Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 80

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 80

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Spencer after his return from the Civil War, in which he had participated as a member of the 42d Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. In 1890 he and his partner, Charles Bemis, liquidated their shoe manufacturing business. For two terms he served as a member of the Massachusetts Legis- lature and for several years served on the Spencer Board of Selectmen. He was chairman of the library committee, and otherwise active in the community, in which he attained a high popularity. He was a charter member of Spencer Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He died in January, 1922, at the age of eighty-one. He married Harriet Boyce, a native, like himself, of Spencer. She died in December, 1919.

Charles E. Allen was born in Spencer, January 23, 1886, passed through the public schools, was graduated from the Spencer High School in 1903, entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was graduated in the class of 1907, and for two years after graduation was retained as a member of the staff of instructors in civil engineering. His entry into the boot and shoe manufacturing industry was made as an associate of the Isaac Prouty Com- pany, where he was situated for three years. The ensuing four years he was connected with the H. H. Brown Company in North Brookfield. It was in 1916 that he united with Edmund H. Squire (q. v.) in the formation of the Allen-Squire Com- pany, of which he became treasurer and general manager, and Mr. Squire president. The company occupies four buildings of its own in Spencer, and in normal times it provides employment for about six hundred and fifty people. Its shoes go to customers in every State of the Union, and the company and its principals enjoy a fine reputation for honesty, superior workmanship and straight- forward dealings.

Mr. Allen is vice-president of the Spencer Na- tional Bank and treasurer of the William Brooks Shoe Company at Nelsonville, Ohio. He served as a member of the Spencer Board of Selectmen for one year. He is vice-president of the Worcester Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, a member of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Na- tional Geographic Society, the University Club of Worcester, the Tatnuck Country Club, the Eco- nomics Club and the Forbush Bird Club of Worcester.

Charles E. Allen married, September 10, 1910, Ruth P. Kane, of Spencer, and they have four children: Barbara, Boyd, Penelope and Pliny. Mrs. Allen is active in women's and social work. She is chairman of the local group of Girl Scouts and a member of the Monday Club and the Congrega- tional Church.

EDMUND HINCKS SQUIRE-Born in Sharon, Massachusetts, July 27, 1886, Edmund Hincks Squire, president of the Allen-Squire Com- pany, shoe manufacturers of Spencer, is the son of Edmund B. and Minnie E. (States) Squire. He received his preliminary education in the pub- lic schools of Concord, Massachusetts, and at the Malden High School, where he was graduated in 1903. He was graduated from Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, class of 1907. For three years after graduation he taught physics at the institute. He entered the industrial world with the Johns-Manville Company at Boston. In 1916 he joined Charles E. Allen (q. v.) in the organiza-

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tion of the Allen-Squire Company, manufacturers of shoes, in Spencer, becoming president of the con- cern. The company's products are men's and boys' Nailed and Goodyear welt work shoes, of which the plant turns out seven to eight thousand pairs per day.

Mr. Squire married, January 26, 1910, Louise P. Kingsbury, of Needham, Massachusetts, and they have a son, Raymond H. Squire.

HAROLD LUTHER FENNER-Since 1928 Harold Luther Fenner has been the efficient prin- cipal of the Classical High School located at the corner of Chatham and Irving streets, Worcester. He has been identified with the Worcester public schools since 1913.

Harold Luther Fenner was born in Fall River, July 12, 1889, son of Herbert Allen Fenner, who was born in Warren, Rhode Island, in 1864, and of Ella Borden (Fisher) Fenner, who was born in Waterbury, Vermont, in 1863, daughter of the Rev. Lyman M. Fisher and Lucy (Borden) Fisher of Fall River; and grandson of Theodore D. Fen- ner, born in 1830, died in 1879, and Sylvania Brad- ford (Luther) Fenner, who was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1830, and died in 1923, the last named being a descendant of Governor Bradford of Plymouth and, on the paternal side, of John Luther, the immigrant, who early settled at Taun- ton, Massachusetts. Harold Luther Fenner re- moved with his parents to Worcester in 1894, when he was only five years old, and attended the public schools of Worcester, graduating from the Classical High School in 1907. The following fall he matriculated at Clark College, in Worces- ter, from which he was graduated in 1910, receiv- ing at that time the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his college years Mr. Fenner was active in general athletics, baseball, track, basketball, and was also a member of the Glee Club. During this time, also, he became deeply interested in banking. He was majoring in history and economics and giving special attention to theory of education, and in 1907, the year he began his college course, took a part time position in the Merchants National Bank, a small concern founded the year before and employing at that time only eight men. There, throughout his college career, he spent his spare time and his vacations, earning and gaining valuable experience and practical knowledge of the banking phase of economic problems. Later, he was iden- tified with the Park Trust Company in the same way, spending part time for a period of six years in this connection.

