Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 30

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 30

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Merle Bell received his early education at Beck's Family School at Lititz and at Chambersburg Academy, and afterwards took a course in com- merce, accounting and finance, at New York Uni- versity.

It was restless ambition which had brought him to the metropolis and it was the ability to work hard that gave him promotion through the various positions from bank runner to branch bank man- ager. In 1909 the way was opened to him to engage in something more to his taste and giving his abilities greater scope. Merle Bell came to Worcester County as a partner in the Quinapoxet Woolen Mills at Holden. In 1915, The Bell Com- pany was organized and incorporated with Mr. Bell in his present position as president and treasurer.

Such, in brief, is the story of the Bell Company, manufacturers of worsteds and of the man re- sponsible for it. It is one of the large industrial concerns of Worcester, employing in normal times about a thousand hands. The large building, oc- cupied by the company, will be remembered as a structure erected for an automobile assembly plant and was purchased by the Bell Company in 1926. The plant takes the wool as it comes from the sheep's back, scours, combs, spins, on the Con- tinental system, and delivers the finished cloth ready for the needle. Much of the machinery was imported from France and a great variety of pro- cesses are carried out in the mills. There are departments for combing tops, dyeing and vigoureux printing, weaving and finishing. The success of the company has been largely due to the wise selection of the personnel and to rigid adherence to standards.

Business has claimed all of Mr. Bell's energies and interests. He keeps in close touch with his business colleagues all over the United States. He has shown himself as one of the progressive and philanthropic citizens of Worcester, always ready to forward any project looking to the advance of the municipality and the welfare of its people. His clubs reflect something of the variety of his tastes and activities, for he is a member of the Economic Club, the Worcester Club, the Worcester Country Club, Quinsigamond Boat Club, the National Arts Club of New York, the Army Athletic Association of West Point and a life member of the Military Order of Foreign Wars and of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia.

In 1927, Merle Bell married Frances Gordon, daughter of Albert A. Gordon, Jr., of Worcester, and they make their home at No. 23 Witman Road, Worcester.

VICTOR MARION FRIAR-Out of the West came Victor Marion Friar, experienced jour- nalist to receive his training in military affairs in the camps of the East, including New England. After the World War was over and he was re- turned to civilian life he remained in Massachu- setts, and has made Worcester his home since that time. As a newspaper man and an insurance

broker, a civic-minded citizen and a man of affairs he has become closely identified with the life and the development of Worcester. He was born at Leoti, Kansas, October 15, 1890, son of Fred and Anne E. (Crowl) Friar, his father being a native of Missouri and his mother of Kansas. He was educated in the Leoti schools, and early entered the newspaper game as a reporter. He worked upon various newspapers in many parts of the West, prior to the entrance of the United States into the World War.

On April 8, 1917, Mr. Friar enlisted in the United States Army for service in the war, and was sent to Fort Logan, Colorado. Shortly after he was assigned to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, for extended training, and was commissioned a second lieutenant, November 15, 1917, and served with the 42d Infan- try, United States Army, at Camp Dodge, Iowa, and Picatinney Arsenal, New Jersey. He was then assigned to Camp Devens, Massachusetts, and had his first opportunity of becoming acquainted with the New Englander and New England. Promoted to a first lieutenancy, August, 1918, he was placed in charge of the German Prison Camp, at Still River, Massachusetts, until the autumn of that year (1918) when he was given the command of Company B, 36th Machine Gun Battalion, of the 12th Division. After the Armistice was signed, Lieutenant Friar was assistant recruiting officer at Camp Devens, until he was discharged from mili- tary service, October, 1919. He now holds the rank of captain in the Infantry Reserves.

New England in general and Worcester in par- ticular, had laid a strong hand upon the affections of Mr. Friar during his military career. It is also likely that his marriage to a Massachusetts girl immediately upon his discharge from service may have had something to do with his determina- tion to remain in the East. At any rate, he went straight from the army to the "Worcester Tele- gram" as a reporter, and put in ten years of work in a journalistic capacity. For the greater part of this time he was either the financial editor or the advertising manager of this important journal. In 1929, Mr. Friar quit the newspaper business to become associated with Stark, Johnson and Stin- son, Insurance, as an insurance broker, and as such is continuing at the present writing.

