USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III > Part 83
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Mr. Read has a liking for social and civic activ- ities, men and affairs. He is a member of the Republican City Committee and was elected treas- urer in 1930 for four years. He was a member of the Worcester City Council, representing Ward No. I, during 1928 and 1929, and was defeated for alderman in 1930. He was chairman of the tercentenary celebration of 1930, a remarkably successful event in the city and State. He was a member of the Committee on the George Wash- ington Trail of 1932 and has been captain every year for many years on the Golden Rule Drive. A member of the Military Order of the World War, he was marshal of the Joffre funeral parade when the French hero died in France. Fraternally he is affiliated with Athelstan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, the American Legion and the Kiwanis Club.
On April 9, 1919, Norman Boardman Read married Dorothy Wing Prentice of Worcester, and they are the parents of two children: I. Robert Prentice, born June 25, 1920. 2. Betty, born November 16, 1925.
Wor .- 21
FRANK CHESTER HARRINGTON- From a mechanical industry, Frank C. Harring- ton, of Worcester, entered a mercantile establish- ment, later graduating into the insurance profes- sion, of which he is one of the well-known rep- resentatives in the State. He is also a prominent fraternity member and clubman.
Frank Chester Harrington was born in Worces- ter, February 6, 1876, a son of Francis Alfred and Roxanna M. (Grout) Harrington, both par- ents natives of Massachusetts, his father the first to fill the office of president of the Massachusetts Protective Association. Frank Chester Harring- ton prepared for college in the public schools of this city and pursued his higher studies at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he was graduated in the class of 1898. After leaving the institute he engaged for a time in the manufacture of specially designed machinery. Then the whole- sale plumbing supply business attracted him, and with this he was identified for several years.
His connection with the Massachusetts Protec- tive Association was first in the capacity of claims representative. He was advanced to secretary and later to treasurer of the organization, which last- named office he has since filled. On the forma- tion of the Massachusetts Protective Life Insur- ance Company and the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, all Worcester companies, he was made treasurer of these also and has since held these offices. He is a director of the Worcester Bank and Trust Company and other corporations. Deeply interested in the work of the Worcester Young Men's Christian Association, he serves as a direc- tor of that body. He is a thirty-third degree Ma- son. His other Masonic affiliations include Athel- stan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a Past Master; Worcester County Com- mandery, No. 5, Knights Templar, of which he is a Past Commander; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Ara- bic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston; Goddard Council, Princes of Jerusalem; and Worcester Lodge of Perfection. He is a trustee of the Knights Templar Education Foundation and is very active in carrying out its purposes, which comprehend the assisting of students in complet- ing their education. In the beginning of the Worcester Country Club's life he took a keen interest in laying out the grounds and was a mem- ber of the original board that had charge of this enterprise. He is still a member of this club and also belongs to the Worcester Club, Bass River Golf Club, and Shelter Harbor Country Club. Extremely fond of outdoor sports, he may be said to have made a hobby of golf.
Mr. Harrington married, April 25, 1900, Leora Leighton, of Worcester, and their children are: I. Frank Leighton, born January 17, 1902. 2. Rob- ert Dudley, born October 17, 1903. 3. Lilla Leigh- ton, born November 4, 1904; married Joseph C Molder, of Columbus, Georgia, 4. Anna, born March 6, 1906; married Frederick W. Mosher, of Belmont. The Harrington family residence is at No. 12 Monadnock Road, Worcester, and their summer home is at Bass River, this State.
WALTER ROSE-A resident of Worcester for more than half a century, Walter Rose has witnessed the development of the city and its representative institutions. As an employee and
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official of the Worcester Consolidated Street Rail- way he contributed his share to the growth of an important community enterprise, and today, as superintendent of the State Mutual Building, he continues to be active in Worcester life.
