Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 43

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 43

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In January, 1932, the company was serving ap- proximately 55,000 customers, located in the city of Worcester and the towns of Leicester and Rochdale. It serves territory containing approxi- mately thirty-eight and a half square miles in the city of Worcester alone. Approximately sixteen square miles of this area is covered by a modern underground conduit and cable system.

As vice-president and general manager of the company, Mr. Seekins is in direct charge of all operations and has guided its affairs in a very successful way. He is also a director of several other subsidiary companies of the New England Power Association. Apart from his business con- nections, he has been active in the social life of the city since coming to Worcester in 1929 and is well known in community affairs. Mr. Seekins is affiliated fraternally with the Free and Accepted Masons and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Worcester Coun - try Club, the Rotary Club, the Commonwealth Club, the Worcester Chamber of Commerce and of several other clubs and organizations. In reli- gious faith he is a member of the Universalist Church.

In 1916, Leon E. Seekins married Hazel R. Holden of Maine. They are the parents of two children: I. Rebecca Elizabeth, born September 5, 1917. 2. John William, born October 6, 1919.

EDWARD G. FITZHENRY-The automo- bile sales business has been developed to large proportions by the FitzHenry Cadillac Company in Worcester and the FitzHenry Chevrolet Com- pany. He came to this city with a large experi- ence obtained in connection with the motors indus- try in Boston and has since built up a large clien- tage in Worcester County.

Mr. FitzHenry was born in Medford, Decem- ber 25, 1893, the son of Charles L. and Julianne (Burke) FitzHenry. His father was a native of Portland, Oregon, and the mother of England; the former was engaged in the leather manufacturing business in Boston for many years and is now retired. The son, Edward G., received his educa- tion in the Medford public schools and at the Stone School in Boston, concluding with a course at Cloyne College, Newport, Rhode Island. As a member of the FitzHenry and Guptill Company, he engaged in the manufacture of engines, power sprayers and pumps at Cambridge, Massachusetts, for four years. In 1917 he enlisted for the World War and was assigned to the Northern Bombing Group in the Aviation Department. He went over- seas with the American Expeditionary Forces and for a part of the time was loaned to the British, being given charge of the transportation details at Calais, France. Under special orders, or on detached service, he was on duty until the sign- ing of the Armistice. He then took a number of men from the old Northern Bombing Group and installed them as aids to the Belgium Relief Com- mission, which was operating under the direction of Herbert Hoover at Lille. Honorably mustered out of the service, in March, 1919, he returned to the United States and again entered civil life.

Mr. FitzHenry became an associate of the Boston Cadillac Company, Boston, advancing to the posi- tion of general sales manager. In 1928 he resigned his Boston connection and came to Worcester, where he established the FitzHenry Cadillac Com- pany at No. 231 Shrewsbury Street. Here the company occupies a large building, having 2,500 square feet of floor space, ample and beautiful show windows and salesrooms, and operates a service station. Employment is provided for a force of about fifty persons. In the fall of 1932 Mr. Fitz- Henry took over the distribution of the Chevrolet car. Besides the Cadillac and Chevrolet, he han- dles the LaSalle car in Worcester, and in Fitch- burg he is the distributor of the Cadillac, LaSalle, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile cars. He is treasurer of Fitchburg Motors, Inc., and president and treasurer of the FitzHenry Cadillac Company and the Fitz - Henry Chevrolet Company. He has made a very large success of his motor sales establishments. He is also president and treasurer of the East Park Realty Corporation and a member of the Vesper Country Club and Worcester Country Club. His principal recreation is golf, in which sport he often indulges on his favorite links.

Mr. FitzHenry married, June 25, 1919, Miriam Louise Bicknell, of Malden. They have their resi- dence at No. 13 Montvale Road, Worcester.

HAROLD H. CLEMENCE-Among the best known and successful men engaged in the selling of the old line of life insurance is Harold H. Clemence of Worcester. He is special agent of the Union Central Life Insurance Company, for which he has placed a large volume of insurance

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among gratified policyholders in this section of the State.

