Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 96

Author: Nelson, John, 1866-1933
Publication date: 1934
Publisher: New York, American historical Society
Number of Pages: 700

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REV. CRESCENT ARMANET, A. A., Pres- ident of Assumption College, Worcester, Massa- chusetts-As churchman and educator, the Rev. Crescent Armanet, A. A., has performed important work in the Worcester community, where he is president of the College of the Assumption. A native of France, he has brought with him to the United States something of the true Christian piety of that European country, yet has adapted his ministry at all times to the needs of his adopted land. He is dearly beloved by the students who are receiving their education under his direction and guidance, as well as by church leaders and the general body of Worcester citizenry.

Father Armanet was born in November, 1879, in Dauphiné, France, not far from the great Car- thusian convent built by Saint Bruno, and in the very neighborhood of Vienne, that delightful little town encamped on the banks of the Rhone, on the main line of the railway from Paris to Marseilles. His home was truly Christian in the finest sense, giving one of its children to the bar and the other to the church. Even in boyhood Crescent Armanet showed a desire to enter the church and asked the priests of the Augustinian Order of the Assumption for the classical education that constitutes the first indispensable step toward the altar. Completing his studies and not wishing to be separated from the good Fathers who had attended to his training, he entered the novitiate of Livry, in the outskirts of Paris, there remaining from 1896 to 1898. He then went to Jerusalem, where for four years he studied philosophy, theology and the Holy Scrip- tures. In the Holy City, the Assumptionists still have the hostelry designed to accommodate tourists and pilgrims from all parts of the world; and it was in this hostelry, a flourishing home of students, that the young man stayed. Here, on the very land where early Jewish history was lived and the Christian Saviour walked, the theological students drank deep of the memoried draughts of the past. Avoiding Jerusalem during the burning Palestinian summers, the students walked to distant parts of the Holy Land, sometimes were on foot eight or nine hours a day, and often stayed three weeks at a time, lying down at night in a simple tent and going to sleep to the cries of jackals and hyenas that prowled about their camps. In the morning they would jump out of bed, shave rapidly, recite a part of the Breviary, make their meditation, attend mass, and, after a steaming breakfast, resume their journey. There were encounters with the Bedouins, plunderers of the desert. There were travels over surviving sections of old Roman roads, discoveries of inscription in Latin or Greek bear- ing the names of Emperors of old, efforts to restore old churches and monuments. Brother Armanet became passionately fond of archeologi- cal and Biblical science, and his life was enriched by study of the Scripture under the Very Rev. Father Gervais Quenard, now Superior General of the Assumptionists. A group of young professors and specially appointed students collaborated on the now famous "Pilgrim's Guide to the Holy Land," praised alike by scientists and ecclesiastics; and the young Brother Armanet proved beyond doubt

his right to place his name on the title page of this volume.

He was destined, however, not to receive the priestly unction in the very shadow of the Holy Sepulchre and of Calvary, as did so many of his schoolfellows. The climate of Palestine endangered his health, and, by order of his superiors, he was forced to rest for several months. Leaving the country, he took the road for Constantinople. There, on the border of Asia, facing ancient Byzantium, almost on the evening of Christmas in one week of 1903, he received all the major holy orders from Bishop Bonetti, Apostolic Dele- gate to Constantinople. The Rev. Father Louis Petit, later Archbishop of Athens, was present at his first mass. Father Louis Petit had done some brilliantly useful work of scholarship on Byzan- tine history and had specialized on codification of the Canon Law of the separated churches of the East. He had done a great deal of archeological work, had put in a requisition for the valuable manuscripts buried under the dust of the library of Phanar and the orthodox monasteries of Mount Athos, and had taken countless photographs. He had the esteem of Pope Benedict XV and his suc- cessor, the present Pope Pius XI, who, after the death of Archbishop Petit, added the latter's private library to the scientific treasures of the Vatican.