Mr. Rose was born at Beverly, New Jersey, on October 3, 1874, a son of Robert I. and Eliz- abeth (Garwood) Rose, the former born in Rock- land County, New York, and the latter in New Jersey. Robert I. Rose was a machinist by occupa- tion and a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served with Company I, 12Ist Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry. For a time he was Commander of Oxford Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
In 1880 the family came to Worcester, taking up its residence on Stafford Street, Webster Square. Walter Rose received his education in the public schools of Worcester and as a boy worked in the Case Wrench Shop after school hours and in vacation periods, learning the machinist's trade. Subsequently he was employed for one year with the Harrington, Richardson Arms Company, and in 1891 became connected with the Worcester Con- solidated Street Railways, with whom he re- mained for twenty-seven years. He began as a horse car driver over the tracks of the railroad through city streets. Later he became motorman for the company and still later was promoted to inspector. Finally he became acting superintend- ent of the Blackstone Street Railway Company, a responsible office which he filled successfully for the remainder of his term in the company's serv- ice. This period covered the inauguration of electric traction service and of many other improve- ments in transportation. Mr. Rose was a pioneer in the street railway field and was thoroughly familiar with all its developments.
On February 1, 1917, he retired from the work to which he had given so many years and at that time became superintendent of the State Mutual Building at No. 340 Main Street, Worcester. He has continued to serve in that position, building up and supervising the efficient organization which keeps the building operating smoothly and meets all tenants' needs.
Apart from his business connections, Mr. Rose has many other interests in Worcester life. He is prominent in the Masonic Order, being a member of Morning Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, and a member of various higher bodies, including Eureka Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters; Worces- ter County Commandery, Knights Templar; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Boston. Mr. Rose is also a member of the Tatnuck Community Club and of Tatnuck Congregational Church. He has al- ways been very fond of horses and continues that interest today.
On July 30, 1907, Walter Rose married Mary Ann MacInnes. They maintain their residence in Worcester at No. 78 Beaconsfield Road.
DAVID GESSNER-Throughout the indus- trial world, wherever textile machinery is being used, the name of Gessner is well known and honored. Several generations of Gessner cloth manufacturers preceded the family shift from the manufacture of woolen cloth to the manufacture of textile machinery, which was achieved by Ernst
Gessner, founder of the great Gessner Works at Aue, Saxony.
As founder and president of the David Gess- ner Works at Worcester, David Gessner, young- est son of Ernst Gessner, has become almost as well known as his famous father.
He was born in Saxony, Germany, February 14, 1859, son of Ernst and Marie (Lauckner) Gessner, during the period when his already famous father was using his utmost energy and genius in the double task of manufacturing cloth at Aue. Saxony, and at the same time inventing and installing new and improved machinery there. While the father went on with the transformation of his woolen mill into an experimental station for his new and im- proved machinery, the son attended the local schools and then completed a course in the Gymnasium of the nearby town of Schneeberg, Saxony, which corresponds to our academy, and was next trans- ferred from one department of his father's plant to another until he had obtained a pretty fair knowledge of the trade before coming, in the spring of 1876, to this country, where, to complete his technical education, he entered the employ of vari- ous shops here, among them that of George Cromp- ton, leading manufacturer of looms.
Within a few years he began the introduction of some of his father's new machinery into our New England mills, selling, erecting and running these for the purchasers, having them built by Curtis and Marble of this city. Later on, having inherited his father's inventive ability, he began to make machines of his own construction, which soon found a ready market.
He then rented a shop in the Merryfield Building on Union Street and engaged in business for him- self as a manufacturer of textile machinery. Though there were difficulties to be overcome, he set about his task with characteristic energy and in due time the superiority of his machines became apparent.
Would-be purchasers sought the young inventor and manufacturer, and as the years passed, the business steadily grew. By 1907 the enterprise had developed to proportions requiring a larger plant and provision for still further growth. With an expanding future in mind, Mr. Gessner selected the site on Fremont Street, which the present fac- tory occupies, drawing his own plans for the build- ing, which was completed in 1907.
Several years later, during the great European War, a company for the manufacture of cloth finishing machinery was incorporated under the name of David Gessner Company, with David Gessner as president. Since that time it has con- tinued its steady growth and extended its field of supply throughout the United States and Canada as well as some foreign countries, wherever textile machinery is in demand. Like his famous father on the other side of the Atlantic, Mr. Gessner has given his life to the development of better textile machinery. Both men began inventing and manu- facturing a general line of improved cloth finishing machinery, and both eventually chose a limited number of their own inventions and specialized in those lines. Many of the most important machines now used in cloth-finishing operations are Gessner machines or are based on them-inventions of Ernst Gessner and David Gessner-napping ma- chines, gigs, rotary presses, brushes, dryers, decat- ing machines, vacuum extractors, scutches, crabs, and entire sponging outfits, etc.
