USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Ludlow > The history of Ludlow, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of leading citizens, reminiscences, genealogies, farm histories, and an account of the centennial celebration, June 17, 1874 > Part 18
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Already, there had been instilled into the mind of the boy those lessons which served him so well, when at a tender age his father died and left the family, then at Chicopee Street, to manage for themselves. As his older brother, Ephraim, had been sent to college, the duty of remaining at home to care for the interests of his mother and her farm devolved upon Chester. While so doing he attended the district school at Chicopee, which ranked high as a school of its kind in those days, and was afterward sent to Westfield Academy, from which he entered upon the active pursuits of life. At twenty-one he went to Springfield, and first found employment at the bar of the old Williams Tavern, then kept by his brother Erastus. Not relishing the business, he next began keeping a store of his own at Chicopee Street.
Just across the way was another store kept by the late Stephen C. Bemis, and the two soon formed a copartnership which continued several months. At this time Mr. Chapin married Dorcas Chapin, daughter of Col. Abel Chapin of Chicopee. They had two sons and two daughters. Mr. Chapin then sold out his share of the store, and we next find him with his yoke of oxen engaged at Chicopee in preparing the foundation of the first mill where paper was made by machinery, built in the country. He took the contract for the foundation and masonry of this factory for the Ameses, and did the work so satis- factorily that when a few years later the mill was burned, they urged him to undertake a renewal of the job; but other engagements then intervened to prevent him from complying.
A change in business then occurred which turned the attention of the young man in the direction of his real life work. At the solicita- tion of Jacob W. Brewster of Hartford, he was induced to take an interest in the extensive stage lines of the Connecticut Valley. Here he first made the acquaintance of his lifelong friend, the late Major Morgan of Palmer, who was engaged in the stage line running east and west from Springfield. Occasionally holding the reins on the Hartford and Brattleboro line, Mr. Chapin was soon found to be more needed in developing the general interests of the route, which so pros-
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pered under his management as to yield him large returns on his investment.
Soon after the demonstration had been satisfactorily made by Thomas Blanchard that steamboats could journey from Hartford to Springfield, Mr. Chapin grasped the idea and utilized it. He bought out Blanchard in 1831 and until 1844 controlled the passenger traffic between the two places. Until his death he maintained his business relations with boating lines, finally controlling to a large extent the New York and New Haven lines of steamboats. Two of his vessels were in government employ during the Civil War.
A railroad had been talked of in the meantime, and Mr. Chapin with his accustomed sagacity saw its future and made arrangements to aid in its introduction. He became a director of the road between Hartford and Springfield in 1841, and later its agent, which office he held until 1844. When this road was completed to Northampton in 1846, Mr. Chapin discontinued his stage lines. He contracted to carry the mails between St. Louis and Terre Haute and sent his stages there. He then carried the mail by rail up and down the Connecticut Valley from Hartford to Stanstead, Canada, with branches on either side.
In 1850 Mr. Chapin became a director of the Western Railroad, but resigned the position to become president of the Connecticut River Railroad in the same year. In 1854, having attracted attention by successful management of that road he was elected president of the Western road, and accepted. In two years fifty miles of rails had been renewed, the bridge over the Connecticut River rebuilt, twelve first- class locomotives, one hundred and forty-five freight cars and six passen- ger coaches had been added to the rolling stock of the road.
He then began his life work, that of expanding and developing the Boston and Albany lines. In 1855 he went to England and negotiated a loan of half a million dollars to improve and complete the road. Very soon the road began to pay handsome dividends. The Albany bridges, the new iron bridge at Springfield, the continuous double track, with magnificent tidewater facilities, the huge elevator at Boston, and a large station at Worcester were some of his successful undertakings. His great desire was to consolidate the Western and Boston and Worcester Railroads as the Boston and Albany. This he accomplished December 1, 1867.
At various times during his presidency of the Western road, he was solicited to take the management of other large railroad interests, but always refused.
In business relations elsewhere, we find Mr. Chapin mentioned as a stockholder and director in the Hudson River and New York Central Railroads, as a prominent manager and owner of the Collins Paper Company's property and business at Wilbraham, and of the Agawam Canal Company at West Springfield.
