0*!W4 DATE DUE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST F 74 W9 R8 lirr^Jf||M NEW CITY HALL-MAIN STREET FRONT. The PForcesfer of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety- £ig/jt. ti ti ti -^i ts ts jfift^^ l^ears a Cit^. A Graphic Presentation of its Institutions, Industries and Leaders. Edited b^ Franklin P. Rice. WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS: F. S. BLANCHARD & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 1899. Copyright. 1899, By F. S. Blanchard & Company. INTRODUCTION. ITH the year 1898 Worcester passed the Fiftieth Anniversary of its Incorporation as a City. The period of fifty years just closed has been one of continual accretion, rich experience and worthy achievement. Few municipalities have within any single half century been more favored in everything which could contribute to material prosperity, local expansion, and real advancement in the line of human progress. In the growth of the city, the most sanguine expectations have been exceeded and the most extravagant predictions all but fulfilled. The point now reached in the onward march is one for special commemoration, marking not only the end of a notable period, but also the beginning of a new era with the opening of the twentieth century. Worcester has been singularly fortunate in its past, and the record of that past is secure, preserved in the numerous publications which have from time to time appeared. The purpose in the volume here presented has been to deal more especially with the Worcester of to-day, its condition and aspects, its various institutions, its prosperous industries and solid business interests, and particularly the men who have, during the fifty years, helped to make it what it is, and those who are making it what it will be in the future. To preserve and to transmit to posterity a faithful representation and correct picture of our city as it appeared in 1898, has been the aim of the publishers. F. wS. Blanchard & Company. EDITOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT. nHAT the expectation of a ready response to the announced I purpose to prepare a volume commemorative of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the City, and descriptive of the Worcester of to-day, was fully justified, the matter and proportions of this book are ample proof. The cordial interest and enthusiasm with which the project was received by our most prominent and intelligent citizens at once assured its success, and the labor involved in the organization and carrying out of the plan of the work has been lightened in no inconsiderable degree by their encouragement, friendly cooperation and material assistance. To those gentlemen who have prepared chapters on special subjects, and whose contributions have added so much value to the book, this statement particularly applies. I desire to express my appreciation of the courteous treat- ment that I have in nearly every instance received in my quest for information, and of the facilities so freely afforded in every quarter. To the publishers, F. S. Blanchard & Company, mv acknowledg- ments are due for their liberalit}' in acceding to my wishes in regard to the elaboration and expansion of certain departments of the book, and for the profuseness and elegance of the illustrations, which have so largely increased the expense of the undertaking. The mechanical execution of the pages is highly creditable to their taste and skill. This volume is in no respect to be considered as a history, but rather as a collection of essays and sketches to illustrate with approxi- mate completeness the various institutions and industries, general and particular features, condition and aspect of the Worcester of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-eight, with introductory sections containing a summary of the administrations of the different mayors, and the statistics of industries during the half century. To these are added the biographies of past and active citizens who have been, and are, prominently identified with the life of the city. Incidentally more or less history is interwoven. As for my part in the work very little is to be said. I have pro- ceeded with the purpose and desire to make the book as complete and 8 The Worcester of 1898. reliable as possible, and I have spared no reasonable effort in this direction. It is hoped that the volume will prove of permanent value and serve as a compendium of ready information. Some shortcomings are apparent. Failure on the part of a few to avail themselves of the opportunitv given has prevented an adequate and equal presentation of the enterprises in which they are concerned, and I have substituted in a condensed form such facts as I could gather from general sources. Two or three omissions are to be regretted; notably an architectural and particular description of the new City Hall, which was expected, but which, after repeated efforts, I failed to obtain. Franklin P. Rice. December, 1898. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY. Fifty Years A City, 17-75 Administrations of the Mayors, from Levi Lincoln to A. B. R. Sprague. The Old To^vx and City Hal], 77-79 The New City Hall, 80-118 Laying of the Corner-Stone — Address of Mayor Sprague — Address of M. W. Grand Master Edwin B. Holmes — Contents of Box. Dedication of the Building — Address of Chairman Sawyer — Address of Burton W. Potter, Esq. — Description of the Building. Semi-Centennial Celebration, i 19-138 Address of Frank P. Goulding, Esq. —Address of Col. W. S. B. Hopkins. City Government of 1898, 139-162 Portraits and Sketches of the Mayor, Members of the Board of Aldermen and of the Common Council, and City Officials. Worcester — 1848-1898. Poem by Frank Roe Batchelder, 163 THE WORCESTER OF 189S. Educational Institutions, by Clarence F. Carroll, A. M., 167-197 Public Schools — Worcester Academy — College of the Holy Cross — High- land Military Academy — Worcester Polytechnic Institute — State Normal School — Clark University — Private Schools. Public Libraries, by Samuel Swett Green, A. M., 199-219 Free Public Librar}' — American Antiquarian Society — Other So- cieties — Educational Institutions — Other Libraries. Literary, Scientific and Historical Societies, by Nathaniel Paine, A. M., 221-235 American Antiquarian Society — Worcester Fire Society — Worcester District Medical Society — Worcester Agricultural Society — Worcester County Horticultural Society — Worcester Mechanics Association — Worcester Natural History Society — Worcester County Musical Association — Worcester Art Society — Art Students' Club — The Worcester Society of Antiquity — St. Wulstan Society — Public School Art League — Art Museum. 10 The Worcester of 1898. Public Charities, by the Hon. Henry L. Parker, 237-245 Hospitals — Free Dispensaries — Homes — Organizations. W<)Rci:strk's Bkxefactors and Trust Funds, by the Hon. Henry A. Marsh, 247-257 City Hospital — Soldiers' Monument — Bigelow Monument — Dewey Charity Fund — Bancroft Endowment Fund — Bullock Medal Fund — Free Public Library — Reading-Room Fund — Gifts by Isaiah Thomas — Public Parks — Curtis Chapel — Relief Funds. Worcester in the General Court, by the Hon. Alfred vS. Roe, 259-265 Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, by Charles A. Pea- body, M. D., 267-274 Free Masons — Grand Army and other Organizations — Odd Fellows — Life Insurance Societies. Military Matters, 275-283 The Rebellion — Military Companies of To-day — Spanish War of 1898 — Three Martyrs. Protestant Churches, by Rev. A. Z. Conrad, Ph. D., D. D., 285-291 General Statement — Names and Statistics of Churches — Denomina- tional Strength. Catholicity in Worcester. Historical Sketch, 293-307 Post Office Growth, by J. Evarts Greene, P. M., 309-327 Social Clubs, 329-330 The Press, 331-335 City Charter and Municipal Government, by the Hon. Rufus B. Dodge, Mayor of Worcester, 338-343 Municipal Depart.aients, 345-358 Public Health: Water Works, Drainage, Board of Health — Parks System — Police Department — Streets — Fire Department. Property and Taxatkjn in 1898, 359-360 Facts of Interest, 360-3^1 Financial Institutions, by Charles A. Chase, A. M., 363-388 Banks — Savings Banks — Cor)perative Banks — Fire and Life Insurance. Public Service, 389-405 Steam Railroads — Grade Crossings — Street Railways — Telephone Exchange — Gas Light Company — Electric Light Company. Worcester Board of Trade, 406-410 CojiMERCiAL Interests, 4ii-434 Development of Manufacturino, by the Hon. Charles (t. Wash- burn, 439-447 The Worcester of 1898. n Industries of Worcester, 449-529 Statistics from 1S37 to 1895 — Wire — Looms — Cotton and Woolen Machinery — Envelope Industry — Carpets and Textiles — Machinery and Tools — Agricultural Implements and Machinery — Paper- Making Machinery — Firearms — Corsets and Underwear — Boots and Shoes — Miscellaneous — Worcester Contractors — Conclusion. Reminiscexxes, by Hannibal Hamlin Houghton, 531-536 Biographical DEPARTirsNT, 537-Soo General Index. 801 PORTRAITS. Page. Page. Abercrombie, Dan'l W., 17S Carroll, Clarence F., 16S Aborn, James S., 5 38 Chamberlain, R. H., 5S0 Alden, George I., 540 Chamberlin, Henry H., 578 Aldrich, P. Emory, 36 Chapin, Henry, 20 Allen, Charles A., 541 Chase, Charles A., 362 Allen, Ethan, 542 Clark, Jonas G., 582 Allen, George L., 523 Clark, William L., 584 Allen, Eamson, 546 Clarke, Josiah H., 416 Allen, William, 523 Coates, George H., 509 Allen, William P., 523 Coe, S. Hamilton, 406 Athy, Andrew, 548 Coes, Loring, 588 Auger, Louis L., 552 Cofifey, James C, 160 Back, JohnR., 145 Colvin, Caleb, 386 Bacon, Peter C, 22 Comins, Irving E., 406 Baker, Peter, 527 Connell}^ John H., 145 Baldwin, John S., 554 Conrad, Rev. A. Z., 284 Ball, Phinehas, 42 Crane, Ellery B., 262^ , 406 Barnard, Lewis, 412 Crompton, George, 466 Barrett, Thomas J., 141 Curtis, Albert, 448 Barton, William S., 154 Davis, Edward L. , 54 Batchelder, Frank Roe, 557 Davis, Isaac, 28 Batchelder, George E., 157 Denholm, William A., 596 Bates, Theodore C, 55S Devens, Charles, 280 Bemis, Merrick. 560 Dewey, Francis H., 374 , 406 Eenchley, Charles H., 161 Dexter, William H., 598 Benchley, Edmund N., 281 Dodge, Rufus B., Jr. , 140 Bent, Charles M., 37 S Dodge, Thomas H., 602 Bigelow, Horace H., 564 Downey, Daniel, 604 Blake, George P., Jr., 566 Draper, Edwin, 606 Blake, James B., 44 Draper, James, 60S Bowker, John B., 156 Drennan, James M., 161 Boyden, Elbridge, 56S Duncan, Harlan P., 406 Brady, John G., 157 Dwinnell, Benjamin D., , 386 Brannon, Henry, 142 Fames, D. H., 424 Brierly, Benjamin, 526 Earle, Edward, 48 Brigham, John S., 484 Earle, Stephen C. , 610 Brown, Alzirus, 571 Earle, Timothy K., 470 Brown, Edwin, 570 Eddy, Harrison P., 159 Brown, Freeman, 160 Ely, Lyman A., 3S6. , 406 Brownell, Geo. L., 406 , 573 Fanning, David H., 612 Buckley, Thomas H., 525 Farwell, James E., 617 Bullock, Alexander H., 32 Fayerweather, J. A., 386 Burns, William H., 574 Flodin, Ferdinand, 614 Buttrick, Albert C, 577 Fobes, Hiram, 616 Carpenter, Charles H., 419 Forehand, Sullivan, 618 Page. Foster, Calvin, 370 Gage, Dr. Thomas H., 638 Gaskill, Francis A., 620 Gilbert, Lewis N., 386 Gile, William A., 622 Goodnow, Edward A., 368 Gould, Rev. George H., 628 Goulding, Frank P., 122 Grant, Charles E., 632 Graton, Henry C, 634 Greeley, H. C, 386 Green, John, 254 Green, Samuel S., 202 Greene, J. Evarts, 308 Griffin, Mgr. Thomas, 292 Grout, John W., 281 Grout, Jonathan, 636 Hadwen, Obadiah B. , 640 Hall, Franks., 145 Hall, G. Stanley, 406 Hammond, Andrew H., 642 Harrington, Francis A., 68 Harris, Henry F., 644 Hart, AVilliam, 406 Hartshorn, Calvin L., 648 Hawes, Russell L., 650 Healy, Richard, 379 Heath, Frank M., 146 Hey wood, Samuel R., 372 Higgins, Francis E., 433 Hildreth, Chas. H., 2d, 142 Hildreth, Samuel E., 62 Hoar, George F., 312 Hobbs, Horace, 655 Hogg, William F., 489 Hogg, William J., 489 Homer, Charles A., 423 Hopkins, William S. B., 130 Houghton, Hannibal H., 530 Howard, Albert H., 472 Howe, John W., 660 Hunt, George C, 146 Hunt, James, 146 Huot, Napoleon P. , 142 Hurlburt Geo. B., 156 14 The Worcester of 1898. Page. Hutchius, C. Henry, 406, 659 Ilutchins, Fred L. , 162 Inman, Albert H., 147 Jacques, Urgel, 663 Jaques, George, 246 Jefferson, Martin V. B., 662 Jillson, Clark, 52 Johnson, Fred D., 147 Johnson. Hannibal A., 418 Kelley, Frank H., 5S Kendall, Louis J., 147 Kendall, Sanford C, 148 Kent, Charles F., 474 Kent, Rev. G. W., 667 King, Henry W., 668 King, Homer R., 671 Kingsley, Chester W., 670 Knight, Henry A., 162 Knight, Thomas E., 419 Knowles, Frank B., 465 Knowles, Lucius J., 464 Knowlton, John S. C, 24 Lamb, Matthew B., 674 Lancaster, Frank E., 676 Lancaster, John E., 67S Lincoln, D. Waldo, 40 Lincoln, Edw. Winslow, 352 Lincoln, Levi, iS Logan, James, 406, 4S0 Lundberg, John F., 14S Lundborg, Andrew P., 679 Maclnnes, John C, 422 Mackintire, Geo. W., 406 Mann, Albert G., 68 1 Marble, Edward T., 682 Marble, John O., 544 Marble, J. Russel, 406 Marsh, Henry A., 70 McAleer, George, 379 McClure, Fred'k A., 158 McCullagh, Rev. A., 2S8 McMahon, Bernard H., 14S Meagher, John H., 149 Mellen, James H., 143 Mendenhall, T. C, 406 Merriam, Henry H., 6S6 Merritt, Wesley, 149 Mix, Rev. Eldridge, ' 688 Moen, Philip L., 458 Moir, Alexander J., 423 Monahan, Thomas, 162 Morgan, Charles H., 690 Munroe, Alexander C, 692 Munroe, John P., 695 Norcross, James A., 696 Page. Norcross, O. W., 406, 702 Nourse, William J. H., 705 O'Connell, David F., 143 O'Connell, Philip J., 149 O'Leary, John R., 150 Otis, Harrison G., 155 Otis, John C, 704 Otis, John P. K., 506 Paine, Nathaniel, 220 Parker, Amos M., 155 Parker, Edmund L., 708 Parker, Henry L., 236 Parmelee, Arthur W., 406 Peabody, Dr. Chas. A., 266 Peck, Charles H., 159 Penney, Rev. Frank D., 711 Perky, Henry D., 520 Perry, Frank D. , 712 Perry, Joseph S., 714 Phelps, Willis F., 429 Pickett, Josiah, 716 Pinkerton, Alfred vS., 71S Potter, Burton W. , 141 Powell, Albert M., 150 Pratt, Charles B., 56 Pratt, Henry S., 722 Pratt, Sumner, 724 Prentice, Harrison vS. , 344 Prior, Wright S., 15S Putnam, Otis E., 414 Raymond, Edward T.. 727 Reed, Charles G. , 64, 406 Rice, William W., 34 Richardson, Charles A., 730 Richardson, Charles O., 732 Richardson, George W., 26 Rivard, John, 150 Roe, Alfred S., 258 Rogers, Thomas M., 734 Rugg, Arthur P., 154 Rugg, Charles F., 737 Russell, Edward J.. 143 Russell, John M., 73S Ryan, James F. , 151 ►Salisbury, Stephen, 2d, 364 ►Salisbury, Stephen, 3d, 366 vSawyer, Ezra, 741 Sawyer, Stephen, 386 Sawyer, William H., 98, 406 Saxe, James A. , 743 Schervee, Herman, 744 Shattuck, Moody E., 745 Shaw, Joseph A. , 1S7 Shea, John F. , 151 Smith, Elliott T., 74S Page. Smith, Jesse, 750 Smith, William A., 752 Spaulding, Albert A. , 422 Sprague, Augustus B. R. , 72 Squier, Charles E. , 406 ►Staples, Hamilton B. , 755 Starr, William E. , 756 Stevens, Charles F. , 75S Stoddard, Elijah B. , 60 Stone, Arthur M. , 406 Sumner, George, 413 Swift, D. Wheeler, 482 Swift, Henry D., 481 Taber, Jesse P., 761 Tatman, Charles T. , 763 Tatman, R. Jam^es, 762 Taylor, Ransom C. , 766 Thayer, Edward C. , 250 Thayer, Eli, 770 Thayer, John R. , 772 Thompson, Albert M., 144 Timon, James F. , 151 Towne, Enoch H., 153 Turner, Charles S. , 774 LTpham, Roger F. , 386, 406, 776 Vaudreuil, Joseph G., 777 Vaughan, Charles A. , 778 Verry, George F. , 50 Walker, Joseph H., 314 Wall, Caleb A. , 332 Wall, George F. , 152 Ward, George H., 2S2 Warden, William A. , 427 Ware, Justin A. , 406 Warren, John K., 7S2 Washburn, Charles F. , 459 Washburn, Charles G. , 440 Webb, George D. , 7S4 Webster, Charles S. , 7S3 Wellington, Fred W., 786 Wesby, Joseph S. , 792 Wheelock, Jerome, 788 Whitaker, John, 794 Whitcomb, Alonzo, 498 White, Frederick W., 152 Whitiu, A. F., 3S6 Whittall, M. J., 406-494 Wilder, Harvey B. , 794 Williamson, Frank E., 153 Winslow, Samuel, 66 Wood, Cyrus G.^ 796 Wood, Edwin H., 798 Wood, Oliver B. , 798 Woodward, William, 378 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Allen Boiler Works, 524 All Saints' Church, 298 American Antiquarian Society, building, 224 American Card Clothing Company, fac- tory, 468 Armory, 278 Art Museum, 232 "Aurora" Block, 432 Bank Building (Worcester), 373 Barnard Block, 415 Bird's-eye View, 210 Board of Trade Directors, 406 Boat-house, Institute Park, 355 Boston Store, 420 Brewer Building-, 426 Burns, William H., Company, building, 516 Celebration extension Providence St., 408 Central Church, 287 Central Exchange, 375 Cereal Machine Company, factory, 51S City Bank, 377 City Hall, old, 76 City Hall, new. Frontispiece. City Hall, new, east front, 80 City Hospital, 238 Clark University, 194 Classical High School, 170 Coates Clipper Factory, 509 Coes Wrench Factory, 503 College of the Holy Cross, 1S2 Court House, 214 Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, 462 Curtis Chapel, 257 Curtis & Marble Factory, 476 Davis Tower, Lake Park, 138 Electric Light Company, switch-board, 403 Electric Light Company, building, 404 English High School, 172 "Evans" Block, 434 Fire Department Headquarters, 336 Forehand Arms Factory, 510 Franklin Building, 320 Free Public Library, 198 Frohsinn Club House, 33S Frontenac Club House, 334 Page. Front Street, 166 Gas Light Company, building, 402 Globe Corset Company, factor}-, 514 Graton & Knight, factory, 52 r Hadwen, O. B., entrance to grounds, 641 Hammond Reed Company, factory, 528 Hancock Club House, ' 331 Harrington & Richardson Arms Com- pany, factory, 512 Harwood & Quincy, factory, 478 Herbert Hall, 561 Hey wood Boot & Shoe Co., factory, 517 Home for Aged Men, 244 Home for Aged Women, 244 Home Farm, 255 Howard Brothers' Card Factory, 471 Isolation Hospital, 256 Jail, 274 Kent, Charles F., card factory, 475 Lake in Elm Park, 350 Lake in Institute Park, 354 Lakeside Boat Club-House, 342 Lincoln Park, 328 Logan, Swift & Brigham Envelope Co., factory, 479 Lovers' Lane, 272 Lunatic Hospital, 21S Main Street, looking north, 1S6 Matthews Manufacturing Company, factor}', 508 Mechanics Hall, 226 Memorial Hospital, 240 Morgan Construction Company, factory, 504 Morgan Spring Company, factory, 505 Natural History Society, building, 228 Norton Emery Wheel Company, fac- tory, 501 Nurses' Home, 252 Odd Fellows' Home, 26S Odd Fellows' Procession, 270 Old Mill, Institute Park, 361 Old South Church (on Common), 76 Old South Church (new), 286 People's Savings Bank, building, 376 Piedmont Church, 295 i6 The Worcester of 1898. Pa(;e. Pilgrim Church, 296 Plymouth Church, 294 Polytechnic Institute, tSS Post Office, 310 Power House, Consolidated Street Railway, 396 Reed, F. E., Company, works, 496 Salisbury Mansion, 331 Seal of the City, 165 Sewage Purification Plant, 346 Shelter, Institute Park, 353 Smith, E. T., Company, building, 430 Soldiers' Monument, 276 South Unitarian Church, 300 St. John's Roman Catholic Church, 302 St. Matthew's Church, 299 St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, 304 St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, 305 St. Vincent's Hospital, 242 State Mutual Building, 382 State Normal School, 193 Stoneville Worsted Mills, 488 Svea Gille Club House, 335 Tatassit Club House, 333 Page. Telephone Building, 400 Union Church, 290 Union Passenger Station, 390 Union Water Meter Company, building, 507 Wachusett Club House, 348 Washburn & Moen Mfg. Company, works, 456 Washington Club House, 340 Whitcomb Envelope Factory, 4S5 Whittall Carpet Mills, • 492 Whittall Spinning Mill, 493 Whittle, James H., factory, 527 Willow Park, 436 Worcester Academy, 176 Worcester Carpet Mills, 486 Worcester Club House, 330 Worcester Corset Company, factory, 513 Worcester Mut. Fire Ins. Co., building, 3S4 Worcester Mut. Fire Ins. Co., directors, 386 Worcester vSociety of Antiquity, build- ing, 230 Y. M. C. A. Building, 306 Y. W. C. A. Building, 307 LIST OF RESIDENCES. Allen, Ethan, Mansion, 543 Kinney, A. B. F., 358 Bailey, W. A., 318 Knowles, Mrs. F. B., 431 Barber, Benjamin A., 319 Lancaster, John E., 677 Bemis, Dr. Merrick, see Herbert Hall. Lapham, Frederick A., 317 Blake, George F., Jr., 565 Marble, Dr. J. O., see Allen Mansion. Blake, George F., Jr. (summer res- Munroe, Alexander C, 693 idence). 567 Norcross, James A., 697-699 Brownell, George L., 573 Pierce, E. S., 394 Burns, William H., 576 Piper, Mrs. Nancy H. S. , 322 Burtis, George H., 443 Pond, Willard F.,' 408 Bryant, George C, 357 Potter, Burton W. , 324 Clark, Jonas G., 316 Pratt, Henry S., 723 Coes, Loring, 587 Rogers, Thomas M., 736 Dexter, William H., 599 Russell, John M., 739 Fanning, David H., 611 Sawin, Mrs. Elizabeth T. , 410 Farwell, James E., 617 Stevens, Charles F., 760 Fobes, Mrs. Hiram, 323 Shattuck, Mrs. Helen A., 746 Goodnow, E. A., 625 Smith, Elliott T., 747 Gould, George H., 629 Smith, Mrs. Jane, 751 Hammond, Andrew H., 447 Taber, Jesse P., 7 So Harris, Henry F., 646 Warden, William A., 42S Herbert Hall, 561 Interior 42S Hogg, William J., 490 Whitcomb, G. Henry, 392 Hogg, William J. (Hillside), 491 Whittall, Matthew J., 495 Hutchins, C. Henry, 659 FIFTY YEARS A CITY. nHE growth of Worcester during the second quarter of this century was phenomenal. Froin a total of 3,650 souls in 1825 the popula- tit)n increased to 17,049 in 1850. Business, valuation, and returns from taxation kept pace accordingly. In 1825 the valuation was $2,437,550; in 1850 it was $11,082,501. During this period trade enormously increased, and manufactures greatly multiplied in number and value of products, giving some indications of the still more marvelous growth which was to follow. In many other evidences was the general pros- perity manifest and unmistakable. The reasons for this wonderful change in so short a time are plain. The opening of the Blackstone canal in 1828 gave the first impetus to this upward movement, and the building of the several railroads from 1835 to 1850* continued the influx of population and business until Worcester outgrew the limits and the manners of a rural community. Under these conditions the general meetings of the voters were found to be unwieldv, and other difficulties presented themselves which could be obviated only by change of forms and methods in conducting the affairs of the corpo- rate interest. So new powers were asked and granted, and Worcester became a city. On the 8th of November, 1847, i^ general meeting, it was voted to choose a committee of ten to present to the Legislature a petition for a city charter, and also to draft an act in such form as they should deem most for the interest of the town. The members of this committee were Levi Lincoln, Stephen wSalisbury, Ira M. Barton, Isaac Davis, Benjamin F. Thomas, Edward Earle, James Estabrook, Alfred D. Foster, Thomas Kinnicutt and Ebenezer L. Barnard. The efforts of these citizens were successful in the General Court, and on the 29th day of February, 1848, the act granting the powers and privileges desired was signed by the governor, George N. Briggs. On the i8th of ^March following, the charter was accepted by the inhabitants by a vote of 1,026 to 487 opposed. *The Boston railroad was opened in 1835, the Western in 1S39, the Norwich in 1S40, the Providence in 1847, the Nashua in 1S48, and the Fitchburg in 1S50. LEVI LINCOLN. DEL. SEPT., 1851 The Worcester of 1898. ig The election of the first mayor and City Council was held April 8th, and to the surprise of man}- was closely contested. Levi Lincoln, by reason of his long, varied and distinguished public services the first citizen of Worcester, had at the sacrifice of personal inclination and self-interest, but with characteristic public spirit, yielded to what seemed to be practicallv the general desire of his fellow townsmen that he should organize the City Government as its chief magistrate ; but no sooner was his consent obtained than opposition manifested itself, and the Reverend Rodney A. ]\Iiller, a worthy divine, whilom pastor of the Old vSouth Church, was put forward as the candidate of the radical temperance and other dissenting elements, and received 653 votes, which, with 45 scattering, brought Lincoln's majoritv down to 138, with a vote of 836. Seventy votes in a total of 1,534 would have changed the result. ADMINISTRATION OF LEVI LINCOLN. • April 17, 1S4S, to April i, 1S49. The new City Government was inaugurated on the 17th of April. The members of the Board of Aldermen were Parley Goddard, Benjamin F. Thomas, John W. Lincoln, James S. Woodworth, William B. Fox, James Estabrook, Lsaac Davis and Stephen Salisbury. In the Common Council of twentv-four were such representative citizens as Doctor Benjamin F. Hevwood, Freeman Upham, Darius Rice, Horace Chenerv, Alexander H. Bullock, Albert Curtis, William T. Merrifield, Calvin Foster and Thomas Chamberlain. Charles A. Hamilton was citv clerk and clerk of the Board of Aldermen, and William A. vSmith was clerk of the Common Council. The work of this first City Government was largelv one of organiza- tion, and the task was undertaken with faithfulness and industrv. Eighty-four regular meetings of the Aldermen were held during the municipal year, and in this board all the elaborate and detailed reports were prepared, and most of the ordinances drafted. The labors of the City Council were incessant, and the objects of attention manv and diversified : changes in the City Hall building to adapt it to its new uses were carried out ; the new road to Grafton was completed, and more than one hundred miles of highwavs was supervised and kept in repair, and several new streets were established; a portion of ]\Iain *Levi Lincoln was a son of Levi Lincoln, senior, who was a member of Congress, attor- ney-general in Jefferson's Cabinet, lieutenant-governor and governor of Massachusetts. The son was graduated at Harvard in 1S02, was a member of both branches of the General Court, judge of the Supreme Court, governor nine years, member of Congress six years. He was born in Worcester October 25, 17S2, and died here May 29, 186S. HENRY CHAPIN. The Worcester of 1898. 21 street was paved ; lots for school-houses were purchased in Ouinsig- amond Village and on Summit street. The financial interests of the city required special consideration. The treasury at the time of the change of government was empty, and there was a debt of $99,677. By the charter the city was required to assume all the liabilities of the town, the Centre vSchool District- and the Aqueduct Corporation, -f which amounted to the above sum. After providing for all extraordinary and running expenses, $9,000 was applied toward the reduction of the debt. Twenty-three school-houses came into possession of the citv in 1848, five of which were of brick. There was one Classical and English high school, and three were grammar schools. Thirty-nine teachers were employed, and the sum of $14,500 was appropriated for the use of this department. The Fire Department:}: was composed of seven engineers and 240 members. Five engines and one hook-and-ladder carriage were in use. The Police Department was organized by the appointment of George Jones as city marshal, Frederick Warren, assistant marshal, and five constables. The first paid policeman was appointed in vSeptember. The Almshouse establishment consisted of a farm of 240 acres, an almshouse, brick hospital and other buildings, which had cost $15,000. The amount of taxes assessed was $52,222; total expenditures during the municipal year, $65,389. If ability, social position and real character are considered, this first City Government in personnel stands unmatched in the long line of succession to the present time. And a foundation was made worthy of the hands that laid it, and which has endured to this dav. ADMINISTRATION OF HENRY CHAPIN. Two terms — from April i, 1S49, to April 7, 1S51. The city election of 1 849 resulted in the choice of Henry Chapin, § the Free-Soil candidate, who received 1,158 votes to 656 for Isaac Davis, the Democratic nominee. John W. Lincoln was the opposing candidate in 1850. Under Mr. Chapin's administration the Ash street school-house was built, and the erection of the new Thomas street school-house begun; the paving of Main and Front streets continued ; a sewer constructed * Incorporated in 1S24, with authority to assess taxes for the support of schools, t Incorporated in 1S45, for the purpose of constructing and maintaining an aqueduct to conduct water from Bell pond for the use of the town. :}; Incorporated in 1S35. v^ See sketch in Biographical Department. PETER C. BACON. The Worcester of 1898. 23 in Main street; Chestnut street was extended to Pleasant street; tlie stone bridge on the Millbiiry road was built, and the aqueduct was extended into Pleasant street ; two new fire engines were purchased ; the office of city solicitor was established. The total expenditures for each year were, in 1849-50, $96,021 ; in 1850-51, $87,300. The appro- priations were, for the first year : vSchools, $16,000; highways and pav- ing, $14,768; Fire Department, $3,779. For the second year: vSchools, $18,000; highways, $17,750 ; Fire Department, $3,600. Mr. Chapin's radical tendencies in respect to the temperance and slavery questions excited a strong opposition among a certain class, which was manifested during the second year of his administration in daring attempts at outrage. Bombs were exploded in the building in which the mayor's office was located, and under the windows of the city marshal, fortunately without injury or loss of life so far as human beings were concerned, but in the first instance the building was partiallv wrecked. The principal and accessory in this dastardly attempt were arrested; the former fled, forfeiting his bond, which proved to be straw bail, and in the absence of the principal the accessory could not be held, so the prosecution was abandoned. It was during Mayor Chapin's term that Father Mathew, the dis- tinguished apostle of temperance, visited Worcester. He arrived in the city on vSaturday, October 20, 1849, preached at the Catholic Church vSunday, and was received at the City Hall on ^Monday, where he obtained many signatures to the pledge from his fellow countrymen who had become residents of the place. The Worcester Gas Light Company was formed June 22, 1849. Gas lights were used in the streets later in the year. ADMINISTRATION OF PETER C. BACON. Two "terms — from April 7, 1S51, to January 3, 1S53. Peter C. Bacon,"- the Free-vSoil candidate in ]\Iarch, 185 i, was elected by a vote of 1,134 over 466 for Isaac Davis, the Democrat; 160 for Warren Lazell, Citizens', and 420 for Charles Thurber. John W. Lincoln was the Whig candidate in December, 1 8 5 i . During Mayor Bacon's term the Thomas street school-house was completed at a cost of $13,500, and new school-houses on Pine street and Blithewood avenue were built, costing respectively $1,600 and $1,800; the aqueduct was extended into Chestnut and Elm streets; an * Peter Child Bacon was born in Dudle3^ Massachusetts, November 11, 1S04; was graduated at Brown University in 1S27, and practiced law at Oxford and Dudley before coming to Worcester. His reputation as a counselor was justly founded on his knowledge and sound judgment. He died February 7, 1SS6. "^^ JOHN S. C. KNOWLTON. The Worcester of 1898. 25 eng-ine-liouse on Carlton street was erected, and the floatino- brido-e over Lake Uuinsigamond, over 500 feet long, was planked anew at a cost of $1,100. Hope cemetery at New Worcester, comprising fifty acres, was purchased for $1,855. The city debt was increased $3,088 in 185 I, and $6,928 in 1852, by necessary and justifiable expenditures. Under the charter of the city in 1848, the municipal year began the first Monday in April. In 1850 an act of the Legislature provided that after the year 185 i it should begin the first Monday in Januarv. Consequently Mayor Bacon served only twenty-one months in com- pleting his two terms. It was his good fortune to welcome the distinguished Hungarian patriot, Louis Kossuth, who visited the city April 26, 1852, receiving here as he did throughout the country a grand ovation. Kossuth rode in procession to the Common, where he was introduced to the people by the mavor, and made a verv eloquent address.' He also spoke at a large meeting in the Citv Hall in the evening. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN S. C. KNOWLTON. Two terms — from January 3, 1S53, to January i. 1S55. At the city election in December, 1852, the candidates for mavor were Calvin Willard, ^Vhig; Edward H. Hemenway, Free-Soil; William Dickinson, Temperance, and John vS. C. Knowlton,- Democrat. In 1853 the candidates were Alexander H. Bullock, Whig; Albert Tolman, Free-vSoil ; William Dickinson, Temperance ; and Knowlton. The latter prevailed in the first instance by a pluralitv, and in the second bv a majority over all. Mayor Knowlton's administration was distinguished by its large expenditures and extensive improvements in the Highway Department, and by other extraordinary expenses incurred, however wiselv, in the face of considerable opposition. The paving of ]\Iain and Front streets was continued ; Mower's hill, so called, on Main street, was cut down and the valleys filled up ; a portion of vSouthbridge street which had suddenly disappeared below the surface of the swamp solidlv recon- structed ; Temple street laid out and made public ; two expensive bridges and the viaduct in vSouthbridge street built, and the culvert to take the water from Lincoln square constructed. The new Almshouse was built at a cost of $25,000. The vSycamore school-house was begun, for which $16,000 was appropriated. A survev of the Old Common * John Stocker Coffin Knowlton was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, in December, 179S, and was graduated at Dartmouth College. He established the Jl'om's/cr Palla- dium in 1834, of which he was editor until his death, June 11, 1S71. He was a State senator in 1852-3, and sheriff of the county 1857 to 1S71. GEORGE W. RICHARDSON. The Worcester of 1898. 27 1)nrial-gTound, and a plan on which the graves were indicated were made, and the stones buried below the surface. In 1854 the land for the New Common (now Elm park) w^as purchased for $11,257, '^^cl so strong-ly was this action disapproved by some that the grantors were within a year or two iinofficially asked to release the city froiu the contract, which, fortunately, they refused to do. The year 1854 was a turbulent period, and witnessed the repeal of the ^Missouri Compromise and its attendant excitement, which was followed by the Kansas emigration movement, having its origin in Worcester. The Know-Nothing furor sw^ept over the vState, one result being a serious riot on the i8th of ^lay, caused by the presence of the "x-Vng^el Gabriel," an eccentric character who assumed the mission of a specially inspired apostle of the new political party. On this occasion the mayor was obliged to call out the military, but no serious results followed. Anotiier riot on the 30th of October was occasioned by the efforts of Asa (3. Butman, a deputy United States marshal, to reclaim a fugitive slave. The Alerrifield lire, the most disastrous of Worcester's conflagrations, causing a loss of half a million, occurred June 14th. This experience of calamities and disturbing circumstances was probably suflicient for a peace-loving man like ]\Iayor Knowlton, and he was undoubtedly glad at the end of his term to resign his office into the hands of his successor. FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF GEORGE W. RICHARDSON. From January i, 1S55, to Januarj' 7, 1S56. George W. Richardson,- who was supported bv the Know-Nothings, received 1,599 votes to 288 cast for James Estabrook, Democrat. In 1855 the assessed valuation of the real and personal estates of the inhabitants of Worcester was $18,059,000, the population was 22,285, and the value of the manufactures was $4,000,000. Worcester was then the third city in the State. So large a collection of people and wealth in an inland city, having no navigable stream of water, was seldom found. The great diversity of the employments of its citizens prevented any entire subversion of its business then as in later years, in a time of great depression, and the manufactured products found a ready market at remunerating prices. " George Washington Richardson was born in Boston in iSoS, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1S29, in the class with Oliver Wendell Holmes. He came to Worcester in 1834. He was siieriff of the county 1S54-56, and was for a term of years president of the City Bank. He died at St. John, New Brunswick, in June, 1886. ISAAC DAVIS. The Worcester of 1898. 29 In 1855 there were thirty-five schools in the city, and the amount appropriated for their support was $22,500. Fifty-six female and seven male teachers were employed. The whole number of pupils who attended was 3,330. vSince the organization of the city in 1848, nine school-houses had been erected — one on Ash street, one on Pine street, one in Ouinsigamond, one on vSycamore street, one at Adams square, one in Pond district, one in Blithewood avenue, one at South Worces- ter, and one on Thomas street — at a cost of $58,000; and fifteen other school-houses belonged to the city valued at $57,000. The expenditures of the year were as follows: Highways, $27,000 ; Fire Department, $7,467; Poor Department, $5,791; contingent ex- penses, $8,335 ; total expenditures, $239,664. The debt was $118,000, an increase of $20,000 over that of 1854. Two day police, fifteen constables and twentv-one night watchmen were employed, under the orders of the city marshal and his assistants. Hope cemetery, containing fifty-three acres, had been purchased in 1 85 1 at an expense of $1,850. vSince the purchase, there had been expended about $5,000 in fencing and improving the grounds, and constructing a receiving-tomb. The amount received for lots up to January i, 1856, was $1,725.50. By an act of the Legislature, passed in 1854, the charge and oversight of this cemeterv were placed in the hands of five commissioners, to be chosen by the City Council. FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF ISAAC DAVIS. From January 7, 1856, to January 5, 1857. At the election in December, 1855, Isaac Davis,'* Democrat, was elected mayor by a plurality of 971 ; P. Emory Aldrich, Republican, receiving 782, and William T. ^lerrifield, Know-Nothing, 745. Two new school-houses — one at Burncoat Plain, the other on Provi- dence street — were built, costing respectively $2,000 and $3,200. The appropriation for school expenses was $27,200. The ofiice of super- intendent of schools was created, and Reverend George Bushnell appointed to that position. The expenditures in the Highway Depart- ment amounted to $17,000. Twelve new streets were laid out, and 144 miles of highways kept in good repair. 'Drains and sewers were constructed in Elm, Pleasant, Pine, vSummer and Laurel streets at an expense of $2,764. The New Common was fenced, and a street on the west side laid out. A two-story engine-house was built on Pleasant street at a cost of $2,000. The city debt was reduced $15,000. ■ See sketch in Biographical Department. 30 The Worcester of 1898. On the question of takini^' llcnsliaw pnnd for a water sup])l\', the vote stood 940 nay to 939 yea, the vote of \Vard i, whieh would have deeided it in the afhrmatix'e. not beini;" eounted. The estimated expense of this ])rojeet was $340,000. SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF GEORGE W. RICHARDSON. From January 5, 1S57, to January 4, 1S58. . At the Deeeniber eleetion in 1S56 Dwight Foster, Republiean. was defeated by George ^^^ Riehardson bv a vote of 1,492 to 1,437. ^i^"- Foster, who afterwards aehieved the distinction whieh his qualities merited, in the office of attorney-general and a seat on the Supreme bench of the State, aspired at the age of twentv-eight to the oftice of mayor of his native city, and it was charged at the time that his presumption was checked by the hostile votes of those who, objecting to his youth, would otherwise have remained loval to their partv. The total appropriations for city expenses this year were $154,000, and for the several departments as follows : Schools, $30,000 ; high- ways, $20,000; poor, $8,500; Fire Department, $10,000; police, $6,000; lights, $3,000; salaries of city officers, $4,200. By an act of the Legislature more permanencv was given to the vSchool Committee by increasing the tenure of their office three-fold. The service of a superintendent of schools proved tmsatisfactorv in the respect of decreasing the expense of the dutv performed, which had previously been discharged by individual members of the School Com- mittee, who had received one dollar for each visit paid, and adverse criticism following in consequence, the incumbent resigned in JSlav, 1858, and the office was for some time vacant. The Fire Departinent at this time was composed of 382 members. There were six engine and two hook-and-ladder companies and three hose companies. There were twentv-five fire police and a board of seven engineers. The city debt was reduced $4,000, leaving it an even $100,000. This being a panic year, with great financial depression throughout the country, Worcester suffered in common with other places, the \-alue of property depreciating within twelve months 15 or 20 per cent. On the iith of March Mechanics Hall, now as then one of the most beautifid and commodious pul)lic halls in the United States, was dedicated to public use. The cost of this structure was $140,000. During the years 1856 and 1857 the bodies in the burial-ground on Raccoon Plain were removed to Hope cemetery, and the land devoted to other purposes. The Worcester of 1898. 31 SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF ISAAC DAVIS. From January 4, 1S5S, to January 3, 1S59. At the December election of 1S57 Isaac Davis prevailed over Putnam W. Taft, the Republican candidate for mayor, by a vote of 1,418 to In 1858 the valuation of the citv, which had been based upon a speculative and fictitious appreciation, was reduced by a wholesome revision from $18,472,200 to §16,385,650. The tax rate was reduced from $8 to $7 on $1,000. The amount of tax assessed in 1857 was $158,996: in 1858, $133,776. The expenses of the schools amounted to $30,000; of the highways, $12,000. Ten new streets were laid out, 723 feet of curbstone set, 1,556 yards of cobble paving laid, and 481 feet of sewerage constructed. AVest street was extended at an expense of $342. : The success of the xVtlantic cable was celebrated on August 6th and September ist by the firing of a salute, ringing of bells, military parade, and illumination, at a public expense of $226.30. On the loth of November, Frederick Warren, the city marshal, was shot bv the accidental discharge of a revolver in the hands of H. W. Hendricks, a deputv-sherift' of Charleston, vS. C. Air. Warren died on the 13th, and a public funeral was held on the 15th. On the first day of January, 1859, the engine-house on Pleasant street was demolished by an explosion. The building and contents were totallv destroyed, and the school-house and adjacent buildings badlv shattered. The cause was a leak in the gas-pipe. ADMINISTRATION OF ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK. From January 3, 1S59, to January 2, 1S60. Alexander H. Bullock,"- the Citizens' candidate for mayor, was elected over William W. Rice, Republican, at the election in December, 1858, by a vote of 1,655 to 1,599. The amount expended for schools in 1859 ^^'^^ $3 5.ooo. A school- house was erected in Tatnuck, costing $4,200, and one at Xorthville for $2,550; $26,043 was paid for salaries of teachers. The mayor by a gift of $i,ooo,t which was the amotmt of his salary, established the ■^Alexander Hamilton Bullock was born in Royalston, Massachusetts, March 2, 1816, and was graduated at Amherst College in 1S36. He served in both branches of the Legislature, and was governor of JNIassachusetts 1S66-69. He died suddenly January 17, 1882. Governor Bullock was a polished orator of the Everett school. t Increased by accumulated interest and the gift of S500 by Colonel A. G. Bullock in 1896 to $2,000. ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK. The Worcester of 1898. 33 Bullock medal fund, the benefits of which were for meritorious pupils of the high school. Of late years the income of this fund has by consent of the donor been applied to increasing the high school library. A lot of land annexed to the City Farm was purchased for $1,000, and one adjoining the city barn for $2,000. The expenses of the Fire Department were $8,500. A new house was built for $3,800. The sum of $15,000 was expended upon the roads and bridges. The debt this year was $99,429. Towards the close of the year Doctor John Green and the Lyceum and Library Association offered to give, upon certain conditions, to the city, libraries containing respectively 7,000 and 4,500 volumes, to form the nucleus of a public library. The offer was accepted by the City Government, and an ordinance establishing the Free Public Library was passed December 23. A lot of land on Elm street was purchased on which to erect a library building, for $5,042. ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM W. RICE. From January 2, 1S60, to January 7, iS6r. In December, 1859, William W. Rice," Republican, received 1,679 votes to 855 for D. Waldo Lincoln, Democrat. The population of the city in i860 was 24,960. The debt was $99,429; amoimt of taxes assessed, $140,745; valuation, $16,406,900. Expenditures for support of schools, $33,000; 75 teachers — 7 male and 68 female — were employed; 3,400 children were in school constantly; there were twenty-three school-houses Math fifty-seven schools ; value of school-house property, $140,000. Cost of maintaining highways, $14,000; the Patch road was completed at an expense of $1,208. Twenty thousand dollars was appropriated for the construction of the Free Public Library, $4,000 of which was to be paid within the year, and "Free Public Library scrip" was issued for the remainder, to be paid in yearly installments. The corner-stone of the building was laid July 4th. The total cost of the building when completed was $22,500. Appropriation for the aqueduct service was $1,500, and the expense $3,300. The income was $1,600. The Council instructed the mavor to petition the Legislature for authority to introduce water from Lynde brook. In June a bond for the purchase of his farm was taken from Edwin Waite of Leicester, $10,000 to be paid for 130 acres. The first steam fire-engine, the " Governor Lincoln," was purchased for $3,000, and the services of Engine Company No. 6 dispensed with in consequence. This action caused much feeling among the members * See sketch in Biographical Department. 3 WILLIAM W. RICE. The Worcester of 1898. 35 of the old hand fire-engines, and they exerted themselves unduly in vain endeavors to throw a stream higher with their own apparatus and muscular power than that given by the steamer, but were obliged to succumb in the face of actual demonstration. At the end of Mayor Rice's term the sum of $7,000 was in the treasury, and $5,000 had been applied to the reduction of the debt. During the latter part of the year the public mind and business were greatly disturbed by the political troubles and impending dissolution of the Union. THIRD ADMINISTRATION OF ISAAC DAVIS. From January 7, 1S61, to January 6, 1862. George M. Rice, Republican, was defeated at the city election by Isakc Davis, Democrat, by a vote of 1,648 to 1,472. At the beginning of the municipal year, business was prostrated. Real and personal estate had but a nominal value. Many business firms were obliged to bow under the pressure, and thousands were thrown out of employment. iStates were seceding from the Union, and the future of the city and the country was dark and gloomy. In April civil war burst upon the nation with all its horrors. The city of Worcester responded promptly and nobly to the call of the govern- ment. At the end of the year one thousand men of the citv were in the army and navy enlisted for the war. To arm, equip and uniform, to provide for families according to the State law, to care for the returned sick and wounded, imposed numerous duties and great respon- sibilities on the City Government, and were attended with heavy disbursements, amounting by the first of December to $12,259.77." The valuation of real and personal estate was $16,230,600; total tax, $139,212. The city debt was $129,755. This included the Public Library debt of $14,435, ^I'^cl the war debt of $14,500. The brick school-house on Salem street was erected this vear at an expense of $10,000, and was dedicated September 21st. A new road was made from James' mill to Auburn line, which involved the construction of a bridge over Kettle brook, the whole costing $620. The work of building the causeway over Lake Quinsigamond was begun in the fall, and about one-third was completed at the end of the year. The length of this road was nearly 500 feet, and its width at the top thirty-six feet. Mayor Davis, in consideration of the hard times, employed a large number of laborers, some of whom otherwise would Valedictory address of Mayor Dayis. p. EMORY ALDRICH. The Worcester of 1898. 37 have required assistance from the city, paying each sixty cents per day. More or less unfavorable criticism followed this course, but its wisdom and justice can hardly be questioned. The beautiful monument of Italian marble, erected on the Common to mark the last resting-place of the distinguished Revolutionary patriot, Colonel Timothy Bigelow, was publicly dedicated April 19, 1861, almost at the same hour that Massachusetts soldiers were sheddinof their blood in the streets of Baltimore while on their way to Washing- ton to defend the capital. The monument was the gift to the city of Timothy Bigelow Lawrence, a great-grandson of the patriot. ADMINISTRATION OF P. EMORY ALDRICH. From Januaiy 6, 1S62, to January 5, 1S63. At the December election in 1861, P. Emorv Aldrich,* Republican, was elected mayor, receiving 1,711 votes to 1,600 cast for Isaac Davis, Citizens'. The war of the Rebellion was at this time the engrossing theme of every conversation and the first thought of everv individual ; sons, brothers and townsmen stood side by side fighting the battles of the country, surrendering every comfort, shedding their blood, willing to sacrifice even their lives, that all might continue to enjoy in peace and safety those precious privileges of free domestic institutions and constitutional government.! The whole number of volunteers furnished bv the citv, exclusive of three months' men, to January i, 1863, was 1,620, between 600 and 700 of whom enlisted during 1862. The total expenditures of the year on account of the war were $94,000. The number of families receiving State aid in the city was 525. The total amount assessed upon the polls and estates of the city in 1862 was $202,688, being an increase of $63,400 over the assessment of 1 86 1. Of this the vState tax was $35,838, and the county tax $21,600. The rate was $12 per $1,000. The debt of the city in 1862 was $130,219. The appropriations for city expenses amounted to $145,250. One extraordinary expense was the causeway over Lake Quinsigamond, the total cost of which was $25,997, requiring an appropriation of $20,000, the balance having been paid the previous year. Of this sum $5,000 was ultimatelv refunded bv the countv. This road was com- * Peleg Emory Aldrich was born in New Salem. Massachusetts, in 1S13, and died March 14, 1S95. He was for many years in law partnership with Honorable Peter C. Bacon, and from 1873 until his death was a justice of the Superior Court of the State. f Paraphrase of inaugural address of Honorable Daniel Waldo Lincoln in 1S63. 38 The Worcester of 1898. plctcd I line 27, and the tirst person to eross in a wheel-vehicle was Doetor John (rreen, the founder of the lHi])lie Library. The total expenses of the schools in 1862 were $35,750. The average annual cost per scholar for the years 1856-9 had been $11.36. The annual cost in 1861-2, including salary of superintendent (Reverend J. D. E. Jones having been elected in 1859, the ordinance creating the otitiee remaining in force), was a fraction less than $10. The number of schools in 1862 was 62; number of teachers, 83 — 6 males and ']'] females: number of pupils, 5,771; number of school-houses, 24. An appropriation of $7,000 was made to the Public Library, $4,000 of which was towards the pavment of the debt. The appropriation for roads and bridges was $17,500. vSpecific rei)airs upon the Paxton road cost $1,182; a double-arch stone bridge over the Blackstone at (Juinsigamond Village was built at an expense of $5,670; a sewer of 801 feet was constructed in West street costing $409. Extensive alterations and repairs were made on the City Hall at a cost of $1,100. The total expenditures for the support of the poor amounted to $9,997. Number of persons who received assistance was 1,308, of whom 1,243 were outside and 65 in the Almshouse. The average number supported at the Almshouse was, in 1853, 30; in i860, 31; in 1861, 33 ; in 1862, 37. The Fire Department consisted of seven engines and 250 men, engine, hose and hook-and-ladder companies inclusive. There were thirty-eight alarms of fire in 1862, and property to the amount of between $50,000 and $60,000 was destroyed. The appropriation for this department was $1 1,000. The police force consisted of a marshal, tw^o deputy marshals and ten watchmen. During a portion of the year two or more were employed as day police. Seven hundred and fifty-live arrests were made and 921 poor persons lodged and fed; total expenses, $7,956. An act w^as passed by the Legislature in 1862 authorizing the elec- tion the following January of three commissioners, to have the sole care of the public grounds. This was accepted by a majority of 57 in a vote of 451, and the board was designated the "Commissioners of Shade Trees and Public (irounds." In 1862 Honorable Isaac Davis tendered to the city a deed of about fourteen acres of land bordering upon Lake Uuinsigamcmd for the pur- poses of a public park. The gift was declined by the City Council. This land came into the possession of the city many years after, being included in the tract presented by ]Mr. H. H. Bigelow and Honorable E. L. Davis. The Worcester of 1898. 39 ADMINISTRATION OF DANIEL WALDO LINCOLN. Two terms — from January 5, 1S63, to January 2, 1S65. At the citv election in December, 1862, Daniel Waldo Lincoln "■■■ was chosen mayor by a vote of 1,247 ^o 948 for David vS. Messinger, the Republican candidate. The amount paid for bounties to soldiers in 1863 was $5,910; aid to families, $41,137; the war debt was increased $15,402. Appropriations for the year, $140,370; total tax, $214,283; valuation, $16,698,750; city debt, $96,380; war debt, $1 18,436. Amount expended for schools was $37,836; a school-house at East Worcester cost $15,000, and one on Mason street, $5,619. The truant school was established. The Free Public Library received $2,500, the Police Department, $7,797; number of arrests, 1,526; the Fire Department, $14,827, includ- ing $3,500 for new steam fire-engine; the fire loss was $25,000. Cost of support of poor, $11,948. Fourteen thousand dollars was expended on roads and bridges. The aqueduct in Pleasant street was extended from Ashland street to West street 480 feet, at a cost of $780. Stone sewers in Crown and Ashland stieets, and a brick sewer in Pleasant street were constructed. Lincoln square was raised and regraded, and Main street, from Southbridge street to Webster square, was widened and reworked ; Pleasant street, to Oxford street, regraded and paved. This work was done in prep- aration for or in connection with the construction of the horse railway line. The bodies in a portion of the Pine street burial ground ( which was opened in 1828) were disinterred and removed this year, and the land used for the purposes of the East Worcester school-house. The Worcester Horse Railroad Company was chartered in 1861 with the following corporators: Albert Curtis, Frederick W. Paine, Loring Goes, William H. Heywood, Joseph vSargent, John C. Mason and James H. Wall. The capital stock was $100,000. James B. Blake, afterwards mayor, was elected president. Tracks were laid through Lincoln street from Harrington avenue; Main street from Lincoln square to New Worcester; Front and Grafton streets to the railroad station; Pleasant street as far as West street. The Lincoln, Main and Front street lines were opened September i, 1863, and the Pleasant street branch the 3rd of the following November. The railroad did not prosper under ^Ir. Blake's management, and in course of time the company failed, and the property was sold under the hammer. The Pleasant street * Daniel Waldo Lincoln was a son of Governor Levi Lincoln, born in Worcester January 16, 1 813. He was president of the Boston & Albany Railroad for several years previous to and at the time of his death, which was the result of a railroad accident while attending a college regatta at New London, Connecticut, July i, iSSo. DANIEL WALDO LINCOLN, The Worcester of 1898. 41 tracks were taken up. In 1 869 Augustus Seeley of New York bought the property and franchise for $30,000, and for twelve years the cars were run over the limited lines with a seven-cent fare, and five cents more to get to the railroad station. The five-cent fare became general in 1 88 1, and this year the line was extended to Adams square, the residents in that direction contributing quite a sum towards indemni- fying the company. The history of the street railway after 1885 will be followed in succeeding pages. The centennial celebration of the erection of the Old South Meeting- House, in which town meetings were held till 1825, was observed ■September 22, 1863. The historical discourse was delivered by the Reverend Leonard Bacon, D. D. The vote for Mayor Lincoln at the December election of 1863 was nearly unanimous. The appropriations for war purposes in 1864 amounted to $27,500. The war debt was $160,000; 1,300 men were raised, and $55,885 paid in bounties. Appropriations for city purposes, $173,500, being $33,129 over those of 1863; city debt, $290,000. The school expenditures were $49,294. The city now owned twenty-eight school-houses, seating 4,676 pupils, and valued at $180,000. To the Public Library $2,500 was granted for its support, and $4,000 towards extinguishing the debt. Thirteen thousand dollars was expended on the highways; $9,000 for support of the poor; improvements at the Almshouse cost $1,300. With 1 864 the year of the Fire Department was changed to begin in January instead of May. The pay of the members, 272 in number, was raised ; $6,000 was expended in building a new steamer-house, and all the expenditures in this department amounted to $25,000. During Mayor Lincoln's administration deeds of several tracts of valuable wood- and other land belonging to the city were discovered and the property taken possession of. The sources of public water supply of the city at this time were as follows: The Allen, or vSpring water, supplying thirty-seven different parties on Main street by an aqueduct two miles long from a source near Adams square; Paine spring, from Laurel hill, supplying 125 parties on School, LTnion, Main, Thomas and vSummer streets through one mile of pipe: the Rice aqueduct, supplying sixty-one families near Grafton and Franklin streets ; Bell pond, or Worcester aqueduct, which contributed the more general supply, on which the city relied for water in case of fire. This aqueduct had been transferred to the city by the company, which was incorporated in 1845 to construct it. For ten years previous to 1864 the pressing need of additional water supply had been impressed by successive mayors. The necessity of PHINEHAS BALL. The Worcester of 1898. 43 some action finally became imperative, and consequently, on the i8th of January, 1864, the question, "vShall water be introduced into the citv of Worcester by authcn'ity of the city, in substantial accordance with the report of Phinehas Ball and the Joint vStanding Committee on Water?" was submitted to the people for a yea and nay vote, receiving- an affirmative majority of 582 in a vote of 1,146. The City Council adopted an order in February authorizing the mayor to purchase the right to the waters of East or Lynde brook in Leicester, and to proceed in the work of introducing said water into the city, at a cost not to exceed $110,000. Early in Alarch work was begun in the construction of a dam and the laying of pipe. From Myrtle street to Gates lane a sixteen-inch pipe was laid, 13,162 feet, and from this point west 1,946 feet an eighteen-inch pipe, making 16,162 feet, a little more than three miles. The line was completed November 11, and the first water let in November 14. The capacity of the Lvnde brook reservoir was 228,000,000 gallons, covering an area of forty-eight acres. The completion of the aqueduct from Leicester was celebrated November 22. On the 6th of February, 1865, an order was adopted by which the Bell pond and the Lynde brook aqueducts were united to form one department, to be called the Worcester Water Works. The distrib- uting reservoir was completed in 1867. In 1864 Dale Hospital for invalid soldiers was established here, and continued a few months. The old Medical College (now one of the buildings of the Worcester Academy) on Union hill and fourteen barracks erected adjacent were occupied. ADMINISTRATION OF PHINEHAS BALL. From January 2, 1S65, to January i, 1S66. In December, 1864, Phinehas Ball ■'■' was elected mayor, receiving 1,664 votes to 1,598 for D. Waldo Lincoln. Mr. Ball was the popular choice, in consequence of his connection with the introduction of water as the engineer of the undertaking. The year 1865 was distinguished by witnessing the end of the war of the Rebellion, and the successful re-establishment of the government in all parts of the Union ; the assassination of President Lincoln, and the return of the war veterans to their homes and peaceful pursuits. Worcester sent during the four years 3,927 men to the war, at a total direct money cost of $586,054. * See sketch in Biographical Department. JAMES B. BLAKE. The Worcester of 1898. 45 On the ist day of June the Honorable Alexander H. Bullock delivered a eulogy on the martyred president by invitation of the City Govern- ment. The exercises were held in Mechanics Hall. On July 4 a grand ovation was given the returned veterans, with an all-day's celebration of national independence. The debt of the city January i, 1866, was $433,777, as follows: City debt, $89,140; library debt, $2,637; water debt, $175,000; temporary loan, $15,000; war debt, $151,000. The valuation was $18,937,000; the assessed tax, $221,702; the tax rate, $17 per $1,000; number of polls, 7,851. There were 76 schools with 6,719 pupils, employing 93 teachers, of whom 7 were males; the expenditures amounted to $54,356. There were 1 1 4 miles of streets and 47 bridges in the city. The fire loss of 1865 was $42,200. The engine-house on School street was built at a cost of $8,140. Eighty-eight thousand dollars was expended in the Water Department. Doctor John Green, the founder of the Public Library, died October 17, aged 81. In his will he left $30,000 to the citv, mainly to endow his department of the library. One provision is that one-quarter of the income shall be added to the principal every year. Honorable George F. Hoar raised about $10,000 as a reading-room fund, and this privilege was added to those of the library, the principal newspapers, review^s, magazines, etc., being supplied for public use. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES B. BLAKE. Five terms — from January i, iS66, to December iS, 1S70. The vote for mayor in December, 1865, was for James B. Blake,* Republican, i ,97 1 ; for D. Waldo Lincoln, Democrat, i ,420. Isaac Davis was the Democratic candidate in 1867, and J. Henry Hill in 1869 and 1870. There were scattering votes only in opposition to Mr. Blake in 1866 and 1868. In 1866 the City Hall was altered and refitted at a cost of $27,232. Land on Dix, Washington and Southgate streets w^as purchased for school-house lots at a cost of $5,276. Machinery and building for pre- paring material for macadamizing streets cost $3,498. The highway expenses this year were $25,846; Hermon street bridge and regrading cost $10,337. Number of pupils in public schools was 6,884; the average cost of tuition was $12.89. The school-house on Providence * James Barnard Blake was born in Boston June 19, 1S27, He came to Worcester in 1S52, and was appointed agent of the Gas Light Company and superintendent of their works, which position he held until the time of his death, the result of a gas explosion, December 18, 1870. 46 The Worcester of 1898. street, begun in 1865, was eompleted at a cost of $10,743. The debt of the city was $470,000; total expenses, $260,283; tax assessed. $377,381 ; valuation, $22,599,850, of which $14,198,550 was real. The rate was $16 per $1,000; number of polls, 7,892. The police force was increased, and regularly organized, with a marshal, two assistants and twenty-five men. By a revision of the city charter the term of members of the City Council was extended to two years. The bell of the Central Church was broken July 4, while being rung to celebrate the national independence, and was replaced by the city at a cost of $500. In 1867 the population was about 36,000. The city debt was $5.49 for each person. The cost of the highways this year was $44,355. The distributing reservoir of the water works was completed and $12,415 paid on account. vSalem square was graded at a cost of $4,173. On the first of Jtme the city sold to David S. Messinger for $21,537 the Main street school-house. The proceeds paid in part for the Dix street house, which was begun this year. The City Ordinances were revised this year. The second fire steamer, the "Colonel Davis," was purchased. In 1868 the Dix street school-house was completed at a cost of $32,564, and in May the Lamartine street school-house was finished at an expense of $25,812. Land for school lots on Woodland and Edge- worth streets was purchased. The expenditures in the Highway Department this year amounted to $64,166. Green and Lincoln streets were macadamized. A street from Mav street to junction of Beaver and Lovell streets was laid out, forming the first portion of the projected "Boulevard" around the citv. This section is now Park avenue. The "betterment act," giving authority to assess half the cost of improvements in streets on the estates of almtters, was put in force, and has since occasioned more or less clamor and dissatisfaction. The building of the Water and Sewer Departments was erected on Thomas street at a cost of $12,470. The Fire Department as now organized was composed of a chief engineer and six assistants and 128 men. The apparatus consisted of three steamers with hose carriages, one hand-engine at New Worces- ter, five hose carriagfes and two hook-and-ladder trucks. The fire loss was $20,656; expenses of the department, $19,000. The third fire- steamer, the "A. I). Lovell," was purchased this year. The cost of maintaining the poor this year was $13,907. In November the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science, founded bv John Boynton of Templeton, was dedicated, and The Worcester of 1898. 47 began its sessions. In 1887 the name was changed to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and in 1889 an essential change took place, by which free tuition to an unlimited number of residents of the county was no longer given, and afforded only to five students admitted at each examination. The first Swedes came to Worcester in 1868, and found emplovment at the Wire Works. In 1868 a free public market was established on the north side of the City Hall on Front street. It did not prove a success, and was discontinued after a year's trial. In 1869 the total tax assessed was $469,953. The tax rate was $14.40 per $1,000; number of polls, 11,869. Authority was given by the Legislature, and accepted by vote September 20th, instructing the city treasurer to subscribe for stock of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad to an amount equal to one per cent, on total valuation, which amounted to $262,200. An assess- ment of $32,440 was paid. This road was opened in 1871, and proved a losing speculation. The school-house on Edgeworth street was completed, and $1 3,584 paid on account. A lot for a school-house on Ledge street was purchased. A contract with Norcross & Brother was made for the erection of a high school building on Walnut street, from plans bv Oambrill & Richardson of New York, for $106,000. The cost of the highways this year was $93,014. In April, 1869, George Jaques offered to present to the citv his homestead estate, comprising about seven acres, for a public park. The conditions were such as would involve the citv in a considerable increase of its debt, and the offer was declined. In 1870 the population of Worcester was 41,105. The tax rate was $17.40 per $1,000. There were in the city at this time four savings banks with $9,085,119 deposits; eight banks of discount with $2,400,000 capital; and three insurance companies with $604,800 capital. One hundred and fifty miles of streets was maintained at a total expense of $152,454. Block paving was laid in Main, vSouthbridge and Mechanic streets, $37,738 being expended in this new method. The steamer -house in Lagrange street was erected at a cost of $10,000. The fire loss was $60,000. The expenses of the Police Department amounted to $25,027; number of men, thirty. The vote at the December election in favor of removing the rail- road tracks from the Common and ^ladison and jSIechanic streets, was 2,330 to 480 opposed. EDWARD EARLE. The Worcester of 1898. 49 June 23, 1870, occurred, the great dualin explosion on the Boston & Albany railroad tracks, near the Junction. One man was killed, about thirty persons injured, and many buildings were shattered. On Friday, December 16, 1870, Mayor Blake (who had been re-elected for the year 1871) went to the Gas Works to inspect some repairs. A stopcock had by accident been left open in the purifying house, and on the mayor's approach with the foreman, who carried a lighted lantern, an explosion followed, which demolished the building, and severely burned and bruised the mayor and his attendant. As a result of his injuries death ensued vSunday morning, the i8th. A public funeral was held in Mechanics Hall on the 226.. Mayor Blake's administration is principally distinguished by the inception and practical foundation of the present sewerage system, the construction of which was begun in 1867 under powers given by a special act of the Legislature, and accepted by popular vote April 16 of that year, conferring the right to appropriate certain water courses recommended in the report of a special committee made to the City Council in October, 1866. These main channels comprised Mill brook, 9,420 feet; Lincoln brook, 13,566 feet; Austin street brook, 2,818 feet; Hermitage brook, 5,090 feet; Piedmont brook, 4,677 feet, and Pine Meadow brook, 4,356 feet. The walling of Mill brook as the main sewer was commenced in Green street in May, 1867, and completed to Lincoln square in 1870 — 2,238 feet open, and 3,669 arched. The first sewers were laid in the streets in August, 1867. The expense of the main sewer was included in the general tax, and the estates of abutters were assessed to pay for the street sewers, causing much grumbling. At first the estates were assessed according to the number of square feet, but now the assessment is for lineal feet of sewer. Another matter of interest was the erection of a soldiers' monument, the first action toward which was taken by the City Council in 1 866, in the appointment of a committee which co-operated with a citizens' coinmittee of twenty-five chosen at a public meeting in 1867. Mayor Blake was chairman of this committee. A canvass for subscriptions resulted in a fund of $11,242, and steps were taken to choose a site and design. The mayor favored an arch to be placed on the Common or over Main street at a cost of $90,000. This proposition was rejected by a popular vote in December, 1868. Nothing further was done until after the death of Mr. Blake. It was during ]Mr. Blake's administration that "Nobility Hill" on Main street, from opposite the end of Southbridge street, running north to nearly opposite the southwest corner of the Common, was removed, and the grade of Chatham street lowered so as to bring it into Main street. GEORGE F. VERRY. The Worcester of 1898. 