USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III > Part 77
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John Clarke Dewey died on September 13, 1932, at the age of seventy-five years. His had been the useful career of a civic-minded citizen. Gifted intellectually, disciplined in mind and body, with a capacity for intense and continued work, courte- ous, kindly, generous, John C. Dewey had many friends who deeply mourned his passing.
GEORGE TUFTS DEWEY-Member of a family long distinguished in Massachusetts life, George Tufts Dewey has been an active member of the Worcester bar for many years.
Mr. Dewey was born at Worcester on Septem- ber 12, 1858, a son of the Hon. Francis Henshaw
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and Sarah Barker (Tufts) Dewey. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all mem- bers of the Massachusetts judiciary. This family was established in America by Thomas Dewey, who came from Sandwich, Kent, England in 1633 and settled in Dorchester.
George Tufts Dewey received his preliminary education in public and private schools of Worces- ter. Subsequently he attended Fay School at Southboro, Mount Pleasant Institute, at Amherst, from which he was graduated in 1875, and Wil- liams College, where he took the degree of Bach- elor of Arts with honors in 1879 and the further degree of Master of Arts in 1882. He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity at Wil- liams. Meanwhile he had begun the study of law in the offices of Bacon and Hopkins in Worcester, and later entered Harvard Law School, where he completed his studies in 1882. In the same year he was admitted to the bar in Worcester and began practice in the office of the Hon. Frank P. Gould- ing. From 1883 to 1907 he was engaged in gen- eral practice with Thomas G. Kent under the firm name of Kent and Dewey, and since that time has continued alone. Mr. Dewey has largely special- ized in corporation law and has served as coun- sel to many corporations and other important con- cerns.
On the death of his father in 1887, he succeeded him as director and general counsel for the Wash- burn and Moen Manufacturing Company, continu- ing in that capacity until 1898, when the company was absorbed by the American Steel and Wire Company. Among the other corporations, with which he has been associated as counsel and direc- tor, may be mentioned: Grafton and Knight Man- ufacturing Company (vice-president); Worcester Electric Light Company (president for a short time); Wright Wire Company (for some time treas- urer); Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Company (treasurer) ; Baldwin Chain and Man- ufacturing Company (president, also treasurer for some time) ; Massachusetts Corset Company (treas- surer) ; and Pure Ice Company (treasurer). Upon the organization of the Columbian National Life Insurance Company of Boston, he became one of its directors.
Mr. Dewey is a member of the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Worcester County Bar Association. He was also a member of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Club, the Harvard Club of Worcester, the Worcester Branch of the For- eign Policy Association, the Worcester Historical Society, the Williams College clubs of Boston, New York and Worcester, the Worcester County Williams College Alumni Association, the Union Club of Boston, the Worcester Club, the Worces- ter Country Club, the Tatnuck Country Club, the Twentieth Century Club of Worcester and the Quinsigamond Boat Club. He is a member and vestryman of All Saints' Protestant Episcopal Church, was a director of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association and a member of its building committee, a member of the advisory board of the Young Women's Christian Association, and was formerly president of the Worcester Boys' Club.
On June 28, 1898, George Tufts Dewey mar- ried Mary Linwood Nichols, daughter of Dr. Lemuel Bliss and Lydia Carter (Anthony) Nich- ols of Worcester. They are the parents of three
children: I. Mary Linwood, born in Florence, Italy, now the wife of Richard G. Norris. 2. George Tufts, Jr., born in Worcester on April 23, 1900. He served in the United States Navy during the World War. 3. Charles Nichols, born in Worcester on July 7, 1903; married Barbara Bruske.
JAMES P. BERGEN-In the offices of treas- urer of the Webster Cooperative Bank and of town treasurer of Webster, James P. Bergen has discharged important responsibilities for which he is well fitted by experience. Born in Leicester, Massachusetts, September 16, 1885, Mr. Bergen is the son of Michael and Jane (Fitzpatrick) Bergen, both parents natives of Queenstown, Ireland, who came to America about 1870 and settled in Leices- ter, where the father, now deceased, pursued the trade of a carpenter. Having received his educa- tion in the public schools and at Leicester Acad- emy, James P. Bergen engaged in the grocery business in association with his brothers in Oxford, Massachusetts.