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In 1846 he started the Agawam Bank, was its president for a short time and a director till 1872, when the Chapin Banking and Trust Company, of which he became the first president, was formed.
He held a few minor offices in the town and city, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts in 1853. He was elected a representative to the Forty-fourth Congress, serving from Dec. 6, 1875, to March 3, 1877, a fitting testimonial from an appreciative public-a testimonial, moreover, in which his little native town claims the privilege of giving a modest share.
On April 17, 1878, he resigned the presidency of the Boston and Albany Railroad. In 1879 he endowed Amherst College with $55,000.
Kind and obliging, of unblemished reputation, cool and decided but considerate, one whose "promise is as good as his bond," his native town rejoices to hold him up as an examplar for her young people. Mr. Chapin's presence at the Centennial was highly appreciated. The following tribute was paid him:
"While Mr. Chapin is naturally and by instinct a prudent and some- what conservative man, a careful observer of his career will find that he has always been among the foremost to embrace every improvement in the onward march of civilization. At first a stage owner, he was quick to see and utilize the application of steam, first upon the waters of the Connecticut and then upon its banks. Instead of resisting the march of events as bringing into the field an element of rivalry and perhaps destruction to his interests in old methods, he was the foremost to contribute his capital and practical experience to the development of each new and improved project in the direction of cheap and rapid transportation."
REV. JOEL CHAPIN
Rev. Joel Chapin was born in Ludlow very early in the period of the settlement of the town. He was the son of Shem and Anna (Clark) Chapin. His marriage to Eunice Lucretia, daughter of Dea. Edward Chapin of Chicopee, was published November 10, 1789. They had three children. The following is quoted from the New York Observer of March 27, 1851: "Rev. Joel Chapin died in Bainbridge, N. Y., in 1845, aged 84. A soldier in the Revolution; then a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1791. He settled as a minister in the wilderness, on the Susquehanna, and was faithful as a minister of the gospel."
AMBROSE CLOUGH
Ambrose Clough, son of Mordecai Clough, was born in Franklin, N. Y., June 6, 1822, and though not a native of Ludlow, was one of its most useful and respected citizens. He came to Ludlow when eleven
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years of age and lived with Franklin Fuller on the place which he later owned. He married Theodocia Parsons, who also was a member of Mr. Fuller's family from an early age. Mr. and Mrs. Clough had a son and a daughter, whom they survived. He died April 2, 1889.
Mr. Clough was always keenly interested in town affairs, and served for some years as selectman and school committee. He was a leading spirit in the celebration of the town's centennial in 1874, and spent much time in the fall and winter of that year in collecting material for the town history, a labor of love.
HON. DEXTER DAMON
Dexter Damon, the eldest of a family of ten children born to Henry and Ruby (Winchester) Damon, was born and brought up on the farm in Ludlow where Clarence Tilley now lives. When a young man he taught school for several winters in New Jersey.
About the year 1839, in company with his brother Austin, he went into business in Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio. This business was continued by the brothers for twenty years, when Dexter sold out and engaged in farming for several years. In 1851 he was elected to the legislature of Ohio, and served one term. In 1864 he sold his Kirtland property and moved to the adjoining town of Willoughby, where he lived until his death. In the fall of 1870, Dexter Damon established his two oldest sons in business in Winnebago, Minn., under the firm name of D. Damon & Sons, the sons being the company. This business has been conducted for forty-one years by the two sons, with no change in the name, and is still flourishing (1911). Mr. Damon married in Kirtland, Ohio, Harriet Matilda Frank. They had three sons and one daughter, all of whom are living. Mrs. Dexter Damon is still living (1911), in very good health, though nearly 92 years old. Her eyesight and hearing are good, and her mental faculties unimpaired.
HON. GORDON M. FISK
Gordon M. Fisk, editor and founder of the Palmer Journal, was born May 9, 1825, in the red house across the pond from Henry I. Carver's mill at Ludlow City. He was one of seven sons, his father being William H. Fisk. Gordon Fisk was named for a son of Dr. Aaron John Miller, who accompanied the name with a gift of three sheep. The family was large, the mother an invalid, the income small, so here was an opportunity for building up a strong man. The district school and family fireside afforded the only means for educating the children. A studious boy, Gordon early mastered all the books within reach, even to Dr. Johnson's dictionary and the Westminster catechism.