Mr. Friar is a man of many and varied inter- ests. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons. He is a popular figure in the Rotary Club. Along the line of his experi- ence, he is a life member of the Advertising Club, and a member of the American Legion, the Military Order of the World War, and of the Reserve Officers' Association. For some years a member of the Unitarian Church, he is active in the affairs of that organization as a member of the Unitarian Laymen's League.

On October 3, 1919, Mr. Friar married Lorene Wilson Reed, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of two children: John Reed and Nancy Noyes.

EVERETT W. JENKINS-A well-known engineer and at the time of writing Street Com- missioner of Worcester, Everett W. Jenkins has had a long and varied experience. His appoint- ment to his present position is a recognition of his ability, skill and worth as a public official. He was born in Worcester, March 30, 1887, the son

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of William and Margaret (McClure) Jenkins, both of whom were natives of Maine. Mr. Jenkins, Sr., had a remarkable record of thirty-eight years as a stationary engineer at Smith's Hill. He died in 1913. Mrs. Jenkins is still a resident of Wor- cester.

Everett W. Jenkins was educated in the public schools of his native city, and graduated from the high school. At the age of nineteen, he entered the City Engineer's office, and was employed there until 1918, when he resigned to take a position with the Hassan Paving Company, where for three years he gained invaluable experience in the build- ing of roads and streets. In 1921 he was made superintendent of streets at Quincy, Massachusetts, and continued in this position until 1923. He then became connected with the American Woolen Com- pany, in varied capacities, until 1927, at which time he entered the Worcester City Engineer's office. In 1929 Mr. Jenkins was made assistant street com- missioner of Worcester, and in January, 1931 re- ceived the appointment as street commissioner which position he holds at the time of writing. This department employs about three hundred men on full time, and also uses from four to six hun- dred "welfare men" as the occasion requires for more or less limited periods. His responsibility for the efficient handling of the street problems of Worcester is very great, but his continued suc- cess is a well recognized fact, and one highly admired by the citizens of the municipality.

Fraternally, Mr. Jenkins is affiliated with Athel- stan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has the gift of good comradeship and has a legion of friends. Golf and polo are among his recrea- tions.

On June 1, 1910, Mr. Jenkins married Myrtle Waltz, also of Worcester, and they are the par- ents of a son, Robert, born November II, 1915. The family resides at No. 1066 Pleasant Street, Worcester.

PHILIP B. HEYWOOD-After gaining ex- perience in several financial and industrial lines, in various parts of the United States, Philip B. Hey- wood in 1927 formed a partnership under the firm name of Greene and Heywood, now one of the lead- ing insurance companies of Worcester. He is rec- ognized as one of the important business men of the city, and a leader in several phases of its life. He comes of notable ancestry, being the grandson of Samuel R. Heywood, a native of Princeton, Massachusetts, who was president of the Peoples Savings Bank of Worcester for forty-five years.

Philip B. Heywood was born in Worcester, March 24, 1889, the son of Frank Everett and Harriett Dodd (Jennings) Heywood. The mother came from East Orange, New Jersey and the father was a native of Worcester. After receiv- ing the preliminaries of his schooling in public and private institutions, he prepared for entrance into college at Blair Academy, Blairstown, New Jersey, from which he was graduated. Matriculat- ing at Williams College, Williamstown, Massa- chusetts, he was graduated with the class of 1913, holding the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Imme- diately upon leaving college, he spent two years in the South, railroading, and then came North to spend two years as an organizer and operator of Morris Plan Banks. For the following twelve years he was associated with the Crompton and

Knowles Loom Works, eight years of this period in Worcester, and four years at Charlotte, North Carolina. He served in many capacities, and while in Worcester was a member of the executive com- mittee of this corporation. In 1927 Mr. Heywood resigned his position with Crompton and Knowles to go into the insurance business with Henry Hewett Greene, under the firm name of Greene and Heywood.

Mr. Heywood enjoys sports, particularly golf, hunting and fishing. He is a popular figure in the Tatnuck Country Club, the Worcester Club and the University Club. He is also a vice-president of the Worcester Natural History Society and the Williams Club of New York. A member of All Saints Episcopal Church, he is one of its vestry- men. A member of the former Massachusetts State Militia, he served with the rank of corporal during the period that the United States was en- gaged in the World War. It is also worthy of note that when Boston was in the throes of its famous police strike, Mr. Heywood was there in the midst of the trouble as a member of the militia.