Ordained priest, Father Armanet was appointed to the mission of the town of Broussa, in Bythinia, east of the sea of Marmara, lost in the foliage of fig and mulberry trees, at the foot of Mount Olym- pus. Here the Assumptionists had a French Col- lege, to which Father Armanet, who took imme- diate charge of it, gave new impetus. There he received Raymond Poincaré, later destined to be- came President of France, as a guest. In 1907 he was sent to Philippopolis, second city of Bul- garia, where the Fathers of the Assumption also had a large French College. It had six hundred Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Jewish and Armenian students, some of them from the finest families of the Near East. Father Armanet had the most difficult position in the institution, that of prefect of discipline, but made himself both feared and loved. He spent twelve years in the East, then went to England, meeting in London the Rev. Marie-Louis Deydier, who was to come a few years later to direct the College of the Assump- tion in Worcester. In London Father Armanet studied English, learned to speak fluently the lan- guage of Shakespeare, and then, in 1912, came to the New World.

Cardinal Farley, of New York, had asked the Assumptionists to take over a new parish in the metropolis of America, and, the Superior General of the Order in seeking a staff, asked for Father Armanet. In New York he was situated on One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, near the Hudson River, and for twelve years preached in English every Sunday in the Church of Our Lady of Esperanza. At all hours of the day he heard con- fessions, nor did he ever send away any of the penitents, who came to him. He also served as chaplain to the Little Sisters of the Assumption. nurses of the poor, always spreading his apostolic word among the men and women gathered in the Chapel of the Missionary Sisters. At the same time he was writing regularly for the Catholic

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daily of Paris, "La Croix," on the chief political, social and economic events, as well as religious developments, transpiring in the United States. He was widely quoted in Canada and New Eng- land, often without acknowledgement. Later Father Armanet was the specially appointed official cor- respondent of "La Croix" at the Chicago Euch- aristic Congress. Acting first as infirmarian in a hospital and then as postal censor during the World War, in the French Army, he served well the Allied cause and after America's entry into the conflict devoted Saturdays and Sundays to the spir- itual needs of American troops as a volunteer chaplain.

It was in 1929, after this varied service to coun- try and to church, that Father Armanet was named head of the College of the Assumption, at Worces- ter. Here he has maintained the French tradition in its finest form, bringing to his work the splendid background of labors among people in all parts of the earth. The Worcester community has likewise gained from having a man of his training at the head of one of its educational institutions. The magazine of the college, at the time of his appoint- ment to the Worcester position, wrote a beautiful article in French concerning the life of Father Armanet, ending its account with the words :

This magazine, founded in the interests of the college, is commended particularly to the benevo- lence of the new Superior, to his advice, to his abundant initiative, to the needs even of his pen, always so stirring and French.

It says to him, "ad multos annos."

REV. JOSEPH E. CHICOINE-Since 1914 the Rev. Joseph E. Chicoine has been pastor of St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church at Leominster. His many years in the priesthood have been filled with useful accomplishment, and the value of his leadership in both spiritual and material things has been reflected in the steady progress of St. Cecilia's parish.

Father Chicoine was born at Verchères, Province of Quebec, Canada, on February 9, 1863, a son of Peter and Marie (Gauvreau) Chicoine. He was educated in the schools of Montreal and in Mont- real College and after the completion of his aca- demic and theological studies was ordained priest by Bishop Fabre on August 28, 1887. He was first assigned to be assistant at St. Henri's parish, Montreal. In June, 1893, however, he came to the Springfield Diocese, Massachusetts, taking up his duties as assistant in Notre Dame Church, Worces- ter. Two years later he was transferred to the Precious Blood Church at Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he served as assistant until 1899. For the following two years he was priest at Notre Dame parish, Pittsfield, and from 1901 to May, 1904, was priest at Notre Dame parish, Southbridge. In the latter month and year, he became pastor of St. Anthony's Church, Worcester, remaining until 1914, when he came to Leominster as pastor of St. Cecilia's Church.

This parish was founded in 1900 with some 1,450 communicants. The first pastor was Father W. Balthasard, who had charge until November 4, 1914, when he died. He was succeeded by Father Chicoine, who has given many years of dedicated service to the parish and its people. The member- ship of St. Cecilia's now numbers almost 5,000 and it is regarded as one of the most active parishes in the diocese. Under Father Chicoine's guidance

many improvements have been made in church buildings and equipment while the spiritual prog- ress of the parish has gone hand in hand with the material. In 1925 the parish school was partly destroyed by fire. It has since been rebuilt and includes a temporary chapel. The school itself has twenty-four rooms and is presided over by twenty- eight sisters. Nearly 1,000 pupils are enrolled. In September, 1931, another great task was begun with the erection of a new church structure at a cost of $350,000. It has been built of Weymouth stone and is universally considered to be one of the city's most beautiful buildings. It is in every respect ideally suited for the purposes which it serves. Standing at the corner of Mechanic and Third streets, Leominster, it has already become a landmark of this community.