51 ADMINISTRATION OF EDWARD EARLE. From February 6, 1S71, to January i, 1S72. On the death of Mayor Blake, Honorable Henry Chapin was appointed mayor ad intcrivi until authority to hold a special election was obtained from the Legislature, and on the 30th of January, Edward Earle"^ was chosen by a vote of 2,078 to 1,742 for Frank H. Kelley. In 1 87 1 the expenses of the schools amounted to $1 19,715. The police force was increased to thirty-eight men, and the expenses of this department were $32,000. The sinking fund was established July 24 : all balances, all receipts from real estate belonging to the city if sold, and $30,000 yearly to be applied to the reduction of the debt. The City Hospital was established May 25. The Abijah Bigelow house on Front street was hired, and the first patient was received October 26. The expenses this year were $3,860. The fire alarm telegraph was constructed in 1871, and first used on the 28th of June. All the streets in the city were renumbered this year. The new Classical and English high school building on Walnut street was dedicated December 30, 187 1. It cost $170,000. ADMINISTRATION OF GEORGE F. VERRY. From January i, 1872, to January 6, 1S73. At the election in December, 1871, George F. Verry,t Citizens', was elected over George Crompton, Republican, b}' a vote of 3,589 to 1,423. In 1872 the expenditures were as follows: Highways, $124,812; water construction, $76,419; sewers, $152,916; schools, $144,352; police, $45,407; poor, $18,151 ; City Hospital, $8,090; salaries, $21,779; library, $10,723; Fire Department, $39,742; street construction, $72,203; inter- est, $136,259. The city debt now amounted to $2,456,788. The total valuation was $42,242,550; number of polls, 13,055; tax assessed, $761,130. There were 10,226 pupils in the public schools; number of teachers, 174. The fire loss was $26,235. The Public Library was first opened on Sunday, December 8, of this year. In March, 1872, George Jacjues presented to the city four acres of land on Prince street as a site for the Citv Hosuital, and at his death, * See sketch in Biographical Department. t George Franklin Verry was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, July 14, 1S26. He was educated at Phillips-Andover Academy, and studied law, in which profession he became prominent. He was a member of the State Senate in 1874-5. He died October 5, 1883. CLARK JILLSON. The Worcester of 1898. 53 the 24th of the following August, bequeathed to the city nearly the remainder of his estate, valued at about $200,000, as a fund for the maintenance of said hospital. FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF CLARK JILLSON. From January 6, 1S73, to January 5, 1874. At the city election in December, 1872, Clark Jillson,-' Republican, prevailed over George F. Verry, Citizens', by a vote of 3,352 to 2,875. The year 1873 witnessed a recurrence of hard times and general depression of business. In further complication of the distress, the small-pox appeared early in the winter, and there were 125 cases in the next four months, eight of which were fatal. The city debt was $2,605,613. Total expenditures, $1,095,958, in part divided as follows: Fire Department, $75,961; library, $14,107; high- ways, $152,726; interest, $115,250; street lighting, $21,454; poor, $43,898; police, $58,595 ; salaries, $24,209; schools, $1 53,003 ; school- houses, $23,873; sewer construction, $76,576; water construction, $45,596; high service, $65,930; maintenance, $23,327. The high-service water was completed at a cost of $232,000; total cost of water works to this time, $1,076,531. The police force was now composed of fifty men. The act conferring the veto power upon the mayor was accepted by popular vote, and this right was exercised for the first time by Mayor Jillson in December, in withholding his approval of the vote laying out a portion of Park avenue over Elm park, but the City Council re-affirmed its action by a more than two-thirds vote. The \]\vTcster Daily P?rss, a Deinocratic paper, was established xVpril I, 1873, and was published five years. Its promoters lost heavily. The Worcester & vShrewsbury railroad was opened to Lake Quinsig- amond, July 31, 1873. ADMINISTRATION OF EDWARD L. DAVIS. From January 5, 1S74, to January 4, 1S75. Edward L. Davis, ■^ the Citizens' candidate, was elected over Mayor Jillson by a majority of sixty-five at the December election of 1873. The total valuation in 1874 was $49,185,554. The tax rate was $16.80 per $1,000; number of polls, 13,341. Expenditures were: For schools, $148,455; highways, $155,146; interest, $147,204; police, * See sketch in Biographical Department. EDWARD L. DAVIS. The Worcester of 1898. 55 $54,096; street lights, $27,957; Fire Department, $62,925; sewer con- struetion, $53,634; water construction, $106,562. The City Hospital was removed from the corner of Front and Church streets to the Jaques homestead on Wellington street, on the I St of January. The Soldiers' ]Monument was completed after a design by Randolph Rogers, and was dedicated July 15. It cost $50,000, of which $35,000 was appropriated by the City Council. The vState Normal School opened its sessions September 15. It was located in Worcester in 1871 on condition that the city should pay the Board of Education $15,000, the vState making an additional appro- priation of $60,000. The Worcester Board of Trade formally opened its headquarters March 3, 1874. It was incorporated May 14, 1875. The Board was inactive from 1880 to 1891, when it was resuscitated. Mr. Davis had to contend with serious difficulties consequent to the financial panic of 1873, the business depression manifesting itself in public as well as in private enterprises. In his conduct of municipal affairs he exercised a rigid but judicious economy, and he was able to institute and carry forward public works, notably the extension of Park avenue, without exceeding the amount supplied by the revenues of the year. These needed improvements furnished work and support to worthy and industrious citizens who otherwise would have expe- rienced distress during the hard times, and the desired end was accom- plished without increasing the indebtedness of the city. SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF CLARK JILLSON. Two terms — from January 4, 1S75, to January i, 1877. In December, 1874, Mr. Jillson prevailed over Mr. Davis and reassumed the office of mayor in January, 1875. At the next election George F. Verry was the opposing candidate. In 1875 the population of Worcester reached 49,317. The debt was $2,589,700. The expenditures for schools amounted to $153,210; for highways, $63,776. The Armory on Waldo street was erected at a cost of $49,392. It proved a bad bargain for the city, and had to be abandoned by the militia later as unsafe in consequence of poor construction. The Union railway station at Washington square was completed and opened for use August 15, 1875. On May 28, Taylor's building, opposite the Common, was burned, the most destructive conflagration since the ^lerrifield fire of 1854. This V<: ^ ■ ^^-^ CHARLES B. PRATT. The Worcester of 1898. 57 iire led to the formation of the Insurance Fire Patrol, an efficient adjunct to the Fire Department, which was incorporated in 1875. At first it was wholly supported by insurance companies, but an annual grant was later made by the city, and is continued. The fire apparatus at the time of the Taylor fire consisted of four steamers, eight hose carriages, two hook-and-ladder trucks and a Babcock fire extin- guisher. On January 23 of this year was formed The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and to this institution the city is largely indebted for the perpetuation of its early records, all of which, relating to the period of the proprietary and town governments, have been published by this society. The dam at the Lynde brook reservoir was carried away by a freshet on the 30th of March, 1876, and was reconstructed during that year. The aggregate damages paid by the city, including the cost of the new dam, amounted to $227,000. The expenditures this year were in part as follows: vSchools, $149,- 593; highways, $78,805; library, $14,147; poor, $14,838; police, $51,236; Fire Department, $40,741 ; interest, $121,136. The viaduct over Mechanic and Front streets, to connect the northern railroads with the Union station, was completed in 1876. 1876 was the year of the nation's centennial, and Worcester entered into the spirit of the occasion with ardor. A grand celebration was held July 4, and the Centennial oration was given by Honorable Ben- jamin F. Thomas, a native of the place, and a grandson of the patriot printer, Isaiah Thomas. ADMINISTRATION OF CHARLES B. PRATT. Three terms — from January i, 1877, to January 5, iSSo. In December, 1876, Charles B. Pratt,'^ Democrat, received 3,653 votes for mayor to 3,373 cast for Joseph H. Walker, Republican. The city debt in 1877 was $2,492,300. The expenditures in part were as follows: Fire Department, $39,760; highways, $50,594; police, $45,289; salaries, $21,442. A Board of Commissioners of the Jaques Fund was constituted this year. The Board of Health was established. Mounted police were in service during the year. The floating island in Bell pond was removed at an expense of $2,758. *See sketch in Biographical Department. FRANK H. KELLEY. The Worcester of 1898. 59 The railroad tracks on the Common were removed November 21, 1877. In 1878 the debt was $2,509,200. The expenditures for schools amounted to $142,809; for highways, $50,982. The AVinslow vStreet school-house was built. Hope cemetery was enlarged ten or twelve acres, and the remains in the Mechanic street burial-ground mostly removed thither; 1,116 bodies were taken froin the old ground. The construction of the Island sewer was undertaken, and $104,410 expended. In 1879 there were 142 miles of public streets and 55 miles of private streets; 19 stone arch bridges, 16 wooden bridges, and 2 iron bridges; 690 gas lamps and 756 gasolene lamps; expense of lighting streets, $27,298; ^'j miles of main and distributing water-pipes, which had cost with reservoirs, etc., $1,250,000; water revenue in 1879, $73,296; 37.69 miles sewer. The Island sewer was completed at a cost of $203,066. School expenses, $142,070. The hose-house on Grafton street w^as built at an expense of $4,178. Part of Main street was repaved with small square paving. During the three years of Mayor Pratt's administration there was a net increase of the citv debt $13,021, but $650,000 of liabilities was paid, including the claims on account of damages bv the Lynde brook disaster, which were mostly settled out of court. vSchool-houses on Winslow and Grafton streets and at Lake View were erected at a total cost of $31,684. The extension of Foster street, in consequence of the building of the Union railroad station at Washington square, proved a bone of con- tention, and was accomplished only after much delay. The cost of working the street was $ 1 40,000 ; but incidental expenses of relocating the railroads, building the stations, the viaduct, and inaking necessary changes, swelled the sum total to $1,518,508. It is worth while to consider in this connection whether it would not have been wise to have built the passenger station on the site of the old one on Foster street, as already the question of removal of the present one to some other place is being discussed. The value of the time which would have been saved in the last twenty years is the difference between that of five and forty-five minutes in going and coming to and from the station for everv traveler. ADMINISTRATION OF FRANK H. KELLEY. Two terms — from January 5, iSSo, to January 3, 18S2. At the city election in December, Frank H. Kelley,* Citizens', received 2,971 votes for mayor ' 6 for Elijah B. Stoddard, * See sketch in Biographical Department. ELIJAH B. STODDARD. The Worcester of 1898. 61 Republican; 1,087 ^oi" Horace H. Bigelow, and 99 for A. J. Marble. The population of the city in 1880 was 58,291. Expenditures in different departments were as follows: Schools, $143,839; highways, $52,534; police, $54,894; Fire Department, $46,446. The debt was. $2,542,300. Fifteen private streets were made public. The City Ordinances were revised. The City Hospital on Prince street was begun. In 1881 the debt was $2,580,200. Highway expenses, $73,914; schools, $153,000; Fire Department, $44,951, and $1,200 for Fire Patrol. A controversy in consequence of defiling of Blackstone river with sewage engaged public attention. The City Hospital was completed and occupied December 8. ADMINISTRATION OF ELIJAH B. STODDARD. From January 3, 18S2, to January i, 1S83. In December, 1881, Elijah B. Stoddard"'^ received 2,971 votes for mayor, as the Citizens' candidate; 1,571 were cast for Calvin L. Harts- horn, although he declined a nomination. The debt at the beginning of 1882 was $2,582,300, an increase of $70,400 in a year. Expenditures were: For schools, $173,729; high- ways, $132,572. There were in the public schools 11,887 pi-ipil''"'' 'i-t ^^ expense of $19.18 each; 222 teachers were employed. The Thomas street school- house was enlarged at an expense of $10,324. The construction of the Pine Meadow sewer was successfully and economically executed. This relieved the East Worcester district. vSummer street was relocated at an expense of $53,107 for construction, and $20,338 damages. ADMINISTRATION OF SAMUEL E. HILDRETH. From January i, 1S83, to January 7, 1SS4. In December, 1882, Samuel E. Hildreth,t Republican, was elected over Mayor vStoddard bv a inajority of forty-foiir in a total vote of * Elijah Brigham Stoddard was born in Upton, Massachusetts, June 5, 1826, and gradu- ated at Brown University in 1847. He has served in both branches of the Legislature,, and is a member of the State Board of Education. f See sketch in Biographical Department. SAMUEL E. HILDRETH. The Worcester of 1898. 63 The city debt in 1883 was $2,652,700. Expenditures in several of the departments were as follows: vSchools, $183,365; highways, $109,753; Fire Department, $50,812; police, seventy in number, $78,988; poor, $46,445; street lights, $42,821. The Millbury street school-house was built at a cost of $31,503, and the Winslow street school enlarged at a cost of $16,413. On the 6th of Februarv the order passed to take Tatnuck brook for additional water supplv. The necessary work was completed Novem- ber 27, the cost being $223,574. Total cost of water works to date, $1,603,988. The Pine Meadow sewer was completed at a cost of $15,000. The city purchased the first steam-roller for use in the Highway Department. Electric lights were first used in the streets. Police vStation No. 2 was established in the "Island" district, with head- quarters in the Lamartine street engine-house. ADMINISTRATION OF CHARLES G. REED. Two terms — from January 7, 1SS4, to Januarj- 4, 1SS6. Charles G. Reed,* the Citizens' candidate, prevailed in 1883 and 1884 over Samuel E. Hildreth, the Republican nominee. In 1884 the debt was $3,112,700. There were eleven trust funds belonging to the city, amounting to $219,076. The income of these funds was applied to specific purposes. Expenditures in several depart- ments were: vSchools, $219,341 ; highways, $1 17,441 ; Fire Department, $52,105; police, $74,036; library, $16,082. Honorable Edward L. Davis and Mr. Horace H. Bigelow presented to the city the land now forming Lake park, and Mr. Davis gave in addition $5,000 to be applied to improving the park. November 4, the act empowering the city to accj^uire and lay out a system of parks was accepted by popular vote — yes, 5,094; no, 181. The Bi-Centennial celebration of the naming of Worcester was one of the most successful of our commemorative occasions. It was observed with an oration by Senator Hoar, and addresses by Mayor Reed, Gov- ernor Robinson and General Devens, in Mechanics Hall, October 14, and a grand military and civic parade October 15. In 1885 the population of Worcester was 68,380. The valuation was $82,714,391; taxes assessed, $1,014,554. The tax rate was $18, and the debt was $3,389,700. Net debt decreased $33,230. The school expenses amounted to $213,076. Number of school children, 12,961. The Commission of Shade Trees and Public Grounds was re-organized with five members, and name changed to Parks Commission. "-' See sketch in Biographical Department. CHARLES G. REED. The Worcester of 1898. 65 The police headquarters and the Central District Court were removed from the City Hall building to the discarded Armorv in Waldo street. Mayor Reed's financial policy was "to pay as you go," and to reduce the city debt. He vetoed the reported appropriation bill of 1884, and his veto was sustained. He presented and advocated the plan of our present police and signal system, but withdrew it to keep down the taxes until the amount of the city's liability for damages in the taking of Tatnuck brook might be determined. At his re-election in Decem- ber, 1884, he received the largest vote cast for a mayor to that time. He vetoed the building of the Fire Department building as being against the policy of putting costs of buildings into the next vear's taxes. ADMINISTRATION OF SAMUEL WINSLOW.^^ Four terms — from January 4, 1SS6, to January 6, 1890. Charles B. Pratt, 1885; John R. Thayer, 1886, and Andrew Athv, 1887, were the Democratic candidates during this period. In 1888 L. G. White was the Citizens' nominee for mayor. The expenses in some of the departments in 1886 were as follows: Schools, $226,680; highways, $103,058; Fire Department, $70,207; street lights, $53,420; there were 112 electric lights, 650 gas lights, 1,449 gasolene lamps; police, $78,547; the force numbered 80. The act requiring the city to establish a system of sewage purifica- tion within five years, to free the Blackstone river from pollution, passed the Legislature. The ]Vo)-ccstcr Daily Telegram appeared May 19, 1886. The S?iiulav Telegram was first issued in 1884. In 1887 the schools cost $241,505; highways, $106,016; City Hospital, $15,378; interest, $105,783. The title and interest of the First Parish in that part of the Common occupied by their meeting-house were taken in exercise of the authority vested in the city by the Legislature of 1885, and the venerable Old wSouth Church was removed, $115,395 being paid in compromise, after an award to the parish of $148,409 by a commission. The proposition to take the parish rights in 1872 was voted down, 2,480 to 2,297. In 1888 $75,000 was borrowed to begin the sewage purification works at Quinsigamond. The parks loan of $200,000 was authorized, for the purpose of acquiring certain tracts for public use. The valuation was $64,498,386; fire loss, $29,876. The schools cost $266,554; the highways, $134,091; the Fire Department, $61,126; police, $95,703- * See sketch in Biographical Department. SAMUEL WINSLOW. The Worcester of 1898. 67 There were 142 miles of public and fifty miles of private streets; 1 10.10 miles of main water-pipe. In 1889 the gross debt was $3,595,700. The valuation was $69,350,- 000. During the vears 1886-89 i>48i new buildings were erected in the citv. Clark University was opened, and the Salisbury Laboratories at the Polytechnic Institute built. Land for a new high school house was purchased for $49,500. vSchool-houses on Freeland and vSalisburv streets, Sunnyside, Greendale, Adams square, Jamesville, and Bloom- ingdale were erected at a total cost of $133,475; fire-engine houses on Cambridge and Woodland streets were built. The City Hospital was enlarged and further endowed, and a hospital for contagious diseases erected. A lot for a new public library building was purchased. North, Messinger hill, East Worcester, Crompton, University, Newton hill and Institute parks were opened. The last was a gift from Hon- orable Stephen Salisburv, who has improved and beautified it at his own expense. In 1885 a new street railway company, known as the Citizens', sud- denly appeared and gained a franchise that considerably more than doubled the miles of track. Honorable Charles B. Pratt was president of the new corporation. During the summer of 1886 tracks were laid in Pleasant, vSouthbridge, Salisbury, Grove, Trumbull, Green, ^lillbury and other streets. In the meantime the two companies consolidated, and began to afford facilities more in character with the size of the city. Another company, the North End, operated a line from Foster street throusjh Summer and Lincoln streets to Greendale. ADMINISTRATION OF FRANCIS A. HARRINGTON. Three terms — from January 6, 1S90, to January 2, 1893. Francis A. Harrington,"-^ Republican, was elected mayor in December, 1889, the opposing candidate being A. George Bullock, Citizens'-Demo- crat. Benjamin W. Childs and Joseph S. Perry were the unsuccessful candidates in 1890 and 1891. The population of Worcester in 1890 was 84,655. The valuation was $73,272,360. Expenses of the following departments were: Schools, $278,956; highways, $144,227 ; Fire Department, $75,132 ; police, $104,- 599; street lights, $71,397; City Hospital, $32,921; the city debt was $3,930,700. This was a no-license year. The trunk sewer in Sutton lane and Cambridge street, for the relief of the New Worcester district, was completed. The works at Ouinsig- " Francis Alfred Harrington was born in Worcester November 17, 1846. He served in the Board of Aldermen previous to his election as mayor. FRANCIS A. HARRINGTON. The Worcester of 1898. 69 amond, for the disposal of the sewage by chemical precipitation, were put in operation. In 1 891 the valuation was $77,764,919. The trust funds for various purposes amounted to $302,026. The cost of maintaining the schools with 15,484 pupils and 340 teachers, was $301,460. Fire-engine houses at Lake A'iew and Quinsigamond were erected. The office of superintendent of street lights was created. The new Public Library building was occupied April i, 1891. It cost $108,000, exclusive of the land. Six hundred and two new buildings were erected in the citv. Eight hundred and eighteen million gallons of water were used exclusive of street sprinkling. In 1892 the net debt was $2,600,903; valuation, $80,811,000. The Holden reservoir dam was raised at a cost of $99,261. The English high school building was completed at an expense of $145,000. New school-houses on Millbury and Canterbury streets were nearly com- pleted. There were 15,385 pupils in the public schools. The Public Library expenses were $18,500. Eighty-five miles of sewers were in operation. vSix hundred and seven new buildings were erected. In December, 1891, the city again voted against the sale of intoxicants, the majority having been in favor of it in Deceinber, 1890. The Leicester & vSpencer electric railroad was opened in 1891, and the Millbury line in 1892. The tax rate was lower during Mayor HarringtcMi's administration than for manv years previous. About $800,000 worth of propert}^ was acquired by the city during the years 1890-92, in addition to the ordinarv increase in the building of graded school-houses, etc. This included the English high school, the new Public Library building, and the Colton estate, which was purchased as an addition to the City Hospital. ADMINISTRATION OF HENRY A. MARSH. Three terms — from January 2, 1S93, to January 6, 1896. Henry A. Marsh"-^ was elected mayor in December, 1892, the Demo- cratic candidate being James E. Estabrook. In 1893 the vote for Mr. Marsh was practically unanimous. Webster Thayer was the unsuc- cessful Democratic nominee in 1894. In 1893 the valuation was $83,748,600; the tax rate, $15.20, and the amount of taxes assessed $1,148,450. The expenditures in various departments were as follows: vSchools, $369,109; highways, $170,120; Fire Department, $128,963; police, $111,177; street lights, $79,057; See sketch in Biographical Department. HENRY A. MARSH. The Worcester of 1898. 71 City Hospital, $29,589; the net funded debt of the city November 30, 1893, amounted to $2,505,974, showing a decrease of $94,929 during the year. The sinking funds on the 30th of November amounted to $1,548,998, a net increase of $141,115 during the year. The seventeen trust funds amounted to $321,035. The new charter of the city, the outcome of a strong recommendation by Mayor Marsh in his inaugural, was granted by the Legislature in June, 1893, and was accepted by the voters at the city election following. Its distinctive feature is in the separation of the executive and the legislative functions of the government. There was included in it a system of minority representation in the Board of Aldermen, and the establishment of a board of liquor license commissioners. The ques- tion of minority representation, which was strongly opposed, was again submitted to the voters at the vState election in 1894, and again accepted. By an' act of the Legislature April 7, 1893, the operation of the grade- crossing laws in Worcester was suspended for five years. Decrees were issued for the extension and perfecting of an admirable system of electric street railways, carrying conditions that required the laying of pavements where these lines existed. Many thousands of vards of block paving were thus laid that otherwise the city would have been obliged to furnish. In 1894 the valuation was $85,933,100. The tax rate was $15.20. The net funded debt November 30 was $2,535,719. The sinking funds amounted to $1,807,664. Expenditures in various departments were: vSchools, $402,982; highways, $214,899; Fire Department, $129,970; street lights, $80,241; salaries, $26,550. Total expenditures for all purposes, $2,990,348. During this year conditions of a very unusual nature presented them- selves for solution. Among these was the failure of the citv water supply by reason of the drouth. In the short period of two weeks, and under extreme difficulties, a conduit 3,300 feet in length was constructed, through which 187,000,000 gallons of water from Kettle brook was drawn, to the city's relief. The act giving the citv the right to take Kettle brook as a permanent source passed the Legislature May 14, 1895. To afford relief to the industrious poor during a period of extreme financial depression, public work was undertaken in the much-needed construction and relocation of several streets and avenues. In 1895 the valuation was $87,500,000; the tax rate was $15.40; taxes assessed, $1,254,790; net debt, $2,530,368. Expenditures in sev- eral departments were: Schools, $429,631; library, $29,312; health, $9,519; Fire Department, $134,806; highways, $284,023. Total expen- ditures for all purposes, $3,065,588. AUGUSTUS B. R.-SPRAGUE. The Worcester of 1898. 73 During- Mayor Marsh's three terms the revision of the City Ordinances was accomplished. The city was authorized to borrow $500,000 in excess of its indebtedness limit for the purpose of building- an additional reservoir on Tatnuck brook, and other necessary expenditures in con- nection with the extension of the water works. Steel bridges in Webster, Southbridge and j\Iill streets were built. Brick pavements were introduced. Ten additional basins for sewage purification were completed. The arching of Mill brook was brought to a close. Nine school-houses were built, which, with additions to others, repre- resented sixtv-three rooms. The Rice, Barton & Fales property on Mechanic, Union and Foster streets was purchased as a site for new headquarters of the Fire Department. The railroad tracks in Foster street (which ought never to have been allowed there) are in a fair wav to be abolished bv this movement. The price of gas was reduced to $1.25 net per 1,000 feet on petition of the m'ayor to the State Board of Gas and Electric Light Commis- sioners. The erection of a hospital for contagious diseases was begun in 1895, and a new ward for male surgical patients at the City Hospital was practically completed during the same year. Mayor Marsh in his inaugural addresses in 1894 and 1895 strongly urged the City Council to take steps toward the erection of a new City Hall suitable to the needs of the growing city. During the vear 1895 the question of the site and plans was settled, and on November i 3 the order for the construction of the building and the appointment of a commission to erect the same was signed by the mavor. ADMINISTRATION OF A. B. R. SPRAGUE. Two terms — from January 6, 1S96, to January 3, 1S9S. At the election in December, 1895, Augustus B. R. vSpragaie,'- the Citizens' candidate, prevailed over Rufus B. Dodge, jr., the Republican nominee. The population of AVorcester in 1896 exceeded 100,000. At the close of the fiscal vear of 1895, the net funded debt amounted to $2,530,368, and this was increased during 1896 to $2,841,422. The city sinking funds were increased during the same period $305,643, amounting to $2,383,735 on the 30th day of November, 1896. The valuation of 1896 reached $91,538,000, an increase of $3,777,000 in twelve months. The property of religious, benevolent, educational and scientific institutions, exempt from taxation, was estimated at $5,000,000; tax rate per $1,000, $15.60. Four hundred and fift5^-two *See sketch in Biographical Department. 74 The Worcester of 1898. new building's were ereeted during the year. The expenditures in several departments were: vSehools, $472,925; street maintenanee and eonstruetion, $352,162; Fire Department, $220,750; poor, $53,658; poliee, $121,965; parks, $17,166; health, $10,198; hospital, $68,185; library, $33,052; salaries, $34,675; interest, $105,570. Total expendi- tures for all purposes, $3,557,784. The plans having been decided upon, the Citv Hall Commission, on the 23rd of April, closed the contract for its building with Norcross Brothers. The corner-stone was laid on the 12th of vSeptember with appropriate ceremonies, by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Edwin B. Holmes grand master, assisted by Mayor Sprague, who made the address, and a general celebration and militarv and civic parade on the 12th of vSeptember. Before the close of the year the structure was well advanced. The gift by the Honorable vStephen Salisburv of a large tract of valuable land and $100,000 for the site and building of an art museum for the benefit of all the people of the city of Worcester, was a notable event of the year. The corner-stone was laid June 24, 1897, with addresses by Mayor Sprague and Governor Wolcott, At the December election Mayor Sprague, with the Citizens' nomina- tion, again prevailed, the Republican noininee being Samuel E. Winslow. The valuation in 1897 was $98,115,000; the tax rate was $14.80 per $1,000, and the amount of taxes collected $1,518,907. At the close of the financial year the debt was $3,498,803. The increase is accounted for by the expenditures for the new City Hall, and the expense attend- ing the taking of the waters of Kettle brook, both of which were decreed by a previous administration. Expenditures in various departments were: vSchools, $504,970; streets, $428,993; P'ire Department, $ I 58,739; poor, $70,867 ; police, $137,646; library, $32,925; parks, $44,947; interest, $128,485. Total expendi- tures for all purposes, $4,096,495. During Mayor Sprague's term, streets of unusual importance to the business interests of the city were added to the list of public highways, notably Commercial street, from Front to vSchool; the relocation of West Boylston street, and the extension of Fremont street. To pro- vide for especial construction and general improvement of the streets, $225,000 was provided bv loan. Twenty-one a'dditional acres of land adjoining the purification works were procured to facilitate contemplated constructions in sewage dis- posal; $100,000 was appropriated for the erection of a sludge disposal plant. Thirteen miles of sewers were constructed. The fortifying of the water works rapidly progressed. In 1896 a new storage basin was coinpleted and other work executed along the The Worcester of 1898. 75 stream of Kettle brook. A new distributing- reservoir and a forty-inch low-service main were completed, together with much other needed construction. Never in the history of the city were so many school-houses built in two years, the total cost of which was $265,000, the structures furnishing accommodations for 2,800 pupils. The facilities of the City Hospital were greatly increased by the completion of the new surgical ward and the Winslow Surgery, the latter a gift from Samuel E. Winslow, Esq., in memory of his father, Ex-AIayor Samuel Winslow. The Nurses' Home connected with the hospital, which cost about $50,000, was the gift of Mr. Edward C. Thayer. A hospital for contagious diseases was completed at a cost of $33,000. A public bath-house was erected at Lake Quinsigamond. A large addition was made to the Home Farm at a cost of $25,000. The Police Department was reorganized and the force increased. The new headquarters for the Fire Department was established and the construction of the building well advanced. Mayor Sprague's administration was particularly distinguished as the one under which the new City Hall was erected, and from the beginning of the work till it was practically completed he was, cx-officio, an active member of the commission under whose direction it was built. He was chairman pro tempore during the absence of Chairman Sawyer in the summer of 1896. STATISTICAL SUMMARY, 1848-1897. Year. Population. Valuation. Debt. Tax Rate per $1,000. Total Expenditures. 1848 15,000* $8,721,000 $99,677 $5-34 $71,346 1850 17.049 1 1,082,501 96,996 6.90 112,707 1855 22,284 18,059,000 98,435 7.00 220.754 i860 24,960 16,406,900 94,533 8.00 233,612 1865 30,058 18,937,000 364,459 I 7.00 673,180 1870 41,105 34.018,450 I, 185,718 17.40 1,887,694 1875 49,317 49,299,781 2,589,700! 16.60 2,115,541 1880 58,291 41,006,862 2,265.914! 17.40 1,622,55s 1885 68,380 52,719.391 2,394,914! 18.00 2,091,663 1890 84,655 73,531,060 2,468,469! 15.60 2,368,228 1895 98,767 88,080,816 -',530,368! 15-40 3,065,588 1897 106,000* 98,520,591 3,498,803! 14.80 4,096,495 * Estimate. f Net Debt. THE OLD TOWN AND CITY HALL HOR more than one hundred years the meetings of the inhabitants I of Worcester for the transaction of municipal business were held in the buildings which were used for public worship during that period. Previous to the year 1787 the town and the parish were one so far as temporal interests were concerned, and after that date con- siderable time elapsed before a separation in fact in the matter of property rights took place. The first meeting-house erected on the Common in 17 19 gave way to a more commodious one in 1763, and this later building came down to us, through various alterations, improveinents and renewals until, in 1887, its deinolition was decreed, and the long-familiar "Old" South Church vanished. In the earlv time its walls resounded with Revolutionary oratory, and from its west porch was read for the first time in public within the limits of the Commonwealth, the Declaration of Independence. From its pulpit many famous preachers held forth from time to time. Here the immortal Webster spoke while the halo of his anti-nullification triumph was still luminous about him. The resident ministry, while not par- ticularly distinguished, exerted a quiet but powerful influence. Many other associations, more or less interesting or important, are connected with this old building, which was for so many years a landmark in the town. The larger area of the new City Hall almost entirely covers the site of the old meeting-house. In 1824 the present and prospective exigencies and requirements of the town, and a growing disinclination on the part of members of the First Parish to allow further use of the church for town ineetings, brought what had for some time been a thought into definite action. At the annual ]\Iarch meeting a committee was appointed to take into consideration the subject of a town hall, and on the 3d of May a report, was made recommending the erection of a building for town purposes, with two full stories and a basement, the first story to be used as a town hall, the second story to be divided into two small halls, one of which was to be devoted to the purposes of the Agricultural Society, on condition that said society should reconvey a piece of land at the: 78 The Worcester of 1898. southwest corner of the l)urial-i^roiind on the Common whieh had been deeded to it bv the town in 1823. It was stated in the report that tlie basement of the bnildini^ could be rented for not less than fifty dollars per annum; and the whole cost of the edifice, if built of stone and brick, was estimated at $7,000. This report was accepted, and it was voted "to build a town house," and a committee was appointed to locate it, and to decide of what materials it should be built. It appears that three sites were considered — one, offered as a g'ift by Dr. William Paine, on Main street, near Thomas; another, the lot already deeded to the Agricultural vSociety; and the one where the hall was built, at the northwest corner of the Common. On this site was a small building used as a store, the land being held by lease from the town. The building and all the rights appertaining thereto under the lease w^ere purchased for $780; and it was voted to erect on the spot a town house 64 feet long bv 54 feet wide, with basement of stone and two full stories of brick, the expense of which was not to exceed $7,000. Frederick William Paine, John W. Lincoln, William Eaton, Otis Corbett and Enoch Flagg w^ere chosen the Building Com- mittee, and they were authorized to borrow^ the necessary money. The corner-stone was laid Augtist 2, 1824, with Masonic ceremonies, under the direction of Lewas Bigelow^ the contractor, who was master of Morning vStar Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Peter Kendall, who executed the stone and brick work. An address was delivered by Samuel M. Burnside. The completed building w^as dedicated on the 2d of May, 1825, with an historical address by Honorable John Davis. The total cost was $9,017.90. The arrangement included a large town hall on the first floor, with rooms for town clerk, selectmen, etc. ; and the upper story was divided into tw^o smaller halls, one for the Agricultural vSociety, the other for a Masonic Lodge room. The base- ment was in part rented for a provision store, and for other purposes. In 1 84 1 a radical change w^as made in the structtire, fifty feet being added to its length on the east end, and the whole upper story was made into one hall, which wH)uld accommodate nearly 400 people; the first story of the old part was divided into four rooms, one to be used as an armory. The first story of the new^ part formed a hall 5 i by 48 feet, while the new basement part gave accommodations for an engine company. These and other changes w^ere made at an expense of about $1 1,000. The large hall in the second story was known as the " Upper Town Hall," and the lower halls as the "East" and "West" halls. Another change was made in 1848, when the East hall became the Police Cotirt room, and the West hall was divided into rooms for the City Council, and offices for clerk, treasurer, etc. Over $1,200 was expended at this time. Several minor changes were made during the The Worcester of 1898. 79 next fifteen years, the two doors eaeli side of the main entrance at the west end being replaced by windows in 1857, giving the appearance seen during the hist forty years of its existence. In 1866 the large Town Hall was divided, and the Council chambers used since that time constructed at the west end, while the east half was devoted to the uses of the Police (later the Alunicipal and Central District) Court. The whole of the first story was given over to the ofiices of the various city departments. The cost of these extensive im- provements was $27,232.20. The only external change after this w^as the adding of the clock tower in 1888. The expense of the several altera- tions, added to the first cost of the building, amounted to nearly $60,000. The large "Upper" Town Hall was, until the completion of Mechan- ics Hall in 1857, the largest audience room in Worcester, and it was much in demand for concerts, lectures, and other public assemblies. Various political parties at different times held conventions and meet- ings within its walls. The Free-Soil partv was born here in 1848, and from this building went out the famous resolution by Reverend George Allen, which became the watchword of the exciting campaign of that year. It was in the City Hall on the iith of March, 1854, that Eli Thayer announced his " Plan of Freedom," which, applied in his Kansas emigration movement, thwarted the purpose of the Southern leaders after they had accomplished the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Among the distinguished names associated with this hall may be men- tioned Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas H. Benton, Louis Kossuth, Father Alathew, John B. Gough, Jenny Lind and W. M. Thackeray, and there are many others of equal or lesser note. Not its least honorable use was that for the transaction of the municipal business during the closing years of the town organization, where gathered the substantial citizens of that time, including several of more than local distinction, impelled by earnest desire for the common welfare. With the coming of the City Government and its more direct and convenient methods, the oreneral town meeting was abolished; and after the opening of inore elegant and commodious places for public gatherings, the old hall gradually fell into disuse, imtil in 1866 it was finally closed. The room and its many interesting associations exist now only as memories in the minds of our older citizens. The last public gathering held in the building was on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 4, 1898, when the surviving voters of 1848 assem- bled to say farewell to the old City Hall. Ex-Mayor Stoddard presided, and addresses were made by Mayor Dodge, Honorable A. vS. Roe, Ex-jMayor vSprague, Samuel Hathaway, Dexter Rice, Alzirus Brown, Frederick G. Stiles and others. The demolition of the building took place during the interval between the above date and July ist. THE NEW CITY HALL. HN the 23d day of April, 1894, the governor of the Commonwealth I approved an act passed by the General Court which authorized the city of Worcester to borrow the sum of $300,000 in excess of its debt limit fixed by statute, for the purpose of building a new city hall. This was the first definite move made towards the realization of a project which had for several years agitated the minds of our citizens and public officials, and which the pressing needs of an increasing population now imperatively forced to an immediate consideration. In consequence, however, of a controversy which arose and was continued for some time by the advocates of different sites for the structure, little progress was made in the undertaking during the next twelve months. The question at issue was in due course submitted to judicial and legislative investigation, and the decision to locate the building on the Common was finally sustained in the spring of 1896. At a regular meeting of the City Council held June 3, 1895, it was Or'do'cd : That the maj-or be, and he is liereby authorized and requested to advertise for and obtain competitive plans and specifications for a new city hall building, to be located on the Old Common, so called, in the city of Worcester, equally distant from Front and Park streets, the front line of said building to be not nearer than fifty feet distant from the easterly line of Main street. Said plans and specifications to be for a building the cost of which shall not exceed the sum of $300,000. The said plans and specifications to be completed and delivered to the mayor on or before September 10, 1895. And it is furtlicr Ordered : That the sum of $5,000 be paid as compen- sation to competitors furnishing plans The award to be made by a committee consisting of the mayor, the superintendent of public buildings, together with an expert and disinter- ested architect, to be selected and appointed by the mayor. In accordance with the last provision of the above order. Mayor ]\Iarsh, on the 13th of June, appointed the well-known and distin- guished architect, Richard Morris Hunt, as the professional adviser, to whose decision the plans for a city hall were to be referred, but the 82 The Worcester of 1898. death of this j^-eiitleman on the 31st of July followino- neeessitated another a})pointment, and his son, Richard Rowland Hunt, was selected. The competing- architects were: Peabody & Stearns of Boston; Carrere & Hastings of New York; Hartwell & Richardson of Boston, and x-Y. P. Cutting, Barker & Nourse, George H. Clemence, Clellan ^Valdo Fisher, E. Boyden & vSon, and Fuller & Delano, all of AVorces- ter. After a careful examination of the nine sets of plans, the award was announced vSeptember 21 as follows: To Peabody & vStearns the design for the construction of the building; and the prize money was distributed among four of the unsuccessful competitors, Hartwell & Richardson receiving $2,000, Carrere & Hastings $-1,500, A. P. Cutting $1,000, and Clellan Waldo Fisher $500. At a meeting of the City Council held June 13, 1895, a loan of $50,000 was authorized to provide for the preliminary work in the erection of the new City Hall, and on the i i th of November of the same year it was Ordered : That a commission of three citizens be elected by ballot in joint convention by the City Council, who shall proceed to erect with all reasonable dispatch a new city hall building, in compliance with the plans and alterations submitted by Messrs. Peabody & Stearns, and already accepted in accordance with the order of the City Council passed June 3, 1895. The person who may hold the office of mayor during the existence of this commission and the erection of the building shall be, ex-officio, a member of said commission. And on the 25th of November it was Ordered : That a joint convention of the two branches be held forth- with for the purpose of electing City Hall Commissioners. Pursuant to the last mentioned order, the two boards met in joint convention and elected William H. Sawyer, Harrison vS. Prentice and Andrew Athy members of the commission to erect a new citv hall. On the 2ist of April, 1896, a communication from the City Hall Commission, to the effect that the design in accordance with the accepted plans could not be carried out properlv in the construction of the new City' Hall for the sum already appropriated, was acted upon by the City Council, and an additional amount of $275,000, making a total of $575,000, was voted without opposition. April 23 the con- tract for the construction of the building was awarded to Norcross Brothers for the sum of $470,761, their bid being the lowest among seven competitors. During the summer the foundations were com- The Worcester of 1898. 83 pleted, and the laying of the corner-stone was appointed for the loth of September, and arrangements were made for a military and civic parade, and Masonic and other ceremonies proper to the occasion. The weather on Thursday, the loth of September, proving too inclement for outdoor exercises, the ceremonies were postponed to vSaturday the 12th, when they were successfully carried out in accord- ance with the programme, which is given in the following pages. The City Hall building proper was completed at the end of the vear 1897, but various circumstances and minor details combined to delav occupancy until April, 1898. The dedication took place on the 28th of that month,, at which time Chairman vSawyer, in behalf of the City Hall Commission, made a full report of the doings of that board, and formally delivered the keys of the building to the mayor in the presence of a large and representative gathering of Worcester citizens. LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE. The grand inilitary and civic parade which preceded the ceremonies at the corner-stone was successfully carried out in all its details under the able direction of General Josiah Pickett, chief marshal, assisted by ]Major E. T. Raymond, chief of staff. Nearly all the military. Masonic and other civic bodies in the city participated and the line moved promptly at the time designated. The procession probably equaled if not exceeded in numbers any one which had previously appeared in Worcester. The exercises at the corner-stone began, according to the programme, with the playing of Kellar's American Hymn by the consolidated bands under the leadership of E. D. Ingraham of Battery B Band, stationed at the south end of the main floor of the building. Mayor Sprague then stepped forward and said : GciitlcDicii of the City Council : In absence of the chairman of the City Hall Commissioners who are charged with the erection of the build- ing, I have the honor to announce that the corner-stone of the City Hall is ready to be laid. Alderman Alonzo A. White, president of the Board of Aldermen, then rose and said : J/r. Mayor, in accordance with an order adopted by the City Council, you are respectfully requested to assume the entire direction of the exercises and ceremonies incident to the laying of the corner-stone of the new City Hall. Rev. Calvin Stebbins, pastor of the Church of the Unity, offered the following prayer, amid the silence of the vast multitude : — 84 The Worcester of 1898. O God of our life! whose infinite majesty looketh on us from the heavens and the earth, and whose grace, love and truth shine on us from the face of Jesus of Nazareth, we invoke Thy presence in this hour of our public rejoic- ing, and ask Thy blessing upon these services. Our forms and ceremonies, our martial music and our booming cannon would to-day, we know, be empty, indeed, as sounding brass and tinkling cymbal if not charged with a sense of civic duty and public honor. Our work and our works, though they be wonders of architecture, would be as dust and ashes if not pervaded by a hope which reaches up to Thee and raises us above things material and temporal to principles which are spirit- ual and eternal. The corner-stone we lay to-day, we lay on firm foundations. May it be as the symbol of the invisible foundation in eternal verities on which we should lay the corner-stone of private and civic character. Beautiful as the material is, we thank Thee that we can use it and rise above it into the region of the spirit. OGod! as the granite takes the shape of beauty and utility under the hand of the artist and the artisan, so may that temple not made with hands Avithin us, rise in amplitude and magnificence and become the abode of Thy- self. Thy Spirit! almighty God! we feel as it pulses through this vast uni- verse ; Thy guidance we trace in the long history of our race as it has marched across the centuries; Thy leading hand we see in the triumphal story of the rise and progress of our republic, and surely our goodly city has not been without Thee. For her prosperity in material things, for her growth in population, and for the opportunities she offers to all of every race, condition and religion to lay deep and strong the foundations on which to build a manly and wom- anly character, we thank Thee. May Thy blessing, O God! be upon our broad and beautiful land with its precious trust from Thee, of freedom for all; upon our good old Common- wealth, so strong to protect, so generous to help, so motherly in her care of the poor and unfortunate, and upon this the city of our nativity or adop- tion; may she ever be a city which hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God. Bless, we beseech of Thee, all those who hold high trusts from the people in the nation, the Commonwealth, the city. Bless, we pray Thee, the church of the living God, under whatever ban- ner its disciples may be marching. Again, almighty God, we ask Thy blessing on the services and purpose of this hour; may the corner-stone we lay and the building we rear never be polluted by the leprous presence of that foulest crime against the citizen — political corruption. May these walls never be blistered by the money power in politics, or by the hot pas- sions of men who put the interests of party, or clique, or individual before the interest of the whole city. Here, rather in time to come, may the com- monweal be ably discussed and triumphantly vindicated. And to Thee, who art above all and through all and in all, God blessed forever, we would give praise and glory now and always, jlnicii. The Worcester of 1898. 85 At the conclnsion Mayor Sprague delivered the following address: Ciciitlcincn of the City Council, Ladies, and Fclloio Citirjciis: We are met to lay the corner-stone of Worcester's City Hall, which upon its completion will be the great central building of the people, devoted to the transaction of the public business, the home of its City Council, and the headquarters of its executive and departmental work; in short, the official habitation of those servants whom the people shall choose from time to time to do their will. It is fitting that such an occasion should be observed with something of public ceremony, because it marks one of the eras in that local history which touches more nearly than all others the families and individ- ual men and women who constitute the municipality. We lay the corner-stone of this structure in historic ground. In the arti- cles of agreement at the settlement of the tract or township of Worcester, subscribed in 1669, it was provided that there should be "a place reserved in common near the centre of the town, about twenty acres, for a training" ground, and to set a school-house upon." The ground appropriated for the above-named purposes in 1684 comprised the present Common, which, hcnv- ever, has been from time to time considerably reduced from its original dimensions. At times there have stood upon the Common two school- houses, the town pound, the hearse-house, the gun-house, the First Parish meeting-house, with its accompanying horse-sheds and burial-ground, and, in time, the Town Hall. Here, in 17 19, the first meeting-house was erected. The town was incor- porated in May, 1722, and the first town meeting was held in the meeting- house in September of the same year. This house was replaced in 1763 by the one removed in 1887, known as the " (31d South meeting-house." All of us, except the children, can well remember this quaint and chaste speci- men of New England church building, with its slim, tall spire rising toward the sky, and its gilded weathercock from its high perch challenging the ad- miration of the Worcester boy. Inasmuch as in the early days the parish and the town were one, and the parish-house was in use as the tOAvn-house as well, it will be observed that all the purposes which I have enumerated for which the Common has been used, except a small portion of the Town Hall and ground rented for a time for a printing office and a market, were purely public purposes, pertaining to the whole municipality. It was the town's hearse, the town's guns, the town's school, the town's house of worship which were established hereon. In now establishing hereon a second time the City Hall, all other pur- poses being abandoned, we but rededicate the people's Common to the use of all the people. The meeting-house removed in 1887 occupied land which is entirely covered by the site on which we are to erect this building. The old building and its site are both of great historical interest, and we may well recall some of those events which make them so. In the days of colo- nial agitation, preceding the Revolution, as well as during that eventful struggle, and the early days of the infant republic, the meetings of the 86 The Worcester of 1898. town were held in the meeting-house. Here were formed the resohitions and enunciated the declarations of the patriots of those stirring times. Sturdy patriots they were, impatient and intolerant of all opinion which had not the clear, unmistakable ring; and so it was here, on August 14, 1774, they, in public meeting, forced the Tory town clerk to obliterate the obnox- ious protest he had entered on the toAvn records by dipping his fingers in the ink and smearing the page. On the 19th of April, 1775, a messenger from the east dashed into town, shouting the cry, "To arms," the cry of Concord and Lexington, and his horse fell exhausted near this spot. Here Capt. Timothy Bigelow, after- wards the distinguished colonel of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental army, paraded his company of minlite-men, and after a fervent prayer by the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, marched for Cambridge, followed by the company commanded by Capt. Benjamin Flagg, so that no men left this spot that day for the seat of war. Ten days after the Declaration of American Independence was passed by the Continental Congress, the messenger, carrying a copy of it to the gov- ernment at Boston, passed through Worcester, and the precious document was first publicly read in Massachusetts from the west porch of the meeting- house, by Isaiah Thomas. Here, too, on October 23, 1789, was the artillery salute of eleven guns, given by Major Treadwell's Worcester artillery, which heralded the passage through Worcester of the president, General George Washington. In 1740 Whitefield, drawing to himself people from far and near, preached to thousands assembled upon these grounds; and here, in later days, great outdoor meetings have been stirred by the eloquence of John Quincy Adams, of Louis Kossuth, and other distinguished men. From the ear- liest days of the municipality, this Common has been a military parade and training field, and never was it distinguished so highly by scenes of patriot- ism as when, from 1861 to 1865, it witnessed the departure of Worcester regiments for the war of the Rebellion. Here the authorities of vState and city, determined fathers and brothers, tearful mothers, wives and sisters, and crowds of fellow citizens, to whose cause they were devoting their lives, and who showered upon them cheers and blessings, witnessed the departure of the volunteers. And here it was, too, that having passed through the storm of war, the returned survivors of the struggle found a welcome home. Hallowed, indeed, is this ground, with its patriotic history; and, as the city of Worcester lays the corner-stone of this building, let it be considered that it erects it not only for the growing future, but as a worthy monument of the past. Let- it be beautiful and strong, worthy to stand on the same ground site on which the marble and the granite already stand, to com- memorate the soldiers of 1775, who fought to give birth to an independent republic, and the soldiers of 1861, who fought to redeem it and reestablish it for all time. Previously to 1825 town meetings were held in the Old South meeting- house; but on May 17, 1824, the town voted to build upon the northAvest The Worcester of 1898. 87 corner of the Common a town hall, 64 feet long by 54 feet wide. The corner-stone was laid August 2, 1824, with Masonic ceremonies, by Morning Star Lodge, and it was finished and dedicated ]\Iay 2, 1825, and has since been the municipal building. Built at a time when the population of Worcester was less than four thou- sand, it has been several times remodeled and enlarged, but has for many years been inadequate to the needs of the city, which has so abundantly prospered and strengthened as to reach a population of over one hundred thousand souls. The old hall, now to be supplanted, has associations of patriotism and eloquence which the people of Worcester will not forget. It has resounded to the eloquent and wise utterances of Daniel Webster, of Henry Clay, of Abraham Lincoln, of Charles Sumner, of Benton and Burlingame, Wilson and Allen, and many others; and here stood Father ]\Iathew, with his pledge of total abstinence. It was the scene, too, all through the stirring days of the anti-slavery agitation, of conferences and spirited public meetings, and may fairly be called a cradle of liberty of the African race. Here, then, within a radius of a hundred feet, in church and hall, for one hundred and seventy-two years, has the business of this municipality been con- ducted, and for one hundred and twenty-eight years the town meetings were held — those schools of liberty and self-government where the humblest citizen as well as the most learned and influential, exercised the right to raise his voice in advocacy of any measure he deemed for the public good. Before the separation of town and parish, the management of both and the support of both were the care of the town meeting, and the church being democratic as well as the town, they were the purest democracies the world ever saw. They were the creation of those men and women who left the old world and sought this inhospitable coast, determined to establish their right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. They were men and women of prayer and faith and courage, and in the growth and development of the institutions they founded, they so con- structed the civil system of their communities that from it was born a great, free republic — our republic ! Here the oppressed of every land and every clime are welcome, if, in good faith, they bow obedient to our laws, and are loyal to the country and its flag. There is no weakness under its folds to indicate that the rule of law may be transformed into the lawlessness of license. Our flag summons us to the constant and earnest resolution that, whoever raises the red flag of anarchy, whether wickedly or misguidedly, he shall be ground to powder between the upper and the nether millstones of true liberty and law. No great standing army eats out the substance of the people, but we have an army of observation engaged in the peaceful pursuits of life, artisans of the rank and file, who, when the country calls, respond with a personal in- terest such as belongs to no other people under the blue dome of the sky. 88 The Worcester of 1898. In the old world, king-doms and empires have fallen when political virtue was supplanted by fraud and corruption and a disregard of the immutable laws of God. By their rise and fall, we may learn that to perpetuate this republic, which is founded upon the fundamental principles of equity and law, the right of every man, however humble his calling, must be recognized and secured. If eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, it is also the price of an honest administration of municipal as well as of national government. Our fair city of a hundred thousand people, whose future none can predict, has outgrown the building in which its public business has been transacted for nearly half a century, and the walls of a new one are rising, which promise to be worthy of our beloved home. Constructed by our townsmen, of granite quarried within our county, it is, indeed, a home prcjduction. As we lay the corner-stone, let us devoutly pray that public extrava- gance, official corruption, or whatsoever worketh an abomination or maketh a lie, or even questionable measures, shall never find a shelter within these walls. Inspired by all that is true and honest and of good report, may the servants of the people who gather here to conduct the business of this municipality go in and out with the approval of their own consciences and of their fellow citizens, because faithful and intelligent service has been rendered the city, and because the public interest has not been sacrificed to private ends. On the conclusion of his address, Mayor Sprague ttirned to Grand Master Hohiies, and said: Most W'ors/iipfiil Edi^'in I>. Holmes^ Grand Master. ■ We are assembled in the presence of the honorable City Council, the City Hall Commissioners, heads of departments, commissioners' boards and trus- tees, ex-mayors, past m.embers of the City Government, honored citizens, military and civic bodies of our city, and the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts, to lay the corner-stone of a building t(j be erected for the use of onx municipal government. It gives me great pleasure, in behalf of the authorities and the people of Worcester, to bid you and the distinguished gentlemen who compose your suite a cordial welcome to the Heart of the Commonwealth. I invite you to now proceed with the laying of the corner-stone with the ceremonies and according to the usages of your ancient order. The most worthy grand master responded as follows : From time immemorial it has been the custom of the Ancient and Hon- orable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, when requested so to do, to lay, with ancient forms, the corner-stones of buildings erected for the worship of God, for charitable or educational objects, and for the purposes of the administration of justice and free government. This corner-stone The Worcester of 1898. 89 we may therefore lay in accordance with our law ; and thus testifying our appreciation of the duties and privileges of liberty regulated by law and our respect for duly constituted authority, we shall proceed in accordance with ancient usage. As the first duty of Masons in any undertaking is to in- voke the blessing of the Great Architect upon their work, we will unite with our grand chaplain in reading a lesson from the Holy Scriptures, and in an address to the throne of grace. The ceremony then proceeded in accordance with the Masonic ritual, the members of the Grand Lodge reciting- the responses, standing with uncovered heads. The grand chaplain then offered prayer, in which he asked for divine blessing on Worcester, her people, her schools, her colleges, her insti- tutions of industry and culture, and on all associated with her govern- ment. The prayer was follow^ed by the traditional Masonic response, *'So mote it be,"' from the members of the Grand Lodge. The Worcester Masonic Quartette (Messrs. B. A. Barber, W. F. Little, T. B. Hamilton and D. E. Spencer) then sang the following hymn to the air of Coronation : Great Architect of earth and heaven, By time nor space confined, Enlarge our love to comprehend Our brethren, all mankind. Where'er we are, whate'er we do, Thy presence let tis own; Thine eye, all seeing, marks our deeds. To Thee all thoughts are known. While nature's works and science's laws We labor to reveal, Oh, be our duty done to Thee With fervenc}- and zeal. With Faith our guide, and humble Hope, Warm Charity' and Love, May all at last be raised to share Thy perfect light above. Following this, the grand master called on the acting grand treas- urer, Charles M. Aver}^ of Maiden, to read the list of papers, docu- ments and articles contained in the box deposited in the corner-stone as follows : Worcester City Documents, 1849-1856 inclusive, and 1890-1896 inclusive; History of Worcester (Lincoln & Hersey) ; Reminiscences of Worcester (Wall); Dictionary of Worcester (Rice); Massachusetts Year Book (Roe); Manual of the General Court for 1896; Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Naming of Worcester; Eastern Worcester — Its First Settlers (Wall); 90 The Worcester of 1898. North Worcester — Its iMrst Settlers (Wall); Boston Tea Party (Wall); Address before the Worcester Agricultural Society October 12, 1820 (Hon. Lewis Bigelow) ; Transactions of Worcester Agricultural Society, 1895; Report of Worcester Protective Department; History of the First Univer- salist Church (Seagrave) ; Souvenir of Worcester; Annual Catalogue of Worcester Academy, 1896; Annual Catalogue of State Normal School, Worcester, 1896; P^eport of Parks Commission, 1895; Epita])hs from Grave- stones in Cemetery on Worcester Common (Barton) ; Clark University Summer School, 1895; Report of Worcester County ^Mechanics Association, 1896; List of Premiums at the Bay vState Fair, 1896; Worcester Masonic Charity and Educational Association Manual ; Population, Valuation, Taxes and Appropriations of the City of Worcester from 1850-1889; History of St. John's Catholic Church golden jubilee; Worcester Directory, 1896; chief marshal's order for Corner-stone parade; History of Odd Fellows' Home; Presentation of Dodge Park to the City of Worcester; Treasurer's Report of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1896; silver and copper coins of 1896 mintage, presented by the Ouinsigamond National Bank, Worcester; sterling silver heart, presented by the French Canadian societies of Wor- cester; and abstracts from the official records as follows: Offer of Stephen Salisbury relative to a new city hall, and the vote of thanks of the City Council for the same; Orders relative to the election of a city hall commis- sion; appropriation of funds for l)uilding a city hall; copy of contracts for building City Hall; Worcester Evening Gazette ; Woreester Daily Spy ; copy of industrial edition of the Spy; Worcester Daily Telegram ; Woreester Evening Post ; Arbetarens Win; Woreester \^eekoblad ; Skandi)iavia ; The Messenger ; T'Opinioji Pnbliqne ; Greater Worcester ; Le Reveille ; Neie York Herald^ April 16, 1865, with account of Lincoln's death; Oilman's Reg- ister; the Bible; Harrington's Illustrated Worcester ; Catalogue of the Poly- technic Institute; Catalogue of the Holy Cross College; Edward Winslow Lincoln's "Doings of the Worcester Comity Horticultural Society," and a copy of the address delivered at the dedication of the Town Hall (now the City Hall) on the 2d of May, 1825, by Hon. John Davis. Then came the solemn ceremony of laving the stone, which all this time had been suspended from a derrick above its allotted position. The grand master taking the trowel, the deputy grand master the the square, senior grand warden the level, and the junior grand warden the plumb, they assumed their pn^per positions around the stone — the grand master at the east, the deputy on his right, the senior grand warden at the west, and the junior grand warden at the sottth. The grand master then spread the cement, and invited his honor the mayor to assist him. The grand master directed the grand marshal to order the craftsmen to lower the stone. This was done by three motions — first by lowering a few inches and stopping when the public grand honor is given, the trumpet sounding once; second, again lowering a few inches and giving two grand honors, the trumpet sounding twice; The Worcester of 1898. 