On July 22, 1916, Philip B. Heywood married Beatrice Shultz, of Summit, New Jersey, and they are the parents of two children : Janet, born Octo- ber I, 1917; and Barbara, born March 4, 1920.

CHARLES WATERS PROCTOR-Since 1920 Charles Waters Proctor has been engaged in the active practice of law at Worcester, Massa- chusetts, rising to a position of recognized prom- inence at the local bar. Mr. Proctor is now a member of the firm of Proctor and Walker. His legal experience covers twenty years, in the course of which he has served with distinction in several responsible public positions.

Born at Beverly, Massachusetts, on July 17, 1890, Mr. Proctor is a son of Nathan P. and Ellen T. (Dubois) Proctor, farmers and natives of this State. He received his preliminary education in the public schools, subsequently attended Thayer Acad- emy and Boston University Law School, from which he was graduated in 1912 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the same year he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Boston, where he remained for some two years. Later he spent an equal period in New York City, and in 1920 came to Worcester, where his activities have since centered. Mr. Proctor's services have been consulted by many important interests here and he has built up a large and successful prac- tice. He was formerly a member of the firm of McDonald and Proctor, but is now senior member of Proctor and Walker, with offices in the Slater Building.

From the beginning of his career Mr. Proctor has been interested in public life and civic affairs. In 1913 he was elected to the Massachusetts Leg- islature from the Ninth Norfolk District and served on the committee of counties. Subsequently he was commissioned to consolidate the Massachu- setts statutes and redraft the code of laws now known as the General Laws of the State. He served on this commission for four years and con- tributed no little to the effective performance of the huge task on which he and his fellow-members were engaged.

Apart from his other connections, Mr. Proctor also served for two years as legal editor for the

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American Law Book Company and has been an instructor in law at Northeastern University for the past ten years. He is a member of the Amer- ican, State and County Bar associations, and a mem- ber of the Exchange Club, Holden Trowel Club and a member of Boylston Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons.

On June 15, 1914, Charles Waters Proctor mar- ried Myra C. Clark of Randolph, Massachusetts. They have one son, Nathan H., born March 25, 1915. The family residence is in Holden, Mas- sachusetts.

NORMAN A. HARRINGTON, in 1933, is dean of the fire insurance men of Worcester, Mas- sachusetts. Born in Marlborough, New Hampshire, October 10, 1850, he is a son of Thomas and Rhoda (Truesdell) Harrington. His parents moved to Worcester, when he was four years old. The son was educated in the public schools of Wor- cester, Worcester Academy and Bryant and Strat- ton's Commercial College of Boston. On May 23, 1872, Mr. Harrington married Adeline E. Rock- wood, daughter of John and Melinda (Prouty) Rockwood. They had three children : Florence, Lil- lian and Harold, who died in infancy. In 1873 Mr. Harrington started in fire insurance at No. 460 Main Street; later moved to Clark's block, No. 492 Main Street, and when stores claimed that block, he went to the Slater Building, No. 390 Main Street, where he is now with sixty years of active service in the business which he founded.

The business grew to such an extent, that it seemed imperative to have a partner. In 1916 Harry K. Rowe, who had served nineteen years with the Security Company of New Haven, Con- necticut, part of the time as special agent, became Mr. Harrington's partner. Harry K. Rowe, died in March, 1931, a most respected and well liked man, greatly missed by clients and friends. In July, 1931, Milton C. Snyder, son of J. E. Snyder, upright drill manufacturer, entered the firm.

A banquet was tendered Mr. Harrington at the Bancroft Hotel, in January, 1924, and his companions in the insurance business presented him with a silver humidor as a token of their esteem, and for his fifty years' service in the fire insur- ance business in Worcester.

In April, 1933, at the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Worcester Board of Under- writers at the Bancroft Hotel Mr. Harrington was made honorary chairman of the committee on arrangements, being the only living charter mem- ber of the board.

Mr. Harrington is a member of Athlestan Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Eureka Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons, Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters, Worcester County Command- ery, Knights Templar, and the Worcester Driv- ing Club.