To Father Chicoine's leadership in a very large degree must go the credit for the remarkable growth of the parish. He has been a true shepherd of his flock, a friend and counsellor to his people and, while never compromising his high ideals, has never forgotten the humanity of man.

JOSEPH THOMAS HIGGINS-An active figure at the bar and in the public life of New York, Joseph Thomas Higgins, member of a well- known Worcester family, has served as sheriff of New York County. He is well remembered in Worcester and its people have followed his career with interest.

Mr. Higgins was born in Worcester, on October 20, 1893, a son of Jeremiah J. and Mary A. (Dono- hue) Higgins. He is a grandson of Patrick J. Higgins, who came from Ireland to New York as a young man in 1849 and soon thereafter settled in Worcester. He married Mary A. O'Keefe. Two of their sons were killed while serving with the Union forces during the Civil War.

Jeremiah J. Higgins has been a prominent figure in Worcester life for many years, and although he has now reached the advanced age of seventy- seven he continues the important interests which have occupied his attention for the better part of half a century. He is president of the Home Co- operative Bank of this city, president or treasurer of several real estate and building firms and has large property holdings in this city. A full account of his career appears elsewhere in these pages.

Joseph Thomas Higgins received his preliminary education in Worcester schools and subsequently entered Holy Cross College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During the World War he entered the United States Army Air Service, was commissioned first lieutenant and served as pursuit pilot until he received his discharge in 1919. He then returned to his preparations for his professional career, studying law at Fordham University Law School until 1921. Mr. Higgins was a noted athlete in his college years and was the winner of the inter- collegiate half-mile championship in both 1917 and 1918.

Admitted to the New York bar in 1921, he immediately began active practice in New York City and soon established his reputation as one of the most able of the city's younger lawyers. He also became active in Democratic politics and as the candidate of his party was elected and served in the New York State Assembly from 1927 to 1932. In the latter year he was elected

16 Chicoine

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sheriff of New York County, after having served in the New York State Assembly while Franklin D. Roosevelt was Governor of New York. Mr. Higgins, in devoting the past seven years (up to 1934) to public service, has brought to his official duties the same fine energy and talents which dis- tinguished his career in private life. His record is notable and his success well merited.

Mr. Higgins maintains law offices at No. 261 Broadway, New York City. He continues to hold an influential place in Democratic councils and is a member of the National Democratic Club as well as of local Democratic organizations. He is also a member of the New York Athletic Club, the American Legion, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Improved Order of Red Men. Athletic sports are his principal recreation, particularly golf, but he also derives much pleas- sure from his taste for poetry and literature, and his own talents as a poet have won him considerable recognition. One of his poems, submitted in com- petition, received a prize award. Mr. Higgins resides in New York City. He is unmarried.

REV. J. O. COMTOIS-St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, at Spencer, of which the Rev. J. O. Comtois is now pastor, is a French parish and was founded on December 26, 1887, when the French people of Spencer were permitted to form a separate congregation through the advice of Father Beaven. The first mass was said on Janu- ary 3, 1888, by Father Beaven in old St. Mary's Church, which had been put at the disposal of the congregation. Father C. R. Viens, who was Father Beaven's assistant, became the first res- ident pastor of the new parish, remaining from January, 1887, until his death on August 13, 1889. He was succeeded by the Rev. A. A. Lamy, who came on September 19, 1889. Father Lamy was born at Yamachiche, Canada, on July 19, 1844, and attended the Brothers' School until 1872. He also studied the classics at Nicolet and theology at Three Rivers, where he remained until he was ordained on September 19, 1875, by Msgr. La- fleche. The next five years he spent in Canada but in September, 1880, came to the United States and for three months served at North Adams, Massachusetts. He was then sent to Southbridge, Massachusetts, remaining until March 27, 1882, when he became pastor of the church at Three Rivers, Massachusetts. On September 19, 1889, he came to St. Mary's Church in Spencer. Father Lamy was followed in August, 1910 by Father Grolleau, who became pastor and administrator of St. Mary's for many years, retiring finally in 192I to return to his birthplace in France. He was suc- ceeded by Father Marceau, who also served as administrator for two years. In 1922 he was fol- lowed by Father Comtois, who has since been pas- tor of St. Mary's.

