Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 88

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 88

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Along with John B. Moss, assistant general man- ager of the American Steel and Wire Company, Mr. Marshall organized the O. and J. Machine Company, of Worcester, and the two men became directors of the new corporation. Mr. Marshall was also made a director of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, the Worcester Bank and Trust Company, the Morris Plan Company, and

a trustee of the Worcester People's Savings Bank and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He like- wise became a member of the Federal Exemption Board during the World War.

Mr. Marshall's retirement, in 1928, from his active mill duties, coming after years of valuable service, was a cause of disappointment among his associates; but he felt that the move was advisable in order that he might better serve his manifold personal interests. In Grafton, near Ripple Lake, he had bought, a number of years ago, a thor- oughly modern farm of seventy acres; and there, especially after he had more leisure time, he was able to devote attention to farming, which was a pastime with him.

At one time Mr. Marshall was a selectman of the town of Grafton; and, as a matter of fact, he consistently devoted much thought and effort to civic problems. For five years he served as a member of the Worcester City Guards. A number of organizations claimed him as a member. He was affiliated with the Iron and Steel Institute; the Worcester Chamber of Commerce; the Worces- ter Club; the Worcester Country Club; the Tatas- sit Canoe Club; the Quinnipiac Club, of New Haven, Connecticut; a number of fish and game clubs; the Crescent Club, of New York City; and the Pine Orchard Club. He was prominent in the Free and Accepted Masons, in which order he was connected with Athelstan Lodge, Worcester Chap- ter of Royal Arch Masons, Hiram Council of Royal and Select Masters, Worcester County Com- mandery of Knights Templar, and the thirty-sec- ond degree of the Massachusetts Consistory of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, as well as Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine. He also belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political views were those of the Republican party, though he never sought or held public office. His church was the Congregational. Both through his business activ- ities and by virtue of his civic interests, Mr. Mar- shall held a merited place of leadership in his city and in this region of Massachusetts; for he regu- larly put his fullest energies into whatever tasks were entrusted to him and was diligent in promot- ing the general welfare of his fellow-citizens. The same energy and devotion went into his leisure- time activities, especially those having to do with outdoor life; for he was never happier than when enjoying periods of recreation in the woods, on the lakes, or in motor travel.

No record of Mr. Marshall's work alone would give a complete picture of the man, without some account of his family background. His father, Major George C. Marshall, referred to above, was born at Mechanics Falls, Maine, on September 18, 1827. He was major of the First Missouri Cavalry Regiment in the Civil War and was killed on January 22, 1862, at Knob Noster by a Rebel bushwhacker known as "Arkansas Robinson." Lieutenant Bennett pursued his slayer, whose ca- reer he ended by a bullet. Major Marshall's body was taken to Minot, Maine, for funeral services, and he was buried at Rutland, Massachusetts. He and Colonel Merrill raised their regiment at Chil- licothe, Missouri; and the Grand Army post at Rutland was named after Mr. Marshall. At the time of enlistment he was station agent of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. His father, Asahel Marshall, was born in Minot, Maine, and

Clinton S. Marshall

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was the first settler at Mechanics Falls; his wife was Lucy Calderwood, of Fox Island, Maine, daughter of John Calderwood, who was wounded in a naval battle in the War of the American Revolu- tion. Clinton S. Marshall's great-grandfather was David Marshall, of Dedham; and his forebears included many of the first settlers of the Bay Colony. In fact, all of Clinton S. Marshall's ancestors were New England pioneers or their descendants. Major George C. Marshall married, in Lunenburg, January 8, 1849, Charlotte L. Har- rington, born at Acton on October 16, 1827, daugh- ter of Isaac and Relief (Watkins) Harrington, granddaughter of Edward Harrington of Revolu- tionary fame, and a descendant of Robert Harring- ton, the pioneer. The only child of this marriage was Clinton S. Marshall, of this review.

Clinton S. Marshall married, March 4, 1880, Florence Bigelow, born in Boylston, Massachu- setts, on March 4, 1860, daughter of Charles P. and Rhoanna I. (Ball) Bigelow and a descendant from the founder of the line, John Bigelow, through Samuel, John, Andrew, Solomon, and Charles P. Bigelow, representing the succession of generations down to Mrs. Marshall. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall had children: I. Charlotte J., born in Worcester on November 25, 1887, who studied in the high school here, Monticello Seminary at Godfrey, Illi- nois, and Lasell Seminary, at Auburndale; she be- came the wife of P. Alden Beaman, and they have a daughter, Nancy Beaman. 2. Helen B., born in Worcester on March II, 1892, attended Worces- ter High School and Lasell Seminary, and mar- ried Harold A. Allen, of this city; they have had four children: Marshall, Willard, Barbara, and Charlotte Allen.