Mr. Harrington is a well-known figure on the "Old Boulevard" driving fast horses. He also enjoys fishing in the waters of Lake Winnepe- saukee. These pleasures afford him diversion and recreation.

the finest buildings and residences in the city. In the early 1880's Lezime and Delia (L'Orang) Rocheford came to Worcester to make their home. He was a native of Vermont, while Mrs. Roche- ford was born in Connecticut, the family being of French ancestry. The senior Rocheford went into the building business and later became the superin- tendent of several large contracting concerns. In 1912 he founded the L. Rocheford and Sons Com- pany, contractors, which became one of the fore- most in its line of activities. It would be difficult to go into any section of Worcester and not find there something of the company's construction. Residences, church edifices, factories and industrial plants-it has built many. The company con- structed the first Junior High School and also the second, a modern educational institution which covers an acre of land and which was built at a cost of more than $1,250,000. The founder died Noveniber 7, 1927, one of the best known con- tractors in New England.

Mr. and Mrs. Lezime Rocheford were the par- ents of seven children : I. George L., of whom this is primarily a review. 2. Clarence T. 3. Charles E., now a member of the company. 4. Irving P. 5. Hector A. L., also a member of the firm. 6. Delia Ann, wife of Homer Labossiere. 7. Mabel, the widow of Raymond Richards.

George L. Rocheford, born at Worcester, De- cember 2, 1887, was educated in the public schools of his native city and was graduated from the Ledge Street School, in 1901. Desiring to follow in the footsteps of his father, he early became associated with his business as an apprentice and meanwhile began and continued professional engi- neering studies after working hours were over. Upon his father's death in 1927, George L. Roche- ford became the president of the L. Rocheford and Sons Company, its treasurer and the directing force in its management.

Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus, and he is a member of the Franco- American Club. He enjoys out-of-doors recrea- tions and sports, his principal hobby being flower gardening.

On October 29, 1912, Mr. Rocheford married Olive J. Labossiere, of Worcester, and they are the parents of two sons: I. George E., born Sep- tember 4, 1913. 2. Raymond L., born in July, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Rocheford make their home at No. 15I Coburn Avenue, Worcester.

REV. OLIVER WILLIAM MEANS-The Rev. Oliver William Means, of Brookfield, was born at Perry Center, New York, October 9, 1860, son of the Rev. George J. and Ellen S. (Good- rich) Means. His mother was born at Rocky Hill, Connecticut; his father was a native of Augusta, Maine. The Rev. George J. Means was a graduate of Bowdoin College, Maine, and of Andover Theological Seminary. It was while he was in charge of his first parish, at Perry Center, that his son, Oliver William, was born, and it was under the instruction of the able and skilled father that the foundations of the son's academic education were laid. The family moved to Au- gusta, Maine, where Oliver William Means entered high school, from which he was graduated. Ma- triculating at Bowdoin College, he was graduated

GEORGE L. ROCHEFORD - Everyone familiar with the physical development of Worces- ter, particularly that of the last two decades, knows the name of Rocheford as associated with many of in 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and

Lo Hace

Ouivery Means

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received his Master's degree in Arts the follow- ing fall. Then followed three years in the Hart- ford Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated a Bachelor of Divinity. He remained for a fourth year in the seminary for post-graduate work in church history under that eminent scholar, Dr. Chester D. Hartranft.

In September, 1888, the Rev. Oliver W. Means became the pastor of the First Congregational Church, of Enfield, Connecticut, where he re- mained in charge for about fourteen years. While there he received the degree of Doctor of Phi- losophy in 1899. In 1902 he took a much needed and well earned vacation for a year and a half, returning to the ministerial field as the pastor of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Emanuel Congre- gational Church. This was an organization of no great age and was composed of a large number of young people. It was his inspiring, if heavy, task, to lead this spirited group on to larger vision and deeds. A new church edifice was erected; there was a large and continuous growth in mem- bership of the church and its Sunday school, and a greater scope of religious and humanitarian en- terprises carried to success. The Rev. Dr. Means resigned this pastorate on June I, 1913, since which time he has preached irregularly, but has devoted his time and attention to a wide variety of interests.

