Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 87

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 87

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Born in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, Feb- ruary 9, 1873, Dr. Jeremiah J. Donohue is the son of Daniel and Mary (Lucey) Donohue, both par- ents natives of Ireland and now deceased. He came to Worcester in 1888 and, having completed his preparatory course in the public schools, he entered Holy Cross College, Worcester, won his degree of Bachelor of Arts and was graduated in the class of 1898. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained four years and at the end of that time he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1907. This school later was consoli- dated with the University of Maryland and Dr. Donohue is now a member of the Alumni Asso- ciation of the university.

Dr. Donohue at once established himself in an office in Worcester and engaged in general prac- tice, which he has since followed most successfully. His entry into the public service was in the ca- pacity of assistant to Dr. Duggan, who was city physician at the time. So well did he discharge his duties during the decade that he served as assistant city physician, that he was the unanimous choice for the office of city physician in 1928. He has since served in this position and has given eminent satisfaction in the administration of his department.

Among his professional affiliations are the Worces- ter County Medical Society, Massachusetts State Medical Society and American Medical Associa- tion. His fraternal alliances include the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Order of Foresters, Frater- nal Order of Eagles, and Ancient Order of Hiber- nians, Division No. 24, of which he has been pres- ident. He is also a member of the Irish Historical Society of New York City, the Holy Cross Alumni Association, the Emmet Associates and the Wachu- sett Country Club. He is fond of golf, fishing and life in the country. He is a member of St. John's Roman Catholic Church in Worcester and pres- ident of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference of this church.

Dr. Donohue married (first) Rose M. Burke, of Cherry Valley, Worcester County, and to this marriage three children were born, all in Worces- ter: Mary, Louise, and Eleanor. The first two are graduates of the Ascension High School. Mrs. Donohue died, and the doctor married (second) Mrs. Mary I. (Healy) Cronin, who has since died.

HON. EDWARD H. NUTTING-During his active career, the Hon. Edward H. Nutting has given much of his time to the public service, both in local and in State offices. He is at pres- ent a member of the State Senate from Leominster, a position for which he is well qualified by experi- ence and demonstrated talent.

Senator Nutting was born at Leominster, on July 6, 1869, a son of John C. and Maria (Stone) Nut- ting and a grandson of Captain Jonah Nutting of

Edward S& Natting

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New Ipswich, New Hampshire. He comes of old New England families, early established in the Colonies. John C. Nutting, the father, was a vet- eran of the Civil War, serving for four years as a lieutenant in the 4th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. He was born in Ashburnham, Massa- chusetts, educated in the common schools of New Hampshire and up to the time of the Civil War was employed by his father. After the war he came to Leominster, where he was connected with the Merriam Hall Furniture Company. He and his wife were the parents of five children: I. Jennie M., deceased, who became the wife of Austin Presby. 2. William J., of Leominster. 3. Edward H., of this record. 4. Charles A., of Berlin, Mas- sachusetts 5. Frank S, inspector of Diesel engines at St Louis, Missouri. John C. Nutting died in 1898 at the age of sixty-five. His wife survived him many years, passing away in 1913 at the age of seventy-four.

Edward H. Nutting received his education in the public schools of Leominster and for a few years at the beginning of his active career was connected with a local furniture manufacturing company. In 1897, however, in association with B. Frank Owens, he entered the baking business and so continued until about 1902. In the latter year he took over his partner's interest and operated the enterprise alone until 1911, when he sold the bakery, but retained the catering business which he had built up along with the bakery trade. Senator Nutting was for years very active as a caterer. His services were much in demand and he still continues, to some extent, the business with which his name has been so long connected.

Even as a young man, Senator Nutting was deeply interested in politics and public life. He soon achieved a position of influence in local poli- tics and was called upon to fill many offices of responsibility and trust. For five years, from 1907 to 1912, he served as selectman of Leominster and for two years of that time was chairman of the board and for one year clerk. In 1913 he took his seat in the lower house of the State Legislature and again in 1915, 1916 and 1918 was a member of that body. In the elections of 1922 he was re- elected, serving continuously from 1923 to 1930. During these many years in the Legislature he was an active member of various committees and was influential in securing the passage of much impor- tant legislation. Among the bills which he spon- sored may be mentioned the anti-begging bill, pro- hibiting begging on public highways. Senator Nut- ting served for one year on the highway commit- tee and has always been interested in the develop- ment of towns and highways.

