Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 24

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

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III > Part 24

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Both Mr. Vedder and Mr. Start joined the Rice, Barton and Fales organization in 1917, coming to Worcester from Wilmington, Delaware, where, in the plant of the Pusey and Jones Company, a com- petitive company, they had become thoroughly versed in the design, manufacture and sale of paper making machinery.

In 1930 the fourth generation of the Barton fam- ily, George Sumner Barton, Jr., the eldest son of the present head of the concern and the third to bear that name, left his college course and, don- ning the proverbial overalls, started in at the bot- tom to learn the business. He gave immediate promise of measuring up fully to the standards set by his forebears, but his connection with Rice, Barton and Fales was all too brief, for in a motor boat accident in the summer of 1932 he was in- stantly killed. His responsibilities were imme- diately assumed by his next youngest brother, Charles Sumner Barton, who gave up his college career and began the training necessary to fit him for future leadership of the company. With the incentive of three generations of successful man- agement the continued success of the company seems assured in the promise already given by the young and yet untried fourth generation.

JOHN H. DODGE-In almost any business where hand-tools are used the Lowell Wrench is a well-known necessity. The story of the concern which makes this indispensable tool, dates back to 1871, when John E. Sinclair and Milton P. Hig- gins succeeded in having the plant, in which the reversible ratchet wrenches were manufactured, brought to Worcester. This type of tool was a novel thing at that time, and a demand for them had yet to be created. The first Worcester factory was nothing more than bench room in a manufac- turing plant, and the wrenches were turned out chiefly by hand. The advantages of these tools were too manifest to remain long unappreciated and the demand for the product increased until larger quarters were secured in the Howard Brother's Building.

In 1906, John H. Dodge, the subject of this review, became associated with the Lowell Wrench Company, as the firm was known, and three years later, in 1909, was made the general manager of the business, a position he has held since that time. In 1915 the company moved to their present loca- tion at No. 54 Commercial Street, where they employ twenty-five hands at minimum, turning out products which are in demand throughout the United States and Canada. Wherever large con- struction works are under way, in the oil industry, on the railroads, in a thousand plants, the Lowell tools are used. Mr. Dodge has been responsible for much of the expansion of production during the last two decades, and has contributed more than his quota to the improvements made in the various wrenches, having a number of patents to his credit. In his modest way, however, he points to Mr. Sinclair as the pioneer in the industry and would imply that to this same John E. Sinclair is the development of the company due.

John H. Dodge is a native of Worcester, born December 7, 1879, son of Rev. John E. and Emma (Backus) Dodge, the former of whom was a Con- gregational minister who died in 1910. Mis. Dodge, born at Hebron, Connecticut, died in 1908.

Robert Co. Olson

WORCESTER COUNTY

After completing his education in the public schools and a business college, John H. Dodge set out to make a living for himself and was engaged at sev- eral occupations before becoming associated with the Lowell Wrench Company. The chief activity of his mature career has been the promotion of the interests of the company with which he is con- nected. He is, however, a citizen of high ideals of service to which he has lived up in many ways in civic affairs. He is a member of the board of trustees of Hahnemann Hospital, Worcester, and thoroughly and practically interested in humani- tarian and philanthropic movements. During the period when the United States was involved in the World War, Mr. Dodge was prominent in the Liberty Loan, Red Cross Society, Golden Rule and other "drives" of those days. He is a popular fig- ure in the Kiwanis Club of Worcester, of which he is a past president, and in the Chamber of Com- merce. He is a member of the Economic Club, the Worcester Mechanics Association, both of Worces- ter, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. His church is the Congregational.

In 1903, Mr. Dodge married Helen M. Sinclair, daughter of John E. Sinclair, of whom mention has been made and who died September 12, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Dodge are the parents of four children : I. John S., a graduate of Wentworth College, who married Marian Wentworth, and they are the par- ents of two children: John Wesley and Deborah. 2. Helen S., a graduate of the Oberlin, Ohio, Kin- dergarten Training School, who married Nils Fors- berg and they have two children: Nils, Jr., and Ann. 3. Richard S., a graduate of Riverside Mili- tary School, Georgia. 4. Elizabeth Ann, a student in the Worcester High School.