91 third, letting the stone down to its place and giving- all the grand honors, the trumpet sounding thrice. The grand honors were given bv the Masonic officials placing their right hands on their left breasts, and bowing profoundly. As the stone rested on its solid bed, an enthusiastic cheer burst from the vast multitude of spectators. The craftsmen w^ho lowered the stone were Supt. S. F. French, Robert Chevne, John Shepley and Benjamin Robinson. Mr. French communicated his orders by electric bell to Engineer Peter Maloney down in the basement. N. P. Pilet of Battery B Band was the trumpeter at the stone. Then came the application of the jewels to the corner-stone. Then the grand master, striking the stone three times with the gavel, said : Well made — well proved — truly laid — true and trusty; and may this undertaking be conducted and completed by the craftsmen according to the grand plan in peace, harmony and brotherly love. The libation of corn, wine and oil followed, and the grand chaplain then pronounced the following invocation: May corn, wine and oil and all the necessaries of life abound among men throughout the world; may the blessing of almighty God be upon this vmdertaking, and may the structure here to be erected rise in beauty and strength, and be preserved to the latest ages a monument of the liberality, the patriotism and the loyalty of the people for Avhose service it is to be erected. Grand Marshal Dunton then escorted the architects of the building, Messrs. Robert S. Peabody and John G. vStearns of Boston, to the platform. Grand Marshal to tlic Grand Master — I present to you the architects of this building. They are ready with the craftsmen for the work, and ask the tools for their task. The grand master presented the sqtiare, level, plumb and plans to the architects, and said : To you, ]\Iessrs. Architects, are confided the implements of operative masonry with the fullest confidence that by your skill and taste an edifice will here arise which shall render new service and honor to this busy city. May it be blessed with wisdom in the plan, strength in the execution, beauty in the adornment ; and may the Son of Righteousness enlighten those who build, the government and the people for whose use this structure shall be erected. Grand ]Master Edwin B. Holmes then delivered the foUowine" address : ■92 The Worcester of 1898. Mr. Mayo)\ Ih-cthrcii and I-'clloic Citizens: We have gathered in the "Heart of the Commonwealth " for an iniijor- tant and interesting service. The city of Worcester, through the chairman of its Building Committee, invites the ]\Iost Worshipful (xrand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts to lay with customary forms and ancient ritual the corner-stone of a new edifice to be here erected. The invitation was cheerfully and gratefully accepted, and the duty has been properly discharged. This building, to be called the "City Hall," Avill be the seat of the execu- tive and legislative branches of the City Government. Within its walls will preside the authority to govern and the wisdom to advise in prcxlucing the best results of a free government. This will be the public hearthstone of Worcester. Here all citizens have common rights; here, without distinc- tion of race, color or religion, they have equal protection; here, as the supreme seat of the aggregate civil authority under the law, all classes may find their friend, their guardian and their protector. This is the high altar of civil power, the holy place, whence proceeds the paternal authority by "which this city is to be governed, blessed and prospered. In the construction of this edifice the best wishes of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts will continually abide with the city and its government, with the builders and the workmen, through whose united efforts the grand plans and specifications of this building will be executed. May there be manifest wisdom in its ])lan, strength in its construction, and beauty in its comple- tion, symbolizing the wisdom, strength and beauty of those successive governments of civil administration which shall assemble within its walls. In [participating in the services of this day, the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts would express its interest in all that concerns the commonweal. Its public efforts are aimed at the pid^lic good ; its sincere desire is the peace and prosperity of all communities in our Commonwealth ; its constant hope the manifestation of the best citizenship and the political, social and religious progress of our fellow citizens. It bows its head in sorrow when discord breeds destruction in the mercantile or religious world; it deeply shares the common joy when peace rules among men, when labor reaps a plenteous harvest, and when charity rules supreme in the hearts of men. Free Masonry is opposed to wrong wherever the latter sits enthroned or grasps for power. Free Masonry is on the side of right, however deeply it may be trampled in the dust, and seeks for every man, for every home, for €very land, the same freedom, equality and blessing it asks for itself. The time-honored and venerable motto of an early day is worthy to be a firm and lofty landmark in our own: "In necessary things, unity; in non-essen- tials, liberty; in all things, charity." Thus Free Masonry stands on the side of law, order, liberty and righteous- ness. By this public exercise the order proclaims its belief in the supremacy of duly enacted law; the value of social order; the benign blessing of per- sonal liberty, and the abiding glory of that righteousness which exalteth a citizen as it doth a nation. The Worcester of 1898. 95. In conclusion, may the Giver of every good and perfect gift bless all here assembled, and abide, a constant joy and defense, in this prosperous city ; may this ediiice arise from the quarry and the wood to grand and pleasing proportions without accident or casualty ; and may Worcester as Jerusalem be a city of peace; and may its citizens experience and cherish the best results of liberty, prosperity, charity and religion. On the conclusion of his address the grand master said : Brother Grand Marshal, you will make proclamation that this corner- stone has been duly laid in accordance with ancient form and usage. Grand Marshal — In the name of the ]\Iost Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I now proclaim that the corner-stone of the structure to be here erected has this day been found square, level and plumb, true and trusty, and laid according to the old customs by the grand master of Masons. This proclamation is made from the east, the west, the south — once (trumpet), twice (trumpet twice), thrice (trumpet thrice). The proclamation was followed by the following hymn by the quar^ tette : Lord ! Thou hast been our dwelling-place Through j-ears of old, and ages past; And still Thy laws we seek to trace, On Thee our trust we humbly cast. Father of Light! Builder Divine ! Behold our work, and make it Thine. The grand chaplain then pronounced the benediction. Then the inspiring strains of the "Star vSpangled Banner" burst from the grand consolidated bands. As the last strains were heard, the guns of the Battery, stationed at Salem square, fired a salute of twenty-one guns,, and the ceremony was over. DEDICATION OF THE BUILDING. The exercises were in keeping with the dignity and importance of the occasion. The music was of a patriotic nature, which told the glory of the country of which the city is a part, and the eloquent utterances of the speakers, while recounting the brilliaiacy of the city's past, urged devotion, steadfastness, and loyalty to the future. Hearts were moved anew to love for country, and consecrated to better living for the city's advancement. Hundreds were in waiting when the doors were thrown open at one o'clock, and from that time until the exercises had begun a steady stream poured in through the great doors. No attempt was made to- 94 The Worcester of 1898. take invitations, but all who came were admitted and seated as far as possible. A large corps of ushers, under the direction of Charles M. Thayer, Esq., looked after the seatincr of the specially invited guests. The corridors and stairways on the first, second and third floors were filled, within hearing distance, with chairs, all of which were filled only too soon. Many ladies were among the throng, adding a tinge of beauty and sentiment to the scene. The voters of 1848 met early at the Ouinsigamond National Bank, where they were addressed briefly by Senator George F. Hoar, and informally received by him. vShortly after two o'clock they were formed in line and marched to the hall under the guidance of General Sprague. Special seats were reserved for them on the north staircase and in the corridor above. As the gray-haired citizens, many bent with vears, took their seats, a thrill ran through the great throng. The number present was remarkable when the inclemency of the weather is con- sidered. Among those present were : Edwin Ames, Charles Ballard, Chas. H. Ballard, Amasa Ballou, Wm. I. Baker, Levi Barker, Wm. S. Barton, Wm. H. Brown, Alzirus Brown, Richard Barker, N. P. Blodgett, A. T. Burgess, Silas Batcheller, Cyrus G. Barnard, David J. Baker, Henry H. Chamberlin, Charles S. Childs, Wm. L. Clark, Anson Clifford, Loring Coes, Albert Curtis, John A. Dana, Benj. J. Dodge, H. W. Eddy, Henry C. Fish, Charles H. Fitch, James A. Fuller, Joseph E. Fales, P. B. Gilbert, Henry Goddard, O. B. Hadwen, Elon G. Higgins, Hannibal H. Houghton, Leonard Harrington, C. G. Harrington, Parker Holden, Wm. E. Hall, Wm. Heald, George G. Hildreth, Samuel Hathaway, H. L. Jenks, Alden B. Knight, Franklin H. Knight, Mason H. Morse, Milton M. Morse, Samuel Maynard, Hosea McFarland, Henry P. Nichols, Abraham H. Newton, John C. Otis, Charles B. Pratt, Samuel A. Pratt, George W. Prouty, Addison Palmer, Willard F. Pond, George Park, T. W. Rogers, Dexter Rice, James S. Rand, E. Beaman Rice, George F. Rice, E. B. Stoddard, A. B. R. Sprague, William A. Smith, John A. Smith, F. A. Stratton, Daniel Stratton, Charles Sibley, Stephen Sawyer, Geo. Sessions, Benjamin F. Scribner, Charles S. Staples, Frederick G. Stiles, Ezra Sawyer, S. N. Story, P. D. Towne, Albert Tyler, Caleb A. Wall, A. J. Warfield, Alonzo Whitcomb, Jonas White, Wm. H. Walker, (jeorge R. Wesson, W. A. Williams, R. G. White. In the vast assemblage occupving every portion of the building were nearly all of Worcester's prominent and professional men. Hardlv a member of the Board of Aldermen, Common Council or School Com- mittee was missing. The representation of local pastors and many retired ones was large, from both the Protestant and Catholic churches. Among others present were: Honorable Stephen vSalisbury, General Josiah Pickett and M. V. B. Jeffer- son of the License Commission, Secretary James Draper, and Commissioner The Worcester of 1898. 95 Wm. Hart of the Parks Commission, President J. F. Lehy of Holy Cross College, Librarian S. S. Green, Principal D. W. Abercrombie of Wor- cester Academy, Judge Francis A. Gaskill, State Senator Alfred S. Roe, Ex-Alderman U. W. Darling, D. A. Harrington, Enoch Earle, W. A. Lytle, Honorable John R. Thayer, State Senator Ellery B. Crane, Clerk of Courts T. S. Johnson, Superintendent of Schools Clarence F. Carroll, and many others. During the half hour preceding the opening- of the exercises, during which time the larger part of the guests were seated. Battery B Band, stationed tinder the staircase in the basement, furnished a concert pro- gramme. A large force of patrolmen, under the personal supervision of Chief of Police J. ^I. Drennan, Capt. D. A. Matthews and Lieut. Johnson, assisted the ushers in their work. Shortly before 2.15 the music ceased, and for a moment there was a lull. ' A moment later the band struck up "Hail to the Chief," and a buzz of expectation ran through the great throng. Presently Charles M. Thayer appeared escorting Mayor Dodge, with Chairman Sawyer and Commissioner Prentice of the City Hall Commission,* President Burton W. Potter of the Board of Aldermen, the orator of the day, and Rev. Archibald ]\IcCullagh, D. D., chaplain of the occasion. After them came the mayor's guests. A burst of applause greeted the party as they took their seats on the speaker's platform, which was on the landing of the main staircase. The guests took the seats on the staircase at the right. Also occupying seats on the speaker's platform were: Ex-Mayors Edward L. Davis, Charles B. Pratt, E. B. Stoddard, Charles G. Reed, F. A. Harrington, Henry A. Marsh, Augustus B. R. Sprague, and United States Senator George F. Hoar. The music had hardly ceased when Chairman vSawyer called the assemblage to order and made the following remarks : Mr. Mayor, Goitlcmcii of t lie City Govcritinciit, FclUnv Citizens^ Ladies and Goitlcmcii : The occasion which calls us together is an exceptional and interesting one in the history of our city. Although the growth of Worcester has been steady and rapid for many years, there has been no change in the size and character of its public buildings to correspond with this growth. But recently a new departure has taken place in this particular. Our steadily increasing volume of business demanded a new post othce, which has just been completed. On our chief business thoroughfares stately and hand- some structures have been reared for business, banking and insurance purposes. * Andrew Athy, the third member of the City Hall Commission, was unable to be present, owing- to serious illness which resulted in his death a few weeks later. 96 The Worcester of 1898. We meet to-day to liand over to the city a new hall to be dedicated to its uses. The building has been planned and built not only to meet present needs, but to provide for its probable growth and demands of a century to come. If, however, this city should expand in less time beyond our expectations and require a still larger building, we hope that those who may then gather to dedicate it may feel as much interest and pride in it as we feel in this hall to-day. But it belongs to the orator of the day to speak in fitting terms of the significance of this occasion, which marks a new era in the history of our city. Rev. Dr. ]McCullagh then invoked the divine blessing in the follow- in g words : Holy and almighty God, although we cannot see Thee with the bodily eye, nor hear Thee with the physical ear, nor touch Thee with the hand of sense. Thou art not far from any one of us. In Thee we live and move, and have our being. We adore Thee for what Thou art in Thy- self, ineffable in majesty, immaculate in holiness, infinite in mercy, and unchangeable in love. We praise Thee that Thou hast made us in Thine own image, with minds capable of appreciating Thy wisdom, power and glory, as revealed in the splendors and wonders of material creation and in Thy Holy Word, and also with hearts that can reciprocate Thy love. We thank Thee for the existence of Christian civilization in the world, and for its progress through the ages in overthrowing tyranny, banishing slavery, and developing among the peoples of the earth a growing consciousness of the universal brotherhood of man. We bless Thee for the land we fondly call our own, for the vastness of her acreage, for the treasures of her hills, for the productiveness of her plains, for her civil and religious institutions which contemplate the largest liberty, the highest well-being, and the truest happiness of man. We thank Thee for the occasion which calls us together at this time. We pray for Thy blessing to rest upon this city, recognized among the favored cities of the land for its manufacturing skill, industrial enterprise, educational advantages and religious privileges. By Thy grace we dedicate this symmetrical, stately and massive hall to the purposes for which it has been built. We dedicate it to the highest inter- ests of our municipal government and the public weal. Bless those who have rendered valuable, efficient and faithful service in planning and super- vising its erection with a singleness of eye to the public good. Grant that the business which may be transacted within its walls through coming- generations as long as it shall stand, may be done in that spirit of right- eousness which is well pleasing to Thee and which exalts a people. Bless the chief magistrate of this city, all who occupy positions of official authority and responsibility, and all the people within its boundaries. May all realize that the truest wealth, most enduring prosperity, and highest honor of a city lie in character moulded by the truths revealed through conscience and the glorious Gospel of our blessed Lord. O Thou supreme Ruler of the destiny of nations, our God and our fathers' God, we commend to Thy special favor our beloved country in this The Worcester of 1898. 97 hour of her conflict with a foreign nation. Thou knowest that our object as a people in this war is not for terrestrial acquisition, military glory, or national aggrandizement, but to rescue men, women and children from famine, disease and death due to misrule, and to advance the cause of humane rulership and Christian civilization. Give wisdom to our president. Counsel all his advisers. Grant, we beseech Thee, swift and signal victory to our naval forces, that the desolations, disorders and suft'erings incident to prolonged warfare may be averted. Shield our brave men, who mav guard our coast or meet the enemy on foreign soil, from wounds and death at the hands of the enemy, and from diseases incident to unfavorable climatic conditions and exposure. All these things we humbly ask in the name of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit we give praise. A men. Chairman vSawyer then delivered the following address : For many years there existed a feeling among our citizens that the needs, growth and best interests of our city demanded a new city hall building. While this feeling has been in the air for almost a decade, as there were differences of opinion as to a suitable site, it did not crystallize and take definite form until a little less than three years ago. On June 3, 1895, an order was passed by which the mayor was authorized to advertise for and obtain competitive plans and specifications for a new city hall building, the cost of which should not exceed $300,000, and that the sum of $5,000 should be paid as a compensation to competitors furnishing said plans. On Novem- ber 13, 1895, a commission was created, consisting of three commissioners, who were clothed with the power to proceed with the erection of said build- ing, in substantial compliance with the plans which had been submitted by Messrs. Peabody & Stearns of Boston. Your commissioners, after care- fully considering the Avork assigned them, became satisfied that it would be unwise to limit their expenditure to $300,000. A granite structure of such grace and proportions as would make it an architectural ornament to our city, one constructed and equipped according to the most approved scientific methods, and that would meet the needs of the future, would require more than double that amount. Your commissioners revised the architectural plans originally submitted and asked for an appropriation of $650,000. They are pleased to say that their judgment was approved, and the full amount asked for was granted without a dissenting voice. Then an oppor- tunity was offered to builders to compete for its erection. All bids were to be sent to the chairman by April 20, 1S96. When they were opened by the commissioners, they found that the bid of Norcross Brothers was $58,968 lower than the next lowest bid, and $143,000 lower than the highest bid. The contract for the building was awarded to Norcross Brothers April 23, 1896. The contract called for the completion of the building- January I, 1898. All the other contracts were made to be completed at the same time. But owing to contingencies and unavoidable delays, a little longer time than was anticipated has been required for its completion. 7 WILLIAM H. SAWYER. The Worcester of 1898. 99 Your commissioners realized the importance of the work committed to them, and appreciated the confidence reposed in them, consequently they have given almost daily personal attention to this work. They have devoted the best part of their time for a period of two years to its super- vision. They have used their best judgment to secure the best quality of material and finest workmanship, at the lowest price, both in the structure itself and in the heating, ventilation, ornamentation and furnishing. Their contracts have been made directly with manufacturers, thus obtaining everything at first cost. Your commissioners have consulted the heads of the various departments as to what arrangements would best subserve the convenience and efihciency of their respective departments, and as far as practicable have utilized their knowledge and experience. If the commissioners have failed to give satis- faction on every point to all parties, their failure has not been intentional, but due to the necessities of the case. All those who have had any expe- rience in erecting large buildings know that it is impossible to have in a great building of this kind every minute arrangement to suit everyone. Some little things must be sacrificed for the largest convenience and the greatest advantage of the whole. It is not necessary for 3'our commissioners to speak in terms of com- mendation and praise of the builders, whose name is a synonym for skillful workmanship, fidelity in the fulfillment of contract obligations, and business honor. They have won for themselves an enviable fame throughout the land. But in addition to the accustomed skill and fidelity with which they do their work, they took a personal pride in the erection of this building, which is to serve and adorn their own city. Your commissioners desire to express their thanks to their efficient superintendent, Mr. S. F. French, for his uniform courtesy and unfailing kindness. He has the rare faculty of directing his workmen so that his plans are executed with system and dispatch, and apparently without giving any orders. It is peculiarly gratifying to be able to say that no one was killed or seriously injured in the work upon this building. Your commissioners have worked together without friction or differences of opinion, and in perfect harmony. Much has been said in recent times of municipal misrule and wasteful extravagance in the erection of public buildings, for which, too often, there have been good grounds. The experience of many cities has been that when their buildings have been completed, the cost has far exceeded the original estimates and expectations, and they have been loaded with heavy deficits. Your commissioners felicitate themselves in presenting an excep- tion. They take honest and, they think, legitimate pride in finishing this massive and majestic structure, complete in all its appointments, rich in its ornamentation and elegant in its furnishing, with every necessity supplied, from the clock in its tower to the broom and dust-brush, for $23,031.23 less than the amount appropriated. (Applause.) Mr. Mayor, this commission, which to-day ends its work and passes into history, was created under the administration of the Honorable Henry A. loo The Worcester of 1898. ]\Iarsh. But its work has been done larofly clurin;^- the administration of your immediate predecessor, General Augustus I>. R. Sprague, who, with characteristic courtesy, was ever ready to lay his experience, counsel and time at the service of the commissioners. We now, Mr. Mayor, place in your hands the keys of this hall where the official business of the city is to t)e transacted, with which act our responsibility 'ends. Your commissioners, wlio liave watched every stage of the work from the breaking of the first sod to the completion of the structure, in surrendering their trust, as citizens, express the hope that all the public business — legis- lative, executive and clerical — transacted here, may be transacted in that spirit which will always reflect honor upon this city, of Avhose growth, energv, enterprise and fair fame all are justly proud. flavor Dodge responded as follows : Mr. Cliainuan and Gciitlcineii of the City Hall Coinmissioii : In accepting this token of delivery, signifying the transfer from your commission to the city of Worcester of the building erected under your direction, in pursuance to authority delegated by the municipality, it is my privilege to thank you, in behalf of the people, for services rendered in such an able, conscientious and generous manner, and to voice the feelings of this community by expressing universal satisfaction in the results of your work. In committing this charge to you, and in approving your acts as your duty ends, the people have given a treasure equal to any that citizens as such can give and receive — confidence in worth and honor. A task unsought, but a labor cheerfully assumed at the public call, the end sees that high esteem which prompted the confidence, more abundant even now than then. The thanks and praise of your fellows are the only reward received for the faithful labor so freely given. Yet, after all, this itself is a rich recompense when viewed from man- hood's level — as high above the worth of gold as is the noble charity that makes a self-denying giver above the miser's avarice. The people now, with one accord, without reserve, and with no halting commendation, approve your course with such a genuine spirit as leaves, you yet their debtors. The history of Worcester, as town and city, is replete with incidents showing a community wise, conservative but progressive in business and public affairs, loyaj to the traditions of its founders, patriotic toward national government, and beneficent in voluntary public benefits. Like other New England towns, it was founded amid hardship and privation. To us can come no more inspiring thoughts than those aroused by con- templation of the works wrought by the pioneers. Surrounded by menaces threatening their families as well as their com- munity, they met all situations as firm as the hills upon whose summits, or in whose valleys, Avere built homes of virtue and devout religion. The Worcester of 1898. loi Winthrop wrote that "the best part is always the least, and of that best part the wiser part is always the lesser." Hooker answered "in matters which concern the common good, a general council, chosen by all, to transact business which concerns all, I conceive most suitable to rule and most safe for relief of the whole." Thus early did Hooker block out the keystone destined to hold the arch of American free self-government in the temple of her civil liberty. There never was a time, from the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth soil to the Declaration of Independence, when fibre was not being united into the structure of a republic by a race guided of destiny, in giving to the world what the world most needed. The great hereafter was first in our fathers' lives, but in its shadow, where their souls constantly dwelt, they did not forget the great present, lapsing into history, to ultimately teach coming generations its momentous im- port. Their church, their school, and their town meeting were the three great lights of their lives. By the first they saw immortality; the second lit the way to future greatness of their race upon this continent ; while the third searched out a government of absolute equality. The town house was the forum where the people's rights were championed by voice and vote. From that palladium, reflected by the rays of the dawning light of equal rights, arose a splendor beyond the prestige of castle or palace, more potent than the power of kings and princes, rendering every citizen a sovereign and no man a serf. Plain, direct and effective were the civil functions of colonial govern- ment. No circuitous path led from the people to the power, save where mon- archy reached its hand across the sea; and when that was shaken from the land, there stood the transcendent form of civil liberty, more perfect in all her lines than ever yet was seen. Our towns have grown to cities, yet have we preserved the substance of the lessons learned from these masters of their creed. Even to this day we recognize that every modification of the original town govern- ment tending toward centralization, is not for improvement in system, but to meet changed conditions of the times. Fitting it is that the place where the people, through their chosen repre- sentatives, transact the public business, should be among the best within our city. Sacred to us is the place where history was made by a sturdy people, who, like the rugged oak, withstood the storms with strength bred of adversity. Here, where our history began, will it continue through the years to come, to what end no mind can foresee. Our fondest hope can give no more glory to the future than crowns the past. But, full of confidence in the human race, let us dedicate this spot 102 The Worcester of i8q8. where our fathers met to weave a portion of the faultless fabric of se]f-t>"ov- ernment, designed by the noblest aims of man, to its preservation, with a fidelity of heart no less patriotic and no less self-denying than marked their noble lives. We receive from you a structure representing to us what the town house of 1825 did to the citizens of that time. As in days before that time the place of worship was the place of civil rule, let something of the sanctity surrounding public deliberations then invest us still, maintaining free the spotless name of Worcester's corporate life. You have builded well what well does represent pur city's strength and progress. Useful first, then beautiful and grand, may this substantial building endure long after the memories of this day have passed. But so long as it recalls with interest the history of its existence, so long will largest honor be coupled with your names. Outlasting the granite of these walls, may our city live in honor and suc- cess, reflecting still the virtues of a race noble, strong and free. ADDRESS OF BURTON W. POTTER, ESQ. We have met to-day not to recount the hardships and the heroic achieve- ments of the early settlers of Worcester, though we are not unmindful of our indebtedness to them. We have assembled to dedicate a new city hall, to be used for municipal purposes in our thriving and growing city. vSurely it will not be out of place in these dedicatory exercises to review briefly the history and progress of our municipal government. Inasmuch as we are soon to celebrate the semi-centennial anniversary of the city's l)irth, when eloquent and accomplished orators will recount the story of humanity's growth in this vicinity during the past half century, I will not attempt to deal with the general life of our people, but will confine my remarks to things appertaining to municipal afi^airs. The time at my command is too limited to permit me to give in detail the history of our City Government. I can only call attention to such things as stand out as landmarks in our local affairs. During the first twenty years of Worcester's existence as a city, its population did not increase very rapidly, and its local government did not differ essentially from the local government of large towns. It had a mayor and a city council, but everything was done under the direction of committees. There was no separation between the legislative and the executive departments of the government, and no public improvement was planned on a large scale. The gold fields of California and the unoccupied agricultural regions of the West attracted a large and steady emigration from the East, and Worcester, like other eastern cities, was not over- crowded with population. But after a while there began to be a massing population in the large towns, and the nineteenth century is closing upon a race that desires for the most part to live in cities; and the enlargement of The Worcester of 1898. 103 municipal life is one of the most marked characteristics of this age. Not alone in the new world and Australasia are cities springing up as if by magic and doubling their population in a decade, but in the old world the growth of new cities and the modernization of old ones are the phenomena of this century. Sydney and ]\Ielbourne, Boston and Chicago are easily matched by Liverpool and Copenhagen, Hamburg and Budapest. London, Paris and Berlin still maintain their primacy among all the great cities, while old cities like Athens, Rome and Amsterdam have doubled their population within a generation. This increase of urban citizenship has increased the people's interest in local self-government, and the functions of municipal government have been multiplied and enlarged in a marvelous manner. Worcester, like other cities, has caught the spirit of the age, and for the past thirty years her population has grown at the rate of 2,000 a year, and more and more attention is being given each year to the management of its municipal affairs. Worcester now has a population of over a hundred thousand souls, and is probably growing to-day as fast as at any period of its history. Situated in the midst of a rich agricultural region, at the centre of Massa- chusetts and New England, with unsurpassed railroad and educational facil- ities, there is no reason why it should not continue to grow until it rivals such great inland cities as Manchester and Birmingham in England. And its future growth will depend more upon the character of its municipal government than upon state or national legislation, or on the size of our regular army, or the number of our battleships. Of course an industrious and intelligent people may make great progress in business and commercial life in spite of poor civic government ; but if they can be aided and directed by wise and capable officials, who plan all public improvements in the way best adapted to promote the development and expansion of the munici- pality, and who see that the improvements are made with honesty, economy and dispatch, then their progress is likely to advance with increased rapid- ity. A wise, self-contained and self-governed people will always enact laws and adopt customs adapted to their needs and typical of their state of morality and civilization. They always have a government as good as they deserve, and therefore the historian can trace their progress in the annals which record the growth and improvement of their local govern- ment. Then by the application of this test let us see how Worcester stands before the world. Perhaps nothing better illustrates the progressive march of Worcester than the growth of the public schools and the character of the teaching therein. Since Richard Rogers and John Adams taught in the public schools of Worcester to the present hour, there never has been any lack of education here. The first classical high school was built on the site of the present Classical high school, and cost $25,000. It was dedicated in 1845, and was- large enough to accommodate 175 pupils. At that time the city owned thirteen school-houses and employed thirty-five teachers. The num- ber of pupils then enrolled in all the schools was 1,130, and the annual 104 The Worcester of 1898. ai)])r()priation for school purposes amounted to $7,700, and the average expenditure for each pupil was $6.81. Now there are sixty-four school-houses occupied, with three more in pro- cess of erection, and 556 teachers in the employ of the city. Last year there were 20,004 pupils enrolled in the day schools of the city, and the average cost for each pupil was $27.51. The whole expenditure for school purposes last year, exclusive of new buildings, amounted to $505,542.36, and the assessors' valuation of the school property belonging to the city was $2,028,177.43. Beside the great number of day pupils, the city pro- vides free evening schools for 1,328 pupils, where the old and the young alike who are unable to attend the day schools, are privileged to seek the rudiments of education after their physical toils of the day are over. This great army of pupils with their teachers constitutes an influential and important portion of our population, and proves that our public school system is still dear to the hearts of the people. These schools are unsecta- rian, and open to all. They are conducted upon the theory that children of different races and of various religions Avill be more ready to make conces- sions, and will be more tolerant towards each other when they are grown up, if they are subjected when young to each other's company, to the same rules and to the same instruction. It has always been admitted that the chief purpose of the public schools is to draw out and develop the latent faculties and talents of children and fit them for good and useful citizens of the vState. To this end our forefathers paid more attention than we do to the religious instruction of school children, and to their training in manners and deportment ; but nature study, manual training, cooking and scientific instruction had no place in their schools. The principal branches of learn- ing in their schools were reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and geog- raphy, with Greek and Latin to those pupils who were preparing for college. Now the modern languages are crowding out Greek and Latin, and much attention is given to the cultivation of the physical sciences, to and instruc- tion in knowledge worth having in every-day life. Scientific instruction develops the faculty of observation, which is apt when not cultivated to lie dormant in many people throughout life. It cultivates habits of accuracy, method and arrangement, and it disciplines the mind to level-headedness by teaching induction as well as deduction. It also adds greatly to the interest and happiness of life. The more we know the more we can see to enjoy in our surroundings, and the delight of living is more full and com- l)lete. Our education is not complete until we turn all the voices of nature into a song of rejoicing, and are able to see in the gutter by the .wayside the image of the sky as well as the sewage of the street. Perhaps this manner of teaching impairs the imaginative faculties, but on the whole the ni^w way is better than the old. 1 grieve not that ripe knowledge takes away The charm that Nature to my childhood wore, For, with that insight, cometh day by day, A sfreater bliss than wonder was before. The Worcester of 1898. 105 And again in this age of the Avorld the continual prosperity of a country depends chiefly upon its ability to maintain its pre-eminence in the indus- trial arts and useful manufactures, and consequently familiarity with all the processes of the mechanic arts becom.es a necessary part of public education. In our attempt to teach school children something they are likely to want to know in every-day life, and which will be helpful to them in getting on in the world, we should be careful not to cripple and starve classical, moral and literary culture, for it will never do to bring our public school education down to the level of mere money-making and to the knowledge of something we call capital. Public education is one of the most important functions of municipal government, and while we nourish and encourage its growth and development, we must take care that it does not devour the substance of the people by unnecessary cost and extravagant expenditures in its behalf. And we must see to it that the children are taught to be good neighbors and useful citizens. Habits of cleanliness and truthfulness, principles of virtue and morality should be inculcated, and great pains should be taken t(j nourish their patriotic feelings and to inspire them with love of country, and admiration for everything great and noble. If this is done, we can look forward without fear to the multiplication of our schools and teachers, and with the consoling belief that each additional one wnll increase the prestige and glory of the greater Worcester. Closely allied to the public schools and as an adjunct thereto, is the Public Library. Books play an important part in modern life. In the language of Carlyle, "A collection of books is a real university." The schools give us a text-book education and teach us how to acquire knowledge, and this service is of great use to us, but it is not to be compared in value and importance to the education which we give ourselves by close observation and by the reading of good literature. In books we find the precious thoughts and the life-blood of the master spirits of every age. They are an unfailing source of joy, inspiration and of consolation in every phase of life. Dreams, books, are each a world; and books we know Are a substantial world, both pure and good ; Round these with tendrils strong as flesh and blood Our pastime and our happiness will grow. Worcester has been fortunate in citizens of wise heads and large hearts, who have on opportune occasions endowed the city with timely and large- hearted benefactions, that set in motion or help to advance municipal func- tions in different departments. When Dr. John Green, of blessed memory, gave to Worcester the basis of its Public Library, he laid the foundation of an institution that has already had, and will continue to have, a deep and far-reaching influence on the life and civilization of this city. And although he expected that his gift would extend the bounds of knowledge and increase the happiness of mankind, yet he did not fully realize the magnificent results of his action, and he builded better than he knew. Little did he dream that within forty years from the time he gave the city 7,000 volumes for the nucleus of a free public library, there would be i6o The Worcester of 1898. in that librarv over 1 16,000 l)<)()ks, and 500 magazines and pa])ers; that in the circulating- department more than 210,000 books would be annually taken out and read by the people of Worcester; that another 100,000 volumes would each year be consulted for information ui)on various sub- jects; that a \ast nimiber of people would yearly visit the reading-rooms connected with the library, and that in the year 1898 the City Government would approfjriate $1,500 for subdibrary delivery stations, and $2,500 for the establishment of reading-rooms in the outlying districts of the city. Under wise and competent management our Public Library has become a part and parcel of the educational system of the city. It has widened the meaning of life to multitudes of young people, and trained them to a greater interest in books and literature. It has furnished our mechanics and artisans with the scientific knowledge requisite to their improvement in all branches of industrial pursuits. It has enlarged the intelligence and ennobled the life of all classes of our people, and in this way it has brought happiness as well as prosperity to our municipality. In view of the results achieved this function of our municipal government should be assiduously cultivated, and never allowed to fall behind the needs of a progressive and enlightened community. A good water supply has always been considered a necessary adjunct to every city. Pure water is conducive to health and cleanliness, and so essen- tial to the welfare of city people that some municipal reformers claim that water should be as free as air and sunlight, and furnished to all the people without charge. If a city was so fortunately situated that it could control at a reasonable expense an inexhaustible supply of water, it might be good policy for it to furnish its inhabitants with free water; but to the ordinary city it would seem that such a liberal policy could not be followed with justice or advantage to the entire population. But no doul)t it is good policy for every city which desires to keep in the procession of modern civilization to spare no reasonable expense to furnish its inhabitants with an abundance of pure water at very low rates. When Worcester became a city fifty years ago, the inhabitants relied mainly upon wells and springs for their water supply. The water from Bell pond had been brought into the village and carried through several streets in small pipes, but three years after the organization of the city there were only fifty-six water-takers. The meagre supply sui^ced until 1864, when the citizens felt the need of a more abundant supply, and voted to introduce water into the city from Lynde brook, and the water from this source first flowed into the city November 4 of that year. This was a great epoch in the history of Worcester. The event was celebrated by a meeting in Mechanics Hall, and it was then thought that no further supply of water would be needed for half a century at least. But it only took a few years to demonstrate the short-sightedness of the wise men of that period, for in 1S76 the city established another source of supply at Hunt's reservoir. In 1883 another supply was established at the Holden reservoir, and now we are engaged in conducting a still larger inexhaustible su])ply from Kettle brook into the city. The water-takers have increased The Worcester of 1898. 107 from 56 to 28,217, and the water-pipes have been extended until there are now over 160 miles of them in the highways of the city. The cost of the plant has already reached $3,000,000, with the prospect of a very large increase in the immediate future. But fortunately the Water Department has always paid its way, and last year the income exceeded the ordinary expenses by $61,423.79. The question of sewage disposal is an old one, but its utilization seems to be a modern problem. In the ancient world the large sewers in Nineveh, Babylon, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Carthage, Rome and other great cities all led down to rivers or other bodies of water, from which it appears to be an old custom of mankind to pour the sewage abominations of their cities into the nearest water courses. This system worked very well until inland towns became great cities and streams became dotted with factories of every kind and description. Then the sewage of towns and the refuse of factories polluted the water and filled it with decomposing matter and every fecal abomination under the sun, so that fish could not live in it, nor man or beast drink it, and then it became apparent that something must be done to purify the sewage either before or after it reached the nearest stream. Worcester got along with cesspools and private sewers until 1866, when the City Council was authorized to construct public sewers, and the following year Worcester acquired the right by an act of the Legislature "to appropriate Mill brook and other brooks therein named for the purpose of sewerage, drainage and the public health." Immediately after the passage of this law the city proceeded to construct main and lateral sewers for the health and convenience of the people, and it now maintains more than 112 miles of such sewers within the city limits. We now have a sewer department and a superintendent of sewers, and under his supervision the city is engaged in the gigantic attempt to dispose of the city's sewage in such a way as not to pollute the Blackstone river. The problem of sewage disposal and its utilization is one that has long engaged the attention of scientific authorities, but they are not agreed as to the methods, some favoring one method and some another, and some claiming that there never will be any satisfactory solution of the vexed question. O star-ej-ed Science, hast thou wandered there To waft us home the message of despair ? It must be admitted that it is an unsolved problem, but its proper solution is so necessary to the health and growth of modern civic life that in all probability some satisfactory mode of sewage disposal will be dis- covered before many years. Our sewage purification works are being so constructed that both surface irrigation and chemical precipitation methods may be practiced, though chemical precipitation is the chief method now in use here. The proper disposal of sewage is really a part of sanitary administration, for health laws are of little avail so long as sewage and filthy refuse remain near io8 The Worcester of 1898. hunian habitations. In other days sanitation received little attention from city officials. When cholera or a plague appeared and swept off the popu- lation by thousands, it was thought to be a visitation or scourge of God, and nothing was done to ])urify the atmosphere. Now a sanitary depart- ment is considered an essential part of every good city government. In the most progressive cities of Europe and this country the administration of sanitary affairs has been carried to great perfection. All the streets and open spaces are swept every day, and frequently washed, and street scaven- gers are employed to gather up every particle of filth or litter as soon as it appears upon the street, and boards of health look after stables, bakeries, plumbing, and the rigid enforcement of all health laws. This kind of sani- tary administration has reduced the death-rates in many cities to a very low figure, and made them as safe dwelling-places as the country. Worcester has a Board of Health which was organized in 1878, with authority to make rules and regulations relating to nuisances, sources of filth and disease. Our Street Department has also begun to sweep and clean frequently the most traveled streets in the central part of the city. But there is room for improvement in our manner of allowing many streets to be littered with papers and sweepings, and many back alleys to become filthy Avith store refuse and other garbage. However, there is a growing pul)lic opinion in favor of stringent and advanced methods of sanitation. Last year our first public bathing-house was opened, and the first order was issued to stop improper expectoration in street cars and other public places, and this year the first man was convicted and fined in our Municipal Court for littering up a public street with mud and dirt. Then sanitation in a broad sense should be recognized as one of the essential functions of our City Government. Disease is no respecter of locality, and it is dangerous to leave pestilence-breeding slums in back streets or at the back doors of dwelling-houses. No home can be happy and comfortable without healthy environments, and no city Avithout suitable sanitary arrangements can long hold a high place among the enterprising cities of the land. Among the interesting and inqjortant problems of the day is the question of good roads. The desirability of good roads is happily no longer an open question among intelligent people. EveryAvhere it is admitted that they are indicative of human progress, and the desideratum in every progressive community. Along their lines are to be found the fairest villages and the most thrifty homesteads, Avhile at their termini are situated the great cities of the Avorld. In the ancient Avorld all roads led to Rome ; in the modern Avorld good roads' lead out of every first-class city. One of the characteristics of a public highAvay is that it is open to travel for all mankind. A Chinaman, a Turk, or a peasant from Italy or Armenia has just as good a right to travel upon a road in Worcester as our mayor or the president of the United States. At first the highAvays in this country Avere used by footmen, equestrians, and travelers in Avagons or sleighs, and by the adjoining OAvners for pasturage and dumping-ground. In time the demands and couA-eniences of advancing civilization required that the public The Worcester of 1898. 109 ways should be used for other purposes of a pubHc nature. Sewer, gas and water pipes were placed beneath the surface of the ground, and overhead wires were strung for the transmission of intelligence by electricity. The horse-car was deemed by many a new-fangled mode of conveyance, but after much opposition it was decided that a portion of the road might well be set aside for it, although the rights of other travelers to some extent were limited by the privileges necessary for its use. And now electric cars, horseless carriages and elevated railroads are making their appearance in our cities, and the bicycle is a familiar object on all our public ways. New modes of travel always cause more or less inconvenience, but if their advantages are greater than their disadvantages, they will find a place in the public ways. vShould human ingenuity invent new modes of travel superior to those now in use, no doubt room would be found for them in our highways, if they had to be widened for that purpose. Happily our laws and ways of living are not unchangeable, but are capable of adjustment to new conditions in the every-day life of our people. When Worcester became a city there were no paved or macadamized streets here. In March, 1847, Levi Lincoln, in behalf and by the order of a committee appointed to consider the advisability of paving "any or all of Main street," made a report to the town wherein he said: "The condition of Main street, at all seasons of the year, except when the earth is covered with snow, has been a subject of very general and loud complaint. In dry weather the dust therefrom has been intolerable ; and in times of rain the mud has rendered passing, for days in succession, uncomfortable, and, to persons on foot, all but impracticable. The process of covering the street with gravel affords but a partial and temporary relief, requiring frequent renewal, and of considerable annual expense in its application. If an effectual remedy can be found for these inconveniences, at a reasonable cost, there can be no doubt that the town should immediately set about it. But the committee cautioned their fellow townsmen to be careful of incurring a lasting debt for this or any other municipal improvement. Their warning in this respect contains so much wisdom, and is so applicable to the present as well as to the past, that it deserves a place on a tablet in this hall. It said: "To incur debt without providing for its redemption, is no more wise in a community than in an individual; and it can hardly be more just to borrow money by devolving the obligation to its repayment upon those who shall come after us. The committee would not be under- stood to interpose an argument, arising from an occasion to borrow, against the undertaking of any work, which the present interest and comfort of the town may require, and where at the same time, provision is made that those for whose immediate enjoyment the improvement is directed, shall be fairly held to a corresponding contribution to its cost. The inducement, even to desirable objects, may be too often repeated; that the expense may be postponed to a distant future; that money can be borrowed at a Ioav rate of interest; or that posterity, inheriting the benefit, may be left to pay the equivalent. But this is neither the just nor the manly course to pursue. Posterity will have its own purposes and responsibilities. The progress of no The Worcester of 1898. society will devolve upon each successive generation new and appropriate duties and obligations, even greater, higher, more pressing, it may be, than those of our time. As our fathers left us of this day the blessings of institutions, the fruits of their toil and sacrifices, disembarrassed of the incumbrance of a single farthing of debt — nay, more; as along with these blessings we received, at their hands, the benefit of a pre-existing fund, of no inconsiderable amount, it surely is the more incumbent upon us to take heed to it that we bind no heavy burdens upon those who in turn are to meet the requirements and fulfill the duties of the age in which they live. The committee, therefore, will not refrain from expressing the opinion that if the town now vote to pave the street, a portion of the tax to meet the expense should be granted the present year, and a pledge given to raise the residue of the money at the shortest convenient period." In 1849 the paving of the streets of Worcester began, and Main street was paved from Front to Exchange street, and the process has gone on until to-day we have over eleven miles of paved streets and ninety miles of paved sidewalks. The invention of asphalt and other paving material has so reduced the expense of pavement that ere long the central streets of the city will be paved and a sidewalk will pass by every man's door. But the proper pavement of streets is not all they need for the public good. They should be wide, well lighted, and unobstructed by merchandise, electric poles and wires, unsightly sign-boards, and dangerous street railway tracks and railroad grade crossings. The removal of telephone, telegraph, electric and street railway poles and wires would without doubt increase the beauty and convenience of city streets, and the accomplishment of this object should be kept in view by our municipal authorities until the last pole has disappeared and the last wire has found a home beneath the surface of the ground. The crossing of a highway and railroad at grade mars the beauty and convenience of the way, and is moreover a dangerous and expensive thing. These dangerous and odious crossings are not tolerated in the enlightened cities of Europe, and it is time they disappeared in Amer- ican cities. And in their abolition the cheapest plans consistent with the safe passage of railroad trains should not alone be considered, for the work is, or should be, of a permanent nature, and therefore it should be satis- factory to the eye of taste. An overhead bridge or under-ground passage across a railroad may be traveled for ages to come, and every year the public ways are used for some new convenience in the onward march of human progress, and therefore the bridges over or under the public thor- oughfares should be made both wide and high enough to meet the reason- able and prospective demands of advancing civilization. And in cities and villages, especially, these bridges and their abutments not only should be thorough in workmanship, but should also be spacious and beautiful. Whenever the conformation of the ground is favorable, the highway should pass over the railroad, and when of necessity it is put under the iron rails, it should not descend into a hollow where water, mud and snow will accu- mulate and remain to annoy and inconvenience travelers ; neither should the bridge overhead be openwork, through which the rain and the drippings The Worcester of 1898. in from the cars are liable to descend upon the teams below ; but every such bridge should be sufficiently covered to protect the highway travelers and save their horses from fright. The City Council has appointed a special commission to consider the question in all its bearings, and to report their recommendations as soon as practicable. It is hoped that this committee may be able to suggest some satisfactory and advantageous line of action, but the commission should be aided by an aroused public sentiment on the subject. The art of beautifying a city is a feature of municipal government which has been highly cultivated in municipalities like Athens and Florence, and which should not be overlooked in these modern days, when the utility of the beautiful counts for so much in every phase of human life. Worcester itself is beautiful for situation amidst the hills and valleys which environ it. It has become customary with us to admit that the scenery of the Berkshire hills and of the Connecticut valley is superior in beauty and loveliness to that around our own homes. Whether this is due to the generosity of our natures, or to the fact that distance lends enchant- ment to the view, I know not; but I doubt whether there is any scenery in Massachusetts which surpasses that in Worcester county in real beauty of outline, in extensive and variegated views, and in loveliness of domestic landscape. We do not need to go to Italy, Switzerland or the White Mountains for gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, for we have them here, together with the other glories of nature, at our very doors. Worcester is situated at the centre of this rural grandeur, with the beau- tiful Lake Quinsigamond at its eastern doors, the stately Asnebumskit on its western borders and the majestic Wachusett in the north. Nature has dowered it with beauty, and its people have been wise and progressive enough to adorn it with a park system that is now, and forever will be, the pride and glory of Worcester. Trees in themselves are so restful and refreshing, so graceful and beau- tiful, that we are glad to see them in almost any spot, yet they are out of place in the great business streets of large cities, but on residential streets and in public parks and squares they are an ornament and convenience. And nothing gives greater charm and attractiveness to a city than lovely parks. They are a solace and joy to every lover of nature, and of infinite satisfaction to the eye of taste. They are as necessary to the health and adornment of cities as lawns and gardens are for the proper environment of private dwellings. As no home grounds are too good for children to play on or adults to walk upon, so public parks should be used as the play- grounds and pleasure resorts of the masses of the people. Lawn tennis and cricket clubs are allowed to use the public parks of England, and children are permitted to swim in the lakes and ponds therein, while on the continent race-courses are sometimes found in the public parks. A city which does not maintain public bathing-houses should at least provide ponds and lakes for the people to bathe and swim in during the summer, and to skate upon in the winter. Nearly everybody enjoys 112 The Worcester of 1898. congregated human life, and they like to take their amusement and recrea- tion in common. And it is not out of place for a city to furnish a little police protection to its people while engaged in outdoor pleasures. "We go to great expense to protect travelers on the streets from robbers and highwaymen, and to keep them from being run over at grade crossings and congested street-corners. We also spend lavish sums of money to give our children mental education, but it is just as important that they should be well developed physically as mentally, because a strong body is necessary for the sustenance of a strong mind. It is necessary for the proper physical growth and development of children that they take all kinds of exercise, such as boating, skating, ball-playing, coasting, swimming, and various other kinds of outdoor recreations. They not only should have an opportunity to engage in these amusements, but they should be permitted to engage in them with as much safety as possible. The promotion of health is now justly regarded as one of the objects of government. Good drainage and vaccination are not the only means avail- able for the promotion of the public health. The health of people cannot be improved more surely and in a better way than by educating them into the habit of taking plenty of exercise in the open air. In 1862 the City Council created a board of commissioners of shade trees and public grounds, and appropriated $300 to their use for the planting of shade trees and the care of the old Common. In 1885, under authority of an act of the Legislature, the Board of Park Commissioners was created and Worcester extended its park system in such a way as to locate a park in each section of the city, and there are now twelve parks, covering an area of 367 acres. To Horace H. Bigelow and Edward L. Davis we are indebted for the extensive park on the lovely shores of Lake Quinsigamond. David S. Messinger gave us Fairmount park; and the generosity of Stephen Salis- bury has given us the beautiful Institute park, all complete. Thomas H. Dodge is entitled to our thanks for Dodge park; and the good taste and untiring zeal of the late Edward W. Lincoln made Elm park the gem of the whole system. The people of the city have willingly taxed themselves for over a quarter of a million dollars to buy park land, besides all they have expended for the care and adornment of the parks. To our hands these parks and the public streets are committed for care and preservation, and it is clearly the duty of the City Government to beautify them by green grass and shade trees, and in every other way possible to array them in robes more beautiful than the glory of vSolomon. There is also another function of municipal government which has been exercised in a manner to make an impress upon our minds to-day, and which constitutes an object lesson for us all. A city can be beautified by the erection of artistic pul)lic buildings. Fine architecture in public or private buildings is the artistic expression of the fitness of things. It is the art of teaching by example. Every stately and well-constructed building is an object lesson which instructs and pleases the lover of the beautiful every time he passes by it, and thereby he is con- stantly being educated by a process all the more effective because it works The Worcester of 1898. 113 by absorption rather than by direct impartation. The great majority of people have not the means, if they had the taste, to erect buildings stately and beautiful from an architectural point of view ; and therefore the corpo- rate wealth of a municipality should be used on every appropriate occasion to make its public buildings models of architectural beauty as well as of utility. Utility, of course, should be the first consideration in every struc- ture, public or private, but when we remember that it costs little if any more to put materials together in an artistic than in an inartistic manner, we see the wisdom of doing it the better way. When a public library is nobly housed in a building which unconsciously, and as a part of the heri- tage of childhood, makes the children who frequent it familiar with the work of great builders and artisans, the library itself is more valuable and useful than it would be if meanly housed in an inferior building. And children can be taught better in beautiful and well-kept school-houses than in ugly and ill-constructed ones. Worcester has many artistic and impressive structures of a semi-public nature, but it never has done much in its corporate capacity to improve the architecture of the city until recently. The Classical high school was built in 187 1, and the English high school in 1892. These are substantial and good looking buildings, Avell adapted to school purposes, and are orna- ments to the city. Several of the grammar schools are well planned and beau- tiful structures. The new Fire Department headquarters now in process of erection is a roomy and well-planned building, and is a great improve- ment over anything Worcester has had in this line in the past. The Public Library and the City Hospital are good buildings, well adapted to the pur- poses for which they were erected, and tasteful from an architectural stand- point. But the crowning glory of our municipal buildings is this grand and beautiful new City Hall, which for simplicity in design, combined with impressiveness in architectural effect, will bear comparison with the best handiwork of architects and builders anywhere. It is nobly planned and honestly constructed, and expresses the wealth, the dignity and the intelli- gence of this community. It stands four square, and the east front looks as well as the west front. It is the symbol of the growing development of our municipal life. While we are dedicating it to public uses, let us dedi- cate ourselves to the duties of good citizenship. ^lay the noble science of government never degenerate here into the ignoble art of electioneering. May we realize that the true greatness of Worcester is not evidenced now and never will be evidenced by the number and length of its streets, its magnificent buildings, its extensive factories, or its great population, but it is found now, and ever will be found, if found at all, in the minds and hearts of the people. There are other phases of city government which have engaged the attention of our municipal authorities, and in which great progress has been made. In 1848 the expenses of the Poor Department were $4,300, about evenly divided between the Almshouse and the outdoor poor, with the average attendance of twenty-eight paupers in the Almshouse. The tramps were s 114 The Worcester of 1898. then ofiicially registered as travelers and were entertained at the Almshouse. At the present time the average number of inmates of the Almshouse is 200, and the annual cost for providing for the poor is $35,000. Our pauper poor are well housed and fed, and there is no place in the United States, if, indeed, in the world, where the poor are better cared for than in Worcester. Out- door relief is often furnished to those in need of temporary assistance. A free dispensary of medicine is maintained, and the City Hospital is open to. all, and free to the maimed and the afiflicted in indigent circumstances. Our public streets and squares are well illuminated at night, and in this respect we are far ahead of the ancient cities. Rome in its best days possessed excellent water and sewerage S3^stems and good police and fire departments, but with all its brilliant civilization it had no system of public illumination. All business was transacted by daylight and all public entertainments took place in the daytime. At the close of day the people with good intentions retired to their homes for the night, while thieves, robbers and the evil- minded carried on their deviltry in the darkness or with lanterns and torches. In Worcester the darkness of night is expelled and the streets are made cheerful by 2,689 g^^ ^^^'^ electric lights, which prolong day into night, lighten the labor and risk of our policemen, and make life more safe and enjoyable to us all. An efficient police force guards and protects our lives and property. In case of fire, vigilant and brave firemen come to our assistance, and use in our behalf water and fire-extinguishers at the city's expense. We are pro- tected from contagious and infectious disease by the rigid enforcement of good health laws. And in many other ways our lives and property are affected by contact with municipal government, and yet much is being said nowadays in favor of increasing the function of city government until all the natural monopolies are municipalized and carried on by the govern- ment. It is claimed that cities should own and manage all the works of a quasi-public nature like water supply, gas and electric light plants, street railways, the telephone, express, and fire insurance business. There are many strong reasons why the local government should control those works which of necessity must use the public ways in the performance of their functions; but before we can safely venture into this broad field of munic- ipal activity and life, we must see to it that there are such civil service rules and regulations as will place all city employees beyond the patronage of party politics. I have no sympathy, however, with the feeling that seems to prevail in some quarters thai the people are incapable of self-government in their local affairs. Self-reliance and self-achievement strengthen human char- acter, and likewise self-government educates and upbuilds the citizenship of the people better than any other form of government. Our system of township government, as well as our systems of state and national govern- ments, are based upon the belief that the people are capable of managing their public affairs, and in fine this principle is an axiom of our political system. Home rule has been the pride and glory of New England ever The Worcester of 1898. 