Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 76

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 76

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).

Napoleon Amedee Racicot was born in Dudley, Massachusetts, March 22, 1901, and after receiv- ing his early training in the public schools, studied at St. Ann's Parochial School and Bartlett High School, where he was graduated in 1920. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Holy Cross College on graduation in 1924. In the class of 1927 he graduated Bachelor of Laws at Boston University. He studied at the Harvard Law School for supplementary work one year. He was certified for practice at the bar of Massachusetts in 1928 and in the same year was admitted to the bar of the State of Maine. In that year he located in Webster and opened an office for practice, in which he has since been continuously engaged, building up a large and desirable clientage. He enjoys high standing in the Worcester County Bar Association.

In the affairs of the Republican party he has been active and prominent. He obtained the Re- publican nomination for Representative in 1930, but failed of election in the debacle which the entire Re- publican ticket suffered. He is president of the Web- ster Republican Club. Among his fraternal and civic affiliations are: Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Order of Franco-American Foresters, Catholic Order of Foresters of America, Franco-American Civic League, Canada-Americaine Association, Club Gag- non (president), Société Historique Franco-Amer- icaine.

REV. JOHN A. MARTIN-St. Anne's Ro- man Catholic Church at Southboro, of which the Rev. John A. Martin is now pastor, was built and dedicated in 1887 as a mission of St. Matthew's Parish, in Cordaville. With the shift in popula- tion, however, St. Anne's has became the parish church and the original church in Cordaville, built forty-five years ago, is now a mission.

The history of the parish dates back to 1860, when the first mass was said at Wilson's Hall at Cordaville by the Rev. Patrick Cuddihy. He con- tinued to say mass at intervals there until 1864, when Father Barry came. In 1870, when the Diocese of Springfield was organized, Coradville was transferred from Milford to Westboro, and at that time Father Richard Donovan came to its people. During his pastorate, in 1872, Herbert Wilson deeded a half-acre of land to the church to be used as a church site. Two years later, in 1874, Father Eagan, who had succeeded Father Donavan as pastor, began excavations for the erection of a church building. Father Eagan was succeeded by Father Cornelius Cronin, who came in 1877. During his pastorate, St. Matthew's Church at Cordaville was built. He remained until his death on September 22, 1881. After Father Cronin came Father R. S. Burke, who was succeeded by father McCoy, who took up his duties in February, 1887. Just previous to his ar- rival, Cordaville was made a parish. Father Mc- Coy, who had been a curate at Webster, remained at the Westboro Church until Father Redican be- came the first resident pastor of St. Matthew's Church, which he served from November, 1886, to November, 1893. Two years after he came to

St. Matthew's, he purchased land in the town of Southboro and there built the pretty village Church of St. Anne, which was dedicated on December 13, 1887, by Bishop O'Reilly. Father Redican came here in 1886. He was a man much beloved by all who knew him and his parishioners greatly regretted his being transferred to Leicester in No- vember, 1892. The Rev. Martin Murphy became his successor. He paid off the church debt and was a man greatly esteemed. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Finneran, who built the pres- ent fine rectory and remained till December, 1902.

He was succeeded by the Rev. James J. Terrill, who came, in December, 1902, and remained till October, 1905. After him came the Rev. James J. Farrell, who served from October, 1905, until July, 1911. Father William Fallon was the next pastor, serving from July 1911, till July, 1913, when he was followed by the Rev. P. H. Boland, who remained from July, 1913, to July, 1919. Father James P. Curran served from July, 1919, to July, 1925. He was succeeded by Father Fran- cis J. Maxwell, now (1934) of West Fitchburg, who served from July, 1925, to July, 1933, and was followed by the present pastor, Father John A. Martin, who came in July, 1933.