Meantime, however, he was going on with his professional career. After graduation from Clark College in 1910 he began teaching in the high school at Quincy, Massachusetts, where he re- mained for two years. From September, 1912, to March, 1913, he was principal of the high school at Portland, Connecticut, and in March of that year he came to Worcester as a teacher in the English High School. While teaching at Quincy and at Portland he had been adding to his profes- sional equipment by graduate study at Yale Uni- versity, year of 1912-13, and at Clark Univer- sity in 1913-14 he continued post-graduate work, specializing in history, economics, and theory of education. In the fall of 1914 he was transferred from the English High School to the Commercial High School and there he remained until 1922,

when he was made assistant principal of North High School. In May, 1928, he was made prin- cipal of the Classical High School, which respon- sible executive position he is still filling with marked efficiency. For eleven years of the time he has been in Worcester, Mr. Fenner has also served as instructor in economic subjects at the Worcester branch of Northeastern University. Both as instructor and as executive, Mr. Fenner has shown ability of a high order, and in both lines of activity he has found his practical experi- ence in banking to be a great help. In Worcester he has exerted a wholesome influence over suc- cessive groups of boys and girls and in so doing has contributed much to the welfare of the city. He is a member of the Worcester Principals' Club, the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the Massachusetts High School Principals' Association, also of the Worces- ter Historical Society and of the University Club. Fraternally, he is identified with the Free and Accepted Masons and is a Past Master of Morning Star Lodge; a member of Worcester Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Past Illustrious Master of Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters; and Past District Deputy Grand Master of the Twenty- first Masonic District. His religious affiliation is with the Union Congregational Church of Worces- ter.

Harold Luther Fenner married, July 22, 1913, Frances Whitby, who was born in Portland, Con- necticut, May 19, 1890, daughter of Samuel B. and Mary (Simpson) Whitby. Mrs. Fenner's father was superintendent of the well-known brown- stone quarries located at Portland, and she at- tended the public schools of Portland and then entered the State Normal School at New Britain, Connecticut, from which she was graduated. Mr. and Mrs. Fenner became the parents of two chil- dren: I. Harold W., born in 1914, died young. 2. Dorothy Bradford, born October 27, 1921.

HAROLD EUGENE WALKER, as treas- urer of the Walker Funeral Home, Inc., at Gard- ner, operates a mortuary establishment of the finest type. He has been engaged in this enterprise dur- ing the past eight years and has won a recognized place in Gardner life.

Mr. Walker was born at Haverhill, Massachu- setts, on March 1, 1895, a son of Eugene and Frances (Crabtree) Walker. His mother died in May, 1929. His father, formerly a shoe manu- facturer at Haverhill and later a member of the permanent fire department, is now living retired.

Harold Eugene Walker received his preliminary education in the public schools and the high school of Haverhill. Subsequently he took a business course at Columbia University, attended commer- cial college in Washington, District of Columbia, and the New England Institute of Anatomy at Boston. About 1912, in Washington, he took the civil service examinations and entered the govern- ment service as a shorthand writer in the clerical offices. Subsequently he enlisted in the United States Navy and was a member of the Pay Corps altogether for some ten years, rising to the grade of paymaster. He was in the navy during the World War, serving on five different ships and several foreign stations.

In 1921, however, Mr. Walker resigned his com- mission from the navy and left Washington, becom-

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ing connected with the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York, where he was employed in the accounting department. He was assistant auditor of contract accounts of the company for a period of three years. At the end of that time he came to Gardner and opened the Funeral Par- lors at No. 91 Vernon Street, which he still oper- ates. Mr. Walker has spared no effort to secure the finest equipment and has made every provision for the comfort and convenience of his patrons. He uses the most modern methods, has two hearses in constant operation and has established a beauti- ful chapel and display room. On the main floor there are seating accommodations for one hundred and twenty-five, while in private family rooms on the second floor some thirty-five or forty can be accommodated. The Walker Funeral Home was incorporated in February, 1933. At that time Mr. Clayton E. Brown became affiliated with the con- cern and is actively engaged as president of the firm.

