USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III > Part 57
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Among his fraternal affiliations are Searsport (Maine) Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and Uxbridge Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of which he is a Past Noble Grand. He is a member of the Rotary Club.
Mr. Bridges married, November 25, 1914, Eliz- abeth E. Park, of Searsport, Maine, and they have children : I. Alice W. and 2. Marguerite (twins), born July 22, 1916. 3. Herbert C., born March 19, 1921. The family home is at No. I Mary- wood Street, Uxbridge.
Something of the origin and history of the Blackstone National Bank, of Uxbridge, is per- tinent to this review of Mr. Bridges, its cashier. Leaders of the manufacturing industries in Ux- bridge had held a series of meetings with a view
to the establishment of a State bank in Uxbridge to provide them with financial conveniences. On June 18, 1825, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a bill granting a charter of incorporation for the proposed bank. The first meeting of the stock- holders of the new institution took place on August 27 of the same year at the home of Moses Chapin, where and when the organization was set up. John Capron was elected president, and Effingham L. Capron secretary. This was the modest begin- ning of the Blackstone Bank.
The bank's original quarters still stand-it is the present home of a Mr. Schofield-on the Worcester Road, about one mile northwest of what is now the center of the town of Uxbridge. In 1827 the bank's quarters were removed to the new commer- cial center and located in the Capron Building, which then was situated where the Taft Building now stands. The lease by the owners of the prop- erty to the bank stipulated that the rental should be "for the use and occupation of the premises one pepper-corn a year for each and every year they should occupy and improve the same."
The stockholders and directors voted in 1865 to adopt the National Bank system, and on August 29, of that year, the Blackstone National Bank of Uxbridge came into existence as the successor of the Blackstone Bank, which ceased its operations on the same date. Moses Taft was elected by the directors to the office of president, which he held until his death in 1893. In the latter year William E. Hayward, who had been a director since 1873, was elected president to succeed Mr. Taft. The old Capron Building was destroyed by fire in 1896, and the bank's quarters were moved approximately one block south on Main Street to the building which today retains the name "Bank Building,' and there the bank carried on operations until the erection and occupancy of the new and present quarters opposite the Common. The bank has grown steadily since its opening in 1825. Especially gratifying has been its substantial increase during the last eighteen years, which has enabled it to take ample care of the financial requirements of the community which it serves.
The Uxbridge Cooperative Bank, of which Mr. Bridges is treasurer, was established in March, 1929, and has seen a rapid growth since organiza- tion. Its present capital stock of $150,000, rep- resents all dues paid in, and the bank does not hold as collateral a piece of property that is con- sidered poor. The officers, besides Mr. Bridges, are: President, Harold J. Walter; vice-president, Walter M. Buffum; vice-president, Joseph E. Tan- crell ; clerk, William P. Barron. Frank Pastera is the bank's attorney.
RALPH R. HARRIS-Since his admission to the bar in 1916, Ralph R. Harris has been engaged in the prcatice of law at Leominster. He has made substantial progress in his profession and is a well- known figure in the courts of this city and county.
Mr. Harris was born at Lunenburg, Worcester County, on November 1, 1890, a son of Charles W. and Harriet (McKenney) Harris and a member of old New England families. This branch of the Harris family was established at Shirley, Mas- sachusetts, several generations ago. Charles W. Harris, the father, was born in Leominster on Novebmer 17, 1870, and was educated in local schools. He has spent his entire life in this sec-
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tion, devoting himself to agricultural pursuits, and is a man of recognized public spirit. His wife, Harriet (McKenney) Harris, now deceased, was a daughter of Oliver H. and Avilla McKenney and came of Revolutionary stock. Twelve children have been born of this marriage: I. Ralph R., of this record. 2. Sidney L., manager of the Harris Ice Company of Leominster. 3. Mildred, widow of Harold E. Wallace. 4. Edna G., wife of Irvin H. Huff. 5. Alton H., who is connected with the Harris Ice Company. 6. Effie A., wife of Charles D. Cole. 7. Frances V., wife of Leslie G. Carlton. 8. Charles W., Jr., economic advisor to farmers for the government at Woodsville, New Hampshire, and instructor at Massachusetts State College. 9. Everett F., who assists in the operation of the home farm. 10. Lorraine, teacher in the public schools. II. Marion T., a student at Massachusetts State College. 12. Marjorie, now in high school.