115 since the Puritans formed the compact in the cabin of the Mayflower, and this is the last place in the world where an attempt should be made to impair or violate the principle of local self-government. When De Tocqueville was here in 1833, he declared that no man could be found in all New England who would acknowledge that the State has any right to interfere in the local interests of the towns, and for one I hope it will be a long time before we shall abandon the principle of home rule for our municipalities. But we must act with moderation and not take leaps in the dark. That government is best Where freedom broadens slowly down from precedent to precedent. And there, is wisdom in the advice which the wise old Horace made a sage seaman give 2,000 years ago: Licinius, trust a seaman's lore; Steer not too boldly to the deep; Nor dreading storms, by treacherous shore Too clo.sely creep. , Time and your patience will not permit me to dwell longer on the growth of municipal functions in Worcester during the past fifty years. In that time great changes have taken place here and in the world at large. Mon- archies have fallen; republics have risen; new nations have been born and old nations rejuvenated ; ship canals have been opened to commerce; con- tinents have been crossed and recrossed by railroads; steamships have supplanted sailing-vessels; electric street-cars have been installed in every city; sub-marine cables and electric wires have brought all nations into daily communication with each other; new inventions and discoveries have wrought more mechanical and economic changes in the industrial arts than ever before took place within the same period of time; and 3,000,000 slaves have been freed in our own country and the unity of the republic established on a firm foundation. And yet there are many still living with us who saw the birth of this cit}^ and I see before me a large body of men who were voters here in 1848. They have not only witnessed these changes, but have been a part of the growth and life of Worcester ever since it became a city. They have been a blessing to this city and their fellow men, and heaven in return has blessed them with fullness of years. May their last days be their best days, and Avhen they are through with earth, may they receive "the crown of life" which is promised to them who are faithful to the end. Our city has never been besieged and no great battles have ever taken place upon its soil, but yet its history is filled with stirring events and with heroic achievements. And to-day, is not every soul impressed with the sweet mem- ories and the hallowed associations that cluster around this sacred place? On this spot in the Old South Church a devout and patriotic people wor- shiped God after the manner of their fathers for 170 years Here the lone messenger from Lexington announced the opening of the Revolutionary War and called the people to arms. Here the immortal Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Worcester by Isaiah Thomas. ii6 The Worcester of 1898. Near by the artillery thiindcred a weleome to (jeneral Washington upon his visit to the town after his inauguration as president of the United States, and likewise to General Lafayette in 1834 when he passed through the city on his visit to the country he had helped to liberate a half century before. Within sight stands the modest monument which commemorates the services of the brave Timothy Bigelow in the Revolutionary struggle, and also the more imposing monument which records the names and heroic actions of the sons of Worcester who died in the service of the republic in the late Civil War, and which speaks in silent but impressive eloquence of the glory, the romance and the sacrifices of brave and patriotic warriors. Near by stands the old City Hall, which is soon to be abandoned and demolished. It is not a pretentious edifice, and makes no claim to architectural beauty, but it has been the governmental home of a free people for three-quarters of a century. Within its walls have been enacted the ordinances and decrees which have marked and guided the steps of our municipality since its erection. It has been the rostrum and the arena for great political debates and battles. It has witnessed the first meetings and conventions of earnest and true-hearted men, impressed with the wicked- ness of human slavery, and imbued with the belief that its extension into the territory of the United States would tarnish the fame and honor of the republic. It has resounded with the fervid and lofty eloquence of many of the great men of the nineteenth century. It has echoed with the strains of sweet music and the soul-stirring songs of Jenny Lind. It has listened to such noted representatives of literature, temperance and religion as Thack- eray, Higginson, Father Mathew, Theodore Parker and John B. Gough. It has heard the florid and passionate eloquence of Louis Kossuth, Rufus Choate and John A. Andrew. It has heard the masterly and persuasive oratory of Webster, Everett, Winthrop, Sumner, Wilson, Banks, Benton and Abraham Lincoln. It has heard Frederick Douglass, John Brown, Garrison, Phillips, Hale and the Fosters plead the cause of the slave. And it has often heard our local orators argue causes of interest to Worcester, and some of these, like Davis, Lincoln, Allen, Bullock, Devens and Hoar, are worthy of mention in connection with the great orators and statesmen of the world. As we bid it farewell, let us do so with reverence and respect, and with the feeling that it is going the way of all the earth. A great king who had been presented with a gold ring once asked the wisest of his counselors to cause to be engraved thereon the statement of the most obvious and univer- sal truth in nature. The counselor in a few days returned the ring to the king with this inscription on it: "This, too, shall pass away." So this magnificent and massive hall, the land whereon it stands, and we, too, shall pass away. "Art is long and time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating- Funeral marches to the grave." The Worcester of 1898. 117 Nevertheless, if we are faithful and equal to our opportunities, we can leave footprints and influences of an ennobling nature that will help the onward march of mankind in after years, as we have been helped by the noble lives and good deeds of our ancestors, who handed down to us the blessed heritage of liberty and good government. God be praised for their unfaltering courage, their holy living, and their exalted characters. To-day I seem to see their venerated forms pass before us in a procession wherein march those whose hands grew callous with the hard work of the first settle- ment and their hearts brave in Indian warfare ; those who afterward toiled in field, office and shop, in building up the industries of this great city; those who in professional life promoted the cause of education, religion, medicine and jurisprudence; those who, endoAved with fine instincts and tastes, advanced the art of music, painting, achitecture, invention, and science in all its forms ; those who aided the progress of civilization by writing, by eloquence and by public service in the halls of legislation; those who sought liberty in union and the country's honor by service in warfare; and those who bore the children, rocked the cradles, and made homes pure and happy. This is a long procession of men and women who did what they could for Worcester and for the uplifting of humanity everyAvhere, and their brows are radiant with the stars of glory. I love to think of them as now living in the realms of paradise, where The great intelligences air That range above our mortal state, In circle round the blessed gate, Received and gave them a welcome there. As we think of all they did for us and the world, may their noble example inspire us with the firm determination to leave this city a cleaner and better place to live in than we found it, with better ordinances, better schools, better homes, better highways, better manners and customs, and better morals and religion. To strive for this consummation is surely our duty, and in such work we will find joy and "the peace that passeth under- tanding," and causes "death itself to be swallowed up in victory." Oh, beautiful my country, be thine a nobler care Than all the wealth of commerce, thy harvest waving fair ; Be it thy pride to lift up the manhood of the poor, Be thou to the oppressed fair freedom's open door; For thee our fathers suffered; for thee they toiled and prayed; Upon thy holy altar their willing lives they laid. Thou ha.st no common birthright; grand memories on thee shine ; The blood of pilgrim nations, commingled, flows in thine; Oh, beautiful our country ! r6und thee in love we draw, Thine is the grace of freedom, the majesty of law ! Be righteousness thy sceptre, justice thy diadem , And on thy shining forehead be peace, the crowning gem. ii8 The Worcester of 1898. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. The building is built of pink tooled Milford granite, in the style of the early Italian Renaissance, which was selected by the architects as being the most in harmony with the spirit of modern times as it should find expression in a municipal structure. Noted authorities have been quoted freely in the endeavor to produce harmonv. The building is 219 feet long and 85 feet wide. From the grade line to the top of the cornice it is 65 feet in height, and the graceful Florentine tower rises 205 feet above the street. The construction is lire-proof throughout, and the red tile hip-roof rests upon a framework of steel. There are sixty rooms in the building used for the thirty- five offices for the various departments, etc. The interior finish of the offices is in quartered oak with furniture to match, with the exception of the mayor's apartments, which are finished in mahogany. The floors of the corridors are paved in mosaic. The floor space of the aldermanic chamber is 30 x 40 feet and the council 50 x 24. Both have galleries. Among the firms who have contributed to the furnishing and equip- ment of the building are the following: Counters, tables, wardrobes, cupboards, and special order desks. Grand Rapids School Furniture Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.;, working desks (flat and roll-top), Derby Desk Company; interior vault work, vSt. Louis Art Metal Com- pany, and Office Specialty Company, Rochester, N. Y. ; exterior vault work, doors, Morse Safe Company; chairs, Shattuck & Morgan Chair Company, Bedford, Ohio ; Vienna chairs, imported ; mayor's furniture and council and aldermanic chairs, Clifford & Johnson; carpets, equally divided, W. J. Hogg and M. J. Whittall; curtains and fixtures, E. G. Higgins & Co. and P. Marr; electric and gas fixtures, Mitchell Vance Company, New York; heating and ventilating, gas piping, Washburn & Garfield; plumbing, I. N. Tucker; electric work, Plummer, Ham & Richardson; granolithic sidewalks, G. W. Carr, Worcester; drawing tables, Morse Machine Companv, Rochester, N. Y. ; umbrella stands and cabinets for laboratories, Henry Brannon; clocks, Howard Com.- pany, Boston; lettering on offices, Stenberg & Company; elevators, Elektron Elevator Company, Springfield. SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. nHE act incorporating Worcester as a city was signed by Governor George N. Briggs on the 29th day of February, 1848. This specific date not appearing in the calendar of 1898, and the time of year not being suitable to an adequate observance of the municipal anniversary, the semi-centennial celebration was postponed to a more auspicious season, and June 20th, 21st and 22d were appointed, the two first days to be given to a regatta on Lake Quinsigamond, under the management of the Quinsigamond International Association, to be followed on the 2 2d by a grand civic and trades procession in the fore- noon, and musical exercises and historical addresses on the Common in the afternoon. The procession on the morning of the 2 2d was fully carried out, but a sudden change in the weather at noon compelled an adjournment of the other exercises, which were held in Mechanics Hall on the evening of Friday, June 24. A feature of the semi-centennial celebration was the regatta at Lake Quinsigamond, under the auspices of the Quinsigamond International Reofatta Association. The original intention had been to devote two days to this, but later it was decided to have all of the races the same day, June 21. Perfect weather favored both contestants and spectators, the water conditions were all that could be desired, and excellent management marked the programme throughout. The races were begun in the forenoon ; excepting an intermission at noon, they were continued until evening, and those of the afternoon were witnessed by upwards of 5,000 people. They consisted of canoe and shell racing, singles, doubles, fours and eights, and some most spirited and interesting contests resulted. Old boating men say that the final race, in which the Worcester High vSchool eight defeated the famous Weld (Harvard) crew and made a new lake record, was the most stubbornly fought and most exciting contest they had ever witnessed. It was a successfully conducted regatta, and at its close Mayor Dodge presented valuable trophies to the winners at the rooms of the Wachusett Boat Club. I20 Thb Worcester of 1898. The grand civic and trades procession on the morning of Wednes- day, June 22, under the efficient direction of ]\Iajor E. T. Raymond, chief marshal, assisted by Captain Levi Lincoln, chief of staff, was a great success. It was participated in by the (xrand Armv and other military organizations, the pupils of the public schools, manv secret and other societies, trades unions, and a fair representation of the business interests of AVorcester. Mayor Dodge reviewed the line as it passed on the return from the south end from a stand erected close up to the sidew^alk at the front of the City Hall. Occupying seats on the platform were members of the City Government, city officials and invited guests. The stand was brightly decorated wdth bunting. Directly over the mayor's party a crimson heart, the seal of the city, rested betw^een a glory of American flags. As the head of the line reached the stand in returning. Mayor Dodge rose in company wdth Chief Drennan, and greeted each salute in the entire line, standing uncovered most of the time. Chief Marshal Ray- mond reviewed the line at the intersection of Front and INIain streets, the marshal and aids of each division dropping out to review their respective coininands. From Lincoln square to Claremont street the line of march w^as a blaze of color. Flags of every size and cj^uality fluttered in the gentle breeze, and the picturesque flag of Cuba was frequently found alongside its protector, the glorious old stars and stripes. The pupils of the schools in the south end of the city were given an excellent opportunity to view the joarade through the kindness of Con- gressman Joseph H. Walker. The large lawn fronting his house at the corner of Main and Ripley streets was given over entirely to the school children from Woodland, Freeland, Downing, Canterbury, Cambridge streets and other schools. The children w^ere under the care of their teachers, and none enjoyed the parade more than they. EXERCISES IN MECHANICS HALL Friday evenmng, June 24TH. The hour set for the exercises was 8 o'clock, but half an hour before that time the Worcester Brass Band took up its place on the floor of the hall at the front of the platform, from which position it gave a delightful concert during the arrival of the audience, which included several of the old voters of 1848, leading citizens in all walks of life, and city officials. A few minutes before 8 the pupils of the high schools, who were to sing, took their places on the platform, and they made a pretty background for the dark-clothed speakers of the evening The Worcester of 1898. 121 and the party that accompanied them, the young ladies of the chorus being gowned in summer dresses of bright and varied colors. It was a few minutes after 8 when INIavor Rufus B. Dodsfe, Jr., ascended the platform, his appearance being the signal for a hearty burst of applause, which continued while the following were taking their seats: Right Reverend jNlonsiornor Thomas (Trillin, D. D., Frank P. Goulding, Esq., Colonel William S. B. Hopkins, ex-Mayor Edward L. Davis, ex-Mayor Henry A. Marsh, ex-Mayor A. B. R. vSprague, Pres- ident Burton W. Potter of the Board of Aldermen, and President Frank B. Hall of the Common Council. The exercises opened with " The Stars and Stripes Forever," played by the band, and then Mayor Dodge introduced the Right Reverend Monsignor Thomas Griffin, who offered the following prayer witli much fervor and earnestness : O almighty and eternal God ! Creator and Lord of heaven and earth ! one only God in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, we profoundly adore Thee, and reverently approach Thy throne to offer our homages of love and gratitude. We thank Thee for the manifold blessings which Thou hast bestowed upon us in the half century of our municipal life, for the material prosperity wherewith Thou hast enriched us; for the indus- trial development which sets our cit}^ high in state and nation, and wafts its name in honor to far-off lands. We thank Thee for the superior educational advantages which the people possess and enjoy, for the large benevolence and expansive charities which proclaim a common brotherhood ' in Jesus Christ, by whom we are taught to address Thee under the endearing name of Father. O Lord God, by whom all things are rightly ordered, we thank Thee that Thou didst direct the footsteps of the pioneer settlers to this chosen spot, and didst imbue them with courage, thrift and unfaltering hope and trust in Thee. And now, O merciful and loving Father, from Thy holy heaven graciously look upon us. Be attentive to our prayer; may Thy blessing be upon this people and all dwellers within these walls from generation to gen- eration. O God, from whom proceed all holy desires, righteous counsels and just works, inspire our representatives in council assembled Avith the spirit of righteousness, of honor and of justice. Endow the chief executive with heavenly wisdom to know the things that are well pleasing in Thy sight, and enable him to perform them with all his strength. Lord God of hosts, mighty and strong in battle, kindle and cherish in our hearts a patriotic ardor that, next to our love for Thee, may be placed our love of country. Make our flag for evermore the symbol of freedom, of justice and of clemency. Inscribe on its folds the heavenly message, "Peace and good will." Flash it out in Thy blessed light to the nations of the earth, and so make us partakers in the mission of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. The light of Thy countenance, O Lord! is signed upon us; Thoii hast given gladness in our hearts; Thou hast crowned us as with a shield of Thy FRANK P. GOULDING. The Worcester of 1898. 123 good will. Our exultant, grateful hearts in swelling accents proclaim Thy praise. Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth; ye mountains, give praise with jubilation. Praise, honor, glory, power and benediction be Thine, O adorable Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, forever and ever. Amen ! MR. GOULDING'5 ADDRESS. Man is a creature of memory and prophecy. And alth(jugh, in looking before, his hopes generally outrun the tardy pace of reason, yet he is always anxious to find in experience some solid ground to justify his brightest expectations for the future. Hence our joy and exultation over the achievements of our ancestors arise not alone from the fruits we are enjoying, but also from the assurance they afford that we, too, may tread the lofty path and win a splendid renown. Our most familiar psalm of life places the value of great men's lives in the circumstance that they remind us how sublime we can make our own lives. We pause to-day on the midway summit of the city's first century to look back for a moment over the path we have trod, to count our gains, to read a lesson, to gather an inspiration. We would profit by exp^-ience, and find a chart to guide our future course by penetrating the deeper meaning of the recorded time now closed forever. If there are principles and forces under- lying and controlling the destinies of men, we would find them out, as far as possible, and learning how far our fathers recognized those principles and were faithful to them, read the true import of all their successes and their failures. Our eulogies will have a significance in proportion to our under- standing of the spirit in which the founders of our local institutions wrought. On such an occasion, and to the end indicated, of course, no theme could be so appropriate as a complete and faithful narrative of the life of the fathers who stood at the turning-point of our history, when the moderately sized town of 1830 to 1835, influenced both by circumstances and by men, set its face towards the rising sun, and began the remarkable progression which has placed it among the great cities of the land. But such a narrative of a people's life is not to be lightly attempted by the unskillful. The story-teller who would essay the tale of a people's life for such an occasion must be an artist in his craft. His mind must not only be stored in rich abundance with all the wealth of incident and fact, but he must also possess the historic imagination, the insight to discern, and the faculty to portray character and to discover the less apparent causes and impulses that determine the emotions of men. Happily, nothing in this occasion makes any imperative demand upon me to attempt such an impossible task. Neither the time at my command in preparation or delivery, nor any personal qualification would permit entrance upon that ground. The celebration of the 200th anniversary of the town's incorporation called into requisition the famous talents of your great citizen, whose fine 124 The Worcester of 1898. eloquence traced with sufficient detail the stej^s of our progression as a community, and assigned Avith clear judgment and unerring insight the principal causes which have i)roduced the marvelous results that now so powerfully stir our patriotic enthusiasm and pride. And the recent dedica- tion of your new City Hall has furnished the occasion for adequate and ample review of the princi])al municipal events that have marked the progress of your city. A far less ambitious attempt on my part will satisfy all demands this day makes on me. I would direct attention to two or three of the leading characteristics of the generation of men who constituted the founders of modern Worcester, and trace in briefest outline what seems to me the connection between those characteristics and the results wrought out in the material greatness and primacy of Worcester, and what may be called the moral attributes of the community, in the transferred and secondary sense in Avhich the term is applicable to a community or a race. We cannot draw too sharp a line in assigning the beginning of the citys' life. The statute of 1848, chapter 32, no more marked the city's birth than did the revision of 1866 or that of 1893. Each act changed the form of government, and the first most radically. But it was a mere record of an accomplished event. The city, in its life and spirit existed before, as well as after, the act of the Legislature. The transformation which was to be, within the lifetime of men then and now living, so striking and wonderful, began in the 30's, and in 1S48 was in progress with constantly accelerating speed. The causes of the marked change which came over the spirit and form of Worcester in the early 3o"s, marking its destiny as the centre of great and varied industrial enterprises, have been frequently exploited, and are too familiar to require more than a passing notice. The Blackstone canal belonged to a dying type of public highways. It perished almost before it began to live, and was superseded by instrumentalities so swift and power- ful that we realize wnth difficulty how its antiquated and sluggish methods, its leaden-paced and cumbrous vehicles could have been the occasion of awakening a new life in this community. But the creeping boats which bore the materials and the products of trade and industry between the sheltered inland and the boundless deep were to our fathers like winged messengers of promise and harbingers of coming greatness to Worcester. The quick-witted and much scheming denizens here saw in the slow but easy moving craft the opening possibilities of their locality. They were trans- ported beyond tliQ ignorant present and felt the future in the instant. The founders of modern Worcester were the generation on the stage of action twenty years before the first charter was passed, and we are to look at the men who directed affairs from 1830 to i860, for the agents Avho molded this city intt) the permanent form it took, and made possible its present rank and standing. Like all men who have achieved something great and noble and perma- nent, these men are extremely interesting characters. Biographical notices The Worcester of 1898. 125 and anecdotes of them always disclose something individual, racy and peculiar. They are like the Homeric characters, distinct, clear-cut in outline and detail, with no blurring of the image presented to the eye, exactly focussed and differentiated. There were, of course, in old Worcester a few men of more than local celebrity, men whose intellectual pre-eminence, eloquence and general ability had attracted wide attention, and whose services in high and responsible positions have been long and honorable. But these were not the men, I think, who gave the key-note to the new life of the town. The honor of founding Worcester anew must be accorded to the mechanics and artisans, the manufacturers and business men of that generation, for they embodied each of them the description implied in all those terms. And, I think, the first quality that attracts attention as we try to repro- duce in our study of imagination their form and pressure, is their practical business sense and sagacity. First of all, they knew how to accomplish a concrete result by conformable concrete means. The ringing challenge of common-sense met every proposition and every scheme of policy, and unless it could give the countersign and justify itself to the apprehension of hard-headed, unsentimental brains, no project was likely to get any permanent footing. It goes without saying that this practical business sense took into constant account the I'is incrtice of things, and recognized the indispensable requisites of industrious habits and strict economy which were conspicuous virtues then and afterwards of the founders. Their ideals and their conduct were conformable to the multiplication table and other plain laws, as Carlyle says. Another part of this practical sense was a shrewd Yankee secretiveness even to the point of scant sociability, as to their own aft'airs. When Lincoln attempted in 1S32 to make a compilation of the industrial enterprises of Worcester, he found himself obstructed by the jealous secrecy with which the various proprietors guarded the inside facts of their busi- ness, and was obliged to abandon the project in despair. We smile when we read, over the signatures of men since famous as the founders of giant industries, plaintive notes deprecatory of too inquisitive examination of their little plants, as if they feared they were too feeble to stand competition. This practical competency and genius for "getting there," to use a slang- phrase, was also a general characteristic of the earlier and later settlers of New England. The Pilgrim fathers themselves, with all their exalted purposes to brave all clangers and dare and endure death itself in the desert to gain the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, possessed in no small measure the practical and business faculty, which is in its last analysis the capacity to look at facts as they are, and not as one might wish or hope or dream they might be. Senator Hoar, in the address before referred to, has shown by ample instances that this region was the home of the inventor. I have sought to lay some emphasis on a trait of character which distinguished the leaders 126 The Worcester of 1898. of these cunning contrivers of useful inventions and which is often sup- posed to be lacking to some extent in the inventor. Another characteristic of the founders was llicir hospitality to new ideas. Worcester has always been a liberal city. Persecution for opinion's sake, whether by pains and penalties of the law, or by social ostracism or boy- cotting, or other uncivilized means and methods, has had little place here. And this quality and disposition has been a guaranty of enlightened prog- ress here, as it always was and always will be a guaranty of light and progress wherever it prevails. It is of far less consequence what ideas a community starts with than that it should be free and open-minded to hear new ones. Not that all new ideas are necessarily right. The point is that they are not necessarily wrong because new. And honest opinions are entitled to a hearing once at least. The degeneracy of Spain is not due to her views on religion or politics. It is due to the fact that for centuries she closed the door to all new opinions of any kind and extinguished all initiative in the flames of the inquisition. The repression by violent or oppressive measures even of manifest error, is fatal to all progress, as it extinguishes at length the very spirit of free inquiry. Mr. Fiske says of the vSpanish inquisition that "it was a machine for win- nowing out and destroying all such individuals as surpassed the average in quickness of wit, earnestness of purpose and strength of character, in so far as to entertain opinions of their own and boldly declare them. The more closely people approached an elevated standard of intelligence and moral courage, the more likely was the machine to reach them. It worked with deadly efificiency, cutting off the brightest and boldest in their prime, while the duller and weaker spirits were spared to propagate the race." And there is an intolerance which falls far short of the grim savagery of the holy office, but which may be very potent to restrain and compress into a dull conformity the opinions of men, and to stamp out alertness and progressiveness of mind. But here that kind of spirit was ever conspicuous by its absence. The diversity and variety of our industrial pursuits have had their counterpart in the variety and contrariety of opinion, which have consented to abide together in mutual respect, and, differing however greatly in many things, yet welded together and harmonized by a common love of city, state and nation. Among the earliest to be aft'ected by the schism which rent in twain the Calvinistic orthodoxy of the last century, Worcester felt no alarm when the most ancient of the Christian churches, under the benignant leading of Father Fitton, took the first steps in that unbroken progress which has marked its local history. And I think I shall command the unanimous assent of all the members of that communion when I say that whatever may be true as to some few individuals, or as to some extremely limited periods of time, no permanent policy of the city has ever shut them out from equal privileges and honors on account of their faith. The Worcester of 1898. 127 It was this spirit (;f tolerance, this liospitable fairness of mind, which welcomes reasonable discussion of all new ideas, as much as the central and accessible position of the city, that early made it the scene of the anti-slavery agitation or even the birthplace of that movement. It is not to be supposed that Worcester opinion was unanimous on that subject. The contrary is true. The conservative and even reactionary view was strongly held until the logic of the great war had converted everybody to abolitionism. Along with their practical hard-headed business sense and their liberality in matters of opinion, these founders of the new and modern Worcester had sufficient ideality on the one hand and conservatism on the other to appre- ciate the indispensable importance of education. Welcoming with perfect openness of mind all new knowledge and wisdom, they proposed that their children should be adequately instructed in the knowledge and wisdom of the past. And their clear conception of the practical necessity of suitable tools, appliances and means in order to attain any worthy end, mechanical or other, inspired them with the determina- tion that whatever was needed to furnish their children's minds with all recorded knowledge, and train their powers to the highest point of efficiency, God willing, should not lack. Hence the number and excellence of the educational foundations of the city. The educators, the school-masters and school-mistresses of Worcester have always constituted a most important part of her civic life, and, I need not say, have maintained an honorable rank among their craft throughout the land. The scores of elegant and commodious public school-houses with their hundreds of cheerful school-rooms filled and even overflowing with tens of thousands of children, under the best of instruction, the vast and increasing annual outlay uncomplainingly borne by the taxpayers, sufficiently attest the present devotion of the city to the cause of public education, and the present condition is but the natural growth from the seed sown by the fathers. And time would fail me if I undertook even to glance at the glittering circle of great institutions of learning which crown the lovely hills around; the jeweled girdle of our fair young city, richer, rarer and more precious than all the fabled wealth the gorgeous east could bestow. Our noble Public Librar}-, noAv intelligently administered so as to be an integral part of our public educational system, as it is ancillary also to all private pursuit of knowledge, is another institution endowed and fostered by the munificence of one of the founders in the ver}' spirit of his com- patriots, and is, in its history and development, a striking illustration of this devotion to sound learning and useful knowledge which I select as one of the leading traits of the fathers. This beautiful hall, into which the caprices of the summer weather have shifted these exercises, is an illustration, a type and epitome of my theme, and embodies in its springing arches, its firm supporting pilasters, its ample and useful spaces, and in all the exquisite grace and harmony of its architectural lines, a suitable expression of the qualities I am ascribing to the founders. It is in itself an enduring monument to the courage, per- 128 The Worcester of 1898. severance and genius of the mechanics, artisans and Inisiness men of Worcester; and it has been a temple sacredly dedicated to free inquiry, free opinion and free speech, an academic retreat where the great teachers, lecturers, orators and artists of the world have imparted to all the people the best culture and learning of the age. Practical business sagacity, the ability to manage affairs, to subdue the hard conditions wdiich beset the struggle for existence, and to endow human life with a convenient plenty, open-minded liberality, hospitable to all new ideas which could gain a foothold by fair reasoning, devotion to useful learning, — these were among the leading traits; these were the motives, the property and spirit which characterized the founders and promoters of our city. Their motto might well be that which Macaulay describes as the key of the Baconian philosophy, "utility and progress." The results of their work, the fruition of their spirit, lie before you, written in letters of living light, as a part of the history of the country. These men "wrought in a sad sincerity," and it may well seem that the very insensate elements from which they forged their designs consciously grew into the form the city has taken. When Themistocles, the great Athenian commander, Avas asked at a feast to touch the lute, he drew himself up and haughtily replied that he could not fiddle, but yet he could make a small towni a great city. In all probability Themistocles had but a very imperfect appreciation or rather no appreciation at all of the real greatness wdiich was in store for the city he had saved in battle. The greatness of Athens, which alone he could understand, referred to the number of hoplites and light-armed troops she could set in the field, the number and strength of the triremes she could man, the strength of her walls, the number of her allies and tributary subjects, her financial resources, her commercial and maritime importance, and her general authority and influence among the states of Greece. But how transitory was all that! How puny and trifling seem all the military prowess and maritime greatness of Athens, in view of the swift and overwhelming disasters which swept over her, even Avhile those who could remember the person of Themistocles were still alive! But there was a greatness of Athens totally concealed from the appre- hension of Themistocles, but wdiich can never perish from the memory of men. The glories of the Periclean age, the literature and the art of Athens, the names of Herodotus, Thucydides, ^^schylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Demosthenes of Phidias and Praxiteles are the heritage of the world. They and their works, even in the incomplete and fragmentary condition in which they have emerged from the desolation of many centuries, pre- serve forever the name and history of the sniall town which Themistocles thought he had made a great city. Our fathers did not aim to establish a great city possessing primacy, dominion and masterdom. They knew how to make a small town become a great city, but the means they wrought with and the results they sought were the means and results of peace, the agencies of faithful industry, The Worcester of 1898. 129 practical sense, equality of right in matters of opinion and conduct, and the impartial dififusion among all the people of the blessings of learning and the priceless boon of liberty. But are the results accomplished by these our local heroes wholh^ unworthy to be considered in comparison with those directly traceable to the victory of Themistocles over the hosts of Xerxes? The city our founders have made out of a small town probably contains a larger popu- lation than Athens in her highest estate, certainly a larger free population. In all the useful arts and sciences, in physical power, in material wealth, in everything that goes to make the external life of man comfortable, safe and agreeable, we are twenty-four centuries in advance of that famous citv. Who does not believe we are at least as far as that in advance on the scale of humanity and morality? Our relative significance and historic fame are as nothing compared with the mother of arts and eloquence. But that is because the whole civilized world has moved forward and upAvard. We are but members of a mighty empire based on human liberty. We are a unit in a vast group of like communities, each presenting so many precisely similar features that any attempt to discover and dwell on the points of difference would press out local patriotism beyond the bonds of reason. But I am not aware that the blessings which a noble and devoted ancestry have left as a rich heritage for us here, are any less worthy of our recogni- tion and gratitude because a hundred or a thousand other communities of our brethren of the same race and nation have a like tale to tell. No; viewed in relation to all the other cities of our reunited and happy land, we are but a microcosm and a type. Our history is but a repetition, a variety of the same species of a history common to all. But it would seem to be the part of reason to try to realize the extent of our advantages and opportunities, and blessings not less, but more because they are shared in some large measure throughout the land. The half century which now closes on the city's life has been packed with great events. The drama that has unrolled its scenes before your eyes has never been surpassed in human interest in all the history of the world. You have not only beheld the marvelous expansion of your own munici- pality to dimensions tenfold greater than at the beginning in population and wealth, but you have also seen your whole country advancing with giant strides and spreading its dominion over and occupying with its teem- ing millions of happy people vast areas which were then desert wastes and inhabited only by wild beasts and roving and barbarous tribes. You have seen thousands upon thousands of miles of railroad bind with a network of rapid intercommunication all sections of the Union. Almost within that period you have seen the invention of the electric telegraph, and altogether the boundless application of that wonderful agent to all the astonishing uses by which it now ameliorates the condition of mankind. You have seen the political fabric of your country trembling on the verge of dissolution under the stress of a great Civil War, and passing through that storm, becoming strengthened, consolidated, and welded anew into a 9 WILLIAM S. B. HOPKINS. The Worcester of 1898. 131 government far more authoritative than ever before, without the slightest tendency to oppress even the humblest citizen. And in all the relations of war and peace, you have seen the sons of Worcester, true to the traditions of their ancestors, displaying a spirit of patriotism and civic virtue beyond all praise. You have seen the youth of this city, from every calling and walk in life, summoned with sudden alarm from the depths of profound peace by the trumpet call of battle, spring to arms with a perfect valor and constancy never surpassed in the annals of mankind nor in the tales of the mythical heroes of the epic muse. And all that martial virtue you have seen matched by the patient heroism of mothers, wives, sisters and lovers, who have known how to carry the burden of a broken life, sustained and soothed in their lonely pilgrimage by the proud consciousness of their kinship with heroic souls. And recent events have shown that all these virtues still exist unimpaired in the present generation. In every point of view the past and the present justify our brightest hopes for the future, and great and fortunate will be the destiny of our successors if the hundredth anniversary of the city's corporate life shall dawn as auspiciously as this we now celebrate. COLONEL HOPKINS' ADDRESS. Order is the antithesis of chaos, harmony of contention, reason of passion, and, in a sense, law is the antithesis of license. The story of the creation, whether true as written in the Bible, or as written in the rocks, discloses the necessity of adjustment among material bodies before a universe can hang together without discord and crash, and thus only is possible the harmony of the spheres. In life the same rule prevails, for the millions of divergent and selfish interests, becoming discordant, would disintegrate into confusion and ruin if not constrained by controlling regulation. Thus in human affairs there must be artificial regulation — artificial because human — to attain an orderly status of living on this globe. The same law of order which prevents the stars from crashing together, more or less perfectly prevents the interests of men from collision. The first is absolute law because the law of material nature ; the latter only so absolute as the imperfect nature of man can develop, establish and enforce. This is government. If these conclusions are true, certain premises on which they rest, being further analyzed, will disclose evils in human nature, the methods of avoiding which or of redeeming from which become functions of human government. We may fairly assume that the faults with which, to effect order among men, government must deal, lie in the constitution of the individual. We will not stop to discuss the long-mooted question of innate depravity, as theologians have treated it. The evident results, with no inquiry into causes, are enough to appall us. Selfishness, for example, lies at the bottom of every crime. It is not a mere wanton desire to do another 132 The Worcester of 1898. wrong or injury, but the desire to i^ive oneself gratification and benefit that leads one to cut loose from the rules which others observe, and to violate others' rights. Selfishness, jealousy, lustful and greedy desire — these are the traits the entire eradication of which would effect a millennium, the bridling of which is the function of government. They may be constituents in producing wider and greater crimes that ordinarily follow from them, but ultimately they are traits of the individual man. A mob may be worse in the scale of oflienses than an assault, but a mob is only a lawless crowd, which would not exist were it not for the lawless men who compose it, and it is lawless only because they are lawless. Thus we see that the nearer we get to ourselves, the nearer we stand to those conditions which make laws necessary. The common weal demands the protection of persons, of property, of health, of morals, and this protec- tion is attempted by codes of police regulation and criminal statutes which must be uniform and which admit of no elasticity. But in our environment there are a thousand and one problems to be solved every hour in the day that touch individual purposes, plans, hopes and interests in their relation to our neighbors and to special communities which do admit of latitude and of varying determination. These questions touch personal relations and the affairs of home most intimately, and they are nearer to individual man than any other regulations. Such affairs are not to be determined by some general and inflexible rule, but the adjustment of them is effected only by conference, in which personal assertion and personal yielding result in something in the nature of an agreement. It may be an agreement made by a majority, to be sure, but the acquiescence of the minority after full hearing, so to speak, makes, for the time, at least, a concordant result. Such problems, because they are home questions, must ordinarily be determined singly and by those most intimately affected by them, and thus they involve most nearly the very individual traits which at bottom have made the restraint of government essential to happiness, and their settle- ment is often at once the most important and the most difficult part of government. This is local self-government. It is conceded by the publicists, statesmen and scholars that the most perfect form or method of treating these home questions is found in the pure democracy of the town meeting, which was never more perfected than in the towns of New England. Our own Jefferson declared, "These wards, called townships in New England, are the vital principle of government, and have proved them- selves the wisest invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government and for its preservation." The French De Tocqueville found that "the public spirit of the local communities is less awakened and less influential" where "the population exercises a less immediate influence on affairs." The distinguished English observer, Professor Brice, expresses admirably the high importance of local self-government in the affairs of mankind. The towns, he says, "are to this day the true unity of political life in New The Worcester of 1898. 133 England, the solid foundation of that well compacted structure of self- government which European philosophers have admired and the new states of the West have sought to reproduce." "Self-government stimulates the interest of people in affairs of their neighborhood, sustains local political life, educates the citizen in his daily round of civic duty, teaches him that perpetual vigilance and the sacrifice of his own time and labor are the price that must be paid for individual liberty and collective prosperity." " Self-government secures the good administra- tion of local affairs by giving the inhabitants of each locality due means of overseeing the conduct of their business." The same idea is carefully expressed by a judicious American writer bear- ing the sturdy Scotch name, Douglas Campbell. He puts it, "As we have already noticed, the feature of it all that strikes an Englishman most forci- bly is the separation of local and national affairs in the administration of the state and the general government. But the township system with its "more diverse local self-government is of greater importance. Given that, and the rest of the system follows almost as a matter of course. Every American is a politician, and feels a keen interest in his presidential and State elections, but after all, these are generally of much less political impor- tance to him than the home elections, which determine whether his local affairs shall be wisely, economically and justly administered. General taxa- tion is a trifle compared with that for his schools, roads, bridges and other local expenses. It is in the town meeting that the incipient statesman is formed." Those persons present who can remember with distinctness the time when the recently removed brick structure on this Common witnessed the deliberations of the town of Worcester under the rural conditions of self- government just described, are not large in number. Nearly every one, however, can recall somewhere and at some time in life the scene presented by a town meeting. What stately decorum marked the installation of a "moderator," as the law makes us call him; that elective ruler of the day who under the statutes is to "regulate the business and proceedings of the meeting, decide all questions of order and make public declaration of all votes passed"; without whose leave "no person shall speak in a town meet- ing," and at whose request "all persons shall" be silent; who may, after notice, order "a person who behaves in a disorderly manner" to withdraw from the meeting, and may invoke the aid of the constable to eject the contemptuous and "confine him in some convenient place until the meeting is adjourned." Under the guardian supervision and rule of that citizen, in whom his townsmen had thus expressed the greatest confidence for wisdom, caution, common sense, fairness and moderation, discussion proceeded on the needs of their daily life, and determination resulted which in the vast majority of cases was the safest and best. It was a kind of political house- keeping, upon the orderly conduct of which, as in family organization, the happiness of the home depended. The great trouble with this admirable system of local self-government is that in a community where prosperity reigns, it is necessarily short-lived. 134 The Worcester of 1898. Perhaj)s it would be more accurate to say that it has its limit of practical operation, which is reached in point of time all the sooner where the pros- perity is the greater. Yet so great Avas the trust of the people of New England in the township system that they clung to it as long as it was possible, dreading the change to the organization of cities as one fraught with danger to the good management of home affairs, though rendered necessary by increase of population, accumulation of wealth, and the expansion of business interests. Thus we find that the town of Boston was allowed to reach a population of 45^000 before it accepted a city charter, and in this second city of the Commonwealth the population had reached nearly 18,000 when, fifty years ago, it took upon itself that municipal government under which it has since been developed to the stature of the present day. The celebration of the transition from town to civic government, there- fore, is in some sense the celebration of an undesirable event in the life of the municipality. The pride in past success, and in the promise of greater achievement still, is shadowed a little by the recognition of the departure from the day of simple security and the embarking on stormy seas. After all, this is no more than the repetition of the history of every man when he comes to maturity and steps forth bravely to meet the seductions of the active world, carrying along with him, as inspirations and defences, a well ordered youth and a mother's prayers and hopes. He assumes the respon- sibilities of his future amid environments which are beyond his control. What the dangers are that confront a newly organized city, drawing sharply the lines of contrast between its earlier condition as a town and its features as a city, are too evident to need much enumeration. Neverthe- less, I trust you will pardon me a few suggestions. In the first place it is a corporation with methods and limits definitely prescribed by the statute which gives it birth, and the powers of the corporate body are no longer directly exercised by the people who compose it, but by a small representa- tive assembly, which, as experience shows, is more easily controlled in the interest of selfish or unworthy schemes than could the popular assembly whose place it has taken, have been affected. Here, then, enters the danger of easy corruption — a danger which has much too often ripened to fruition. It may happen that home affairs are no longer treated as home affairs, but as political opportunities, that instead of cultivating neighborly harmony, neighborly strife is fomented for the real purpose of breeding political contest. Another danger which arises is too great ambition. It is perfectly natural that when the town of yesterday becomes the city of to-day, it looks upon the change in its importance as greater than it really is. A new city is an over-grown town. It is likely to put on airs without recog- nizing its own awkwardness, as does the growing boy when he graduates from breeches into long trousers. There is a period in this adolescence of cities when the necessity of large and even strained expenditures cannot be avoided, so that all the more over-ambition is a source of great danger. Generally speaking, the fact must also be recognized that in every way the The Worcester of 1898. 135 horizon widens. Growth and enterprise enlarge the ideas of the citizen, increase the character and extent of his demands so that it is not easy, even with judicious circumspection, to keep within reasonable and approved limits. As the city progresses in its life, all of these features become modified, being sometimes aggravated to the danger point or beyond that point, sometimes controlled and confined within reasonable bounds. If the first is true, the evils of city government become confirmed and scandalous. If the latter is ture, a healthy growth points to an honorable and successful future. Right here let me use the phrase of Professor Brice, whom I have quoted before, drawing a sharp comparison between municipal merit and demerit : " I do not say that in any of the great European states the mass of the rural population is equally competent with the American to work such a system (local self-government) ; still it presents a model toward which European institutions ought to tend ; while the examples of cities like New York and Philadelphia offer salutary warnings of what municipal govern- ments ought to avoid." In asking you for a few moments to consider to-day how far Worcester has met the demand put upon her under her changed condition from fifty years ago, I would not be supposed to essay either the pen of an unsparing critic or that of an unthinking eulogist. Though blame is often more useful than praise, praise is vastly more gracious than blame. If we only try to hold an even balance between the two, it seems to me the character of Worcester will remain exalted beyond most cities of her size. Great demands for public works inevitably press themselves on a new city, and many circumstances conspire at times to swell the need. These are matters which cannot be postponed, and still the meeting them entails large expenditure. The case of Worcester was not only no exception to the rule, but it has been in fact a rather signal illustration of it. The great question of water supply and drainage came early, and of course came together. The inland situation of the city, with only a small and heavily-ponded stream leading to the sea, and even that coming from sources which them- selves presented the best opportunity for the supply of water, through almost the whole life of the city, has presented problems bristling with difficulties and loaded with expense. These culminated in the not wholly solved task of sewage purification, which the necessities of the public health devolved on us to solve, not only for ourselves and our neighbors below, but also, in a charitable spirit, for the whole interior of the Commonwealth — but always at our own charge. The building of new streets and the endeavor to reasonably answer the demand of their repair, and even to reasonably keep abreast with the hue and cry for good roads, instigated to imperious demand as it has been by the invention of the bicycle ; the vast increase of the claims of the schools, both for buildings and in the developing system of instruction, and in a greater ratio than the increase of population ; the development of a fine system of parks which can never be accomplished so well as in the early 136 The Worcester of 1898. years of a city; the requirements of the poor, and the beneficent establish- ment of hospitals keeping pace with the demand of the times, — all have received well-merited attention. The adaptation of the city's convenience and needs to the great problems of the railroad and of local rapid transit, called and still call for much earn- est and judicious consideration. Another consideration pressing on the judgment of the citizens of a growing city, is the expediency of seeing to it that public work of every character is well done, and done to last. This involves a readiness to assume responsibility at the right time and a like readiness and courage to wait and consider long enough, even in the face of pressure, to insure lasting work. There is no such unjustifiable and wicked extravagance as a makeshift — a dishonest and false pretence by which it is sought to satisfy a demand for bread by giving a stone. Now this brief and very important enumeration of the demand of the young city and the city of to-day is seldom gone over with careful thought by the critics and growlers, and still these are the things that keep up the tax rate, and must do so for a long time to come. No one fails to recognize the inalienable right of men to complain about taxation. That man would be a candidate for immediate translation to the angel world who, although he would not sell his business plant for $50,000, should fail to anathematize the assessors who taxed it on a valuation of $15,000. In examining the records of a city's government, therefore, we should pay little heed to the fugitive complaints which echo through the street. It becomes us to form thoughtful judgment based on actual investi- gation. Now my proposition to-day, fellow citizens, is that on the whole the suc- ceeding city governments since the charter of 1848 have done good and faithful service for the city of Worcester. They have been called to deal with puzzling problems, and beyond question have made mistakes, but who can say they have been other than honest mistakes? They have been called upon to expend millions of dollars, until it has reached millions each year, yet who can say they have been guilty of extravagance? There are proba- bly more instances of timid neglect of opportunity by city governments than of reckless expenditure, and it surely is not open to anyone to truthfully say that they are chargeable at any time with dishonesty. I suppose that there is no earthly institution that can be worse than a dishonest city government. The opportunity for peculation and jobbery, and the temptation toward them, affecting men who make politics a trade and live by political manipulation, easily get a foothold on city governments if the door be opened to them even a crack. It is then a matter of congrat- ulation that no scandal attaches to the first fifty years of Worcester's City Government. We may find measures and acts to criticise, for with what body of men could we not? But we never will all agree in the same criticism, while we can all agree on honest administration. So much for the past. Of the present we are a part, and may not hold impartial judgment. What, then, of the future? The Worcester of 1898. 137 It is a pretty serious question for Worcester whether she has not reached that political and municipal stage at which the dangers, which she has kept in good control, are to be enhanced by greater growth, so that the perils of the future require greater guards. This is a thought which should sober us on this festive day, into an anxious and honest consideration of the question whether we shall be able to preserve the creditable purity of purposes which has characterized our first fifty years, through the next like period of time; and if so, how? That one patriotic purpose impels us to unanimous deter- mination that it must and shall be done, cannot for a moment be doubted. But it must be remembered that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and that the danger lies in good-natured slackness and inattention, laziness in public duty, and unwillingness to give time and personal effort without pecuniary reward to the public service. The election of men who are mere politicians for the sake of political turmoil, and who are willing to accept an unsalaried office and to perform unremunerated service solely with the idea that in some indirect and dark way, possible perquisites may be presently pocketed, would impose upon Worcester a scandalized character and a corrupt future. The only safety lies in the eager and unselfish care which the citizens can bestow in the selection of their servants, both at the primaries and at the polls. Inspire the citizens of this hive of industry in which we live with the appreciation of the fact that they must personally see to this or be undone — -'convince them that there is no other alternative — and it will be done. Now what kind of a municipality as town and city is this on which this future obligation is imposed? Historically and as she stands, she is to be trusted, if ever there was a community worthy of trust. The spires of her churches, on whose altars are lighted the fires of fervent religions of all creeds, harmoniously working in the cause of Christian society, point heavenward all over her broad territory. Prosperous educational institu- tions, from the university for original research, standing on the frontier of knowledge, the school of science with its eminently practical teachings, the college, the academy, the high school and other free public schools, down to the kindergarten, distinguish her as a centre of learning. She is blessed with citizens who love to advance her institutions and ornament her as a home by generous gifts from their abundance. At all times she has been and is in advance of all causes of humanity and the champion of every good work. What is more important still, she has been and is a typical city of well-paid and respected labor, wherein the wheels of industry and honest toil are never idle, and her streets are lined with those greatest blessings of mankind, the comfortable homes of a great, educated and contented laboring population. But, above all, she has always been and is patriotically devoted to the ■country and the flag, and, in its defense in every time of need, she has been ready to freely shed her young blood. Under Bigelow she promptly started her minutemen for Concord, and her citizens stood for the flag with Washington through the Revolution and at Yorktown; her sailors and soldiers stood for the flag with Perry and Decatur on the sea, and with 138 The Worcester of 1898.. Jackson at Xew Orleans; under the lead of a Lincoln, she stood for the flag with Taylor at Buena Vista, and vScott at Chapultepec; under the lead of a Devens, another Lincoln and a Ward, she stood for the flag from Bull Run to Appomattox; and now again in army and navy she stands bravely for the flag that floats over Dewey at Manilla, and Sampson and Schley and Shaffer at Santiago. Is such a city to be trusted with self-government for another fifty years? Rather ask we, can such a city be recreant to the trust? While the con- cordant voice of her people to-day, being so questioned, gives instant answer of confidence and assurance, may her men of calm thought firmly resolve to undertake in earnest the trust of public duty, that she may be made safe for long years to come. But let them never forget that the city can only be assured a safe riding through coming storms if she keep the astute goddess of science at the lookout, the faithful god of labor at the engine, the goddess of broad learning at the wheel, while the God of heaven remains in command over all. The exercises closed with singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" by the pupils of the high schools, and nitisic by the band. DAVIS TCWER, LAKE PARK. CITY GOVERNMENT OF 1898. nHE government of the city of Worcester, in accordance with the provisions of the new charter, which was granted by the Legis- lature in June, 1893, is vested in a mayor, nine aldermen — three representing the political minoritv — elected at large, and twenty-four members of the Common Council, three from each ward. Following are biographical sketches and portraits of the mayor, members of the City Council, heads of departments, and other city ofticials in service the present municipal vear. MAYOR, RUFU5 B. DODGE, JR. Rufus B. Dodge, Jr., mayor of Worcester in 1S98, was born in Charhon, Massachusetts, November 24, 1861. He is descended in direct line from Richard Dodge, who came to America from England and settled in Salem in 1638. His father. Honorable Rufus B. Dodge, is a prominent citizen of Charlton and has been representative, a State senator, and a justice of the peace for more than forty years. Rufus B., Jr., was educated in the public schools of Charlton, and Nichols Academy, Dudley, and early ex- hibited indications of those qualities which have since distinguished him. At the age of twenty he was elected to the School Committee of his native town. He was graduated citin laudc from the Boston University Law School in 18S5, taking a three years' course in two years; was admitted to the bar in 1885, and has since that time practised his profession in Worcester with marked success. He served as an alderman in 1893, 1894 and 1895, and was president of the Board the last named year. He had the distinction of being the youngest man ever chosen alderman in this city. He was elected mayor as a Republican in December, 1897, and has dis- charged the duties of the office with ability and dignity. He is a ready and effective speaker, and on various public occasions — notably the dedication of the new City Hall — has represented the city Avith great credit. He possesses the inherited characteristic of independence of mind and action, as proved by his course in relation to certain public matters during his administration. The chapter on the City Charter and Municipal Government in this volume was prepared by him. Mr. Dodge married July 7, 1887, Mary C. Perry of Millbury. ( RUFUS B. DODGE, Jr. The Worcester of 1898. BOARD OF ALDERMEN. 14E BURTON W. POTTER. Burton Willis Potter, president of the Board of Aldermen, was born in Coles- ville, Broome county, New York, Feb- ruary 8, 1843. His parents, Daniel and Julia Potter, were natives of Vermont. Burton was the second of a family of ten children. When he was five years, of age, the family removed to Hartwick, Otsego county, where his boyhood days, were passed in working upon the farm, and in obtaining such education as the country schools afforded, which was sup- plemented by a year's attendance at the- seminary in Cooperstown, the expenses, of which were paid by his own labor. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company A, 14th Regiment, Vermont Volunteers; served in Virginia, and par- ticipated in the battle of Gettysburg, where his regiment took an active part in the repulse of Pickett's charge upon the Union lines. After his discharge he entered Lawrence Academy at Groton, Massachusetts; gradu- ated there in 1865, and passed two years at Williams College. He then studied law with Honorable William Lothrop of Rockford, Illinois, and with Honorable George S. Boutwell of Boston and at the Harvard Law School. During this interval Mr. Potter taught school in Groton, and one year as principal at the academy in Falmouth, Kentucky, where he was urged to remain, but declined. He was admitted to the bar in 1868, and soon after married Fannie Elizabeth, daughter of Alva and Fannie G. Wright of Groton. Seven children are the fruit of this union, all but one of whom are now living. Mr. Potter represented Worcester in the lower branch of the Legislature for three years, was ballot law commissioner one year, director of the Free Public Library five years, one year as president of the Board, has been president of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, president of the Chamberlain District Farmers' Club, and is a trustee of the Worcester County Horticultural vSociety ; and holds other responsible positions. In 1882 he visited Europe and wrote a series of let- ters, which were extensively published. thomas j. barrett. 142 Thh \\'or,:ester of 1898. Mr. Potter is a man of literary taste and ability. He has delivered many public addresses, and has written a treatise on the "Road and the Roadside," now in its third edition, and after the publica- tion of which Williams College conferred upon him the degree of A. M. Mr. Potter's city residence, "Apple- croft," is one of the most attractive estates in this vicinity. He also owns a line farm in Rutland, Massachusetts, called " Edgelake Farm," on the shores of Muschopauge pond. Mr. Potter was elected an alderman HENRY BRANNON. under the new charter at the December election in 1896, and was re-elected in December, 1897, and was chosen presi- dent of the Board for 1898. He is a Republican in politics. Thomas J. Barrett, D. D. S., was born in Hartford, Connecticut, November 15, 1865. He was educated in the Worcester schools, and is a graduate of the Penn- sylvania College of Dental Surgery. In the practice of his profession in Worcester CHARLES H. HILDRETH, 2D. NAPOLEON P. HUOT. during the past twelve years he has been very prominent, and in 1892 was ap- pointed a member of the State Board of Registration of Dentistry by the late Governor Russell ; re-appointed for three years in 1893, and again in 1896 by act- ing-Governor W^olcott. Dr. Barrett is an ex-president of the Washington Club, ])rcsident of the Wai:)iti Club, and a mem- ber of the Elks, and Clover Club in Boston. He has served as a member-at- large in the Democratic State Committee. He was elected an alderman in December, 1897, as a Democrat. The Worcester of 1898. 143 Henry Brannon was born in England March 7, 1850; was brought while an infant by his parents to Princeton, Massachusetts, and was educated in the common schools of that town. He came to Worcester in 1866, and has been for many years a manufacturer of house and office furniture. He was elected to the City Council in December, 1894, and served in 1895, 1896 and 1898 as an alderman. He is a Republican in poli- tics. Charles H. Hildreth, 2d, was born in West Boylston, ' Massachusetts, October JAMES H. MELLEN. 2, 1857, and was educated in the com- mon schools. He came to Worcester thirty years ago. He is the OAvner of a large livery and boarding stable on Sever street. Mr. Hildreth served in the Common Council in 1895 and 1896, and in the Board of Aldermen in 1897 and 1898. He has always been a Re- publican. Napoleon P. Huot was born at Saint Ctfsaire, Canada, January 9, 1844, and DAVID F. O'CONNELL. was educated at the academy there. He became a resident of Worcester in 1873. His occupation is that of a merchant. He was elected an alderman in Decem- ber, 1896, under the new charter, and re-elected in 1897 to serve the present year. In politics he is a Republican. James H. Mellen is a native of Worces- ter, born November 7, 1845. He was educated in the public schools of this city. As a politician he has been very prominent during the past twenty-five years, fourteen of which he has been a representative of Worcester in the Legis- EDWARD J. RUSSELL. 144 The Worcester of 1898. ALBERT M. THOMPSON. laLure of Massachusetts. Of late years he has been interested in real estate and stocks. He was elected an alderman under the new charter in December, 1896, and was re-elected in December, 1897. David F. O'Connell was born in County Cork, Ireland, February 8, 1858, and be- came a resident of Worcester in 1863. He was educated in the public schools, at the Boston University Law vSchool,. and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He was elected to the Common Council in 1889, and served seven years; was in the Legislature in 1882 and 1883, and in December, 1895, was elected an alder- man, and has twice been re-elected. He is a Democrat. Edward J. Russell was born October 23, 1833, in Hadley, Massachusetts, and was educated in the common schools and at Deerfield Academy. He first came to Worcester in 1854, but did not become a permanent resident until 1868. He is the probation officer at the Central District Court. He was elected to the Common Council to serve in 1895, and to the Board of Aldermen in December, 1897. He has always been a Republican. Albert M. Thompson was born in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, March 2, 1844, and received his education in the common schools of that town, and also attended Howes' Commercial College in Worcester. He was a clerk in the post office in Barre five years before he came to Worcester in 1867 to engage in the flour and grain business. He was a clerk for H. Holden, and finally bought his interest, and later, as a member of the firm of Rice & Thompson, engaged in the wholesale flour trade. Mr. Thompson is now a member of the firm of Garland, Lincoln & Co., who do the largest flour and grain business in the city, maintaining two stores on Main street and Lin- coln square, and a large elevator at rear of the Union station. Mr. Thompson is a Republican, and was elected an alderman under the new charter in December, 1896, and re-elected in December, 1897. COMMON COUNCIL Frank B. Hall. ' The ancient saying, "Old men for counsel, young men for war," is hardly in keeping with existing conditions. In this enlightened and progressive age, mental grasp and maturity of judgment come early, and in nearly all walks young men of calibre come rapidly to the fore in the cities of this great republic. Worcester is no exception, and the close of its first half century as a city finds a most important position in the local government, that of president of the Common Council, being ably filled by The Worcester of 1898. 