Apart from his business interests, Mr. Walker is very active in fraternal circles. He is affiliated with Hope Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a Past Master, and in this order is a member of all higher bodies, both York and Scottish Rites, including Pentucket Chapter, Royal Arch Masons at Haverhill; Ivanhoe Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is a Past Com- mander; and the Valley of Albany Consistory, thirty-second degree, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, at Albany, New York. Mr. Walker is also a member of Cyprus Temple, at Albany, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is affiliated, in addition, with William Ellison Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Gardner, of which he is a Past Noble Grand; with Gardner Encampment of the Odd Fellows; Sabin Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah; Jessamine Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is a Past Patron; and Gardner Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. Mr. Walker is also much interested in the Boy Scout movement, taking an active part in the work of the Boy Scouts at Gardner, where he is "Skipper" of the local Sea Scout ship, "Storm Cloud."

In 1917, Harold Eugene Walker married (first) Ruth M. Davis of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She died in June, 1924, leaving one son, Robert Elliott, now (1933) fourteen years old. On March 10, 1927, Mr. Walker married (second) Ida Reid, daughter of William and Ethel Reid of Manchester, New Hampshire. They maintain their home in Gardner. To them a son, Dean Elliott, was born August 8, 1933. Mrs. Walker is actively engaged in the business, having been graduated from the New England Institute of Anatomy and being a registered embalmer.

DARIUS AUSTIN PUTNAM-A scion of distinguished and ancient ancestry, this former well-known funeral director of Worcester, Darius Austin Putnam, lived up to the traditions of the family and during his varied career was al- ways a public-minded citizen and useful mem- ber of the community. At the time of his death, in 1933, he had been a resident of Worces- ter for fifty-nine years. The lineage of his branch of the Putnam family has been traced back to 1199, the first American progenitor being John Putnam, son of Nicholas Putnam of Win- grave, Buckinghamshire, England, and of the seventeenth generation from Simon Putnam. John

Putnam, baptized January 17, 1579, settled in Salem, Massachusetts, as early as 1634. He was the progenitor of General Israel and General Rufus Putnam, also of Captain Archelaus Putnam, father of Andrew Putnam and son of Edward Putnam. All were prominent in the affairs of the early Colonies and the Revolutionary War. The Ed- ward Putnam mentioned was one of the first of the family to scatter from Danvers, the original home of many of the name, and he removed to Sutton in 1737, from which place the family spread to all parts of Worcester County. Direct in line from Edward Putnam was Andrew Putnam, born in Sutton, September 24, 1773, who was one of the pioneers of Rutland, Massachusetts, and the father of Sumner Putnam who married Amelia A. Newton, and they were the parents of Darius Austin Putnam, whose name heads this review.

Darius Austin Putnam was born at Rutland, April 20, 1853, and was reared on the homestead which had been in the family for many years. Like many of the name, his father was a lover of the land and throughout his life was a successful farmer. Darius A. Putnam was educated in the public schools and assisted his father on the farm until he was eighteen years old. He then took a position as a clerk in the Mountain House at Princeton, Massachusetts, a position he held for three summers. At the end of this time, when twenty-one years of age, he purchased a milk route in Worcester, but after a few years, selling out to advantage, he became associated with the whole- sale and retail grocery business with Learned and Newton, of Worcester. At the end of three years he established himself in his own grocery store at No. 142 Central Street, and for six years oper- ated it, finally disposing of it to a good advantage. The following three years he was with A. J. Tillinghast in the grocery business. He then trav- eled for three years for Manning Brothers, boots and shoes. In 1895 he took a position in the undertaking establishment of F. A. Caswell. Here he remained until 1898, when Mr. Putnam entered into a partnership with George G. Hildreth with headquarters at No. 36 Foster Street, and after two years at No. 30 Foster Street. In 1908, at the age of eighty-two, Mr. Hildreth retired from the firm, Mr. Putnam purchasing his interest. In IgII he moved to No. 234 Main Street and opened what was the first funeral parlor in Worcester. In February, 1927, the establishment was moved to its present location at No. 866 Main Street, at which time the business was incorporated, and here he conducted one of the finest funeral parlors in New England. The officers of this corporation were : Darius A. Putnam, president and treasurer ; A. Douglas Clark, vice-president; and Daniel B. Davis, secretary and assistant treasurer. Mr. Put- nam had been a funeral director in Worcester longer than any other member of his profession.