Ralph R. Harris was educated in the schools of Leominster and at Northeastern Law School, from which he was graduated in 1916 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the same year he was admitted to the bar and entered upon the practice which he has since continued. His offices are sit- uated at No. 12 Main Street. Mr. Harris has met the responsibilities of a steadily growing practice very successfully and apart from his professional connections has been active in other phases of the city's life. For four years he was a member of the school committee here and for a time was chairman of the Republican City Committee. Mr. Harris is a member of the Worcester County Bar Associa- tion and the American Bar Association. During the World War, in February, 1918, he enlisted in the United States Army, serving in the ordnance department, intelligence section. He was stationed until the close of the war at Augusta, Georgia, and won high rating in the performance of his work. He was honorably discharged in April, 1919.
In his war-time service, Mr. Harris was con- tinuing the family tradition, since his grandfather on his mother's side had been a soldier in the Civil War, while his maternal great-grandmother was a Daughter of the American Revolution. He is a member of the Sons of Union Veterans, as well as the American Legion, and in addition is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men, with Wilder Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and with the Grange. He is also a member of the Lions Club. Mr. Harris is well known throughout the city and has a wide circle of personal friends.
BENJAMIN THOMAS BURLEY, M. D .- For two decades Dr. Benjamin T. Burley has been engaged in professional practice in the city of Worcester, and during that time he has, in addi- tion to taking care of a large practice, established neurological departments in two of the city's largest hospitals.
Dr. Benjamin Thomas Burley was born in North 'Epping, New Hampshire, November 26, 1874, son of Joseph Cilley and Sarah Elizabeth (Haley) Burley. His father was of old Colonial stock, tracing descent from Giles Burley (who spelled his name Burleigh), a native of England, who, as early as 1648, settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where he was a successful farmer during the re- mainder of his life. After the death of Giles Bur- leigh, his widow, Elizabeth, married (second) Abraham Fitts, of Ipswich. From Giles and Eliz-
abeth Burleigh has descended a numerous progeny, which includes Governor Burleigh of Maine and practically all of the Colonial families bearing the surname of Burleigh or Burley. On the maternal side Dr. Burley is a descendant of General Joseph Cilley, who served in the American Revolution.
After attending the public schools of North Epping, Dr. Burley prepared for college in Phil- lips Exeter Academy, at Exeter, New Hampshire, where he completed his course with graduation in 1893. The following fall he matriculated in Har- vard University and four years later, in 1897, received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was now ready for his professional training, which he received in Harvard Medical School, graduating cum laude in 1901. In addition to his hospital experience in Boston and Worcester he studied abroad, making original investigations of diseases of the nervous system in Vienna and in London. Upon his return to this country he began prac-
tice in Worcester, specializing in diseases of the nervous system. In 1906 he established neurologi- cal departments at the Worcester City Hospital and the Memorial Hospital, and from 1904 to the present time he has been engaged in practice in this specialized field. He has also served con- tinuously as visiting neurologist to the Memorial Hospital and to the Worcester City Hospital, and is consulting neurologist to the Holden Hospital, also the Harrington Hospital in Southbridge. Upon the entrance of the United States into the World War in 1917 Dr. Burley was appointed by the President to the medical advisory board of Worcester to aid in selecting men from among those drafted for service in the War Department. He was elected secretary of that board and con- tinued his service in that capacity until he received his appointment as captain in the Army Medical Corps. The signing of the Armistice in the fol- lowing month prevented his entering active service, and he later received his honorable discharge. In addition to the numerous professional duties al- ready mentioned, Dr. Burley has also served for two years as president of the Worcester City Hospital staff and is now president of the Memorial Hospital staff. He has found time to write numer- ous valuable articles on professional subjects, including : "Paraffine Injections for Bilaterial Facial Atrophy," "Subacute Polymyositis," "Intra-Cranial Tumors," "Acute Ascending Hemorrhagic Myeli- tis," and "Spinal Cord Decompression." In 1932 Dr. Burley published a monograph on "Polyneuritis from Tri-cresyl-phosphate," which was read be- fore the American Medical Association, the sub- ject dealing with many cases poisoned by adulte- rated Jamaica Ginger.
