Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 11

Author: Nelson, John, 1866-1933
Publication date: 1934
Publisher: New York, American historical Society
Number of Pages: 700

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Dr. William Billings Aspinwall was educated at Albany Academy, Albany, New York, from which he was graduated in 1892, Harvard College, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1896, and the New York State College for Teachers, where he took the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Pedagogy in 1900 and 1901 respectively. In 1904 he took the further degree of Docteur de l'Uni- versité at the University of Paris, France. Dr. Aspinwall speaks French fluently, is well acquainted with its literature and culture and has traveled extensively, not only in France, but in other parts of Europe and the Near East, including Great Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Palestine and Egypt.

After his graduation from Harvard, Dr. Aspin- wall was connected for a year with a text book publishing house of Boston. He then taught for several years in the schools of Kentucky and Ala- bama, serving as assistant principal of Union Female College, Eufaula, Alabama, in 1898-99, and from 1900 to 1906 was assistant principal and principal of the New York State Normal High School at Albany, New York. For six years fol- lowing, he was dean and professor of education at the State College for Teachers, Albany. In 1912, however, he came to Worcester State Normal School at Worcester, Massachusetts (changed to Teachers' College in 1932), and since that time has served as president of this institution. His services have been of notable value in the building up of the college and have brought him a distin- guished reputation in educational circles of the State. Dr. Aspinwall also taught in 1915 and 1916

in the summer school of the University of Vermont. He organized the annual conference on Rural Edu- cation held under the auspices of the State Normal School. He is a trustee of Leicester Academy and was at one time a member of the committee on relations with secondary schools of the New Eng- land Federation of Harvard Clubs. He is also a member of the National Education Association, the Massachusetts State Teachers College Association, of which he was president in 1926, the Massachu- setts State Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Schoolmasters' Club, of which he was president in 1924, the Worcester County Superintendents' Club, the Massachusetts State Superintendents' Club, the New England Superintendents' Association and the Worcester Public Education Association. He is a member of the executive committee of the latter organization.

Apart from his professional connections, Dr. Aspinwall is a member of the Harvard Club, the Economic Club, of which he was president in 1928, the Shakespeare Club, of which he was president from 1929 to 1930, the Bohemian Culb and the Rotary Club, all of Worcester. He was president of the Rotary Club in 1926-27, and is trustee of its educational fund. Dr. Aspinwall is affiliated with the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, is an independ- ent in politics, and in religious faith is a member of the Congregational Church. He has been very active in church work, serving as deacon of Union Congregational Church at Worcester, as moderator of the Massachusetts Congregational Conference in 1918 and as a delegate from the State Conference to the National Council of the Congregational Church from 1923 to 1927. From 1918 to 1926 he was president of the Worcester City Missionary Society. Dr. Aspinwall is the author of "Outlines of the History of Education," published in 191I (MacMillan) ; was contributing editor of "The Practical Reference Library" (Chicago) six vols .; and editor of "Monographs in Pedagogy, Literature and Science," published by the New York State College for Teachers. He has also contributed numerous articles to educational journals.

On April 8, 1908, at Albany, New York, Dr. William Billings Aspinwall married Aurelia Hyde, who was born in Albany on March 21, 1875, daughter of Edwin N. and Abbie (Moseley) Hyde, the former a native of Poughkeepsie, New York, and the latter of Albany. Mrs. Aspinwall is the author of "Hyde's Primer," published in 1908 by the American Book Company. Dr. and Mrs. As- pinwall maintain their home in Worcester at No. I Normal Street.

JOHN T. BRADY-As general manager of the Waucantuck Mills, manufacturers of fine fancy worsted and worsted yarns at Uxbridge, Massa- chusetts, John T. Brady successfully directs the operations of this old established enterprise with which the family name has been connected for many years.

The Waucantuck Mill was founded in 1854 by C. A. and S. M. Wheelock. Later it was acquired and operated by the C. A. Root Company, and still later became the Waucantuck Mills, named for the Indian chief of bygone days whose burial place, just behind the mills, is marked by a mound. The company was incorporated in 1905. Present offi- cers include: Edward J. Brady, president; Wil- liam J. Brady, treasurer; and John T. Brady, gen-

Jo Buly

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eral manager. The Brady family has been asso- ciated with this enterprise from the time it was taken over by the C. A. Root Company. All three of the present officers of this name were born in Uxbridge.

