USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III > Part 27
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William Clement Marble was born December 4, 1861, at Worcester. He was given the education provided by the public schools and was graduated from Classical High School in 1881. He at once entered business life in the Curtis and Marble Machine Company. He has lived with it his whole industrial career, serving in various capacities, until there are few parts of the business with which he has not had some experience. Upon the death of his father and the reorganization of the company, he was elected vice-president and secretary, a post
which he has held since that time. He is also a director of the Fremont Casting Company, a sub- sidiary of the Curtis and Marble Machine Com- pany. Mr. Marble has always been actively inter- ested in the progress and betterment of Worcester, and in his own quiet fashion has done a great deal to further the advancement of the municipality. He is a member of the Worcester Economic Club, the Worcester Mechanics Association, the local Cham- ber of Commerce, the Worcester Congregational Club, and the Worcester County Republican Club.
William Clement Marble married, in 1890, Mary R. Happoldt, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, who died in 1928. Mr. and Mrs. Marble were the parents of four children: I. Edwin T., of further mention. 2. Frances E., who married C. Grove Haines and has a daughter, Frances Mar- ble Haines. 3. Harriet C., now the wife of Vernon A. Jones; they have one daughter, Patricia. 4. Eleanor Mary.
Edwin Tyler Marble, only son of William Clem- ent and Mary Rosina (Happoldt) Marble, was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, August 15, 1894, his birthplace, "Hillside," having formerly been the home of John B. Gough, the famous temper- ance lecturer of a generation ago. He was edu- cated in the public schools, finishing with gradua- tion from the South High School, Worcester, class of 1913; Phillips-Exeter Academy, 1914; and Harvard University, class of 1918. In his junior year, 1917, and near the close of the college year, he entered the service of his country, being one of the first students to enroll in Harvard Reserve Officers' Training Corps. His military career fol- lows : Entered Officers' Training Camp, Plattsburg, New York, August, 1917; transferred to Coast Artillery Officers' Training Camp, Fortress Monroe, Virginia, September 22; commissioned second lieu- tenant of the Coast Artillery Corps, November 27; assigned to 28th Company, Boston, Fort Standish, Massachusetts, December 15; appointed material officer in March, 1918; transferred to 32d Com- pany, Boston, August 12; to September Automa- tic Replacement Draft, September 3; sailed for France, September 23; detailed to Heavy Artillery Training Battalion, October 22; assigned to 43d Artillery (C. A. C.), December 4; returned to United States, January 1, 1919; discharged, Janu- ary 14, 1919.
After the return of Lieutenant Marble from the army he entered Harvard Graduate School of Busi- ness Administration. In 1919 he was awarded his Bachelor of Arts, as of 1918 (war degree), by Harvard College. In June, 1920, he was graduated M. B. A. (Master of Business Administration) and at once entered business life with the Curtis and Marble Machine Company.
He is a member of Quinsigamond Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Eureka Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Worcester Economic Club; the Dickens Fellowship: Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity; Harvard Club of Worces- ter. He married Helen H. Skinner, of West Roxbury, Massachusetts; they have one daughter. Rosemary.
An outline of the history of the Curtis and Marble Machine Company is as follows :
The first record of a textile machine manufac- tured in Worcester is in 1811, when William Hovey
Calvin B. Jamano
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contrived a novel device for shearing the nap, or fuzz, and long fibres from woolen fabrics. These machines, in constantly improved forms, were con- structed by succeeding concerns until 1831, when the firm making them was known as John Sim- mons and Company, of which Albert Curtis was a partner. In 1833 Mr. Curtis was the sole owner of the plant. Edwin Tyler Marble, father of the subject of this review, served his three years' apprenticeship in this shop, learning the machinist's trade. He later worked in a number of Worcester machine shops, including A. and F. Thayer ; Thayer, Houghton and Company, E. C. Cleveland and Company, as journeyman, foreman and super- intendent. In 1863 he became a partner of Mr. Curtis to form the firm of Curtis and Marble, manufacturers of machinery for finishing woolen, silk, and cotton fabrics. The plant, at that time, was on the present site of the electric light power station on Webster Street. In April, 1895, Mr. Marble purchased the interest of Mr. Curtis and organized and incorporated a company, known as the Curtis and Marble Machine Company, with Ed- win T. Marble as president and treasurer, a post he held to the time of his death, in I910. Since that time the corporation has been owned by his four sons, with Edwin H. Marble, president ; Wil- liam C. Marble, vice-president and secretary ; Charles F. Marble, treasurer ; and Albert C. Mar- ble, general superintendent. The plant turns out machinery for use in textile mills and similar fac- tories, specializing in picking, burring and mixing machines, and cloth finishing machinery for cot- ton, woolen, worsted and felt goods, velvets, plushes, corduroys, silks, embroideries, carpets, rugs. The services of about one hundred and seventy-five employees are required ; the plant now occupies several acres of floor space at No. 72 Cambridge Street, and their products are sent to all parts of the globe. It is the oldest under one family, and one of the largest companies manu- facturing textile machinery in the world.