CLAUDIUS JAMES BYRNE, M. D .- Since 1910 Dr. Claudius J. Byrne has been active in the medical profession in Worcester, where he has risen to a prominent place among his colleagues. He is well known as a skillful surgeon and as a prom- inent member of the surgical staff of the Worces- ter City Hospital.

Dr. Claudius J. Byrne was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, son of the Rev. Claudius and Lillian May (Wells) Byrne. His father was a Methodist minister, born in Ireland, died in East Manchester, New Hampshire, on February 6, 1914, aged sixty-nine years. He came to Canada with his parents at the age of four years and there received his early schooling, entering the Tilton Methodist Seminary in 1876 and being graduated from that institution three years later and ordained in the Methodist ministry. His first pastorate was at Bath, New Hampshire; and he afterward preached at many places in that State. He was appointed, in July, 1906, chaplain of the State prison at Concord, the city in which he lived and served in the chaplain's capacity for seven years thereafter. He spent his last days at Manchester. While still in early life, he served for nine years in the British Army with a Canadian detachment. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Ma- sons, in which he was for thirty years Grand Chaplain. He also belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he was affiliated with Excelsior Lodge, of Colebrook, and later with Hillsboro Lodge, of Manchester, of which he was at one time Noble Grand. He was admitted to the Odd Fellows' Grand Lodge on October 10,

1900, and in 1902 was elected Grand Chaplain of that body, serving for twelve years. He also be- longed to Harmony Rebekah Lodge, of Marl- borough. For many years he served the Methodist Episcopal Church in its New Hampshire Confer- ence. He married Lillian May Wells, a native of Warner, New Hampshire, later a resident of Man- chester. The Rev. Claudius and Lillian May (Wells) Byrne became the parents of three chil- dren : 1. Lillian, a teacher at East Saugus, Massa- chusetts. 2. Louise, who died at the age of eleven years. 3. Claudius James, youngest of the family, of further mention.

Born on April 22, 1884, Claudius James Byrne attended, in the 'nineties, the public schools of the different communities where his father had pas- torates. He went to high school in Manchester, New Hampshire, and also to Tilton Seminary, afterward becoming a student at the Tufts Med- ical School, in Boston, from which he was grad- uated in 1910 with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. For a year and a half he served an interne- ship at the Worcester City Hospital, specializing in surgery. There followed another period, this time of two years, at the City Hospital, after which he began his formal practice of medicine and surgery. Since 1912 he has had offices at No. 1066 Main Street, Worcester, in which city he is at the time of writing a member of the surgical staff of the City Hospital. He has established a splendid repu- tation for himself, so that he occupies an honorable place in his profession, his colleagues recognizing in him a skilful surgeon and an accomplished diagnostician.

Dr. Byrne is also a member of the Worcester District Medical Society, the Massachusetts State Medical Society, and the American Medical Asso- ciation and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He finds healthful recreation as a mem- ber of the Worcester County Country Club and the Marshfield Country Club. In his political views, he holds to an independent course ; and in religious faith he is a Methodist.

Dr. Claudius J. Byrne married, on October 27, 1915, in Manchester, New Hampshire, Margaret Isabelle Forbes, who was formerly superintendent of Worcester City Hospital. She was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, a daughter of the Rev. John Franklin and Janet (McMillan) Forbes. Her father was a Presbyterian minister. Both he and Mrs. Forbes are now deceased. Dr. and Mrs. Byrne became the parents of a son, Claudius James Byrne, Jr., born November 28, 1917.

ROBERT CARL OLSON-Among the indus- tries that contribute to the activities and prosperity of Worcester, county and city, is the Olson Man- ufacturing Company, founded by Robert C. Olson, who is also president and treasurer. This concern, known for the fine finish of its products, manu- factures principally screw machine products and engages in many special operations such as drilling, milling, tapping, punching, etc. Its plant is mod- ernly equipped and is run on a high plane of effi- ciency, the products being distributed to customers in many parts of the United States and Canada.

Mr. Olson's parents, Carl J. and Anna K. (An- derson) Olson, were natives of Sweden. In his early life the father was engaged in the opera- tion of a gristmill, which was across the border in Norway. In 1887 the family came to the United

WORCESTER COUNTY

States and settled in Worcester. Here the elder Olson went to work for the McCloud, Crane and Minter Company, where he rose to shop superin- tendent, having been associated with the concern from as early as 1892, in the designing and build- ing of machinery for the manufacture of screws. The trade to which the father was attached has since been followed continuously by the Olson fam- ily of seven sons.

