Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 62

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 62

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Mr. Wilson was born in Spencer, June 20, 1866, son of George and Lucinda (Drake) Wilson. His father owned a very large farm, which was man- aged in a fashion greatly admired. He was the founder of the Farmers-Mechanics Association, which staged so many important cattle shows. He was a selectman and assessor of the town of Spencer. Lucinda (Drake) Wilson was one of the earliest school teachers in this section, when the average wage was five or six dollars a week and board.

G. Henry Wilson received the educational advan- tages that could be gained in the district schools and the instruction of a finely educated mother. At an early age he became associated with his father in the work on the home farm. Later he became the owner of several hundred acres of land, three miles south of Spencer, upon which he devel- oped one of the most modern farms in the section. Gradually he changed from the growing of common staple crops to vegetable growing, an agricultural activity requiring great skill, foresight and wise marketing, but one which reaps an accordingly larger reward. After thirty years in agriculture, Mr. Wilson retired and since then has made Spen- cer his place of residence. He has taken a public- spirited interest in town affairs and has given generous support of time and means to the further- ance of all worthy enterprises looking to the better- ment and progress of the municipality. Since its organization he has been a member of the finance committee of the town of Spencer. For almost a full half century Mr. Wilson has been a member of the Grange and one of the most popular and active figures in its affairs.

VALMORE P. TETREAULT-Public serv- ice in behalf of the people of Southbridge is being rendered by Valmore P. Tetreault, chairman of the board of selectmen, who has also filled the offices of assessor and town accountant. In an addition he has represented his district in the Massachusetts

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Legislature, and has a distinguished war record to his credit.

Mr. Tetreault is of French-Canadian extraction. His father, Pierre Tetreault, a native of the Prov- ince of Quebec, married Julia Lequin, born in the same Canadian province as her husband, and they came to Massachusetts, making their home in Lowell, where he carried on his business as a mason-contractor. In 1897 they removed to South- bridge, where he was in business until he retired.

Valmore P. Tetreault, son of Pierre and Julia (Lequin) Tetreault, was born in Lowell, February 2, 1890, and graduated from Brochu Academy in 1904. He followed with a four years' course by correspondence of the International Correspond- ence Schools, and then went to Holyoke in Hamp- den County, in which city he was employed as a window-trimmer in the MacAuslan and Wakelin Company's department store. On his return to Southbridge in 1914, he established himself in the- real estate and insurance business, in which he has since been profitably engaged.

The military record of Mr. Tetreault starts in 1918. On June 26 he enlisted in the United States Army at Southbridge, and on the following day he arrived at Camp Dix, New Jersey. He sailed from a United States port on August 27, 1918, on the steamship "Mauretania," and arrived in Eng- land, September 2. On September 4 he left for France as a member of the 336th Company of Field Artillery. He was the only man in the out- fit who could read and write the French language. On arrival in France he served as acting town major of the community where they were billeted for two months. He also was interpreter to an automobile school at Le Blanc in the Department of Indre for three months, and during the same time held the post of claims officer. He sailed for the United States, February 22, 1919, on the steam- ship "Martha Washington," and when on the high seas he was nominated and elected by his fellow- citizens in Southbridge to membership on the board of assessors. He arrived at Camp Stuart, Vir- ginia, March 8, 1919, and was ordered to Camp Devens at Ayer, Massachusetts, where he was honorably discharged on March 21, 1919.

Mr. Tetreault's political career, always as a member of the Democratic party, began in 1917, when he was elected moderator of the town of Southbridge, serving through the term ending in 1918, and having been up to that time the young- est man in the town to fill this office. After his return from war service, he resigned the office of town assessor in order that he might accept the position of town accountant, which he filled for ten and one-half years. In 1922 he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serv- ing through the session of 1923-24, and doing excel- lent work also as a member of the Committee on Municipal Finance. He was a member of the Democratic Town Committee of Southbridge for about twelve years, four years of which he served as its chairman. He is a member of the Demo- cratic State Committee and of this body's sub- committee on finance. It was in 1932 he was elected to the board of selectmen and made its chairman.

He is a trustee of the Harrington Memorial Hospital and a member of its board of managers. His affiliations include the American Legion, the "40 and 8" Society, L'Union St. Jean Baptiste

d'Amerique, the Canada-Americaine Association, and Cercle Canadien, the oldest French-Canadian social organization in the United States, and of its local body he was president for five years.