145 a young man who is but thirty years of age. Frank B. Hall is a life-long resident of the city. He was born in Worcester Oc- tober 23, 1867, and was graduated from the Worcester high school in 1887. The study of law had already been begun by him in the office of Webster Thayer, Esq., in this city, and in the fall of 1888 he entered Boston University Law School, and from the latter he was graduated in the class of '90. He was admitted to the bar June 19, 1890, immediately en- gaged in practice in his native city, and FRANK B. HALL. in the eight years since elapsing he has acquired desirable standing in his profes- sion. In December, 1894, Mr. Hall was elected to the Common Council, an honor never before conferred by the Republican party on a man so young, and each succeeding term since he has been re-elected. In 1897 and again this year he was elected by that body to be its president, and he has the distinction JOHN R. BACK. of being by far the youngest president who has ever occupied the chair. For four years, 1885 to 1889, while a pupil in the high school and while studying law, he was page of the Common Council, so that this year is the ninth that he has been connected with the Board. His successive elections attest his hold on the citizens of his ward, and his re-elec- tion to the presidency of the Council gives the stamp of approval to his con- duct of affairs during his first year's incumbency of the office. Mr. Hall was appointed secretary of JOHN H. CONNELLY. 146 The Worcester of 1898. the local Civil Service Board in 1893 by Honorable Charles Theodore Russell. He became a member of the F. and A. M. on attaining his majority, and a 32° Mason Avhen he was twenty-four years of age. In July, 1896, Mr. Hall married Miss Jessie A. Morse, daughter of Lyman Morse of Worcester. John R, Back was born in Worcester April 24, 1851. He was educated in the public schools of the city. He is engaged in business as a manufacturer of machin- ists' tools, being associated with the F. FRANK M. HEATH. E. Reed Company. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 6 in December, 1895, as a Republican. Mem- ber of committees on Education, Legisla- tive Matters, Public Buildings, Central Workshop, and Grade Crossings. John H. Connelly was born in Spring- field, Ohio, on the nth of April, 1855, and came to Worcester in 1861. He was educated in the common schools and spent one year at the high school. He is a journeyman plumber by trade, and JAMES HUNT. GEORGE C. HUNT. a Labor Democrat in politics. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 3 in 1895. Member of committees on Public Buildings, ]\Iayor"s Inaugural, and Central Workshop. Frank Melville Heath was born at Nashua, N. H., September 8, 1852. He received his education in the public schools of Nashua and ]\Ianchester, and at Bryant Sz Stratton's Commercial College in INIanchester. He came to Worcester in 1880 and engaged in the contracting painting business. He is The Worcester of 1898. 147 at present a manufacturer and dealer in paints and similar materials, and does a large business. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 6 in De- cember, 1896, as a Republican. Mem- ber of Committee on Lighting Streets. George C. Hunt was born in Milford, Massachusetts, April 7, 1859, and re- ceived his schooling in that town. He removed to Worcester in May, 1882, and engaged as a clerk in a boot and shoe store. In 1889 he started business for himself in the retail boot and shoe trade in the store at 201 Main street. ALBERT H. INMAN. \\'hich he still occupies. He was elected to the Common Cour.cil from Ward 2 in December. 1896, as a Republican. Member of committees on Military Af- fairs, Ordinances, and Police. James Hunt was born in England Jan- uary 27, 1833, and was educated there. He learned the trade of a shoemaker, and came to America in 1850, and lived several years in New Braintree, Massa- chusetts, and Stafford, Connecticut. He came to Worcester in February, 1S73, FRED D. JOHNSON. and worked in boot shops until 1886, with the exception of one year — 1883 — when he was a member of the police force. Of late years he has been in- terested in the development of real estate and the building of houses at the south end and on Union hill. He was appointed constable by Mayor Har- rington, and is now a deputy sheriff. He is a Republican, and was elected to the Common Council from Ward 6 in December, 1896. In October, 1898, he was nominated as the Republican candi- date to represent Ward 6 in the Legisla- LOUIS J. KENDALL. 148 The Worcester of 1898. ture the ensuing session. Member of committees on Education and Public Buildings. Albert H. Inman was born in Worces- ter June 30, 1868, and attended the public schools of the city. He engaged in the iron and steel business at the location in Washington square occupied since 1849 by three generations of the family, his grandfather, Francis H., and his father, William H. ; being succeeded in course of years by the Inman Broth- ers, who carry on the business at the SANFORD C. KENDALL. present time. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward i in 1895 to till an unexpired term, and has been twice re-elected. He is a Republican. Member of committees on Military Af- fairs, Streets, Bills in Second Reading, Lake Bridge, and Grade Crossings. Fred D. Johnson was born April 9, 1863, in Newark, Vermont, and received a common school education. He be- came a resident of Worcester in 1886. BERNARD H. McMAHON. JOHN F. LUNDBERG. His present occupation is that of a com- mercial traveler. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 7 in De- cember, 1895, as a Republican. Member of committees on Fire Department, Cen- tral Workshop, and trustee of City Hos- pital. Louis Jones Kendall was born in Barre, Massachusetts, February 17, 1858, and became a resident of Worcester October 30, 1865. He was educated in the public schools and at Howes" Business College. His business is that of a farmer. He was elected to the Common Council from The Worcester of 1898. 149 Ward 8 in December, 1896, as a Repub- lican. Member of committees on Chari- ties, Claims, and Enrollment. Sanford Clayton Kendall was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, October 6, 1856. He received a common school education. With his parents he removed to Worces- ter in November, 187 1, and he is now engaged in business with his father, Horace Kendall, as an auctioneer and appraiser. He was elected to the Com- mon Council from Ward 2 in 1895 as a Republican. He is a member of the Joint Standing Committees on Charities JOHN H. MEAGHER. and Street Lighting, jNIilitary Affairs, and the Joint Special Committee on the Central Workshop. John F. Lundberg was born in Sweden August 24, 1857. He received a com- mon school education. He came to Worcester in 1883, and is a publisher of the Swedish newspaper called Arbc- tarcns Va)i. He was first elected to the Common Council in December, 1892, and served tAVO vears, and was again elected WESLEY MERRITT. in December, 1897. He is a Republican. He is a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Education, and on the Mayor's Inaugural, and of the Standing Committee of the Common Council on Elections and Returns. Bernard H. McMahon, councilman from Ward 5, is a member of the committees on Lighting Streets, Sewers, and Enroll- ment. He is a Democrat. John H. Meagher was born in Worces- ter October 8, 1872. He was educated in the public schools, graduated from the high school in 1891, and from the PHILIP J. O'CONNELL. 150 The Worcester of 1898. l^oston University Law School in 1895. He was admitted to the bar December 23, 1895. At the December election of 1895 he was elected a member of the Common Council from Ward 3, and has served by successive re-elections to the present time. He is a Democrat. He is a member of the Joint Standing Com- mittees on Legislative ALitters and the Police Department. Wesley Merritt, councilman from Ward 7, is a member of the committees on Police and Printing. He is a Republi- can. JOHN R. O'LEARY. Philip J. O'Connell was born in Worces- ter December 18, 1870. He graduated at the Worcester high school in 1889, and at the Boston University Law- School in 1895, and was admitted to the bar the same year He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 4 in December, 1895, as a Democrat. He is a member of the Finance Committee and of the joint Committees ()n Legisla- tive Matters and the Police, and of the Standina: Committee of the Common ALBERT M. POWELL. JOHN RIVARD. Council on Elections and Returns; also of Special Committees on City Hall Dedi- cation, Semi-Centennial Celebration, and the Lake Bridge. John R. O'Leary was born in Worces- ter December 13, 1870, and received a common school education. He is a foundryman by occupation. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 4 in December, 1896, as a Dem- ocrat. He is a trustee of the City Hospital and a member of the Special Committee on Grade Crossings. The Worcester of 1898. 151 Albert Man Powell was born in West- ville, N. Y., August 28, 1856. He was educated in the common and high schools and at the Worcester Polytechnic Insti- tute. He has been a resident of Worces- ter since 1875, and is a manufacturer of machine tools. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 7 in 1895 as a Republican. He is a member of the committees on Finance, Fire Department, Sewers, and the Lake Bridge. John Rivard was born at St. Simon, County Bagot, Canada, jMarch 6, 1862. He became a resident of Worcester in JAMES F. RYAN. March, 1882. His business is that of a grocer. He was elected to the Common Council from AVard 5 in December, 1896, as a Republican. He is a member of the committees on Water and Ordi- nances. James F. Ryan was born and reared in Ward 5. He was educated in the Worcester public schools, spent one year at Montreal College, and was graduated from Holy Cross College. He took up JOHN F. SHEA. the study of law at the Boston Univer- sity School of Law, from which institu- tion he was graduated in 1897. He was admitted to the Worcester county bar in June, 1897, since which time he has been practising law. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 5 in Decem- ber, 1897, as a Democrat. He is a mem- ber of the committees on Streets, Bills in Second Reading, Central Workshop, and on the Lake Bridge. John F. Shea was born July 4, 187 1, in Blackstone, and his family soon after removed to Worcester. He attended the JAMES F. TIMON. 152 The Worcester of 1898. GEORGE F. WALL- ])ublic schools of this city. His present business is that of a shipping clerk. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 3 in December, 1897, as a Demo- crat. He is a member of the committees on Charities, Printing, and Elections and Returns. James F. Timon has been a life-long resident of Ward 5; was educated in the Worcester public schools, graduat- ing with the class of '88 from the Worcester high school. Continuing his studies, he received an A. B. from Holy Cross College in 1891. Having chosen law for a profession, he entered and graduated from the Boston University Law School in 1893. and was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 5 in December, 1897, as a Democrat. He is a member of the committees on Claims, Mayor's Inaugural, and Enrollment. George F. Wall was born in Leicester September 13, 1832, and came to Worcester with his father, the late James H. Wall, about the year 1838. He attended the common schools of the town, and learned the tailor's trade of Asa Walker, which he followed in this city, in Norwich, Con- necticut, and in Southbridge, Massachusetts, residing in the last-named place twenty-one years. He was at different times in business for himself. He finally returned to Worcester in 1879, and of late years has devoted himself to the care of his father and his own real estate interests in the city. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward 8 in December, 1896, as a Repub- lican. He is a member of the committees on Water, vStreets, Dedication of City Hall, Semi-Centennial Celebration, and the Lake Bridge. Frederick W. White was born in Mill- bur}^ in August, 1859, but has lived in Worcester since early childhood. He was educated in the public schools of the city. In 1876 he entered the People's Savings Bank as a clerk, and occupies the position of teller in that institution at the present time. He has served as organist and director of music in vari- ous churches for the past twenty years. Frederick w. white. The Worcester of 1898. 153 During that time he was at the First Universalist Church thirteen years, at the Old South Church two years, and at the First Baptist Church three years. He has developed a portion of the ^lerrifield estate on the south side of Highland street, and opened forty lots, increasing the valuation of that section $250,000. ]\Ir. "White was elected to the Common Council from Ward i as a Republican in December, 1S96, and is now serving his second term. Member of committees on Printing, Sewers, Bills in Second Reading, and Central Work- shop. Frank E. Williamson was born in Worcester December 4, 1S54, and was educated in the public schools. For a number of years he was cashier for the Boston & Maine Railroad, and is now employed in the Worcester County Institution for Savings. He was elected to the Common Council from Ward i in December, 1894, and is in his fourth year of service. He is a Republican in politics. Member of committees on Finance, Fire Department, Ordinances, Central Workshop, Dedication of City Hall, Semi-Centennial Celebration, and the Lake Bridge. FRANK E. WILLIAMSON. CITY OFFICIALS. Enoch H. Towne, city clerk, was born in Easton, Massachusetts, April 14, 1835, and was educated in the common schools of his native town. He came to Worces- ter in December, 1859, and for a number of years was engaged in the grocery busi- ness. He was a member of the Com- mon Council from 1S71 to 1874 inclusive, and president of that body in 1874. He was a member of the Legislature in 1875, and the same year was elected an assessor, in which capacity he served until January, 1877, when he was chosen city clerk, and has served continuously to the present time. By virtue of his office he is a member and clerk of the Board of Resjistrars of Voters. ENOCH H. TCWNE. 154 The Worcester of 1898. vVILLIAM S. BARTON. William Sumner Barton, city treasurer, was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, Sep- tember 30, 1824, and removed with his parents to Worcester when he was ten years of age. He attended the common schools, Worcester Academy, and was graduated from Brown University in 1844. Subsequently he studied law with his father, Judge Ira M. Barton, with Honorable Peter C. Bacon, and at the Harvard Law School. He Avas admitted to the bar in 1846. After seven years' practice in Worcester, he accepted a position in the Bank of Commerce in Boston, in whicla he remained from June, 1854, to January, 1S72, when he was elected treasurer and collector of taxes for the city of Worcester. He has been treasurer of the sinking funds since 1876, and also since 1872 treasurer ex-officio of all the trust funds of the city. Arthur P. Rugg, city solicitor, was born August 20, 1862, in Sterling, Mas- sachusetts. He was educated in the public schools, was graduated from the Lancaster high school in 1879, from Amherst College in 1883, and from Boston University LaAv School in 1886. He has been a counselor-at- law in Worcester since 1886, and has rapidly advanced in his profession. He served as a member of the School Committee and as a library trustee in vSterling from 1887 to 1889; w^as assistant district attorney p7'o tempore in May, 1893, and from May to August, 1894, and held the office by appointment from April, 1895, to August, 1897. He was a member of the Common Council of the city of Worcester in 1894 and 1895, ^^''^^ president of that body the last named year. He was elected city solicitor in July, 1S97, to succeed Colonel W. S. B. Hopkins, who had resigned. Harrison G. Otis, chairman of the Board of Assessors, was born in Worcester Sep- tember 18, 1835. He was educated in the public schools and at Worcester Academy. He was for many years in the boot and shoe business, first as a cutter, then as a traveling salesman for the iirm of Fitch & Otis, and later for Smyth Brothers and for Charles H. Fitch & Co. From 1859 to 1863 he was assist- ant doorkeeper at the State House in arthur p. rugg. The Worcester of 1898. 155 HARRISON G. OTIS. Boston, during the time that Hon. Alex- ander H. Bullock was speaker of the House of Representatives, and when Mr. Bullock became governor he appointed ]\Ir. Otis his messenger, but other business compelled him to decline the place. His relations with Governor Bullock were close and confidential, and during these years he studied law in his office. Mr. Otis was elected an assessor in 1887, and at once chosen chairman of the Board, in which station he has served continuously to the present time. He has made a thorough study of taxation, and is prominent and influential in assess- ors' gatherings throughout the State ; was one of the founders of the Associa- tion of Massachusetts Assessors; for four years its president, and for the entire ten years of its existence chairman of its Legislative Committee. He was for many years a member of the vSalem Street Congregational Church and treasurer of the society, and is now a trustee of Union Society. He is a member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and of other associations. Amos Milton Parker, assessor, was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, September 12, 1839. He is a descendant of Captain John Parker of Lex- ington fame. He received his education in the public schools of Princeton and at the Millbury Academy. He first engaged as clerk in a store in Oakdale, and came to Worcester in 1856, and entered the employ of A. Y. Thompson, a dry-goods merchant, with whom he remained until the war broke out. He was in service with the City Guards in 1861, and was compelled by serious illness to return to Worcester within a few months, and was never able to again enter the service, although he attempted to enlist twice. In 1864 he was in the employ of Bar- nard, Sumner & Co., the leading dry- goods firm in this city, and later in the furniture business in the firm of Parker, Denny & Co. For ten years from 1868 he was general agent of the Massa- chusetts ]\lutual Life Insurance Com- pany, and afterwards an auctioneer and appraiser for several years, and later was with the furniture house of Putnam & Sprague Company. amos m. parker. 156 The Worcester of 1898. GEORGE B. HURLBURT. During the period 1874 to 1888 his services were in great demand by fire insurance companies throughout New Ii^ngland as an appraiser of damage caused by fire. This gave him large experience in values, thereby peculiarly fitting him for the office he now holds as one of the Board of Assessors, to which place he was elected in 1888, and is now serving his fourth term. Mr. Parker has twice been commander of Post 10, G. A. R. He is a Free Mason and Knight of Pythias, and is prominent in the Order of the Eastern Star, and Grand Patron of Massachusetts in 1896. He is a member of the First Universa- list Church. George Bennett Hurlburt, assessor, was born in East Pepperell, Massa- chusetts, March 9, 1864. He was educated in the common schools at Uncasville, Connecticut, and graduated from Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1882. He came to Worcester in 1888, and was employed as cashier and bookkeeper for the Pease Machine Tool Company until that concern went out of business, and then entered the employ of George F. Hewett Company as bookkeeper. He was a member of the Republican City Committee in 1892 and 1893, and of the Republican County Committee in 1896 and 1897. He was elected an assessor in January, 1898. Mr. Hurlburt is a member of Conquest Council, R. A., and also of Worcester Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 56. He was married September 20, 1887. John B. Bowker, city auditor, was born in Royalston, ^lassachusetts, March 12, 1865. His early years were spent upon the farm in his native town. In 1873 he removed with his parents to Worcester, and was educated in the public schools of this city, graduating at the high school in 1884. He then engaged for a time as clerk in the wholesale provision and prod- uce store of his father, and by his active interest in, and his practical knowledge of, agricultural and kindred matters, soon came into ])romincnce in this re- gion and throughout the State. He was secretary and treasurer of the Central Massachusetts Poultrv Association in john b. bowker. The Worcester of 1898. 157 JOHN G. BRADY. 1891 and 1892; secretary and treasurer of the Worcester Milk Association in 1893 and 1894; secretary of Worcester Central Pomona Grange, 1894; secre- tary Massachusetts Farmers and Cattle Owners' Association, 1895; secretary and treasurer of the Worcester County Agri- cultural Society from 1893 to 1898 inclu- sive ; and secretary of the New England Milk Producers' Association 1898. He was elected auditor of the city of Worces- ter June 6, 1898, to serve the unexpired term of J. F. Howell, deceased. John G. Brady was born in Norwich, Connecticut, October 28, 1833. He learned the machinist's trade in the shops of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad. Subse- quently he was for twelve years an engineer on the road, and later foreman of the corporation shops in Worcester. He was afterwards master mechanic of the Portland & Rochester Railroad, residing in Portland, and then for eleven years master mechanic of the Worcester & Nashua Rail- road. He was a member of the Common Council from Ward i in Worcester in 1881-2, and was an alderman 1883-5 inclusive. In April, 1886, he was elected water commissioner, which office he still holds. George E. Batchelder, water registrar, was born in Middleton, Massa- chusetts, February 16, 1836. He enlisted as a private in Company F, 40th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, at Lynnfield, Massachusetts, August 8, 1862; was transferred to Company B, 12th Regiment, Veteran Reserves, August 26, 1864; mustered out as first sergeant. He came to Worcester in 1869. For many years he was in charge of one of the departments in the Bay State shoe factory. He represented Ward 7 in the Common Council from 1879 to 1883 inclusive, and in the Legislature in 1883 and 1884. While serving his second term he resigned in February, 1884, having been elected water regis- trar to succeed J. Stewart Brown. While in the Common Council Mr. Batchelder was a member of the Com- mittees on Water, Street Lighting, and Claims, and was conversant with the affairs of the water office when first elected to the place he now holds. george e. batchelder. 158 The Worcester of 1898. FREDERICK A. Frederick Albert McClure, son of Charles K. and Luciiula (Smith) McClure, was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, Au- gust I, 1852. He was educated in the public schools of his native city. In 1869 he came to Worcester and entered the office of the city engineer, where he acquired much practical knowledge of civil engineering, and other branches during his three years' service. During the next five years he engaged as assist- ant engineer in the construction of rail- roads, and from 1877 to 1891 was again employed in the city engineer's office. In 189 1 he was elected superintendent of sewers, and served in that capacity until he was chosen to his present position as city engineer in November, 1892, to succeed Charles A. Allen. Mr. McClure has more than a local reputation as an engineer. He is a member of the Worcester Society of Civil Engineers and other organizations. lie was married May 29, 1883, to Ida Evelyn Whittier of Fitchburg, and they have one daughter, Evelyn. Wright Seth Prior, street commissioner, was born in Underbill, Vermont, March 30, 1867. He was educated in the district schools. Underbill Academy, and at Norwich University, a military school of high grade at Northfield, Vermont. In the latter institution he pursued the regular course in civil engineering, and in the military department attained the captaincy, gradu- ating in 1889. After a short term of service in the city engineer's office in Brockton, Massachusetts, he went south to engage in railroad work in Georgia and Alabama, where he was employed as typographer in the prelimi- nary survey for the Georgia, Tennessee & Illinois Railroad. Several months of 1892 he was in the city engineer's office in Worcester, and later entered into business on his own account in Atlanta, Georgia, in railroad and city work, which the serious illness, of his father influ- enced him to relinquish, and he returned north and spent some time at his birth- place in \"ermont. In 1893 he was again employed by the city engineer in Worcester, and during the succeeding five years was in charge of the field work. He was elected street commissioner Jan- wright s. prior. The Worcester of 1898. 159 HARRISON P. EDDY. uary 4, 189S. Mr. Prior married, October I, 1896, Mary E., daughter of R. James Tatman of Worcester. They have one child, Helen, born July 4, 1897. Charles H. Peck, superintendent of public buildings, Avas born in Smith- field, Rhode Island, March 11, 1829. He attended the schools of his native town and also the jMillbury Academy. He came to Worcester in 1847 and learned the carpenter's trade of John F. Gleason, and subsequently spent a year and a half in the office of Elbridge Boyden, the lead- ing architect of this section for many years. He was in the building business with Stephen D. Tourtelott for sev- eral years. Mr. Peck enlisted in the 51st Massachusetts Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion and served until that regiment was discharged, when he resumed the business of contractor and builder, and continued in it until February, 1875, when he was chosen the first superintendent of public buildings, and has annually been re-elected to the present time. Freeman Brown, clerk of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, was born in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, January 31,1845. He is the son of the late Lyman and Salome (Rich) Brown, and is descended on his father's side from Eleazer Brown, the first settler of Hubbardston in 1737, and his son Ebenezer, who was a Revolutionary soldier. Freeman came to Worcester with his parents to reside April i, 1849, and was educated in the common and high schools of this city. In 1862 he entered the office of the Worcester Spy as a clerk, and in 1S74 became a reporter for that newspaper, the entire period of his service covering more than twenty- four years, until in 1886 he engaged as a reporter for the M^irccstcr Telegram^ and continued for four years in that situation. He was elected a member of the School Board to serve in 1886, 1887 and 1888, and in January, 1891, Avas chosen to his present position as clerk of the Overseers of the Poor. James C. Coffey, clerk of the Board of Health, was born in Worcester Novem- ber II, 1854. He was educated in the public schools and at Howes' Business College. He first worked for F. M. & charles h. peck. i6o The Worcester of 1898. FREEMAN BROWN. N. H. Clark, butchers, a short time; next for the Bay State Shoe Company a year, and then was employed by Hill & Devoe, envelope makers, for about fourteen years, until he was appointed to his present position in January, 1884. Mr. Coffey was elected to the Common Coun- cil in December, 1880, and served in 18S1 and 1 88 2 and by re-election in 1883, and resigned in January, 1884, to assume the duties of clerk of the Board of Health. While in the Common Council he served on the Committees on Public Buildings and the Fire Department, and was also a trustee of the City Hospital. James M. Drennan, Worcester's chief of police, has had large experience as an army officer and in police service. After the War of the Rebellion he was, in 1865, appointed by Mayor Ball a deputy marshal, and served during Mayor Ball's term and the first year of Mayor Blake's. The second year of Mayor Blake's administration, he was appointed chief, and filled that office until January, 1872, serving under Mayor Chapin after the death of Mr. Blake in December, 1870, and also under Mayor Earle in 1871. In 1872 he was appointed an officer of the State force, and continued in that station until the reorganization of the State police in 1879. In January, 1880, he again became city marshal of Worcester by appointment of Mayor Kelley, remaining with him during the two years of his administration, and was also chosen to perform the same duty by Mayor Stoddard in 1882. From 1883 to 1897 he was a deputy sheriff, and served during that time under Sherilifs Sprague, Nye and Chamberlain. In 1897 he once more, by designation of Mayor Sprague, assumed the duties of chief of police, and was reappointed by Mayor Dodge the present year, making a continuous service of thirty-three years as an officer of the law, during twelve of which he has been connected with the Worcester police. Under his efficient administration many important changes have been made in the department, the most notable of which was the one of 1897, by which the old organization with a city marshal and two deputy marshals, etc., was superseded by that with a chief of police, deputy chief, two lieutenants, james c. coffey. The Worcester of 1898. 161 five sergeants, two inspectors, one secre- tary, two drivers, one matron, one jani- tor and 117 patrolmen, which represents the department as it is now constituted. This change in substance was recom- mended by Colonel Drennan during his former term of office in 1882, and under the new form the work of the depart- ment and the improved discipline give increased satisfaction. Worcester to-day is as orderly a city as anyone of its size in the world. Charles H. Benchley, mayor's clerk, is the son of the late Henry W. Benchley, president of the Massachusetts Senate in JAMES M. DRENNAN. ^^55, and lieutcnant-govemor in 1856 and 1857. He was born in Worcester August 6, 1848, and received his education in the public schools of this city and Millbury, and at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, Kent's Hill, Maine. He served in the War of the Rebellion as corporal of Company F, ist Battalion Heavy Artillery, Massachusetts Volunteers, and was in the United States Navy from 1S69 to 1873. He was a member of the Worcester police force from 1876 to 1882, bookkeeper for Prentice Brothers from 1882 to 1889, and bookkeeper in Rochester, New York, from 1890 to 1892. In 1893 he was appointed to his present position as mayor's clerk. He is a member of George H. Ward Post 10, Grand Army of the Republic, and was its commander in 18S7. His son, the lamented Lieutenant Edmund N. Benchley, was killed in the battle of San Juan Hill, Santiago, Cuba, July 1st, 1898. Henry A. Knight, superintendent of street lighting and supervisor of wires, was born in Worcester August 21, 1853, son of Alden B. and ]\Iary J. (White) Knight. The family, through successive generations, have resided in Worcester for more than 100 years. Henry was educated in the public schools of the city, and for several years was in the milk business. Later he became a dealer in coal, and was a member of the firm of Mann & Knight. When the office of superintendent of street lighting was created in 1891, Mr. Knight was chosen to fill it, and in 1895 was also elected supervisor of wires, both of which offices he now holds. charles h. benchley. 1 62 The Worcester of 1898. Mr. Knight married, in 1881, Effie J., daug-hter of Thomas B. and Emily I'helps of Hopkinton, and later of West Boylston. They have one son, Rock- wood, born in 1885. Fred Lincoln Hutchins, deputy collect- or, was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, September 10, 1851, and was educated in the public schools of that town. He was twenty-two years in railroad service, first as telegraph operator, then rising through several gradations to the general charge of the Worcester freight business of the Boston & Maine Railroad, with charge HENRY A. KNIGHT. of freight-train men. In 1S93 he was ap- pointed deputy collector of taxes in the office of the city treasurer. Mr. Hutchins is much interested in matters of current thought, is prominent and active in the First Unitarian Church, and is general secretary of the North American Vola- piik Association. In 1896 he became president of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and by his energetic methods has effected a radical change in the char- acter of that institution. THOMAS MONAHAN. FRED L. HUTCHINS. Thomas Monahan was born in Ireland, came to New Brunswick in 1846, and three years later to Worcester. He attended school in this city, and then worked at shoemaking until 1855, when he engaged in the meat business, at first in the employ of others, and finally in 1 86 1 on his own account, and continued in it until he sold out to his sons in 1895. He served two years in the Common Council, and was assessor one year. In 1894 he was appointed inspector of cattle and provisions. WORCESTER: 1848-1898. 1 Bv Frank Roe Batchelder. IVE decades have her children kept Her civic honor free from stain, While with the world she's laughed and wept, And shared her country's loss and gain. Foremost in all that makes for good, With bounty ranging far and wide, From the straight path of rectitude Her feet have never turned aside. Fecund in wise and generous law, Her lesser sisters look to her For high example, void of flaw. In genius to administer. The hiss of vScandal's venomed tongue Dies ere it reaches her confines; No hint of broken trust has flung Disgrace upon her large designs. She toils and ventures, strives and builds, And seeks to sweeten life for all The craftsmen of her thousand guilds Who answer to her every call. Crowned by the smoke of many mills, She welcomes workers to her gate ; And in her children's hearts instills Love for the toil that makes her great. Proud of her myriad machines. Her flashing looms, her glowing fires. Not less to other good she leans. Not less to gentler art aspires. i64 The Worcester of 1898. Patron of every useful thiny;, She sits at Learning's feet, nor finds Her glory less that she should bring Her tribute to the might of minds. So has she made and kept her place, And taught her name to distant lands, Her skill the marvel of the race — Far sought the labor of her hands. Great where her least result is known. From her grim, busy factories Her products go to every zone In ships that sail the seven seas. Yet does she make, when all is said, No product more desired of men, No brighter chaplet for her head. Than her grand type of citizen. In war and peace, in school and shop. Beyond the knowledge of her name. Rising insistent to the top. Those she has bred have brought her fame. A little while we hold her trust Till Time sets others in our place; Let us not see her armor rust. Nor fear to look her in the face. When her bright century is run. Be ours to have our children say Their service is the better done For that we render her to-dav. THE WORCESTER OF 1898. ORE than one hundred thousand souls have a eommon interest and an equal partieipation in the privileges and benefits whieh have resulted from the efforts of the past. In number and eombina- tion of advantages Woreester stands unsurpassed among American cities. Its diversitv of industries prevents, even in times of general depression, anything like complete stagnation. Its steam and electric railways afford easy local transit and facility of communication in all directions. An abundant and unfailing supply of pure water and an extensive sewer system safeguard the public health. Its numerous and beautiful parks offer areas of recreation. The number and char- acter of its public schools and establishments for higher learning, its public libraries, and its literary and scientific institutions, give facili- ties for education and culture not excelled if equaled by those of any other city of its size in America. All this and much more can be said. With a valuation of over one hundred millions, its debt of five millions seems not formidable in consideration of the many and great benefits and improvements secured and enjoyed. And unless pro- phetic vision discloses future universal ruin, nothing darkens the local prospect of the half century to come, or indicates that the onward inarch will in any degree be slackened or brought to a sudden stop. In the following chapters the various institutions, forces and influ- ences which are active and prominent in our city of to-day, are treated in detail by able and well-known writers, whose names are sufficient evidence of the reliability and value of the information they impart. D EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. By Clarence F. Carroll, A. ^I.,* Superintendent of Public Schools. |T may be affirmed without danger of contradiction that no city in America can claim to rival Worcester in the number and variety of its general educational institutions. The following enumeration of these institutions will be of interest: Classical High vSchool, English High School, forty-five grammar and primary schools and ten suburban schools, Worcester Academy, Holy Cross College, Highland Military Academv, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester vState Normal School, Clark University, other private schools and business colleges. The great Public Library and the beautiful Art Museum should perhaps be added to the list, and the museum of Natural History and the museum of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, under their present efficient management, may fairly be counted as at least auxiliary educational institutions. Nearly everv one of these institutions, including our high schools and our Public Library, have attained a position of acknowledged leadership. As this statement is intended principally for Worcester readers, and as it is our purpose to celebrate the attainments of our city on the fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation, it will be my privi- lege and duty to set forth in some positive form the merit and useful- ness of these several institutions which are at once our pride and important sources of our strength. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Of all these institutions, the public schools are naturally nearest to the hearts of the people, and properly claim the place of honor in this historv. Moreover, they have been the chief instrument in promoting the intelligence of the people, and we must depend upon them in the future to insure to every home the priceless blessings of an advancing Christian civilization. The School Committee, under the statutes, has most of the powers of a great corporation. It consists of twenty-four members, one-third *See sketch in Biographical Department. CLARENCE F. CARROLL. The Worcester of 1898. 169 of whom are elected annually. Ten different committees are charged with the duty of considering and reporting upon most of the new business introduced. Routine matters, for example the purchase of regular supplies, the appointment of teachers, the payment of bills, and the management of. special subjects, are left largely with the appropriate committees. The amount of money disbursed far exceeds that expended in any other department. Every expenditure of money is authorized in advance by the proper committee, and in no other city department can it be shown so plainly whether or not an expenditure is for value received. The cost per pupil in the graded schools is rather below that of other cities with which we are willing to be classed. This statement would apply also to our high schools, though in view of the large humber of pupils in the high schools, the actual cost of high school instruction may be regarded as excessive. The following have been introduced into the schools as separate branches : vSinging, 1862; drawing, May, 1869; physical culture, September, 1-891; kindergarten. May, 1892; manual training, September, 1895; English course in high school. English high school was occupied in vSeptember, 1892. It is difficult for one acquainted with the operation of the school system as we view it at the present time, to conceive of the curriculum in which the studies named above do not appear. In the old school the day was made up almost entirely of reading from a single familiar book, and doing sums, and spelling, and writing in a copy-book. Both history and geography are comparatively recent innovations, and in many of the schools of the Commonwealth would be counted as innova- tions. To-day every child attains considerable skill in the art of repre- sentation with pencil, brush or crayon, or with all three. In the study of nature, drawing is constantly brought into use, and the most limited exhibit of school work is generally a revelation to persons not directly interested in the care of schools. Voices of children put to shame trained choirs in the execution of familiar and difficult music. For at least ten minutes every day, every child in the city below the high school exercises muscles in every part of the body with a view to the development of the body and with the direct aim of increasing intel- lectual vigor. In some form, study of the world without has a place in every school. Manual training makes it possible for every boy who reaches the ninth grade to learn the elements of mechanic arts. The kindergarten takes the children of the rich and the poor before^-school age and teaches them the great lessons of politeness and good will. I/O The Worcester of 1898. It brings into life all the best impulses of the child, and gives him an invaluable training in industry and concentration. CLASSICAL HIGH SCHOOL, MAPLE STREET. The English and scientific courses that have almost over-shadowed classical training in the high schools explain in large part the increase in numbers, amounting to more than 200 per cent, within ten years. The Worcester of 1898. 171 In this enumeration it should be added that the liberal introduction of reading matter into every school-room has perhaps accomplished as much as all the other changes mentioned in broadening school curriculum and redeeming it from its severe tendencies. A parent has now a right to expect the atmosphere of the school- room to be very much like that of the best homes. The changes brought about by the introduction of these new subjects has affected the school both socially and morally. This higher standard is instinct- ively applied in judging the school not only by parents, but by school officers as well. While the child of human life in the school-room has thus been indefinitely broadened, no friend of the school of ancient days can claim that there is any lack of thoroughness in numbering, writing, reading or spelling. An exhibit that has just been presented to the public has demon- strated that the art of writing a new hand can be attained almost to perfection by nine out of ten children in a single year. Children can not only cipher with old-time accuracy in division, fractions and per- centage, but they easily express themselves independently of slate and pencil in fractional parts, measures, per cents and ratios. Children discuss questions of history and geography with an intelligence entirely unknown in former times. In reading and spelling they have increased their vocabulary a thousand-fold, and have learned to love prose and poetry and song of their own and other times. That the spelling has not suffered is proved by reviewing not a list of words prepared from a speller, but by reading a hundred of the uncorrected papers now on exhibition treating of many different subjects. This claim would be immodest if it were to be applied simply to the schools of Worcester, but assuming that Worcester holds its place educationally with the schools of a hundred other cities of her class in the country, the statements made in regard to the new spirit of the school-room, the broadening of the curriculum and the improved thoroughness, may be accepted without hesitation by the citizens of Worcester as being within the bounds of reason. It is claimed by reformers that most of the great desired changes in civilization date from the school-room. Very often these claims are arbitrary, and the authors would define both the method and the process. W^hile they may make mistakes in both of these directions, it remains true that they have never claimed enough in this direction. The quiet, moulding force of the influences — social, industrial, physical, and I may add religious — that are to-day in full operation in the best schools, of which there are many in this city, has never been set forth, much less appreciated, by even the parents of the children them- selves. 172 The Worcester of 1898. Instinctively we have grasped the value of the public school. Statutes compel the attendance of all children. The most benighted parent eagerly accepts the boon. Many a struggling family makes ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL, IRVING STREET. extreme sacrifices to swell the great numbers in our high schools and colleges. But words fail us if we attempt to put into words the true meaning of the American school system, and we view its beneficent influences in silent admiration. The Worcester of 1898. 173 The number of teachers employed in the public schools in 1848, when Worcester was incorporated as a city, is as follows: 34 graded school teachers, 5 high school teachers — total, 39. The population in 1848 was about 15,000. Number of teachers employed in 1873, twenty-five years after the date of incorporation, was : 143 graded school teachers, 9 high school teachers, 7 special teachers — total, 159. The population in 1873 was 47,000. The number of teachers employed in 1898 is 407 graded school teachers, 62 high school teachers, i 5 special teachers — total, 484. The estimated population in 1898 is 106,000. The following table will show the changes in population, valuation, number of pupils, increase of teachers' salaries, and cost of schools during the last fifty years : 1848-1897. Year. Population. Valuation. No. of School Children. Cost per Scholar. Teachers' Salaries. Total Expen.se. 1848 15,000* $8,721,000 3,ooof $4-71 $11,958 $14,800 1850 17,049 1 1,082,501 3,184 5-56 14,250 18,000 1855 22,284 18,059,000 3,974 6.41 23,795 29.915 i860 24,960 16,406,900 4,820 10. 10 25,038 33.500 1865 30,058 18,937,000 5.983 10.95 39,862 51,721 1870 41,105 34,018,450 6,657 16.00* 85,383 105,000 1875 49.317 49,299,781 8,896 20.07 110,345 153,210 1880 58,291 41,006,862 10,887 16.30 112,597 144,406 1885 68,380 52,719.391 12,981 19.80 154.985 213,076 1890 84,655 73.531,060 14.933 22.29 200,400 278,956 1895 98,767 88,080,816 17.935 27-59 297,969 429,631 1897 106,000* 98,520,591 20,004 27-51 326, lOI 505,542 * Estimate. f Nearly. The date of occupation of interest : School- HOUSES. Lamartine, Dix, . Edgewortl";, Woodland, Ledge, Belmont, the followinof school-houses will be of OCCLPIED. May, 1868. May, 1868. May, 1869. May, 1870. May, 1870. May, 1871 174 The Worcester of 1898. School-houses. High School, Winslow, Grafton, Lake View, Valley Falls, Woodland, . Canterbury, Millbury, ' . Chandler, Gage, Freeland, Lee, Bloomingdale, Greendale, . Ledge, Jamesville, . Adams Square, Quinsigamond, Salisbury, . Cambridge, Downing. English High, North Worcester Greendale, . Union Avenue, Elizabeth, . Abbott, Ward, Dartmouth, L^psala, Malvern Road, Midland, Lamartine, Jamesville (rebui Providence, Adams Woodland, . Canterbury, Harlow. It), Occupied. January (?), 1872 1878. 1878. 1879- 1881. 1881. 1881. 1883. 1885. 1885. 1885. 1885. vSeptember, 1886. 1886. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. September, 1890. 1891. 1891. vSeptember i. 1891. 1893. April, 1894. April, 1894. vSeptember, 1894. February, 1895. September, 1895. September, 1895. September, 1895. . January, 1897. April, 1897. . April, 1897. September, 1897. . October, 1897. . October, 1897. Being built. Being built. Being built. THE WORCESTER ACADEMY.* The school now known as the "Worcester Academy" was founded under the auspices of the Baptist denomination, and incorporated in 1834 as the "Worcester County Manual Labor High School." The school's original plant comprised a tract of sixty acres of land, and buildings erected thereon, at an expense of about $10,000, situated on ■** The different educational institutions are treated in order in accordance with the date of their foundation. The Worcester of 1898. 175 Main street at the point where Benefit street now enters it. This street, indeed, is said to derive its name from the fact that the sale of this original property for the opening of said street at a time when the school's finances were at low ebb, enabled the school to continue its existence in less spacious quarters. As its name would indicate, the school was intended to help young people to pay their own way to an education. The general principles laid down by the founders are thus stated in Lincoln's "History of Worcester," published in 1836: "That the instruction should be of the first order; that strict moral and religious character should be attained ; and that every facility should be afforded for productive labor, to the end that education should be good, but not expensive." It is remarkable how, through all the vicissitudes of its career, the school has clung to these first principles, even to the last; for the boy who pa3^s for his education by the work of his own hands remains to-day a very considerable element in the school's membership. In its first home the school made for itself a most worthy beginning. Its first three principals were vSilas Bailey, vSamuel S. Greene and Nelson Wheeler, all of whom afterwards became conspicuous in col- lege and university positions. vSome of the students, too, of those early days have attained distinction. Honorable William T. Harris, LL. D., who has won for himself an international reputation as United States commissioner of education, was for a time a student here. After its really noble beginning came a long period of decline, with frequent changes in the principalship. About i860 the original plant was sold, and during the next ten years the school continued as a day school simply, occupying the old Antiquarian hall just off Lincoln square. Among the several principals of this period, one is to be noted as having really saved the school's life. Doctor Albert P. Marble, afterwards for so many years superintendent of the public schools of Worcester, during his two years' principalship of the academy success- fully resisted a movement to discontinue the school and transfer its funds, then aggregating about $40,000, to the Newton Theological Seminary. Finally, about 1870, the school again changed its home and moved to its present site on Union hill. Here it became again a boarding- school, occupying what was then known as the "Dale Hospital" (the present "Davis Hall"), a building which had run meantime its own checkered career, first as a medical college, then as a female seminary, and again in the war-times as a soldiers' hospital. In its new home under the principalship of Professor William C. Poland, now of Brown University, and of Nathan Leavenworth, who died in devoted service to his charge, the school gained an irhpulse toward better things. '¥f :.i Z) > LU Q < < cc LLl I- 00 UJ o The Worcester of 1898. 177 Upon the death of Principal Leavenworth in 1882, his work was taken up by the present principal, D. W. Abercrombie, LL. D.,* a man of rare energy, courage, determination and executive ability, and possessed moreover of remarkable powers as a teacher and inspirer of boys. During Principal Abercrombie's brilliant administration of six- teen years, the school has made history for itself so fast and has achieved so remarkable an expansion and development that no brief account can at all do justice to it. The membership of the school has grown from about 50 to 230; its equipment from one rather dilapi- dated building to five of the finest school buildings to be found in this country, and to a property valued at $650,000. But the real success of this period is only partially and imperfectly indicated by this phenomenal growth in material ways. It is perhaps better indicated by the steady growth in reputation and prestige that has come to the school in these latest years. From being little known beyond the limits of its own county and denom- ination, it has come to be widely known and recognized, not simply as one of the few institutions of its class that have survived the intro- duction of the modern high school, but also as a worthy rival of the very best and strongest and most famous secondary schools in the country in point of organization, equipment, wholesome athletic life, and general good name. The catalogue for the present year contains the names of 232 students from twenty-two different states and from nine different countries. No small part of the school's history is enshrined in the names of its several buildings. The original building of the present group, the older dormitory, bears appropriately the name "Davis Hall," in honor of Honorable Isaac Davis, LL. D., who was during the first thirty-nine years of the school's existence president of its Board of Trustees. The first of the newer buildings, erected in 1889, is "Walker Hall," named in honor of Honorable Joseph H. Walker, LL. D., one of the staunchest supporters of the school, and president of its Board of Trustees since 1873. Walker Hall is a most attractive and serviceable building, containing, besides recitation-rooms for all except the purely scientific studies, the principal's office, the chapel, the " Nelson Wheeler Library," and a thoroughly-equipped gymnasium. In 1892 were erected "Adams Hall," one of the most beautiful dining-halls in the country, and the fine new dormitory, " Dexter Hall," named in honor of one of the school's greatest benefactors, Mr. William H. Dexter of this city. The "Kingsley Laboratories," named in honor of another of the benefactors of the school. Honorable Chester W. Kingsley, of Cam- * See sketch in Biographical Department. DANIEL W. ABERCROMBIE. The Worcester of 1898. 179 bridge, have been recently completed, and make possible instruction in the sciences on the most improved plans. The great building is a cluster of seven groups of laboratories for as many distinct sciences, with ample provision, besides, for instruction in mechanical drawing and in manual training. Elementary and advanced chemistry, elemen- tary and advanced physics, physiography, zoology, botany, meteor- ology, anatomy and physiology have their respective laboratories, stock-rooms and lecture-rooms. All of these sciences are tauo-ht on the laboratory plan, and have a full equipment of the most practical apparatus. The erection of the Kingsley Laboratories marks the firm and equal establishment in this school of the scientific with the classical side of instruction, and gives the Worcester Academy an equipment for teaching natural science probably unequaled among secondary schools. The instruction remains as the founders of the school stipulated it should be, "of the first order." The faculty has increased during Doctor Abercrombie's principalship from five members to fourteen, each of whom has been thoroughly and specially trained for the work of his own department. The graduates of the school are found in all the leading colleges and scientific schools of New England, and win for themselves high rank in scholarship, as well as large recognition and influence in all the athletics and social and literary organizations of college and university life. Not only are the intellectual standards of the school of the hisfhest as is evidenced by the thoroughly developed and up-to-date course of study, but the whole physical and moral tone of its life is most whole- some. Exercise in the gymnasium is compulsory, and under the charge of a resident instructor. Careful arrangements are made for wise instruction and supervision. Before entering upon the gymnasium work, every pupil undergoes a thorough physical examination; any weaknesses are carefully noted and exercise is prescribed accordingly. Facilities for outdoor exercise are especially good. There is a play- ground of ten acres, arranged for football and tennis, and provided with a fine oval, which has a cinder track, five laps to the mile. The track cost $10,000, and is considered the best five-lap track in New England. Wisely regulated athletic sports constitute an important and very healthful feature of the life of the school. It is here especially that the general spirit of activity and enterprise, so characteristic of the whole institution, finds its expression among the boys themselves. The year just closed has been a notable one, marked by four splendid successes in the line of general field and track athletics : the winning of the silver shield at Boston in the meet held for "indoor" sports by the schools of eastern Massachusetts, the winning of the silver cup at the i8o The Worcester of 1898. similar meet held in Worcester for "outdoor" sports, the victory for the fourth successive vear in the dual meet with Phillips-Andover Academy, and the winning of second place for the Worcester Academy by four of its representatives in the recent national inter- scholastic meet in New York. Best of all, the Worcester Academy has won the reputation of being "a clean school" athletically and morally. Finallv, the Worcester Academy is a Christian school, founded and maintained by Christian men. Its faculty contains only Christian men, who value character above scholarship, and who seek by close personal contact with the students in all the intercourse of daily life to inculcate by precept and by example good manners and sound morals. This close personal contact of teachers with pupils tends to an increased manliness of bearing and maturity of thought and character among the students, and secures moreover a general supervision that is not inconsistent with proper self-government. Indeed, here in the AVor- cester Academy is a veritable republic in miniature, in which rich boys and poor boys side by side face the same duties, enjoy the same privi- leges, and find themselves embarked together upon the same enterprises. Thus they learn to know and to respect one another, and they imbibe here at school those qualities of good citizenship so essential to their happiness and success in the larger life that awaits them beyond the walls of the academic enclosure. In short the very name of the Worcester Academy has become a source of just pride, both to Worcester and to New England. COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS. The following statement is taken from the " Historical vSketch of the College of the Holy Cross prepared for the International Exhibition of 1876": "The College of the Holy Cross was founded by the Right Reverend Benedict Joseph Fenwick, second bishop of Boston. The most cher- ished wish of that eminent prelate was to establish in his diocese an institution which should furnish a secular education of the highest grade, and at the same time imbue the students with the principles of the Catholic religion. He was aided in his first steps to realize this desire by the generosity of Rev. James Fitton of Boston. Boagachoag, or Hill of Pleasant wSprings, near Worcester, had l)een already conse- crated to the interests of Catholic education by that zealous clergyman. He had erected there, in 1840, the Seminary of St. James, a frame building seventy feet long and two stories high. This, with nearly sixty acres of land attached, he presented to the bishop in 1842. The Worcester of 1898. 181 " The fact that the site was a gift, was not the only consideration that determined the bishop to erect his college upon it — the acknowl- edged beauty and healthfulness of the location were controlling motives. Boagachoag is nearly two miles from the city. The view of the sur- rounding country from the top of it is very fine. Looking northward, we see Worcester — thirty-three years ago a town of ten thousand inhabitants, now a city containing fifty thousand. Then it seemed a small village far away ; now it has crept up to the banks of the Black- stone river, and seems like a large city filling the plain. Looking east and south we see, in the spacious valley studded with farm-houses, the village of Quinsigamond, and farther off the town of Millbury. On the northwest the eye meets Still Water, a lake in miniature, and the rippling Blackstone; following the encircling hills, it rests on Wachusett mountain, dark and grim in the distance. That the position was healthful, the dry, pure air, and marked facilities for exercise in winter and summer, were full assurance. "The bishop made arrangements at once to build the college on so eligible a spot. According to the plan adopted, the central building was to be 104 feet long, with wings running east and west, each 90 feet long and 45 feet deep. The first story was to be of South Ledge granite, the other stories of brick. The corner-stone was laid June 21, 1843, with the imposing ceremonies of the Catholic ritual. The Reverend Charles Constantine Pise of New York delivered to a large audience of the clergy and laity an interesting address. His chief topic was the system of education pursued by the Society of Jesus, whose members were to have charge of the new institution. The central building was the first erected, at a cost of $20,000. It was considered large enough to accommodate ninety students. The wings were not added till afterwards, when the increased number of students made more ample space necessary. "The schedule of studies adopted for the College of the Holy Cross is in obedience to the spirit and letter of the ratio stiidionun. Seven years are usually required to complete the course. During that period the students are made familiar with the models of Greek and Latin letters. Side by side is a comprehensive course of mathematics rang- ing from algebra to calculus. Modern languages receive a fair, and, if desired, an equal share of attention. The vernacular, with the accom- panying branches of declamation, history and geography, is made an object of special study. The seventh year is devoted to the study of the natural sciences, and to logic, metaphysics and ethics. The College of the Holy Cross has been faithful to this schedule, every student who has received a diploma of graduation having passed a satisfactory- examination in these branches. The exercises of the school were o The Worcester of 1898. 183 commenced November 2, 1843. Twenty-five students entered the college the first year. "Its first president, Reverend Thomas ^Mulledy, having been ap- pointed provincial of the Maryland province, was succeeded October 9, 1845, by the Reverend James Ryder, late president of Georgetown College and provincial of the Maryland province. He held the office during the usual period of three years, and was transferred again to Georgetown College. His admirable management of the college con- tributed largely to its popularity, and the number of students rapidly increased. . He built, in pursuance of the original plan, the east wing, and thus added a dining-room, chapel, study-hall and dormitory, each 90 feet by 45. "A class of the students who had entered in 1843 ^ncl 1844 had now advanced to philosophy, and were ready for graduation in 1849. It was to give public testimony to their proficiency, and to decorate them with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, an honor which they had fairly won, that the college applied in that year to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the privileges of incorporation. The petition for a charter was presented in March, 1849, and was acted upon earlv in April. The petitioners were disappointed. Four of the members of the Legislative committee were averse to it, and three were in favor of granting it. AVhen the subject came before the House of Representa- tives for full and final consideration, the decision of the majority of the committee was sustained. " If the students were disappointed in the hope of receiving their diplomas from their alma mater, they were not deprived of the benefits of graduation. Georgetown College conferred the degrees on this and all succeeding classes tmtil 1865. The officers of the college discovered, while urging the petition, that the institution had made manv friends among all classes of citizens during the few years of its existence. They submitted to the refusal of a small majoritv with a good grace, and trusted to the fairness of their demand, for a different issue, when it should be made again. His Excellency Governor Alexander H. Bullock, at the commencement in 1868, alluding to this unsuccessful attempt to obtain a charter, said he had been deeply impressed by the manner in which the friends of the college hid all signs of disappoint- ment. They exhibited a patience which, under such circumstances, he should hardly have dared to expect from many Christian denominations. "On the afternoon of July 14, 1852, eight days before the annual exhibition, a fire broke out in the third story — in the room, it was supposed, of one of the teachers who had been burning waste examina- tion-papers. In a short time the whole of the central building was destroyed. The loss seemed at first irreparable. The fruits of nine 1 84 The Worcester of 1898. years of careful management were destroyed in a few hours. The builders were at work a few months after the fire; by the 3d of October, 1853, the college, enlarged and remodeled, was again opened. "More than a year had passed since the fire. The students mean- while had either been diverted from a classical course or had entered other colleges. When Holy Cross was prepared, late in the term, to receive her scholars, very few, as was to be expected, returned. It was found inexpedient to organize any classes higher than second humani- ties, the fifth from graduation. " The most distinguished among the gentlemen who manifested an interest in the college at this period was His Excellency Governor Andrew. He visited and examined the institution during the school term of 1862, and presided at the annual commencement held July 7, 1863. On the latter occasion he spoke in the highest terms of the college ; the sincerity of his praise was unmistakable. "The interesting event of incorporation was not long delayed. The petition was presented to the Legislature in the session of 1865. The bill was read a third time in the House of Representatives on March 21, and passed without opposition. The vSenate confirmed the action of the lower body March 23, and the governor signed the act on March 24. The 27th of April, 1865, was set apart for the public celebration of the event. "The college was particularly indebted to His Excellency Governor Alexander H. Bullock for man}' acts of courtesy. As a resident of Worcester, he has alwavs taken a neighborlv interest in the colleore. While speaker of the House, he offered to present the petition for a charter, and presided at three successive exhibitions while governor of the vState. " In material progress, considering the limited fund at the disposal of the treasurer, the college makes a creditable showing for the thirtv- three or, we may more truly say, the twenty-three years of her existence. But progress in the higher aims has not been less true and constant. The library, now containing i i ,000 volumes, and the scientific apparatus, to which valuable additions have been made, show that these departments have not been neglected. The presidents have uniformly and conscientiously labored to secure for the students the highest culture the course affords. They have mildly yet firmly insisted upon strict discipline and close attention to study. They have spared no pains to teach the students the principles of their holy faith, and the moral lessons which it inculcates. When their alma mater calls to mind the 1,534 students whom she has sent forth, of whom 133 were graduated, she has just reason to think her efforts have not been in vain. She can point to a fair proportion who The Worcester of 1898. 185 have proved her careful training- by eminent success in higher institu- tions of learning — of law, medicine, and divinity — as well as in the active pursuits of life." The last twenty-two years have added their story of fame and useful- ness to the honorable record of Holy Cross. This period has seen the college more than double its material and scholastic capacity for the education of students, and, as the result and reward of wise administra- tion, has witnessed the outgoing of more than double the number of all its former graduates. That these attest the efficiency of her curriculum and training, many episcopal, political and judicial honors since attained most honorably proclaim. During this period Holy Cross, though but a college in name and in scope, has challenged the competition of the best universities of the land in the field of athletic sports, always with honor to her name ; and in the not distant future it is nearer truth than prophecy to infer that she will hold her own against their best in the trials of intercollegiate oratory and scholarship. Indeed, there is on record the testimony of more than one governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that her annual commencements afford unmistakable proofs that in learn- ing, in training, and ability to display their attainments, the graduates of Holy Cross are second to none in whom the old Bay vState loves to take a laudable pride. The loyalty and affection for alma mater displayed by the alumni of this college are a credit to their heart and head. Their institution is worthy of all the honor that belongs to institutions of its class ; and when they so honor it and so proclaim it, they only give voice and meaning to that which is in the hearts of all good citizens, irrespective of race or creed. HIGHLAND MILITARY ACADEMY. The Highland Military Academy is another of the institutions of Worcester that deserves special mention at this time. This school was founded in 1856 by Mr. C. B. Metcalf, who was for more than thirty years its principal or superintendent. In the absence of what may be called the military spirit, as the term is generally understood, it is natural that there should be a demand for schools where military training is emphasized. Such schools are very numerous in the middle states, but for many years the Highland Mili- tary Academy has been almost without a rival in New England. From the beginning, this school has consistently maintained its individuality, has been generously attended by pupils from many The Worcester of 1898. 