Born in Worcester, May 2, 1898, Mr. Clemence is a son of George A. and Alice L. (Marcy) Clemence; the former a native of Oxford, Mas- sachusetts, and a manufacturer, died in 1915; the mother was born in this State also. After pass- ing through the local public schools Harold H. Clemence entered Clark University, where he com- pleted his formal education and where he joined the Students' Army Training Corps during the World War. Not long after leaving the university, he determined to make life insurance his main endeavor of life. Familiarizing himself with the principles and methods of solicitation, he finally became a member of the staff of the Union Cen- tral life Insurance Company, a well and favorably known Ohio organization. He seemed naturally adapted to this line of work and, after passing through his novitiate, he had little difficulty in representing his company successfully to accepted prospects. As time went on, he sold an increas- ingly large volume of insurance, until in this re- spect he is one of the highest ranking men in the profession hereabouts. He is affiliated with Athel- stan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and Kappa Phi Fraternity, a member of a number of local clubs, and a follower of the Protestant faith.

Mr. Clemence married, in 1928, Mildred I. Swan- son, a native of this State, and their children are: I. Arthur S., born December 14, 1930. 2. Gail M., born May 22, 1932. Mr. Clemence has his busi- ness address at No. 332 Main Street, and his residence at No. 288 Lowell Street, Worcester.

SIGURD I. SIMENSON-In his many years of experience as a department store merchant, Sigurd I. Simenson acquired the broad background of knowledge and a familiarity with the operations of an enterprise of this type which well qualify him for his present responsibilities. He is now sole owner of the old A. G. Williams and Sons department store in Barre, Worcester County, which has served this community for more than one hundred years and which, under his guidance, is setting new standards of usefulness in meeting the needs of the people of this section.

Mr. Simenson was born in Christiana, now Oslo, Norway, on March 16, 1881, a son of Anton and Pauline (Petersen) Simenson. In 1884 he came to America with his parents, who settled in Gard- ner, Massachusetts, where the father was a con- tractor and builder until his death in 1900. He built many homes, business blocks and churches in that city. Mr. Simenson was also deeply inter- ested in the prohibition movement, taking an active part in its work. In 1896 he was a delegate to the Prohibition State Convention held in Boston on September 9th.

Sigurd I. Simenson, of this record, received his education in Gardner schools and in beginning his active career entered the employ of Goodnow, Pear- son and Company, which firm operated a depart- ment store in Gardner. He remained with them for twenty-seven years. He was the first clerk employed by the store, starting at the bottom of the ladder, and as the business grew he was given greater responsibilities. Eventually Goodnow, Pear- son and Company was employing a hundred clerks. Mr. Simenson had charge of the shoe department for many years and here gained the experience in

merchandising which enabled him later to strike out for himself with assurance.

It was in January, 1926, that he came to Barre and purchased the store of A. G. Williams and Sons, which he now owns and operates. Mr. Simenson's first action in taking over this enter- prise won him the confidence of the community. The Williams store was celebrating its hundredth anniversary, and Mr. Simenson seized the oppor- tunity to give the people of this town the advan- tage of a hundredth anniversary sale. Since then he has spared no effort to increase the value of the service he renders the community, completely modernizing the store and improving both service and quality of merchandise. It is today one of the finest country department stores in business in this State, carrying a complete stock and maintaining six separate departments.

Apart from his independent business interests, Mr. Simenson is a director of the Second Na- tional Bank of Barre. He takes an active part in civic affairs and is now serving as chairman of the finance committee of the town. Mr. Simenson is also prominent in the Masonic Order, being affiliated with Mount Zion Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Gardner Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- sons; and Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 46, Knights Templar. He has been much interested in the Boy Scouts movement and is committeeman for the local troop.

On October 14, 1903, Sigurd I. Simenson mar- ried Anna Holmander, who was born in Sweden. They are the parents of four children: I. Anton, who married Mildred Brown of Gardner. He is associated with his father in business and has charge of the grocery department of the store. He is also a member of the firm. 2. Gladys, who has charge of the office work of the company. 3. Mabel. 4. Albin, now attending high school. Mr. Sigurd I. Simenson devotes special attention to the shoe and dry goods departments, while supervising the operations of the entire store.