DR. JAMES WILSON HANNUM
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At the age of twenty-one he found an opportunity to gratify the longings of years, and purchased a printing press of one John Howe, of Enfield, who had used it in the publication of anti-orthodox pamphlets. It was a rude establishment, with ancient Ramage press, and ink balls instead of composition rollers. Having mastered the business by assiduous labor at night, he established the Village Gazette in Ware in June, 1847. He sold out in December, 1848, and moved to Palmer, where on the first of January he opened a printing office. In the fall he undertook, with another, to establish the Holyoke Times but abandoned the project, and issued the first number of the Palmer Journal April 6, 1850, which publication he continued until his death, also sending out the Ware Standard for nineteen years. A copy of the first issue of the Palmer Journal is in the Historical Room of the Hubbard Memorial Library.
His official record covers a period of over twenty years. In 1860-1861 he served as state senator, attending an extra session each year, and serving on a special commission to sit in the recess, for three years, for the purpose of surveying a ship canal from Barnstable Bay to Buzzard's Bay; was deputy United States collector 1862-1868, and inspector of the State almshouse and primary school at Monson 1857-1874, and from 1866-1879 (the year of his death) was connected with the visiting agency of the Board of State Charities.
Mr. Fisk possessed a local reputation as a poet, and several of his sketches are to be found in this volume.
DR. JAMES WILSON HANNUM
Dr. Hannum was born in Williamsburg, Sept. 24, 1851, the son of John and Eunice (Squier) Hannum. His ancestors figured prominently among the first settlers of the Connecticut valley, the original Hannum coming from England and locating in the valley in 1630. His grand- father and father were the first manufacturers of woolen machinery in this section, having been engaged for years in manufacturing carding machines in Williamsburg.
Dr. Hannum received his early training in the schools of Williams- burg, working in the Westfield News Letter office during vacations. He began his training for the medical profession by taking a post-grad- uate course in Latin and Greek in the Westfield high school, When 20 years of age he went to study with Dr. James Dunlap in North- ampton. A year later he removed to Hartford, where he continued his studies for the next year with Dr. Joseph Yale, and then took the medical course in the University of Michigan. He received his degree in 1877 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, medical depart- ment of Columbia University. He began practicing in Whately,
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remaining until 1879, when he removed to Ludlow, where he continued till illness forced him to give up active work in 1911.
His ability as a physician cannot be spoken of too highly. He built up an extensive practice that was not confined to Ludlow, but extended throughout western Hampden county. He was town physician for a number of years and it was due to his efforts that the town escaped from the ravages of the smallpox epidemic which swept over this locality several years ago. For 25 years he was surgeon for the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates.
"CHUMS " Alice Hannum and her Dog
Dr. Hannum was a member of the American Medical Association, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Eastern Hampden Medical Association, the Hampden district branch of the State Association, and the Springfield Academy of Medicine. He served as censor and coun- cilor of the State Association, and as president of the Eastern Hampden Association and the Hampden branch of the State Association. He frequently read papers before some of these societies, and during the early days of the germ theory he prepared an original paper on "Disease Germs" that was widely quoted. His paper on pneumonia was well received by the members of the state medical society.
Among the contributions that he made to medical science was the
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invention of a device that records the pulsations of the heart by means of a photographic film. This has proved valuable in detecting abnormal conditions of the heart. As examiner for a number of life insurance companies this device was used by him with great success. His inventive ability did not confine itself to medicine, for with his knowledge and love for applied mechanics he invented a number of mechanical devices, among which was one for regulating the sup- ply of gasolene in gas engines. This was patented and manufactured by a Chicago company.
For a number of years he was president of the Ludlow Savings Bank and at the time of his death was a director. It was due to his efforts that the Ludlow hospital, one of the best equipped institutions of its kind in Western Massachusetts, was built. He served as staff phy- sician in the hospital from the time of its foundation. He was interested in every movement that made for the betterment of the town and the residents, and although various offices within the gift of the town would have been his for the asking, the only town positions that he filled were those of town physician and member of the school board, an office he held for several years.