Dr. Burley is a member of the Worcester Dis- trict Medical Society, Massachusetts Medical So- ciety, American Medical Association, New Eng- land Psychiatrical Society, Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Diseases. During his college years Dr. Burley was active in athletics, was captain of the Harvard lacrosse team in 1897, and he is still fond of out-door sports. He is a member of several clubs, including the Tatnuck Country Club, Worcester Club, Har- vard Club of Boston, and the Anglers Club, of Miami, Florida. Politically, he gives his support to the Republican party.
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Dr. Benjamin Thomas Burley married August 20, 1921, Angelyn Jeffards. Dr. and Mrs. Burley make their home at No. 19 High Street, in Worcester.
JOHN WHITIN LASELL- Advertising manager and a director of the Whitin Machine Works at Whitinsville, John Whitin Lasell has been associated with this important industrial enterprise during the past dozen years. He has also been very active in the political life of the section.
Mr. Lasell was born here on November 30, 1897, a son of Josiah M. and Mary (Krum) Lasell. He was educated in local public schools, Fessenden Preparatory School, Hotchkiss School at Lakeville, Connecticut, and Williams College, from which he was graduated in 1920 with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts. Meanwhile, in 1917, he entered the air service of the United States Army, follow- ing the declaration of war by the United States on the Central powers. He was trained for that service in this country, was commissioned a second lieutenant, and subsequently was ordered to France with the American Expeditionary Forces, remain- ing for two months on active duty. Mr. Lasell was only nineteen when he entered the service. He received his discharge after the close of the war in February, 1919.
Returning to his college work, Mr. Lasell con- tinued until his graduation. In 1921 he entered the Whitin Machine Works plant and, with the inten- tion of learning all details of the business, worked through the various departments. Some years later he was made advertising manager and was elected a director of the company. In addition he is vice-president and a director of the Worcester Airport, Inc. Mr. Lasell has continued his inter- est in flying and has done much to promote its development in this section.
From the beginning of his career, he has taken an active part in politics, gaining considerable in- fluence in local councils of his party. In 1925 he was elected selectman and has been twice re- elected to this office, which he has filled with dis- tinction. In addition he was chosen Representative of the 7th Worcester District by his party by a majority of more than nine hundred votes. Mr. Lasell is also a commissioner of the Mount Wachu- sett State Reservation. He is a member of the Worcester Club, the Tatnuck Country Club, the Whitinsville Golf Club, and the Boston Tennis and Racquet Club; is affiliated with Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity at Williams; and is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias. In the former order he is a mem- ber of the Blue Lodge and the council, Royal Arch Masons. Mr. Lasell is fond of out-door sports, which, in addition to flying, constitute his chief recreation.
On June 25, 1921, John Whitin Lasell married Frances Sumner of Worcester. They are the par- ents of the following children : I. Elizabeth (twin), born March 25, 1922. 2. Katherine (twin), born March 25, 1922. 3. Sonia, born February 17, 1924. 4. John Whitin, Jr., born November 6, 1928. The family residence is maintained in Whitinsville.
OSWALD J. LALIBERTE-Two banks, a hospital, a number of schoolhouses and fine resi- dences stand to the credit of the building opera- tions of F. X. Laliberte and Son, Incorporated, of Southbridge, of which company Oswald J. Lali-
berte is treasurer and manager. Much other con- struction work in the Southbridge area has been done by this concern, which is among the largest and best known of the kind in this section of the State.
Mr. Laliberte's father, François Xavier Laliberte, born in Canada, came to Southbridge in 1882 and was employed as a carpenter foreman for thir- teen years. In 1895 he founded his own busi- ness, which he conducted until 1919, in which year he retired, having sold the stock and good-will to his son, Oswald J., who has since carried it for- ward. In addition to doing a general construc- tion business, building moving, concrete work, side- walks and driveways, etc., it operates a retail lum- ber yard. François X. Laliberte married Louisia Frappier, a native of Canada.
Their son, Oswald J. Laliberte, was born in Southbridge, April 11, 1890, and received his edu- cation in the local public schools. In addition to his proprietorship in the firm of F. X. Laliberte and Sons, Incorporated, he is the owner of the Priscilla Paint and Roofing Shoppe, Incorporated, which is managed by his brother, William H. Lali- berte. This last-named concern does roofing and metal work and deals in wallpaper and paint. The parent company built the Southbridge National Bank, Southbridge Savings Bank and the Harring- ton Memorial Hospital. It is constantly adding to its record for construction work of the better type.