He next took up the profession of accountancy and was connected with an office of the Boston and Albany Railroad Company for four years. Later he had charge of all the accountancy work at the Cheney Silk Mills in Manchester, Connect- icut, and after resigning his position there he came to Webster. In 1918 he was made office manager of the Slater Converting Works in Webster and filled the position for six years. He resigned in 1924 to accept the office of treasurer of the Web- ster Cooperative Bank. He was elected town treasurer of Webster in 1927 to fill a vacancy, and has been reëlected annually. In 1928 he was a candidate for State treasurer of Massachusetts, but failed of election. He is a member of the Demo- cratic town committee of Webster and an influen- tial citizen in local politics. His fraternal alliances are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Bergen married (first), June 2, 1914, Mar- garet M. Glory, and by this marriage there is a son, James, born September 12, 1916. Mrs. Bergen died in December, 1919. He married (second), November 29, 1930, Lillian N. McGuinness.
REV. HARRY J. HACKETT-St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at Charlton City is strik- ingly located on an eminence on the main thorough- fare from Worcester to Springfield. Although it is a small church, it cannot fail to attract the visitor. It is presided over by the Rev. Harry J. Hackett, who has been the pastor since 1930.
This parish was organized in 1900; previous to that it had been a mission of St. Mary's Church, at Southbridge. For a considerable period the con- gregation worshipped in a chapel, named Sacred Heart, but with the coming of Father John Bell in 1900 as permanent pastor, a new site was pur- chased, where a large and more beautiful church was soon built. Shortly afterwards he acquired the house and land across the street from the new church which was converted into the parish rectory. Father Bell, who is now pastor of St. Peter's Church in Worcester, remained at Charlton City for ten years. The next pastor was Father Michael Welsh, who remained at St. Joseph's until he died in 1922, a man much beloved by all his parishioners. He was succeeded by the Rev. James J. Hussey,
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who, in turn, was followed by the Rev. Matthew J. Boyne, now of Pittsfield. During Father Boyne's pastorate the church was destroyed by fire in 1923. For the next year the parishioners wor- shipped in a garage, during which time the present church was built. The new church, seating about three hundred, was completed and ready for oc- cupancy in 1924. This edifice is attractive to visitors and parishioners alike. The fine impres- sion created by the exterior is continued as the worshipper enters the portals of the church, where the rich, dark wood of the pews and other fixtures, the spaciousness of the dome-shaped ceiling and the luminous radiance of the stained glass windows induce a mood of reverence and awe.
Father Hackett was born in Portland, Maine, but came to Worcester with his parents at five years of age. He received his preliminary educa- tion in schools of that city, attending Quinsiga- mond Grammar School and Classical High School. In 1907 he was graduated from Holy Cross Col- lege at Worcester and subsequently entered Grand Seminary at Montreal to complete his theological studies. Here he was ordained to the priesthood on December 17, 1910. Father Hackett's first charge was at Mount St. Vincent, Holyoke, Mas- sachusetts, where he served as chaplain for a short time. He then went to St. Mary's Church in Northampton, Massachusetts, and was assistant pastor there for two and a half years. Thereafter, until 1918, he was assistant pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Worcester.
Following the entry of the United States into the World War, Father Hackett volunteered his services and in 1918 went to France and was assigned as chaplain to Base Hospital No. 101. Later he was assigned to other divisions and Base Hospital No. 85. During his service he was brought into full contact with the horror and suf- fering of war. He remained in France until July. 1919, when he returned to the United States and received his discharge at Camp Dix, New Jersey. Returning to Worcester he was assigned to St. Ann's Church, Worcester, where he remained one and one-half years. For the next five years he served at St. Bernard's Church at Fitchburg, and then returned to St. Stephen's Church in Worces- ter, continuing for another four years. In July, 1930, he was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Church at Charlton City and came to his present charge. In the years that have passed, Father Hackett's cordial manner and kindly spirit have endeared him not only to the people of his own parish, but to his neighbors, all of whom look upon him as a true friend. His long experience with church problems and his ability as an administrator have won him in equal measure the respect of his community and have had very favorable results for the parish, whose steady progress reflects his guid- ing hand. St. Joseph's Church has the following societies which are vigorous and active: Holy Name Society, for men; Junior Holy Name So- ciety, for boys; and Rosary Sodality and Children of Mary for women and girls.