CALVIN B. FARNSWORTH-Ingenuity, rising to the height of invention, and resourceful- ness approaching genius, have been characteristic of the Farnsworth family and their connections with the affairs of Worcester and New England covering a period of nearly a century. Calvin B. Farnsworth is the third of that given name of the last four generations, and is well known among the younger business men of the city as the pres- ident of one of the important concerns. He was born in Worcester, March 18, 1901, the son of George Bartlett and Phoebe (Sykes) Farnsworth, the latter a native of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and the former born May 17, 1865, in Worcester. George B. Farnsworth was the proprietor of the School Street Storage Warehouse, which, re-organ- ized and incorporated as a company, is now under the leadership of the son.
The grandfather, Calvin Farnsworth, Jr., was the founder of the baggage transfer and carriage service, and of the baggage checking service at the Union Railroad Station, ideas now found in one form or another all over the United States. He was born at Lunenburg, Massachusetts, Novem- ber 20, 1831, son of Calvin and Pluma (Adams) Farnsworth. His father was born in Shirley, 1799, died in 1879; for many years a manufacturer of band-boxes; inventor of machinery for making
the material for his business. Jesse Farnsworth, father of Calvin Farnsworth, Sr., married Sarah Sawtell, whose father, Obadiah Sawtell, was a soldier in the Revolution, town clerk, selectman, delegate to the Provincial Congress and the first constitutional convention of Massachusetts. Joseph Farnsworth, father of Jesse Farnsworth, a native of Groton, was selectman; he was a son of Jona- than Farnsworth, grandson of Jonathan Farns- worth, Sr., and great-grandson of Matthias Farns- worth, the pioneer, who was born in England and came to Lynn, Massachusetts. He was a weaver by trade.
Calvin B. Farnsworth was educated in the public schools of his birthplace and was prepared for col- lege at Peddie Institute, New Jersey, from which he was graduated in 1921. Matriculating at Mid- dlebury College, Vermont, he was graduated with the class of 1926, holding the degree of Bachelor of Science. His college days over, Mr. Farns- worth returned to Worcester, and with his brother, Thornton, took over the storage business, which had been incorporated in July, 1924, as the School Street Storage Warehouse Company, with himself as president ; Thornton A. Farnsworth, secretary, and Mrs. Phoebe S. Farnsworth as treasurer. The official roster has been slightly changed in recent years, Phoebe S. Farnsworth acting as secretary and Thornton as treasurer; Calvin B., continuing as president. This large concern uses about 80,000 square feet of storage space in two buildings, one of seven stories, fireproof; and another of four stories, non-fireproof. The company contracts for moving, packing, moth-proofing and similar activ- ities. It sells new and used furniture, and main- tains an auction room. It runs a number of motor trucks and vans, and are the hauling agents for the Allied Van Lines. It also holds membership in the National Warehousing Association.
Mr. Farnsworth has entered largely into the social and civic life of Worcester. He is a mem- ber of the Commonwealth Club, and vice-president of the Turkey Hill Polo Club. He is also vice-pres- ident of the New England Fair, assuming the office in 1931. Mr. Farnsworth is a lover of horses and sports; polo and golf are among his chief rec- reations. He is a Republican in his political views ; his church is the Old South Church. He is a member of the Rotary Club and Morning Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
On May I, 1928, Calvin B. Farnsworth married Ruth M. Hathaway, of Worcester, and they are the parents of a son, Calvin Bartlett, II, born September 23, 1930. Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth maintain their residence at "Ridgewood," West Boyleston, Massachusetts.