The active figure in the direction of the com- pany is John T. Brady, who was born at Uxbridge, July 29, 1889, a son of Edward J. and Elia (Gar- rity) Brady, the latter of whom, like her husband, was a native of Massachusetts. Edward J. Brady was engaged for many years in the wholesale and retail meat business in Uxbridge. John T. Brady, the son, was educated in the public schools of Ux- bridge, and subsequently attended the Philadel- phia Textile School, from which he was graduated in 1910. He began his active career as an em- ployee in the Waucantuck Mills, rising through various positions in different departments as he familiarized himself with every detail of the mills' operations. In 1924 he was appointed general man- ager of the company which is under his active supervision. The Waucantuck Mills normally em- ploy some five hundred people. It has been run- ning day and night shifts for the past ten years and its products, including fine worsted and woolen suitings, overcoatings and women's dress goods, find a ready market. Mr. Brady, as general man- ager and a director of the company, has directed its affairs with conspicuous efficiency and success.

In addition to his business connections, Mr. Brady is a member of the Worcester Gun Club, the Whitinsville Golf Club and the Delta Kappa Phi Fraternity of Philadelphia. Although he has always given his best attention to his duties at the mills, he has been interested in local community affairs and is a man of recognized public spirit.

He married, on March 4, 1919, Sadie Fagan, of Uxbridge.

CHARLES OSGOOD DRAYTON - En- gaged for many years in the leather belting indus- try, Charles Osgood Drayton is associated with the Graton and Knight Company, of the city of Wor- cester, being at the time of writing the general sales manager of the organization.

Mr. Drayton was born on August 13, 1891, at Westboro, Massachusetts, son of Walter H. G. and Marion (Grieves) Drayton. His father, who is connected with the Ludlow Associates, came from Manchester, New Hampshire; and his mother was a native of Scotland. In the public schools, Charles Osgood Drayton received his early edu- cation; and afterward he was a student at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his technical training. He has been, since then, continuously connected with the Graton and Knight Company, referred to above, becoming associated with it in a minor capacity and gradually rising to his present position, that of general sales manager. In this office, he succeeded Mr. Barth in 1926; and in this and in his other positions with the com- pany, his work has been of distinct value.

At the same time, he has taken part in civic, social and fraternal affairs. Mr. Drayton is affil- iated with the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he is a member of Meridian Lodge, Natick, Massa- chusetts, and of the Worcester Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He also belongs to the Worcester Country Club and the Players' Club. His church is the Unitarian. His connections with the different

groups in which he holds membership and in whose affairs he is active have been such as to give him a place of leadership in the life of his city and its people, among whom he has a host of friends in all walks of life. He is especially esteemed for his achievements in business and for his steady rise in his affiliation with the Graton and Knight Company.

Charles Osgood Drayton married, on May 19, 1917, Ethel Nickerson Carr, of Somerville, Massa- chusetts. The children of this marriage have been : I. Charles Osgood, Jr., who was born on October 1, 1918. 2. Walter Carr, who was born on May I, 1922.

G. WILLIAM KALAT-A native son of the city of Worcester and a man who has utilized his energies for the furtherance of progressive ideas, G. William Kalat is regarded by business leaders and economists as an authority on chain store de- velopment, a subject upon which he, by the way, has written a number of articles for magazines. The Community Store Company, of which he is president and treasurer and was the organizer, has at the time of writing ninety-eight stores, and covers all of Worcester County.

Mr. Kalat, who has headed this business from the first, was born on October 2, 1883, in Wor- cester, Massachusetts, son of Gustave and Antonia (Winter) Kalat. His father, who came from Bohemia, Austria, was for many years engaged in the meat business in the United States; he died in 1899. And the mother, a native of Vienna, Austria, died in 1910.