NICHOLAS FUSARO-The popular and able attorney-at-law, Nicholas Fusaro, of Worces- ter, is a native of the city, born April 19, 1898, son of Carmine and Mary Grace (Mammone) Fusaro, both of whom are of Italian birth, came to the United States in 1888, and after a year's
stay in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, settled in Worces- ter. Carmine Fusaro was for many years engaged in a mercantile business of his own establishment. He died March 3, 1926.
Nicholas Fusaro attended the local public schools of Worcester and was graduated from English High School with the class of 1915. He then matriculated at Northeastern Law School, and was in attendance there for the greater part of two years. He also studied law with Fusaro, Simpson and Foley, and was admitted to the bar of Worces- ter County, March, 1923. Later in that same year, he began the practice of his profession and in 1924 became a member of the law firm of Fusaro and Fusaro, the partnership consisting of two broth- ers, Nunziato and Nicholas Fusaro. He is a member of the Massachusetts State and Worcester County Bar associations. Fusaro and Fusaro have come to be known as one of the important law firms of the city, its members being held in high esteem by the legal profession. A clientele has been built up that is loyal and large.
Nicholas Fusaro takes a lively interest in every- thing that makes for the progress and betterment of the municipality and its people. Although not particularly interested in politics he has contributed valuably to civic advance. He is a member of the Wachusett Country Club and of the Beato Angelo D'Acri Mutual Benefit Association. Golf fur- nishes him with his favorite means of recreation, although he is fond of travel and serious reading.
On June 29, 1927, Mr. Fusaro married Dorothy G. Coonan, of Worcester. Mr. and Mrs. Fusaro reside at No. 4 Dean Street, Worcester.
FRANK E. SESSIONS-As president of the F. E. Sessions Company, manufacturers of caskets, and treasurer of the firm of George Sessions and Sons, undertakers, the late Frank E. Sessions was for many years the head of one of the oldest con- cerns of its kind in New England.
George Sessions, father of Frank E. Sessions and founder of the concerns mentioned above, was born in Worcester, October 23, 1814, and died there, November 8, 1901, son of George and Lucina (Lombard) Sessions and a descendant of the im- migrant Samuel Sessions, who was born in Eng- land, but settled in Andover, Massachusetts, about 1630. The line descends from Samuel, the immi- grant, through his son Alexander; his son Natha- niel; his son Amasa; his son Samuel; his son George, born in Union, Connecticut, in 1771, set- tled in Heath, Massachusetts, married Lucina Lom- bard, daughter of Joseph Lombard, a soldier of the Revolution, and granddaughter of Joseph Lom- bard, also a Revolutionary soldier, and they became the parents of George Sessions, founder of the firm of George Sessions and Sons. George Ses- sions attended the schools of his home town until he was seventeen and then came to Worcester to make his way in the world. Willing to work at whatever he could find to do, he found employ- ment as a farm hand for a while and later entered the employ of the State Lunatic Asylum on Sum- mer Street, where he remained for twelve years. About 1848, as a member of the firm of Howe and Sessions, he engaged in the manufacture of tools for shoemakers and in 1849 was manufactur- ing boot trees in Heywood's building. In 1850 he was appointed city undertaker and sexton and about that time he located at No. 63 Front Street, sold
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his manufacturing business to his partner, John Howe, formed a partnership with Danforth B. Cummings, and engaged in the undertaking busi- ness. The partnership continued for two years, but in 1852 it was dissolved and Horace G. Mirick became Mr. Sessions' partner. For a time the business was located on Thomas Street, but later it was removed to No. 29 Front Street, and about 1874 it was again moved, this time to No. 9 Trumbull Street. The firm of George Sessions and Sons was the first established and the fore- most undertaking establishment in the city of Wor- cester, and until 1886 Mr. Sessions held the office of city undertaker. In that year he retired from active participation in business, Waldo E. Sessions, taking charge of the undertaking business. About this time the Frank E. Sessions Company was formed and Frank E. Sessions took charge of this enterprise. George Sessions lived to see the busi- ness he had founded pass its fiftieth birthday, and during that long period of successful activity he had charge of thousands of funerals, including those of many distinguished men. During the Civil War period he gave free burial to many soldiers, and in addition to this, throughout his career, many families, unable to pay, received receipted bills for services rendered. George Ses- sions was married, in 1838, to Mary Goves Mirick, of Holden, Massachusetts, who died October 21, 1888, three weeks after the celebration of their golden wedding. They were the parents of three children. One of these was Waldo E., born in Heath, Massachusetts, February 12, 1843, died in Worcester, January 31, 1907, conducted the under- taking business after the retirement of his father; he married Josephine Ufford, and they had three children: I. Laura. 2. Mary E. 3. Waldo E., Jr., who succeeded his father as president of the firm of George Sessions and Sons, Inc .; he married, July 14, 1902, Marie G. Webb, daughter of George D. Webb, and they have five children.
