Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 82

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 82

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in 1920 the company leased the property at No. 3 Harrison Street. By 1922 twenty-five trucks were in operation, and on April 24, 1924, the com- pany purchased property at No. 12 Ward Street for the housing of their complete outfit, and regular service was begun between Worcester and Boston and between Worcester and Providence. By 1930 the number of trucks had been increased to thirty- five, and an addition was built to the housing plant. At the present time the company operates thirty- seven trucks and maintains organized terminals in Boston, Providence, and Springfield, each being operated by a local manager. The City Truck Company now serves as contract carrier for twenty per cent. of the large firms in Worcester and in the surrounding area, including the Universal Car Loading and Distributing Company, providing Worcester manufacturers with service to the Mid- dle West and West, and the Merchants' and Miners' Company of Boston, operating boat lines from Boston and Providence to southern points by coastwise steamers. They are also inland car- riers for the Colonial Navigation Company, operat- ing boats from Providence to New York and New Jersey ports. The Boston-Providence service gives manufacturers of Worcester daily connec- tions with coastwise and foreign steamship lines operating out of the ports of Boston and Prov- idence, and there is daily service to Springfield, Westfield, and Northampton, as well as to Fitch- burg, Gardner, Athol and Greenfield. The truck fleet of the company is at the present time one of the largest in Massachusetts and also the largest operating between the port of Boston and the city of Worcester. The company employs from forty- five to fifty people and, aside from its real estate, represents an investment of $200,000. Close atten- tion to business, careful fulfilling of obligations assumed, and ability of a high order have enabled Mr. St. Martin and Mr. Gulick to build up one of the finest trucking enterprises in the State of Massachusetts. Mr. St. Martin is a member of the Knights of Columbus and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his religious affilia- tion is with the Church of the Blessed Sacrament of Worcester.

Lawrence F. St. Martin married in January, IgII, Mary H. Kelly, who was born in Millbury, daughter of John and Ellen Kelly. Mr. and Mrs. St. Martin have one child, Lawrence Franklin, who was born April 21, 1920.

CHARLES DAVID KENDALL-One of the large dairy farmers of Central Massachusetts is Charles David Kendall, of Grafton, who was formerly president of the Warren Leather Goods Company of Worcester, of which he was one of the founders.

Charles David Kendall was born in Boylston, November 10, 1854, son of Horace and Sarah A. (Maynard) Kendall and a descendant of Francis Kendall, who came from England prior to 1640 and settled in Woburn, Massachusetts, where he was one of the foremost citizens, operating, a gristmill in addition to farming. He was prom- inent in town affairs and served as selectman for eighteen years. The line of descent to Charles David Kendall includes Caleb Kendall, born in what is now Sterling, who served in the Revolu- tion, enlisting from Shrewsbury in Captain Ezra Beame's Company. Samuel Kendall, of the fourth

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generation was a soldier in the French and Indian wars. Mr. Kendall's grandfather came to Boyls- ton in 1777, and his father, Horace Kendall, was born there. Charles David Kendall attended the public schools of his birthplace. In 1867 he went to work for Colonel N. McClelland in a hat and fur store. This continued until 1875, when he bought out the merchant tailoring store of Mr. Stockwell and operated this for eight years. Then he came to Grafton, where he purchased a general country store, which he operated three years. He then disposed of this and, when his father estab- lished a furniture business in Worcester in 1871, he became a clerk in his father's store, located at No. 319 Main Street, which in time became one of the important furniture concerns of the city, well known to buyers of both antique and modern furniture. This continued until the father's death, when there were three of the Kendall sons, Charles David, Sanford Clayton, and Frederick Horace, who had became interested in it. The second of these, Sanford Clayton Kendall, had long held a position in the business and during the last years of the father's life served as manager. After the father's death in 1899, the three sons continued the business, which in 1901 took the firm name of the Kendall Furniture Company. In 1902 Charles D. and Frederick H. withdrew, leaving Sanford C. as sole proprietor. The two other brothers, with Bamford Elliott and William H. Hayden, organ- ized the Warren Leather Goods Company, for the purpose of taking over the J. J. Warren Company. The Warren Leather Goods Company was incor- porated that same year (1902) with a capital of $30,000, and with J. J. Hickey (q. v.), of Shrews- bury, as president; Charles D. Kendall, vice-pres- ident; William H. Hayden, secretary; and Fred- erick H. Kendall, treasurer. Charles D. Kendall served as vice-president for twelve years and was then made president, which executive position he filled most efficiently for thirteen years, until he resigned in 1906. During those twenty-five years the business was enlarged from year to year, until it occupied the spacious factory at No. 80 Austin Street, where it employed more than four hundred hands in the manufacture of suit cases of every description, traveling bags, and a great variety of leather and canvas goods. In 1916 the original capital of $30,000 was increased to $300,000 and the business was then greatly enlarged in every line.