In the public schools, G. William Kalat, whose name heads this review, received his early educa- tion; and, determining upon a business career, he associated himself with the Sherer Company, with which he continued for seventeen years. For a part of that time, he was in charge of the meat and grocery branch of the Sherer house. It was in 1917 that Mr. Kalat became engaged in busi- ness on his own account, organizing the Commu- nity Stores Company, referred to above, and be- coming their president and treasurer. He has held this dual office from the very inception of the company, and from small beginnings has built the business up to one of sizeable character and great scope. The first store was situated at No. 30 Woodland Street, whence the organization ex- panded with the passing years, until it came to own and control ninety-eight stores and employ three hundred people. A few years ago, Mr. Kalat absorbed the Economy Stores, in Worcester County, maintaining many of the employees of that company as managers in his chain. The Commu- nity Stores are the only chain having headquarters in Worcester. The original warehouse of the company was at No. 570 Southbridge Street; but later it was removed to its present site in Mulberry Street, where Mr. Kalat has 57,000 square feet of floor space. He also has a private railroad sid- ing, with a capacity of six cars, which greatly facilitates the operation of his business.

His work with the chain store business has been the chief, but not the only, association that Mr. Kalat has had with the commercial world. For he is also a director of the Independent Bank. Active in other phases of Worcester life, he is also a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he is affiliated with the Morning Star

WORCESTER COUNTY

Lodge, the Commandery of Knights Templar, and Aleppo Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Other groups with which he is connected are the Worcester Country Club, treasurer, the local chapter of the Rotary Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. In the Chamber, he is a member of different committees, and has done much for the promotion of prosperity and well-being in his city. At one time Mr. Kalat saw military service as a member of the City Guards in Worcester; and, as a matter of fact, there is almost no branch of local affairs in which he is not interested or has not actively taken part. He has been a member of Worcester Young Men's Christian Association for twenty-five years. His church is the Congregational. Each of these groups with which he has affiliated himself has, in some very definite way, benefited from his labors in its behalf; but Mr. Kalat's activities in Wor- cester have been of especial value to the community in still another way, having been so broad as to give him a better than ordinary picture of the busi- ness world and render him helpful as an advisor to those beginning new enterprises.

G. William Kalat married, in 1910, Alma H. Nielsen, of Rutland, Vermont. By this marriage, the children have been : I. Marie, who was born on October 31, 19II, and has, at the time of writing, completed three years of work at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. 2. Norman W., born June 29, 1913, who is a student at Norwich Uni- versity. 3. Paul F., born August 17, 1916, a high school student. 4. George Robb, born August 9, 1924.

RICHARD D. OLMSTEAD-Throughout all his business career, Richard D. Olmstead has been connected with one of the novel industries of Worcester and has taken his place among the industrial leaders of the city by his rehabilitation of a company of ancient origin and interesting history. He was born at Danbury, Connecticut, September 19, 1890, son of George E. and Adrienne (Haley) Olmstead, the former of whom was a well-known Connecticut manufacturer.

Educated in the local schools, the young Rich- ard D. left school to become associated with his father and uncle in the manufacture of corsets. Being a member of the family was of no aid to his rise in the management of the Olmstead Company, for his father believed that the only way to learn a business was to begin at the bottom and become familiar with every process and method which went into the production of the article manufac- tured. Mr. Olmstead had that sort of an experi- ence and was ably fitted not only to manage the company which had been founded by his family, but to assume the duties of general manager of the Royal Worcester Corset Company and to be- come its president in 1930.

The story of this latter concern goes back to 1861, when David Hale Fanning began to make hoop skirts with the aid of two girls. One small room was sufficient for this "factory," and it was not long before the changes in styles made even this small room more than sufficient, and the two girl employees were too many to keep busy. Just then Mr. Fanning conceived a new idea in the mak- ing of corsets and set about working out methods by which these could be made. He perfected his ideas, made a few samples, and went out to find a

market for his product. He met with surprising success from the start, and the Fanning Company had difficulty in supplying the demand. Larger quarters and increased equipment and employees were required. In 1898 a large tract of land was purchased in Wyman Street and a building erected which was intended to take care of the growth of the concern for decades. It was only a few years before more buildings were required, and from time to time thereafter the plant had to be enlarged. At the present time there are about 175,000 square feet in the plant, and the average number of hands employed ranges around 1,700. Its products are known and used all over the world. The business was incorporated in 1901 as the Royal Worcester Corset Company, with Mr. Fanning, president; W. F. Brooks, treasurer; and Charles B. Maigoras, E. P. Bennett and Eugene Fanning serving as other executives. Mr. Fan- ning died in 1926, and George E. Duffy succeeded him as president. Subsequently, A. H. Gray was elected to this position, and in 1930 Richard D. Olmstead was made the president. The company is the oldest and largest of its kind in New Eng- land. Its career has not always run smoothly, for fashions will change and women's desires with them. It was in a crisis brought about by such changes that Mr. Olmstead came into the picture and was the inspiration and the constructive force behind the introduction of new things and the re- vival of business in a period when there seemed to be no business for any manufacturing concern.