187 JOSEPH A. SHAW. different states, and has been a source of pride to the city of Worcester. Its instructors are men who are well known in our community, and their character and standing as citizens have insured to the school a high reputation. The buildings are located in one of the most attractive suburbs, and com- mand a beautiful view of the sur- rounding country. The equipment of the academy is complete with armory, gymnasium, laboratory, mu- seum, infirmary, cadet quarters, and cadet parlor. The officers of the academic staff live in the same build- ings with the cadets, and the social life of the institution is shared by the whole household. The school is conducted under the management of Joseph A. vShaw " as head master, and George L. Clark as treasurer and business manager. This school aims to fit pupils for colleges, universities and technical schools, though it gives a generous English training and a reasonably complete education to those who do not intend to enter higher institu- tions. Military drill was introduced in 1858, and is still kept up principally as a means of maintaining health, a graceful carriage, and of preserv- ing discipline. The morals and manners of the students are considered of paramount importance. The following is an extract from the last circular issued by the school: "Our academy seeks, and will allow, no one in its mem- bership who does not, according to the best standards, aspire to be a gentleman ; nor will any unworthy cadet, for mercenary, or for other causes, be allowed to stay in school. Every year the roll-call is narrowed because some names are kept off it, or stricken from it, that will do it no credit. Nor will this school be made a receptacle for indifferent youth, 'boys not very bad, but easily influenced.' " Our graduates are found in Harvard, Yale, and in the best scientific schools in the country. Our instructors are men not only of acknowl- edged scholarship, but those who must have attained eminence in their profession before employment here. '"Beautiful for situation,' is the constant remark from those who have known the school from its beginning, and repeated by every new- *See sketch in Biographical Department. o The Worcester of 1898. 189 comer. The cadets in attendance are proverbially healthy. The school grounds are set on a hill, and the premises during the present season have been supplied with modern sanitary appliances. It is always designed to make and continue this school to be what it so often has been designated in the best sense — a home school." WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. The city of Worcester is preeminent for its mechanical skill. For half a century or more the products of its industries have been well known both at home and abroad. It would be expected that there would be found in such a centre some school for training in the mechanical arts. For many years Worcester Polytechnic Institute has been the worthy representative of industrial Worcester. The institute was founded by John Boynton of Templeton in 1865. The Board of Trustees has always been made up largely of men who have been intimately identified with the development of the city. The names of these men are household words in our city, and^are honored through- out the vState and nation. This great school, which was founded and which has been nourished by these noble men, may be said to represent both the energy and intellect of our newest and best civilization. It is distinctly a product of Worcester, and was a pioneer among schools of its class. Moreover a powerful reflex influence comes to the city through its graduates, who annually by the score take places of responsibility in OLir great work-shops, for which they have been so admirably trained. But the school is much more than a local institution. Her graduates are found in every state and territory and in almost every growing city in the country, for these men are trained to bear a part in the progress which we are witnessing, and well have they taken their part. In the great mechanical, electrical and civil engineering enterprises and the manual and scientific courses of instruction throughout the country, graduates of the Worcester Polytechnic school are found directing the work of others. All this is high praise. But the quiet yet positive influence of these men ought to be well understood by the citizens of Worcester. The lines of work undertaken are comparatively . new, and are closely connected with the unparalleled growth and development of our country. It is therefore no accident that Worcester has produced such a school, nor should we be surprised that the men trained at such a centre should contribute to the material advancement of the nation. Of the 753 graduates of the school, 145 were residents of Worcester at the time of graduation, and 342 were residents of Massachusetts. I90 The Worcester of 1898. Of the 216 students now in attendance, 76 are residents of Worcester. Courses in our high schools are formed to prepare students for the Polytechnic school, and very many young men now attending our high schools are looking forward to this goal which is in plain sight. Thus the Polytechnic Institute is intimately correlated with our lives in many ways, and while it can in no sense be called a local institution, the city receives from it all and greater advantages than would be pos- sible if this were true. The following statements are copied from an address containing a quarter century review by President Homer T. Fuller, delivered June 21, 1894 : "So far as I know, the earliest systematic industrial training in con- nection with any school was given at Moscow, Russia, beginning in 1763. This went on without much change for seventy years. Sweden began industrial work in schools about 1795, and the Polytechnic at Vienna dates from 181 5. Most of the other German technical high schools were organized from 1820 to 1870. But France for more than forty years, or from 1825 to 1865, led the world in the practical appli- cations of science in school instruction to the improvement of arts, trades and manufactures. From France came the first engineers employed on our American canals and railroads. In 1847 the period of establishing scientific departments of colleges began. vSheffield led the way in that year. "Of all the instructors of the institute, it may truly be said that they have devoted themselves mind and soul to their work, and have made it their pride and delight." It is a source of regret that for lack of room this address of President Fuller cannot be printed in full. It outlines the generous gifts made by many different citizens. It is a story of sacrifice and denial, patient, faithful labor. vSeveral professors have served a term of twenty-five years as instructors. Four whose labors have ceased, including the first president, are mentioned bv the writer in terms of feeling gratitude. The following, taken from the last annual catalogue, will express the most recent view of the work and function of the institution : "The institute was founded by John Boynton, Esq., of Templeton, in 1865. The new institution was chartered by the Legislature of Massachusetts on May 10, 1865, and it was opened for the reception of students on May 12, 1868. This was the beginning of its career, but without the cooperation of other friends of the school and its work, it must have fallen far short of realizing the wishes and expecta- tions of its first benefactor. By generously supplementing the original gift, however, they have increased the value of its property and various endowment funds until it is now manv times what it was in the begin- The Worcester of 1898. 191 ning. This growth in material wealtli has been aecompanied by a great improvement and enlargement of its faeilities for instruction, and by the extension of its advantages to a much larger constituency. One of the very first schools of its class in the country', it has not been left behind in the tremendous progress that has taken place during the past quarter of a century in all matters pertaining to higher pro- fessional and technical education. In some respects it has been a recognized leader, its methods have been extensively copied, and its graduates have found ready employment in more recent foundations of a similar character. AVithin a few years its courses of study have been enlarged and extended, its facilities for instruction more than doubled, and it is confidently believed that its courses are not inferior to those of any other engineering school, considered either as a means of intellectual discipline or for the production of the technical expert. "The plan of organization of the institute, while similar in many respects to that of other schools of technology in this country and in Europe, differs from that of many of them in some important partic- ulars. The scope of its work is more comprehensive than in a few schools restricted to a single branch of engineering, and more limited than in others which attempt to include nearly every department of applied science. "The underlying principle which controls the work of this institute, and which has shaped its course from the beginning, is that courses of stud}' and laboratory exercises may be arranged which will furnish all the intellectual discipline and training which were of real worth in the so-called 'liberal education,' and at the same time equip the young man with a good knowledge of the sciences especially relating to his chosen profession, together with a considerable amount of actual prac- tice in that profession. "The importance attached to laboratory methods, in connection with the various courses of the institute, is measured by the several large and perfectly arranged and equipped buildings, which are devoted, for the most part, to this work. These include the vSalisbury Laboratories of physics, chemistry and electrical engineering; the extensive Wash- burn Shops; the new engineering laboratory, in which ample provision is made for both civil and mechanical engineering; the power laboratory; and a most important experimental hydraulic plant, on a scale hitherto unapproached by any institution of learning in this country. "The Worcester Polytechnic Institute was the first institution in the country to establish workshops as an adjunct to the training of the mechanical engineer." 192 The Worcester of 1898. THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL The Worcester Normal ScIkjoI was opened on September 15, 1874. The institution has beeome well known in New England, and its principal has for many years, through his writings on some phases of child-study, reached an audience scattered over the entire country. While this school is one of a group of nine State institutions, it performs an invaluable office in promoting the interests of the Worces- ter schools, and it is peculiarly endeared to the Worcester people. Of its 724 graduates, 322 are at the present time teaching in the schools of Worcester. The Worcester Normal vSchool requires that every pupil who seeks for admission shall be a graduate of some high school, or shall have had a training that may fairly be regarded as an equivalent. As a result of this high standard, something like a professional spirit has taken the place of the indifference which had formerly prevailed in the selection of teachers. Not only have the persons w^ho make up the profession thus become a select company, but the work they have undertaken has assumed the form of a fine art. The science of teaching has become the most popular and the most generally studied at post-graduate universities, both in this country and in Europe. The questions concerned have to do with the social, physical and intellectual side of the child. The study of the individual has come to the front. This is true not only in the school, but in the communitv. This idea has aft'ected all theories of human development. The Worcester Normal School has from the first deliberately ignored " cut-and-dried " methods, and has advocated the theory that the teacher should as far as possible deal with each child as an individual. As a result, the graduates of the school, and, it may be added, the teachers of the Worcester schools, bear the mark of the original mind that has so faithfully pursued a difficult ideal. Every person who has ever visited the school has been impressed with the fresh and free atmosphere that pervades the institution, and has gone away with some new inspiration. In certain lines of science, in the art of reading, in self-command, and in the modest consciousness of strength, the graduates of this school are not surpassed by the grad- uates of any normal school in the country. An apprentice system has been worked out by the principal on entirely original lines, that have made its teachers infinitely superior in the practice of their art, to those coming from many of the other normal schools of the State, where the teaching art has, until recently, been almost wholly ignored. The Worcester of 1898. 193 The following is quoted from the printed circular of the school : "The school-house is a large, three-story, massive structure, built of stone taken from the hill upon which it stands. Its position gives an extensive view of Worcester and its surroundings. From the front steps one looks westward down through clumps of trees over the city lying spread within an inner circle of rolling country. The site, more- over, has all the advantages that light and air can give it. "A new building of moderate size, but of substantial construction and architectural dignity and beauty, has been erected and fully equipped for use as a gymnasium. The students are instructed by b o r 1 o u L . classes, as in any other subject, under strict oversight, and with con- stant reference to the work of teaching. "The design of the Normal School is strictly professional; that is, to prepare in the best possible manner the pupils for the work of organizing, governing and teaching the public schools of the Common- wealth. It is made a special aim to seize every opportunity to give the pupils the benefit of whatever tends to fit them for the work of teaching. The spirit of this endeavor pervades the whole school. The knowledge demanded is in great part knowledge of the material to be operated on and of the conditions and limitations under which the work must be carried on. "The government of the school is not a government of rules, not even of laws. The school is not without law, but the pupils are led The Worcester of 1898. 195 by suggestion, encouragement and admonition to become a law unto themselves. "Platform exercise has the somewhat comprehensive aim of helping pupils to command their faculties and use their mother wit amid the interruptions and distractions of the school-room. In reply to the question, 'What school exercise was most profitable to 3'ou?' graduates are almost certain to name this, or, ' The study of children.' " The pupils of the Normal School serve in the schools of the city for a half-year, under the oversight and direction of the Normal School teachers and the teachers in charge of rooms. It is pleasant to record that this joint management that has in so many other cities caused discord, has here given satisfaction to the vSchool Committee of the city and, it is believed, to the vState authorities. It should be added that the study of children is further made possi- ble by the presence of a kindergarten and first grade school located in the Normal School building. The study of life and growing things is made easv bv the fact that the building is located on one of the beautiful elevations that grace our city on every side. Altogether, this institution is the one that, perhaps, contributes most directly and most powerfully to the interests of the public and private weal of our city. CLARK UNIVERSITY. Worcester enjoys the distinction of being the seat of the only uni- versity in America which confines its work strictly to post-graduate courses. While Clark University is almost the youngest institution of its class, it has at once assumed a position of leadership. Its grad- uates immediately become professors in the leading universities east and west. The work done by its students and faculty is almost wholly in the line of original research. As a result the university publishes a list of magazines, which are extensively read and reviewed at home and abroad. Some of these are reprinted in other languages, and the names and sayings of the professors of Clark University are very frequently found in the pages of foreign scientific and educational magazines. No publications or investigations have excited so much interest in educational circles during the present century as those that have originated with Clark University and its distinguished president. Child-study and Clark University have become firmly related in the minds of the reading public. Clark University Summer School has achieved a distinction all its own. This school calls together the most distinguished educators from all over the land, and the enthusiasm generated is quite unlike anything hitherto seen at such gatherings. 196 The Worcester of 1898. We share the blessings that come from the wise counsels of the learned president, G. Stanley Hall, and the faculty. Our educational institutions are all directly benefited by the incisive clearness and practical wisdom of the theories here set forth. The interests of our schools are especially promoted by the corrective force of this new educatif)n in its best form. May this institution be cherished by our city and strengthened by all necessary material support. Clark University is to us a crown of glory and a daily source of blessing in every department of our activity. It is an attractive force that brings to and holds fast the very best things. The following extract from the inaugural address of President G. Stanley Hall will more clearly define the purposes of this institu- tion : When called upon to consider the invitation with which the trustees of this university honored me two and a half years ago, I was in an institution which, in the less than fifteen years of its existence, had done a work in stimulating other institutions, and in advancing the highest standards, which was, as I think all cheerfully admit, beyond comparison in the recent history of higher education in this country. After studying Worcester and the New England situation, I saw the opportunity here to be so great for a further and at least no less epoch-making step that I felt that an assured career, and even an important department, new in this country and full of fascinations, and in the most critical stage of its development, ought not to weigh against it If the State is to insure social order within and be strong without, democracy must find a new principle of life in universities, and education must become the great problem of statesmanship The new movement is already upon us in this country, and many signif- icant facts show that the resultant interest and opportunity here have never been so great. All such facts and tendencies, and many more, opened a clear and broad field for us at Worcester, and unmistakably defined our work as follows: 1. It must be of the highest and most advanced grade, with special prominence given to original research. This our country chiefly lacks and needs for both its material and educational welfare. This is in the current of all the best tendencies in the best lands, and is the ideal to-day of, I believe, about every scientific man who is able and in earnest, throughout the world. For this bur location offers the rarest opportunities and induce- ments yet possible in this country. 2. We must not attempt at once to cover the entire field of human knowledge, but must elect a group of related departments of fundamental importance, and concentrate all our care to make these the best possible. Each science has become so vast and manifold that it is impossible to culti- vate the frontier of all at a single university The Worcester of 1898. 197 3. For our group we chose at first five fundamental and related sciences. Work in science can be quickest organized. Great libraries and museums, and everything else that only age can bring, can be dis- pensed with at first, and a complete outfit of the best apparatus and of all needed books can be gathered in a short time. Again, this is a practical country, and its industries are sure to depend more and more on the progress of science 4. We must seek the most talented and best trained young men. We must not exploit them for the glory of the institution, work them in a machine, nor retard their advancement, but we must give them every needed opportunity and incentive As from hundreds of applicants we have admitted but a very few of the best because many would frustrate our plans, so from the many subjects found in most large universities, we selected five to receive all our care. We are not a "graduate department" in which most so-called graduate students attend, and most professors conduct undergraduate work; we are not an institution like the Smithsonian, which does no teaching; we are not an academy of sciences: but we have features of all these, and many more. The work is the most laborious and the most expensive We are thus a school for professors, where leisure, method and incentive train select men to higher and more productive efiiciency than before For those students whom we receive we should do everything possible for instructors to do. They should be personally aided, guided to the best literature^ and advanced by every method that pedagogic skill and sympathy can devise. They should feel all the enthusiasm, understand all the inter- ests and all the methods of the instructor. He should confidentially share with them all his hopes and plans for research The most important part of our work is research, and we wish soon to be ready to be chiefly judged by the value of our contributions to the sum of human knowledge In this new country we need new men, new measures, and occasionally new universities; and we, like England, have in later years experienced their amazing good Never were educational opinions so plastic and formative, or all minds so receptive, or so bent on better things in higher education as now. . . . PRIVATE SCHOOLS. Worcester maintains a number of private schools of high grade. Prominent among these are the Dalzell vSchool for Boys and School for Girls, Miss Kimball's Home School, Miss Fitch's School, Miss Lewis- son's School. In this connection the three commercial colleges of Hinman, Becker and Childs should be mentioned. PUBLIC LIBRARIES. By Samuel Swett Green, A. M.* ORCESTER has reason to feel proud of her public libraries. They are large, and generously and wisely administered. There are two which contain more than 100,000 volumes each, one having 1 17,000 and the other 105,000. Several of the smaller libraries are very valuable. In the libraries described or mentioned in the following pages, there are more than 371,000 volumes; 270,000 of these can be used freely by every resident, and the larger portion of the remaining volumes are readily accessible. FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. The Free Public Library was established by the City Government December 23, 1859. That is to say, Worcester had been a city nearly twelve years before it had a library whose privileges could be enjoyed by residents without cost. The Free Public Library consisted in the beginning of the library of Doctor John Green, given to the cit}' to be the nucleus of a reference library, and of the collection of books owned by the Worcester Lyceum and Library Association and given to the city at the same time that Doctor Green gave his books. Most of the books in the latter collection became the nucleus of the circulating department of the Free Public Library. The library of Doctor Green was one which he had been forming for many years with the purpose of giving it to the city. That of the Worcester Lyceum and Library Association consisted of the books which had belonged to the Young Men's Library Association, the Young Men's Rhetorical Society and the old Worcester Lyceum. The library given by Doctor Green numbered about 7,000 volumes, which had cost him not less than $10,000; the library of the Worcester Lyceum and Library Association contained 4,500 volumes. The Free Public Library was opened to the public April 30, 1 860, in the rooms in the Worcester Bank block, which had been occupied by the two libraries composing it. * See sketch in Biographical Department. 200 The Worcester of 1898. In the fourth section of the original ordinance, by which Doctor Green was made an honorary director of the library for life, that gentleman is justly called its principal founder. He started the movement for the foundation of the library, gave to the city the large collection of books mentioned above, by his deed of gift secured liberal expenditures on the part of the city, and made other conditions which, without hampering the administration of the gift, have been of great benefit. In 1865 reading-rooms were established in connection with the library. A fund for their endowment was raised by subscription, mainly through the efforts of Honorable George Frisbie Hoar. The subscription amounted to $10,000 or $11,000, and was headed by the late Mr. Stephen Salisbury with a gift of $4,000. Mr. Hoar, Doctor Green and forty other persons gave each $100; twenty-five persons, $50 each; thirty-eight, $25 apiece, and other givers smaller sums. The Worcester Lyceum and Library Association added to its gift of books $300 as a subscription towards this reading- room fund. The fund amounted at the close of the last library year, November 30, 1897, to $10,856.44. The income of the fund and an annual appropriation by the City Government pay for the periodicals and papers taken in the reading- room. Doctor Green died in the autumn of 1865. Between the date of his deed of gift and his death he gave to the library 4,968 volumes in addi- tion to the 7,000 volumes contributed at the start. By his last will. Doctor Green left $30,000 to the city primarily for the endowment of his department of the library. By provisions of the will, one-quarter of the income is for the present to be added to the principal every year, and the remaining three-quarters, after deducting any losses that may have been met in the principal, are to be spent for books to be added to the Green Library, and in repairing and rebinding books in that department of the Free Public Library. The investment and management of the Green Library fund, by the terms of the will, are in the hands of the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors. That committee has to be chosen by ballot. The certificates of prop- erty are in the custody of the city treasurer. That officer also collects interest and dividends. Provisions for the safe investment of the fund are made in the will. Five hundred and fifty dollars and eighty-five cents, the proceeds of a trust instituted by the will of Doctor Green, has been received by the city and added to the Green Library fund. Thirty shares of the stock of the Central National Bank, Worcester, have, tmder the provisions of another trust made in the same will, been passed over to the city to form the beginning of a librarian fund. The Worcester of 1898. 201 Under the provisions of a third trust in Doctor Green's will, there will come to the city, after the death of an aged beneficiary, eighteen shares of bank stock and $210 deposited in the Worcester County Insti- tution for Savings (if the investments remain unchanged), to be added to the Green Library fund. That fund amounted, November 30, 1897, to $48,001.01. The libra- rian fund amounted, at the same date, to $4,344.35. The bank stock in both of these funds is held at par, although its market value is much higher. The main dependence of the Free Public Library for support is upon an annual appropriation made by the City Council, chiefly from money raised by taxation. The sum appropriated the first year of the existence of the library was $4,000. The library had to spend, besides that amount, $88.26 received for fines and collected in other ways. Besides these sources of revenue, the library now has the income of the Green Library and reading-room funds, and dog license money. The last-named item of income was first received in 1870, when it amounted to $1,931.05. It has been received every year since, and amounted last year to $5,576.17. The current year (1897-8) it amounts to $5,919.11. The city appropriation for the last year was $26,600. This year it is $27,500. Last year the income from the Green Library fund, applicable to the purchase of books, was $1,1 13.22, and that from the reading-room fund, $461.20. There was also received from fines, the sale of catalogues and other sources, $891.47. That is to say, the total income of the Free Public Library for the year 1896-7 was $34,642.06. Of that amount, $13,016.83 was spent for books and periodicals (exclusive of binding). The growth in the size and use of the library has been steady and large. As stated above, the library had at its foundation 11,500 volumes in its two departments, the Green or reference library and the circulating library. A third department, known as the intermediate department, has since been established. At the date of the last annual report (December i, 1897), the number of books in the library was 114,325, divided as follows among the three departments: Green Library, 24,737; intermediate department, 36,274; circulating depart- ment, 53,314. The library to-day (May 22, 1898) probably contains 1 17,000 volumes. The use of the library during the last year was 3i5»557 volumes. This number does not include, of course, the immense use of maga- zines, reviews and papers in the three reading-rooms. The home use of the library for the last year was 210,045 volumes. During the eight months covered by the first report of the Free Public Library, 31,454 volumes were given out for home use. SAMUEL S. GREEN. The Worcester of 1898. 203 The number of volumes added to the library the last year was 5,836. Cards can be had for taking books home from the circulating depart- ment by residents of Worcester who have reached the age of fifteen years, and by younger persons in the discretion of the librarian. Books can be taken home froin the intermediate department under certain restrictions. In accordance with a provision in the deed of gift, reiterated in the will of Doctor Green, books belonging to the Green Library must be used within the library building. Every facility is offered for their use under this condition. It appears from the last printed report of the Free Public Library that 493 papers and other periodicals were taken by the library in the year 1896-7. The Free Public Library was the first of the larger free public libraries in New England to open its doors to visitors on Sunday. On that day the reading-rooms and the library for purposes of reference are open, as stated below, from 2 to 9 o'clock p. m. This experiment began in 1872. Last year the reading-rooms were used by 8,910 persons on Sunda}^ On Thanksgiving day, 1889, the reading-rooms and library for purposes of reference were opened to the public, holidays during the same hours as on secular clays generally. It will thus be seen that the library is now open every day in the year. The first building of its own occupied by the library was put up in accordance with an agreement with Doctor Green, and opened to the public September 4, 1861. It cost about $30,000, inclusive of the lot of land on which it stands. The size and use of the library increased so much that a new build- ing had to be erected. A lot adjoining that of the older building was bought, and a new building, which is used in connection with the older, was put upon it. The new building was opened April i, 1891. Its cost, inclusive of land and furniture, was about $143,000. This building has among other rooms a lecture hall, art galleries, study rooms, and a closet for the development of photographs. The librarians of the Free Public Library have been Zephaniah Baker, February 17, i860 — January 14, 1871 ; Samuel Swett Green, January 15, 1871. Miss Lucy A. Young and Miss Jessie E. Tyler are the heads, under the librarian of the reference and circulating depart- ments, respectively, and have held these positions for many years. The former presidents of the Board of Directors have been Honorable Alexander H. Bullock, Honorable William W. Rice, Honorable Stephen Salisbury, Honorable George F. Hoar, Honorable Thomas L. Nelson, Honorable Peter C. Bacon, J. Evarts Greene, Esquire, Reverend Doctor 204 The Worcester of 1898. William R. Huntington, Honorable Francis H. Dewey, Honorable Francis A. Gaskill, Mr. E. Harlow Russell, A. George Bullock, Esquire, Honorable Edwin T. Marble, Burton W. Potter, Esquire, Mr. Waldo Lincoln, Mr. Edward I. Comins and Reverend Doctor Almon Gun- nison. Doctor Gunnison was chosen president for the year beginning January i, 1895, and has remained president since that date. The present Board of Directors is as follows: Francis A. Harrington, Almon Gunnison, Edmund L. Parker, John O. Marble, G. Stanley Hall, Webster Thayer, Thomas C. Mendenhall, Edward J. Russell, Lyman A. Ely, Francis P. McKeon, Charles M. Thayer, John E. Lynch. The Free Public Library has eight delivery stations. They were opened Mav 14, 1898, and are situated at New Worcester, vSouth Worcester, Quinsigamond, Grafton square. Lake View, Belmont street, Greendale and Tatnuck. The Free Public Library has become one of the large libraries of the country, and is regarded as an excellent example of a library conducted as a great educational institution for the people. During the last twenty-seven years it has built up an immense popular use of its books for purposes of reference, and has done this mainly by letting it be known that it regarded itself as a bureau of information, and by establishing sympathetic and pleasant relations with inquirers and students. This library was a pioneer in bringing about close relations between libraries and schools, and its work in this direction has inspired emula- tion everywhere throughout the United States. A wagon belonging to the School Department visits regularly every one of the fifty school- houses belonging to the city, to carry books from the library, and bring back such volumes as are ready to be returned. During the school year covered by the last report of the Free Public Library, 1,782 volumes belonging to the library were on the average in use by teachers and in school-rooms and homes under the super- vision of teachers, by scholars every day that the schools were open. There is a large use here of industrial books taken from the library. This library was also a pioneer in making great use of photographs and other kinds of pictures in supplementing instruction given by books, LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. The American Antiquarian Society was incorporated October 24, 18 1 2. The history of the society is narrated in another portion of this work. Here the library only is under consideration. That as well as the society was founded by Isaiah Thomas, who, in February, 1813, The Worcester of 1898. 205 gave to the society a private library, which he had brought together while engaged in the favoring occupations of author, editor and pub- lisher. This library had, not long before, been described as " a valu- able collection of books obtained with great labor and expense, the value of which may be fairly estimated at about $5,000." Books, manuscripts and newspapers of the kind which made up Doctor Thomas's librarv" have increased immensely in market value since the date of his gift. In October, 1 8 1 9, it was stated that there were nearly 6,000 volumes in the library of the Antiquarian Society. It is interesting to remem- ber that Mr. Thomas was unwilling to have his library placed in a large city, because, in such a place, it would be endangered by the presence of large fires, and, in the existing excitement of war, to call to mind the fact that he feared that his books, if deposited in a city on the seaboard, would be subjected in time of war to more peril there from the ravages of enemies than in an interior town. At his death in 1831, Mr. Thomas bequeathed books and other materials of history to the Antiquarian Society. Mr. Edmund M. Barton, the present librarian, in accordance with a calculation recently made by him, believes that there are now about 105,000 volumes in the library of the society. The library is very valuable. It contains a large and exceedingly interesting collection of early volumes of some of the oldest news- papers of the land, and also possesses many rare works which were printed in this country in the days of its infancy, and a number of valuable manuscripts. The feature which distinguishes the library best from other institu- tions is the unique collection of memorials of the Mather family. The library has about 4,000 volumes of newspapers. Among these are sixteen of the Boston Nczvs Letter, first issued in 1704, the first established newspaper on this continent. The oldest existing newspaper in Massachusetts is the Massaclmsetts Spy, at present the weekly issue of the JVoreester Daily Spy. The first number was issued in Boston July 17, 1770; the first number printed in Worcester bears the date of May 3, 1775. The file of this paper belonging to the Antiquarian Society is nearly complete. There is in the library of the society a large portion of the books printed in the colonies and provinces which now form the older por- tions of the United States before the year 1700. For example, it contains a copy of the Bay Psalm Book, which was issued from the press in Cambridge in 1640, and is the first volume printed in British America. It possesses a copy of the first edition of Eliot's Indian Bible, the printing of which was finished at Cambridge in 1663, and 2o6 The Worcester of 1898. also has a handsome and beautifully bound copy of the second edition of that Bible, the printing of which ended in 1685, as well as several rare tracts in the Indian language prevalent in this vicinity. In the large collection of Bibles in the library is a fine copy of the folio Bible printed bv Isaiah Thomas, at Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1791. This w^as the first folio Bible in the English language ever published in America. JMr. Thomas had a great printing and publishing establish- ment in this town, and such was the excellence of the work which came from his presses that he won for himself the name of the American Baskerville. Among the manuscripts in the library are forty or fifty orderly-books and volumes containing records similar to those in books of that kind. The entries in these books bear various dates between the years 1758 and 181 2. The matter in them relating to the period of the Revolution is of especial interest. The library also possesses a large collection of muster-rolls, army-orders and other military papers, with dates extend- ing from 1745 to 1787. Some of the more elegant manuscripts in the library are an illumi- nated missal on vellum, written perhaps as early as 1304; a Persian tale or romance, which has gilt borders and is illustrated by highly-colored pictures, and a folio copy of the Koran, which is adorned by illuminated borders. Two large gifts of books have been made to the library in compara- tively recent years — one in 1879 by the heirs of the late George Brinley of Hartford, the other under the provisions of the will of the late Joseph ]. Cooke of Providence. At an early period in its history, it was the recipient of a valuable bequest of books and manuscripts from Reverend Doctor William Bentley of Salem (1759-18 19). Mr. William Bentley Fowle, a nephew of Doctor Bentley, bequeathed to the Antiquarian Society other portions of the library and literary remains of his uncle. Among the persons who have given money, the income of which is used for the purchase of books, are Isaac Davis, Benjamin F. Thomas, Samuel F. Haven, Francis H. Dewey and Edward L. Davis. The library is, however, mainly dependent for growth upon gifts, sales of duplicates, and exchanges. Still its yearly additions are very large, numbering many thousands of books, pamphlets and volumes of news- papers. The library was much used by the late George Bancroft in preparing the earlier volumes of his "History of the United States," and was occasionally consulted by him afterwards. Mr. McMaster has availed himself largely, as the late Mr. Justin Winsor availed himself to a cer- tain extent, of its privileges, the former in getting ready volumes of his The Worcester of 1898. 207 history for publication, and the latter in hunting up illustrations for his "Narrative and Critical History of America." It is constantly used by members of the Antiquarian vSociety and other persons in making historical investigations, and for other purposes. As stated before, the library contains a very valuable collection of memorials of the life and work of the Mather family. It possesses, for example, a large number of important manuscripts in the handwriting of members of that family of distinguished early New England divines. Thus from the pen of Richard Mather, who came to America in 1635, it has the original draft of the celebrated Cambridge Platform, the text of the platform which was finally adopted and printed in 1648, and other writtings which relate to the early ecclesiastical history of the Massachusetts Colony. Of manuscripts written by Increase Mather, who will be remembered as having been president of Harvard College, it owns his autobiography, written for his children; his journal, kept in sixteen interleaved almanacs, of dates varying from 1660 to 1721, and many sermons, essays and letters. The library has a large number of manuscripts which were written by Cotton Mather, the son of Increase, and grandson of Richard Mather. Among them are "The Observa- tions and Reflections of the Reverend Doctor Cotton Mather Respect- ing AVitchcraft," 1692; "A Brand Plucked Out of the Burning," which is an account of Mercy Short, and is supposed to have never been printed, although another "Brand Pluckt Out," etc., has been printed; "Triparadisus," a work on a theological subject; "The Angel of Bethesda," an essay on the common maladies of mankind; this is a thick quarto volume which treats of diseases and their remedies, and contains, under the names of diseases, religious sentiments and specifi- cations of simple and easy remedies ; valuable diaries, covering different years between 1692 and 171 7; many letters written by Cotton Mather and received by him ; ecclesiastical manuscripts ; notes of sermons and volumes containing quotations. There are in the library manuscripts of other members of the Mather family besides those, some of whose writings have just been spoken of. The library possesses a very fine collection of the printed works of the Mathers. It has several hundred volumes and pamphlets published by them. Many tracts, and among them some of the rarest, written by seven different members of the family, were secured at the sales of Mr. Brinley's collection of books. Another interesting memorial of the Mather family in the library of the Antiquarian Society is the greater portion of the working library of the celebrated members of that family. Their library (writes Mr. C. C. Baldwin) was distributed at their decease, with other portions of their property, among their heirs. The bulk of it, however, was secured by Isaiah Thomas and Mrs. Hannah Mather Crocker, and presented to 2o8 The Worcester of 1898. the Anticiuarian Society b}' them in 18 14. The society thus came into possession of about 900 volumes which had beh^nt^ed to Increase and Cotton ]\Iather; and some other books, containing their autographs and those of other members of the family, have in later 3'-ears been given to it or bought by it. For example, a number of books containing, in their own handwriting, the names of Richard, Increase, Samuel and Cotton Mather, were purchased by the society at the sale of the Brinley library. Hanging on the walls of the library of the Antiqtiarian vSociety are the following portraits: Richard Mather (i 596-1669), painted from life; Samuel Mather ( 1626-167 1 ); Increase Mather ( 1639-1723), painted from life; Cotton Mather (1663-1728), painted by Pelham; Samuel Mather (i 706-1785), painted from life. These portraits were given to the society by Mrs. Hannah Mather Crocker of Boston. There is an interesting collection of historical relics in the rooms of the library. IVIany of these were presented by Isaiah Thomas and other early members of the society, or procured by its agents in the first years of its existence. ]Mr. vStephen Salisbury has deposited there many relics and photo- graphs illustrative of the antiquities and present life of Yucatan. Through his liberality, several years ago there was placed in one of the rooms of the library a beautiful cast of the portal of a ruined building at Labna, made from moulds prepared by Mr. Edward H, Thompson, our townsman, the United States consul at Merida. The accommodations for persons wishing to make investigations in the librarv are excellent, and all persons wishing to use it are heartily welcomed and helped to do so. The rooms are adorned by numerous works of art. Among these are portraits of many men who have been prominent residents of New England in former days and more recent times. The society has several interesting memorials of the Winthrop family, members of w^hich have always had a conspicuous place in the annals of New England. Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Lindall Winthrop was the second president of the Antiquarian vSociety, and held the position for ten years. The librarians of the Antiquarian vSociety have been Samuel Jennison (1814-25), William- Lincoln (1825-27), Christopher Columbus Baldwin (1827-30 and 1831-35), Samuel M. Burnside (1830-31), Maturin Lewis Fisher (1835-38), Samuel Foster Haven (1838-March 31, 1881 ; librarian emeritus April i, 1881, until his death, vSeptember 5, 1881), and Edmund M. Barton (1883). When Mr. Thomas gave his private library to the Antiquarian Society in the spring of 18 13, he was requested to retain it in his The Worcester of 1898. 209 possession until a suitable place could be prepared for its reception. Early in the year 1819 Mr. Thomas offered to put up a building at his- own expense for the accommodation of the society and its library, and in August of that year a committee was appointed, at his request, to superintend its erection. The work was attended to at once, and the central portion of the old Antiquarian hall on Summer street was dedi- cated to the uses of the society August 24, 1820. The two wings were added to the main structure in 1832. The building, however, a portion of which, at least, still stands, although now (May 24, 1898) used for private purposes, proved too small to house the growing library, and was also found to be damp. A new hall was therefore built on the site now occuped, after a time. This was completed in 1853. But the rapidly increasing collection of books demanded still ampler accommo- dations, and an addition to the present building was determined iipon. That was finished in 1877. In putting up the existing building and adding to it, the society was assisted by very generous contributions of money from the late vStephen vSalisbury, who was its president for thirty years. The present librarian, as before stated, is Edmund Mills Barton. He had been assistant librarian for seventeen years before he was appointed librarian. Reuben Colton was assistant librarian from April, 1878, to February i, 1889. At the latter date he resigned the position for the purpose of going into business. Miss Mary Robinson became connected with the library as cataloguer in the autumn of 1 88 1. February i, 1889, she was promoted to the position of assistant to the librarian. A catalogue of the books in the library (pp. 571 ) was printed in 1837 by Henry J. Howland. A card catalogue is now in use. The society has also in its possession a manuscript catalogue of the books pre- sented to it by Isaiah Thomas. The library is kept open from 9 o'clock A. M. to 5 P. M. every secular day, excepting vSaturday, when it is closed at I P. M. LIBRARIES OF OTHER SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS. Worcester District Medical Society. The Worcester District Medical Society was founded in 1804, but does not seem to have collected many books for a considerable num- ber of years. Doctor Thomas H. Gage, in an address to the society delivered in 1862, states that "the first movement of which any fruit now remains which may indeed be considered the beginning of the library, was the appointment of Doctors Oliver Fiske and John Green, The Worcester of 1898. 211 in 1813, to obtain subscriptions and solicit books from profession and from laity to found a medical library." The junior member of the com- mittee, who had been in practice four years when appointed to serve in that position, afterwards became the founder of the Free Public Library ._ Doctor Gage remarks that the committee met with success in its efforts. That could not have been great, however. Doctor Leonard Wheeler states that the librarian seems to have been "merely .a personified hope of books until 1822." The first recorded enumeration of books does not appear until 1836, when the number of books in the library was stated to be 128. In 1843 Doctor Joseph vSargent reported that the library contained •over 200 volumes, and that he found it in a room over ]Mr. Harris's bookstore, where it was little used. A very important event in the history of the library was now impending. In 1845 ^ bequest of $6,000 was made to the society by Daniel Waldo, the income of which was to be used in buying books for the library. In 1851 Doctor Charles W. Wilder of Leominster left .$500, by will, to the society. The income of that bequest, and of .another of $1,000 made by the late Harrison Bliss of Worcester in 1882, for library purposes, as well as that of a small investment known .as the available reserve fund, is spent for the benefit of the library. The amount which the Library Committee has at its disposal annually is about $500. As the society has no rent to pay for its rooms, and the other expenses of the library are very small, $400 can be spent in buying books. The library occupies rooms in the building of the Free Public Library. Books may be taken from it for home use by members of the Worcester District Medical Society, and by other members of the Massachusetts Medical vSociety resident in Worcester county. Its books may be used for purposes of reference within the building of the Free Public Library by all persons who are entitled to use the reference books of that institution, subject to the discretion, however, of the librarian of the Free Public Library. Recently the Medical Society has voted to permit users of the Free Public Library to take home books from its collection in such cases as the librarian of the Free Public Library considers it wise to accord this permission. The Medical Library is provided with a card catalogue, which is kept written up to date. Within the past year an index has been prepared embracing the titles of the medical periodical literature in Worcester, which is readily available, namely, such as is contained in the libraries of the Medical Society, the Free Public Library, Clark University and the Worcester Lunatic Hospital, and such as belongs 212 The Worcester of 1898. to individual physicians, ]:)Ut is not to be found in the libraries. mentioned. There are 7.415 books and 668 pamphlets in the Medical Library to-dav. This library is an excellent working collection of books pub- lished in the I'^no'lish language, and has undoubtedly done much to raise the standard of medical practice in Worcester and its vicinity. The present librarian is Doctor A. C. Getchell. The library is pros- perous, and well managed. Worcester County Mechanics Association. This library was opened early in 1843. About four years later, April 13, 1847, it was reported to contain 670 volumes. At the present time it consists of 13,000 volumes. The library has been selected with the purposes of supplying popular needs and a variety of tastes ; it is general and scientific rather than technical in character. A reading-room was established in 1864, which is supplied with many reviews, magazines, scientific and other papers. The library and reading-room can be used by members of the Mechanics Asso- ciation and their families only. Both are extensively used. They are maintained by an annual appropriation by the trustees of the associa- tion. The librarian is Mrs. Samuel F. Babbitt. Worcester County Law Library Association. This association organized January 21, 1842. The existing collection is one of the best working law libraries in the country. The books in it are nearly all recent purchases, and they have been carefully selected with reference to the actual needs of occupants of the bench and mem- bers of the bar. The library contains complete sets of all the reports of the United States courts and the courts of the dift'erent states and territories in the country and in England and Ireland, and a full: collection of books which treat of English and American law in all its branches. It is also rich in English and American periodical law literature. Additions are continually made to the library. The library was very much indebted for a period of thirty or forty years to the late Judge Thomas L. Nelson. It is well known that for the larger portion of that time, he was almost alone instrumental in securing the means for building up the library and in selecting books tO' be added to it. The library derives its income from fees paid by clerks of courts into the county treasury, and from especial grants made for its benefit by the County Commissioners. The Worcester of 1898. 213 A handsome sum of money is available yearly for the purchase of books. The library now contains 20,000 volumes. It is open from 9 o'clock A. M. to 5 o'clock P. M. every secular day of the week, excepting Saturday, when it is closed in the afternoon. The library is used mainly by occupants of the bench and members of the bar, but is open to every inhabitant of the county, subject only to such regula- tions as may be prescribed by the association which manages it, with the approval of the Supreme Judicial Court. The present librarian is Theodore S. Johnson, Esquire, who holds the position as clerk of the courts. The active librarian is Doctor George E. Wire. Several portraits of eminent past and present members of the Worces- ter county bar adorn the library room, and hang in other rooms in the building. The library is in the Court House. Worcester County Horticultural Society. The Horticultural Society began to collect a library in the year 1844, four years after its formation, and two years after it became a chartered organization. The library is in the building of the society, 18 Front street, which was dedicated in the autumn of 1852, and is called Horticultural Hall. Before it was moved to that place, in 1861 or 1862, it had for many years been kept in the office of Mr. Clarendon Harris. The library began in a humble way under the fostering care of Doctor John Green, the first president of the society; Frederick W. Paine, Isaac Davis, vSamuel F. Haven, William Lincoln, Anthony Chase, Samuel H. Colton, Clarendon Harris, and others, and has grown gradually to its present size of about 3,000 bound volumes. It also contains many pamphlets. The works in the library treat of horticulture in all its branches. It also contains many volumes relating to agriculture. While the library owns a large number of books of historical interest, its strength lies in works on horticulture which have been published during the last fifty years. It has a good collection of sets of English, French and American periodicals that belong to the department of horticulture. The library has been carefully selected with reference to the wants of its users. Books may be taken to their homes by members of the society. Although, strictly speaking, none but members can use the books of the Horticultural Society, it should be added that the library is admin- istered in the spirit of general helpfulness, and that information can readily be obtained from it b}^ all persons who need it. The large room which it occupies is used as a reading-ioom, which is supplied with the current numbers of leading horticultural magazines and papers of Eng- land and America. The library is inferior to that of the Massachusetts Horticultural vSocietv in Boston, but is still one of the best collections of \, . -v^Jl The Worcester of 1898. 215 its kind in the country. An annual appropriation is made by the Horticultural Society for the maintenance and growth of the library and for providing periodicals for the reading-room. The late Judge Francis H. Dewey left to the society a fund of $1,000, the income of which is to be used for buying books for the library. The librarians of the society have been Anthony Chase, 1844 to 185 1 ; Clar- endon Harris, 185 1 to 1862; Edward W. Lincoln, 1 862-1 871 ; George E. Francis, 1871; Edward W. Lincoln, 1872 to 1874; William T. Harlow, 1874; John C. Newton, 1875 to 1879; Charles E. Brooks, 1879 to 1890; Adin A. Hixon, present incumbent. Worcester County Musical Association. The association was formed in 1858, but did not begin to collect a library until five years later, hiring before 1863 such musical works as. it had occasion to use, from publishers and others. It now has a very valuable musical library. It has 15,000 volumes of oratorios, cantatas, and other large choral works which have been brought out by the asso- ciation at its concerts and festivals. It has scores and orchestra parts for a considerable number of such compositions. Besides the larger works, it owns an extensive collection of chorus selections from various authors in sheets. This library stands high among the musical collections of this section of the country. Mr. George W. Elkins has been the librarian for many years. Worcester Choral Union. The Worcester Choral Union was incorporated March 31, 1871. The act of incorporation was accepted in the following year, and officers were chosen September 9, 1872. The present librarian is Mr. G. Arthur- Smith. The library consists of 3,1 54 volumes and pieces of music. No additions have been made to it for a number of years, and at the present time it is packed in boxes and stored in the house of the president of the society, Mr. Charles E. Wilder. The Worcester Society of Antiquity. The Society of Antiquity was formed in 1875. It began to collect a. library two years later. That became at once available for the use of members of the society, but was not opened to the public at stated hours, according to the plan observed to-day, until 1883. The library possesses 15,000 volumes and a very large collection of pamphlets. A considerable portion of it consists of town histories,. 2i6 The Worcester of 1898. genealogies, and works treating of other subjects of especial interest to persons making investigations of the kind which members of such an organization as The Society of Antiquity wish to engage in. The library grows almost wholly by gifts. The largest and most valuable of those which it has received is the library of the late Reverend George Allen. That was bought with money raised by subscription, by Honorable George F. Hoar, and presented to the society. The largest sums of money were subscribed by the late Mr. David Whit- comb, and by Mr. George Sumner. ^Ir. Allen's library numbered 2,300 volumes and a like number of pamphlets. Besides containing books of other kinds, it "has been pronounced by competent authority to be one of the best representative collections of the New England theology of the olden time ever brought together" in this vicinity. This gift was received in the spring of 1884. Early in the following year Mrs. Char- lotte Downes of Washington, D. C., presented to the society the library of her late husband, Mr. John Downes. Both ]\Ir. and Mrs. Downes had at an earlier period, been residents of Worcester. The " Downes Collection," as it is called, comprises 479 volumes, 58 pamphlets, besides a noteworthy accumulation of 631 almanacs, broadsides, papers, manuscripts, etc., which had been brought together by its former owner during the passage of a long life. It contains copies of twelve different editions of the "New England Primer," among them a copy of the original work issued in 1779, and a number of publications of Isaiah Thomas for children and other persons. The books in the Downes Collection are largely astronomical and mathematical. The Society of Antiquity needs a fund, the income of which may be expended in the care and management of the library, and in buying books for it. The books now in the library are largely used. The library and museum are in a brick building put up for its use a few years ago on Salisbury street, and are open to the public from i to 5 o'clock P. M. every day of the week excepting Sunday. The society has been much aided by gifts of money and land from Honorable Stephen Salisbury. Mr. Thomas A. Dickinson has been librarian for many 3'ears. Educational Institutions. The College of the Holy Cross has for the use of its faculty a library of about 15,000 volumes. These are mainly literary, philosophical and theological in character. Students have access to the books in this library which are not in their own library, through a professor. The library of the students numbers about 3,000 volumes. The books added to this library are mainly selected by the librarian. The Worcester of 1898. 217 Clark University has a collection of about 17,000 volumes and 2,000 pamphlets. It takes i 50 serials. The books and periodicals are chiefly scientific and technical, and are highly specialized in character. Mr. Louis N. Wilson is librarian. The library of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute contains about 4,000 volumes. The books are technical in character. The librarian is Elizabeth K. Francis. The library of the State Normal School has 10,450 volumes. Of these, 4,450 are for the usual uses of a general library, and 6,000 are text-books. The Worcester Classical High vSchool has 2,100 volumes, and the English High vSchool about 1,000. These books are exclusive of the text-books, which belong to the city of Worcester. The library of the Worcester Academy contains 2,500 carefully selected volumes; that of the Highland Military Academy about 1,000 volumes. Other public and private schools have small libraries. In the rooms of the superintendent of public schools there is an interesting collection of text-books, and works which treat of schools and education. It numbers about 2,000 volumes. Hospitals, Etc. In the Worcester Lunatic Hospital, a State institution, there is a patients' library of 3,211 volumes. The hospital also has a medical library of 1,250 volumes. The Worcester Insane Asylum, also a vState institution, has a patients' library of about 500 volumes, and a small collection of medical books. The City Hospital has a medical library of about 300 volumes, and a few books for nurses. The Worcester County Homoeopathic Medical Society has a library of about 1,000 volumes. OTHER LIBRARIES. The Worcester Natural History vSociety has a library of 553 volumes. A reading-room is open to members of the society. There are a few libraries in Worcester, intended for grown-up persons, which are con- nected with Protestant religious societies in the place. The most important of these, perhaps, is the Bangs Library of the old vSecond Parish, which contains about 1,500 volumes. This library was founded by Edward D. Bangs, who will be remembered as having been for several years secretary of state in this Commonwealth. Mr. Bangs was a mem- ber of the Second Parish, and at his death left to the society the "sum of $400 as a perpetual fund for a parish library, the income of which The Worcester of 1898. 219 is to be applied to the purchase of useful books, particularly such as may be adapted to the religious and moral improvement of the young." The late Stephen Salisbury, also a member of the society, left to the Second Parish the sum of $1,500, the income of which is used in buying books for the Bangs Library. The library of the Jail and House of Correction contains 650 volumes. It is made up of stories, histories, biographies, religious works, and a selection of books made with especial reference to the wants of Roman Catholic prisoners. It is unnecessary to state that there are Sunday school libraries be- longing to different churches in Worcester. At the Directory office there is a collection of 400 directories of different towns and cities. These, residents of Worcester are invited to use. Mr. Andrew P. Lundborg, the Swedish bookseller, states that there are 1,500 Swedish books in churches and clubs in Worcester besides those in that language in the Free Public Library. Among the libraries belonging to Catholic institutions, there are, besides the library of Holy Cross College, which has already been mentioned, several connected with different churches, as, for example, the Sodality library in the Catholic Institute and the Sunday school library in the school-house on Vernon street, which belongs to St. John's Parish ; the library of St. Anne's Church ; that of the Young Women's Society of the Church of the Sacred Heart, and the vSunday school library and the library of the Mutual Advancement Society of St. Peter's Church. Among other Catholic libraries is the Sodality library in the Convent of Mercy on High street. In these and other libraries con- nected with Catholic institutions there are at least 6,000 or 7,000 volumes. f" -m NATHANIEL PAINE. LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. By Nathaniel Paine, A. M.* DHE history of Worcester in the past gives abundant evidence that its citizens have taken advantage of organization and coopera- tion in carrying out any enterprise they had at heart, for societies and associations were very early organized, not only for educational pur- poses, but to influence the political and social life of the town. It is proposed in this chapter to give brief notices of the more prominent literary, scientific and historical societies now in existence in the cit}'. Before speaking of them, it may not be out of place to call attention to a few organizations founded in the early days of the town and not now in existence, but which in their day had more or less influence on the lives of our citizens. One of the earliest of these of which there is any record was the "American Political Society," organized in 1773, which became a promi- nent factor in guiding the early Revolutionary action of the town and county, especially in bringing about the action of the majority of the people against the loyalists, who were largely men of standing in the community, and holders of oflices under the crown. It was undoubtedly the action of this society towards the loyalists that caused many of them to leave the town and country after giving up the offices they held. The society also, took an active part in municipal affairs, and in directing who should be supported for town and county offices. It is very probable that this attempt to control the town meetings and to dictate in the election of officers, caused dissensions among its mem- bers, and brought about its dissolution after an existence of about two years. Among the societies that have ceased to exist are two that are worthy of mention, because of the part they had in the early educa- tional life of the town. * See sketch in Biographical Department. 222 The Worcester of 1898. The Worcester County Athenaeum, established in 1830, as a stock company, with the object of forming a public library in Worcester, was probably one of the first organized attempts made for that purpose in central Massachusetts. It had acquired a small library of its own, and had also become possessed of a small collection of books which had been gathered by the " Worcester County Lyceum of Natural History," a society formed at some earlier day, whose existence was so brief that but little is known of it. After a few years the Athenaeum organization, which had been sup- ported by the subscriptions of a few individuals, was given up and its library transferred to the American Antiquarian Society. Another society which had but a brief existence was the Worcester County Historical Society, incorporated in 183 1 for the purpose of "preserving materials for a complete and minute history of Worcester county." From Lincoln's "History of Worcester" it appears that in the celebration of the centennial of the establishment of the county, October, 1831, this society took an active part, its president, Honor- able John Davis, delivering an address. As there is very little more recorded of it, it would seem that its aims did not ineet with much encouragement, although it is quite probable that it may have been an aid to William Lincoln in the preparation of his valuable history of the town of Worcester a few years later. The oldest secular organization now in active existence in Worcester is the Worcester Fire Society, established in 1793, "for the more effectual assistance of each other and of their townsmen in times of danger from fire." It has long since been superseded in that work by modern organizations and appliances, but it still observes the rules and regulations of a hundred years ago in regard to the care of the buckets, bags and bed-keys of the members, and quarterly meetings are held with regularity. While it is now regarded as a social organization, it has some claim for mention here, as it is the custom to have an oration and a poem presented at each annual meeting, and it has contributed not a little to the history of the town and city by the printing of reminiscences or biographical notices of deceased members, many of whom were promi- nent in the affairs of the town, county and state. The American' Antiquarian Society, whose members are from all parts of the world, has its headquarters in Worcester, and may rightly be classed among our local institutions. It is the oldest society of an educational nature in the city, having been founded in 1 8 1 2 and incor- porated the same year. The original petition to the Legislature for an act of incorporation set forth that the petitioners were "influenced by a desire to contribute to the advancement of the arts and sciences, and The Worcester of 1898. 223 to aid by their individual and united efforts in collecting and pr-v^serving such materials as may be useful in marking their progress not only in the United States, but in other parts of the globe." Isaiah Thomas, the founder of the iMassac/iiisctts Spy, had accumulated a large collection of books, pamphlets and newspapers, and it was his offer to contribute these to a society that would take proper care of them that made the starting of such an enterprise possible. In 18 19 the society had become an institution of such size and importance that the need of a building for preserving its collections, then of very considerable value, became apparent to its members. In this emergency Mr. Thomas, its generous founder, at his own expense, erected on the east side of Summer street, near Lincoln square, a commodious building of brick, and presented it to the society. This building answered the purposes of the society till 1853, at which time the increase in the library and cabinet had become so great that it became necessary to erect the present building at the corner of Main and Highlands streets. Through the liberality of Honorable Stephen vSalisbury, then the president, a substantial addition was made to the building in 1878. The library and cabinet of the society have been constantly increas- ing, the former now numbering upwards of 100,000 volumes, which will be spoken of more in detail in another chapter. The library and the valuable collection of manuscripts belonging to the society have been freely consulted by some of our most noted historians, among whom may be mentioned George Bancroft, Francis Parkman, Moses Coit Tyler, John B. McMaster, as well as many other students and writers. There is also a large and valuable collection of newspapers, manu- scripts and broadsides, the collection of newspapers being one of the largest and most important in the country, and is almost daily con- sulted, students from all parts of the country availing themselves of the privilege. The society has a goodly number of early American imprints, which have now become of great rarity and value. A list of these published before 1 700 has recently been printed. The publications of the Antiquarian Society have been numerous, consisting of the semi-annual reports of the proceedings from 1849 to the present time, containing a large amount of interesting archaeo- logical and historical information. Seven volumes of the '' Archieologia Aiiiericaiia" have also been published. These contain reprints of rare books and manuscripts, and specially prepared papers of antiquarian and historical topics. The last three volumes of this series contain a reprint of Thomas' " History of Printing in America," to which is added a list of American pre- 224 The Worcester of 1898. Revolutionary publications, prepared by the late Samuel F. Haven, LL. D., for many years the learned librarian of the society; and the "Note Book kept by Thomas Lechford, Esq., lawyer in Boston, Massa- chusetts-Bay, from June 27, 1638, to July 29, 1641." Of interest to the general public may be mentioned the portraits of eminent men on the walls of the library, and its cabinets of antiquarian and historical articles. The rooms of the society are open to the public without charge, under proper regulations, and students and others wishing to make use of its library are given every facility to do so, consistent with the care and preservation of its treasirres. AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. The present officers of the societv are: Stephen Salisbury, President; George F. Hoar of Worcester and Edward Everett Hale of Boston, Vice-Presidents ; Franklin B. Dexter of New Haven, Secretary of For- eign Correspondence; Charles Francis Adams of Lincoln, Secretary of Domestic Correspondence; Charles A. Chase of Worcester, Recording Secretary, and Nathaniel Paine of Worcester, Treasurer; and ten Coun- cilors, viz., Samuel A. Green of Boston, Egbert C. vSmyth of Andover, Samuel vS. Green, Edward L. Davis, J. Evarts Greene and G. Stanley Hall of Worcester, William B. Welden of Providence, John D. Wash- burn, Thomas C. Mendenhall of Worcester, and James P. Baxter of Portland, Maine. The Worcester of 1898. 