David Owner
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In earlier years Mr. Gessner was a member of several clubs, but during recent years he has de- voted all his time to his business and his family.
David Gessner married (first) Lavaunt Andrews of Albion, Maine. She died in 1902, and he mar- ried (second) Gertrude C. Gunther. To the sec- ond marriage one son was born, December 15, 1906, David Gessner, Jr., who received his education in the schools of Worcester and in the technical schools of Philadelphia and of Europe and who is now associated with his father in the David Gess- ner Works at Worcester.
JOHN E. HICKEY-In the more than twenty-five years that John E. Hickey has been serving as town clerk of the town of Webster, he has seen the volume of business passing through the office increase many fold. Improvements have been installed, modern methods adopted and the facilities for handling the work brought up to date. He has made this department of the munic- ipal government one of the most important and smoothly functioning of the local divisions minister- ing to the requirements of the public. In the gen- eral community life of the town and its affairs he occupies a place of leadership by common consent.
Mr. Hickey's father and mother, Edward and Mary (Dugan) Hickey, came with their respec- tive parents from their native Ireland in a sailing vesesl. They settled in Webster about the year 1847. Edward Hickey, who was a carpenter by trade, died at the age of thirty-four years; his wife died when she was fifty-seven.
John E. Hickey, son of Edward and Mary (Dugan) Hickey, was born in Webster, August 18, 1869, and attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, completing his educa- tion with a course in the evening high school. In the tender years of early youth he started to earn his own livelihood, learning the shoemaker's trade, which he followed for twelve years in the employ of one concern and for twelve additional years in the service of another company. For three years of this total time of twenty-four years that he was rated as a journeyman, he served as agent of local boot and shoe workers' unions. His employment was with B. A. Corbin and Son Company and A. J. Bates and Company, shoe manufacturers, and his work for their respective interests was helpful to their success and to the shoe industry generally.
When he attained his majority, he formally aligned himself with the Democratic party and to it he has since given his staunch allegiance. He first came before the public in a political way in 1907, when he offered himself as a candidate for the office of town clerk. He was defeated by the narrow margin of sixteen votes. The following year, 1908, he repeated the attempt and this time he was successful, winning the election by a plural- ity of seventy-five votes. Since that year he has had no opposition and each succeeding year has been reëlected to the office. He also served as clerk of the board of selectmen for this entire period until April, 1932, when he resigned this position. With his duties of town clerk he dis- charges those of clerk of the board of registrars. He is the first to hold the place of municipal ac- countant of Webster, which he has filled since 1916 when the town voted to adopt the municipal ac- counting system. In 1930 he was elected president
of the Town Clerks Association of Massachusetts for a term of two years. In his own office he has a staff of two clerks, whose work is facilitated with the most approved equipment and appliances.
Mr. Hickey is a director of the Webster Na- tional Bank. He is affiliated with the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, Ancient Order of Hibernians, and Knights of Columbus.
ARCHIE L. KLEVEN-Active in the shoe business in Spencer, Archie L. Kleven is widely known in Worcester County and the surrounding region of this Commonwealth. The business of which he is president and treasurer is known as the Kleven Shoe Company and was established in April, 1924, under its present name, with Mr. Kleven as its head, and Max Weinstock as sec- retary. Its products are sold to chain stores and jobbers; and the enterprise is devoted to the man- ufacture of women's novelty shoes. The company employs about 1,000 people; and the Spencer com- munity is, indeed, fortunate in having such an organization within its thriving limits. To Mr. Kleven himself must go much of the credit for building up this great enterprise.
