USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III > Part 13
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On January 17, 1906, John Woodman Higgins married Clara Louise Carter, daughter of Thomas Whitman and Mary Elizabeth Carter, of St. Louis, Missouri. They are the parents of three children, all born in Worcester: I. Carter Chapin, born October 15, 1914. 2. Bradley Carter, born Novem- ber 20, 1916. 3. Mary Louise, born May 15, 1919. The family residence in Worcester is situated at No. 80 William Street.
Mr. Higgins has been an important and familiar figure in Worcester life for many years. He is admired not alone as a leading industrialist but as a public-spirited citizen and as a kindly, helpful friend and neighbor.
Wor .- 4
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LESLIE BOWEN GOFF-Those in New England, who are interested in the Morris Plan Bank and in industrial banking, are familiar with the name of Leslie Bowen Goff, of Worcester, both from his activities and his occasional writings published upon these subjects. He is a native of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, born April 26, 1900, son of Frank A. and Hannie M. (Patten) Goff, the former of Massachusetts birth, the latter a native of Rhode Island.
Leslie Bowen Goff, after preliminary instruction in the public schools and Taunton High School, matriculated at Brown University. Leaving Brown in his junior year he studied in the Pace and Pace School and became connected with banking as an occupation. His first position in this line was as the bookkeeper of the Westminster Bank, of Providence, Rhode Island. He resigned to go with the Morris Plan Bank at Providence as clerk. Later he became the credit manager and in 1928 he removed to Worcester to serve as assistant manager of the Morris Plan Bank there. He has had experience in all phases of Morris Plan bank- ing and has held almost every position possible. Since 1931 Mr. Goff has been the treasurer of the Worcester organization.
In the few years of his residence in Worces- ter Mr. Goff has quietly taken an active interest in the life and affairs of the city. He is a mem- ber of the Kiwanis Club and the local Chamber of Commerce and is a popular figure in the Wor- cester County Sons of Brown Society. His college fraternity is Delta Tau Delta. He is also a mem- ber of the Naval Reserve Corps of Brown Uni- versity. His church is the Congregational Church of Worcester.
CHARLES ELLSWORTH CATHER- Among the men who are well acquainted with the growth of the envelope manufacturing business in Worcester, is Charles Ellsworth Cather, who has been continuously identified with this industry since 1885. He has not only witnessed the innumerable changes that have taken place in this business, but has had a hand in bringing about many of these changes and improvements. To men in this busi- ness in New England, he is well known and he is regarded as an expert in his line.
Mr. Cather was born March 20, 1864, at Oak- dale, West Boyleston, Massachusetts, the son of David and Mary B. (Brandon) Cather, both na- tives of Ireland. David Cather came to this coun- try as a shoemaker in a day when boots and shoes were made largely by hand He died in 1877; Mrs. Cather survived him until 1896. Their son, Charles Ellsworth, was educated in the public schools and at an early age began to make a living for himself. He had just reached his majority when, in 1885, he became associated with the envelope manufac- turing industry in Worcester. Up to 1898 he was connected with Logan, Swift and Bigelow and since then he has been with the United States Envelope Company, with which the former concern was merged at that time. During the forty-nine years, that have since intervened, he has been with these two companies and has served in almost every capacity in the mechanical department in the mak- ing of envelopes and allied products. He was fore- man and superintendent of the plant for more than a quarter of a century and for some years now has been mechanical superintendent. He is now one of the oldest employees of this company in point
of length of service. Mr. Cather is a director of the Worcester Cooperative Bank and also the Home Cooperative Bank, and is financially inter- ested in some of the industrial concerns of the city. Fraternally he has been affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows for nearly half a century and he also is a member of the Common- wealth Club, the Worcester Chamber of Com- merce, and the Mechanics Association of Worces- ter County, of which he was president for some time. He is a Congregationalist in his religious faith and interested in all movements which make for the welfare of the community and its people.