Robert Carl Olson, son of Carl J. and Anna K. (Anderson) Olson, was born in Norway, April 26, 1884, and was three years old when he accompanied his parents on their journey to America. He passed through the grammar grades of the Wor- cester public schools and entered Post's Business College in this city, completing his education there. He then entered the employ of the McCloud, Crane and Minter Company, where his father was super- intendent. At the comparatively youthful age of twenty-two he was installed as general superintend- ent of the Anthony Screw Company, which had become the successor of the McCloud, Crane and Minter Company.

He resigned his connection with the Anthony concern in 1906 to accept a position as a representa- tive of the Canadian department of Fairbanks, Morse and Company, and traveled out of Win- nipeg, Manitoba, in the sale of gas engines and scales. He was thus engaged for two years; at the end of that time he returned to Worcester and was with the Critchley Machine Company as its production engineer for one year.

It was in 1913 that he organized the Olson Manufacturing Company in Worcester, beginning operations with twelve screw machine spindles. Four years later, in 1917, the business was char- tered as a corporation, Robert C. Olson becoming president and treasurer, Hugo P. Olson, vice-pres- ident, and Richard L. Olson, secretary. The com- pany has developed its plant on up-to-date lines and principles until its equipment includes two hundred spindles of the latest type, both in the single and multiple spindle phase machines, for the manu- facture of screw machine products in steel and brass up to two and one-quarter inches in diameter. Its factory at Nos. 54-72 Commercial Street pro- vides floor space of 20,000 square feet. Among their numerous customers in this country and the Dominion of Canada are manufacturers of auto- mobiles, builders' hardware, textile equipment, me- chanics' tools and many other specialties. In nor- mal times employment is furnished for a force of about seventy-five persons.

The physical resources of the Olson Manufac- turing Company were devoted to war work during the period of the United States' participation in the World War. In addition, Richard L. Olson en- listed for flying service in the Aviation Division. He completed his ground school training at Prince- ton University and was in readiness for embarka- tion for overseas, when news of the signing of the Armistice came and prevented sailing. Ragnar F. Olson, one of the directors, enlisted with Bat- tery B, 26th Division, serving as gunner corporal. He went to France with the earliest units, was gassed and wounded in the battle of the Marne, October 10, 1918. He was under treatment in hos- pitals and sanatoriums for about three years before he was enabled to resume his work in civil life.

Robert Carl Olson married, November 20, 1917, at Worcester, Gerda C. Hammerstrom, of Chicago,

Illinois, daughter of Carl G. and Anna C. (Strom- bonn) Hammerstrom, both her parents being na- tives of Sweden. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Olson are: I. Jeannette C., born October 3, 1918. 2. Norman Robert, born October 25, 1923. 3. Lois Anna, born January 21, 1925.

Mr. Olson's fraternal affiliations include Quin- sigamond Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He is a member of the National Manufacturers Asso- ciation, Worcester Council of the United Com- mercial Travelers, Worcester Chamber of Com- merce, Kiwanis Club of Worcester and Worcester Country Club. He is a trustee of Fairlawn Hos- pital and a communicant of the Lutheran Church. He is an ardent golfer and fisherman.

JAMES F. FERRE-Except during the early part of his business career, James F. Ferre, of Worcester, has been identified with the life and affairs of Central Massachusetts. He comes from families prominent in the annals of New England since Colonial times, tracing his ancestry back to Governor Bradford, a passenger on the good ship "Mayflower," and the settlers of Plymouth. Mr. Ferre is a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was born February 4, 1871, a son of Charles D. and Fannie C. (Fisher) Ferre, both natives of Massachusetts. His father was a well- known merchant of Springfield for many years. Both parents are now deceased.