Mr. Tetreault married, June 2, 1924, Irene L. Lamoureaux, of Southbridge, and they have a daughter, Prudence M., born May 3, 1926.

CHARLES GRIFFIN STRATTON-Few men are better known in the woolen industry than is Charles Griffin Stratton, now retired, who for many years was president of the Curtis Manufac- turing Company, engaged in the manufacture of various woolen goods, but later specializing in satinets for men's suitings and heavy flannel for work shirts.

Charles Griffin Stratton was born in Worcester, August 4, 1857, son of Charles Temple and Jane Marion (Griffin) Stratton, and it was through his mother's step-father that he became identified with the woolen manufacturing business. Jane Marion (Griffin) Stratton was a daughter of Charles and Sally Kendall (Houghton) Griffin. Charles Grif- fin, who was a newspaper man and in the early 1800's was connected with the "Aegis Gazette" of Worcester, died while his children were very young, and his widow, Sally Kendall (Houghton) Griffin, married (second) Albert Curtis, of Worces- ter, who died in Worcester, in July, 1898, aged ninety-one years. Jane Marion Griffin, mother of Mr. Stratton, was reared in her stepfather's home, was educated as his own child, and even- tually married Charles Temple Stratton.

The Stratton family traces descent from Samuel Stratton, the immigrant, who was born in Eng- land in 1592 and settled in Watertown, Massachu- setts, with his wife Alice and sons Samuel, Jr., and John, prior to 1647, leaving in England, it is thought, a son Richard, who later came to this country and died in Watertown. Samuel Stratton is first on record in Watertown in 1647, when he was chosen surveyor by the town meeting. Samuel Stratton, Sr., and his sons, "men of strong con- victions and the courage to maintain them," were prominent in church and business affairs in Water- town, and were among the intelligent and cou- rageous citizens who freely criticized magistrates who condemned persons accused of witchcraft. Samuel Stratton, Sr., who owned much property in Watertown, Concord, and vicinity, married (second), June 27, 1657, Margaret (Bowlins) Par- ker, daughter of Thomas Bowlins and widow of William Parker of Scituate. The line descends as follows: Through the second son of the first marriage, John, born in England, who was an inde- pendent thinker, active in political, business, and military affairs in Watertown, and who died March 16, 1720; he married, March 10, 1658, Elizabeth Traine, born September 30, 1640, died May 7, 1708, daughter of John and Margaret Traine of Water- town; they had eight children. Through their second child and first son, John, born in Water- town, August 24, 1661, died February 20, 1718, buried in Old Arlington Cemetery at Watertown; he married, 1688, Abigail, who died October 25, 1732, aged sixty-six; they had five children. Through their youngest son, Jabez, born March 28, 1701, married, April 29, 1725, Tabitha Coolidge, born November 2, 1701, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Eddy) Coolidge; they had five children. Through their third child and second son, Elias,

Charles & Stratton

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born October 22, 1730, died October 4, 1796, in Sherborn, to which place he had come with his parents in 1754; he married Millicent, lived in Sherborn many years, and then, about 1775, re- moved to Athol, Massachusetts, where he married (second) in 1796, Widow Joan Brooks ; he had ten children, all of first marriage and all born in Sher- born. Through Ebenezer, third child and first son of the first marriage, born August 27, 1759, died at Athol, September 14, 1835; he enlisted at the age of sixteen in Colonel Grout's Regiment, Mas- sachusetts Volunteers, was wounded at White Plains, returned to Athol and engaged in farming ; he married (first), June 5, 1788, Abigail Hillen, who died July 30, 1801; he married (second), March 19, 1802, Hannah Wilder, of Sterling, Mas- sachusetts, who died in Athol, December 30, 1850; five children were born to each marriage. Through Walter, oldest child of first marriage, born in Athol, October 20, 1788, died there in 1851; mar- ried, August 22, 1815, Lucy Dudley, of Peter- sham, and lived in Athol, where she died, June 28, 1858, aged sixty-seven. They had ten children, all born at Athol: I. Joel Dudley, 1816. 2. Austin Chandler, 1818. 3. Lurenda Whipple, 1820. 4. James, 1821. 5. Emory Fay, 1823. 6. Hiram Wat- ter, 1825. 7. Lucy Ann, 1827. 8. Charles Temple, of further mention. 9. Francis Alvin, 1831. 10. Ann Eliza, 1835.