Clinton S. Marshall made his home on his farm in Grafton until his death, which occurred on January 1, 1934.

EUGENE SIMEON BELISLE, M. D .- A native son of Worcester, Dr. Eugene Simeon Belisle came to occupy a place of importance in local professional life. In the medical science, he made a special study of urology, and his achieve- ments were worth while and distinctive. His prac- tice was an extensive one, and he was widely and favorably known in Massachusetts and New Eng- land, and at the same time he was honored and loved for his delightful personal qualities. Kindli- ness, generosity, sincerity, these were among his foremost characteristics and won for him the affec- tions and the very high regard of his contempora- ries, associates and friends.

Dr. Belisle was born on September 3, 1891, at Worcester, son of Alexander and Albini (Boulay) Belisle and member of an old and honored fam- ily. The line has been traced back in Worces- ter to the grandfather of the physician. He also bore the name of Alexander Belisle, and was born December 28, 1831, at St. Damase, Canada, son of Antoine Levasseur and Marguerite (Delage) Belisle. At the age of eighteen years he came to the United States, where, in the spring of 1847, he found employment in a shoe factory run by Captain Wood at West Millbury. He lived at St. Marcel, Canada, for some years, then came back to Worces- ter County, Massachusetts, where he remained a shoemaker for the rest of his life, dying in Worces- ter on March 14, 1903, aged seventy-two. He mar- ried, in Millbury, on July 10, 1853, Marie Dorval,

born at St. Ours, Canada, in 1832, daughter of Louis and Marie (Benoit) Dorval. Her parents came in 1835 to Millbury, and she died January 31, 1906, aged seventy-four years, in Worcester. They had fifteen children, six of whom died in infancy. Those growing to maturity were: I. Josephine, wife of Gaspard Dupuis, of Sutton, Mas- sachusetts. 2. Elmire, died in 1897, married Andre G. Lajoie, a grocer at Worcester. 3. Alexander, Jr., of further mention. 4. Felix A., a lawyer. 5. Eugene L., who was business manager of "L'Opinion Publique," a daily French newspaper published in Worcester. 6. George E., a lawyer. 7. Charles Edmond, managing editor of "L'Opin- ion Publique." 8. Hector L., a teacher and a Harvard graduate. 9. Anna, a music teacher, of Worcester.

Of these, Alexander Belisle, Jr., father of Dr. Belisle, was born at Ste. Victoire, Canada, Sep- tember 4, 1856. Coming to Worcester with his parents in 1862, he attended the schools here and learned the shoemaker's trade with his father. At the age of twenty-two he became business manager of "Le Travailleur" a French newspaper in Worces- ter, published by the late Ferdinand Edward Gag- non. In 1887 he associated himself with the insur- ance office of John D. Washburn. He was active in politics and was the first Franco-American elected to the common council of the city, serving for four years from 1888 to 1891. He was a director of the Free Public Library and one of the best- known French-Americans of Worcester County. In 1877, aged twenty-one, he married Albini Bou- lay, born at La Présentation, Canada, March 21, 1854, daughter of Narcisse and Hedwige (La- violette) Boulay, of Acton, Canada. They had eight children, all born in Worcester.

After completing his early education, Eugene Simeon Belisle, of this review, studied at Clark University, there taking his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. For his medical training, he went to the Medical School of the Montpellier Univer- sity, Montpellier, France, where he obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1916. From there he went to the University of Paris, France, to take a course in urology. He then served an interneship at Necker Hospital, in Paris, remain- ing there for several months as a urologist. Volun- teering his services during the World War period, he went into the stricken areas in France and was assigned to duty at Mount La Grave, in the French Alps, to break up an epidemic of meningitis.