James F. Ferre was educated in the public schools of his natal city and early left the halls of learn- ing to make a livelihood for himself. When only seventeen years of age, in 1888, he entered the employ of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York, and never since that time has the association been broken. From the start he has been compelled to work his way through, aided by nothing except only his natural ability and indefatigable perseverance. Mr. Ferre acquired experience in the office and in the field; he sold insurance and he learned all the routine which goes into the writing and recording of an insurance policy. July 1, 1903, his capabilities were re- warded, when he was appointed manager of the Worcester office of the company, a position he has held since that time. His work has largely increased during the last two decades, as a result of his capable management, which gave him addi- tional territory. In 1912 the State of Rhode Is- land was joined to Central Massachusetts, and he also has charge of this State. He has under him on the average fifty employees, and the business written by this branch of the Mutual Life has been increasingly large.

Mr. Ferre has always taken a great interest in Worcester and in its advancement. Civic and humanitarian movements have at all times received his encouragement and aid. Politics have had little lure for him, but he is a student of municipal government and is well informed on many of the things which go into the making of a better city. Business has usually come first with him; yet he has always kept in close touch with others in his line of business. He is a member of the Life Underwriters Association of Central Massachusetts and of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, and the Economic Club. Mr. Ferre is also a member of the staid old Bancroft Automobile Club, holds membership in the Society of Mayflower Descend- ants and is interested in local and State history.

WORCESTER COUNTY

His religious faith is that of the Unitarian Church, being a member of the First Church of Worcester.

On June 23, 1897, Mr. Ferre married Lillian Har- riet Warner, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Ferre make their home at No. 3 Ein- horn Road, Worcester.

GEORGE M. ORR-President of one of the oldest industrial concerns of Worcester, George M. Orr ranks high among the business men of the city and has been prominent in many of the proj- ects which have contributed to the municipality's advance and prosperity. In 1861, his grandfather, George F. Orr, of Worcester, founded the Wor- cester Bleach and Dye Company and carried it through the initial and crucial years of its advance. It was not incorporated under its present name until 1891. George M. Orr, of this review, became a member of the company in 1906 and its vice- president in 1909. Upon his father's death he was elected to the presidency, a post he has held since that time. The company is the oldest and the largest concern of its kind in Worcester.

George M. Orr is a native of Worcester, born April 30, 1886, the son of James E. and Florantine Janet (Mason) Orr. After attending the public schools of his birthplace, he studied at Lawrence- ville Preparatory School and from there matricu- lated at Harvard University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1908, holding the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Prior to his graduation, in 1906, he was made a member of the company which his grandfather had organized in Civil War time. As has been indicated, George M. Orr spent three years of hard work in the plant in preparation for taking an executive position in the firm. In 1909 he was made vice-president and in 1920 be- came president. He has had experience in nearly every phase of the activities of the industry and attacked its problems with the trained mind of a student and an inherited ability. He is no rocking chair executive and asks no men in his employ to do that which he cannot do himself. His rise is not only an evidence of personal achievement, but is not envied by those under his direction. He has shown inventive genius, and some of the processes and methods used are of Mr. Orr's invention and patented in his name. The Worcester Bleach and Dye Company's plant stood originally near Salis- bury Pond and consisted of one small building. It met with success and, in the search for more space, the choice was made of its present location at No. 61 Fremont Street, where the company now makes use of five acres of floor space. The cor- poration manufactures mainly colored yarns and threads, employs normally more than two hundred hands, and ships its products to all parts of the United States. In the modern fashion the com- pany maintains a hospital and rest rooms, com- pletely equipped ; sponsors athletic sports and social recreation; and, as has been pointed out, is the largest and oldest firm of its kind in Worcester.

In addition to serving as the president of the Worcester Bleach and Dye Company, Mr. Orr has been active along civic and humanitarian lines in the community. During the World War period he was prominent among the leaders in the Liberty and other financial "drives" and promoted to the best of his ability the affairs of the Red Cross and other philanthropic agencies. Among his clubs

are the Harvard Club of New York, the Harvard Club of Boston, and the Tatnuck Country Club of Worcester.

In 1909, George M. Orr married Isabel P. Meacham of Brooklyn, New York, and they are the parents of four children: Isabel G. and Janet M., now in their junior years at Smith College; Dorothy and Grace, students preparing to enter institutions of higher education.

ARTHUR TAYLOR CHASE-The printing and publishing business has engaged the attention of Arthur Taylor Chase for practically all his adult life. He is well known to the trade through- out New England by reason of his association with the Beacon Press, of Worcester, of which he is the principal owner, treasurer and general man- ager. His concern has achieved a reputation for doing high class printing and art advertising.