As the business prospered Charles D. Kendall, the subject of this biography, year by year invested part of his share of the profits in another venture in which he has since been eminently successful. He purchased farms, one at a time, until now he owns three, the last of which was bought in 1931. These three farms, all located in Grafton, have an aggre- gate acreage of nearly six hundred acres. Four dwelling houses are located on the three farms, the one in which Mr. Kendall resides being one of the most beautiful homes in this section. All the out- buildings on these farms are of the most modern type. A barn, over two hundred feet long, provides up-to-date, sanitary accommodations for one hun- dred and fifty head of cattle, of which one hundred are milk cows. From seven to ten men are kept constantly busy on the estate. Auto trucks, mod- ern machinery, and automobiles, together with six heavy draft horses, aid in the efficiency with which the work is performed, and Mr. Kendall has be-

come one of the foremost dairymen and farmers in Central Massachusetts. Though he is almost eighty years old, he is active and vigorous, reads without glasses, and looks carefully after the de- tails connected with this great industry. He is a member of the Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, also the Council of Royal and Select Mas- ters, the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and Rose Croix Lodge of Perfection, in all of which bodies, except the Blue Lodge, he holds a life membership. He is a member of the Rotary Club, and his reli- gious affiliation is with the Unitarian Church.

Charles David Kendall married, June 26, 1884, Kate Elizabeth Lindsay, of Grafton, who was born January 16, 1860, daughter of Ira and Mary (Estabrook) Lindsay. Mr. and Mrs. Kendall are the parents of three children: I. Horace Clayton, born in Grafton, September 26, 1885, was graduated from the English High School in 1904, and from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1907, and is now manager of the Rockwood Sprinkler Com- pany. He is married and has three children. 2. Herbert Lindsay, born in Worcester, June 22, 1899, engaged in the milk business; married Ethel Hines and has one son. 3. Charles Donald, born in Worcester, August 14, 1899, is associated with the Eastern States Grain Company, Springfield, Massachusetts; married, in 1921, Catherine Hall, of Worcester, and has two children.

THE BUDISH AND CAPLAN COM- PANY, INC., owners and operators of the oldest and largest wholesale fruit and produce establishment in Worcester, had its inception in 19II. Louis Kaplan is president; Jacob Budish, treasurer; Harry Payne, vice-president; and Ger- trude L. Cotton, assistant treasurer and clerk. It was first situated at Foster and Bridge streets, where it had its quarters until 1925, in which year the company built its present building at Nos. 5-23 Hygeia Street. It is a spacious, well-built two- story structure, with basement, and contains 35,000 square feet of floor space. The company handles, on the wholesale plan only, fresh fruit and vege- tables and enjoys an excellent reputation for quality of service and promptness of delivery, as well as for the well-known high standard of its goods.

Jacob Budish, treasurer of the Budish and Kap- lan Company, Inc., was born in Kiev, Russia, March 13, 1879, and came to America in 1905. From the time of his arrival on our shores he has been connected with the fruit and produce busi- ness. He was in Boston from 1905 until 191I and in the latter year came to Worcester. For considerably more than twenty years he has been an increasingly large factor in the fruit and pro- duce business here. He is a member of B'nai B'rith and Temple Emanuel, the Jewish Home for Aged and Orphans, and the United Jewish Charities, which last-named organization he serves as treasurer.

Mr. Budish married, in 1907, Rebecca Fritz, a native of Russia, and they have three daughters: I. Elizabeth, a graduate of Wellesley College, class of 1930. 2. Nahamo, a graduate of Syracuse (New York) University. 3. Gertrude, a graduate of Worcester High School, 1933.