Returning to Paris, in August, 1917, he enlisted in the Ist Division, was commissioned captain and made head surgeon of the 6th Infantry. Upon demobilization of the troops, he was commissioned captain with the 102d Field Artillery. Resigning his commission, he then served with the 10th Engi- neers' Regiment in 1917 and 1918 as a first lieu- tenant. He also served as a first lieutenant and surgeon in the 2d Brigade of the 16th Infantry, Ist Division, United States Army, American Ex- peditionary Forces, in 1918 and after the signing of the Armistice was assigned to this division, which formed a part of the Army of Occupation on the West bank of the Rhine. He remained there until the occupational forces finally withdrew from the region in 1919. Three times in the course of his service he was cited for bravery and he won the Croix de Guerre of France and was recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross of the United

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States. His name was kept on the Reserve list at Washington, District of Columbia, until Octo- ber, 1922, when he was named chief surgeon of the 319th Ammunition Train of the 94th Division, with the rank of captain.

So much for his military service, which was of great value to his country. Such was the case also with his medical career. In Worcester he took a deep interest in the practice of his profes- sion, after he returned from wartime service and was likewise busily occupied with civic and social affairs. Adding authorship to his other attain- ments, he wrote, as a result of his war medical experiences, a "Study on Sporadic Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis in the French Army at Montpellier, France, in July, 1916," which was published by Firmin and Montane. He was also active in many organizations, including the American Medical As- sociation, the Massachusetts State Medical Society, the Council Franchere, L'Union St. Jean Baptiste d'Amerique, and other groups.

Music was one of his greatest enjoyments. He had an excellent tenor voice and in early life did a great deal of singing. His vocal abilities were impaired, however, by his being gassed in the war. He also played the piano and the concert organ and was deeply fond of good music of all sorts. His favorite recreations were fishing and hunting, though he also enjoyed all other forms of out- door sports and recreations. Politically he lent his support to the Republican party. He was a mem- ber of the Roman Catholic Church and was affil- iated with the Holy Name Society of his parish. He was also a member of the University Club of Worcester.

Dr. E. S. Belisle married, on August 20, 1923, at Worcester, Marie L. R. Denechaud, daughter of Amédée and Virginie Denechaud. The only daugh- ter of this marriage was Jacqueline Belisle, who was born on September 13, 1928.

Dr. Belisle's death occurred on August 4, 1928, and was an occasion of deep and sincere bereave- ment. His work, as outlined above, was of a very valuable sort and was such as to add to the dis- tinction of a distinguished family. The French- Canadian population of Worcester County has been a vital and contributive force to civic betterment in this region, and Dr. Belisle played no small part in working for community improvement. Had not so many years of his life gone into service to his country, he doubtless would have given still more richly to civic advancement and to the eleva- tion of professional standards here. But he is affectionately remembered today as one of the coun- ty's leading citizens and as a man of unusual merit and high standing.

MICHAEL EARLS, S. J., priest of the Society of Jesus, member of the department of literature, Holy Cross College, Worcester, educa- tor, author and lecturer, is a native of South- bridge, born October 2, 1873. He is a son of Martin and Mary (O'Shaughessy) Earls, both from County Clare, Ireland. He attended the schools of his birth town and, as a boy of sixteen years, taught night school in an old Yankee house in Southbridge. In later years he studied in St. Joseph's College, Memramcook, New Brunswick, Canada, and matriculated at Holy Cross College, Worcester, from which he was graduated in 1896. There followed post-graduate work at Georgetown

University, Washington, District of Columbia, and in Montreal, Canada, and in Europe. While a student at Georgetown, he taught a Sunday school and played the organ at Fort Myer, Virginia, on Sunday mornings, an experience, like many others of the days of his academic studies, reflected de- lightfully in his writings of a maturer period.

Fr. Earls entered the Society of Jesuits, at Frederick, Maryland, September 29, 1899, and fol- lowed scholastic studies until his ordination at Woodstock, Maryland, in 1912, Cardinal Gibbons officiating. Assigned to Holy Cross College during the following year, this institution has been the place of his labors, educational and other. To many, Michael Earls is the lecturer par excellence, famed for his delivery of such lectures as: "The Land of Songs," usually illuminated with music by choir boys; "The Price of Poetry"; "Amer- ican Dialect Poetry"; "Three Extraordinary, Or- dinary Women"-Greek, Hebrew and Gael; "The Society That Reconstructs Society"; "Louise Imogen Guiney"-catholic and Catholic, exquisite poet to whom a memorial room in the Holy Cross Library has been established; "The Arthurian Legend"; "Reconstruction in English Literary History"; "Old Ireland in New England"-the novels of Fr. Boyce, alias Paul Peppergrass. To many the writings of Michael Earls are of major interest. Numbered among these are prose works: "Melchior of Boston," "Marie of the House d'Anters," "The Wedding Bells of Glendalough," "Stuore," and "Under College Towers." Best among his verse are "The Road Beyond the Town," "Ballads of Childhood," "From Bersabee to Dan," and "In the Abbey of the Woods." He also edited "Jefferson and O'Connell," by Claude Bowers, and a rare book about Gilbert K. Chester- ton, entitled "Chestertoniana."