Frank E. Sessions, son of George and Mary Goves (Mirick) Sessions, was born in Worcester, May 22, 1852. He received his education in the public schools of Worcester and then associated himself with the undertaking and casket manu- facturing business established by his father. Soon after passing his twenty-first birthday he was ad- mitted to partnership with his father and in 1887 he became the head of the firm of F. E. Sessions and Company. From that time on he devoted his attention to the manufacture of caskets. Like his father, he began in a small way, employing at first only four men, but the business grew rapidly and by 1919 he was employing more than a hundred men and providing day and night service for more than a thousand undertakers located within a radius of three hundred miles from Worcester, making it by far the largest business of its kind in New England. As the business has grown the quarters have been enlarged, until at the present time the concern occupies three six-story buildings on Eaton Place. Mr. Sessions continued successfully in busi- ness until his death, August 7, 1931. Fraternally, he was identified with Athelstan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Worcester, which he served for forty years, to the time of his resignation in 1926, as treasurer. He was also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter, the Council of Royal and Select Masters, Worcester County Commandery of Knights Templar, and all the Scottish Rite bodies
including the Massachusetts Consistory, which con- ferred upon him the thirty-second degree. He was likewise a member of the Rotary Club, in the affairs of which he took an active part for many years, and of the Worcester Country Club. Mr. Sessions was held in very high esteem, not only as an able business man whose integrity protected his patrons from any deviation from fair dealing, but as a citizen, friend, and neighbor, known and loved for his scrupulous honesty and for his many admirable qualities of character.
Frank E. Sessions married (first), April 22, 1874, Anna Josephine Scranton, daughter of Craw- ford and Annie (Montgomery) Scranton, of Prov- idence, Rhode Island. They became the parents of four children: 1. George, born and died in 1875. 2. Florence, born June 26, 1876; married, October 6, 1899, Edmund A. Garland. 3. Ethel, born De- cember 25, 1880. 4. George, born 1886, died in 1888. Mr. Sessions married (second), in 1909, Ger- trude Kerns, who survives him. They had two children: 5. Mary Goves, born July 1, 1910. 6. Frank E., Jr., born January 23, 1912; now con- nected with the business established by his grand- father and developed by his father.
JOSEPH IRA LINDSAY, M. D .- For forty- five years Dr. Joseph Ira Lindsay, now of Grafton, has been engaged in practice as a physician and surgeon-in Worcester for more than thirty years of this time. Though he planned to retire when he removed to Grafton in 1928, he is still, at the urgent request of many of those whom he has served so long, keeping up a limited practice, both in Grafton and Worcester.
Ira Lindsay, father of Dr. Lindsay, was born in South Leeds, Maine, son of Robert Lindsay, who later removed from Maine to Grafton, Massa- chusetts, and descendant of David Lindsay, immi- grant ancestor. The latter, who left Scotland in 1745, had formerly lived in the North of Ireland for a time, then came to America and settled in Maine in 1750. Here he died and his widow and two sons later removed to Massachusetts. Ira Lindsay received his education in the local schools of his birthplace and then learned the machinist's trade, which he followed until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted in Company A, 25th Massachusetts Regiment. He served under Gen- eral Grant, took part in the battles of the Wilder- ness and at Cold Harbor, Virginia, where he was killed, June 3, 1864. Ira Lindsay married Mary Catherine Estabrook, who was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, January 18, 1830, daughter of Captain Washington Estabrook and descendant of several of the pioneers of Massachusetts. Ira and Mary Catherine (Estabrook) Lindsay had three children: I. Ellen, born May 6, 1858, married Albert B. Curtis. 2. Kate Elizabeth, born Janu- ary 16, 1860, married Charles D. Kendall, for many years president of the Warren Leather Goods Company of Worcester, whose career is described in a separate article. 3. Joseph Ira, of further mention.