In 1930 Senator Nutting's long record of dis- tinguished service in the Legislature won him pro- motion to the State Senate in the November elec- tions and he was reëlected in 1932. In this body he is a member of the committee on towns, high- ways and motor vehicles, the committee on public service and on third readings. Apart from his ordinary service in the Legislature, Senator Nut- ting was appointed a member of the Constitutional Convention to revise the Constitution of the State in 1917 and 1918. At Leominster he has been a member of most of the important local commit- tees. In addition, in January, 1931, he was ap- pointed deputy sheriff of the county.

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Senator Nutting has been equally prominent in fraternal circles and for many years has been one of the most notable fraternal leaders of the county. He is a member of E. A. Bennett Camp, No. 52, Sons of Veterans, and was its commander in 1894; is a member of Leominster Lodge, No. 86, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, serving as Noble Grand in 1895; a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 100, Knights of Pythias, of which he was Chan- cellor Commander in 1900; a member of Wachu- sett Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, of which he was Sachem in 1916; and a charter member of Leominster Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks. He is also a member of Wilder Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Leominster Lodge, Loyal Order of Moose; and Leominster Eyrie, Fraternal Order of Eagles. He has been for many years an active member of the Leominster Chamber of Commerce.

In 1896, Edward H. Nutting married (first) Carrie Rugg, who died in 1910. They became the parents of one daughter, Gladys B., now con- nected with the State Mutual Insurance Company at Worcester. Senator Nutting married (second), in 1918, Mary Burns.

BENJAMIN W. AYRES-His mature career closely identified with the life of Worcester, Ben- jamin W. Ayres has risen to prominence in his connection with the life insurance business and his civic, social and sports activities. He was born on June 28, 1898, at Springfield, the son of Benjamin W. and Madeline (LeValley) Ayres, the former a manufacturer of Belchertown, Massachusetts, who died in 1928. After attending the public schools, the son matriculated at Dartmouth Col- lege, Hanover, New Hampshire, from which he was graduated with the class of 1920, holding the degree of Bachelor of Science. He also studied at Carnegie Polytechnic Institute, specializing in life insurance salesmanship.

From college, Mr. Ayres entered the employ of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company in 1920, remaining with that company until 1928. He re- signed his post to become associated with the Mas- sachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, as its general agent, with supervision over its business in Worcester County. In a community which ranks high in the insurance world, Mr. Ayres has made an enviable record. He is one of the youngest men to hold this important position in the com- pany he represents.

While very much the business man to whom his vocation comes first, Mr. Ayres does not let his work dominate his interests. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Bezaleel Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. His Greek letter college fraternity is Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Among his clubs are the Worcester Country, Commonwealth and Univer- sity, and he is a member of the Worcester Cham- ber of Commerce and the Life Underwriters Asso- ciation. He and Mrs. Ayres are affiliated with the First Universalist Church, of Worcester. Golf is a favorite recreation, a game in which he excels as witness his success in golf tournaments.

In 1922, Benjamin W. Ayres married Ellen E. Barrett, daughter of Leon J. and Martha (Hyde) Barrett, of Worcester. Mr. and Mrs. Ayres are the parents of four children: I. Lois E., born June

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24, 1923. 2. Donald W., born March 22, 1926. 3. Robert B., born May 4, 1928. 4. Janet, born December 1, 1933.

WALDO E. SESSIONS, 2d-Member of a family which has been established in Worcester for over a hundred years and executive head of an enterprise established by his grandfather prior to 1843, Waldo E. Sessions, 2d, continues the un- dertaking service and the manufacture of under- taker's supplies, with which the family name has so long been connected.