PAUL SIBLEY-In 1927 the Worcester Taper Pin Company was incorporated, with Thomas Crabtree as president and O. A. Jones and A. C. Guire as the other executive officers. The purpose of the company was the manufacturing of taper pins. In 1931 they began the manufacture of steel mechanical hammers, regulating valves for the oil burning industries and similar products in variety. Later this corporation, now located at No. 47 Lagrange Street, Worcester, elected another group of executives, of whom the president and factory manager is F. J. Barry, and the secretary, treasurer and general manager Paul Sibley. The company is one of the important industrial concerns of the city and ships its products to all parts of the United States.

Paul Sibley is a native of Worcester, born August 19, 1902, son of Charles H. and Emma O. (Patten) Sibley, the former a well-known law- yer of Worcester. After attending the public schools, Paul Sibley matriculated at Bowdoin Col- lege, Brunswick, Maine, from which he was grad- uated in the class of 1925 with the degree of Bach- elor of Science. After an experience in various lines of business he became associated with the Worcester Taper Pin Company, as its general man- ager, treasurer and secretary, which positions he still occupies. Mr. Sibley is a member of the Tat-

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nuck Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce of Worcester. His religious affiliations are with the Union Congregational Church of the city. His college fraternity is Psi Upsilon.

In 1930 Paul Sibley married Nancy P. Norton, daughter of F. H. and Katherine (Manley) Nor- ton, and they are the parents of a son, Charles H., 2d, born June 6, 1931.

FREDERICK J. BARRY-The president of the Worcester Taper Pin Company, Frederick J. Barry came to his position from a career which had given him experience and training in manu- facturing and the management of employees. He was born at Worcester, June 18, 1891, son of the late William and Minnie E. (Sullivan) Barry, and was educated in the Worcester public schools. He learned the machinist trade in one of the larger corporations of the city and afterwards became foreman of the Metz Motor Company, at Waltham, Massachusetts. He later resigned to accept the position of foreman in the Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, but returned to the city of his birth to take a position as superintendent of the Wor- cester Manufacturing Company. He has also been production superintendent of the Wright Machine Company and foreman and head of the screw ma- chine department of the Leland-Gifford Company. He was elected president of the Worcester Taper Pin Company in 1930.

Frederick J. Barry, in 1925, married Frances E. Cowes, and they are the parents of a son, Clifford E. Barry.

WILLIAM S. SWEETSER-As a chemist and scientific poultryman, William S. Sweetser is well known in Worcester and vicinity.

William S. Sweetser was born in the Greendale section of Worcester, December 24, 1865, son of Chauncey Butler and Martha (Partridge) Sweet- ser. His father was a well-known and highly respected farmer of that section, and his mother was a daughter of John Partridge, a shoe manu- facturer of Paxton. The boy attended the public schools of Worcester, graduating from Classical High School in 1885, and in the fall of that same year entered Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he continued his studies in the chemical depart- ment, from which he was graduated in 1888 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Immediately atter graduation he accepted a position as assistant chemist at the Experimental Station of the Penn- sylvania State College of Agriculture. Here, though he did some teaching, his work was mostly in the laboratory, doing analysis and research work, in which he was greatly interested. Artificial fer- tilizers were just coming into general use at this time, and in this field Mr. Sweetser conducted careful investigation and experiments. He did a vast amount of work in the analysis of milk, but- ter, cheese, and other dairy products, also cattle foods; developed new and improved methods of analysis; and was among the first to check the milk production of cattle in relation to the food given them, tabulating carefully the type and variety, as well as the quantities of food given. In this held he contributed much that was of value to the farming industry and made for him- self a reputation as a careful and skillful chemist who was not afraid to forge ahead and work out for himself new methods in order to discover and