Charles Temple Stratton, eighth child of Wal- ter and Lucy (Dudley) Stratton, was born in Athol, September 14, 1829, and died in Worces- ter, July 19, 1907. He married, October 19, 1854, Jane Marion Griffin, daughter of Charles and Sally Kendall (Houghton) Griffin, the last mentioned of whom married (second) Albert Curtis, of Worcester, in whose home Jane Marion Griffin was reared, as related above. Charles Temple and Jane Marion (Griffin) Stratton had three children, all born in Worcester: I. Isabelle Curtis, married (first) John P. K. Otis; (second) Edward P. King. 2. Charles Griffin, of further mention. 3. Albert Curtis, died young.

Charles Griffin Stratton attended the public schools of Worcester and entered high school when he was thirteen years old, at the time the new high school building was being erected. The lad was especially interested in mathematics and, desiring to make use of that special ability, he com- pleted two years of the high school course and then took the entrance examinations for the civil engi- neering department of the newly founded Worces- ter Polytechnic Institute, which he entered in Sep- tember, 1872. He was a good student, indus- trious and ambitious, and during the summer vaca- tions he engaged in practical work in his chosen field, in the employ of the city of Springfield, which was building a reservoir at Ludlow, Massachu- setts, under the supervision of Phineas Ball, of Worcester, chief engineer. The result of this com- bination of study and practical work was that when he was graduated in 1875, Mr. Stratton, with an- other student, stood at the head of his class. He graduated on a Wednesday, and on the following Monday he resumed work on the reservoir at Ludlow, where he had been engaged during vaca- tions since the summer of 1873. In March, 1876, while he was at the home of his parents, the dam of the Lynde Brook Reservoir, part of the water supply of Worcester, gave way, and the resulting

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flood washed out the Boston and Albany rail- road tracks, carried away other dams along the stream, flooded the Curtis pond, and carried the water up to the second story of one mill. Albert Curtis, Mr. Stratton's mother's step-father, who owned large mills in the flooded district, employed young Stratton to assist in repairing the broken dams. Mr. Curtis suggested that he enter his woolen manufacturing plant, which was then spe- cializing in old fashioned horse blankets. Mr. Stratton spent about four years making himself thoroughly familiar with all departments of the plant and was made superintendent, which position he filled until March, 1883, when he left the mills for a short time. Realizing, however, that the woolen manufacturing business was a coming and growing industry, he resolved to definitely prepare himself for that business, and in October, 1883, entered the Lowell School of Design in Boston, connected then with the Institute of Technology of Boston, to take a course in pattern-designing in in woolens.

After a year of study he returned to Worcester, but soon had an opportunity to associate himself with the Plymouth Woolen Company, of Plym- outh, Massachusetts, makers of high grade, fast color suitings and owners of one of the leading woolen mills of the country. Mr. Stratton was young and inexperienced, but ability and hard work brought success, and when his former employer, Mr. Curtis, saw that he was succeeding in this line he induced him to return to Worcester. Mean- time, Mr. Curtis had been making radical changes in his plant. He had given up making horse blankets, had installed Knowles fancy looms in one mill, in which he was making woolens and was making satinets in the other mill. Mr. Stratton was made superintendent in May, 1885. Early in 1898 he purchased a one-third interest in the mills. Mr. Curtis died in July of that same year and Mr. Stratton and the remaining partner pur- chased from the executor of the Curtis estate Mr. Curtis' share. In 1901 Mr. Stratton bought out his partner and became sole owner of the mills. Since that time he has made many changes, keep- ing abreast of the changes in demand, in processes of production, and in mill administration. Through the years, however, he specialized in satinets for men's suitings and in heavy woolens for work shirts. He had his large land holdings surveyed, separated those actually needed for mill and water rights from the remainder, and incorporated under the name of the Curtis Manufacturing Company, which name was retained until the property was finally sold to the Worcester Electric Light Com- pany, the final transactions of the transfer taking place in April, 1910.