Louis Kaplan, president of the Budish and Kap- lan Company, Inc., was born in the Ukraine, Rus- sia, July 4, 1883, and received his education in the public schools of his homeland. In 1898 he accom-

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panied his parents to America and they settled in Boston. In the same year he started in the retail produce business in that city and was thus engaged for thirteen years. In 1911 he came to Worces- ter to be an associate of Jacob Budish in the wholesale fruit and produce business, later with his family becoming a member of the firm and, when the firm was incorporated, he became its president, which position he still retains. He is affiliated with B'nai B'rith and the Jewish Synagogue.

Mr. Kaplan married, December 25, 1908, Fan- nie King, who was born in the same town in Russia as her husband, and their children are: I. David H., a graduate of Iowa University. 2. Mildred B., a graduate of Ohio University. 3. Ethel, a student in high school.

H. WADSWORTH CRAWFORD-A rare heritage was that into which H. W. Crawford, of Webster, came as the successor of his father in the post of resident agent of the Stevens Linen Works in Dudley, whose plant is said to be the largest in the country devoted to its lines of man- ufacture. Like his honored father, he is prom- inent in financial institutions of Webster and a leader in civic affairs of the town.

John Morrison Crawford, father of the present resident agent of the Stevens mills, was born in Belfast, Ireland. In his youth he came with his parents to this country and they made their home in Dudley. Although he went to work in tender years in order to help support the family, he made out to educate himself and became a well-informed man. When ten years old, he was given the place of office boy in the Stevens Linen Works and continued to rise in favor and position, until in October, 1907, he was made resident agent of the corporation, which post he retained until his death, having been sixty-one years in the service of the concern. For a quarter-century he was town treas- urer of Dudley, and at different times filled the offices of chairman of the board of water commis- sioners, chairman of the Free Public Library, and was active in public affairs all his life. He was president of the Webster Five Cents Savings Bank and a director of the First National Bank of Web- ster. His fraternal alliances included the thirty- second Scottish Rite degree in Freemasonry and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston. He married May Burnett, who was a native of New York City. His death occurred on May 12, 1929.

H. Wadsworth Crawford, son of John Mor- rison and May (Burnett) Crawford, was born in Dudley, August 22, 1884, and received his educa- tion in the public schools of his native town, at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, and at Tufts College. On leaving college, he worked for the General Electric Company a few months. His career in association with the Stevens Linen Works in Dudley began in 1905, when he accepted a posi- tion as shipping clerk. He was advanced on his merits and finally was promoted to superintendent of the plant, filling this post for eighteen years. On the death of his father in the spring of 1929 he was appointed his successor as the resident agent, in which office he has since been retained. He also succeeded to his father's chair on the board of the First National Bank of Webster, and is a trustee of the Webster Five Cents Savings Bank.

He is well known in fraternal, club and sports circles, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Free- mason, a member of Aleppo Temple, Ancient Ara- bic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Bos- ton; the Webster-Dudley Golf Club, of which he is vice-president; the Boston Yacht Club, Boston; and the Edgewood Yacht Club, Providence, Rhode Island. He is an enthusiast at golf and yachting and owns the yacht "Hujunan," built in 1927 and modernly equipped.

H. Wadsworth Crawford married, August 15, 1914, Pearle Longley, of Plymouth, Maine, and they have three children: Nancy Jane, Julia Bur- nett and H. Wadsworth, Jr.

A brief history of the Stevens Linen Works, of which Mr. Crawford is the resident agent, is here given. The mills occupy the site of the old Merino Wool Factory Company, organized in 1811 and incorporated the following year. Two small build- ings, each with a small prone and old-time breast wheel, were built. The stockholders, many of them, were the neighboring farmers. The war of 1812-14 ruined the business and all of the original stock was lost. On March 17, 1817, Joseph Schofield, Nathaniel Lyon, Chester Mann, and Joseph Mallatieu purchased the property, carry- ing on the woolen business, and in 1835 another mill was built, with its dam and small water- wheel. But the business was never for long successful, and in the early 40's work was aban- doned.