In 1886 he married Miss Maria Louise Miller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur F. Miller. He had two sons and one daughter .- Adapted from the Springfield Union, of Dec. 10, 1911.
NATHAN ALONZO HARRIS
Nathan Alonzo Harris was born in Wilbraham, July 7, 1814, the son of Nathan and Mercy (Green) Harris. His grandfather, Eliphalet Green, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary army.
Mr. Harris's father died when he was three years of age, leaving to the widow the care of two small children, with only a small house and garden. Possessing the ability of a tailor, with needle and hand-forged shears (which shears are yet in the Harris family) the mother supported her children till Nathan was eight years old. Then he was placed with Willard Chaffee, who lived in that part of the town of Wilbraham which is now the town of Hampden. Here he had a home for two or three years. Later he worked for Oliver Dwight, farmer and tanner, who lived near the Baptist Church in East Longmeadow. When about seventeen years of age he commenced learning the carpenter's trade with a Mr. Burnham. Following the trade, business led him to Ludlow, Chicopee Falls, and to the Center (then called Cabotville). Returning to Ludlow on April 19, 1837, he married Marcia Ann Daniels, daughter of Asa and Sally (Blodgett) Daniels. In 1842 or 1843, he started a sash, door, and blind shop on Alden's Brook. This was among the earliest shops established for this purpose. He built the machinery and set it in operation, later selling his interest to Charles Alden.
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In 1846, he moved his family to the western part of the town and started another factory on the water privilege, where formerly stood the "Continental Mill." Here Mr. Harris built all his machinery with the exception of a Daniels planer and a Fay tenoner. The water power was sufficient for him to employ at one time ten hands. His products were always considered the standard of merit.
NATHAN ALONZO HARRIS
Mr. Harris inherited an excep- tionally fine voice with a great love for music and musical instruments. In the years of singing schools he taught music in Ludlow, Belcher- town, Three Rivers, Granby, and East Longmeadow. Between 1835 and 1845 Ludlow had a brass band which was of no little repute. In this band Mr. Harris played the ophicleide and the slide trombone. The latter instrument still remains in the family, as well as his favorite instrument, the violin. The first melodeon and piano cases in the town of Ludlow were of his manu- facture.
Mr. Harris led the singing in the Methodist church at the Center for thirty years. During a part of the time his violin was the only instrument used to accompany the singing.
JAMES HAVILAND
James Haviland, a former postmaster of Ludlow, who figured prom- inently in the early construction and development of the telegraph service in this country, was born at Pawling, Dutchess County, N. Y., August 13, 1825.
His father, John Ward Haviland, was a native of New York state, as was also his grandfather, and both were lifelong residents there. John Ward Haviland learned the clothier's trade in his younger days which he followed for some time, but later changed his occupation for that of a miller, settling in Elmira and continuing in that calling until his decease, which occurred at the age of sixty years.
His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Townsend, was a native of Kent, Putnam County, N. Y., and the daughter of Samuel and Keturah
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Townsend. She was the mother of six children, and died at the age of eighty years.
James Haviland was very young when his father removed to Elmira, and he received his education at the public schools of that city. At the age of fifteen years he entered mercantile business as a clerk, and after remaining thus employed for two years, began the study of law with Judge E. P. Brooks of Elmira, and continued it later with Messrs. Thurston and Wisner. At this period the electro-magnetic telegraph had not only become an assured means of rapid communication, but was being extended to all parts of the country.
Mr. Haviland's interest in the new invention was aroused to such a degree that he relinquished his legal studies for the art of telegraphy, which he speedily acquired, and in 1847 was sent to Detroit, Mich., for the purpose of establishing a telegraph office in that city. From there he went to Chicago, where he made the necessary arrangements for open- ing an office. Upon its completion he proceeded to Milwaukee, Wis., in the same capacity, and there also opened the first telegraph office. The winter was an exceedingly severe one, and there being no rail- roads at that time running into Milwaukee, Mr. Haviland was weather- bound and forced to remain until the opening of the lake in April. He then returned to Detroit and when the line from Buffalo to Milwaukee was completed he was appointed secretary of the company and super- intendent of the line, which position he most ably filled until 1855. After the consolidation of the Erie and Michigan with what was the Western and Union Company he continued in their employ for two years, after which he came East to enter the employ of the American Telegraph Company, and for the next year was engaged in construct- ing lines.