In politics, Mr. Stratton has always given his support to the Republican party. While actively engaged in business he was a member of the Worcester Club and of the Commonwealth Club, and for a time was a member of the Worcester Automobile Club. He has been a trustee of Worces- ter Polytechnic Institute for many years and is a life member of the New England Historical Genealogi- cal Society and a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association. During the year 1917-18 he was active in war work, serving as chairman of the local board, Division No. 2, in charge of recruiting. As a loyal citizen, an able business

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man, and a highly esteemed friend, Mr. Stratton occupies a high place in the regard of his many associates.

REV. NATHAN H. GIST-Though he was trained to the ministry and has never relinquished his activities in the church, the Rev. Nathan H. Gist has had many other interests. During the past thirteen years he has been managing editor of the "Leominster Enterprise" at Leominster and president of the corporation which publishes this paper. He brings unusual qualifications to his task, which he carried on in conjunction with his duties as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Clinton.

Nathan H. Gist was born at Marion, Iowa, on September 23, 1885, a son of Rev. William W. and Lillian (Hurlburt) Gist. His father, a minis- ter of the Congregational Church and a veteran of the Civil War, was born on February 28, 1849, in Hocking County, Ohio, and died on June 8, 1923. He was only fifteen years old, when he enlisted in the spring of 1864 in Company D, 26th Ohio Infantry. He served with these troops until September, 1865, participating in Sherman's At- lanta campaign and in the Texas border fighting, after which he was mustered out. In later years he always retained his connections with his former comrades-in-arms and was a prominent figure in the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as its Na- tional Chaplain. He was also twice department chaplain of the State of Iowa and at his death was commander of the Department of Iowa. William W. Gist was educated at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, and at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. For a number of years he was an instructor at Coe College, Iowa, teaching mathe- matics first and, subsequently, English literature. From 1885 to 1892 he was pastor of the Congre- gational Church at Marion, Iowa, and from 1892 to 1899 was pastor of the Congregational Church at Osage. At the end of that time he returned for one year to Coe College, after which he became professor of English literature and rhetoric at Iowa State Teachers' College, where he remained until his death. Lillian (Hurlburt) Gist, his wife, was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, November 24, 1854, and is now living at Cedar Falls, Iowa. She is a woman of broad culture, a graduate of Cornell College and a writer of distinctive talent. Eleven children were born of this marriage.

The Gist and Hurlburt families and the related family of Grant were all seated originally in the North of Ireland. Their members, in America, have chiefly entered the professions and have very largely been concerned with educational enterprises. The record of these families has been one of sturdy Americanism and in the wars of the country they have actively played their part. Mr. Gist's fore- bears fought in the American Revolution. Not only his father, but both grandfathers and four uncles served during the Civil War. A cousin represented the family in the military forces of the Nation during the Spanish-American War, while three of his brothers and one brother-in-law served with distinction in the World War.

Nathan H. Gist, of whom this is primarily a record, received his preliminary education in the public schools of Iowa. Subsequently he attended the Iowa State Teachers' College, the State Uni- versity of Iowa, Northwestern University of Chi-

cago and Clark University, from which latter institution he took the degree of Master of Arts in 1916. Meanwhile, in 1909, he entered the Con- gregational ministry and for two years was pastor of the First Congregational Church at Humeston, Iowa, and for nearly three years was pastor at Clarion. For four years thereafter he was pastor of the Congregational Church at Webster, Massa- chusetts, following which he came to Leominster as pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational Church. Since 1921 he has served the First Congregational Church at Clinton.

It was also in 1921 that Mr. Gist became con- nected with the "Leominster Enterprise." As man- aging editor of the paper and president of the Leo- minster Enterprise Company he has had a major part in directing the affairs of this publication, rendering a genuine service to the community. Mr. Gist has also been an editorial writer for the Williamsport newspaper. He is a writer of force and cogency, revealing these qualities not only in his numerous published brochures and pamphlets but in his volume of essays entitled "Life At Its Best." Over a period of years he has contributed frequently to various magazines, while for more than two decades he has been a Chautauqua and Lyceum lecturer.

At Leominster Mr. Gist has been a member of the school committee since 1921. He is a charter member and was first president of the local Rotary Club, is an incorporator of the Leominster Sav- ings Bank, and has taken a leading part in civic enterprises of many kinds, seeking only to advance the welfare of the community. He served during the World War in the various organized cam- paigns, speaking in behalf of the Liberty Loan drives, the Red Cross and others and working vigorously in his country's cause. Mr. Gist is a Republican in politics. He is affiliated fraternally with the Free and Accepted Masons, being a mem- ber in this order of Wilder Lodge at Leominster and of Leominster Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He is also affiliated with Leominster Lodge, No. 86, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Monoosnock Country Club.