formulate new principles which would be of prac- tical value to those for whom the Experiment Station was founded. While holding this position, Mr. Sweetser continued his college work, this time in Pennsylvania State College, from which he re- ceived the degree of Master of Science in 1898. In the fall of that year he went to the Normal and Agricultural Institute at Hampton, Virginia, as instructor in chemistry and animal husbandry. Here he found the work very interesting. Hamp- ton Institute was one of the earliest institutions founded for the training of negroes and Indians in agricultural pursuits. Horses, dairy cattle, and poultry were a part of its equipment for the work of the agricultural department, and students were taught the practical handling of cattle, feeding, raising of fodder, etc. At one time the enroll- ment at Hampton was so large that the institute had the largest student body pursuing agricultural courses in the country. The school was new and its work was an experiment, and visitors came from all parts of the United States to see for them- selves just what was being accomplished in the task of training the negro and the Indian for productive agricultural activities. Mr. Sweetser found it interesting to note that while the negro generally preferred the regular farm work and the poultry-raising, the Indian favored the care of the horses and cattle. This interesting and useful work he continued until 1909, when he resigned his position, returned to Worcester, and built his present home in the Greendale section of that city. During the following three years he was employed in the research laboratory of the Norton Grind- ing Company of Worcester, one of the largest and best known concerns of its kind in the country, but in 1914 he decided to give all his time to the poultry business which he had been gradually developing as a pastime and a hobby. Since that time he has continued this work, and at present he buys baby chicks and raises them to the broiler and egg-laying stage, marketing his dressed poul- try both wholesale and retail and disposing of his eggs to private trade which he has built up to most satisfactory proportions. He specializes in Rhode Island Reds, a heavy fowl, which lays brown eggs and under his expert care gives a rich return ior his labors. Mr. Sweetser is a member of the Green- dale Village Improvement Society and is an active worker in the Greendale People's Church, a non- denominational organization with a large member- ship and attendance, which exerts a wide influence in the community. This church Mr. Sweetser has served as a member of the board of trustees and is now serving as deacon. He is active in all its work.

William S. Sweetser married, in 1892, Lillis Gilmore, of Worcester, and they are the parents of two children, both born while their father was a student in Pennsylvania State College: I. Anna, born in 1894, was graduated from Simmons Col- lege, Boston, taking a library course, and then served as librarian at Williams College and later at Clark University, Worcester. She married Francis J. Kunzelman, a contractor and builder of Worcester, where they make their home. They have one child, Lois Walbridge Kunzelman, who was born in 1926. 2. Chauncey Edwin, born in 1896, began his education in the schools of Virginia, came to Worcester with his parents, and was grad- uated from North High School. He then entered

W.S. Sweeter

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Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he con- tinued a mechanical course until the entrance of the United States into the World War in 1917. Be- fore his course was finished, after two years of study there, he enlisted for service in the Aviation Department of the United States Army and as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces served in France for a year and a half, in the maintenance department of the Aviation service. Upon his return to civilian life he entered the employ of the Norton Company, its research de- partment and mechanical laboratory, and became a mechanical expert. He has always been deeply interested in the study of history, as a hobby, and while in France found opportunity to add con- siderably to his historical researches. He married Ebba Ohllson, of Worcester, and they have one daughter, Audry Joan Sweetser, who was born in Worcester in 1926.

MICHAEL FRANCIS FALLON, M. D .- Well known in the city of Worcester is Dr. Michael Francis Fallon, surgeon, who has been engaged in practice there for more than forty-six years, and who for many years has been connected with St. Vincent's Hospital.

James Fallon, father of Dr. Fallon, was born in Roscommon, Ireland, but came to this country as a young man, in 1846, and settled in Quincy, Mas- sachusetts. In 1850 he and his young wife, Mary (Dyer) Fallon, also a native of Ireland, removed to Worcester, where they spent the remainder of their lives and where he died at the age of seventy- two years and she at the age of seventy. They became the parents of five sons, one of whom, Thomas B., died young. Three, James D., who died in early manhood, John D., who died when past his forty-fifth year, and Theodore, all were graduates of Holy Cross College, took their theo- logical courses at Baltimore and at the Grand Seminary at Montreal, Canada, were ordained priests, and had charges in Massachusetts. The youngest of the five was Michael Francis.

Michael Francis Fallon, son of James and Mary (Dyer) Fallon, was born in Worcester, July 16, 1863. He attended the public schools of Worcester, was graduated from Worcester High School in 1881, and then entered Holy Cross College, where he completed his course with graduation in 1884. Having chosen the medical profession for his life work, he now entered Harvard Medical School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1887. After two and a half years of study in Vienna, Heidelberg, and London, he returned to this country and located in Worcester, where he engaged in practice in 1891, making a specialty of surgery. That same year, 1891, he was one of the incorporators of St. Vincent Hospital, with which he has ever since been identified, first as a member of the surgical staff and later as chief of that staff. The hospital was opened in Septem- ber, 1893, with a capacity of one hundred beds.