GEORGE A. WELLS-When George A. Wells, now the sole owner, editor and publisher of the "Worcester Sunday Herald," was only twenty years of age, he was acting publisher in active charge of the "Southbridge Daily News." He refers to this record with modest pride, since he claims to have been the youngest editor and publisher of a city newspaper in the United States at that time. Practically all his business life has been identified with newspaper work in some form or other.
Mr. Wells' father, Frank W. Wells, was born in Gloucester, this State, and died in 1925. He was general manager of the Worcester Economy Stores
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He married Emily W. Dumas, a native of Webster, in this county.
George A. Wells was born in Worcester and received his education in the public schools. He started his journalistic career with the old "Wor- cester Post," which paper he served in various departments, chiefly in the advertising department. After severing his connection with the "Post," he worked on different newspapers throughout the country until 1932. In that year he returned to his native city and founded the "Worcester Sunday Herald." Beginning in a small way, he safely and successfully negotiated the difficulties that usually beset a new enterprise. Today the "Sunday Her- ald" has a circulation of more than 20,000 copies per issue, its distribution being principally within a radius of twenty miles of Worcester. It is re- garded as an aggressive and influential organ in the community it serves.
Mr. Wells is affiliated with a number of news- paper associations. He is also a member of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce and Worcester Ad Club.
Mr. Wells married, in 1931, Jean Lyons, a native of New Hampshire, and they have a son, Bruce Edward, born July 20, 1932. The family resides at No. 122 Lake Avenue, Shrewsbury, and Mr. Wells' editorial rooms are at No. 22 Mechanic Street, Worcester.
B. LARZ NEWTON-The interesting career of B. Larz Newton, well known lawyer of Wor- cester, has carried him into many parts of the world and given him an experience and breadth of outlook which has helped to make him a use- ful citizen in the civic and cultural life of the community.
He was born at Leeds, Yorkshire, England, and received the preliminaries of his education abroad. Coming to New England, he studied at Harvard University, class of 1918, entered the service of the United States Government during the World War, serving as a member of the famous Harvard Regiment and in the United States Army Intel- ligence Department, at Camp Upton, New York.
Upon his honorable discharge from the army, Mr. Newton continued the study of law, begun early at Boston University, from whose law col- lege he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1920. His record as a student was notable, and he was honored with the appointment of class orator. Admitted to the bar he began the practice of his profession at Worcester and has come to be recognized as one of its successful lawyers. He has identified himself with the activ- ities of the civic, cultural and humanitarian move- ments of the city. He is a member of the Sons of St. George, and the Harvard Club, and is an associate member of the Players Club.
He was treasurer of the George Washington Bi-Centennial Commission of Worcester.
It will be recalled by many that Mr. Newton, lover of books, has presented, at various times, libraries to Temple Emanuel, Mount Pleasant Country Club, and the Young Men's Hebrew As- sociation. He selected the Jewish library presented to Holy Cross College by the B'nai B'rith.
In 1924 he attended at London the American Bar Convention, as did Chief Justice Rugg and Hon. George R. Stobbs. A staunch Republican
in politics, he was founder and first president of the Boston University Republican Club.
On June 6, 1926, Mr. Newton married Nancy DaCosta Swaebe, whose ancestors, Spanish Jews, were among the first families to settle in England in the fifteenth century. Mrs. Newton received her early education in England and France and later was graduated from the School of Social Science, Simmons College. For several years she was engaged in social welfare work in New York City. She is a member of the Tatnuck Women's Club and Simmons College Club, and an associate member of the Players Club. Mr. and Mrs. New- ton have been identified with the Boston Ethical Society. They are the parents of a daughter, Gail Frances Newton, born July 28, 1927.
NATHAN JOSEPHS-During sixteen years of active practice as a Certified Public Account- ant under the laws of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Nathan Josephs has become well known in the business life of Worcester and the vicinity. In 1931 he successfully passed the Massachusetts bar examinations and entered the practice of law in addition to his practice as a Certified Public Accountant, and although a member of the bar for only a few years he now devotes a considerable part of his time and effort to the legal profession. His ability in both fields has won him wide rec- ognition.
