Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 6

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 6

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Judge Thayer attended the public schools of his native town and the Blackstone High School. After coming to Worcester with his parents in 1874, he attended Worcester Academy, graduating in 1876. He then entered Dartmouth College, where he remained until he was graduated in the class of 1880 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his college days he was an athlete of prom- inence, captain of the first Dartmouth baseball team that defeated Harvard. He always kept in close touch with the baseball organization of his alma mater. In Dartmouth and among the alumni he was known as the "father" of Dartmouth baseball. His interest in the football team was equally keen. In later years he played golf and devoted to that game much of his time for recreation.

He began to read law in the office of Charles A. Merrill in Worcester and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in September, 1882. Immedi- ately afterward he began practice in Worcester. He was for many years in partnership with Hollis W. Cobb, under the firm name of Thayer and Cobb. Their offices were at No. 4II State Mutual Building. In 1913 the firm of Thayer, Drury and Walker was organized, and Mr. Thayer remained a partner in both firms until he was elevated to the bench. In the new firm his partners were George A. Drury and Fred A. Walker. Both firms were at No. 4II State Mutual Building. From the be- ginning he was recognized as a lawyer of more than ordinary ability. He was keen and searching in cross-examination, aggressive and tenacious in the trial of cases, fluent and persuasive in speech, and soon took rank among the best trial lawyers of Worcester County. His success brought him some of the most important cases in the Worcester courts, and he was retained in almost every case in which public interests were involved, either as at- torney for the city or for citizens who were inter- ested from motives of public spirit. His own civic pride and public spirit in the city led largely to his selection.

His career in public life was characterized by independence, though when once committed to a party or candidate he was always one of the most loyal supporters and vigorous fighters. He was the central figure in many municipal campaigns. As a stump speaker he stood second to none. Ready in argument, his speeches were always bright, spicy, catchy, entertaining. His wit and satire were strong weapons on the political platform as well as in the court room. But notwithstanding all the political and legal battles in which he fought hard, giving and taking no quarter, his opponents gen- erally held to their friendship on account of his fine personal qualities, his democratic manners and sin- cerity. He never harbored animosities. When a fight was ended, he was the first to offer his hand to the foe, whether he lost or won. In law and politics he was as much of a true sport as on the baseball field.

WORCESTER COUNTY

He was appointed Justice of the Superior Court by Governor McCall, February 28, 1917, was unan- imously confirmed, and took the oath of office on March 5, 1917. The members of the bar gave their unanimous approval of the selection, and in a banquet tendered to him soon afterward, they found opportunity to express their esteem, their appreciation of his legal ability and their best wishes for a long and useful career on the bench. His judicial office, of course, ended his practice as a lawyer and his activity in the political arena.

The outstanding event in Judge Thayer's judicial career was his conduct of the famous Sacco-Van- zetti trial. On the surface this case was a trial for murder in the first degree, not differing in any particular aspects from other such cases. The ver- dict of the jury was a test such as no other jury was ever put through in any case, not only in the State but in the Nation. Their sole duty was to pass upon the guilt or innocence of the defendants. With their deliberations Judge Thayer had nothing whatever to do. In a later questioning of the men on this jury, it was found that their verdict had been unanimous. The effect of this verdict, which has been pronounced just and fair by the highest authorities of the State and Nation, must and will leave a salutary and far-reaching effect. It will stand as an impressive lesson in upholding and sus- taining of the laws of the land, not only for today but for all future time.