Mr. Olmstead is an acknowledged success in the industrial field. His devotion to business has some- what obscured his abilities and interests unrelated to manufacturing. In his own quiet fashion he has been a genuinely important factor in the prog- ress of Worcester and the welfare of its people. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Free and Ac- cepted Masons. He is a popular figure in the several trade organizations, local, State and national of which he is a member. He seeks his recreation chiefly as a member of the Hillcrest Country Club ; the Quinsigamond Boat Club, and the Worcester Players Club. With his family he attends the Episcopal Church.

In the year 1913, at Danbury, Connecticut, Rich- ard D. Olmstead was married to Marguerite Mur- ray, and they are the parents of four children : I. Richard D., Jr., born August 4, 1914. 2. Jean Mur- ray, born June 16, 1918. 3. Jasper L., born January 21, 1920. 4. Jane Pryce, born March 12, 1925.

LOUIS E. SMITH-Born in Connecticut, July 24, 1863, Louis E. Smith is the son of James F. and Caroline (Hazard) Smith; the former, a native of Waterbury, Connecticut, died in 1874, and the latter, also a native of Connecticut, died in 1891. The son, Louis E., is a product of the public schools of his former home community. In his youth he set himself to the task of learning the printer's trade, and he made it a point to do superior work and always had the artistic sense to urge him onward to do so.

It was his ambition to set up in business for himself, and this desire was gratified appreciably when he established the Beacon Press in Bridge- port, Connecticut. From a small beginning he built up the business to a degree where he was convinced it would move forward to still better things, and then he transferred his plant and inter-

WORCESTER COUNTY

ests to Providence, Rhode Island. In the latter city he carried on for some years, meanwhile adding to his good name for doing fine art printing. In 1931 he moved the business and equipment to Wor- cester, and the same year brought into association with him, under a charter of incorporation, Arthur Taylor Chase (q. v.), who was made treasurer and general manager, and Allen Adams, who was in- stalled as secretary. Mr. Smith retained the office of president. Under this reorganization the busi- ness has increased remarkably, and its good-will is now drawn from practically all sections of New England, which the company holds as its field of operations. High class printing and art advertising are the principal lines to which the Beacon Press gives its close attention. The company's plant at No. 25 Foster Street, Worcester, is a model of its kind, being completely equipped to do the work for which it has acquired an enviable reputation. Mr. Smith is naturally proud of the fact that he has reared the Beacon Press from infancy to the strong, vigorous industrial unit that it now is.

Mr. Smith has large interests in New Haven (Connecticut) real estate. In Freemasonry he is affiliated with the "Blue" Lodge, Royal Arch Ma- sons, Royal and Select Masters, and the Knights Templar. He is a member of the Union League Club of New Haven.

Mr. Smith married Claribelle E. Wood, and they are the parents of Raymond E. Smith, a graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni- versity.

CHARLES ARTHUR HARRINGTON- Charles A. Harrington is president of the Massa- chusetts Protective Association, of Worcester, and of its allied companies, the Massachusetts Protec- tive Life Assurance Company and the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company.

The branch of the Harrington family to which Mr. Harrington belongs traces descent from Rob- ert Harrington, born in England, settled in Water- town, Massachusetts, in 1634, through his son, Ed- ward, who married Mary Ockington; their son, Francis, who removed to Grafton, then, in 1741, purchased a farm in Worcester, and married (first) Prudence Stearns; their son, Nathaniel, who spent his youth on the homestead farm, was a soldier in the Revolution (first lieutenant in Captain Joshua Whitney's Company, 5th Worces- ter County Regiment), and married Ruth Stone; their son, Francis, born in Worcester, May 15, 1777, died their October 17, 1841, inherited half of the homestead, farmed there all his active life, and married Lydia Perry; their son, Captain Daniel Harrington, who inherited his father's farm and built a new house there in 1852. He was a mem- ber of Old South Church and later one of the founders of Union Congregational Church. He was captain of a militia company, highway surveyor, member of the school committee, member of the common council, 1849-50, and of the board of aldermen in 1851. He married, March 27, 1828, Clarissa Gray, daughter of Nathaniel and Patty (Dickerman) Gray, of Worcester, and granddaugh- ter of John Dickerman who took part in the Boston Tea Party, and they had nine children, of whom the seventh was Francis Alfred, father of Charles Arthur Harrington.