On November 28, 1907, the Rev. Nathan H. Gist married Mabel Revington, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, who died June 20, 1933. They are the parents of one son, Richard R., a journalist. He married, in 1928, Rosalie Bailey and is the father of the fol- lowing children : Diane, Barry Revington and Lee Anne.

WALTER NAHUM HOWE-For almost half a century, Walter Nahum Howe has been associated with the "Leominster Enterprise" at Leominster. He began his active career as a printer's apprentice in the shop, rose within the organization through the merit of his services and eventually became a member of the firm, being ap- pointed to the office of treasurer. He is also busi- ness manager of the paper.

Mr. Howe was born at Fitzwilliam, New Hamp- shire, on February 13, 1866, a son of Nahum and Nancy A. (Harris) Howe. His father was a mill operator and later became the proprietor of his own sawmill.

Walter Nahum Howe was educated in the pub- lic schools of Fitzwilliam and at Cushing Academy. Subsequently he completed a commercial course at

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the Bryant and Stratton Business School in Bos- ton, and on August 2, 1886, became an apprentice, or printer's devil, in the shop of the "Leominster Enterprise," preparing to learn the printer's trade. He took a genuine interest in his work, and his eagerness to learn soon brought him a thorough knowledge of printing operations. He gave his best to any task assigned to him and was soon made foreman of the shop. In November, 1898, with the incorporation of the publishing company as J. D. Miller and Company, Mr. Howe became treasurer. Soon afterwards he was elected busi- ness manager, a position which he has since filled with enterprising vigor and sound judgment. His services have been of continued value in the growth and progress of the "Enterprise." There are few more difficult positions to fill than the chief busi- ness office of a newspaper. The business manager must combine the qualifications of a successful business man with a realization of the importance of specific journalistic standards and traditions. He is required to know not only his own business, but almost every aspect of the life which goes on about him and to command the confidence of many differ- ent elements in the community. Mr. Howe has successfully met the difficult task imposed upon him. His success is reflected in the financial stabil- ity of the "Enterprise" and in a subscription list which has steadily increased for many years.

Mr. Howe is a member of the Associated Press. Apart from his professional connections he has been a member for some years of the board of trustees of the Leominster City Library and has been very active in fraternal circles. He is a member and Past Regent of Monoosnock Council, Royal Arcanum; a member of Leominster Lodge, No. 86, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and a member of various Masonic bodies, including Wilder Lodge at Leominster; Leominster Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Jerusalem Commandery, Knights Templar, at Fitchburg. He is also a member of the Masonic Club and of Pilgrim Con- gregational Church of Leominster, where he has been clerk of the congregation for more than a quarter of a century.

On October 22, 1890, at Leominster, Walter Nahum Howe married Hattie M. Wright, daugh- ter of George O. and Mary (Blood) Wright. They are the parents of five children: I. Mildred W., born October 5, 1892. 2. Helen M., born May 29, 1895. She married William James of Leominster, and they have one son, Robert Howe, born Sep- tember 13, 1921, and one daughter, Charlotte A., born March 4, 1924. 3. Laura E., born March 29, 1897. 4. Ruth E., born August 4, 1900. 5. Eve- lyn L., born September 19, 19II.

THE LEOMINSTER ENTERPRISE-The first issue of the "Leominster Enterprise" was pub- lished on June 4, 1872, by its founder, Francis New- ton Boutwell. It was originally a weekly and was continued by its first publisher until 1885, when he sold the paper to J. D. Miller and Company. Dur- ing this entire period the size of the publication was limited to four pages.

J. D. Miller and Company retained the weekly issue for ten years. On December 5, 1895, the first issue of the daily appeared and an important step was thus taken in the development of the paper. In November, 1898, the publishing company was incorporated, with J. D. Miller as president

and Walter N. Howe as treasurer. No further change was made in ownership until the death of Mr. Miller on September 21, 1919, after which the name of the company became the Leominster En- terprise Company, its present form. In 1921 the Rev. Nathan H. Gist became president of the corporation and managing editor of the paper. He has continued to hold these offices. Walter N. Howe is treasurer of the corporation and business manager of the paper.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 62

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