Mr. Cather married (first) Florence E. Russ, and they were the parents of four children of whom three are living : I. Irene G., married George H. Bullard, who is engaged in the emery wheel business in Framingham. 2. Ethel G., who is the wife of Harold R. Hall, cashier in the city treas- urer's office at the Worcester City Hall ; they have one child, Florence. 3. Ellen, who died in infancy. 4. Ralph E., who is employed in the Worcester office of the State Mutual Life Assurance Com- pany; he is a member of Morning Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; he is married and has three children: Eleanor, Donald and Robert. The mother of these children died in 1914. Mr. Cather married (second) Emma R. Bullard, of West Brookfield, Worcester County.
JAMES K. SCRIMGEOUR-A city of con- stant change and development, Worcester has many opportunities open to the man keen enough to see them and who has the courage to back his ideas and faith in the municipality to the limit. James E. Scrimgeour, a native son of Worcester, born May 6, 1894, began his business career in his youth as an office boy with the State Mutual Life As- surance Company, but within a short time was con- vinced that there was a future in the business of supplying buildings, new and old, with electrical equipment. To that end he gained experience in various firms catering to this trade before estab- lishing, in 1921, his own firm, whose success has been a genuine personal achievement.
He is the son of James Boyd and Mattie L. (Cummings) Scrimgeour, the former of whom was born in San Francisco, California, and died in Worcester in 1910. He was a well-known realtor and prominent citizen and a descendant of Rev. James Scrimgeour, who, in 1802, came from Edin- burgh, Scotland, to become pastor of the Associate Reformed Church in Newburgh, New York, where later he married Janet Boyd, daughter of Major Robert Boyd. The origin of the name Scrimgeour is explained by tradition as follows : "For valor in battle, the name of Scrymgeour (meaning skir- misher or hard fighter) was bestowed on Sir Alex- ander Carron by Alexander I, of Scotland, together with the right to him and his successors forever to bear the royal standard. The Scrimgeours be- came constables of Dundee. One was a comrade of William Wallace, and through a long history the family name has seemed to describe its owners well." Mrs. Scrimgeour is a native and resident of Worcester and a descendant of Isaac Cummings, who settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1638. The youthful James K. Scrimgeour grew up in the city and was educated in its public schools. While still in his 'teens, he became an office boy in one of Worcester's leading corporations, but quickly graduated into the Worcester Electric Light Com-
Starry Starrison
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pany and by study and experience became an expert electrician. He later went with the C. C. Coghlin Electric Company as estimator and re- mained until 1921. In that year he founded the Scrimgeour Electric Company, of which he has since that time been the president and treasurer. The concern is one of the most important of its kind in the municipality and has done the electrical work in some of the best known of its larger build- ings, including the George F. Wright Steel and Wire Company, the Medical Art Building, a num- ber of the schools, and the new Memorial Audi- torium.
Business has never been allowed to absorb all of Mr. Scrimgeour's time and energy, although he has had to devote a great deal of his career to his profession. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Athel- stan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of all the bodies of Masonry up to and including the thirty-second degree. He is a mem- ber of the National Association of Electragists and the Worcester Chamber of Commerce. Among his clubs are the Wachusett Country and the Lions International clubs. He is a Congregationalist in his religious views.
In 1916 James K. Scrimgeour married Ethel H. Huntington, of Minnesota, and they are the parents of two children: I. Betty Jane, born October 26, 1926. 2. David L., born August 26, 1929.
HARRY HARRISON-To tell the story of the career of Harry Harrison of Worcester, with- out also telling something about the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company, would be to separate the inseparable. He has been in the in- surance business since a lad of sixteen, and all of his mature years of commercial activities have been devoted to service of an insurance company, now more than one hundred and nine years old, and which seemingly has not yet reached maturity. Few men in the city are better known or more popular. His is a personality which interests and convinces, one that impresses itself upon the char- acter of others. Having the gift of friendship, his friends are legion. He is prominent in welfare activities, has always given of his time and means to those less fortunate. Versatile and creative, he writes well and is a frequent contributor to the technical magazines and periodicals of his profes- sion, but publishes too little of what he does well, verse.
Mr. Harrison was born in Sheffield, England, November 27, 1877. His father, Harry Harrison, born there in 1841, married Elizabeth Wright, of that place, in 1874. When Harry Harrison, the former, was one year of age he came with his parents to America. They first settled in Con- necticut and later, in 1885, removed to Worcester. Here he attended the Chandler Street School and also went to the evening high school. At the age of fifteen years he was employed by the Torrey Razor Company, in which his father was a
specialist.