Henry Hale Stevens started in the woolen busi- ness in North Andover in company with George Hodges, but he soon began to take an interest in the linen trade and, leaving the woolen indus- try, bought a quantity of linen machinery early in 1846 and began manufacture in a small way at North Andover. In a few weeks, on hearing that the Merino property was for sale, he came to Dudley and bought the mills and privileges. His machinery, much of it not taken from the boxes, was shipped to Dudley in May, 1846. In that year a poorly built dam gave way owing to a freshet and, after working the plant until 1858, he began the reconstruction of the power, bringing the fall together by a large dam at the old 1812 building.

A forty-foot breast wheel with fifteen-foot buckets furnished the power until the present main build- ing, two hundred and seven by seventy feet, with one wing one hundred and ten by forty feet, and another office wing eighty by twenty-four feet, the main building being five stories and attic, was built in 1862-65. The raceway was blasted through solid rock to the level of the French River, giving additional fall, and another breast wheel, twenty feet in diameter and with sixteen-foot buckets, was built under the new mill. But the business outgrew the waterpower, and at present a nominal 500- horsepower Cross-compound Allis engine, capable of generating 750 horsepower at good economy, supplies most of the power, the old waterpower only averaging about ninety from year to year.

The present company, the Stevens Linen Works, was organized in 1868, with David Nevins, pres- ident; Henry S. Shaw, treasurer, and Henry H. Stevens, agent. Mr. Nevins died in 1881, and Moses Stevens of North Andover, a younger brother of the founder, was elected president and continued in office until 1907, when he retired and was succeeded by his son, Nathaniel Stevens, of

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North Andover, the present head of the concern. Henry S. Shaw, who was elected at the organiza- tion of the company as treasurer, died in June, 1923, after fifty-five years of service and was suc- ceeded by William T. Dowling, of Boston, the present treasurer. In January, 1877, Henry H. Stevens retired from the concern and was suc- ceeded in the position of agent by E. P. Morton, who had been his bookkeeper for eleven years. After being in the service of the company more than forty years, Mr. Morton retired in October, 1907, and was succeeded by John Morrison Craw- ford, whose death in May, 1929, terminated sixty- one years in the employ of this company. His successor was his son, H. Wadsworth Crawford, who is now resident agent.

In 1900 extensive enlargements of buildings were made, additional machinery was installed, and in 1913 a new mill, three hundred by seventy feet, for hackling and carding was built to replace the old 1812 mill, now used for the mechanical depart- ment. In 1927 more space was needed for an addition to the weaving and finishing departments, as the product at that time was gradually grow- ing to made-up towels, and a building, one hun- dred and fifty-four by fifty-four feet, was erected. It is claimed for the plant that it is the largest in the United States making linen crash toweling and towels exclusively. It has a capacity of 20,000,000 yards per year and the goods made, it is affirmed, are standard for the country.

HAROLD L. GULICK-In business affairs in Worcester, Harold L. Gulick has figured prom- inently. Since 1917 he has been secretary and treasurer of the City Truck Company, of this city, which was organized in that year.

Mr. Gulick, though born in Brooklyn, New York, has spent most of his life in Worcester, to which city he came with his family to live at the age of thirteen years in 1891. The date of his birth was February 6, 1878; and his parents were Addison A. and Harriet L. (Clark) Gulick, both of whom are now deceased. His father was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, engaged for many years in the wholesale linen business; and the mother was born in Deep River, Connecticut.

His preliminary education Harold L. Gulick re- ceived in the public schools of Worcester. His first employment was with the Plunger Elevator Company, in the capacity of traffic manager, in which position he continued until the absorption of this organization by the Otis Elevator Company, whereupon Mr. Gulick became traffic manager of the newly organized Norton Grinding Company. He held that position until 1917, when the City Truck Company, Inc., of Worcester, was formed, and he became its secretary-treasurer. A detailed history of this company's remarkable development will be found on a preceding page.

In addition to his work in developing this great company, Mr. Gulick is active in civic and social affairs. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, his affiliations being with Quinsigamond Lodge, and all the bodies up to and including the Knights Templar, also all the bodies of the An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite, including the Consis- tory, in which he holds the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of the Rotary Club, the Economic Club, and the Chamber of Commerce, and a director of the Massachusetts Motor Truck

Club. He is a Republican in his political views; and his church is Plymouth Congregational, of Worcester. His labors in Worcester business and civic life, both in the city and the county, have been very useful and have brought him the high esteem of his fellow-citizens.