Dr. Joseph Ira Lindsay, son of Ira and Mary Catherine (Estabrook) Lindsay, was born at No. 43 Orchard Street, Worcester, September 21, 1863. Nine months later his father was killed in action at Cold Harbor, and the mother, with her three small children went to Grafton, where Joseph Ira attended the public schools until he was eighteen
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years old and then went West, where for a year he was employed in the office of the city engineer of Denver, Colorado. He followed this profession first on an irrigating proposition in southwestern Colorado, later in charge of a level party at Pikes Pike and still later with the Colorado Midland Railroad Company for three years. During this time he was also studying medicine and finally he decided that he would become a physician, and he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. George W. Cox, of Denver, Colorado. Here he remained until he entered the Medical School of the University of Vermont, from which he was graduated in 1888. For several months after grad- uation he served as ambulance surgeon at Bellevue Hospital, New York City, and then, in 1889, he began practice in Paris, New York. For five years he remianed there, building up a considerable prac- tice, but at the end of that time he made a change, locating in Galveston, Texas, where he was en- gaged in general practice during the next four years. On January 1, 1897, he came to Worcester, built a house on Oberlin Street, and opened his office there. Here he steadily built up a large prac- tice as physician and surgeon, specializing some- what as an orthopedic surgeon. On September I, 1919, he became a member of the staff of the outpatient department of the Memorial Hospital, in which capacity he continued to serve for the next ten years. At the end of that time he resigned from that position and in the fall of 1919 went to Westboro, where he took up general practice. Here he remained, going occasionally to Worcester in response to calls from his old patients. In July, 1928, he removed to his present home on North Street in Grafton, planning to retire, but the desire of many of his old patients has induced him to still keep an office and he is taking care of a practice which he carefully limits. During the World War he was medical examiner for the local board No. 4 of Worcester. He gives much time to his hobby, the cultivation and propagation of choice flowers, including roses. Dr. Lindsay has a host of friends, and he is making the most of the leisure time which his carefully limited practice permits him to enjoy. He is a member of the Worcester District Medical Society, Massachu- setts Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. During the earliest years of his professional practice he joined the New York State Medical Society, which he was serving as vice-president at the time of his removal to Gal- veston, Texas. Fraternally, he is identified with Siloam Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Westboro, to which he came by demit from Sau- quoit, Lodge, No. 150, of Paris, New York, which he joined in 1889. He is also a member of Eureka Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Worcester. He is a member of the Congregational Club, the Eco- nomic Club, and the Rotary Club; and is the organizer of the Practitioners Club, a select club of which he has been a member for the past thirty- three years. His religious affiliation is with the Unitarian Church, which he has served as clerk of the parish for a number of years.
Dr. Joseph Ira Lindsay married, at Colorado Springs, October 8, 1883, Alena M. Wheeler, who was born in New York State, daughter of Cyrus and Eliza (Richards) Wheeler. Dr. and Mrs. Lindsay became the parents of two children:
I. Julian Ira, of further mention. 2. Maynard Clare, who died in infancy.
Julian Ira Lindsay, son of Dr. Joseph Ira and Alena M. (Wheeler) Lindsay, was born May 22, 1886. He received his early education in the pub- lic schools of Worcester, and after completing his preparatory courses entered Clark University, of Worcester, from which he was graduated in 1908, receiving the Bachelor's degree. He continued his studies in Harvard University, from which he re- ceived his Master's degree in 1910. He then went to University of Vermont at Burlington and took a position as teacher of English and French. In 1919 he returned to take his Doctor of Philosophy degree. At this time he became an instructor of English in Harvard College, which position he filled most ably till after the Armistice was signed when he returned to the University of Vermont, where he has since remained as a professor of English. He is a member of the Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Burlington, Ver- mont, and is also a member of several college fraternities. Julian Ira Lindsay married, August 19, 1913, Evelyn Elizabeth Enright, who was born in Burlington, Vermont, a graduate of Smith Col- lege. She then took a position as principal of the high school at Highgate, Vermont, and later be- came a teacher at the Burlington, Vermont, High School. In 1932 She was made an honorary mem- ber of Phi Beta Kappa. They have two children.
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