CHARLES MICHAEL HERLIHY-Since 1927 Charles Michael Herlihy has occupied the presidency of the State Teachers College at Fitch- burg. He is an educator of long experience who has given many years of service to the Massa- chusetts schools.

Mr. Herlihy was born at Cambridge, on October I, 1891, a son of John William and Mary Ann (Murphy) Herlihy. His father was a contractor and gardener in Cambridge. On the completion of his secondary education, Mr. Herlihy entered Boston College and was graduated from that insti- tution in 1912 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1914 he took the further degree of Master of Arts and in the same year received his diploma of graduation at Boston Normal School. He began his teaching as a submaster in an elementary school in Cambridge, where he served from 1912 to 1916. In 1916 he was appointed assistant superintendent of schools at Cambridge and four years later became associated with the Massachusetts depart- ment of education as assistant State supervisor of Americanization. This office he filled until 1922. From 1922 to 1927 he was State supervisor of Americanization, relinquishing his duties to accept the presidency of Fitchburg State Teachers Col- lege in 1927. Mr. Herlihy enjoys the highest pro- fessional standing and is well qualified, both as an educator and administrator, for the position he now holds.

Since coming to Fitchburg, Mr. Herlihy has been active in many phases of the city's life, serving

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as president of the Rotary Club and vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. . He is affiliated fraternally with the Knights of Columbus, is a Democrat in politics and a Roman Catholic in reli- gious faith. During the war he enlisted in the medical department of the United States Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Sanitary Corps. He was assigned to reconstruc- tion service at various army hospitals, including Walter Reed Hospital at Washington and other hospitals in New Haven, New York and Boston. After the war, he was a member of the National Americanism Commission of the American Legion from 1924 to 1927. He has served since 1926 as a member of the advisory board of the Division of Immigration and Americanization.

Mr. Herlihy is a member of the National Educa- tion Association, the New England Association of School Superintendents, the Massachusetts School- masters Club and the Fitchburg Teachers Associa- tion. From 1922 to 1924 he was president of the National Department of Adult Education and has written numerous Federal and State bulletins on that subject. He is also co-author of "First Steps in Americanization," published in 1918.

On September 19, 1918, at Cambridge, Charles Michael Herlihy married Emma Cutter of Cam- bridge, daughter of Charles and Margaret Cutter. They are the parents of three children: I. Charles Cutter, born in 1925. 2. John Joseph, born in 1927. 3. Mary Isabel, born in 1931.

JOHN NELSON-For many years John Nel- son was a familiar figure in New England jour- nalism and in the life of the city of Worcester where his own career was largely spent. His long association with the Worcester "Telegram" and "Evening Gazette," although it was interrupted for varying intervals, was permanently terminated only by his death, and during a period of more than three decades he was one of the most valued members of the staff of these papers. His own literary work covered many fields, but nothing gave him so much pleasure as his writings on the birds and flowers, plants and trees of the New England countryside. He knew it well and loved it with a devotion which was, perhaps, the truest reflection of his inner spirit.

Mr. Nelson was born in Worcester in 1866, a son of Thomas Leverett and Louisa A. (Slocumb) Nelson. His father, a distinguished jurist, was judge of the United States District Court in Bos- ton. John Nelson was educated in Worcester pub- lic schools and at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Two of his brothers followed the law, but when he relinquished his earlier plans to become an engi- neer, he decided instead to enter journalism. In 1890, therefore, he joined the staff of the "Gazette," serving as staff reporter until 1897. At the end of that time he began the association with the "Worcester Telegram" which continued until 1902, when he became New England editor for "The Iron Age," a leading journal of industry. He held this position for fourteen years, resigning in 1916 to undertake a special service for a group of Bos- ton bankers. In 1917, however, he returned to the staff of the "Gazette" at Worcester, covering busi- ness and financial news. In the last few years of his life he was an editorial writer for the "Gazette."