Father Martin was born in Holyoke, Massa- chusetts, April 14, 1889, and received his prelimi- nary education in the common and parochial schools of that city. Following his graduation from Rosary High School, he entered Holy Cross Col- lege in Worcester and on completion of the re- quired course in 191 I took his degree. He prepared for the priesthood in the Grand Seminary at Mont- real and was ordained a priest December 19, 1914. Father Martin's first charge was in Worcester. Later he went to St. Bernard's Church in Fitch- burg and still later to St. Mary's in Southbridge. He was there from 1916 to July, 1918. He was chaplain at Fort Slocum from July, 1918, to Feb- ruary, 1919. For the next eight years he served Our Lady of Hope parish in Springfield and from August, 1927, until July, 1928, was assistant pas- tor of St. Anne's Church in Worcester. At the end of that time he was appointed as assistant at St. Michael's Cathedral, Springfield, remaining until July, 1933, when he came to St. Anne's Church in Southboro. This parish has in all about eight hundred souls, divided among St. Anne's Church, which seats about four hundred, and the four outlying missions. It is a vigorous and active parish, with a number of church societies, includ- ing the Holy Name Society, the Children of Mary, the societies for single and married women, the Knights of Columbus and their club. Three masses are celebrated, two at St. Anne's Church on Sun- days and one at St. Matthew's in Cordaville. Father Martin, in his work, has the assistance of one curate, the Rev. Edward J. Schuster. He has entered upon his duties in the parish with enthu- siasm and his guiding hand is already apparent in the renewed devotional spirit of its people.

RAYMOND W. SHELDON-In the dual rôle of owner and publisher of the "Webster Eve- ning Times," Raymond W. Sheldon is making his contributions to the Fourth Estate and at the same time purveying the news to and voicing the opinions of his public. Born in Woodstock, Con- necticut, July 17, 1893, Mr. Sheldon is the son of Wayland W. and Emma Louise (Coldman) Shel-

295

WORCESTER COUNTY

don, both parents natives of that State, the father a prominent citizen of his community, where he engaged in merchandising and filled the office of selectman. From the public schools of his home town, the son, Raymond W., entered Woodstock Academy, where he was graduated in 1910. He finished his college preparatory course at Williston Academy, Easthampton, Massachusetts, in 1913 and matriculated at Brown University, where he was graduated in the class of 1917.

His first important position was that of assist- ant purchasing agent of the Merrimac Chemical Company, Boston. In early 1918 he enlisted for the World War and was stationed at Camp Upton, Long Island, New York, whence he was trans- ferred to Camp Lee, Virginia, where he was com- missioned a lieutenant in the army. He was mus- tered out of the service in 1919. In that year he returned to his former position in the Merrimac Chemical Company and remained there two years.

It was in 1921 that Mr. Sheldon came to Web- ster and purchased the "Webster Times," a weekly newspaper. On October 1, 1923, he changed the journal to a daily and restyled it the "Webster Evening Times." Under his guidance the paper has grown in volume of circulation and the amount of advertising carried. He is rated as a success- ful newspaperman, who has advanced remarkably in this field since he purchased the paper.

He is vice-president of the Webster Five-Cent Savings Bank, vice-president of the Webster Dis- trict Hospital, and a former president (1931) of the Rotary Club of Webster. His fraternal affilia- tions include Putnam Lodge, No. 46, Free and Accepted Masons, of Woodstock, Connecticut; Webster Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters, of Worcester; and Webster Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Mr. Sheldon married, June 28, 1924, Prudence Hinckley, of Stonington, Connecticut, and they have a son, Raymond W., Jr., born February 13, 1927.

LEON A. GOODALE-The appointment, in 1929, of Leon A. Goodale, of Worcester, as water commissioner and water registrar, met with the general approval of all who knew anything of Mr. Goodale's training and experience. Twenty years of an engineering career covering twenty-two years were spent in activities covering water develop- ments. He is a native of West Boylston, Massa- chusetts, born March 1, 1876, the son of Aaron (4th) and Nellie G. (Merriam) Goodale. The for- mer, who died August 17, 19II, was born at West Boylston, Massachusetts, and his mother was a native of Sterling in the same State. The family is a very old one in New England, tracing back to Puritan days, with members on record who served during the American Revolution. On the paternal side of the house, the progenitor of the family, Robert Goodale, was born in England in 1604 and came from Ipswich, England, to settle in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1634.