The case developed into one of international im- portance when racial, political and economic ques- tions were brought in by the counsel and friends of the accused. For seven weary and trying years Judge Thayer was the center of innumerable at- tacks, while the friends of the two convicted men attempted in every possible way to upset the judg- ment of guilty rendered by a jury and the punish- ment of death imposed-in accordance with the law -by Judge Thayer. Although Judge Thayer en- joyed throughout these difficult and trying years the support and continued confidence of thousands, those differing from him used every means to destroy him. Threats were made even against his life, not once, but many times. But though these events undermined Judge Thayer's health and naturally caused him much unhappiness, they could not break his spirit or influence his convictions. He continued to be the same fearless and impartial man and judge that he had always been. His conduct of this trial and his repeated refusals to grant a new trial, which were eventually fully upheld by the high- est authority of the State, must be regarded not only as a most desirable upholding of the majesty of the law, but as a most fully merited endorsement of Judge Thayer's judicial career. It seems, there- fore, only appropriate that the final chapter of the Sacco-Vanzetti case should be made part of this record of Judge Thayer's distinguished career. It was written, on August 3, 1927, by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, of Massachusetts, in his official decision on the case, in which he refused to inter- vene in behalf of the condemned men. This deci- sion was based on the unanimous report of a spe- cial commission of three, appointed by Governor Fuller and consisting of President Abbott Law- rence Lowell of Harvard University, Judge Rob- ert Grant, and President Samuel W. Stratton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as on exhaustive and extended investigations made

by Governor Fuller himself. It was in part as follows:

On April 15, 1920, a paymaster and his guard were held up, robbed and brutally murdered at South Braintree, Massachusetts. On May 5, 1920, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were ar- rested ; they were later tried and found guilty of the murder. The verdict was followed by seven motions for a new trial and two appeals to the Supreme Court for the Commonwealth, all of which were heard and later denied. . The appeal to the Governor was presented by counsel for the accused on May 3, 1927. This appeal . . has been considered without intent on my part to sustain the courts if I became convinced that an error had been committed or that the trial had been unfair to the accused.

I realized at the outset that there were many sober-minded and conscientious men and women who were genuinely troubled about the guilt or innocence of the accused and the fairness of the trial. It seemed to me I ought to attempt to set the minds of such people at rest if it could be done, but I realized that with all I could do per- sonally to find the truth some people might well in the end doubt the correctness of any conclusion that I, or in fact any other one man, might reach. I believed that I could best assure these honest doubters by having a committee conduct an in- vestigation entirely independent of my own, their report to be made to me and to be of help in reaching correct conclusions.

The court proceedings in this case may be divided into several parts: first, the trial before the jury with Judge Thayer presiding; second the hearings on the succession of motions for a new trial which were addressed to the judge and passed upon by him. All those proceedings have been at- tacked by some of the friends of the accused men and their counsel.

The attacks on the jury trial take two forms : . second, it is asserted that the trial itself . was unfair. The attacks on the proceedings and on the motions for a new trial are in substance that the judge was biased and unable to give the motions fair and impartial consideration.

The inquiry that I have conducted has had to do with the following questions: Was the jury trial fair? Were the accused entitled to a new trial? Are they guilty or not guilty?

I have consulted with every member of the jury now alive, eleven in number. They considered the judge fair; that he gave them no indication of his own opinion in the case. Affidavits have been pre- sented claiming that the judge was prejudiced. I see no evidence of prejudice in his conduct of the trial. That he had an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused after hearing the evi- dence is natural and inevitable. . I can see no warrant for the assertion that the jury trial was unfair.

The charge of the judge was satisfactory to the counsel for the accused and no exceptions were taken to it. The Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth has considered such of the more than 250 exceptions taken during the course of the trial as counsel for the accused chose to argue and overruled them all, thus establishing that the proceedings were without legal flaw.

After the verdict against these men, their counsel filed and argued before Judge Thayer seven distinct supplementary motions for a new trial, all of which were denied. I am convinced. that the presiding judge gave no evidence of bias in denying them all and refusing a new trial.

As the result of my study of the record and my personal investigation of the case I be- lieve, with the jury, that Sacco and Vanzetti were guilty and that the trial was fair. .

I furthermore believe that there was no justifi- able reason for giving them a new trial.