George Sessions, the grandfather, was born in Heath, Massachusetts, October 23, 1814. He came to Worcester in 1822 and sometime prior to 1843 -the exact date is not known-founded the busi- ness which bears his name today. He died in Worcester, November 8, 1901. During this time he saw not only his own enterprise develop beyond all expectations, but he was as well part and parcel of the development of Worcester from a town of 7,000, when he arrived, to a thriving city of 125,- 000 at the time of his death. His first location was on Thomas Street, in a small frame building whose one redeeming feature was its accessibility to a lumber pile nearby-a very necessary adjunct, for in those days an undertaker carried no stock in trade, but instead knocked together black wal- nut boxes as they were needed. The business thrived in a small way, remaining in Thomas Street until 1850, when a new location was secured at the corner of Front Street and Eaton Place. A short time later a third move was made, this time to the opposite corner. Here Mr. Sessions remained, until the success of his enterprise war- ranted the construction of a home of his own. This building was erected at the corner of Front and Trumbull streets, and was followed later by another building in the rear.

Mr. Sessions in these later years had become a wholesaler of caskets and undertakers' supplies for smaller concerns in Worcester County and had built up a modest business in this line. Two sons, Waldo E., father of the subject of this record, and Frank E., had grown to manhood in the busi- ness, and it was decided to enlarge the wholesale branch and begin the manufacturer of supplies. This step was taken in 1887. The factory was located on Eaton Place, and four men were the total number of employees. Today this department alone employs over two hundred and provides a day and night service for more than 1,500 undertakers located within a radius of three hundred miles of Worcester. The factory is never closed and now occupies three six-story buildings on Eaton Place.

Meanwhile the retail undertaking service con- tinued to develop, and in 1907 a lease of the Me- chanic Street end of the Brewer Building, corner of Commercial Street, was secured. Headquarters were located there until the new and present site on Pleasant Street was secured in 1915. Mean- while, in 1907, the business was incorporated, and since that time Waldo E. Sessions, 2d, of this rec- ord, has been its president. Frank E. Sessions (q. v.) was treasurer up to his death on August 7, 193I.

Waldo E. Sessions, 2d, was born at Worcester on February 3, 1882, a son of Waldo E. and Josephine (Ufford) Sessions. His father was asso- ciated with the Sessions enterprises until his death. During the Civil War, it is interesting to note,

he took care of the bodies of many soldiers with- out any charge to relatives. Josephine (Ufford) Sessions, the mother, died in 1908.

Waldo E. Sessions, 2d, the son, was educated in the public schools of Worcester and at the begin- ning of his active career became identified with the family business known at present as George Ses- sions Sons Company. Subsequently he became active head of the Sessions enterprises and under his guid- ance they have continued their advancement and growth. Mr. Sessions is a man of progressive out- look and his leadership has been a decisive factor in the recent success of a company which is without doubt the oldest of its kind in Worcester County and one of the oldest in the United States. Their equipment and conveniences for patrons are second to none in New England. Their chapel is provided with a fine Wurlitzer organ, a modern air-cooling and conditioning system, and many other items of the most modern type, enabling them to render the finest possible service in the city. Mr. Sessions was the first man in Worcester County to have a motor ambulance and has spared no effort to maintain the highest standards in his profession. His son, George Sessions, has been associated with his father dur- ing practically all his business career, constituting the fourth generation of the family to carry on the business.

Mr. Sessions has been very active in Worcester civic and social life, performing all the duties of good citizenship and contributing generously to worthy city institutions and enterprises. During the World War he served on many boards and committees and took care of the bodies of many soldiers in that period. He is a member of the Worcester Club; the Worcester Country Club, of which he was first president; the Quinsigamond Boat Club; the Commonwealth Club; the Cham- ber of Commerce, of which he is a director; and the Massachusetts Undertakers' Association, of which he is past president; and is prominent in many other societies and associations. Fraternally he is affiliated with Athelstan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and is also a member of all the Scottish Rite bodies, including the Consistory in which he has attained the thirty-second degree. Mr. Sessions is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He attends All Saints Church in this city.

In 1902, Waldo E. Sessions, 2d, married Marie Gail Webb of Worcester. They became the par- ents of five children, of whom four are now liv- ing, as follows: I. Katharine W., who became the wife of G. F. Whitcomb. They have two chil- dren: Josephine Ann and Marie Gail. 2. Josephine V. 3. George, vice-president of George Sessions Sons Company. 4. Waldo E., 3d. The fifth child, David D., is now deceased. The present location of Mr. Sessions' business is at No. 71 Pleasant Street. The family residence is situated at No. 22 Whitman Road, this city.