Mr. Putnam always took an active interest in the development of Worcester. He was a mem- ber of the New England Funeral Directors' Asso- ciation. Fraternally he was affiliated with Central Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Rath- bone Lodge, Knights of Pythias; U. S. Grant Commandery, Knights of Malta; Queen Esther Rebekah Lodge; and Cherokee Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men. For many years he had been a member of Plymouth Congregational Church of Worcester, of which he had been a deacon since

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1905 and for many years secretary of its Sunday school.

On December 6, 1876, Mr. Putnam married (first) Martha Rice Stone, born in Rutland, July 14, 1854, who died July 15, 1887, daughter of Stillman and Jeanette (Rice) Stone. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam became the parents of two children: I. Winifred Jeanette, born December 25, 1877; mar- ried (first) Charles W. Reed, organ builder of West Boylston, by which marriage she has a son, Donald P. Reed, of Millbury, who married and has a daughter, Barbara. Mrs. Winifred J. (Put- nam) Reed married (second) Dr. Frank E. Adams, of West Boylston. 2. Nelson Austin, died at the age of seven months. Mr. Putnam married (second), June II, 1893, Alice Edna Gleason, daughter of William Frederick and Maria Mayo (Morse) Glea- son and a descendant of Thomas Gleason, the first of the name in America, who was born in Eng- land in 1607. Through her mother's family she is directly descended from Joseph Morse, pioneer settler of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and of Daniel Morse, of the sixth generation, who served in the American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam adopted a daughter, Dorothy Marie Putnam.

Although Mr. Putnam celebrated his eightieth birthday on April 20, 1933, he showed no signs of his age, but he died soon after, August 17, 1933.

LOUIS LEVINE-Founder and president of the New England Novelty Company, Inc., Louis Levine has been instrumental in building up this fine, well known Leominster industry to large and commanding proportions. It is one of the foremost concerns of the kind, given to the production of novelties for women's wear. The business is rated as one of the live commercial assets of the town.

Born in New York City's "East Side," March 7, 1902, Louis Levine is the son of Samuel and Sarah Levine and, after attending the public schools there, studied in the Peekskill (New York) High School, and entered New York University, where he remained one year and completed his formal education. After a short time engaged in the sell- ing of life insurance, he went to Europe on a busi- ness mission.

He established himself in the manufacture of umbrella tips in Leominster in 1922 and was thus engaged for four years. The business prospered, and it seemed wise to expand the line of produc- tion. In 1926 an advance was made by obtaining a certificate of incorporation for the New England Novelty Company, Inc., which began to manufac- ture also various novelties for the ornamentation of women's dresses, hair, etc., continuing mean- while the production of umbrella tips. The com- pany was capitalized for $10,000, and the officers are: President, Louis Levine; vice-president, Harry Levine; Clerk, Samuel Salny. Its factory is at No. 35 Spruce Street, Leominster, where in normal times employment is given to three hundred and fifteen persons. The products are distributed throughout the country to the jobbing and syndicate trades and they find a ready demand, the goods having a very wide range from the most inexpen- sive to the costliest of novelties of the kinds man- ufactured.

Active in civic affairs in Leominster, Mr. Levine is affiliated with Wilder Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Leominster Chapter, Royal Arch Masons;

Agudas Ackim Society, Leominster Rotary Club and Leominster Country Club.

Mr. Levine married, September 29, 1929, Rae Bass, of Brooklyn, New York, and they have a daughter, Frances. Their home is at No. 146 North Main Street, Leominster.

HARRY LEVINE-Vice-president of one of the leading manufactories of Leominster, the New England Novelty Company, Inc., Harry Levine, although a young man, has had an eventful career.