Mr. Laliberte is a director of the Webster and Southbridge Division of the New England Power Company, president of the Merchants and Manu- facturers' Association of Southbridge, chairman of the Planning Board of Southbridge, director of the Southbridge National Bank, trustee of the Southbridge Savings Bank, trustee of the Har- rington Memorial Hospital, president of the Rotary Club of Southbridge, a member of the Southbridge Young Men's Christian Association, Knights of Columbus, and Saint Jean Baptiste Société. He is a communicant of the Church of Notre Dame, where he has been a member of the choir for more than fifteen years. He has taken an especial interest in vocal music and is a bass singer.
Mr. Laliberte married, April 18, 1918, Helen M. Tennant, of Providence, Rhode Island. Their chil- dren follow: I. Priscilla and 2. Paul (twins), born June 30, 1919, Priscilla dying at the age of seven months. 3. Joan, born October 15, 1925. 4. John and 5. Anne (twins), born June 29, 1928.
ALBERT T. BJORN-In 1921 Albert T. Bjorn and his brother, Hjalmar Bjorn, established the firm of Bjorn Brothers, plumbers, heaters and civil engineers at Worcester. Under their direc- tion this company has developed steadily, and its services have been retained in much important work in the Worcester section.
Albert T. Bjorn was born in Fitchburg, Mas- sachusetts, January I, 1895, a son of Carl A. and Anna M. (Erickson) Bjorn. His parents, who were natives of Karlskoga, Sweden, came to Amer- ica in 1891 and, after spending one year in Worces- ter, removed to Fitchburg, where the father is now employed as a drop forger with the Ivers Johnson Company. Albert T. Bjorn was educated in Fitchburg public schools and after his graduation from high school entered the University of Cin- cinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he took up the study of civil engineering. He was graduated from
John W hasell
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that institution with the degree of Civil Engineer upon the completion of the required course and shortly afterwards began his active career in build- ing and construction work in Cincinnati. Later he was engaged in similar work at Cleveland, but in March, 1921, he returned to Massachusetts and at that time established the firm of Bjorn Broth- ers in Worcester. Hjalmar Bjorn, his brother. who is associated in business with him is a master plumber. This firm is engaged in contracting heating and plumbing work and also does some surveying. They are contractors for the Gen- eral Baking Company, Fairlawn Hospital, Groton School and other important enterprises and have done a great deal of work of the Beacon Oil Com- pany in Worcester, Providence and Framingham. They are also dealers in Carter Korth oil burners. Through steady application they have built up a very successful business in their field.
Albert T. Bjorn is a member of the First Swedish Congregational Church of Worcester and has other local connections. He married, on Au- gust 9, 1923, Ella V. Ellstrom of Fitchburg, and they are the parents of two children: Albert T., Jr., and Ruth Evelyn.
Hjalmar Bjorn, also a member of the firm of Bjorn Brothers, was born in Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts, on November 22, 1893, son of Carl A. and Anna M. (Erickson) Bjorn. He was educated in Fitchburg schools and after the completion of his academic training, learned the plumber's trade with the Brownell, Mason Company of Fitch- burg. He was employed in this connection until he entered business with his brother, Albert T. Bjorn, in 1921, establishing the firm to which he has since devoted himself.
Hjalmar Bjorn married Mabel M. Ahlin of Fitch- burg. They have two children: Robert Harding and Marion Elizabeth.
HERBERT WILLIAM ESTABROOK- Since 1901 Herbert William Estabrook has been identified with the Worcester department store owned by the C. T. Sherer Company, of which he has been president since 1906.
Herbert William Estabrook was born in Spencer, May 9, 1874. His father, George D. Estabrook, was, in early days, engaged in the bus and livery business and also operated, in Natick, a line of stage coaches which was the forerunner of the street railway. Later he was interested in real estate, but he continued the stage coach lines until the establishment of the street railway, when he retired. Herbert William Estabrook attended the public schools of Natick, graduating from the high school in 1892, and after a post-graduate course there entered the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, where he continued his studies for a period of two years. At the end of that time he left the institute and began his long career in associa- tion with the dry goods business in the store of Charles T. Sherer, at Fall River, Massachusetts. In 1901 he came to Worcester and after the incor- poration of the business he and his brother-in-law, Joseph F. Sherer, became the principal owners of the concern.