HARRY T. NAYOR-The fortunate posses- sor of those gifts which go to make the success- ful caterer to public entertainment, Harry T. Nayor, like his father has devoted most of his career to the theatre in its modern form, the cinema. He is a native of Boston, born July 14, 1892, the son of Isaiah and Rose (Merritt) Nayor, who many years ago came from Austria and settled in New Eng-

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land. The senior Mr. Nayor entered the theatrical business. In 1913 he became interested in a New York theatre, in which his son, Harry T., joined him.

Harry T. Nayor spent most of his boyhood in New York City and was educated in the schools of the metropolis. After being graduated from high school in 1911, he studied in a business col- lege of New York. When the United States became involved in the World War, he enlisted in the Engineers Corps, stationed at Washington, District of Columbia. He served until receiving his honorable discharge in 1919 as a second lieu- tenant of the United States Army. Resuming his theatrical business in New York City, in 1919, he specialized in motion pictures and achieved a re- markable success. He built and owned the Ter- race Theatre in Yonkers, New York, which he later sold, and came to Worcester in 1929. Here he accepted a position as manager of the Warner Theatre, which he remodeled, and it became one of the fine motion picture houses of the city. He is a lover of sports, golf being his chief recreation.

On February 12, 1925, Mr. Nayor married Eliz- abeth Padrasic, a native Pennsylvanian, and they are the parents of a daughter, Irene Sallie, born October 20, 1928.

PAUL BEAGARY MORGAN-To the in- dustrial eminence of Worcester, Charles Hill Mor- gan and Paul Beagary Morgan, father and son, have contributed importantly. The first mentioned founded the Morgan Construction Company and various other industries, which Paul B. Morgan, after very extensive technical training and experi- ence at home and abroad, carried on and expanded to their present importance. Both men were en- dowed with executive, constructive and inventive abilities; both entered their careers after careful preparation and both achieved outstanding success.

Paul Beagary Morgan is a descendant of Miles Morgan, who came from Bristol, England, in 1636, to Boston, and shared the honor of founding the town of Springfield with William Pynchon. A statue in his honor was erected in Court Square, Springfield, in 1879, just two hundred years after his death. Deacon David Morgan, son of David Morgan, and grandson of Sergeant Miles Morgan, came from his native town to Brimfield and was town clerk there in 1731. Sergeant Joseph Mor- gan, son of David Morgan, was born in Spring- field, August 19, 1705, and went to Brimfield with his father; served in the expedition against Louis- burg in 1758, and at the age of seventy years marched with his company in response to the Lex- ington alarm, April 19, 1775. Sergeant Aaron Morgan, son of Joseph Morgan, was one of the foremost men of Brimfield for many years, serv- ing the town repeatedly as moderator, selectman, assessor and town clerk, and was a soldier of the Revolution. Calvin Morgan, of Brimfield, son of Aaron Morgan, was the father of Hiram Morgan, grandfather of Charles Hill Morgan, and great- grandfather of Paul Beagary Morgan. In all his other lines of ancestry Mr. Morgan was de- scended from the pioneer English stock. Among his ancestors were the Clarks, Coltons, Coopers, Cooleys, Wolcotts, Shermans, Stones, and many others prominent in the Bay Colony, and especially so in Springfield and vicinity

Charles Hill Morgan, born in Rochester, New York, January 8, 1831, and who died in Worces- ter, Massachusetts, January 10, 19II, after his school days were over, studied engineering, me- chanical drawing, chemistry, and was the head of a dye house before he became of age. He was thereafter employed for a number of years in various mechanical manufacturing enterprises, in 1864 coming to Worcester as general superintend- ent of Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Com- pany, a post he held for twenty-three years. Dur- ing this period he made many trips abroad study- ing manufacturing methods of steel and wire mills, and introduced in the home plant, or designed, or invented, many improvements and devices. A steam-powered reel was one of his first introduc- tions; he designed a new mill to supersede the Bedson mill; in 1886 he received patents on auto- matic reels and thereafter continued to produce inventions used in his industry. In 1888 he founded an engineering business which was incorporated in 1891 as the Morgan Construction Company, in which he was joined by his son, Paul B. Morgan. Mr. Morgan, Sr., was instrumental in the success- ful development of the Worcester Polytechnic In- stitute, completing the Washburn shops in a crisis in which this institution, still an experiment, was about to fail. He was also a leader in civic, wel- fare and religious activities, being one of the found- ers of the Plymouth Congregational Church, a director of the Young Men's Christian Association, and a member of numerous local and national organizations.