In 1894 Mr. Harrison secured a job as office boy for the Merchants & Farmers Insurance Com- pany. He remained with this company in various capacities, advancing from time to time until he was made head clerk. In 1911 he was offered a position as special agent by the Holyoke Fire In- , surance Company, of Salem, Massachusetts. He was later field manager of the New England states
for that company. In 1913 he became assistant sec- retary of the Worcester Fire Insurance Company. The year following he was elected to the office of secretary of that organization. In 1916 he became a member of its board of directors, and the follow- ing year was made secretary and treasurer of the company, a post he has held ever since. He was also elected in 1917 a member of the executive committee of the board of directors.
Business has never taken so much of Mr. Har- rison's time and energy that he lacked plenty to devote to other activities. Fraternally he is affili- ated with the Free and Accepted Masons, as mem- ber of the Blue Lodge. Among his clubs are num- bered the Economic, Kiwanis and Hillcrest Coun- try clubs. He is president of the National Asso- ciation of Mutual Fire Insurance Companies, past president of the Mutual Fire Insurance Associa- tions of New England, treasurer of the Fire Patrol, secretary of The Hahnemann Hospital, Worces- ter, Massachusetts, secretary of The Bethel Help Association, director The Worcester County Me- chanics Association, director Worcester County Horticultural Society and trustee of Oak Grove Seminary, Maine.
On June 12, 1901, Mr. Harrison married Agnes Luella Wheeler, a native of Hudson, Massachu- setts, and they are the parents of a son: H. Lin- coln Harrison, born May 27, 1904; graduate of the University of New Hampshire, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He married Marjorie Green, and they are the parents of a son, H. Lincoln, Jr.
The Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company is one of the noted Massachusetts institutions of its kind. It was organized on February II, 1923, and the record of its first business is as follows: written in May, 1824; policy made out to Luther and Daniel Goddard; the total business done in 1824 was $2,064.64. This may be compared with the present status of the company, which on Janu- ary I, 1933, had a surplus of $1,961,379.84, and total assets of over two and a half million dollars. Of more interest than these figures is the fact that the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company is the oldest fire insurance company in Massachu- setts, either stock or mutual, and justly deserves its familiar title of "Old Worcester Mutual." Also interesting should be the list of the officials of the company since its start, which reads like a roster of the old families of Massachusetts:
PRESIDENTS
Hon. Levi Lincoln
1823-1824
Rejoice Newton
1824-1831
Frederick William Paine
1831-1853
Anthony Chase
1853-1879
Ebenezer Torrey
1879-1888
John A. Fayerweather
1888-1901
Lewis N. Gilbert
1901-1914
Roger F. Upham
1914-1917
Willis E. Sibley
1917-
SECRETARIES
Isaac Goodwin
1823-1824
Henry K. Newcomb
1824-1825
William D. Wheeler
1825-1828
Isaac Goodwin
1828-1832
Anthony Chase
1832-1853
Charles M. Miles
1853-1881
Roger F. Upham
1881-1914
Harry Harrison
1914-
TREASURERS
Rejoice Newton
1823-1831
Frederick William Paine
1831-1868
Charles M. Miles
1868-1887
Roger F. Upham
Harry Harrison
1887-1917 1917-
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WALTER R. DADMUN-Throughout most of his mature life, Walter R. Dadmun has been connected with banking in Worcester and for nearly thirty years of this period has been an officer in one such institution. A native of Wor- cester, he has always been closely identified with the civic and fraternal life and affairs of the com- munity and has done a great deal to promote the advancement of the municipality. He is the son of William S. and Lydia P. (Lathrop) Dadmun, of Worcester, born August 23, 1878. Both parents died in 1920.
After attending the public schools of his birth- place, Mr. Dadmun attended the Lowell Textile School, intending to follow textile manufacturing, then one of the busiest of industries in New Eng- land. After a year or so, however, he accepted a position with the Worcester Safe Deposit Com- pany, where he remained until 1903, resigning to go with the Worcester Mechanics Savings Bank. Since then he has served in nearly every capacity, for which the Mechanics Bank has afforded an op- portunity, and since 1918 he has been the assistant treasurer of the institution. His has been a career of steady growth and a solid personal achievement. Few men are held in higher esteem by their asso- ciates, and none has a greater reputation for integ- rity and sound judgment.