Judge Thayer, in earlier years, was a Democrat, and while a member of that party served it as a leader. In 1890 and 1891 he was a member of the board of aldermen; in 1894 he was the Democratic candidate for mayor of Worcester. But for the last thirty years or more of his life he was a Re- publican, and until his elevation to the bench, he was a prominent leader of that party. The last

WORCESTER COUNTY

political office held by Mr. Thayer was Republican elector from Massachusetts in the presidential cam- paign of 1916. In the electoral college he voted for Justice Charles E. Hughes for President. Judge Thayer was a member of Athelstan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Quinsigamond Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Worcester Lodge, No. 56, the Worcester Country Club, the Worcester Bar Association, and the University Club of Boston. He was also a communicant of All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church.

Judge Webster Thayer passed away April 18, 1933. Judge Thayer married (first), in October, 1883, Anna E. Keyes, now deceased. He married (second), October 19, 1899, Bertha J. Kidder Brewer, who was born in Worcester, Massachu- setts, a daughter of Charles E. and Emma (Sar- gent) Kidder. There are two children: I. Bar- bara T., born September 15, 1900, who was gradu- ated from Dana Hall, class of 1919. 2. Hamilton Webster, born February 19, 1902, who was gradu- ated from Worcester Academy, class of 1920.

J. LESTER PERRY-Connected with the metals trade for more than three decades, J. Lester Perry was promoted January 1, 1933, to the posi- tion of vice-president of the American Steel and Wire Company in charge of operations. This brings under his supervision the operations in twenty-two manufacturing plants distributed throughout the various districts where the American Steel and Wire Company is operating. These plants employ a force of about 18,000 men.

Born in Worcester, March II, 1881, J. Lester Perry is the son of Fred G. and Ella M. (Bailey) Perry, his parents natives of Northborough and Dudley, Massachusetts, and the father engaged in the mercantile business. Having passed through the public schools of his native city, the son J. Lester entered the service of the American Steel and Wire Company in 1899. He took readily to the various tasks assigned him, mastered them, and gave many evidences of his adaptability to the metals industry, especially as related to the com- pany. Made the subject of promotion on his merits, he was advanced to positions of increasing im- portance from time to time. It was in 1928 that he was appointed district manager of the Worcester division of this great concern, the American Steel and Wire Company, where he has since given further proof of his ability and worth, as the suc- cessor of C. S. Marshall.

Mr. Perry was a member of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce and was president of that organization for the year 1931, where his influence and enthusiasm were helpful in the mutual effort of the organization to carry forward its high pur- poses. He is a member of the Worcester Club and the American Iron & Steel Institute, and while in Worcester belonged to the Worcester Economic Club.

J. Lester Perry married, in 1904, L. Kathryn Thayer, of Indiana, and they have two children: I. Elizabeth, born May 21, 1907. 2. J. Lester, Jr., born June 9, 1909. The Perry family now resides in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

HORACE DOWNE McCOWAN-More than a quarter of a century ago, as a youth just out of high school, Mr. McCowan entered the banking business. In it he has continued ever since then,

gaining a well earned reputation for ability and occupying various positions of importance and re- sponsibility with different well-known banks. The greater part of his business career has been spent in Massachusetts, and he is today one of the prom- inent industrial bankers of this State. He is espe- cially well known in Worcester, in which city he has been located for the last ten years as the execu- tive vice-president and general manager of the Worcester Morris Plan Company, which has en- joyed steady growth and prosperity under his able and careful management.

Horace Downe McCowan was born at Bridge- ton, New Jersey, September 3, 1890, a son of Wil- liam Joseph and Mabel (Sweeten) McCowan, both natives of Bridgeton, New Jersey. His father has been the New England manager of the Percy Heilner Coal Company for the last thirty-nine years and is today the oldest active employee of this well-known concern. Mr. McCowan was educated in the public schools. At the age of sixteen years he left the Central High School of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and entered the employ of the Na- tional Commercial Bank of Albany, New York, in the foreign department of which he remained for a short time. He then came to Springfield, Massa- chusetts, where he worked for some time in the foreign department of the Springfield National Bank. At the age of nineteen years, in 1909, he went to Colorado, where he lived for about eighteen months on a cattle ranch. Returning then to Springfield, he entered the employ of the Spring- field Safe Deposit and Trust Company as a book- keeper. During the seven years which he spent with this bank, he worked his way up to responsible positions, serving successively as receiving and pay- ing teller. On September 1, 1918, he was elected treasurer of the Uxbridge Savings Bank, in which capacity he served very successfully for four years. At the end of this period, on September 1, 1922, the board of directors of the Worcester Morris Plan Company elected Mr. McCowan to his pres- ent positions, those of executive vice-president and general manager of this important financial insti- tution. In these positions he has served since then with characteristic ability, energy and faithfulness and in them he has made important contributions to the progress and prosperity of Worcester, where he is widely and favorably known and highly re- garded, both as a banker and a citizen. He is a trustee of the Worcester Mechanics Savings Bank, president of the Retail Credit Association and a member of the Worcester Rotary Club, Solomon Temple Lodge, of Uxbridge, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Worcester Country Club.