Hon. Francis Alfred Harrington, mayor of Wor- cester for three terms and member of the Massachu-

setts Senate for three years, was born in Worcester, November 17, 1846, and died August 9, 1922, son of Captain Daniel and Clarissa (Gray) Harring- ton. After attending the public schools of Wor- cester, Worcester Academy, and B. G. Howe's Business College, he assisted his father on the home- stead farm until he was twenty-one. He then, in 1869, associated himself with his older brother, Charles A., who had just founded the Bay State Livery Stable, and in 1871 was admitted to part- nership under the firm name of Harrington Broth- ers. That connection he continued for nearly twenty-five years, continuing in the meantime to cultivate the old homestead farm. The livery busi- ness prospered, was removed to new quarters on Central Street and a carriage shop added in 1876, and in May, 1882, the senior partner, Charles A., retired, a younger brother, Daniel A., taking his place. Both brothers understood the business thor- oughly and were increasingly successful, but Fran- cis Alfred Harrington, in addition to his intcrest in the livery business and the management of the homestead farm, was also actively engaged in pub- lic affairs, and by 1895 his public duties and his interest in other business affairs had increased so greatly that they demanded his entire time. He, therefore, in October of that year, sold his interests in the livery firm and withdrew.

Chief among the interests demanding his atten- tion at that time were two insurance organizations which he, with the late Frank M. Heath and others, founded: The Ridgely Protective Association, in 1894, admitting only members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Masonic Protective Association, the membership of which was re- stricted to Free Masons. Both organizations grew rapidly, Mr. Harrington serving as president and Mr. Heath as treasurer from the beginning. Only one clerk was employed at first, and for many years the home offices were in the Knowles Building, on Main Street, corner of High Street. In 1915 both concerns moved to the Worcester Trust Company Building on Franklin Street, where each occupied a floor. They continued to grow and in 1918 the name of the Masonic Protective Association was changed to its present title, The Massachusetts Protective Association, which does business all over the United States. By 1919 seventy clerks and stenographers were required to handle the business, and in 1922 the Massachusetts Protective Association erected, solely for its own use, at No. 18 Chestnut Street, one of the finest buildings of its kind in Worcester. Mr. Harrington continued as president to the time of his death, in August, 1922, when he was succeeded by his son, Charles Arthur Harrington (q. v.).

Meantime, from early manhood, Francis Alfred Harrington had been actively engaged in public life. In 1887 he was elected alderman on the Republican ticket, was unanimously reëlected the next year, and in 1889 served as president of that board. In December, 1889, he was elected mayor of Worcester and he was reëlected in 1890 and 1891. During the three years of his service as mayor, the scwage disposal system was put into operation (1890) ; fire engine houses were erected, the office of superintendent of street lights was created, and a new public library was erected at a cost of $108,000, in 1891; and the Holden Dam, the English High School (now the Classical) and new school buildings on Millbury and Canterbury

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streets were erected in 1892; and all this was accomplished with a tax rate lower than it had been for many years, due to the efficient, honest, and tactful management of the mayor. Curtis Chapel, too, was dedicated during his term of office. The three years of Mr. Harrington's service were nota- ble ones in the history of Worcester, and the people of his district recognized his able and honest serv- ice by sending him to the Massachusetts Senate for three years, 1889, 1900, and 1901. There, as in Worcester, Mr. Harrington exercised rare tact, judgment, and fairness, serving in the difficult posi- tions of chairman of the committee on liquor laws for three years, as chairman of the committee on manufactures, and presiding over the committees on mercantile affairs and manufactures, sitting jointly to formulate legislation to secure consoli- dation of the public lighting companies of Boston. For six years he was a director of the Free Public Library of Worcester and for twelve years a trus- tee of Hope Cemetery Corporation, which latter he served as president.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 11

Author: Nelson, John, 1866-1933 Publication date: 1934 Publisher: New York, American historical Society Number of Pages: 700

Author: Nelson, John, 1866-1933
Publication date: 1934
Publisher: New York, American historical Society
Number of Pages: 700