Devotion to his chosen profession has deterred Mr. Dadmun from entering into many activities for which he had the taste. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Athelstan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of all the York and Scottish Rite bodies of Masonry up to and includ- ing the Consistory, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of the University Club and attends the Congregational Church.
In 1908, at Worcester, Walter R. Dadmun mar- ried Alice M. Hobbs, and they are the parents of three children: Alice V., Elizabeth H., and Rich- ard K.
BECKER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND SECRETARIAL SCIENCE-The oldest educational business in- stitution of Worcester County, in Massachusetts, and one of the outstanding of its kind in New England, Becker College of Business Administra- tion and Secretarial Science is a monument to the vision and unflagging efforts of the founder and those who have carried on since his death. The college dates from 1887, when Edward C. A. Becker founded it for the twofold purpose of inculcating a general belief in the highest stand- ards of conduct in business and of providing thor- ough and practical training in the fundamentals and procedures of business. The original location of the institution was on Main Street, where the Boston Store now stands. In 1907 it was removed to No. 98 Front Street and in 1930 to the present location at No. 74 Front Street. Upon the death of Mr. Becker the college was incorporated, and his widow, Mrs. Mary C. Becker, served as prin- cipal of the school and president of the corpora- tion until 1926. The present officers are: Warren C. Lane, president; Charles B. Post, vice-presi- dent ; Edward P. Jenison, treasurer ; and Hastings Hawkes, assistant treasurer and clerk. In 1930 the Post Institute, founded by Charles B. Post in 1899, was consolidated with Becker College and Mr.
Post was elected vice-president of Becker College and still serves in that capacity.
From the beginning the college has developed with the support of prominent men and women who have recognized the importance of thorough, practical, and progressive education for business. Becker College gave the first courses in shorthand and typewriting offered in Worcester. It has kept abreast of progress by anticipating the needs of business and by preparing young men and young women to meet these needs. Prior to 1920, the yearly number of graduates would generally be from ninety to one hundred. In 1933 the graduat- ing class numbered one hundred and seventy-five. These facts will give some idea of the growth and progress of the college. The alumni of the college number about twenty-five thousand persons. Many of those who have graduated now occupy impor- tant positions in the field of finance and industry in New England, other states and foreign countries.
WARREN C. LANE-The Becker College of Business Administration and Secretarial Science, one of the largest and best known business schools of New England, owes a great deal of its growth in recent years to the presidency of Warren C. Lane, of Worcester. He is a native Kentuckian, born May 26, 1891, in Morgan County, the son of Joseph C. and Susan (Henry) Lane. His father was a Confederate veteran of the War Between the States, a soldier in the Virginia Volunteers. In later life he was a wholesale merchant and one of the solid citizens of his part of Kentucky. Mrs. Lane is of Kentucky birth and is still a resident of that State. Joseph C. Lane died in 1928.
After acquiring the preliminaries of his educa- tion in the district schools of Kentucky, Warren C. Lane attended Hazel Green Academy, in that State, and was graduated with the class of 1910. He then matriculated at Bowling Green College, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1913, with the degree of Bachelor of Civil Science. He then pursued special post-graduate studies in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Young Men's Christian Association. After this extensive training Mr. Lane had no difficulty in securing a connection with the Bryant and Stratton Commercial College and served in various capacities, both as instructor and executive, until 1926, when he resigned to come to Worcester to take over the direction of the Becker Business College. He assisted in the re- organization of that famous institution, then run by the widow of the founder and was elected pres- ident of the new corporation. Many changes were made, both in the faculty and in the curriculum of the college, and the scope of its work was enlarged, so that the term "Business College" did not fairly represent what it was and did. Another school was absorbed in 1931, and this was made the occa- sion of the changing of the official title of the insti- tution to Becker College of Business Administra- tion and Secretarial Science. A sketch of the col- lege and something of its history is given in this volume.