Mr. Josephs was born on May 15, 1888, in Bes- sarabia, then a part of Russia. He is a son of Burrill and Alice (Weiss) Josephs. His boyhood years were spent in his native land, where he received a high school education, but at the age of seventeen he came to America, seeking the larger opportunities to be found in this country. This was in 1905. Settling in Worcester, Mr. Josephs was employed in various shops of the city while attending night school and in this way mas- tered the English language. After one year he entered evening high school, from which he was graduated following two years of study, and then attended day high school for a further period of one year. Subsequently he entered Boston Uni- versity College of Business Administration, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Busi- ness Administration on the completion of the re- quired course in 1917. Mr. Josephs had studied to become a Certified Public Accountant. He passed the New Hampshire State examinations and later those of the State of Massachusetts as a Certified Public Accountant and has been engaged success- fully in practice as a Certified Public Accountant for the past sixteen years, chiefly at Worcester. Gradually, however, he came to realize the value of legal training and in 1927 enrolled in the Law School of Northeastern University at Worcester. He was graduated from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in June, 1931, and in the fall of the same year was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. His services are largely in demand by business interests of Worcester.
Mr. Josephs is an associate of the American Institute of Accountants and a member of the Worcester County Bar Association. In other fields he is affiliated fraternally with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. He
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is also a member of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith.
On April 11, 1924, Nathan Josephs married Cecile M. Morse of Boston. They are the par- ents of two children: I. Malcolm J., born June 27, 1925. 2. Burrill N., born September 16, 1926. They reside at their home at No. 25 Colonial Road, Worcester.
JOHN JOSEPH BARRY-Active in many different branches of Worcester County life, John Joseph Barry has come to be widely known for his work in business, civic and social affairs. Athletics have always intensely interested him, and he has continued some of his coaching activities since be- coming a business leader through partnership in the Fay-Barry Motor Company, Ford dealers in Worcester.
Mr. Barry was born in Meriden, Connecticut, on April 26, 1887, son of Patrick J. and Mary (Doohan) Barry. His father is now deceased. In the public schools he received his early educa- tion, later attending Holy Cross College. In 1908 he became the property of the Philadelphia Amer- ican League Baseball Club, with whom he remained throughout their reign as champions. In 1915, when Connie Mack broke up this splendid team, Jack Barry was sold to the Boston Red Sox, with whom he remained until 1919. In 1917 he managed this club. In 1919 he retired from professional baseball to devote his entire time to the Fay-Barry Motor Company, in which he had been a partner from 1910. He has, since that time, given his whole energies to this motor company, which has the Ford agency in this territory, with the excep- tion of his coaching activities at Holy Cross, his alma mater. At Holy Cross, he has built up a considerable reputation as a baseball coach; and he stands on a level with the leaders in college baseball coaching throughout the country. He be- gan his coaching work at Holy Cross in 1921.
Along with his other activities, Mr. Barry is active in civic, social and fraternal life. He is a member of several organizations prominent in these varied endeavors, including the Knights of Colum- bus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Washington Club, the Wachusett Country Club, and the Wor- cester Chamber of Commerce. Every organization or activity with which he has been associated has in some definite way benefited from his work in its behalf; and his position is, therefore, one of high trust and respect in his community and county. In spare time he mostly enjoys outdoor life, being particularly fond of baseball, golf and fishing. A Roman Catholic in his religious views, he is a member of St. Mary's parish, of Shrewsbury.
John Joseph (Jack) Barry married, on Jan- uary 17, 19II, Margaret Frances McDonough, of Worcester.
FRANK DOWD COMERFORD-To the presidency of the New England Power Association, one of the largest organizations in the East in the public utilities field, the directors called, in 1927, Frank D. Comerford, of Boston, who stands in the front rank of executives in this phase of commer- cial activity and is a well-known member of the Massachusetts bar. He is also officially or in a directorial capacity connected with numerous other corporations of a public service or a financial char- acter. While his principal office is in Boston and
his home is in Framingham, he has a large ac- quaintance in Worcester, his native city and home of the Worcester division of the New England Power Association.
Frank Dowd Comerford was born in Worcester, July 31, 1893, the son of Patrick and Mary Jane (Dowd) Comerford. He was graduated from Holy Cross College in 1914 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and his training for the legal profession was received at Harvard University, whose law school made him a Bachelor of Laws in 1917. In the same year he was admitted to the bar of this State and became an associate of the law firm of Ropes, Gray, Boyden and Perkins, with whom he remained until 1927, having for the last two years of this connection been a member of the firm.