Father Comtois was born in Canada, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, on June 3, 1872. His early boyhood years were spent in his birthplace and during that time he attended the local parochial schools. At the age of nine, he came with his parents to Northboro, Massachu- setts, where he attended public school and high school. Subsequently he entered Joliette College, Province of Quebec, where he remained for five years, then going to Brighton, Massachusetts, for one year. At the end of that period, he went to

Baltimore, Maryland, where he pursued his theo- logical studies and on December 17, 1897, at Bos- ton Cathedral, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Williams. Father Comtois served for one year at Notre Dame Church in North Adams. At that time, however, his health broke down and it was necessary for him to go to Colo- rado, where he remained for eighteen months. For several months he had charge of a mission at Lake City, Colorado, also a mission at Gunnison, Colo- rado, and then, having regained his former con- stitutional vigor, he returned East and was as- signed to the Catholic Church at Otter River, Massachusetts. After a brief period he was trans- ferred to North Brookfield and later to Leomins- ter, where he spent one year. For four years he served at the Church of the Precious Blood in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and then was transferred to the Church of Saint Louis in West Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was the first resident pas- tor. Father Comtois remained for eight years, fol- lowing which he went to Millbury, Massachusetts, and was pastor of the church there for seven and a half years until he came to St. Mary's Church in Spencer in 1922.

At Millbury, Father Comtois built a beautiful church and greatly improved the property. During his pastorate the congregation largely increased and at his departure he left the parish in a flourishing condition. At St. Mary's Church, Father Comtois ministers to about 2,400 souls. Since coming here he has had the interior of the church beautifully decorated and has spared no effort in keeping up all the buildings-including the church, school, Presbytery and a convent for the Sisters-to the finest standard. The massive church, of red brick trimmed with granite, with an impressive flight of fourteen granite steps leading to the entrance and with two large towers, one on either side of the entrance, excites the admiration of all behold- ers. The interior is unexcelled in beauty and grandeur by any comparable church in the State. The ceiling, which is in the form of a huge vault, is particularly striking. It is supported by five beautiful pillars of marble on each side, with arches extending from one pillar to the other. The choir loft seats about one hundred and fifty and is equipped with a magnificent organ of exquisite tone. On the right and left near the altar are two large balconies accommodating about one hundred each. The pews are of quartered oak, nicely carved. The interior is lighted by fifteen lantern-shaped electric lights, carved in bronze, and there are also twenty-five stained glass memorial windows depicting incidents in the life of Christ. Of the three altars in the church, the central one is fifteen feet square and is covered with rare carving and trimmed with gold. Back of it is a beautiful painting and four large memorial windows. Over the organ loft is a large rose window, wherein angelic faces are softly illuminated. At the right of the altar is a marble tablet inscribed :

A La Douce Memoire du Rev. A. A. Lamy, Cure De Cette Paroisse 1889-1910. Il a Fondé L'École en 1892, Construit L'Église en 1900. Retiré a Fiskdale Ou il Décéda Subitement En Décembre 1915 a L'Age 71 Ans. R. I. P.

Few could fail to be impressed by the dignity and solemnity of this church or, having entered, fail to linger here to worship God.

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In connection with the church, a parochial school is operated with an enrollment of four hundred pupils, taught by nine Sisters of the Assumption. The following societies are active in the parish: Holy Name Society, for men; St. Anne's Society, for women; the Children of Mary, for girls; a Boy Scout troop for boys; and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Father Comtois has one curate to assist him in his work. Since beginning his labors here, he has won the love and affection of his own congregation and, as in his other charges, the profound respect of the community at large. His devotion and charity, his fine qual- ities as a Christian gentleman, endear him to all.