Leon A. Goodale, as a lad, knew something about life on a farm and in the town as well. He was educated in the local schools of his birthplace, prepared for college, and attended Brown Univer- sity, Providence, Rhode Island. He taught school and later became associated with the engineering force of the Metropolitan Water Board, a connec-

tion which lasted for seven and a half years. He assisted in the construction of the famous Wachu- sett Reservoir. In 1907 he resigned from the Metropolitan Water Board to accept a position with the city of Worcester in the engineering department. Later he was the engineer in charge of the construction of the Kendall Reservoir and the Pine Hill Reservoir. In 1929 he succeeded George W. Batchelder as water commissioner and water registrar. How well he was prepared to take over the new office may be judged from the fact that twenty of his previous twenty-two years of service and engineering had been spent in the construction of water works. Mr. Goodale there- fore knows the system over which he is in charge not only from the ground now covered by the waters of the reservoirs he helped construct, but the possession of that knowledge is recognized by his colleagues.

Mr. Goodale is versatile in his tastes, enjoyments and activities. As a thoroughly public-minded citi- zen he endeavors to promote the better development of Worcester. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club and a popular figure in its meetings. He keeps in close touch with his colleagues in his profession as a member of the Worcester Engi- neering Society and the New England and the American Water Works associations. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was a master before he was twenty-five years of age. Mr. Goodale is deeply interested in history, particularly the annals of New England, and enjoys research along histori- cal lines. He made a most enlightening address at the One Hundredth Anniversary of his birth- place, West Boylston, Massachusetts; and gave another of interest in the same town at the open- ing of the Beaman Memorial Library, in which the history of one branch of the Beaman family is carefully traced. His church has been the Bap- tist for many years.

In 1902 Mr. Goodale married Elsie M. Phelps, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of four children: I. Lois I., now the wife of George S. Adams. 2. Pauline E., who married Frank J. Fleming. 3. Edith Lucy. 4. Arnold Phelps.

GEORGE ARNOLD RICE, M. D .- Well known in Holden and vicinity is Dr. George Arn- old Rice, specialist in diseases of the ear, nose, and throat, and bronchoscopy, one of the early members of the staff of Holden Hospital and one of the founders of Holden Clinic.

Dr. George Arnold Rice was born in Worcester, September 30, 1891, received his early education in the public schools of his native city and then, after completing his high school course, entered Tufts College, at Boston, where he completed his med- ical course with graduation cum laude in 1916. He served his interneship in the Rhode Island Hos- pital, at Providence, and then, like thousands of other young men all over the country, decided that the World War offered opportunity for un- usual service and surgical and medical experience. Commissioned a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps, United States Army, he was attached to the British Army, serving with the Royal Flying Corps for five months. Then he was assigned back to the United States Army Air Service for thirteen months in the 186th Air Squadron, having

296

WORCESTER COUNTY

charge of this division in health, sanitation, and accident in addition to his duties as surgeon. Eighteen months of this service, during which time he ministered to some of the most terrible cases of mutilation and suffering possible to the human race, gave him unusually valuable experience, so far as general surgery was concerned and made him painfully familiar with the blighting, devastating effects of war. After the close of the war he con- tinued in the Reserve Corps, subject to call at any time, for a period of five years. But as soon as the need for active service was over he resigned, which left him holding three commissions, one of first lieu- tenant and two of captain. On October 1, 1919, he located in Holden, in association with Dr. Wash- burn (a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work) and helped to organize the now well- known and highly efficient Holden Clinic, which has the distinction of being the only one located in a small town in the State. The fact that this clinic is located in a small town, however, has not prevented its development into one of the finest of its kind to be found anywhere. Five physicians and surgeons, all specialists in their field, have their offices in the building, and together form a body of highly skilled men prepared to give expert service in combating any disease. At the same time that the Holden Clinic was founded, Dr. Washburn and Dr. Rice were conducting, in a private home, a hospital of six beds. That small private hospital has, under the skillful management of its founders, grown and developed until it has become the splendid institution known as Holden District Hospital, housed in a fine building of its own, equipped with every possible convenience and device for the scientific treatment of disease, and offering accommodation for forty patients. To it patients come from all parts of Massachusetts and from neighboring states, drawn by the reputation for skill of the staff and excellence of care given in the hospital. Of the seven hundred and forty patients who have entered the hospital in the past year, including those needing five hundred and forty-three major and minor operations, only twenty-six have died, record of which any hospital might well be proud. In connection with the hos- pital and clinic a visiting nurses' branch is main- tained, and during the past year these nurses visited four hundred and forty-three patients. As a mem- ber of the staff of both hospital and clinic, Dr. Rice serves as a specialist in diseases of the ear, nose, and throat. He is also a member of the staff of the Rutland State Sanatorium and of the Worcester County Sanitorium, to which institu- tions he goes whenever he is called. As the Rut- land State Sanatorium, which is the first hospital founded in the United States for the treatment of tuberculosis only, has three hundred and eighty beds, Dr. Rice, who has a large general practice in addition to his special institutional duties, is a very busy man. He is a member of the Wachu- sett Medical Society, Massachusetts State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, and also of the American Sanitorium Association. In addition to his very numerous and exacting duties, he has also found time to write on medical topics for publication. Fraternally, he is identified with West Boylston Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Worcester Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar. He was a member of Company No.

I, Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, and Phi Chi medical college fraternity.

Dr. George Arnold Rice married, June 29, 1922, Helen G. Spooner, of Providence, Rhode Island. daughter of B. Franklin Spooner, a well-known wholesale dealer in notions, of Providence, where he has been located for many years. Dr. Rice met his future wife while serving his interneship in the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, where Miss Spooner, a graduate of that hospital was serving as a nurse. Dr. and Mrs. Rice have two children: Jack H. and Marilyn N.

FRANCIS HENSHAW DEWEY-As law- yer, capitalist, corporation official, Francis Hen- shaw Dewey was prominently identified with the industrial and commercial growth and development of the city of Worcester. He was a native of this progressive city, born March 23, 1856. Mr. Dewey was a son of Francis H. and Sarah B. (Tufts) Dewey, both of an old line of New Eng- land ancestry whose families were very prominent in business and professional life antedating the Revolutionary War.

After the regular preparatory education at St. Mark's School, Southborough, Mr. Dewey entered Williams College, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1876, also being elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society; he re- ceived the Master of Arts degree in 1879. From Harvard he received, in 1878, the degree of Bach- elor of Laws. After leaving college he began the study of law in Worcester, was admitted to the bar of Worcester County in 1879, and practiced here until his death.

Mr. Dewey was actively connected with thirty corporations and institutions as an official and director in many of the most important industrial, financial and commercial enterprises in Massa- chusetts and was one of the foremost men of large affairs in the city of Worcester. After serving thirty-two years as president of Mechanics Na- tional Bank, he resigned to accept the chairman- ship of its board, and a younger man, Frederic B. Washburn, became its president. He was chair- man of the board of the New England Investment and Security Company; director of the Springfield Railway Company; in 1893 was made attorney and director and in 1897 president of the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Company, served twenty-five years as president, and then was chair- man of the board; was a director of the Worces- ter and Webster Railway Company, the Interstate Consolidated Street Railway Company, Attleboro, the Branch Railroad Company and the Webster and Dudley Street Railway Company; was a direc- tor, counsel and vice-president of the Worcester Gas Light Company; past vice-president, trustee and on the board of investment of the Worcester Mechanics' Savings Bank; vice-president of the Worcester Morris Plan Company; director on the executive committee of the New England Tele- phone and Telegraph Company ; director of the Mas- sachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company; pres- ident of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad Com- pany, the New London Northern Railroad Com- pany, and the Proprietors of the Bay State House; and was a director and president of several other business corporations. Mr. Dewey was vice-pres- ident and treasurer of Clark University and Clark College; trustee of Williams College; president of

حـ

Francis A. Deway,

297

WORCESTER COUNTY

the Worcester Art Museum; president of the Home for Aged Men; vice-president of the Memorial Hospital; chairman of the board of commissioners of the City of Worcester Hospital Funds; direc- tor of the Asscociated Charities of Worcester; member of the council of the American Antiquarian Society; president of the Rufus Putnam Memo- rial Association; treasurer of the St. Wulstan Society; member of the Colonial Society of Mas- sachusetts; trustee of the Walter E. Fernald School for the Feeble-Minded, named in memory of Dr. Fernald, who had been in charge of that institution, which is situated in Waverly, Massachusetts, for thirty-five years. He was a member and formerly vice-president of the Worcester County Bar Asso- ciation and the Worcester Chamber of Commerce. His club affiliations were as follows: Worcester Club, Tatnuck Country Club, Worcester Fire So- ciety, St. Wulstan Society, University Club and Williams Club of New York, Kappa Alpha So- ciety of Williams College, Union Club of Boston, and Point Judith Country Club, Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, of which he was a past pres- ident. He was a member of the Second Parish (First Unitarian) Church

During the period of the World War Mr. Dewey was on local and State committees and very prominent in Red Cross and Liberty Loan drives.