Mr. McCowan married, March 4, 1916, Doro- thy Blake, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. McCowan are the parents of four sons: I. William Blake, born December 16, 1916. 2. Horace Downe, Jr., born May 23, 1920. 3. Rich- ard Ellsworth, born September 1, 1930. 4. Rob- ert Lincoln McCowan, born February 12, 1933. The family residence is located at No. 27 Coventry Road, Worcester, while Mr. McCowan's offices are at No. 30 Franklin Street.

GEORGE I. ROCKWOOD-Founder and for many years executive head of the Rockwood Sprinkler Company of Worcester, George Ichabod Rockwood directs an organization which he devel- oped for the manufacture and sale of various

George Ichabod Rockwood

WORCESTER COUNTY

patented appliances of his own invention. These are pressed metal products.

Mr. Rockwood was born at Boston, January 13, 1868, a son of Edward Otis and Caroline (Wash- burn) Rockwood. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of Governor Bradford and also traces to John Alden of the Plymouth Colony and many other ancestors of Colonial fame. The paternal line also traces back to early New Eng- land history, having been founded in the Colonies by Richard Rockwood (or Rockett), who was a planter in Dorcester in 1636. Mr. Rockwood's great-grandfather, Elisha Rockwood, was a soldier of the American Revolution, serving in a New Hampshire Company.

George I. Rockwood received his preliminary education in the public schools of Newton, Massa- chusetts, and the Prince Grammar School, Boston. From 1880 to 1883 he studied in Montreal, and in the latter year entered Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, where he remained for two and a half years. In 1885, at the age of seventeen, he entered Worcester Polytechnic Institute, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bach- elor of Science in 1888, completing the course in three and a half years. Ten years later, in 1898, he took the degree in mechanical engineering at the same institution and in 1931, in recognition of his distinguished career, was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering.

He began his professional activities in 1888, when he became chief draftsman for the Wheelock Engine Company of Worcester, continuing in that capacity until 1892. From 1892 until 1905 he served as mechanical and mill engineer, specializing in power plant work, and also was a consulting engineer in Worcester until 1905. In 1906 he organized the Rockwood Sprinkler Company for the manufacture of the Rockwood automatic sprink- ler head, the Rockwood automatic dry pipe valve and the Rockwood variable pressure alarm valve. Designs for these and other devices were con- ceived and perfected by Mr. Rockwood, who holds some twenty-five United States patents on his inventions. The Rockwood automatic sprinkler system applicances are designed to limit loss by fire. They have sold in the millions and are uni- versally used in factories, large stores and public buildings. Mr. Rockwood was president and treas- urer of the Rockwood Sprinkler Company from 1906 to 1930, when he sold out his interest. The concern has two other factories in other sections of the country, in addition to the Worcester plant, also branch offices in the principal cities of the country.