On August 4, 1863, Charles Hill Morgan mar- ried Rebecca Ann Beagary, of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania. Their son, Paul Beagary Morgan, was born in Worcester, May 7, 1869. The prelimi- naries of his education were gained in the local schools and Worcester Academy, from which he was graduated in 1887. Matriculating at Worces- ter Polytechnic Institute, he was graduated in the class of 1890. Then he went abroad to study the iron and steel industry and took a special course in metallurgy and chemistry in the Royal School of Mines at Stockholm, Sweden. He also gained some practical experience in the celebrated Munk- fors Works of the Uddeholm Company in Sweden. He holds the degrees: Bachelor of Science, Worces- ter Polytechnic Institute, 1890, and Doctor of Engineering from the same institution, 1929.

Upon his return to Worcester, he became asso- ciated in business with his father whom he later succeeded as president of the Morgan Construction Company and the Morgan Spring Company. Un- der his management the business of both com- panies have been greatly extended and various additions made in the buildings and plant. He was president of the Heald Machine Company and a director in the Graton and Knight Manufactur- ing Company; State Mutual Life Assurance Com- pany; Worcester Morris Plan Bank; Worcester Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company; vice-president and director of the Peoples Savings Bank. From 1904 to its consolidation in 1917, he was a director of the Worcester National Bank, and is now a director of the Worcester Bank and Trust Company and the Worcester County Na- tional Bank. Mr. Morgan is also a trustee of the Worcester Memorial Hospital, the Home for Aged Women, the Home for Aged Men, and as pres-

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ident of the Worcester County Musical Associa- tion was influential in promoting the high repu- tation of the annual festival of the society. He is a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a mem- ber of the American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers, American Iron and Steel Institute, and of the Sons of the American Revolution. Among his clubs are the Worcester, Engineers', of New York, and the Tatnuck Country and Petersham Country clubs of Worcester. From 1910 he has been president of the board of trustees of Worces- ter Academy, and has been the president of the Alumni Association of the Worcester Technical Institute. In politics he is a Republican.

At Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 15, 1893, Paul Beagary Morgan married Lessie Louise Maynard, daughter of William and Mary (Adams) Maynard, of Worcester. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are the parents of four sons and one daughter: I. Philip Maynard, born April 13, 1896. 2. Charles Hill, born September 19, 1902. 3. Paul Beagary, Jr., born June II, 1904. 4. Vincent, born Feb- ruary 2, 1906. 5. Elizabeth, born July 2, 1909.

CLINTON SPAULDING MARSHALL- Successful in his numerous business enterprises, Clinton Spaulding Marshall figured prominently in the affairs of Worcester. For many years he was district manager of the American Steel and Wire Company's plants in this city, until, in 1928, he retired from his active business endeavors in order to devote time to his private interests, including a seventy-acre farm, which was one of his hobbies.

Mr. Marshall was born in Rutland, February 6, 1860, son of Major George C. and Charlotte L. ( Harrington) Marshall. His father, an officer in the Civil War, was killed in action in that con- flict in 1861 and his mother died in 1918. In the public schools and high school of Worcester and at Wilbraham Academy, Clinton S. Marshall re- ceived his early education. At the age of nineteen years he entered the employ of the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company as a helper. For two years he was associated with that organiza- tion, going next to the Morgan Spring Com- pany, which advanced him from time to time to positions of great responsibility, until he became and continued for ten years as superintendent of the shops. Resigning from that post, he returned to the Washburn and Moen Mills to organize a department for making springs. In 1902 he was madc assistant superintendent of the South Works of this company, which elevated him to superin- tendent a year later. In 1904 he was made man- ager for the district. From that time, he had charge of the Worcester Wire Mills, formerly owned by the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company and now by the American Steel and Wire Company, and also of the mills at New Haven, Connecticut, and Trenton, New Jersey. Under his administration, output at the mills was extended in both quantity and variety.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 87

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