Born on August 1, 1895, on the East Side of New York City, a son of Samuel and Sarah Levine, he attended public and high school and entered the College of the City of New York. He left college to open a sporting goods store in Peekskill, New York, where he conducted a grow- ing business. Here he played an important part in organizing a company of the Naval Militia in Peekskill and was promoted to chief petty officer. On the day that America became a combatant nation Harry Levine enlisted and was assigned to duty in what was admittedly one of the most dangerous areas, the North Sea, where he served for the duration of the war.

After his discharge from the navy he began the manufacture of horn buttons in New York City. His business prospered and he continued it until 1927 when he consolidated with his brother Louis, whose factory in Leominster was producing a simi- lar article, umbrella tips. The New England Novelty Company, as the new firm was known, expanded to include the manufacture of novelties for women's dresses, hair, etc. The company is capitalized at $10,000 and employs three hundred and fifteen persons.

Harry Levine is a member of the Masonic Order and of the Agudas Achim.

In 1919, he married Hannah Fish, of Peekskill, New York. They have two children, Irwin and Morton.

JOSEPH HENRY GOGUEN-During the past ten years, Joseph Henry Goguen has been active in many phases of the life of Leominster, rising to a position of recognized prominence in its affairs. He was born in Fitchburg, March 8, 1899, a son of Oliver and Mary (Le Blanc) Goguen, both of whom were natives of Canada.

After the completion of his preliminary educa- tion in the parochial schools of Leominster, Joseph Henry Goguen entered Assumption High School in Worcester, from which he was graduated in 1918. In the fall of the same year he entered Holy Cross College, taking the degree of Bach- elor of Arts at that institution upon the completion of the required course in 1922. Thereafter he became a member of the faculty of Assumption College, Worcester, teaching in the science depart- ment. For three and a half years, however, he also attended Northeastern Law School, where he secured a thorough grounding in legal theory and practice.

In 1928 Mr. Goguen was elected a member of the city council of Leominster, serving for two years and during that time was chairman of the legal affairs committee and a member of the pub- lic service commission. During the centenary cele- bration he was chairman of the committee which arranged for the contribution made by Leominster. In 1930 Mr. Goguen was elected to the State Leg-

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islature and served in that position in 1931 and 1932. He was a member of the committeees on education, conservation and power and light. In 1932 he was reëlected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 1933-34. He was also elected a member of the 1932 Electoral College. In August, 1933, he was appointed chief of the field division, internal revenue department, for the Massachusetts District.

Mr. Goguen has been no less active in fraternal circles and in Catholic enterprises of the city and county. He is a Past Exalted Ruler of Leo- minster Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Knights of Columbus and the Amer- ican Legion, to which he is eligible through his World War service. He enlisted in Company B of the Students Army Training Corps, in September, 1918, and received his honorable discharge in December of that year after the signing of the Armistice. Mr. Goguen is a member of St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church. He is a devout Catholic, deeply interested in church work and in all welfare enterprises. He has been a member for many years of L'Union St. Jean Baptiste d'Amerique and is past president of Conseil Bourget of this society. He is also a member of La Société L'Assumption and in 1925-26 was a representative to the Grand Lodge. Mr. Goguen is past pres- ident of the Club Laurier. In 1931 he attended the summer session at The Sorbonne, Paris, France. He is widely known throughout this sec- tion, and his many services in the public interest have won him the respect and regard of the people of this city.

On August 13, 1923, Joseph Henry Goguen married Corinne Lamoreux of Leominster. They maintain their residence in this city.

THE BATES SHOE COMPANY-The Bates Shoe Company was founded originally in March, 1886, by A. J. Bates, who was at the time a well-known distributor of shoes in New York City, taking a great portion of the output of sev- eral leading New England shoe manufacturers. He established a factory at Webster, Massachusetts, solely for the purpose of manufacturing one line of shoes formerly made for his company by the E. and A. H. Batchelder Company of North Brookfield, one of the largest shoe manufacturers in America in that day. This line was a heavy, standard screw, veal lace shoe and sold to the consumer at $1.50 per pair. The Webster venture was a success from the beginning and soon required addition to the original small building which con- stituted the first plant. Today the vast factory of the company has a floor space of more than five acres, where hundreds of workers find employment. The company manufactures men's shoes for the popular priced field exclusively, producing approxi- mately 500,000 pairs of shoes annually which find a ready market over the entire country and are also exported to some extent. These shoes, man- ufactured in every style and type, are favorably known all through the United States. Normally, about six hundred people are employed in the plant.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 80

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