Mr. Rockwood has also been active in other phases of Worcester life. From 1907 to 1909 he served as professor of thermo-dynamics and steam engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and he has always taken a deep interest in the progress of this institution. He is now a life-member of its board of trustees and a member of the executive committee. He was for a number of years a mem- ber of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, pres- ident of the board of trustees of the Home for Aged Women in Worcester and a trustee of the Home for Aged Men. Mr. Rockwood is an active mem- ber of the American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers and was formerly vice-president of this or- ganization. He is a member of the New England Cotton Manufacturers Association, a member of

the American Forestry Association, the American Antiquarian Society, and of several clubs, includ- ing the Worcester and Tatnuck Country clubs of Worcester, the Boston Chess Club, the University Club and the Engineers' Club of New York. He is a Republican in politics and is a member of Cen- tral Congregational Church at Worcester. Mr. Rockwood has traveled extensively in this coun- try and Europe, having crossed the ocean several times.

On November 13, 1890, George I. Rockwood married (first) Ellen Tyler Cheever, of Worcester, daughter of the Rev. Henry T. and Jane (Tyler) Cheever. She was born in Jewett City, Connect- icut, and died at Worcester, April 6, 1933. She was a member of one of the first classes at Smith College. Though in poor health for many years, she was interested in many charities and was espe- cially active in behalf of the Worcester Home for Aged Women. She was a member of Central Con- gregational Church, Worcester. Mr. Rockwood married (second), May 12, 1933, Anna V. Out- house and by this marriage has one son, George Ichabod, Jr., born in Worcester, January 28, 1934.

GEORGE W. BAKER-In the city of Worces- ter, Massachusetts, where insurance and insurance corporations rank exceedingly high as "big busi- ness," George W. Baker stands out as one of the all-round experts in this unique industry. He has the remarkable combination of personality, energy, and ability which is one of the requirements of the insurance executive, and he has had the experience which has run the gamut of a dozen posts from office boy to high official. He is a native of New York, born at Brushton, November 18, 1878, son of John and Betsy (Barnum) Baker, both formerly from Hancock, Massachusetts. The senior Mr. Baker was a well-known contractor and builder, whose business led him to many parts of the East. Both parents are now deceased.

George W. Baker's education was started in the public schools of Smethport, Pennsylvania, where his father was in business for a time, and continued in Buffalo, New York, to which place the family moved. School days over, he began his business career in 1893 as an office boy in the office of the John Hancock Mutual Insurance Company, and within his stay of five years had filled most of the offices up to and including that of assistant cashier. In 1898 he quit office work for awhile and traveled as a salesman, but was soon promoted and made claim adjustor and local inspector. In February, 1902, he was called into the home office and ele- vated to the position of home office inspector. Two years later, still at the home office, he was made claim inspector, and for some time served as secre- tary to the secretary. In 1906 the new executive office of supervisor of agencies was created, and this difficult job was given to Mr. Baker who did it to the complete satisfaction of those most inter- ested. For variety of experience and personal achievement the career, thus far, is one which rarely comes to one man, and carries with it the intimate knowledge of the many phases of the insurance business which very few men possess. And all this had occurred before Mr. Baker was thirty years of age. From 1906 to 1919 he con- tinued as supervisor of agencies. In the latter men- tioned year he was appointed district manager of a

WORCESTER COUNTY

large territory in Massachusetts, with headquarters at Worcester. It was his task to build up the company's business in this territory, a thing which he accomplished with dispatch and constantly in- creasing development. At a period when world- wide depression has reduced to a minimum all forms of industry, Mr. Baker remains at the head of an organization which employs about sixty people, and manages to make it pay.

Mr. Baker has never allowed business to take all his time or to quench his very normal interest and zest in social, sports, fraternal and civic affairs. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Life Underwriters' Association, the Common- wealth Club, and the Wachussett Country Club, a variety of organizations which reflects a versatil- ity of activities. He plays golf, likes to sit in the saddle, shoots well and wets a line in many a stream and lake. He is a member of all the Ma- sonic bodies up to and including the 32d degree, Scottish Rite, being a member of Norfolk Lodge, Needham, Massachusetts, where incidentally he once served two years as a selectman; the Worces- ter County Commandery, Knights Templar, and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has been a "live wire" in every community in which he has made his home, and has played an important rôle in Worcester and in the drama of its development. Welfare and humanitarian movements find in him a ready helper.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 6

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