Mr. Nelson continued to contribute regular arti- cles on business and editorial topics to "The Iron

Age" and undertook to compile a monthly news letter for a Worcester bank, which became a model for similar bulletins on business and industry distrib- uted by national statistical organizations. Among his other special writings were a handbook, "Alti- tudes of Worcester," and a history of the Yankee Division in the World War, published just at the close of the war. These data he assembled from letters from his son, who had enlisted in Battery A, IOIst Field Artillery, from War Department records, newspaper stories and other sources. Al- though it was prepared in a remarkably short time, this volume was comprehensive in scope and cor- rect in all essential details. Mr. Nelson's greatest work, perhaps, was the present history, tracing the story of Worcester County from the days of the Quinsigamond Plantation, which he had almost completed at the time of his death. He was also the editor of "Sweetser's Guide Book of the White Mountains," which he revised in 1917, and joint author with Dr. Charles F. Brooks of Clark Uni- versity of a series of short articles, "Why the Weather," which were printed in local newspapers and later put into book form. In 1922 he began his weekly article on nature topics which was featured in the Worcester "Sunday Telegram" for eleven years under the pseudonym "Wake Robin." By this name he was known to thousands of read- ers throughout Central Massachusetts, who fol- lowed his nature articles eagerly. Many were thus induced to share his own pleasure in the study of the fields and woods, and his writings became an unofficial textbook in nature classes of the local schools.

Mr. Nelson's authority as a naturalist was un- questioned. It was born of a lifetime spent out of doors in the mountain country of New England that he knew from boyhood. He had collected and classified the thousands of species of plants, and flowers and shrubs, and carefully studied the birds of the territory, both resident and migrant. One species of lily, which he first discovered, has been named the "Nelson Lily" in his honor. Mountain climbing was his particular avocation. The White Mountain country was an open book to him. He had explored it in boyhood, long before the ad- vance of civilization had opened many trails into this wilderness. Every vacation period found him climbing its great peaks, gathering specimens of typical plants and flowers, collecting the legends and traditions of the mountains. Although in later years he was forced to forego the more strenuous climbs, he never lost his love for the great hills and until the time of his death he was often to be seen on the lesser summits near his home, Wachu- sett, Watatic and Asnebumskit, observing his feathered friends, the birds, or stooping occasionally to examine some plant which excited his interest. Each autumn he made a special excursion to a swamp he knew, which lay almost hidden on the plateau near the Paxton-Leicester line. Here grew several species of hardy plants, which he combined with others to make a basket, his annual gift to the children's ward at Worcester City Hos- pital, where it brought pleasure all through the winter to those confined there by illness. Such little kindnesses were entirely typical of the man, a reflection of the warm humanity and largeness of spirit which won him so secure a place in the hearts of those who knew him.

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In 1895, John Nelson married Genevieve M. Burke, daughter of Thomas M. Burke of Worces- ter. They became the parents of one son, J. Leverett Nelson, also a journalist and now a res- ident of Freeport, Long Island, New York.

Mr. Nelson died at his Worcester home on November 28, 1933, following a brief illness. His death was a personal loss to many Worcester residents, both those who were intimate with him and others who knew him only through his writ- ings. In bringing this record to a close, the fol- lowing appreciation by George F. Booth, publisher of the Worcester "Telegram" and "Evening Gaz- ette," may be quoted. It appeared over his signa- ture in the "Evening Gazette" of November 29, 1933:

John Nelson, a member of the staff of these newspapers for many years, passed away last night. He started his life's work on "The Gazette" and he has ended his earthly labors on "The Gazette." He was with this paper all of his adult life with the interruption of a few years in journalism else- where.

John Nelson was a rare soul. Whatever his trials and burdens for the moment were, he con- cealed them in that quiet and kindly manner which was his. He was a great lover of Nature, and Nature was to him an open book. Whether in the mountains, in the woods or in the fields, he read her story, and read it understandingly. In the woods he knew the trees and all of them and as well the ferns and the mosses and the shrubs and the berries, all of which go to make up the sylvan beauty. And in the fields he knew the grasses and the flowers and got comfort and peace of mind in his many wanderings among them. He was a friend of the birds and a friend with the birds. He knew all of our birds of this locality, those that stayed here the year round and those that came and went in their season. And he knew when the time for them to come was and he knew them by name and habit. And he loved them and loved them all.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 88

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