GEORGE B. TREADWELL-Having re- duced to a science the breeding of poultry, George B. Treadwell, of Spencer, is well known through- out the country for his specialty, Single Comb Rhode Island Reds. In 1931-32, in official laying contests, two ten-hen pens achieved two world records, one for points, both for Rhode Island Reds and all heavy breeds, and the other for num- ber of eggs. The Treadwell farm, situated two and one-half miles from Spencer Town, is fre- quently visited by poultry growers, who have made their own flocks successful by the introduction of the Treadwell strain.

Born in New Fairfield, Connecticut, November 4, 1884, son of John M. and Emma E. (Weller) Treadwell, Mr. Treadwell attended a district school and then entered an agricultural college, where he was graduated in 1909. After completing his edu- cation he entered the employ of the Waveney Farm at New Canaan, Connecticut, where he was herdsman and bookkeeper for two years. Follow- ing his resignation of that position, he traveled for one year. On December 10, 1912, Mr. Tread- well married Jennie (Cornelis) Downs, and they have two children, John M. and Priscilla. He next was made superintendent of the Gilbert Farm, a department of the Connecticut Agricultural Col- lege at Georgetown, Connecticut, serving in this capacity for four years. Thence he went to the Clift Rock Farm, where he was located in an official position for four years.

In 1920 he came to Spencer and purchased a commercial poultry farm and for several years produced only table eggs and poultry. In 1926 he purchased an adjoining farm in East Brookfield. Gradually, through a program of flock improve- ment, trap-nesting and pedigree breeding, he devel- oped his strain of heavy laying Rhode Island Reds. His plant has a capacity of about 3,000 mature birds. He broods 8-9,000 baby chicks each year. He has incubator capacity for 28,000 eggs at one time, and annually hatches and sells thousands of baby chicks.

In the only two contests in which Treadwell birds were entered in the season of 1931-32, he obtained two world records. At the Maine Ex- periment Station in Monmouth his ten-hen pen was high pen for all breeds-in an all United States Standard contest-with a total of 2,832 eggs and a total of 2,907 points. At the Storrs (Agricultural College) Experiment Station in the same season · his ten-hen pen was high pen for all breeds, with a total of 2,840 eggs and a total of 2,809 points. The combined records of these two pens were 5,672 eggs, scoring 5,716 points, or an average of 283.6 eggs and 285.8 points per bird. Treadwell's

Reds hold the highest six-year average at Storrs, 1926-27 to 1931-32, their average production being 234.65 eggs per bird. This is 9.5 eggs per bird, per year, more than the next nearest Red Breeder.

Mr. Treadwell has been honored by his col- leagues in the poultry industry. He is president of the Massachusetts Association of Certified Poul- try Breeders, president of the Massachusetts Rec- ord of Performance Association and a member of the Worcester County Poultry Association. He is affiliated with Spencer Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.

WALTER K. WILEY, of the firm of Wiley and Foss, large contractors of Fitchburg and builders of the great Tuberculosis Hospital in Worcester, was born in Fitchburg, July 8, 1867.

Having received his education in the public schools of Fitchburg, he learned the trade of a mason, and this he followed until the formation of the present firm of Wiley and Foss, more than forty years ago. When he started as an apprentice and later as a journeyman, he was compelled to work ten hours a day, as compared with the pres- ent schedule of eight hours, and wages now are three times what they were then.

Mr. Wiley is affiliated with all the bodies of York and Scottish Rite Freemasonry; he is a life- member of the "Blue" Lodge; the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; the Council, Royal and Select Mas- ters; and the Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Other fraternal connections are the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, King David Encampment of the Uniform Rank; and Lodge No. 849, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a trustee and on the board of invest- ment of the Worcester North Savings Bank. His clubs include the Fay, the Oakhill, and the Square and Compass, all of Fitchburg.

Walter K. Wiley married, in 1891, Anna A. Michael. She died in 1922. The children of this marriage are: 1. Robert A., enlisted for the World War and was attached to the 25th Regiment of Engineers. He participated actively in the fight- ing on five fronts. Returning broken in health, he is now residing on a farm. His education was completed at Bryant and Stratton's Business Col- lege. He married Sarah Francis and has four children: Margaret, Betty Ann, Mary Jane, and Constance. 2. Margaret A., married Roy W. Schench, a mining engineer in the West.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 96

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