He was born on August 15, 1892, in Franklin, Massachusetts, and was educated in the public schools of Lynn. He early began learning the shoe business with the G. W. Herrick Shoe Company, of Lynn, with whom he was associated for about fourteen years. Before advancing to a managerial capacity, he was employed in the factory. So it was that he acquired a knowledge of the whole of the industry with which he was to perform such a valuable work. In 1922 he became associated with the Harris Shoe Company; and two years later, in 1924, he purchased the machinery and the corporation of the H. L. Harris Shoe Company, which name he changed to the Kleven Shoe Com- pany. They occupy the factory of the old Isaac Prouty Company, a large building which little by little has been taken over by the Kleven company. Mr. Kleven gives his entire attention to his man- ufacturing business, though he is also a large stockholder in the Shu-Stiles, Inc., of St. Louis, Missouri, a great distributing center for shoe jobbers and wholesalers. The business world is much the richer for Mr. Kleven's whole-hearted participation in its affairs; and he enjoys the hearty esteem and respect of his fellow-citizens for the work that he has performed and for his efforts in behalf of them and their institutions.
Archie L. Kleven married, in October, 1915, Pauline Weinstock, of Boston, Massachusetts. By this marriage there has been born one child, a daughter, Evelyn Gladys.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF GARD- NER-Throughout its existence of nearly threescore years and ten, the First National Bank of Gardner has fostered the growth of enterprises of this and surrounding communities, where its loans have been concentrated. The institution is conducted as a strictly mercantile bank, and at all times has followed the policy of advancing credits to local industries and individuals upon sound bank- ing principles.
The First National Bank of Gardner began its career in March, 1865, with a capital of $100,000, in response to an insistent demand for a banking institution in the community. Its first location was
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in the City Hall Building, where now are the janitor's quarters, the section of the town at that time being known as Gardner Center, where most of the mercantile business of the community was concentrated. In 1869, a permanent banking house was constructed, this being the building now oc- cupied by the G. R. Godfrey Company. This was the bank's quarters until 1891, when the institution moved to the Gardner Syndicate Building. In the meantime the growing business in West Gardner necessitated greater accommodations in this dis- trict, which resulted in the establishment of the West Gardner Banking Company, a voluntary asso- ciation of the directors of the First National Bank. The two banks continued business in this manner until 1909, when the West Gardner Banking Com- pany was taken over by the First National Bank, which moved to the present Gardner Savings Bank building, remaining there until the growth of the bank required larger quarters. Definite plans were formulated during the early part of 1923 for the erection of a modern and permanent home in the heart of the business district, to be a model of its kind and the most up-to-date in this section of the county. The present large and beautiful structure faithfully exemplifies these carefully laid plans. In 1875 the capital was increased to $150,000, and on April 9, 1930, it was still further increased, this time to $200,000.
The first officers of the First National were: President, Amasa Bancroft, who served until 1872; vice-president, Levi Heywood; cashier, John D. Edgell. Succeeding presidents and their terms of office follow: Charles Heywood, 1872-82; John D. Edgell, 1882-1904; Volney W. Howe, 1904-10; L. E. Carleton, 1910-12; Amasa B. Bryant, 1912- 30; Enos R. Bishop, 1930 -. John D. Edgell served as cashier from 1865 to 1882, in which year he was elected president. He was succeeded in the office of cashier by the following: Volney W. Howe, 1882-1904; Amasa B. Bryant, 1904-12; J. Myron Moore, 1912-13; Frederick S. Pope, 1913- 1918; Marcus N. Wright, 1919 -. The present (1933) board of officers, in addition to Mr. Bishop, president, and Mr. Wright, cashier, is composed of C. Leslie Bent, Charles C. Brooks, and George A. Keyworth, vice-presidents; Clifford W. Ship- pee and Madaline P. Black, assistant cashiers. The directors are: C. Leslie Bent, Enos R. Bishop, Charles C. Brooks, A. Werner Carlson, Paul L. Cody, Bernard L. Cohen, Harold E. Drake, Rich- ard N. Greenwood, Seth Heywood, Owen A. Hoban, George A. Keyworth, William D. Miller, Patrick H. Murray, George E. O'Hearn, Chester P. Pearson, Charles F. Richardson, Donald W. Siebert, Roger R. Smith, Carl B. Stuart, Francis S. Whittjemore, and Marcus N. Wright.