Harold L. Gulick married, in January, 1899, Martha G. Fish; and they became the parents of one son, Willard C. Gulick, born in Worcester and educated in the public and high school and at Hebron Academy, Hebron, Maine, afterward studying at Colgate College, where he was grad- uated in 1926. He served during the World War in the United States Navy and attained the rank of chief gunner's mate in the Transport Service. He is now regional director of the International B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company, with headquar- ters in Manila, Philippine Islands. He married Harriet Harlow Winch, of Framingham, Massa- chusetts, and they are the parents of one child, Peter Van Dyke Gulick, born February 15, 1930.

GUSTAF E. SAND-Among the successful industrial enterprises in Gardner is the Gardner Bassinet Corporation, whose president and gen- eral manager is Gustaf E. Sand. This concern was incorporated under its present title in 1927 as the successor of the American Bassinet Com- pany. Mr. Sand, one of the organizers, was at first elected treasurer of the corporation and thus served for three years. In 1930 he was elected president, being also retained as general manager of plant. William Wicklund is now treasurer. The capital stock is $50,000. The concern has its factory at No. 61 Barthel Street, where it em- ploys twenty-two hands in the manufacture of cribs, bassinets, wardrobes, chiffoniers, etc., these prod- ucts being distributed in New York and New England.

Gustaf E. Sand was born in Finland, August 23, 1873, a son of Gustaf and Anna Sand. The father came to this country in 1880 and at first made his residence in Attleboro, Massachusetts. He was a sailor. In 1888 the family was assem- bled at Bartlett, New Hampshire and later re- moved to Gardner, where they have since lived. With the exception of three years, which he spent in New York with the Standard Oil Company, the son, Gustaf E., has been identified with the town of Gardner since coming to that town with his parents. He received no formal education in schools of America and was early compelled to seek his own livelihood. For twenty-two years he was employed by the Heywood Manufacturing Com- pany in Gardner, having previously worked at other occupations. During this period of his ex- perience he developed his gift as a general mechanic being enabled to turn his hand at a number of trades, at which he worked in several states as the representative of his employers. Since he entered the organization of the Gardner Bassinet Company, he has given his attention almost ex- clusively to the affairs of this business, which he has been instrumental in bringing to a high stand- ing among industries of the town.

He is a member of the Klippan Society, Svea Society, and the Swedish Baptist Church, where he has officiated as organist for twenty years.

Mr. Sand married, in 1897, Ida Mynte, and they have a daughter, Alice, a stenographer with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New

WORCESTER COUNTY

York City. Two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Sand died young. The family home is at No. 15 Main Street, Gardner.

NORMAN BOARDMAN READ-Never permitting business activities to dim his realization of his duties and privileges as a public-spirited citizen, Norman Boardman Read has contributed valuably to the betterment and progress of Worces- ter, and has been a leader in many of the move- ments and affairs which have gone to the develop- ment and reputation of the city. He was born at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, January 1I, 1893, the son of Arthur W. and Mary Elizabeth (Board- man) Read, the former a native of Rhode Island, the latter of England.

Norman Boardman Read was graduated from the South High School of Worcester, coming to this city with his parents as a small child. When he started out to make a livelihood, he secured employment in the Arcade Malleable Iron Works in a clerical capacity. In 1916 he went to one of the citizens' training camps, and in April, 1917, enlisted in the United States Army for service, while the country was involved in the World War. He was assigned to the Signal Corps of the Aviation Service and was sent overseas with the rank of first lieutenant. He was stationed at Cler- mont Ferrand, France, during most of his military career and was there when the Armistice was signed. Not until February, 1919, was he mus- tered out of the army, and returned to Worcester and to civilian life.

In 1919, Mr. Read became connected with the Walden wrench manufactory, as factory office man- ager, remaining until 1923, when he resigned to establish his own business. He bought out the small establishment of the Worcester Blue and Photo Print Company and gradually enlarged his trade and increased his clients until he was serving many of the large industrial and similar concerns of Worcester, together with individuals and organ- izations. His specialties are blue prints and photo- static work, enjoying a very large business and clientele. His headquarters, with modern and ex- ceedingly complete equipment, are at No. 31I Main Street, Worcester.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 82

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