Mr. Lane has been the president of the college since 1926 and has devoted his energies to its bet- terment and growth. Since it is the largest col- lege of its kind in Worcester, it is safe to say that he has done a good job of a very difficult task. Mr. Lane is a director of the David Dailey Service Company and also of the New England
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Terminal Company. He is a member of the Wor- cester Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the lodge, chapter, and commandery of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, as well as the Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Lane is the author of several technical books and is a frequent contributor to various journals and maga- zines.
In 1916 Warren C. Lane married Pauline E. Newitt, a native of Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of two children: I. Caroline, born in 1918. 2. Warren Conrad, born in 1923.
EDWARD P. JENISON-In a previous re- view a brief history of Becker College of Business Administration and Secretarial Science has been given and mention made of changes in its officials which marked the beginning of its recent expan- sion. Edward P. Jenison was elected treasurer and a director of the college in 1926 and has since been one of the constructive forces which make this the outstanding college of business in Worcester. Mr. Jenison is a native of Rhode Island and was born July 23, 1892. He is the son of Edward A. Jenison, a native of Rhode Island, and Ellen E. (Garfield) Jenison, who was born and spent her early life in Concord, Massachusetts. Both are members of pioneer families of New England.
Aside from residence in Worcester, when attend- ing Worcester Academy, Mr. Jenison had no active association with Worcester until 1926, when he affiliated with the Becker Business College. Prior to that time he was associated for many years with the Bryant and Stratton College of Provi- dence, Rhode Island.
Mr. Jenison has always been interested in civic affairs and welfare organizations. He has repre- sented the college in the Chamber of Commerce in Worcester and at present is vice-president of the Worcester Advertising Club. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Orpheus Lodge, No. 36, Free and Accepted Masons, of Providence, Rhode Island, of which he is a past master.
In 1916 Mr. Jenison married Bertha V. Howard, of Providence, Rhode Island, and they are the par- ents of three children : I. Edward H., born in 1918. 2. Robert F., born in 1919. 3. William G., born in 1924.
HOWARD W. DUNBAR-Rated as one of the leading experts in the country on grinding machines and methods, Howard W. Dunbar of Worcester achieved his present high standing only after training and experience which included many forms of mechanical industries. His career has called for abilities which approach that of the artist and the inventor; he has been a designer, salesman, electrical and efficiency expert, in addi- tion to having served as the directing head of numerous departments. He has written a num- ber of books and brochures, chiefly upon grinding machines and processes, and has contributed hun- dreds of articles to various technical journals. Mr. Dunbar is a native of Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, born August 27, 1883, the son of Miles Emerson and Elizabeth Margaret (Ellicott) Dunbar. Both parents were of Massa- chusetts birth, the former of Stockbridge, and the latter of Great Barrington. Mr. Dunbar died in 1919 and Mrs. Dunbar in 1898.
After attending the public schools of his home town, Howard W. Dunbar attended Brooklyn, New York, Polytechnic Institute, and Newark Technical School, Newark, New Jersey, and also studied at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. His preparation for his life's work had, thus far, been only that of a lad whose natural talents and tastes ran along the line of mechanics, but had yet to be directed to any definite vocation. After trying his hand at various occupations, his first position of any importance was with the Stanley Instrument Company, of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where he re- mained from 1901 to 1904. Upon coming of age he resigned to go to Orange, New Jersey, to serve as draftsman for the Pike Manufacturing Com- pany, of that place. In 1908 Mr. Dunbar was em- ployed by the Ellis Adding and Typewriter Com- pany, of Newark, New Jersey, but it was only a short while before he went with the J. M. Quimby Company, manufacturers of custom-made automo- bile bodies.
It seems likely that his connection with this company marked the beginning of the kind of work which he liked best and in which he was to move on to success. He designed special bodies, such as the wealthy insisted upon having upon their motor cars. To a certain extent he also had to devise means by which these bodies could be con- structed. In this plant he also realized that there were a number of things he had to learn, if he was to climb higher. After a time, Mr. Dunbar went with the Western Electric Company, New York City, where he was at first in the model making department, but was soon promoted to the design- ing department, later was advanced to the mechani- cal division, and was still later placed in charge of the methods engineering department. His official titles were chief of the tool department and assist- ant master mechanic.
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