Born in Bristol, New Hampshire, April 5, 1873, Mr. Chase is the son of Nicholas Taylor and Olive A. (Huckins) Chase, both parents natives of the Granite State and now deceased, the former having been occupied as a farmer. In the public schools, including a high school course, the son, Arthur Taylor, obtained his education and made an early beginning on a business career. He ar- rived in Worcester in 1904 to enter the employ of the Commonwealth Press, at the time one of the oldest and best known printing houses in this sec- tion of the State. Here he made himself master of all the details of the craft and of the business affairs connected with the concern, during his stay of twenty-seven years.

In 1931 he severed his connection with the Com- monwealth Press, having decided to enter business on his own account. Purchasing a two-thirds in- terest in the Beacon Press, he became treasurer and general manager, which offices he has since filled. The Beacon Press was established in a small way by L. E. Smith (q. v.) as a printing business in Bridgeport, Connecticut, whence after some years the plant was removed to Providence, Rhode Island. In 1931 Mr. Smith brought the business to Worcester and in that year obtained a charter of incorporation, Mr. Chase and Allen Adams, secretary, being the other incorporators. Mr. Smith is president of the company. The chief responsibility for the executive and financial man- agement of the business rests, however, upon Mr. Chase, through his capacities of treasurer and gen- eral manager. The corporation has a modern. com- pletely equipped plant at No. 25 Foster Street. Among Mr. Chase's other business connections is the Union Laundry, of which he became president and treasurer.

Mr. Chase affiliates with Quinsigamond Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, having proceeded through the thirty-second degree. He is a member of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Advertising Club of Worcester, and the Commonwealth Club of this city. He worships as a member of All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church. He is a mem- ber of the Worcester Safety Council and in numer- ous ways has been identified with the growth, development and progress of Worcester.

Mr. Chase married, in 1921. Nellie R. Scott, There is one daughter, Mary V. The family has its home in this city.

WORCESTER COUNTY

MICHAEL N. ABODEELY-In the early 188o's Nassif and Mary (Corey) Abodeely, natives of Beirut, Syria, migrated from their home to the "land of opportunity," America, and for two dec- ades were in business in Worcester. During the next few years they and their family were residents of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but returned to Worcester in 1904, where on March 25, 1904, Michael N. Abodeely, the subject of this review, was born. His parents have continued to be citizens of Wor- cester, and until his retirement in 1925 the father was the head of the mercantile business and store now run by other members of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Abodeely were the parents of six chil- dren: I. Mabel, the wife of Joseph Peters. 2. Michael N., of whom further. 3. Adele. 4. Vina, the manager of the store mentioned. 5. George, educated at Boston University. 6. Robert, a grad- uate of the High School of Commerce and a student at Clark College.

Michael N. Abodeely was given the full advan- tages of the Worcester schools and was graduated from the Grafton Street Grammar School and the High School of Commerce. He then matriculated at the Boston University School of Business Ad- ministration, where he studied for three years, and continued his technical training in the University Law School, from which he was graduated in 1926 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. College days over, he returned to Worcester, was admitted to the bar of Worcester County in 1927, and imme- diately hung out his shingle as a general prac- titioner of law. He joined the Worcester County Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Asso- ciation and in every way has kept in close touch with his colleagues in the profession.

Mr. Abodeely, while a serious student, always gave first place to the course which he was pur- suing in the university, but realized fully that col- lege life and its advantages included far more than books and lectures. He entered into all manner of activities and as an athlete shone far above his fellows. It will be recalled by those interested in sports that he was mentioned in the selections for the "All American" football eleven of 1924. In recent years he has devoted several of the autumn months to football coaching. He is also a swim- mer and a golfer and is skilled at almost all forms of athletics. He is a popular figure in the Wor- cester Athletic Club. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Knights of St. George; and he is a mem- ber of the Boston University Alumni Association and the Syrian-American Association. All of these activities, without any intention on the part of Mr. Abodeely, have contributed to his success as a law- yer insofar as they indicate all around abilities and a vigorous and attractive personality. His achieve- ments in his profession are based, however, upon solid study and the careful preparation of every case with which he has to do. He has the hearty confidence of both clients and colleagues.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 24

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