In 1858 Mr. Haviland was appointed to a clerkship in the Naval office at New York City, which he held for three years. In 1862 he was engaged by the United States Telegraph Company to construct the lines west of Toledo. He completed a double line from Buffalo to Milwaukee and another from Detroit to Bay City, Mich. After this he resided for a time at Evanston, Ill., and entered into the leather trade in Chicago. In 1871, Mr. Haviland purchased a farm in Ludlow, upon which he settled and from that time until 1888 followed the independent life of a farmer. In May of that year he received the appointment of postmaster at Ludlow, continuing as such for two years, and in 1893 was again appointed to office.
At the age of thirty years, Mr. Haviland was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Hall, a native of New York state. She lived but five years after the consummation of their union. In 1864 he wedded his second wife, Miss Annie Birnie, a native of Middlefield, Mass. Two children have blessed their union, Grace M. Haviland, now Mrs. George Taylor, and James Birnie Haviland.
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Mr. Haviland was in every particular a most capable and popular official, and was a Democrat in politics. He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George Taylor, in Brookline, Mass., March 18, 1911, and is buried in Elmira, N. Y .- From Hampden County Biographical Review.
JAMES HENDERSON
James Henderson was born in Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland, March 2, 1849, and died at Ludlow, December 22, 1911. He was the only son of Andrew and Jean Campbell (Buist) Henderson. His parents died while he was quite young, which made it necessary for him to become a wage-earner at an early age. While his education ceased in the school, his sturdy Scotch ancestry gave him that pertinacity and determination which successfully overcome all obstacles and he attended evening schools after his day's labor. He had very successful mill experiences in Lochee, Dundee, Scotland, Yorkshire, England, and Belfast, Ireland. He left Belfast in the spring of 1885 for Ludlow to assume charge of No. 4 Mill of the Ludlow Manufacturing Company. When the old stone mills were replaced by modern brick structures in 1895, he was given the oversight of these mills known as Nos. 1, 2, and 3 Mills.
In the fall of 1905 after the death of John E. Stevens, he was appointed general superintendent of all of the mills of the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates, which position he held at the time of his death. He was largely instrumental in forming the Ludlow Athletic and Recreation Association, beginning with rooms in one end of the present machine shop. These quarters were outgrown under his director- ship and transferred to large and spacious quarters in the mill yards and now occupied by the present carpenter shop. In the fall of 1905 through his efforts and those of the late John E. Stevens, agent, who was also greatly interested in this work, and Charles W. Hubbard, treasurer of the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates, ground was broken for the new home of the Ludlow Athletic and Recreation Association. In the summer of 1906 this model building was dedicated to the memory of Mr. Stevens and given to the trustees of the Association. It was here that Mr. Henderson's work will be remembered. Through his energy and untiring efforts the membership was increased to 1000 members. Its social work through him was a large factor in making it enjoyable. He was also particularly interested in the children and was always on the lookout for the least detail with which to make them comfortable.
He was a member and deacon of Union Church, and a leader of the senior and junior choirs. He was a Past Master of Brigham Lodge of Masons in 1896 and 1897. At the annual meeting of the Ludlow Savings Bank in 1911 he was elected president, after serv-
JAMES HENDERSON
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ing on the board of trustees and as auditor. In town affairs he never held public office on account of his numerous duties. In politics he was a Republican. In 1874 he was married to Elizabeth Robertson, in Perth, Scotland, and by that union there were two children, James B. and Elizabeth C. Henderson. The following testimonial shows the high esteem in which he was held by his employers:
" It is with deep sorrow that the trustees of the Ludlow Manufactur- ing Associates announce the death of James Henderson, general super- intendent of the mills. For 27 years Mr. Henderson has given to the Ludlow Company and to the village interests, the very best of his time, thought, and strength. In his death both the Company and the village have lost one whose life represented that honorable service which every man should render to his employer and to the community in which he lives.
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