225 The Worcester District Medical Society, founded in 1804 as an auxiliary society of the Massachusetts Medical Society, has a well- selected library of about 5,000 volumes, which is kept in the Free Public Library building, and can be consulted by citizens of Worces- ter under proper restrictions. Original papers with discussions are presented by members from time to time. The officers are: Presi- dent, P. P. Comey; Vice-President, Wesley Davis; Secretary, W. R. Oilman; Treasurer, G. O. Ward; Librarian, A. C. Oetchell. The Worcester County Homoeopathic Medical Society, organized in 1866, whose members are homoeopathic physicians from different parts of the county, holds its meetings quarterly. There is another society known as the Worcester Medical Associa- tion, of which Walter T. Clark is president. They hold eight meetings a year. The Worcester Agricultural Society, incorporated in 18 18, has from its formation been one of the most active of the many societies in the town and city. Its annual fairs, or cattle shows, as they were formerly called, have drawn large numbers of visitors from all parts of the State. For many years these fairs were held on the Common, near the Town and City Hall, but since 1853 they have been held on the grounds of the society on Agricultural street, and have become much wider in their scope, with special attention to the exhibition and trotting of horses, and this feature has probably increased the attendance very largely. For the past few years the annual fair has been held in connection with that of the New England Agricultural Society or the Bay vState Agricultural vSociety, with varying success. The location of the present grounds having rendered them very valu- able for residences, the society has lately voted to sell the property should a favorable opportunity arise, and it is quite probable that this will be brought about within a short time. The officers of the Agricultural Society the present year are Warren C. Jewett, President; Edwin P. Curtis and Frederick H. Chamberlain, Vice-Presidents, and Leander F. Herrick, Secretary and Treasurer. The Worcester County Horticultural Society, founded in 1840 and incorporated in 1842, has been for many years one of the most energetic organizations of our growing city, and has done much to encourage not only the raising of fruits and vegetables, but especially has manifested its interest in the care of the parks and shade trees of the city. Weekly exhibitions of flowers, fruits and vegetables are held during the greater part of the year, and in the winter months lectures appropriate to the aims and objects of the society have been given by competent persons. It has a valuable library of several hundred volumes, selected with a view to the needs of members, who have free access to it. PV. i^Ti muL ipgfi? ; ^-niig J The Worcester of 1898. 227 The commodious and well-arranged hall of the society is located on Front street, and affords ample accommodations for its exhibitions, and is also a source of income. It is adorned with a fine collection of many portraits of past and present officers. O. B. Hadwen is President; Stephen Salisbury, George E. Francis and Calvin L. Hartshorn, Vice-Presidents; A. A. Hixon, Secretary, and Nathaniel Paine, Treasurer. The Worcester Mechanics Association was organized in 1842 with William A. Wheeler, President; Ichabod Washburn, Vice-President; Albert Tolman, Secretary, and Elbridge G. Partridge, Treasurer. Its aim and objects as stated at that time were the "moral, intel- lectual and social improvement of its members, the perfection of the mechanic arts, and the pecuniary asvsistance of the needy." For more than fifty years this organization has been one of the most active and important in our city, and has done much to benefit and encourage the mechanics, who have done so much to build up and maintain its financial prosperity. The Mechanics Hall, completed and dedicated by the association in March, 1857, is still the largest and finest in the city, and is in constant demand for lectures, concerts, and other entertainments where large numbers are expected to be present ; its seating capacity is about 2,000. The association has a library of upwards of 13,000 volumes, a detailed notice of which will appear in another part of this volume. A reading- room, supplied with many of the most important newspapers and periodicals, is provided for the use of members, who very generally avail themselves of its privileges. ■ One of the first steps taken after the organization of the association was to arrange for an annual course of lectures, the first lecture being given by Elihu Burritt ("The Learned Blacksmith"), and these have be- come so popular that for several years it has been necessary to have two courses of lectures or entertainments in order to accommodate all who wished to attend. A school for instruction in mechanical, architectural and freehand drawing is also maintained for the benefit of members and their sons. The membership of the association, which now exceeds 1,200, is composed of the most enterprising mechanics of the city. The present Board of Management consists of James Logan, Presi- dent; Albert A. Barker, Vice-President, and William A. Smith, Clerk and Treasurer. The Worcester Natural History Society, originally called the Young Men's Library Association, was incorporated by a special act of the Legislature in 1853, and in 1854 a department devoted to the study of 228 The Worcester of 1898. natural history was organized with Reverend E. E. Hale (then pastor of the Church of the Unity) as chairman. They had accumulated a library of some considerable size and value, when in 1859 it was transferred to the city as the beginning of the Free Public Library. Previous to this, in 1856, the Worcester Lyceum, established in 1829, was merged in the Library Association, and the name changed to the Worcester Lyceum and Library Association. The collection and study of specimens in natural history soon became the principal object of the society, and in 1884 the name was again NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. changed by an act of the Legislature to the Worcester Natural History Society, by which title it is now known. The society has a large and valuable cabinet of specimens, many of them collected with special reference to the natural history of Worcester county, which has been used by the pupils in the schools of the city and others under the direction of competent instructors. Classes in various departments of natural history have been main- tained for the benefit of members, and many have availed themselves of the facilities offered in that direction. Monthly meetings are also held, with papers and discussions upon scientific subjects, to which all interested are invited. The society has lately published a valuable monograph on "The Physical Geography of Worcester," by Joseph H. Perry, with photographic illustrations by J. Chauncey Lyford. The museum of the society is at the corner of State and Harvard streets, and is open to the public without charge, from 9 A. M. to 5 P. M., The Worcester of 1898. 229 in charge of a custodian, who is ready to assist students and amateurs in their investigations. The location of the society's building is not all that could be desired, owing to its being so far from other educational institutions of the city, and those most interested in its welfare hope that at no distant day some arrangement may be made by which the present building may be disposed of, and another obtained in a more convenient situation. The Worcester County Musical Association may not be considered as either "literary, scientific or historical," yet it would seem an omission to make no mention of it in an account of Worcester societies, for it certainly has played an important part in the musical education of our city. Organized in 1863 for "the improvement of choirs in the performance of church music; the formation of an elevated musical taste, through the study of music in its higher departments, and a social, genial, harmonious reunion of all lovers of music," it has become one of the widest known of Worcester institutions, and has done much in the past, and bids fair to do still more in the future, to raise the standard of vocal and instrumental music not only in our own city, but in the country at large. The annual festivals or concerts are very largely attended, lovers of music from distant points as well as our own citizens availing them- selves of the opportunity offered to listen to singing from the most eminent vocalists, and music from the best of orchestras. For the last few years there has been marked improvement in the character of the festivals; they have been more classical in their tone and of greater value to real lovers of music. Charles M. Bent is the President; Daniel Downey, Vice-President; Luther M. Lovell, Secretary, and George R. Bliss, Treasurer. The Worcester Art vSociety was organized in 1877, and incorporated in 1887, to promote art culture, and has from its organization taken an active part in the art education of the city. Lectures are given during the winter by specialists in different branches of the fine arts, to which members of the Art Students' Club and the teachers of the public schools are invited, and they have very generally availed themselves of the privilege. From time to time loan exhibitions of paintings, engravings and bric- a-brac have been given under the management of the society, which have been very popular, affording the public an opportunity to see fine works of art owned in Worcester and elsewhere, and thereby creating and encouraging a taste for the beautiful, and tending to elevate the general tone of the community. The members of the Art Society have been much interested in the success of the new Art Museum, and made the first contribution to its 230 Thh Worcester of 1898. THE vVORCtbTER SOCIETY OF ANTIQUITY. collections (a fine cast of the Venus de Melos), and they have also taken a prominent part in the collection and arrangement of the first loan exhibition held in the new building. Since the incorporation of the Art Society, the Presidents have been Nathaniel Paine, Samuel S. Green, Charles S. Hale, Lincoln N. Kinnicutt, and Austin S. Garver, who is now the President; with Charles A. Chase and Fred. S. Pratt, Vice- Presidents; Charles T. Davis, Clerk, and Z. W. Coombs, Treasurer. The average membership of the society is about 350. The Art vStudents' Club was incorporated in 1887, for "the encourage- ment, promotion and practice of art," its active membership being confined to artists and art students of Worcester, no one being eligible who is not a practical student in some branch of art. This club is one of the active organizations of the city, and is doing a good work by means of classes with competent instructors and models, the advantages of which the members avail themselves of, as is indicated by the marked improvement shown from year to year in the public exhibitions of their work. The Worcester of 1898. 231 These yearly exhibitions given by the club have come to be looked forward to with great interest by the public, and have proved of sub- stantial benefit to the members. The active membership of the club is limited to thirty, but there are about sixty honorary or fine members. Albert F. Simmons is President; George E. Gladwin, Vice-President; Edwin Topanelian, Treasurer, and George W. Child, Secretary. The Worcester Society of Antiquity was organized in 1875, and incor- porated in February, 1877, its object being "to foster in its members a love and admiration for antiquarian research and arch£eological science, and to rescue from oblivion such historical matter as would otherwise be lost." Although the objects of the society, as stated above, are quite extensive in their scope, it is undoubtedly true that up to the present time its work has been in the line of historical rather than antiquarian investigations, so that its name does not indicate to the public gener- ally its most successful achievements. The publication of the early records of Worcester, 1667 to 1848, and a list of births, deaths and marriages from the earliest recorded to 1848, have been of the greatest value to the historical student, and have preserved in permanent form much that was very likely to be lost or destroyed. These with the printing the Records of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, 1731 to 1737, are deserving of commen- dation, as they have been prepared with great care from the original manuscripts, and are of special value as books of reference. The annual proceedings of the society have also been printed, making in all fifteen volumes published, which testify most emphatically to the activity and usefulness of the organization. There will be found in the building of the society on Salisbury street, which was erected in 1891, a large and valuable library, and an extensive collection of articles illustrating New England history, with special reference to that of Worcester county. The library and cabinet are open free to the public every week-day afternoon, and a large number avail themselves of the opportunity to visit them. During the present year a special effort has been made to interest the ladies in the work of the society, resulting in an addition of over 200 in a single month. The Society of Antiquity is distinctly a local institution, and deserves and should have the active cooperation of our citizens, which can be most practically manifested by their becoming members and taking a part in the good work it has in hand. A notice of the valuable library belonging to the society will be found in another chapter. ^.Si ,,* '> til *" I- The Worcester of 1898. 233 The officers of the society for the present year are : F. L. Hutchins, President; Ellery B. Crane and William H. Sawyer, Vice-Presidents; Walter Davidson, Secretary; Henry F. Stedman, Treasurer, and Thomas A. Dickinson, Librarian. The St. Wulstan Society, though originally formed for social inter- course among its members, has, by reason of its being made the custodian of the "Helen C. Knowles fund for the advancement of art education in Worcester," become identified with the educational life of the city. The society was incorporated in 1891, for the "purpose of promoting literature, art, historical and social science in Worcester, and holding and administering the Helen C. Knowles legacy for pro- moting art education in Worcester, and such other funds as may be acquired for the same and kindred objects." This fund now amounts to about $35,000, and from the income thereof the society has given in the last three years to the Worcester Art Society and the Art Students' Club the sum of $1,100 each, thereby contributing largely to the objects those societies have at heart. The present year (1898) the income has been given to the Worcester Art Museum, to be used in the formation of classes for study of art, and for exhibitions of paint- ings and other works of art. The membership of the St. Wulstan Society is limited by the by-laws to sixteen. Honorable George F. Hoar is the President; Honorable Stephen Salisbury, Vice-President; J. Evarts Greene, Clerk, and Honorable Henry A. Marsh, Treasurer. The Public School Art League was organized in 1895, the object being to "cultivate in the people, through the influence of the public school pupils, a desire for a finer life by creating among them a love for the beautiful, promoting and strengthening this love among the pupils by a more extended and artistic decorations in the school-rooms, etc." The membership of the league is limited, and it is expected that each one will use his influence in securing more artistic surroundings in the school-rooms, and also secure contributions of money for the purchase of appropriate objects for decoration. Enough has already been accomplished by this organization in the decoration of school- rooms in different parts of the city to prove its need and the good judgment of its projectors. That its work has been appreciated by those interested in the welfare of our schools, is shown by their ready response to the call for aid to enable the league to carry out their plans for adding to the attractions of the school-rooms, for, beside contributions of money, several ladies and gentlemen have given appropriate engravings, photographs and casts, which have been suitably placed. The first president of the league was Reverend Austin S. Garver, who originally called the attention of the School Board to the project. 234 The Worcester of 1898. The officers at present are: Frank J. Darrah, President: Miss Frances Lincoln, Vice-President; Miss Jeanie Lea vSouthwick, Secretary, and Samuel vS. Green, Treasurer. The Worcester Art Museum, although the youngest institution of an educational nature in the city, is without doubt destined to be one of the most important, and one that will exert a refining influence upon all classes. The first meeting to take into consideration the founding of an art museum was held at the house of Honorable Stephen Salisbury on the evening of February 25, 1896, thirty or forty ladies and gentlemen supposed to be interested in art, being present by invitation. At this meeting Mr. Salisbury presented a plan which he had formulated for the establishment and maintenance of such an institution, and in order to carry it out offered to present a valuable tract of over an acre of land situated on Salisbury street, and $100,000 in money, $50,000 of this sum to be used for the erection of a building and the balance to be invested for the maintenance of the Museum. This liberal offer, which had been most modestly made, was received with hearty applause by all present at the meeting, and they expressed their desire to do all that was in their power to carry out the wishes of the donor. Mr. Sali.sbury stated that it was his wish that a corporation, to con- sist of fifty ladies and gentlemen, should be formed to hold in trust the money and land he had given, for the "benefit of all the people of the city of Worcester," and at a subsequent meeting, held March 24, 1896, steps were taken to secure a charter. At this meeting by-laws were adopted and officers elected. The first Board of Directors consisted of Daniel Merriman, President; Francis H. Dewey, Vice-President; T. Hovey Gage, Jr., Secretary; Lincoln N. Kinnicutt, Treasurer, and Charles H. Davis, Lyman A. Ely, George E. Francis, John G. Heywood, Thomas C. Mendenhall, Mrs. Helen B. Merriman, Miss Mary Perley and Nathaniel Paine, Directors.. Very soon after the organization the directors took steps for the erection of a fire-proof building, and plans prepared by Messrs. Earle &. Fisher of Worcester were adopted, and a contract was made with Norcross Bros, of Worcester for carrying out the plans at a cost of $90,000. Early in 1897 Mr. Salisbury made an additional gift of land in the rear of the proposed building, and he has also assumed the expense of grading and beautifying the grounds about the Museum. It was soon found that to meet the expense of the proposed building more money would.be required, and an appeal was made to the public for a subscription of $50,000 additional, to be called the "Associate Founders' Subscription." Of this amount over $40,000 has already been subscribed, and it is confidently expected that the balance will be The Worcester of 1898. 235: obtained within a short time. The subscriptions to the fund have been very general, all classes of our citizens taking part in it, the amounts given ranging from five cents to $3,000. The corner-stone of the Museum building was laid June 24, 1897, with appropriate ceremonies, His Excellency Governor Roger Wolcott and His Honor Mayor A. B. R. Sprague being present and taking part in the exercises. It was completed and formally opened on the evening of May 10, 1898, with a loan exhibition of oil and water-color paintings, which had been procured and arranged by members of the Worcester- Art Society. Long before the completion of the building, several gifts of casts from antique statues had been made to the corporation, and many of these were on exhibition the opening night. The first gift of this kind was from the Worcester Art Society, a fine cast of the Venus of Melos, and soon after the Worcester Woman's Club presented a cast of the famous statue of Nike (Victory) of Samothrake,. since which between twenty and thirty more casts have been presented by various societies, clubs and other organizations of the city. The Museum is open every afternoon but Monday; Saturdays and Sundays being free, and a charge of twenty-five cents the other days. Any person subscribing five dollars towards the maintenance of the Museum is furnished with a ticket giving admission to the exhibitions for one year. The Worcester Mycological Society was organized in 1895 for the study of fungi, with special reference to the edible and non-poisonous mushrooms of Worcester county. Meetings are held during the summer and fall, at which specimens are exhibited and classified, great interest being manifested by the members. Specimens are also exhibited at the weekly meetings of the Horticultural Society. George E. Francis is the president. The Ridgway Ornithological Club was organized in 1889, for the study of the habits and structure of birds. It also assists the ornitho- logical bureau of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in gathering material for its work. Oscar F. Dodge is its president, and H, B. Long, secretary. In concluding this brief notice of the literary, scientific and historical societies of Worcester, it should be said that there are other organiza- tions that might properly be mentioned under this head, for connected with our schools and institutions of learning there are societies and clubs for literary or scientific study, but the limited space allowed for the subject does not permit of mention of them. ■\ HENRY L. PARKER. PUBLIC CHARITIES. By the Honorable Henry L. Parker.* HEW cities of like population present a longer list of noble charities- than the city of Worcester. They are designed to reach and alleviate almost every known form of human distress. For those suffering from bodily injury or stricken with acute disease,, and without financial means, free surgical or medical treatment is pro- vided. Families suddenly rendered homeless are sheltered and fed until they can provide food and shelter for themselves. Orphan children are furnished a comfortable home until they reach such maturity as to become self-supporting. Trained nurses whose ministrations are gratuitous cheer and comfort the last days of the indigent victim of cancer, or other incurable disease. Even the tramp finds a rest for his weary feet with food and a night's lodging, on compliance with a few simple rules of the institution pro- vided for the purpose. The charities of the city may be classed under the general heads of Hospitals, Homes and Organizations. HOSPITALS. The City Hospital, situated on Jaques avenue, was incorporated in 1 87 1, and is under the management of nine trustees chosen by the City Council in concurrence. This hospital has received from the estate of George Jaques, and from the gifts and bequests of many other citizens, a sum amounting in all to about $380,000. It contains a lying-in department (a feature unknown to nearly every other hospital), called the Knowles Maternity Ward. It has also a. Training School for Nurses, During the year ending November 30,, 1897, out of 1,582 patients admitted, 1,442 received free treatment. * See sketch in Biographical Department. V :#^ •"■"^T The Worcester of 1898. 239 The Isolation HosprrAL. Belmont street, near Adams street. This hospital was opened by the city in November, 1896, and is under the control of the city Board of Health, and is designed for the treatment •of cases of diphtheria and scarlet fever only. Nurses are furnished by the City Hospital, and patients, if unable to pay, are admitted for free treatment. Memorial Home for Nurses. Jaques avenue. This munificent gift ■of a home for the City Hospital nurses was presented to the city in 1897 by the late Edward C. Thayer of Keene, New Hampshire. A •costly building has been already erected opposite the main entrance of the City Hospital. Memorial Hospital. Belmont street. The Memorial Hospital for women and children was endowed by Ichabod Washburn and incor- porated in 1 87 1. A dispensary, called the Washburn Free Dispensary, was established in 1874, and the hospital itself was opened in 1888. It is free for the admission of women and children who are unable to pay, although payment is expected from those treated who have means. The cases taken are mostly incurables, although the hospital is not strictly limited to such. The Worcester Hahnemann Hospital. 46 Providence street (ho- moeopathic). This institution was opened in 1 896. By the provisions of its by-laws, it is intended to be as nearly as possible a charitable institution. It has received, within the past year, the bequest of a considerable sum for the maintenance of free beds. St. Vincent's Hospital. Vernon street, corner Winthrop. Incor- porated 1878. This is a Catholic institution, and intended primarily for members of that church, from which it receives support, but free treatment is given in many cases without regard to sect or nationality. During the past year this institution, having outgrown its old quar- ters, has commenced the erection of a new, commodious and well- appointed brick building upon a site near by, and unsurpassed for purity of air and magnificence of view. The corner-stone was laid on October 9, 1898, with impressive ceremonies, and in the presence of about 8,000 people. Its entire frontage when completed will be 230 ieet. FREE DISPENSARIES. The City Hospital, Jaques avenue. Worcester Homceopathic Hospital, 44 Waverley street. Memorial Hospital, Belmont street. The Worcester of 1898. 241 HOMES. The Home Farm. The City Almshouse thus designated is located on Lincoln street, at the corner of Boylston. This institution bears / ample evidence, if any were needed, of the genesis of a social con- science, and its inmates may well rejoice that they were born in these humanitarian days, for throughout all its appointments, from its eupho- nistic name to every detail, there seems a design to diminish (so far as consistent with the interest of the public) the humiliation and burden of poverty. The farm consists of about 450 acres of land, with commodious, well- equipped buildings and sanitary arrangements, and is operated partly by the inmates and partly by paid employees. The inmates number about 200, of whom nearly one-half are insane or idiotic. There is a separate department for the insane, and a complete separation of the sexes. The report of the (State) inspector of institutions for 1897 contains this endorsement: "This almshouse is a large and well-managed insti- tution. The house is under most efficient management, and is scrupu- lously clean, and orderly. Regular medical inspection is provided." Home for Aged Men, i 199 Main street. Incorporated 1876. Ben- ■eficiaries who are admitted must be at least fifty-five years of age, natives of the United States, and residents of Worcester for ten years previous to admission. Payment of the sum of $150, and the proper ■observance of all rules and regulations, entitle a beneficiary to the privileges of the institution during life. Home for Aged Women. 1183 Main street. Incorporated 1869. A large endowment for this institution was left by the provisions of the will of the late Ichabod Washburn, and this endowment has been increased by contributions amounting to several thousand dollars from other citizens of Worcester. Widows, and females who have never been married are the only beneficiaries, and especially those "who have not been the recipients of public charity, but have respectably sustained a struggle with disease or misfortune." None are excluded on account of sect or nationality, although preference is given to those of American birth. An admission fee of $100 may be required from applicants, but is not imperative. Temporary Home and Day Nursery. 204 Southbridge street. Incorporated in 1892. vShelter is provided for a few days or weeks, as the case may be, for women and children temporarily deprived of a liome. Compensation is expected in work if possible. At the Day Nursery, in the same building, working-women may leave their young children as they go to their work in the morning, and call x::M'^' o The Worcester of 1898. 243; for them at night. For a trifling charge the children are furnished with a dinner, and otherwise cared for. The Welcome Mission. 62 Madison street. Organized 1894. This institution is under the auspices of the Worcester Local Union of the Society of Christian Endeavor, and is under the superintendence of William E. Oakley. It is a temporary refuge for the tramp, who is expected to render some equivalent for the food and lodging furnished him. This is done by the conversion of cord wood into fuel for kind- ling, and by work in the potato field, several acres of which the Mission has under culture. Worcester Children's Friend Society. Main, corner of Benefit street. Organized in 1848. This institution is more properly known as the Orphans' Home. Children of three years of age and upwards without parents, or with only one parent, but unable to properly support them, are admitted, cared for and educated until homes can be found for them. Similar homes are provided for orphan children in the following Catholic institutions: The St. Francis's Orphanage, 10 Bleeker street. Sisters of Charity (Gray Nuns), Granite street. vSisters of Mercy, 46 High street. Sisters of Notre Dame, 34 Vernon street. Sisters of Providence, 'ji Vernon street. Sisters of St. Anne, 3 1 Park street. The Sisters in charge of these respective homes also do much charitable work in visitation of the sick. The Young Women's Christian Association. Nos. 6, 8 and 10 Chatham street. Incorporated in 1885. Though organized primarily on religious lines, it is the centre of much charitable work. It provides a home at low rates for working-girls, designed more especially for those having no comfortable home, and especially for young girls coming as strangers to the city for employment. It provides also educational and industrial classes, and contains a library, reading-room, gymnasium, directory for nurses, and an employment bureau. Two new features of the Y. W. C. A. are the travelers' aid work at the Union Station and the vacation home at Princeton. ORGANIZATIONS. The Worcester Employment Society. Rooms, 518 Main street. Organized in 1875 and incorporated 1885. This is one of the oldest charitable societies in the city, and the object of its organization, as set forth in its charter, is "the purpose of assisting needy and deserving" 244 The Worcester of 1898. HOME FOR AGED MEN. women by giving them employment and otherwise." The employment furnished is sewing, and the compensation moderate, but many women have found this their only means of support. The Good Samaritan Society of Worcester. 200 Southbridge street. Organized 1892. The object of the society is to loan to the sick and needy such articles as may be required by them. Memorial Hospital Aid Society. This society consists of an association of ladies, the principal feature of whose work is district home for AGED WOMEN. The Worcester of 1898. 245. nursing, or the care of the sick poor in their own homes. The cases treated are mostly incurable, and many are patients who have been discharged from the hospital, but the work is not limited as to sex or the character of the disease. Two trained nurses are regularly employed who are graduated from the Memorial Hospital, and in case of emergency, temporary nurses are also supplied. These nurses visit their patients at stated intervals, and their minis- trations in applying new dressings to those afflicted with cancer and ills of a like nature, bathing, disinfecting, and other ministrations, are invaluable to the sufferers. The City Missionary Society was chartered in 1883, and although organized primarily for religious and missionary purposes, it has inci- dentally carried on much charitable work, notably the establishment of free sewing-schools and the " P'resh Air Fund." The Board of Associated Charities was organized in 1890. Like other organizations of a like name and character in all large cities, its work is intended to reduce almsgiving to a system — to furnish to all benevolent societies of the city, and all the churches of whatever denomination, a central bureau of information, through the agency of which fraud may be detected, and relief extended to the needy, with proper discrimination, and with the assurance that it is productive of good results. There are many other societies and institutions of a less public char- acter, some of which are the offspring of a parent organization, and some the charitable features of which are confined for the most part to individual members. A full description of their work could not well be given within the limited space allowed this article. Among these are the Odd Fellows' Home; Geo. H. Ward Post 10, Grand Army of the Republic; Woman's Board of the Baldwinsville Hospital Cottages, Worcester Branch; Worcester Boys' Club; Worcester Police Relief Association. GEORGE JAQUES. WORCESTER'S BENEFACTORS AND TRUST FUNDS. By the Hoxorable Henry A. Marsh.* nHERE are few cities, if any, in the country that surpass the city of Worcester in the number and amount of gifts of money or its equivalent which have been made by its citizens to the several institu- tions and to the city itself during- the last fifty years. It is estimated that the sum total of such gifts will exceed in value $5,000,000. A complete list of such benefactions would be too long for publication here, but appropriate mention of many of the larger gifts to institutions and the like will be made in other chapters of this volume. The gifts distinctly made to the city as a municipality are noteworthy, and are here recorded : CITY HOSPITAL By deed, March 12, 1872, George Jaques gave to the city of Worces- ter, as a site for a public city hospital, "a certain parcel of land situated in said city of Worcester, bounded on the north by Prince street (now Jaques avenue) . . . . ; on the east by Queen street . . . . ; on the south by land now or formerly of Samuel H. Colton . . . . ; and on the west by King street . . . . ; said parcel of land con- taining by estimate one hundred and fifty thousand, six hundred and forty-three (150,643) square feet," and valued at $35,000. George Jaques died August 24, 1872. In his will dated May 29, 1872, after giving legacies to the amount of about $20,000, he disposed of the balance of his estate in the following language: "All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, real, personal or mixed, not herein other- wise disposed of, of which I may die seized and possessed, or to which I may be entitled at the time of my decease, .... I give, devise and bequeath unto the city of Worcester. In trust, however, to be by the city applied to the sole and particular use and benefit of the institu- 'See sketch in Biographical Department. 248 The Worcester of 1898. tion recently established and known as the Worcester City Hospital," The value of this generous gift is estimated to exceed $200,000. In recognition of this noble and beneficent act of Mr. Jaques, a marble tablet was placed in the hallway of the administration building bearing the following appropriate inscription: IN MEMORY OF GEORGE JAQUES, BORN FEBRUARY l8, 1816, DIED AUGUST 24, 1872, WHO GAVE THE SITE OF THIS BUILDING TO THE CITY OF WORCESTER FOR A PUBLIC HOSPITAL, AND LEFT MOST OF HIS LARGE ESTATE FOR ITS SUPPORT, A GRATEFUL CITY PLACES THIS TABLET. THOUGH IT SPEAKS TO MANY GENERATIONS, THE BLESSINGS OF HIS GIFT AND THE GRATITUDE OF OUR CITIZENS WILL OUTLAST THE STONE. Albert Curtis in 1874 gave a consulting library of medical books, and in January, 1875, contributed $1,000 as a fund, the interest thereof to be expended for replenishing this library. Isaac Davis in 1873 gave $1,000 to the hospital, which was to accu- mulate until it became $2,000, after which time ''the income was to be applied to the support of poor and destitute persons who are admitted to the hospital, and are unable to pay their expenses while there." John Boyer Shaw gave, by will dated March 22, 1872, a bequest to the City Hospital of one-fifth part of his property, subject to a life interest. This fund when realized amounted to $2,000. In 1 88 1 a bequest of $5,000 was made by Joseph A. Tenney for the general purposes of the hospital. The will of the late Honorable vStephen vSalisbury, probated in 1884, contained the following provision: "I give and bequeath to the City Hospital of Worcester $3,000 on condition that the Trustees of that hospital shall provide three free beds in that hospital, in perpetuit}^ for the treatment of suitable patients unable to make payment therefor, and that my son Stephen shall have the right to offer candidates for the occupation of those free beds." A few days after the above was received, the Trustees were called together at a special meeting to receive the announcement of a gift of $6,000 from Mrs. Sarah Gill to the city of Worcester, to be used under the direction of the Trustees in building a new pavilion or ward for male patients, in memory of her husband, the late George W. Gill. In The Worcester of 1898. 249 order to provide for a building of suitable proportions in connection with the Gill Ward, the gift of Mrs. Gill was supplemented in 1885 by one of $12,000 from Stephen Salisbury, Esq., one of the Trustees. In the will of the late Mrs. Helen C. Knowles, probated in 1884, was a gift of $25,000 for the maintenance of a ward in the City Hospital, *'to be devoted to the treatment of poor women and children who are afflicted with incurable diseases ; or for lying-in purposes, in which latter case the principal may be used for building." The Trustees elected to make use of the bequest of Mrs. Knowles for lying-in purposes, and caused to be erected the spacious and finely equipped Knowles Maternity Ward. Through Mrs. Knowles' wise beneficence, the city has been able to make excellent provision for the care and comfort of those for whom this charity was established. In 1886 a gift of $500 was received from Doctor Joseph Sargent for the purpose of increasing the medical library of the hospital. In 1889 Mrs. Sarah L. Hammond presented to the hospital a valuable library of about 250 volumes in a handsome black walnut case. This important acquisition was gratefully acknowledged, and the books were placed in the nurses' parlor. In 1892 the sum of $1,000 was received from the estate of the late Edwin Conant in accordance with a bequest in his will; also $5,000 from Mrs. Mary E. D. Stoddard, the income to be used for the benefit of patients, especially in providing "delicacies, flowers, drives, clothing, or other comforts which would not otherwise be generally furnished." In 1892 the unexpended balance of the Fourth of July fund of $868 was given to the hospital. Under the provisions of the will of the late Elbridge G. Patridge, the hospital received in 1894 from his executor the sum of $1,000. In 1896 the sum of $2,631 was received from the estate of the late David M. Mclntire, in accordance with a clause in his will. On the 1 2th of March, 1895, Colonel Samuel E. Winslow sent to the president of the Board of Trustees of the hospital a communication, in which he used these words; "It is my desire to give to the Trustees of the Worcester City Hospital a sum of money not to exceed $10,000, to be used under the direction of your board for the construction and equipment of an operating department to be known as the Samuel Winslow Surgery," and he added that "the purpose of this offer is to establish a memorial to one who loved dearly the city of Worcester and never wearied in laboring for the welfare of its citizens." vSubsequently to the sending of this communication, it becoming evident to him that the cost of what he had proposed would, under the accepted plans, very considerably exceed the sum he had named, he supplemented his first ofter with another equally generous. He pro- EDWARD C. THAYER. The Worcester of 1898. 251 posed, if agreeable to the Trustees, to assume himself all the care and responsibility of construction, equipment and cost, and to deliver the building to the board, completed and furnished, ready for occupancy, a proposal which was gratefully accepted. March 12, 1897, Mr. Edward C. Thayer of Keene, New Hampshire, offered to erect and present to the city a home for the City Hospital nurses, as a memorial of his sisters, Sarah Thayer Chapin and Louisa Thayer Chapin, who were successively the wives of the late Judge Chapin, mayor of Worcester in 1849, '50, and '70, at a cost to himself of not less than $35,000. The cost of the building finished and fur- nished exceeded $50,000. The City Council and Hospital Trustees gave hearty expression to Mr. Thayer of their appreciative sense of his timely and generous gift. Miss Margaret C. Chapin, a niece of Mr. Thayer, also made generous contributions towards furnishing the new home. Upon either side of the vestibule of this memorial building are appropriate and appreciative tablets of bronze. The tablet on the left side reads as follows : This Memorial Building, designed especially to be a home for the nurses of the city hospital, and to afford accommodation for the city hospital training school for nurses, was erected and furnished and given to the city of \vorcester, A. D. 1897, BY MR. EDWARD C. THAYER OF KEENE, N. H., AND IS BY HIM AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF HIS SISTERS — MRS. SARAH THAYER CHAPIN AND MRS. LOUISA THAYER CHAPIN, TO THE END THAT THE CHRISTIAN GRACES OF CHARITY AND BENEVOLENCE, SO CONSPICUOUSLY- MANIFESTED IN THEIR BEAUTIFUL LIVES, MAY BE FITLY HONORED AND PERPETUALLY COMMEMORATED IN THE CITY WHICH WAS SO LONG THEIR HOME. 252 The Worcester of 1898. MEMORIAL HOME FOR NURSES. The tablet on the right reads: THIS TABLET IS PLACED HERE TO EXPRESS THE GRATITUDE OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE CITY HOSPITAL TO MR. EDWARD C. THAYER FOR THE GIFT OF THIS NURSEs' HOME. IN DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT THE BUILDING LEAVES NOTHING TO BE DESIRED. WITHIN AND WITHOUT IT REFLECTS THE GOOD TASTE AND WISE PHILANTHROPY OF THE GIVER, AND HONORS ALIKE THE CITY AND THE HOSPITAL. The City Hospital has received in gifts from individuals in twenty- seven 5'ears nearly $400,000. Soldiers' Monument. In 1867 a popular subscription to build a soldiers' monument on the Common resulted in securing the sum of $15,000, which, together with a grant of $35,000 from the City Council in 1 87 1, was sufficient to secure its erection. BiGELOW Monument, The Italian marble monument on the Com- mon which marks the last resting-place of the distinguished Revolu- tionary patriot, Colonel Timothy Bigelow, was the gift in 1S61 of his great grandson, Timothy Bigelow Lawrence. The Worcester of 1898. 253 Dewey Charity Fund. In 1889 the Francis H. Dewey Charity- Fund of $2,000 was given to the city, and the income tliereof to be spent for the poor and needy citizens on Thanksgiving day. Bancroft Endowment Fund. The Bancroft Endowment Fund, or the Aaron and Lucretia Bancroft Scholarship, was established in 1886 by the gift of $10,000 from the late Honorable George Bancroft, in memory of his parents, "the income of the fund to be expended in aiding in the liberal education of some of our scholars, who from time to time shall be selected from the citizens of Worcester by a Board of Trustees." Bullock Medal Fund. In 1859 Honorable Alexander H. Bullock established the Bullock Medal Fund by the gift of $1,000, the income of which was to be expended in silver medals to be awarded to merito- rious scholars of the high school. Of late years, by consent of the members of the family of Mr. Bullock, the income has been applied to the increase of the high school library, and the principal of the fund has been augmented by the gift of $500 from A. G. Bullock, Esq. Free Public Library. Towards the close of the year 1859, the late Doctor John Green and the Lyceum and Library Association offered to give, upon certain conditions, to the city, libraries containing respect- ively 7,000 and 4,500 volumes, to form the nucleus of a public library. The offer was accepted by the City Council, and an ordinance estab- lishing the Free Public Library was passed December 23 of the same year. Doctor Green, subsequently to his first gift, gave at different times about 5,000 more volumes. Doctor Green died in 1865, and left by will $30,000, to be designated as the Green Library Fund. One provision of the bequest was that one- quarter of the income from the fund should be added to the principal every year, and the remainder spent in the purchase of books for the reference department. This fund with its accretions now amounts to $49,834.71, and another bequest of Doctor Green, known as the Libra- rian's Fund, now amounts to $4,149. No income from this fund will be available until the accumulation of interest has made the principal $20,000. Reading-Room Fund. In 1865, mainly through the efforts of Honor- able George F. Hoar, the sum of $10,856.74 was raised by popular subscription for a reading-room fund, the income of which is used to provide reviews, magazines and newspapers for the Free Public Library. Gifts by Isaiah Thomas. November 3, 1806, it was ]^otcd, That the town do approv^e and allow of a town way or street laid out by the Selectmen through the land of Isaiah Thomas, Esq., and Captain Daniel Hey wood, by the name of Thomas street ; and DOCTOR JOHN GREEN. The Worcester of 1898. 255 Voted, That the thanks of the town be given to Isaiah Thomas, Esq., for his generosity in giving the land for said street and building the bridge, and making the street in complete repair to be traveled on, without any expense to the town. November 14, 1831, the town voted to accept the bequest of Isaiah Thomas of the lot of land at the corner of Thomas and Summer streets, with the condition that the town erect thereon "a large and handsome brick school-house or academy." Public Parks. "In 1884, by virtue of arrangements perfected between themselves, by Honorable Edward L. Davis and Horace H. Bigelow, the city became owner in fee and free gift of 1 10 acres of forest and open HOME FARM. land lying along the westerly shore of Lake Quinsigamond, coupled with the further present, from Mr. Davis, of $5,000 to be expended in suitable surveys, plans, and work of development as needed. No gift could have been more timely for its influence upon the community, or welcome in itself. "To its resultant influence may be largely attributed the wonderful settlement along the shores of the lake, which, within a decade, has seen the occupation of almost every available building-site upon either shore, and the construction of a considerable village but a little way inland from Lake park. Subsequently, Mr. Davis caused to be built, by the famous Norcross Brothers, a stone tower, upon the loftiest point of observation in the park, so cyclopean in mass and method that its endurance may well challenge the worst ravages of time. The cost of that tower could not have been less than $8,000. 256 The Worcester of 1898. louLATION HOSPITAL. "Stephen Salisbury, Esq., in 1887, conveyed to the city, for use and enjoyment as a public park, some seventeen acres of most eligible land conveniently located along the southerly shore of Salisbury pond, in perpetuity, under certain restrictions that were duly accepted by the City Council. One condition was that it should be named and known as Institute park. Upon it Mr. vSalisbury has expended, from his indi- vidual means, well nigh $50,000 in the erection of boat and summer houses, sanitary conveniences, thoroughly constructed drives, and exten- sive plantation. His interest in that park is unfailing, and his generosity continually manifests itself in constant effort to increase its attractions." — Edzvard Wi)ishnv Lincoln in i8g^. October i, 1890, Thomas H. Dodge, Esq., presented to the city a public ground in the northerly part of Worcester, comprising thirteen acres, situated between West Boylston and Burncoat streets, in the vicinity of the Odd Fellows' Home. This is known as Dodge park. The recent gift to the city by Charles D. Boynton of 130 acres of land in Paxton and Holden for a public park, sanitarium, or hospital, is a notable accession in this list of benefactions. The gift was accepted by vote of the City Council in October, 1898. Curtis Chapel. On the 31st day of January, 1890, Mr. Albert Curtis submitted to the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery plans for a stone The Worcester of i 257 chapel, to be erected on the grounds, and offered to build the same at his expense. The board accepted the donation by a vote of thanks. It was appropriately dedicated on the 31st day of January, 1891. Its cost was $12,000. Relief Funds. The citizens of Worcester have contributed to many public relief funds in the past, the first, perhaps, being in aid of the Greeks seventy or more years ago. Within the last eighteen years monev has been contributed to several such funds, as follows : Irish relief fund, 1880, Forest fires in Michigan, 1881, . Charleston earthquake sufferers, 1886, Yellow fever sufferers, 1888, Conemaugh valley flood, 1889, . Armenian relief, .... $3,964 3,126 2,759 2,177 15,696 2,115 529,837 CURTIS CHAPEL, HOPE CEMETERY. ALFRED S. ROE. . / WORCESTER IN THE GENERAL COURT. By the Honorable Alfred S. Roe.* 0N aged gentleman, Mr. Peregrine B. Gilbert of 45 Chatham street, is the only survivor of the delegation elected to the General Court by the town of Worcester in 1847. He also had served the preceding year. Alexander H. Bullock served with him in the same years, with D. Waldo Lincoln in 1847, and Samuel Davis in 1848. Mr. Gilbert's vote helped secure the city charter, and during the intervening fifty years he has seen nearly 200 different Worcester men hold places in the popular branch of the Legislature. The city sent, for each of the first three years of her existence, a delegation of three men. In 185 1 the number was raised to five, and this continued till 1868, when one more was added, and six was the city's quota for the following nine years. In 1877 the new apportionment gave Worcester eight representatives, and that is the number to-day, though the apportionment of 1896 really entitled her to nine. Had the city then been divided into nine instead of eight wards, we should have gained a new member. Worcester has not always claimed all that she deserved. Just 169 men have repre- sented the Heart of the Commonwealth in her fifty years of city life, where the number might have been 320.f It is evident that many members have served more than one year; indeed, the average is nearly two years for every one. The longest term held by one man was that of James H. Mellen, fourteen ; the next that of Eugene M. Moriarty, eleven years. The oldest surviving member, in years, is John P. Marble of 33 Harvard street, born in Charlton October i, 1806. He represented Charlton in 1840, and Worcester in 1865. In the vSenate there have been thirty-four different members from Worcester city, and of these just one-half had had previous experience in the House. While the majority of the senators held their positions but one year, very many served two. Three senators were elected for three years each, and one served four years. In 1851 the senator from * See sketch in Biographical Department. f To bring these data to date, the Legislature of 1898 is included, thus making the record that of fifty-one years. 26o The Worcester of 1898. the district including Worcester was Colonel Alexander DeWitt of Oxford, later a representative in Congress, but he could hardly be classed with our Worcester delegation. As the city grew, she became a district by herself. In 1886 Wards 2 and 3 with towns to the north- ward, including the city of Fitchburg, became the Fourth Worcester District, hence the city has at times had two members in the Senate. The redistricting of 1896 threw Wards i, 2 and 3 into the 2d Worcester District, having nine towns with these wards, and again Worcester had two senators. During our half century, Worcester furnished one speaker for the House, Alexander H. Bullock, 1862, '63, '64, '65, and two presidents of the Senate, H. W. Benchley, 1855, and Alfred S. Pinkerton, 1892 and '93, while J. B. D. Cogswell, who was a representative from this city in 1857, was president, 1877, '78, '79, at that time a senator from the Cape Dis- trict. From the lists of representatives and senators, we can select one governor, Alexander H. Bullock, 1866, '67 and '68; four representatives in Congress, Eli Thayer, George F. Hoar, William W. Rice and Joseph H. Walker; one United States senator, George F. Hoar, 1877 — ! one judge of the Supreme Court, Pliny Merrick; two judges of the Superior Court, Francis H. Dewey and P. Emory Aldrich; and no less than thirteen men who have been mayors of the city, viz., Peter C. Bacon,. John S. C. KnovN?-lton, Isaac Davis, Alexander H. Bullock, William W. Rice, P. Emory Aldrich, Edward Earle, George F. Verry, Edward L. Davis, Charles B. Pratt, E. B. Stoddard, S. E. Hildreth and Samuel Winslow, While the emoluments of the offices are not great, there has never been a dearth of candidates, all classes deeming the positions honorable ones. The record of contests is entertaining, for therein we may find that employer and employee were frequently pitted against each other, and the employer did not always win. In politics, till the forma- tion of the Republican party, this was a Whig city. Since then the large majority of legislators have been Republicans, though the massing of Democrats in Wards 3, 4 and 5 has nearly always, in later years, given to them representatives of their own politics. The first name of Irish origin in the list is that of Patrick O'Keefe, 1861. Only one Swede has been sent by the city to the capitol, A. Edwin Enberg, in 1897. In originating and securing salutary legislation, Worcester has done her part. As a rule, her representatives in both branches have worked in union unless separated by the demands of party politics, the latter condition, however, being infrequent. Usually the delegations have been able to speak for themselves, and the influence of the Heart of the Commonwealth has uniformly been one to be reckoned with, both for and against the many measures that annually are submitted to the The Worcester of 1898. 261 Legislature. While the great majority of members of the House serve one 3^ear only, the long terms accorded to those from Worcester have perceptibly added to their influence. While Worcester legislators have carefully followed the wants and needs of their own city, they have not been wanting in zeal for matters applying to the public generally. Indeed, were the laws pertaining to education, temperance, labor and taxation which are owed to Worcester efforts to be stricken from the statutes, the blue book would be honey- combed. Very likely many would not regret the absence of many enactments referred to, but none the less they stand to-day as results of the effort of Worcester men in the Legislature of the Commonwealth. House, 1848-1898. 1848 — Alex. H. Bullock, P. B. Gilbert, vSamuel Davis. 1849 — Peter C. Bacon, Albert Tolman, Charles White. 1850 — John M. Earle, Albert Tolman, Charles White. 185 1 — John M. Earle, Cha-rles Washburn, Benj. Flaggy John F. Gleason, Edward Earle. 1852 — George F. Hoar, Isaac Davis, John M. Earle, Putman W. Taft, John F. Gleason. 1853 — Eli Thayer, Charles White, Edward Lamb, Henry W. Benchley, George W. Gill. 1854 — Henry W. Benchley, H. H. Chamberlin, George W. Gill, Edward Lamb, Eli Thayer. 1855 — Harrison Bliss, Daniel E. Chapin, Waterman A. Fisher, Austin L. Rogers, Putman W. Taft. 1856 — Harrison Bliss, Elijah B. Stoddard, Putman W. Taft, George W. Russell, John H. Brooks. 1857— J. B. D. Cogswell, Wm. T. Merrifield, Dexter F. Parker, George F. Thompson, Stephen P. Twiss. 1858 — Albert L. Benchley, Alexander Thayer, Dexter F. Parker, James S. Woodworth, O. H. Tillotson. 1859 — George Chandler, Albert Tolman, Henry C. Rice, Charles B. Pratt, Marcus Barrett. i860 — Henry C. Rice, Benj. F. Otis, Samuel A. Knox, Joseph Pratt, Timothy S. Stone. 1861— Alex. H. Bullock, Dexter F. Parker, Jos. D. Daniels, Benj. F. Otis, Patrick O'Keefe. 1862 — Alex. H. Bullock, Delano A. Goddard, Jos. D. Daniels, Samuel Souther, John L. Murphy. 1863 — Alex. H. Bullock, Warren Williams, Samuel Souther, Jerome A. Ladd, E. G. Warren. 1864 — Alex. H. Bullock, Warren Williams, F. W. Wellington, George A. Brown, Edwin Draper. 1865— Alex. H. Bullock, George A. Brown, John P. Marble, Charles H. Ballard, Edwin Draper. ^ ..l-f^' ELLERY B. CRANE. The Worcester of 1898. 263 1866 — P. Emory Aldrich, Thos. E. vSt. John, Fitzroy Willard, M. J. McCafferty, Geo. R. Peckham. 1867 — P. Emory Aldrich, Jonathan C. French, A. G. Goes, Geo. R. Peck- ham, John C. Bigelow. 1868 — Delano A. Goddard, Warren Williams, Aaron G. Walker, Edward S. Stebbins, James S. Woodworth, Prescott A. Thompson. 1869 — Warren Williams, Thomas L. Nelson, A. G. Goes, John Dean, Geo. M. Woodward, Welcome W. Sprague. 1870 — John W. Wetherell, Daniel W. Bemis, Thomas Earle, Edwin T. Marble, Dorrance S. Goddard, Thomas Gates. 187 1 — Lewis Barnard, Charles L. Putnam, John S. Baldwin, Jos. R. Torrey, Thomas Gates, William Mulligan (Paxton). 1872 — Lewis Barnard, John Gates, John S. Baldwin, Joseph R. Torrey, George P. Kendrick, Burton W. Potter. 1873 — T. W. Wellington, John Gates, Samuel Winslow, Samuel E. Hil- dreth, Joseph H. Titus, Geo. P. Kendrick. 1874 — T. W. Wellington, Samuel Winslow, Emory Banister, Jas. E. Estabrook, Andrew Athy, Thomas Gates. 1875 — William W. Rice, Samuel R. Heywood, Enoch H. Towne, Andrew Athy, James E. Estabrook, Osgood Bradley, Jr. 1876 — John W. Wetherell, Samuel R. Heywood, Osgood Bradley, Jr., John D. Washburn, M. J. McCafferty, Jeremiah Murphy. 1877 — Thos. J. Hastings, Samuel R. Heywood, John D. Washburn, John D. Lovell, Frank P. Goulding, M. J. McCafferty, James H. Mellen, Cornelius O'Sullivan. 1878 — Thos. J. Hastings, Wm. A. vS. Smythe, Frank D. Leary, Philip Moore, James H. Mellen, Frank P. Goulding, John D. Lovell, John D. Washburn. 1879 — Thos. J. Hastings, Wm. A. S. Smythe, Frank D. Leary, M. J. McCafferty, James H. Mellen, Jos. H. Walker, Calvin L. Hartshorn, John D. Washburn. 1880 — Thos. J. Hastings, M. V. B. Jefferson, E. M. Moriarty, Francis Plunkett, John R. Thayer, Jos. H. Walker, Calvin L. Hartshorn, J. Marcus Rice. 1 88 1 — Aaron S. Walker, M. V. B. Jefferson, E. M. Moriarty, Francis Plunkett, James H. Mellen, Asaph R. Marshall, Edwin Ames, Wm. L. Clark. 1882 — Aaron G. Walker, Samuel A. Porter, E. M. Moriarty, David F. O'Connell, John R. Thayer, Asaph R. Marshall, Edwin Ames, Wm. L. Clark. 1883 — Aaron G. Walker, Forrest E. Barker, E. M. Moriarty, David F. O'Connell, James H. Mellen, Geo. H. Ball, Geo. E. Batchelder, Burton W. Potter. 1884 — Aaron G. Walker, Forrest E. Barker, James Connor, John J. O'Gor- man, J. F. H. Mooney, Geo. H. Ball, Geo. E. Batchelder (resigned), Emerson Warner, Burton W. Potter. 264 I'HH Worcester of 1898. 1885 — Aug. N. Currier, Henry M. Smith, John F. O'Connor, James J. Tierney, Jos. S. Perry, Loring Coes, Emerson Warner, Joseph Mason. 1886 — Aug. N. Currier, Henry M. Smith, John F. O'Connor, James H. Mellen, Thos. W. Butler, Loring Coes, Henry L. Parker, Joseph Mason. 1887 — Thos. G. Kent, Alfred S. Pinkerton, John F. O'Connor, Peter A. Conlin, Thos. W. Butler, Jos. H. Walker, Henry L. Parker, Wm. A. Gile. 1888 — Jos. P. Cheney, Jr., Alfred S. Pinkerton, Peter T. Carroll, James H. Mellen, James M. Cronin, John W. Plaisted, David Manning, Jr., Wm. A. Gile. 1889 — Joseph P. Cheney, Jr., Alfred S. Pinkerton, Peter T. Carroll, James H. Mellen, James M. Cronin, John W. Plaisted, Wm. B. Sprout, Edward B. Glasgow. 1890 — Henry C. Wheaton, Wm. H. Rice, E. M. Moriarty, Peter A. Conlin, Patrick J. Ouinn, Franklin B. White, W. B. Sprout, Edward B. Glasgow. 1891 — Henry C. Wheaton, Wm. H. Rice, E. M. Moriarty, James H. Mellen, Patrick J. Ouinn, Franklin B. White, Henry G. Taft, Geo. S. Clough. 1892 — Alfred S. Roe, Jas. P. Crosby, E. M. Moriarty, James H. Mellen, Jas. F. Melaven, Henry J. Jennings, Henry G. Taft, Geo. S. Clough. 1893 — Alfred S. Roe, Jas. P. Crosby, E. M. Moriarty, James H. Mellen, James F. Melaven, Henry J. Jennings (died during session), Henry Y. Simpson, Edward I. Comins, Eben F. Thompson. 1894 — Alfred S. Roe, Wm. P. Searles, E. M. Moriarty, James H. Mellen, Jas. F. Melaven, Henry Y. Simpson, Joseph B. Knox, Eben F. Thompson. 1895— Alfred S. Roe, W. P. Searles, E. M. Moriarty, James. H. Mellen, Jas. F. Melaven, Ellery B. Crane, Joseph B. Knox, George H. Mellen. 1896 — George M. Rice, Wm. P. Searles, E. M. Moriarty, James H. Mellen, Jas. F. Melaven, Ellery B. Crane, Willie C. Young, George H. Mellen. 1897 — George M. Rice, Moses D. Gilman, E. M. Moriarty, Michael L. Russell, A. Edwin Enberg, Geo. W. Coombs, Willie C. Young, Charles G. Washburn. 1898 — George M. Rice, Moses D. Gilman, Michael L. Russell, James F. Carberry, George W. Coombs, Charles R. Johnson, Charles G. Washburn. Senate, 1848-1898. 1848 — Alfred D. Foster. 1849 — Alex. H. Bullock. 1850 — Pliny Merrick. 1 85 1— Alex. DeWitt (Oxford). 1852 — John vS. C. Knowlton. 1853 — John S. C. Knowlton and Charles Thurber. 1854 — Isaac Davis. 1855 — Henry W. Benchley. The Worcester of 1898. 265 1856 — Francis H. Dewey. 1 85 7 — Geo. F. Hoar. 1858 — John M. Earle. 1859 and i860 — Dexter F. Parker. 1 86 1 — Ichabod Washburn. 1862 and 1863 — -Hartley Williams. 1864 and 1865 — Elijah B. Stoddard. 1866, 1867 and 1868 — Lucius W. Pond. 1869^ — Francis H. Dewey. 1870 — George M. Rice. 1871 and 1872 — Adin Thayer. 1873 — George F. Thompson. 1874 and 1875 — George F. Verry. 1876 — Edward L. Davis. 1877 and 1878 — George S. Barton. 1879 and 1880 — Henry C. Rice. 1881 and 1882 — Thos. J. Hastings. 1883 — Charles B. Pratt. 1,884 — John D- Washburn. 1885 and 1886 — M. V. B. Jefferson. 1887 and 1 888 — Edwin T. Marble. 1889 — Henry L. Parker. 1890 — Henry L. Parker, Alfred S. Pinkerton. 1 89 1 and 1892 — ^John R. Thayer, Alfred S. Pinkerton. 1893 — Stephen vSalisbury, Alfred S. Pinkerton. 1894 and 1895 — Stephen Salisbury. 1896 — Alfred S. Roe. 1897 and 1898 — Ellery B. Crane and Alfred S. Roe. DOCTOR CHARLES A. PEABODY. SECRET SOCIETIES AND FRATERNAL ORDERS. Bv Charles A. Peabody, AI. D.* SvSTUDY of the growth of secret societies during this century, or since Worcester became a city even, could not fail to be of interest to the student of social movements as an indication of public opinion and one of the signs of the times. " We all believe in pledges and oaths now," says the distinguished president of a distinguished university; a statement in striking contrast to the popular sentiment of sixty or seventy years ago, when the false and furious diatribes of scheming politicians and time-servers against what they termed oath-bound socie- ties, alarmed the common conscience, and overwhelmed common sense in a mighty surge, whose retreating echoes, though faint, have hardly yet completely died away. An historical sketch of these societies in Worcester during the last half centurv, even though brief and general in its character, must of necessity include some notice of their origin and early history as well as of their purposes and character. Of these organizations, the first in point of age and influence is the "Society of Free Masons," which was introduced in Worcester in 1793, and was the sole occupant of the field for more than fifty years. In 1844 the first lodge of Odd Fellows was organized, followed soon by some temperance organizations and the German Einigkeit, D. O. H. It was not, however, until several years later, or about the time of the Civil War and the years immediately following, that the movement in this direction received the impetus that has carried it along with increasing strength and activity, till now the lodges are legion, and the names on their roll are numbered by the tens of thousands. But Worcester is not peculiar in this growth. It extends over wide areas of our country; wherever, in fact, we find communities in the pushing ranks of progress and prosperity, there we find that these societies abound. It is one of the indications of the restless activity See sketch in Biographical Department. The Worcester of 1898. 26(> of the age, and the awakening desire for social and intellectual improve- ment. Many of these societies doubtless are ephemeral, but others doubtless- will remain. Of some we may be sure that having come down to us through many generations, surviving with unimpaired but chastened vigor, trials from within and assaults from without, they will endure for generations yet to come, a source of helpfulness to men, and blessing to the world. For purposes of classification the secret societies in Worcester may be grouped under two general heads: T. The Purely Fraternal. II. The Beneficiary and Insurance Orders. Typical of the first group is the Society of Free Masons. This group also includes the military fraternities, the Patrons of Husbandry, and the various secret temperance organizations. Under the second group typical examples are the I. O. O. F. and the Royal Arcanum. Here also belong the trades unions, though many of the so-called labor unions can hardly be classed as secret societies. I. Free Masonry. Free Masonry was introduced into this country about the year 1 730, and soon attracted to its standard many men who were- destined to become prominent in fighting the battles and directing the course of our infant republic. Under the influence of these great names Masonry became popular, and when Isaiah Thomas founded Morning Star Lodge in 1793, he soon found more than a hundred of the leading men of Worcester and vicinity ready to join with him in the " mystic tie." On the 2d of August, 1824, the corner-stone of the Town Hall was laid by this lodge deep in the foundations of the building, where it lay buried in obscurity for more than seventy years, but upon the complete demolition of the building in 1898, it was discovered and brought to light. Its contents, a beautifully engraved silver disk and some coins, are now in the custody of the mayor. The corner-stone of the new City Hall was laid by the Grand Lodge of Masons of Massachusetts in September, 1896. In 1893 Morning vStar Lodge celebrated its centennial anniversary and published a history of its hundred years. During that time more than 1,000 names were added to its rolls, many of which are household words in the social, professional, civic and business life of the town and city of Worcester. In 1859 Montacute Lodge was instituted. Athelstan followed in 1867, and Quinsigamond in 1871. These are all large and flourish- ing bodies, having an aggregate membership of more than 1,200. In 1824 Worcester Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was instituted, the ceremony being held in the Old South Church, and included an address. X S2 LL ^^ o ^ LU -^ O uj- Z 5 LLl O Q ^ — LU CO H m < CC m O C3 ^p CO 5 UJ o O Q o S The Worcester of 1898. 271 bv the Reverend Mr. Fuller. Eureka Chapter was chartered in 1870. Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templars, was instituted in 1824, and is now one of the largest and most flourishing commanderies in the United States, while Hiram Council, R. & vS. Masters, chartered in 1826, is said to be the largest body of its denomination in the world. The Lodge of Perfection, Goddard Council and Lawrence Chapter, Rose Croix, were all chartered between the years i860 and 1870, and belong to what is called the vScottish Rite, which, starting with the lodge, works out the Masonic ideas along a different line of development and ritual from that followed by the Royal Arch and Templar Orders. In addition to these bodies we must not forget to mention the Order of the Eastern vStar, an adjunct but independent organization, composed of Masons and their wives and daughters. The Grand Chapter of this order for Massachusetts, organized in 1876, is located in this city, and here is located also one of its subordinates, Stella Chapter, No. 3. The Masonic Charity and Educational Association was incorporated in 1896 for the purpose of erecting a Masonic temple, and administer- ing its revenues for charity and educational purposes. The Masonic Board of Relief has for its object the assistance of such needy Masons in Worcester as are not affiliated with either of the Worcester lodges, Avhile the Masonic Relief Association is supported by its members for insuring the lives of such Masons as may join it. L"''nder an entirely different organization and authority are the three bodies of so-called colored Masons, viz.. King David's Lodge, St. John's Chapter, and Mt. Zion's Commandery. These have all been organized during the last forty years, and are composed of men of African descent. 