Dr. Means makes his winter home at No. 44 Forest Street, Hartford, Connecticut, and in the summer lives on his large estate at Brookfield. His activities, of necessity, are connected with both places. He is secretary of the board of the Charity Organization Society of Hartford and a member of the board of trustees of the Hartford Seminary Foundation. In Brookfield, he is one of its out- standing civic leaders, for four years president of the Quaboag Historical Society; a member of the American Jersey Cattle Club; and, with his wife, a liberal supporter of the Brookfield Congregational Church. Anyone familiar with this beautiful sec- tion of Massachusetts, recalls with pleasure the Elm Hill Farm of twelve hundred acres, which is the old Blanchard estate more than a century old, being first occupied in 1799, and which is now the summer home of Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Means.

Dr. Means married, September 5, 1899, Abby Frances Blanchard, graduate of Wellesley College, class of 1898, daughter of Charles P. and Annie (Brown) Blanchard. Of this marriage there are three living children: I. Frances M., born July 7, 1902, graduate (1925) of Smith College, who mar- ried, October 24, 1931, Clayton B. Spencer, of West Hartford, Connecticut, and is the mother of a son, Oliver Edmund Spencer, born January 14, 1933. 2. Blanchard W., born August 9, 1905, grad- uate of Yale University in 1927 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, who after post-graduate studies received his Doctor's degree in Philosophy in 1932. He is a member of the faculty of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and married, June 28, 1932, Louise C. Rich, of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania. 3. Oliver William, Jr., born March 20, 1915, at this writing a student in Kingswood School, West Hartford, Connecticut, preparing to enter Yale University.

WILLIAM HILL-As president and treas- urer of the Hill Bronze Alloy Company since its inception in 1928, William Hill has performed a labor of importance and value to the city of Wor-

cester. He has figured prominently in business and civic life here and has a wide circle of acquaint- ance.

William Hill was born at Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, on July 3, 1876, son of Henry C. and Anna (Hoffstedt) Hill, both Pennsylvanians by birth. The father, a veteran of the Civil War, was a member of the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry and was wounded while in the despatch service. He was engaged in the railway industry for forty- five years. Before and after his war service and in fact for most of his life he was superintend- ent of the Piper freight line, the first freight line running from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania. He died in 1918 and Mrs. Hill is also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Hill had only one child, William Hill, whose name heads this article.

In the public schools of the Quaker City, where he was born, William Hill received his early edu- cation. As a young man he served for some time with the Cramp Shipbuilding Corporation. For sixteen years he was associated with the United States Gage Company, at Philadelphia. Then, com- ing to Worcester, he accepted a position as super- intendent of the Coppus Engineering Company. In 1928 he founded the Hill Bronze Alloy Company, of which he has since been president and general manager. The specific purpose of this organiza- tion is to furnish high-grade bronze castings for the engineering and building trades. Their plant is situated at No. 53 Gardner Street, Worcester, where they have several thousand square feet of floor space and employ approximately in normal times twenty people. The Hill products are dis- tributed throughout Worcester County and ad- jacent territory. The growth of the Hill Bronze Alloy Company has been very rapid, and they are now the leaders in their line of business, not only in Massachusetts but in New England. A com- plete knowledge of metallurgy and his pride in the business that he has founded and developed cause Mr. Hill to be widely and favorably known in the industrial world. He is regarded as an expert on metallurgy and metallurgical problems.

Mr. Hill is a member of the Rotary Club and attends the Universalist Church.

William Hill's second wife is a Pennsylvanian by birth. She was formerly Naomi S. Lewis. The following children are by the first marriage: I. William M., who studied at Lehigh University, enlisted in 1917 for service in the World War and was assigned to the United States Navy for duty on the battleship "New Jersey." 2. Henry C. 3. Raymond C. The children by the second marriage are: 4. Naomi Anna. 5. Ardith M. The Hill fam- ily residence is situated at No. 790 Pleasant Street, Worcester; and Mr. Hill's business offices are at the headquarters of the Hill Bronze Alloy Com- pany, No. 53 Gardner Street.

JAMES A. HEALEY, JR-Identified witlı the Department of Weights and Measures in the Worcester City Government for eighteen years, James A. Healey, Jr., has headed that branch as sealer for all but one year of that period. He is looked upon as a fixture in the office, and his work has always been of a such a high character that there has hardly been a ripple of opposition to him by persons who might desire to fill the berth. His record has been most gratifying to the

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 30

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