Mr. Comerford was chosen president of the New England Power Association in 1927. He is chair- man of the board of the Worcester Electric Light Company; president of the Connecticut River Power Company, Massachusetts Power and Light Associates, Charles H. Tenney and Company, New England Power Engineering and Service Corpora- tion and North Boston Lighting Properties; vice- president of the International Hydro-Electric Sys- tem and International Paper and Power Company ; director and member of the executive committee of the First National Bank of Boston, Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston, Narragansett Electric Light Company, Wiggin Terminal Com- pany; director of the Beverly Gas and Electric Company, Eastern Massachusetts Electric Com- pany, Gloucester Electric Company, Green Moun- tain Power Corporation, Haverhill Electric Com- pany, International Paper Company, Liberty Mu- tual Insurance Company, Malden Electric Com- pany, Malden and Melrose Gas Light Company, New England Power Company, Old Colony Trust Company, Rhode Island Public Service Company, Salem Electric Lighting Company, Salem Gas Light Company, Salem Terminal Company, State Mutual Life Assurance Company, Suburban Gas and Electric Company, United Electric Railways Company; trustee of the Massachusetts Lighting Companies, Massachusetts Utilities Associates, Edi- son Electric Institute, Massachusetts Gas and Elec- tric Association.
He is a member of the Bar Association of the City of Boston, Boston Chamber of Commerce, Harvard Club, Boston Athletic Association, Bos- ton Art Club, Exchange Club of Boston, Turks Head Club of Providence, Engineers Club of Bas- ton, Harvard Club of New York, Algonquin Club of Boston, Clover Club of Boston, and Framing- ham Country Club. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Comerford married, June 17, 1929, Mary Margaret McLoughlin, also of Worcester, and they have three children: 1. Frank D., Jr., born April 14, 1930. 2. Mary, born April 14, 1932. 3. John, born September 30, 1933. They have their resi- dence in Framingham, and Mr. Comerford has his offices at No. 89 Broad Street, Boston. Worcester County does not, however, relinquish her claim upon him as one of her native sons of distinction.
GEORGE CHANDLER LINCOLN, M. D. -In the practice of his specialty, Dr. George Chandler Lincoln has attained a prominent posi- tion among the medical fraternity of Massachu.
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setts. Dr. Lincoln served overseas in the United States Army Medical Corps in the World War and since the war has confined his attention to medical practice in Worcester.
Daniel Waldo and Frances Fiske (Merrick) Lin- coln, paternal grandparents of Dr. Lincoln, were early settlers of Worcester County. Their son, the late Waldo Lincoln, born in Worcester, Decem- ber 31, 1849, died April 7, 1933, was a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College, and at the univer- sity he took a post-graduate course in the Law- rence Scientific School. After twenty years en- gaged in the manufacture of chemicals and paints in Worcester, he was associated with banks, other corporations, charitable organizations and histori- cal societies. He was elected president of the American Antiquarian Society as the successor of the late Edward Everett Hale. In the building of the present library structure at Worcester, arrang- ing the books, manuscripts and other material, he gave a large part of his time for a number of years. He married, June 24, 1873, at Worcester, Fanny Chandler, a daughter of George and Jose- phine (Rose) Chandler, and a descendant of John Wilkes (5), Peter (4), Joseph (3), John (2), and William (1) Chandler. She was a member of a number of learned, patriotic and social organiza- tions. The children of this marriage follow: 1. Dr. Merrick Lincoln, a well-known Worcester physician. 2. Josephine Rose, married Frank Farnum Dresser. 3. Daniel Wade Lincoln, a lawyer, of Worcester. 4. George Chandler Lincoln, of whom further. 5. Dorothy, died April 1, 1909, in her twentieth year.
George Chandler Lincoln was born in Worcester, August 6, 1884. After attending private schools in his native city and the Hackley School at Tarry- town, New York, he entered Harvard College, where he was graduated with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts in the class of 1905. Two years there- after he spent in connection with the telephone business in Kansas City, Missouri. He then re- turned to Harvard and took his medical course at the university medical school, which gave him his Doctor of Medicine at graduation in 1911. His interneship was served at the Worcester City Hos- pital for eighteen months and at the Boston Dis- pensary.
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