St. Vincent Hospital, though non-sectarian in its service, is a Catholic institution under the direc- tion of the Sisters of Providence, its board of directors and of trustees being made up of thirty members. In 1922 the officials of the corporation were Rt. Rev. Thomas M. O'Leary, president ; George Crompton, vice-president; and Sister Mary Concilli, secretary. At the present time the officials are: Rt. Rev. T. M. O'Leary, president ; George

Crompton, vice-president ; and Sister M. Leocadia, secretary. The work of this splendid institution, which occupies an entire square on Vernon Hill, has steadily grown, and recently it has doubled its capacity, an enlargement which classes it in importance with Worcester City Hospital and with the Memorial Hospital. The medical staff consists of about forty physicians and surgeons, and the nursing staff is recruited from the Sisterhood of Providence, all who are assigned to that work being graduate nurses. St. Vincent's supports, as a branch establishment at Millbury, a maternity hos- pital known as Mount St. Joseph's Hospital. A bequest made by the late Rev. Dr. John J. McCoy established a fund for the maintenance in the hos- pital of sick girls who are unable to meet the expense of such care, and this bequest has greatly enlarged the usefulness of an institution which for more than forty years has been giving splendid service to Worcester and vicinity, and which has now grown to be one of the largest of its kind in the State, having on its staff some two hundred nurses and accommodating over five hundred pa- tients served by a very large staff of physicians and surgeons selected from the best in this section of the State. Through all the years of its existence Dr. Fallon has been closely associated with the work of St. Vincent, and is now surgeon-in-chief and president of the medical staff. In 1902 he gave up all general practice in order that he might devote his entire time and attention to surgery, He is well known and highly esteemed among his professional associates. He served as president of the Worcester County Medical Society for many years and it a member of the New England Sur- gical Society and the American College of Sur- geons. For a long term of years Dr. Fallon de- voted some time of each year to research work, spending much of that time with the Mayo broth- ers of Rochester, Minnesota. In addition to his many professional responsibilities, Dr. Fallon found time to serve as a member of the Worcester School Board for six years, serving as chairman of the board part of the time, and he also served as director of the Public Library. He is a mem- ber of the board of registrars of Massachusetts, charged with the duty of granting certificates to doctors to practice within the State. He is a mem- ber of the Harvard Club and of the Worcester Country Club, and is Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory, the Great. His religious affiliation is with the Roman Catholic Church.

Dr. Michael Francis Fallon married, in 1892, Ella J. Ford, who was born in Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, daughter of Humphrey and Mary Ford. They became the parents of one son, John M., who was born September 17, 1901, and is now a well-known surgeon of Worcester.

Dr. John M. Fallon, son of Dr. Michael Francis and Ella J. (Ford) Fallon, attended the public schools of Worcester and then entered Holy Cross College, where he was prominent in extra-curri- cular activities, serving as editor of the college paper, "The Purple," and winning a reputation as a boxer and swimmer, and from which he was graduated in 1919. He then entered Harvard Med- ical School for his medical training, graduating in 1923. Like his father, he has specialized in sur- gery and he, too, has spent much time in the famous Mayo brothers' hospital. For a time he was asso- ciated with the famous Dr. Cushing of Boston.

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He is now associated with his father in the work of the Fallon Clinic, which for its size is one of the finest in Massachusetts. Dr. John M. Fallon married, October 7, 1928, Kathleen McCann, of Bangor, Maine, and they became the parents of two sons, Michael and John. The mother died December 5, 1930.

WILLIAM F. BENNETT, native of Wor- cester, was born January 12, 1900, the son of Wil- liam F. and Margaret M. (Landy) Bennett. Edu- cated in the city schools, the son, as a boy of fourteen, started out to make his own living as a messenger boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company. Two years later he was driving motor cars and trucks, and in 1918 became an automobile salesman, a vocation he followed thereafter.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 43

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