On December 12, 1878, Francis H. Dewey mar- ried Lizzie Davis Bliss, daughter of Harrison Bliss and Sarah (Howe) Bliss, of Worcester. Their son, Francis H. Dewey, Jr., was graduated from Williams College in 1909 and from Harvard Law School in 1912 and was in the War Depart- ment for eighteen months during the World War, at Washington, District of Columbia, serving as one of the assistants in that department. He is counsel and trustee of the Mechanics Savings Bank and counsel and director of the Mechanics Na- tional Bank, both of Worcester; director of the Merchants and Farmers Insurance Company of Worcester, and a director in several other indus- trial and financial corporations. He married Doro- thy Bowen of Providence, Rhode Island, and they are the parents of two girls and two boys, Elizabeth Bowen Dewey, Francis H. Dewey, 4th, Dorothy Dewey and Henry Bowen Dewey. They reside in Worcester. Their daughter, Elizabeth B., married Rockwood H. Bullock, of Worcester, son of the late A. George Bullock, for many years president of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worcester. They are the parents of four chil- dren: A. George, Francis Dewey, Elizabeth Chand- ler, and Mary Chandler Bullock.

Francis Henshaw Dewey passed away April 20, 1933.

JOHN C. DEWEY-In length of practice, John Clarke Dewey, well known patent attorney of Worcester, ranked among the oldest in the city, having been admitted to the bar in 1881. Over a period of half a century he handled patent nego- tiations for some of the city's largest manufac- turing establishments. He was a son of Hon. Fran- cis H. and Sarah B. (Tufts) Dewey, members of prominent pioneer families of New England, whose eminence in business and professional life dates from the Colonial period, and was a brother of

Francis Henshaw Dewey (q. v.), lawyer, financier and corporation official. .

John Clarke Dewey was born at Worcester, May 19, 1857, and was prepared to enter college by studies in the local grade and high schools, and the Fay and St. Mark's schools of Southboro. He then entered Williams College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1878, holding the degree of Bachelor of Arts; later he was awarded his Master's degree in Arts. Mr. Dewey was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. In 1881 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of the legal profession. Patent law interested him from the first and he became one of the recognized authorities on this phase of law in New England. Mr. Dewey studied patent law under Thomas H. Dodge, with whom he became associated in 1881, a partnership which continued from that year until 1884. After that and until his death he practiced without affiliations with any law firm. Among his clients were the former Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company, the Royal Worcester Corset Company and other important corporations.

Mr. Dewey was a member of the Worcester County Bar Association, the Massachusetts State Bar Association and the American Bar Associa- tion. Besides his connection with his college fra- ternity, Mr. Dewey was a member of the Uni- versity and Williams College clubs of New York, the Union Club of Boston, and the Worcester Club, Tatnuck Country Club, of which he was an early member, Quinsigamond Boat Club, and other clubs of the city. His religious faith was that of the Protestant Episcopal Church. For many years he was a trustee of the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton. Mr. Dewey inherited the old home- stead of the Dewey family at No. 23 Chestnut Street, one of the finest old Colonial mansions of Worcester, where his father lived for many years and all his brothers and sisters were born.

On June 12, 1888, John Clarke Dewey married Sarah B. Dewey, of Newton, Massachusetts, and they were the parents of two children: I. John C. Dewey, Jr., treasurer of the Berkshire Life Insur- ance Company, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who, during the World War, was a first lieutenant and aviation ground officer in the army service at Kelly Field, Texas. He has been made a trustee of the Clarke School in his father's place. He married Marjorie D. Talbot, and is the father of two chil- dren: John Clarke Dewey, 3d, and Talbot A. Dewey. 2. Daniel, of the Eaton Spring and Axel Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, who married Edith French, and they are the parents of four children: Daniel, Jr., Joseph Eaton, Winsor French and Edith Ide.

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 76

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