The history of the C. T. Sherer Company is an interesting one. The founder, Charles T. Sherer, born in Prescott, Massachusetts, June 30, 1843, died in Worcester, September 7, 1917, son of Joseph and Roxana Sherer, served an apprenticeship at
the useful trade of pegging shoes, then was em- ployed in the shoe shop of his cousin, and finally took a position in a mill at Indian Orchard, where he remained for two years. Before he was twenty- one, however, he became a clerk in the dry goods store of Samuel Bigelow and in this field dis- covered his natural ability as a salesman and even- tually found his life work, though there were yet to be periods of experience in another field. After working in the Tinkham store and in Norton Mc- Knight's for a time, he became one of the pro- prietors of the old Hampden House in Springfield, under the name of Gillett and Sherer, and for the first time in its history the old hotel was properly conducted. A few years later Mr. Sherer became salesman for the firm of Atkins and Remick of Boston, whose affairs he was employed to settle up after their failure. When he was twenty-four years old he started in business in Fall River, under the firm name of Sherer and Rice. A year later he sold advantageously to his partner and during the following year was en- gaged in buying flour, apples, and other produce from the West. Next, he was a jewelry buyer in Providence and then bought a farm at Fayville. This was taken a few years later as one of the supply basins of the Boston Water Company, and then Mr. Sherer began his dry goods business at the corner of Fourth and Pleasant streets in Fall River, under the firm name of C. T. Sherer and Company. The business grew, and its housing was several times enlarged by leasing adjoining property, but in 1901 Mr. Sherer sold out in order to devote his entire time to the establishing of his department store in Worcester. In April, 1900, he had purchased the business of the Hamilton Dry Goods Company of Worcester, and on April 3, 1901, the new concern was organized. Mr. Sherer made a specialty of buying the entire stock of merchants who were embarrassed or going out of business, purchasing during his active period more than one hundred and sixty such stocks. His energy and his ingenious appeal to the pub- lic soon made his store in Worcester one of the largest and most successful department stores in the city. Beginning with only two floors in the corner building in which they are now located, the business expanded until it occupied, in addi- tion, the basement, then three floors, then six floors, and finally, at the present time, the business occupies six entire floors and a basement in one building, eight floors and basement in a second building, and about a half of a third building known as the Chase Building. In 1904 a corporation was formed under the title of C. T. Sherer Company, of which Mr. Sherer was president, his son-in- law, Herbert W. Estabrook, vice-president and sec- retary, and his son, Joseph F. Sherer, treasurer and manager. Owing to blindness during his later years, Mr. Sherer was finally obliged to leave the management of the business he had founded and developed to his son and his son-in-law, but he continued to manage the homestead farm at En- field and also his large real estate interests, spend- ing his last years between Enfield and Worcester, where he had an attractive home in Cherry Valley. Mr. Sherer was a generous man, and during the great strike at Fall River he furnished six hun- dred thousand meals to the unfortunate of the city. During an earlier strike he fed, for a time, more than a thousand people daily.
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Thus was founded and developed the great de- partment store business to which Herbert W. Esta- brook, son-in-law of the founder, has devoted his energy since 1901, first as vice-president and clerk of the corporation, and since 1906 as president. Beginning with twelve departments and sixty em- ployees, the concern has grown until now it re- quires the services of from four hundred to five hundred employees and ranks as the second largest department store in the city. In addition to his responsibilities as chief executive of this large concern, Mr. Estabrook is also a director of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of the Five Cents Savings Bank. Politically, Mr. Estabrook supports the Republican party. Fra- ternally, he is identified with the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, being a member of the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons and also of all the Scottish Rite bodies, in which he has attained the thirty- second degree. He is a member of the Tatnuck Country Club, of which Mrs. Estabrook also is a member, the Worcester Natural History So- ciety, the Economic Club, the Technology clubs of Boston and New York, and the Engineers Club of Boston. He also is a vestryman in All Saints' Episcopal Church.
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