The first loan by the First National Bank was to the town of Gardner for $1,500 at the rate of. 7.3 per cent. On May 22, 1865, the deposits amounted to $12,519.04. As of September 30, 1932, the total loans and securities amounted to $3,266,052.76, while the total of deposits, includ- ing certified cashier's checks and Federal Reserve Bank deferred credit amounted to $3,470,001.33. On that date also the totals of resources and liabilities balanced at $3,991,202.19.
MARCUS N. WRIGHT, cashier of the First National Bank of Gardner, is a member of a family which is very ancient in England and has
been established in the United States for a number of generations. The first of the name in this town was Joseph Wright, who settled in Gardner prior to 1785. Marcus N. Wright's great-grandfather, Nathaniel Wright, was a resident of Gardner. His son, Marcus Wright, married Maria Bent. He was prominent in business and town affairs in South Gardner, owned and operated a sawmill, and conducted an extensive business for those times. His son, Lewis A. Wright, married Edith G. Newell. He died in 1927 at the age of sixty-six years. He continued to operate the sawmill, which had been in the family for three generations, after- wards becoming lumber buyer for the Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, of Gardner, one of the largest chair manufacturers in the world. He was active in town affairs and served on the finance committee, also filling other positions from time to time. He was clerk of the Unitarian Society.
Marcus Newell Wright, son of Lewis A. and Edith G. (Newell) Wright, was born in Gardner, June 26, 1889, and was graduated from high school in this town in the class of 1907. For a year after leaving school he was employed in the city of Worcester and in 1909, on his return to Gardner, accepted a position as bookkeeper at the First National Bank. He was advanced on his merits, as he made a close study of every detail of banking to which he was assigned. In 1913 he was pro- moted to assistant cashier and in 1919, while he was still in service in the World War, he was elected cashier, assuming the duties of the office upon his return to civil life. He has the confidence of the public and his associates in the bank, as well as of the representatives of the business com- munity.
For service in the World War, Mr. Wright enlisted in the United States Army, September 21, 1917. He was assigned to the Depot Brigade and was transferred to the finance division of the surgeon-general's office at Washington, District of Columbia, where he was stationed for five months, and during that time he was advanced to sergeant in the Medical Corps. He was later appointed chief clerk of the Medical Supply Depot at Camp Devens, Ayer, Massachusetts, where he was pro- moted to sergeant, first class, and then was made hospital sergeant. On September 5, 1917, he was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to duty at the recruiting camp at Syracuse, New York, where he remained until November 20, 1918, when he was transferred to the Medical Supply Depot at New York City, where he was on duty until honorably discharged, December 24, 1918, with his rank of second lieutenant. He is a member of Gardner Post, No. 129, American Legion. Besides his office as cashier the First National Bank, of which he is also a director, he holds the offices of treasurer of the Gardner Hotel Company, treasurer of the Levi Heywood Memo- rial Library Association, clerk of the Chamber of Commerce and president of the Cashiers Associa- tion of Massachusetts.
He is affiliated with Hope Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Gardner Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is a Past High Priest; Ivan- hoe Commandery, No. 46, Knights Templar, of which he is treasurer and a Past Commander; and is a Past District Deputy Grand Master of the Eleventh Masonic District. He is a member of
Palph K. Au FFald
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the Oak Hill Country Club, vice-president of the Gardner Boat Club, and a member of the Chair City Club and Monomonock Club. His religious connection is with the First Unitarian Church in Gardner.
Marcus Newell Wright married, October 4, 1913, Mary L. Harriman, daughter of Alvin B. and Etta (Mitchell) Harriman, of Cambridge. Mrs. Wright is a Girl Scout commissioner and active in the organization, vice-regent of her chap- ter in the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, and chairman of the district nurse commit- tee of the American Red Cross Society. The Wright residence is at No. 249 High Street, Gardner.
ENOS R. BISHOP, president of the First National Bank of Gardner, was born in Lisbon, New Hampshire, October 9, 1884, the son of George H. and Ella (Streeter) Bishop. He was graduated from Lisbon High School in 1902 and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws on grad- uation at the Northeastern College in the class of 1916. For two years he served in the United States Sub-Treasury at Boston, and for the ensu- ing six and one-half years completed an appoint- ment as deputy collector of internal revenue for the United States in the district composed of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
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