2. The Grand Army, and Other Organizations. George H. Ward Post No. 10, G. A. R., whose membership is limited to veterans of the Civil War, was instituted in 1867. This is a very large and important post, and, with its auxiliary, the Woman's Relief Corps, has disbursed a large amount of money for the relief of its destitute mem- bers, a great deal of which has been raised by public entertainments given by the post, and in various other ways. There is connected with Post 10 an associate membership made up of prominent men who were not in the service during the Civil War. The associates are not mem- bers of the post except by such nominal connection as is involved in paying annual dues for the benefit of the relief fund. The Union Veteran Legion, an offshoot of the G. A. R., has essen- tially the same purposes as the parent organization, but limits its membership to those veterans who were in actual battle or under the enemv's fire. 272 The Worcester of 1898. The Patrons of Husbandry and the various temperance societies bear names which sufficiently indicate their purposes and aims. They are designed also to promote good fellowship, and the mutual acquaintance and improvement of their members. The Patrons of Husbandry, which has drawn largely upon Worcester talent for its development and influence, has here two lodges or granges organized about twenty-five years ago. Both sexes are admitted to membership. H. Benef^iciarv and Insurance Organizations. These are secret societies, each of which is subordinated to a State or grand lodge, ,'r*„v* ^^y^ ' ^A ' » ' -^^m I I f ^M^^. (,5ffi i.t ... •- I,, Aiim LOVERS' LANE, LOVELL STREET. which in turn is allegiant to a national or supreme grand lodge. Many of them have an elaborate ritual of many degrees, and a large and enthusiastic membership. They all conduct either a sick benefit or a life insurance business, and in this way disburse large amounts of money, credited in some reports to the account of charity; some of them do, however, make donations from their funds to some cases of special need where a claim for benefits exists. This class of societies has been especially prolific during the last few decades, when assessment insurance in various forms has also flourished. It is impossible for us to mention all of these societies in Worcester even by name, and there- fore only typical examples will be noticed. The Worcester of 1898. 273: 1. Those Paying Sick Benefits. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is taken as the type of this class, because it is the oldest and largest of them all. This order originated in England about the middle of the last century. After many vicissitudes and changes, it was- reorganized in 18 13, and soon became immensely popular. It was intro- duced into this country in 18 19, its first organization and Grand Lodge being in Baltimore. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Grand Lodge extends over the United States and Canada. The membership of the order within the United States alone is said to exceed 800,000. Each member of a lodge is assessed under the by-laws a certain sum annually, which is payable in quarterly installments, in consideration of which payments the lodge agrees to pay him in case of his sickness a certain specified sum weekly for not to exceed a stipulated length of time. If a member becomes in arrears for his quarterly payment, his claim for benefits at once ceases, but is revived upon his again becoming "square on the books." The amount of the benefit is much less than the usual income of a man able to follow his usual avocation, still it is necessary that claims should be investigated, hence it is made the business of certain members to officially visit the sick, and report their condition ta the lodge. Funeral benefits of small amounts are also given, but no life insurance is done by these lodges directly. Quinsigamond Lodge, the oldest in Worcester, was chartered in 1844. Worcester Lodge soon followed. Ridgely, Anchoria, and Central Lodges came later, all within the last twenty-five years. Besides the lodges there are two semi-military organizations, which parade with uniform and side-arms, the Encamp- ment and the Patriarchs Militant. These are chartered by the Grand Lodge, as are also the Rebekah lodges, which admit the wives and daughters of Odd Fellows to membership. There are in Worcester two encampments, one canton, Patriarchs Militant, and three Rebekah lodges. The Odd Fellows' Mutual Relief Association for life insurance, and the Ridgely Protective Association for accident and disability insur- ances, are organizations not officially under the control of the lodges, but admitting only Odd Fellows to membership. The Odd Fellows' Home, which is owned and controlled by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, is located in Worcester, its location here having been determined by the generous gift of a site for that purpose by Thomas H. Dodge, Esq. It is under the management of a board of trustees, of whom Nathan Taylor, Esq., has been from the beginning the Worcester member. The building is handsome and commodious, and the site is beautiful and commanding. 2. Life Insurance Societies. These are all of recent origin, the earliest of them being hardly more than twenty-five years old. The Royal Arcanum boasts the largest membership, and possesses those features 274 The Worcester of 1898. in common with the others which make it a typical representative of its class. It conducts a life insurance business as its raison ifctrc, and calls to the aid of that business the glamour which attaches to a secret society, and the enthusiasm for "the cause" which reduces expenses to the minimum by supplying, as a labor of love, that service which makes the largest item in the expense account of the "regular" insurance compa- nies. Its business is conducted on the assessment plan, and while no sick benefits are allowed, a council may yet provide against a member's certificate lapsing during his sickness. The various organizations of this class in Worcester have in the aggregate a very large membership. The Improved Order of Red Men, introduced into Worcester in 1880, combines the two schemes of sick benefit and life insurance. Every member has a claim for sick benefits the same as in the Odd P'ellows, but the life insurance plan is a separate function, and is optional; it is carried on by means of special assessments as in the Royal Arcanum. This order is interesting because of its origin, and the peculiarities of its ritual, which is based upon the customs of the North American Indians, especially the Iroquois. The tribes usually bear an Indian name. The order was founded during the War of 1 8 1 2 by the soldiers at Fort Mifflin, near Baltimore, for the purpose of promoting patriotism, harmony and good fellowship in the arm}'. This order has also a branch for the ladies, under the title of the Daughters of Pocahontas. WORCESTtR COUNTY JAIL, SUMMER STREET. MILITARY MATTERS. BNE of Worcester's chief glories in the history of the last half I century is the service of her sons in the war of the Union. In that great contest to preserve the life of the nation, the brilliancy •of the record of their patriotism, braver\% and self-sacrifice is undimmed by comparison with that of any other community in the land. The memory of the Worcester soldiers of 1861 to 1865 will ever be kept green by a grateful people, and fitting memorials of stone and bronze ■commemorate their valor. The beautiful Soldiers' Monument on the Common was erected in 1874 at a cost of over $50,000. Post 10, Grand Army of the Republic, named for General Ward, was organized April 13, 1865. Between two and three thousand members have joined this post since its formation, and many thousand dollars have been dispensed in relief funds. The Woman's Relief Corps and the Sons of Veterans were formed in 1883, and the Daughters of Veterans in 1890, all auxiliary to the Grand Army. The history of Worcester in the war for the Union has been so often and so fully recited that a detailed account would be superfluous in this volume. The following references to printed authorities on this subject may, however, properly appear here : Reverend Abijah P. Marvin's "Worcester in the W^ar of the Rebellion" is an interesting and valuable book, which gives a very full account of Worcester's part in sustaining the Union. Histories of the Fifteenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-fourth, and Thirty-sixth Regiments have been published. "The Story of Company A, Twenty-fifth Regi- ment," by Samuel H. Putnam, has been widely noticed and much ■commended as a true picture of the daily life of a soldier; and the narrative of Amos E. Stearns, an Andersonville prisoner, has more than local interest. In the list of Worcester's martyrs in the Rebellion, the names of John William Grout, who fell at Ball's Bluff; General George H, Ward, who fell at Gettysburg, and for whom the local Grand Army post was named; Thomas J. Spurr; S. F. Hayden, Jr.; Dexter F. Parker; Reverend Samuel Souther; the Wellingtons; the Bacons; Thomas O'Neil, and Henry Mc- SOLDIERS' MONUMENT. The Worcester of 1898. 277 Conville, are prominent. Of those who gained distinction in the conflict, Charles Devens, Josiah Pickett, William S. Lincoln and A. B. R. Sprague are well known. Worcester sent 3,927 men, counting each enlistment as one, to the war for the Union, at a total direct money cost of $586,054. Of this amount, $245,653 was paid for bounties and expense of recruiting; $93,650, commutation and substitutes; $246,751, state aid for families. Of Worcester military companies of to-day, the Light Infantry is the oldest, having been organized in 1804. The City Guards, organized in 1840, is now attached to the militia. A history of this company has recently been prepared by Lieutenant Samuel Hathaway. The Emmet Guards were formed in i860. The Chamberlain Light Battery, Battery B, M. V. M., is of more recent organization, and the Wellington Rifles is a militia company formed in 1894. The new Armory building, at the junction of vSalisbury and Grove streets, was completed in 1890 at a cost of nearly $125,000. The Worcester Continentals, the only independent company at present, paraded for the first time July 4, 1876. The uniform is nearly a fac- simile of that worn by Revolutionary soldiers, and the company always attracts much attention, and has gained a wide reputation. In the wSpanish War of 1898, Worcester responded readily, four of her five militia companies entering the service. Battery B was as prompt for duty as the other organizations, but the government was unable to make use of light artillery in large force in that peculiar conflict, and after a brief absence on coast duty in the eastern part of the State, the Battery returned to Worcester. The limited field of operations, and the short duration of the war, prevented the acceptance of any other organized bodies from Worcester, although some attempts were made towards their formation. Recruiting for the regular army has been actively carried on during the present year. The Worcester Light Infantry, the City Guards and the Wellington Rifles were mustered into the United States service as Companies C, A and H, Second Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry. These companies left Worcester for Camp Dewey, South Framingham, May 3, and after a physical examination, such as were pronounced fit for duty were mustered in. On the 12th of May the regiment was transported to Lakeland, Florida, and later to Ybor City in that state. June 13th the Worcester men, as part of the Fifth Army Corps, sailed for Cuba, and landing on the 23d, marched to Siboney, and later to El Caney. From the first day of the engagements near Santiago, the Worcester com- panies were in active service, and at times under fire, until on the 14th of July the city surrendered. During the next month the men experi- enced great suffering from exposure, disease, lack of proper food and o The Worcester of 1898. 279. treatment, and large numbers succumbed to these and other adverse circumstances, aggravated by a tropical and unhealthy climate. The home-coming, from August 12 to 27, was accomplished under condi- tions extremely unfavorable to men in weak physical state, and several died on the way. Worcester gave a roj^al welcome to her returning soldiers on the 27th of August, and again, on the 31st of October, the four companies received another ovation from their fellow citizens. Of the three companies, comprising 231 men, but 113 were able to- appear on August 27th. The Emmet Guards departed on the 4th of May, and their muster-in as Company G, Ninth Massachusetts Regiment, took place at vSouth Framingham on the iith. On the 31st, the regiment left for Virginia, and sailed for Cuba June 26th, landing on the island July ist. During the next four days the Emmets took part in the fighting, and until the surrender of Santiago remained in the trenches. The experience of this company was of the same nature as that of the other Worcester volun- teers, but the return was deferred for a few days after the departure of the Second Regiment. The details of the homeward voyage, the stay at Montauk Point, and the privations and sufferings of the men, are not to be entered into here; nor can the circumstances or conditions to which they were subjected be properly criticised in this brief account. The war is over, the country is again at peace ; but the sacrifice has been costly, and the consequences will long be felt. Three Martyrs. The circumstances attending the death of Lieutenant Edmund N. Benchley, who was killed at San Juan, are similar in a certain degree to those connected with the fall in battle of two others, Lincoln and Grout, martyrs of difi:erent wars. All three were Worcester-born. Each was- in the thick of the fight when the fatal bullet struck, and the untimely fate which overtook them has called forth the most sincere expression of private regret and public eulogy. The personal bravery and soldierly qualities of all three are unquestioned. Captain George Lincoln, killed in the battle of Buena Vista, was a son of ex-Governor Levi Lincoln, and was thirty-one years of age at the time of his death. He was struck by a shot in the back of the head " when facing a regiment, riding in front, and encouraging them on at a critical moment when they were faltering under a severe fire. His situation was a most exposed one, a situation which it would have been mere foolhardiness to take except under the circumstances of this battle, where our troops were chiefly volunteers, and all depended on the officers. Lincoln was acting as adjutant-general, and had no command CHARLES DEVENS. The Worcester of 1898. 281 JOHN WILLIAM GROUT. of the regiment, but seeing them falter, he rode in front and cheered them on by- example as well as by word."* No portrait of Lincoln is in existence. Lieutenant John William Grout, who fell at Ball's Bluff October 21, 1861, was born in Worcester in 1843, and had barely attained the age at which a legal claim could be made upon his services when he fell a voluntary sacrifice on the altar of his country. He was the only son of Jonathan Grout, Esq., and early manifested signs of a military spirit, by which he was animated. He was educated at the Highland Military School, and after enlistment his serv- ices were in demand in drilling volunteers. He received a commission as second lieutenant in Company D of the famous Fifteenth Massa- chusetts Regiment, and gained the confidence and friendship of his company and the whole regiment. In the battle in which he fell, his valor was conspicuous, and in the last hour his coolness, discretion and generosity did not forsake him. He crossed the stream in a boat with the wounded, and returned for more, and, dispatching the second boatful, remained upon the shore until hope of further successful resistance van- ished. He then plunged into the stream, but before he could reach the opposite shore the fatal ball of the barbarous assassin left him only time and strength to exclaim : ''Tell Company D that I should have escaped, but I am shot." t Lieutenant Edmund Nathaniel Benchley was born in Worcester March 3, 1876. He was educated in the public schools, and was appointed a cadet at West Point by Congressman Walker, graduating with the class of 1898. He was at once commissioned as second lieutenant, Sixth Infantry, United * General William B. Franklin, f Extracted from a memorial by Rev- erend E. Cutler. EDMUND NATHANIEL BENCHLEY. GEORGE H. WARD. The Worcester of 1898. 283 States Army, preferring the infantry to the artillery or cavalry service, as it promised better opportunities in the Cuban War for active duty. He proceeded to Florida in May, and with the regulars landed in Cuba the latter part of June, where the active engagement of that short campaign soon followed. On the first day of July the battle of Fort San Juan took place. In crossing the San Juan river, under a severe artillery fire, several companies were separated from the advance portion of the troops, and the colonel desired them to be brought up at once. "He called Lieutenant Benchley, and directed him to recross the river and carry orders to the battalion and company commanders to bring their commands forward at once. He started at once on this important and dangerous duty, and gave the orders to some of the officers indi- cated. He had just given it to one commander when he received a bullet through the heart, killing him instantly. " His military career was brief, brave and glorious. He was cool and brave under one of the severest fires ever known, and he performed his duty nobly and gallantly. Had he lived he would have been brevetted for gallantry in action."* * Letter of Captain L. W. V. Kennon, Company E, Sixth Infantry, U. S. A., to the father of Lieutenant Benchle}-. REVEREND A. Z. CONRAD. PROTESTANT CHURCHES. By Reverend A. Z. Conrad, Ph. D., D. D.* nHE relation of religion to political, social and industrial prosperity I and progress is vital. Eminence and ethics are wedded. What- ever elevates the morale of a community is a distinctively productive force. The debt of the State to the church is incalculably great. Civic righteousness depends on public sentiment. Public sentiment is a product. The church is the chief procuring and producing cause of exalted civic ideals. The true civic ideal is a clean citizen in a clean city. New England history is in evidence that a vigorous type of Christianity insures a heroic type of citizens and progressive common- wealths. The early history of Worcester is indissolubly linked with the activities of the church. Did the limits of this sketch permit, it would be intensely interesting to introduce historic witnesses in the nature of epoch-making incidents and events in demonstration of the proposition that Worcester churches have been the chief factor in her educational, industrial and political progress. The influence of the churches in Worcester is prodigious. They are the prime movers in every social reform. They inculcate the doctrines and principles of civic righteousness. They are the great conservators of moral health. They are the first to protest against lawlessness. They encourage and enjoin every public and private virtue, and con- demn every vicious tendency. They develop a sentiment which is mandatory against organized iniquity, and prevent the encroachments which avariciousness and imperiousness would otherwise practise with impunity. The churches of Worcester constitute the backbone of every philan- thropic effort. Directly or indirectly, they furnish the money for every redemptive institution and agency in Worcester. Restoration, reclamation, and edification are the watchwords of Worcester churches. Worcester people are a church-going people. As compared with other cities of its size, our city is reverential and re- spectful in its attitude toward religion. As a result, its moral tone is high. * See sketch in Biographical Department. 286 The Worcester of 1898. Denominational lines mark preferences rather than prejudices and prohibitions. Sectarian bigotry is rare. Unity in reform movements is practiced. Divisions are lost in the consideration of important public questions. The denominational church life is marked by commendable zeal. There is emulation without envy. There is more of cooperation than competition. An important and prominent feature of the church life of the city is the Sunday school work. The past decade has witnessed an immense OLD SOUTH CHURCH. advance on all previous periods in Bible studv in Worcester. vSunday schools are conducted on a higher plane. New methods are adopted and zeal has immensely increased. While Worcester churches are inclined to be conservative, yet no- where else have the progressive features of modern church life had freer application. Organizations find splendid expression. The spirit of institutionalism is rationally applied. The world-wide movements among young people have in Worcester vigorous representative bodies. The Worcester of 1898. 287 The Old South Church is much the oldest church organization in Worcester, antedating all others by seventy years. The early history of Worcester is very largely the history of this church. Its present elegant edifice was completed in 1889 at a cost of $160,000. Its mem- bership, the largest in the city, is 945. CENTRAL CHURCH. Worcester churches of to-day appreciate their heritage ; are true to the principles and traditions of the fathers, and under the inspiration of divine promise, and obedient to heavenly visions, they engage aggres- sively to fulfill their sacred mission in our beloved city. The Protestant churches of Worcester of every denomination number sixty-nine. Of these sixty-four are, evangelical. They are divided as follows : ^1 ^l^^^^v' ^ ''■jI^^Kl I^^^^^B ^^^^^^H ^^L '^ ^' ^m. I^B ■ ^^^^^^1 Rfl ^^^^^^B ^^^^^^^^^1 H^V^^I m^m ^^^^^mi \ y^^^l ^B ' ^'^^tt^^^^^^^^l ^HIH REVEREND ARCHIBALD McCULLAGH. The Worcester of 1898. 289 Armenian, Baptist. First, Pleasant Street, Main Street, Dewey Street, First Swedish, Lincoln Square, John Street, South, Adams Square, Quinsigamond (Branch of First), Oak Hill (Branch of Pleasant Street), Harlem Street, Greendale, French Mission, First Free, CJiristadclpJi ians. Christadelphian Society, Worcester Ecclesia of Christadelphians, Congregational. First Parish, Central, Union, Summer Street, Plymouth, Piedmont, First Swedish Evang., Pilgrim, Church of the Covenant, Park, Belmont, Hope, Lake View, Bethany, Norwegian and Danish, Armenian, Immanuel, Second Swedish, Greendale People's, Adams Square, * Young People's Union. 19 ;anized, M EMBERSHIP. Pastor. Church . s. s. C. E. 1897 M. V. Papaziantz. 1812 500 507 I 10 Spencer B. Meeser. 1841 341 268 78 Woodman Woodbury, 1853 315 198 51 Leo Boone Thomas. 1872 226 232 73 0. E. Mallory. 1880 1881 502 442 *i37 Frank D. Penney. 1885 76 46 *6o Hiram Conway. 1886 206 199 35 T. Richard Peede. 1889 106 164 52 J. S. Holmes. 1891 45 50 19 S. B. Meeser. 1893 36 53 27 Arthur St. James. 1896 165 325 30 Carl W. Sundmark. 1897 41 165 Guy F. Wheeler. 1890 58 49 Arthur St. James. 1881 118 118 t56 Albert C. Thompson. i860 I7I5 1820 1836 1865 1869 1872 1880 1885 1885 1887 1889 1889 1890 I89I 1892 1892 1893 1894 1895 1808 71 19 945 443 761 120 776 705 350 639 235 138 188 65 91 17 35 118 35 985 532 579 129 575 610 400 784 289 291 297 130 125 tV 25 175 227 88 91 170 oung People's I 70 66 254 62 98 27 85 141 75 46 119 92 75 45 15 48 46 65 25 Society, Isaac N. Jones. Fred C. Walton, Sec. Arcturus Z. Conrad. Daniel Merriman. John E. Tuttle. Orange C. Bailey. Archibald jNIcCullagh. Willard Scott. August L. Anderson. Alexander H. Lewis. John E. Hurlbut. Liman L. Willcox. Dr. Mix in charge. E. W. Phillips. John H. Matthews. Albert G. Todd. Hachadoor G. Benneyan George S. Dodge. John Udd. Gavin H. Wright. John E. Do'^ 'e. 2go V)iitaria)i. Second Parish, Church of the Unity, South Unitarian, Discip/fs of C hrist. Church of Christ, Friends. Society of Friends, Luthi-ra)i. Swedish Evangelical, Norwegian, Finnish Evangelical, First German Evang. , Swedish Evangelical Immanuel, . Methodist. Trinity, * Young People's Society. The Worcester of 1898. ;am/.k I). M EMBERSIIII- Pastor. Church S. S. C. E. 1785 450 '-^5 Austin S. Garver. 1846 150 I 1 1890 J 20 100 George W. Kent. i860 375 230 64 Roland A. Nichols 1837 60 45 25 1881 350 185 *85 Erik J. Nystrom. 1886 1894 155 M Mikki Havukainen 1888 50 20 H. Steger. 1896 147 200 *3o Frans A. Engstrand. 1834 672 760 t3o8 George W. King. f Epworth League. UNION CHURCH. The Worcester of 1898. 291 Organized. Membership. Methodist — Continued Church. s. s. C. E. Laurel Street, 1845 175 224 *8o Webster Square,. i860 219 250 *5o Grace, 1867 384 300 *i77 Coral Street, 1872 140 150 *9o First Swedish, 1879 380 400 *7o Second Swedish, 1885 376 235 *IOO Park Avenue, 1891 163 272 *57 Lake View, 1891 44 44 *3o African M. E. Zion, 1846 125 169 *IOO Bethel African, 1867 Presbyterian. First, 1886 163 95 36 First United, 1895 80 70 60 Episcopal. All Saints', 1843 609 401 St. Matthew's, 1871 340 408 St. John's, 1884 200 125 St. Mark's, 1888 176 1 10 vSt. Sigfrid's, Swedish, 1893 200 Second Advent. Second Advent Christian , 1841 238 145 Univcrsalist. First, 1841 330 600 ti35 All Souls', 1884 93 300 t.85 Pastor. H. H. Paine. L. William Adams. William J. Thompson. George E. Sanderson. Henry E. Whyman. Nels Eagle. Alonzo Sanderson. Alonzo Sanderson. Louis H. Taylor. R. J. H. Taylor. Robert Hughes. Alexander H. Vinton. Henry Hague. Eliot White. Willis H. Hazard. J. Hugo Klaren. William A. Burch. Almon Gunnison. Moses H. Harris. It will be seen that the denominational strength is as follows Armenian, i-\.l lllClllclil, Baptist, 2617 Baptist, Free, 118 Christadelphians, . 90 Congregational, 6042 Unitarian, 720 Disciples of Christ, 375 Friends, 60 Lutheran, 702 Methodist Episcopal, 2554 Methodist, African, Presbyterian, 243 Protestant Episcopal, •525 Total membership of Sunday schools, i5i599 Y. P. S. C. E. membership, . 2214 Epworth League memb( ;rshi{ ), 1062 Epworth League. f Young People's Society. } Young People's Christian Union. RIGHT REVEREND THOMAS GRIFFIN. CATHOLICITY IN WORCESTER. SEVENTY-TWO years ago the first Catholies came to Worcester. I They were chiefly Irish immigrants, and were brought here by the contractors of the Blackstone canal. This work was in progress two years, and many of the laborers settled in town. As time went on and the number of Catholics increased, they felt the need of their religion to enable them to combat the difficulties that surrounded them in their new home, and accordingly petitioned Bishop Fenwick to send them a priest. In response to this appeal, the bishop, in 1834, appointed the Rev- erend James Fitton to visit the Catholics of Worcester once a month. The joy that filled the hearts of those early settlers at this welcome news can well be imagined. Father Fitton, at the time of his appoint- ment, was journeying through the scattered settlements of New England, where, in God's own time, "little churches with devout congregations rose to show where his feet had rested." The holy sacrifice of the mass was first offered in this city in the old stone building on Front street which now stands west of the viaduct. When Father Fitton visited his little flock in Worcester, the people gathered about him and heard mass as devoutly, wherever it was said, as if they were in a consecrated temple. It often happened that in pleasant weather, masses were said on the large rocks near the entrance to the "deep cut" on the Boston & Albany railroad. On such occasions a rude altar would be erected on the side of the rock, with spruce boughs, brought by willing hands from the woods, hung overhead. There in nature's own cathedral worshiped the pioneers of Cath- olicity in Worcester. During one of these outdoor masses a storm came up. At the first sign of its approach, three of the congregation hastened to procure umbrellas. These they held over Father Fitton, and moved as he moved in the progress of the mass. The kneeling congregation was thoroughly drenched, yet not one of the devout assembly moved. The foundation of Christ's Church, the first Catholic church in Worcester, was laid July 6, 1834, and to the great joy of the people, 294 The Worcester of 1898. Father Fitton was made pastor. It was a small wooden building, and after some years was removed to another part of the church grounds, received additions, and became the "Catholic Institute." In this year also (1834) the Catholics purchased their first burying-ground. ^r~^^ PLYMOUTH CHURCH. Every summer during Father Fitton's time, some of the Penobscot Indians, among whom he had labored in Maine, came to Worcester, and pitched their tents at the foot of the street where the rolling-mill now stands. They assisted at the mass with great devotion, and after service was over, they liked to gather in a circle around the church The Worcester of i8q8. 295 ■door, and there, kneeling;, await the coming of the priest. Father Fitton, who knew their customs, would, as he passed, lay his hands upon each bowed head in silent benediction. They were then satisfied, and returned to their camp. PIEDMONT CHURCH. In 1837 two schools were established by the pastor: one for children in the basement of the church, the other for the instruction of boys in the higher branches of education. The latter was situated on Paka- choag hill and called Mt. St. James vSeminary. To this humble begin- ning and to the zeal and generosity of Father Fitton we are indebted for our cherished Holy Cross College, which to-day rests "like a beau- 296 The Worcester of 1898. tiful coronet on the queenly brow of Pakachoag" hill above our busy city." The corner-stone of this splendid institution was laid June 21, 1843, and at the call of Bishop Fenwick, the Fathers of the vSociety of Jesus took charo-e, with Reverend Thomas F'. Mulledy as president. The colleg-e is now in a flourishing condition, having- 250 students, all the modern equipments for gymnasium, etc., and a librarv of over PILGRIM CHURCH. 13,000 volumes. Soon after the celebration of its Golden Jubilee, Holy Cross College, under the rectorship of Father William I. McGurk, began to assume its present magnificent proportions. The immense labor attending the enlargement of the college was too great a strain for his delicate health. He died like a brave soldier, holding to his post in the last extremity. At his death, the vice-president, Reverend The Worcester of 1898. 297 John F. Lehy, was appointed to fill out the remainder of Father McGurk's term. So well and so ably has Father Lehy performed the duties of his office, and so acceptable is his administration to both laity and clergy, that the father general of the Society of Jesus has at this writing reappointed him rector for three years. In the same year, much to the regret of his parishioners. Father Fitton was removed from Worcester. He was succeeded by Father Williamson, who labored wath his new people but eighteen months, when death claimed him. Meanwhile the little congregation of Christ's Church had been steadily increasing. Father Gibson, who succeeded to the pastorate after the death of Father Williamson, was in favor of building a new church large enough to accominodate the parishioners, and it was finally decided that "a new, large and respectable church be erected ■on the site of Christ's Church." On the 27th day of May, 1845, the foundation stone of the new ■church was laid. The plate of the old church was taken from its place and put in the corner-stone with the new one for vSt. John's. As the years went on, missions were established in the towns around Worces- ter, which were attended by priests from St. John's, but it was not until 1854 that the little Church of the Evangelist, under the energetic lead of Father Gibson, planted a sapling in the town of Worcester itself. Then the "old St. Anne's" rose, in the eastern part of the city, with Reverend John J. Power as first pastor. Father Boyce, who came to Worcester in 1847, and who is so well remembered by the early Catholics of this city, passed to his reward on January 2, 1864. All inourned the noble-hearted priest, "for his .sway was the sway of love; his rule the golden rule." He was an eloquent lecturer, a fine musician, and, as "Paul Peppergrass," had made for himself an enviable name in the world of letters. On October 24, 1 864, the Convent of Our Lady of Mercy was founded in Worcester from vSt. Catherine's Convent of Mercy in New York. The Sisters were brought here by Very Reverend J. J. Power, D. D., V. G., who was at that time pastor of St. Anne's Church. In October, 1872, the convent was removed to High street, St. Paul's Parish, and designated St. Gabriel's. An orphanage for boys and girls was opened in January, 1875. About eighty children are accommodated at the present time, supported in part by a weekly pension and the charitable aid which is received from time to time. A House of Mercy was opened February 16, 1897, at 34 High street, where situations are obtained for those out of employment, and young women of character are lodged. In addition to the caring for these institutions, the Sisters also visit the sick and poor in their homes. The orphanage is the ■cherished charge of Very Reverend J. J. Power, D. D., V. G., whose 298 The Worcester of 1898. ALL SAINTS' CHURCH. priestly qualities, noted by an observing public in his long years of residence in Worcester, have won for him the love and esteem of all,. Protestants as well as Catholics. In July, 1867, the present pastor of St. John's, Right Reverend Monsignor Griftin, came to Worcester to assist Father O'Reilly, later Bishop O'Reilly, who had succeeded Father Boyce. In July, 1869, the corner-stone of St. Paul's Church on Chatham street was laid. The next ten years saw the rise of several Catholic churches in Worcester. In 1870 the Methodist Church on Park street was bought by the Frencb. The Worcester of 1898. 299- Catholics. Reverend J. Primeau was appointed pastor, and the first mass was said in June. The parish is now in a flourishing condition, under the pastoral care of Reverend J. Brouillet. In the same year, on the removal of Father O'Reilly to Springfield, Father Griffin was put in charge of St. John's. Tuesday, August 27, 1872, the community of Notre Dame, consisting of eight members, came to Worcester at the request of Father Griffin to take charge of his school for girls. The Bigelow estate on Vernon street had been purchased some time before and fitted up as a resi- dence for the Sisters, and the year following their arrival a fine- brick school-house was erected on the convent grounds. From such small beginnings great things have sprung, great triumphs have been achieved. To-dav there are thirty-two vSisters caring for i ,000 children,. ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH. 300 The Worcester of 1898. .affordin^^ them all that is best in religious education, and providing in unstinted degree for the requirements of secular learning. An accumulated library of 5,000 volumes of choice and varied literature is at the service of the scholars, v^^ho are constantly stimulated to the full -exertion of their talents. In the same year Reverend Denis vScannell was made pastor of St. Anne's Church on vShrewsbury street. A few years later it was found that the church was inadecjuate to the wants of the growing congrega- SOUTH UNITARIAN CHURCH. The Worcester of 1898. 301 tion. The pastor procured a new lot on a much more elevated and eligible site. In 1885, to his great joy and that of his congregation, he offered the holy sacrifice of the mass on one of the highest summits- of our hill-crowned city. From its eminence on the brow of Normal hill the new St. Anne's presents a striking appearance, bearing aloft the symbol of man's redemption into the sunlight of heaven, and reflecting its cheering ray into the heart of the Christian beholder. The Parish of the Immaculate Conception was organized in Novem- ber, 1873, and the church, begun in the same year, owing to the con- stant care and unceasing toil of the pastor, Reverend Robert Walsh, was completed four years later. On July 2, 1879, the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin,, the first excavations were made for the building of the Sacred Heart Church, and on September 2 1 , the corner-stone of the church was laid by Bishop O'Reilly. The Church of the Sacred Heart continued under the protecting care of St. John's until the 24th of January, 1880, when Reverend Thomas- J. Conaty, then curate of St. John's, was appointed pastor of the new parish. During his pastorate Father Conaty showed in a high degree his organizing power. Georgetown University honored him with the doctorate, and at his entrance upon the duties of rector of the Catholic university, in January, 1897, the holy father raised him to the rank of domestic prelate, conferring the title of right reverend. Doctor Conaty was succeeded in his pastorate by his brother. Reverend Bernard Conaty. In September, 1881, the Sisters of St. Anne came to Worcester from their mother house in Lachine, Canada, and opened a school for the French Catholic children in Notre Dame Parish. So marked has been their success that to-day the Sisters have three houses of their order in the city and as many schools. In 1884 was celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Christ's Church. This event was marked by large and extensive additions to St. John's Church. Father O'Neill, the pastor of St. Peter's, commenced the work of organizing the parish in January, 1884, by assembling the people for divine worship in a house on Canterbury street. So ready and eager were they for the erection of the new church that in September, 1884, the corner-stone was laid by Bishop O'Reilly. The sermon on the occasion was preached by Reverend R. S. J. Burke. The growth of the parish and its prospective needs have warranted the pastor to purchase, this year, a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph as a preliminary to the establishment of parochial schools. In January, 1887, St. Joseph's Mission was established on Wall street,, under the pastorate of Reverend Jules Graton. ■302 The Worcester of 1898. The pastor of St. John's in January. 1S87, purchased a house and two and a half acres of kind at the head of Grafton street as a site for ■church, rectory, schools, and convent for a new parish. In February of that year, Reverend R, S. J. Burke was called from Westborough ±0 organize and take charge of the new parish. f/ •-IT'T; 'ii I ■ \M\ > "^1 ST. JOHN'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. The first gathering of the flock was in the Wall street school-house. It required no ordinary courage to face the difficulties which presented .themselves, but Father Burke moved on fearlessly, yet trustingly, in the Master, and had the proud satisfaction of seeing St. Stephen's Church built and completed in the September following. He was .succeeded by the present pastor, Reverend D. F. McGillicuddy. The Worcester of 1898. 303 On July 30, 1889, the holy father appointed Reverend Thomas Griffin a domestic prelate. In conjtmction with this honor, the Seminary of St. JVJary's, Baltimore, conferred the degree of doctor of divinity, and a papal brief bestowed on him the title of monsignor. The vSisters of Charity, "Gray Nuns," c<:me to Worcester January 31, 1 89 1, to take charge of an orphanage containing ninety children. The building at first occupied was a two-tenement house on the corner of Southgate and Grand streets. After a period of two years, the Sisters and their little charges were transferred to their present location on Granite street. There are fourteen Sisters in the institution and 200 children, mostly orphans. There are two Sisters daily collecting for the little ones, and donations of provisions or clothing are always thankfully received. On the 28th of May, 1892, the mournful tolling of the bell of vSt. John's and the bells of the other Catholic churches of Worcester, announced to the Catholics in the city that their bishop was no more. ' The rushing tide of memory brought back in vivid light the beautiful traits of character displayed by Bishop O'Reilly in all his years of con- nection with Worcester, and especially with St. John's, as curate, pastor, bishop. Always kind and gentle, at home with voung and old, ready with word of pleasantry, of sympathy, of solace, of cheer, of comfort, he was in very deed the " Soggarth Aroon." The love and affection of the people for their deceased prelate were shown in a marked degree by the large concourse that assembled at vSt. John's, on the 30th of May, to assist at the solemn requiem mass. On November 21, 1892, vSt. John's new hall was opened to the public for the first time. On the evening of that day the Catholics of Worces- ter assembled to welcome their new bishop. Right Reverend Thomas D. Beaven. The new hall exceeded their fondest expectations, and the few well-chosen words which the newly elected prelate used in its praise added much to the enjoyment of his audience. In September, 1893, the Sisters of Providence came to Worcester, and took up their residence at the Bartlett estate on Vernon street, which had been purchased some years before by Monsignor Griffin. These good Sisters are a diocesan order, having their mother house in Hol- yoke. Their labors in behalf of the sick and afflicted are appreciated by the people of Worcester, and their eft'orts nobly seconded on every •occasion. In September, 1894, a school for boys was formally opened in St, John's parish, with the Xaverian Brothers of Baltimore in charge. These brothers, bound by the vows of religion, devote their lives to the teachinof of bovs. For this life work, in addition to their recrular 304 The Worcester of 1898. novitiate training at the Brothers' Seminary in Baltimore, they receive a special preparation in their Normal College at Danvers, Massachusetts, As teachers they have firmly established themselves, both in this country and in England. At present the Brothers' school in St. John's parish, has an attendance of 400 bovs. ST. PAUL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. In 1895 the corner-stone of the Polish Church, of which Reverend J. Jaksztys is pastor, was laid, and the church was erected under the title of vSt. Casimir's. The parish of the Holy Name was organized in 1896, and through the indefatigable labors of the pastor. Reverend J. S. Perreault, the church was dedicated on Palm Sunday. In this year also the Golden Jubilee of St. John's Church was celebrated with imposing ceremonies. The people not only of St. John's, but of all the Catholic churches in The Worcester of 1898. 305 "Worcester, came, eager and willing to crown the hallowed edifice with 'her diadem of gold. The great event was marked by a thorough renovation of the church. August 27, 1897, marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the coming »of the Sisters of Notre Dame to Worcester. In this year also the ST. h'tlLR'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. ■old Fox's mill at Vernon square was purchased by the Catholics of Notre Dame Parish, who erected a brick school-house for the accommo- dation of the French children in the vicinity. This present year (1898) Reverend V. Migliore has banded together the Italians of our city for the purpose of building a church, which is now in course of erection on ■Suffolk street. 3o6 The Worcester of 1898. This brief sketch of Catholicity in Worcester would not be complete without mention of the numerous societies and organizations connected with the different parishes throughout the city. Many are widely known, while others do an amount of good in a ciuiet way. They YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. are of all kinds — spiritual, literary and athletic, — each tending to- elevate those who come within the scope of its influence. The cause of Catholic education has received much attention in Worcester, and as a result the summit of more than one green hill that guards our city is crowned with Catholic schools that, year after year, send out pupils well equipped to fight the battle of life. The aim of the Catholic teachers, Jesuits, brothers and sisters, is not to send out. The Worcester of 1898. 307 from their schools prodigies, or even unusual scholars, but thoroughly educated young men and women filled with zeal and enthusiasm for the highest and best in the spiritual, the intellectual and the social life; intelligent, refined young men and women, who are first and foremost loyal practical Catholics and good citizens, yet human still with faults and foibles. This is the sole end and object of their teaching, and if they achieve this aim, their most sanguine expectations will be realized. The storv of Catholicitv in the " Heart of the Commonwealth" is one YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. of the obstacles overcome and victories gained. To-day the Catholics of Worcester comprise more than one-third of the population, and rejoice to see temples of their faith rising in all sections of this fair city. Fiftv years have seen Worcester grow from a small town to a city of magnificent proportions. Generous hearts and willing hands were needful to bring about this transformation, and in this eventful year, the leaf that the Catholics will entwine in Worcester's wreath of laurel will be one of assurance that the same hearts and hands are still and ever shall be at her command to help carry on the great work of prog- ress which '98 commemorates. JEREMIAH EVARTS GREENE. POST OFFICE GROWTH. By Jeremiah Evarts Greexe, P. M.* POvST office was first established in Worcester November 15, 1775, with Isaiah Tlionias, the founder and editor of tlie Mas- sac/uisctts Spy, as postmaster. Only two mails appear to have been received and three dispatched weekly. One was received from the west Tuesday evening and one dispatched to Fitchburg on Wednesday, and one was received from Boston and one dispatched westward on Friday. It seems probable that the carrier who took the mail to Fitchburg brought back mail from that place, but I have seen no mention of it. The roads of that time were tracks through the woods and fields, impassable for any but the strongest wdieeled vehicles. Traveling was slow and difficult, and was mostly done on horseback, and for some years the mails were carried in that fashion. Not until 1783 was a stage or wagon line established between Boston and Hartford, making the trip in four days, passing through Worcester toward noon of the second day. Three years later passengers and the mail were carried from Boston to New York in four days in the summer; in winter the trip required seven days. AVith the improvement of roads and vehicles the rate of travel was steadily increased, until in 1 831, it is said, the journev from Worces- ter to Boston could be made by stage in six hours. In 1836 twenty lines of stages made in all 122 arrivals and departures weekly at Worcester. Up to this time the business of the post office steadih' increased, though with little change in character or methods, except that the number of mails received and dispatched was much greater. The receipts of the office for its earlier years are not readily obtainable. For the year 1825 they were $713, scarcely more than the average daily receipts now. For the year 1836 they were $2,827. The receipts of one day during the past year have been more than half that sum. The Boston & Worcester Railroad was opened for business in 1835, and mails as well as passengers were carried on its trains. At first * See sketch in Biographical Department. 4rm > jl-il riT .^; THE POST OFFICE. The Worcester of 1898. 311 three trains departed from each terminus daily in summer, and two daily in the winter season. The time of each run was between two and three hours. This frequency and speed of course greatly increased the business of the post office, and it was further increased when the Nor- wich & Worcester and the western roads were opened a few years later. But yet no marked change in the character or methods of postal business was made. The postmaster's business was only to receive, assort and deliver at the post office the letters which arrived, and to dispatch to their destination those which were deposited at the post office for mail- ing. And so it continued until Worcester became a city, in 1848. Two novelties, however, came into use about this time. One was the postage stamp, which was first supplied to postmasters by the Post Office De- partment in 1847; the other was the envelope, which then began to be used, though stamped envelopes were not introduced until soine years later. The revenues of the office in 1 848 I have failed to ascertain exactly, but they were not far from $1 5,000, or approximately one dollar for each inhabitant. In 1825, when the population was about 3,500, the receipts of the post office were $713, or twenty cents annually for each inhabi- tant. Now, with a population of more than 100,000, the post office receipts are somewhat more than two dollars annually for each inhabi- tant, so that the business of the post office increases much faster than the growth of the population in numbers, being stimulated by the improved postal facilities, and bv the increasing activity in general business. In these fifty years since Worcester became a city, five notable additions to the general postal svstem have been made, all tending either to extend its usefulness and convenience to the public by making the transmission of mails swifter or safer, or by affording a new kind of service. In 1863 the letter-carrier or free-delivery service was estab- lished. For some years before, the penny-post system, so called, had been in use, in which a few carriers were employed who derived their income from the payment of one cent for the delivery of each letter to those persons who had given notice at the post office of their wish to receive their mail in that way. The free-carrier delivery superseded the penny post, and the system has grown rapidly in importance and public favor. It was at first defended against those who objected to the great increase it caused in the expense of the postal service by asserting that it in large part, if not wholly, paid its way. This assertion was founded upon the fact that the law establishing the free-delivery service required that drop letters, or letters addressed to persons within the delivery of the post office where they were mailed, must be prepaid with a two-cent stamp at free-delivery offices, whereas in other offices a one-cent stamp GEORGE FRISBIE HOAR. The Worcester of 1898. 313 only was necessary. But the system has long since needed no defense. About the same time, that is, in 1863, the Railway Mail Service had its beginnings. It has grown enormously, and has long been indispen- sable. Railway post-office cars are now in use on all the important lines of railroad, and the mails are handled in them by railway post- office clerks much as they are in ordinary post offices. The registry system provides additional security for valuable letters and parcels, and certainty of delivery or return, if undeliverable, of mail matter when this certainty is important to the sender. The money order system was introduced in 1864, and its use is so common and extensive that almost everybody understands it. It is not, perhaps, quite so well known that money can be sent by this means with absolute safety, for if a money order is lost in transmission, or by the payee before he has presented it for payment, a duplicate order will be issued on application without additional expense. The Special Delivery Service provides for the immediate delivery of every piece of mail matter intended for delivery in Worcester, whether received from another office through the mails or deposited in the city post office, provided it bears a ten-cent special delivery stamp. The area of delivery is so large, some letters having to be carried more than five miles, that the average time recjuired to deliver each letter is some- what greater than it would be if these letters were delivered from the stations, and the time reckoned from the arrival of the letter at the station. But as, in many cases, the letters would be held at the main office for an hour or two before the next regular dispatch to the station,, the public is on the whole better served by making all these deliveries from the main office, though the reported time required for delivery is soinewhat increased. The average time, however, does not exceed twenty minutes. The Special Delivery vSystem was established in 1885. Each of these branches of the postal service has its distinct place and its clerks assigned to that duty in every citv post office. Let us consider each in its order and see how the post office is equipped and managed. First, as the original and dispensable parts of the system- are the mailing and delivery divisions. Isaiah Thomas, alone or through an assistant, had to do their work, or what there was of it, though he probably did not speak or think of it as in two divisions. The mailing division has nine clerks, one of them at Station A, under the charge of the superintendent of mails. They receive all letters brought in by carriers and collectors, or deposited directly in the office, and all other mail matter, papers, packages, etc., except those received by the Registry Division. They postmark the letters and sealed and special delivery packages ; distribute them in the mailing cases, which have pigeon-holes, one for each post office to which five or more letters JOSEPH H. WALKER. The Worcester of 1898. 315 are sent at one time; tie them out in packages, each of which has a printed facing slip telling from what office it comes and where it is to go ; put the letter packages and special delivery packages into leather pouches, labeled for some railway post office if they are R, P. O. pouches, or for some post office if they are "closed" or "direct" pouches; and see that the pouches are seasonably loaded into the wagons for the railroad station. The mailing clerks also "rate up" letters and packages insufficiently prepaid, and give notice to the senders, if known, or to the addressees, of unpaid letters or insufficiently paid packages ; for letters on which at least two cents postage is not paid by stamps, or packages not fully paid, are held for postage. Papers and packages, with the excep- tions noted above, are dispatched in sacks labeled as the pouches are. These sacks and some pouches are hung on the great pouch rack, which holds 1 20 of them, and a clerk, standing in the centre, throws the pack- ages into the open mouths of the sacks with a certainty of aim that is quite admirable. This division also has the general supervision of the wagon service between the post office and the railroad station; of the canceling machines, driven by electricity, which cancel the stamps and make the postmarks; of the night stamp window, and of some other matters. The clerks are examined at intervals, being 'required to distribute some hundreds of cards representing letters addressed to post offices in this or some other state. The speed and accuracy of the process are noted, and the result of the examination is a factor in determining the clerk's official record. The average number of pouches dispatched daily is about 1 70, and as many are received. Of sacks about 210 are dispatched, and not so many by 40 or 50 are received. The Delivery Division has twelve clerks, under the charge of the superintendent of delivery. One of these clerks is employed at Station A. This division has charge of all letters for delivery in the city. It backstamps all letters, sealed packages and special delivery packages with the day and hour of their receipt ; it assorts the mail for carriers into the letter and paper sorting cases; it places or "sticks up'' the box-holders' mail in their respective boxes; it turns over to the general delivery all matter addressed to it and all that neither belongs to box-holders nor can be delivered by carriers; it promptly turns over to the special delivery clerk all special delivery matter; it makes special eff'ort to complete or correct the addresses of all imperfectly addressed matter; it supplements the printed City Directory by enter- ing in an interleaved copy all newly-foimd addresses; it compiles and maintains for reference a woman's directory containing the full names and addresses of married and other women not found in the City 3i6 Thk Worcester of 1898. RESIDENCE OF JONAS G. CLARK, 39 ELM STREET. Directory; it rates up and collects postage due on unpaid or insuffi- ciently paid matter for deliyery, etc. This division handles an average of between 25,000 and 30,000 letters daily, or about 8,000,000 in a year. At the beginning of 'a quarter, and especially on New Year's day, the number handled in a day sometimes approaches 100,000. About the same number are handled by the Mailing Division. The letter carriers, sixty-one in number, are a part of the Delivery Division. Their duties are in general familiar to the public. Some of them deliver on an average more than 1,000 letters daily, most of them a much smaller number. Altogether they deliver not less than three- fourths of all the letters delivered in the city. They are a company of intelligent, capable and faithful public servants, who deserve all the public favor which I am glad to believe that they enjoy. Each carrier is required to keep' a directory of all persons on his route, to note all changes, and ascertain, if possible, whence each new arrival comes, and whither a departing resident goes. The vSpecial Delivery Service, with its eleven messengers, is also included in the Delivery Division. Each package of letters received by mail is at once inspected for special letters. If any are found, they are carried immediately to the special delivery desk, where the time of The Worcester of 1898. 317 receipt, the place of mailing and the address are recorded both in the office book and the messenger's book. The messenger brings back his book with the signature of the recipient and the time of delivery, and these are copied into the office book. The number of letters specially- delivered during the year ended June 30, 1898, was 28,713, and the average time of delivery was twenty-two minutes. Another employee of this divison is the "blind reader," who makes out, if he can, badly written or otherwise perplexing addresses, and has other duties be- sides. The street letter and package boxes are under the charge of the superintendent of delivery. The former are nearly 300 in number, and more are added from time to time. From each of them letters are collected at least twice daily, and from all but a very small number three or more daily collections are made, one of them after six o'clock in the evening. From a considerable number three collections are made after six o'clock, and from ten or seventeen collections daily. One of the most difficult parts of a postmaster's business is to keep correct time cards on the letter-boxes. They are often defaced or destroyed by mischievous persons, who are not perhaps aware of the heavy penalty incurred in case of detection, and it is often desirable to RESIDENCE OF FRED A. LAPHAM, 65 CEDAR STREET. 3ii The Worcester of 1898. RESIDENCE OF WILFORD A. BAILEY, 4 RIPLEY STREET. change the times of collection or add to their number, and a new card then becomes necessary, and the process of procuring it through the department at Washington is slow and cumbrous. The jNloney Order Division employs a superintendent and one clerk and in part another, whose time is divided between this and the stamp division. Its chief function is to provide the means of making pav- ments at a distance, but it can be used for paying money in the city, either by orders drawn at the main oifice payable at any station, or at any station payable at the main office or any other station, or by a recent order of the department, orders mav be issued payable at the office of issue. The money order office may thus be used as a bank of deposit, the order being made payable to the depositor, and the money will be paid at any time on presenting the order, or,- if that has been lost, a duplicate will be issued without further payment. Money orders may be deposited in the banks, as checks are deposited, and they are then paid through the clearing house. The extent of the monev order business will be seen from the following summary of the business for the year ended June 30, 1898: The Worcester of 1898. 319 Balance, $2,286.52 20,913 domestic orders issued, 164,599.03 Fees on same, 1,296.59 4,133 international issued, 52,376.41 International fees, 692.30 Transferred from postal account, 4,700.00 2,628 deposits received, 248,966.54 $474,9i7-37 36,937 domestic orders paid, 113 domestic repaid, 1,044 international paid, 14 international repaid. Paid to stations. Deposited at Boston, Balance. $288,753.27 814-73 22,909. 21 400.50 150.00 158,144.00 3,745-66 $474,917-37 The money order business at the stations and sub-stations would increase each of these totals by about $75,000. The Registry Division requires for the proper performance of its work the utmost care and exactness. Any error is stire to be discovered and reported, and to bring at least a reprimand from the department at Washington. The work of this division is done by a superintendent and one clerk. Its aims are accuracy and certainty, not speed of transit, and these are secured by the requirement that every piece of registered mail matter must be receipted for whenever it changes hands. The sender takes a receipt from the postmaster, the postmaster from the railway post-ofhce clerk, the railway post-office clerk from the post- master at the office of delivery, this postmaster from the letter carrier, the carrier from the addressee. If a registered letter is missing, it can be traced to the last person who gave a receipt for it, and he is held RESIDENCE OF BENJAMIN A. BARBER, 31 GERMAIN STREET. 320 Thb Worcester of 1898. accountable. An act of Congress of the present year provides for a guaranty against loss of registered matter to the amount of ten dollars. Even without this guaranty the system afforded practically absolute safety except in cases of robbery of post offices or mail trains. The number of domestic registered letters dispatched from the Worcester post office for the year ending June 30, 1898, was 15,609; domestic parcels, 1,024; foreign letters, 3,053; foreign parcels, 117. The numbers received and delivered were nearly the same, except in the case of FRANKLIN BUILDING, FRANKLIN SQUARE. The Worcester of 1898. 321 foreign parcels received, which was considerably more than of those dispatched. The Stamp Division is the source of nearly all the revenue of the post office. Its duty is the sale of postage stamps, postal cards, stamped envelopes and newspaper wrappers. It employs a superintendent and one clerk. Its receipts at present average about $700 for every working day. The sales for the year ended June 30, 1898, included 1,273,600 one-cent postage stamps, 6,066,200 two-cent stamps, 135,000 five-cent stamps, 1,803,000 two-cent stamped envelopes, and 1,373,750 postal cards, besides smaller but considerable numbers of stamps and envel- opes of other denominations. The stamp account is balanced daily, and the office records show the exact amount of sales for every day of the last seven and a half years. The Inquiry Division employs one clerk. His duty is to make searches for missing or delayed mail matter, to receive complaints, answer inquiries, and, so far as his special work will permit, to act as secretary to the postmaster. The whole number of pieces of mail reported missing during the year ended June 30, 1898, was 588. This includes those said to have been mailed at this office, and those mailed elsewhere for delivery here. Of these 211 were found and delivered, or accounted for. The causes of loss, temporary or per. manent, included failure to mail the article, through the remissness of the sender or of the messenger by whom it was supposed to have been mailed ; mislaying the letter or package after its delivery ; defective or erroneous or illegible address; delivery to a person having the same name as the addressee, or so like it as to be mistaken for his ; wreck of mail train or mail steamer; immailability of the letter or package ; injury to package, destroying the address, etc. Doubtless some of those not accounted for were stolen by post-office employees, but it is. confidently believed that no loss from that cause has occurred in the Worcester post office for many years. If all the pieces of mail not definitely accounted for have been lost, their number bears what I may fairly call a surprisingly small ratio to the not less than 18,000,000 pieces, exclusive of newspapers and periodicals, handled in the post office during the year. It is one in 47,745, two one-thousandths of i per cent., or, expressed decimally, .00002. There are four stations, A, B, C and D, and four sub-stations, Nos. i^ 2, 3 and 4, of the Worcester post office. The distinction between stations and sub-stations is that at the former carriers are placed, who make their deliveries from the stations; at the sub-stations there are no carriers. At any station or sub-station stamps or stamped envelopes and cards can be obtained, money orders are issued, and mail may be registered. Station A, at 51 Main street, has a superintendent, two clerks and twelve 322 The Worcester of 1898. RESIDENCE OF MRS. NANCY H. S. PIPER, 224 HIGHLAND STREET. carriers. The receipts at this station exceed $20,000 yearly, and the amount of its business exceeds that of any post office in the county except those of Worcester and Fitchburg. Station B, at Webster square, has a clerk in charge and two carriers. Station C, at Ouin- siofamond, has a clerk in charge and one carrier. Station D, at Greendale, has a clerk in charge and one carrier. The sub-stations, each having a clerk in charge, are: No. i, at 8 Millbury street; No. 2, at Lake View; No. 3, at the corner of vSouthbridge and Washburn streets; No. 4, at 236 Front street. Unti^l 1893 there had been for several years three independent post offices within the city limits, known as Ouinsigamond, Lake View and Greendale. In that year they were made stations of the Worcester post office, and in the next year the other stations and sub-stations were established, except Sub-Station No. 4, which came into existence in 1897. The post office is now organized as follows: The postmaster, of course, is its official head ; the assistant postmaster represents the postmaster during the latter's absence; he is cashier and bookkeeper, and custodian of post-office supplies; he also has special supervision of the Money Order and vStamp Divisions. Mr. James W. Hunt, who has occupied this position for many years, entered the post office in 1869; he knows the business from top to bottom and from end to end. No post- The Worcester of 1898. 323 master ever had, I believe, a more competent, faithful and valuable assistant. The Mailing Division is in charge of Mr. Clarendon W. Putnam, superintendent of mails, also a veteran in the service, whose connec- tion with this post office began in 1867. He has charge of the complex and exacting business of dispatching all mails, of postmarking all letters mailed and canceling the stamps on all mail matter, of deciding what is or is not mailable, of rating up and holding for postage matter insuf- ficiently paid, and giving notice to the senders or addressees, of keeping several records, and preparing a variety of daily, monthly and quarterly reports. His duties require a systematic and orderly mind, with uncom- mon vigilance and industry, and Mr. Putnam lacks none of these qualities. The Delivery Division has for its superintendent Mr. George S. Maynard, who entered the postal service as long ago as 1873. His duties are many and laborious. He has charge of all the delivery business of the office, and of nearly 100 employees, carriers, clerks and messengers. He is efficient in discipline ; his appetite for work is insatiable; his knowledge of the city is remarkably minute and accurate, and his watchfulness to discover and his promptness to improve opportunities benefiting the service are of great value to the office and to the public. RESIDENCE OF MRS. CELIA E. FOBES 53 CHATHAM STREET. 324 The Worcester of 1898. APPLECROFT," RESIDENCE OF BURTON W. POTTER, SALISBURY STREET. Mr. Hiram K. French, superintendent of the Money Order Division, is another veteran in the post office, his service having begun in 1872. He has charge of the issue and payment of money orders, of the receipt and disposition of money-order funds, and the keeping of tlie records pertaining thereto. His absolute integrity, his methodical and accurate mind, and his capacity for hard and rapid work make him invaluable in his present place. The superintendent of the Stamp Division is Mr. Frederick W. Chase, who has been in the post office since 1873. He fits into his place as if he were made for it. Tlie money which supports the Worcester post office comes through his hands, and perfectly honest and skillful hands they are. The Registry Division has for its superintendent Mr. Sidney S. Bryant, the youngest of the superintendents, having lately succeeded to Mr. Samuel Pierce, who died a few months ago, after nearly forty-four years of faithful service in the post office during the terms of five of the ten Worcester postmasters. Mr. Bryant is competent and trustworthy, and the division i!5 in good hands. Mr. Albert F. vSimmons, a courteous and capable gentleman, performs the duties of the Inquiry Division. They are often perplexing, and sometimes trying to the temper, for information which the visitor is eager to give can not always be got without difficulty, and some persons seeking knowledge are hasty and unreasonable, but he meets them all with a fine patience and courtesy. The Worcester of 1898. 325 The clerks are assigned to duty in their several divisions, as mentioned elsewhere. They are intelligent, hard-working, faithful men, and it may be said here as well as anywhere that if the present postmaster is thought to have had any success in his endeavor to meet the public wants, it is due to the cheerful cooperation and loyal service of the whole body of employees in the office. Another place can scarcely be found which has had a post office so long and so few postmasters as Worcester. The first postmaster here, as has been already said, was Isaiah Thomas, appointed in 1775. He was succeeded in 1801 by James Wilson, who held the office until 1833. Jubal Harrington was his successor, and retired in 1839. Then followed Maturin L. Fisher, 1 839-1 849; Edward Winslow Lincoln, 1 849-1 854; Emory Banister, 1854-1861 ; John ISIilton Earle, 1861-1867; Josiah Pick- ett, 1867-1887; James E. Estabrook, 1887-1891; J. Evarts Greene, 1891. Seventy years ago the receipts of the post office for one 5'ear were $1,008. The receipts and expenses for the year ended June 30, 1898, are given below : RECEIVED. Quarter Ended September 30, 1S97. Sales of stamps, etc., .... $49,507.40 Waste paper, etc., .... 10.88 Box rents, ...... 939- 05 $50,457-33 Quarter Ended December 31, 1S97. Sales of stamps, etc., . ^ . . . $5 5 1 946- 5 3 Waste paper, etc., .... 403.77 Box rents, ...... 943.18 57,293-48 Quarter Ended March 31, 1S9S. Sales of stamps, etc., .... $54,528.90 Waste paper, etc., .... 43-82 Box rents, ...... 932.40 55i5o5-i2 Quarter Ended June 30, i8g8. Sales of stamps, etc., . . . . $53,271.67 Waste paper, etc , .... 10.62 Box rents, ...... 919-65 • 54,201.94 Total receipts for the year, . . . . . . $217,457.87 Deposits from other post offices, ..... 32,748.39 $250,206.26 326 The Worcester of 1898. Excess of receipts over expenditures, Percentage of expenses to receipts, 45 7-10. Total receipts for year ending June 30, 1897, Gain, ........ Per cent, of gain, 5 3-10. EXPENDED. Quarter E.nded Ski Error, auditor's circular, . Postmaster's salary. Special-delivery messengers. Clerks' salaries. Rent, light, etc.. Canceling machines, Printing facing slips. Miscellaneous expenses. Free-delivery expenses, R 30, 1897. $17-07 900 00 567 04 8,417 16 37 50 87 50 2 70 25 28 14,575 05 Quarter Ended December 31, 1897. Error, auditor's circular, .... ^1.21 Postmaster's salary, . Special-delivery messengers. Clerks' salaries, Rent, light, etc.. Canceling machines, Printing facing slips, Miscellaneous expenses. Free-delivery expenses, 900.00 599-92 8,770-75 37-50 87.50 13.86 122.36 13,959.18 Quarter Ended March 31, 189S. Postmaster's salary, . Special-delivery messengers. Clerks' salaries. Rent, light, etc., Canceling machines, . Printing facing slips. Miscellaneous expenses. Free-delivery expenses. Quarter Ended June 30, 1898. Error, auditor's circular, . I89S. $900.00 554 40 8,738 53 37 50 87 50 14 76 37 65 14,798 98 Postmaster's salary, . Special-delivery messengers. Clerks' salaries, Rent, light, etc., A moil lit s carried for^uard, I -SS 900.00 566.40 8,668.00 37-5° 0,172-45 ,117,904.58 5206,431.92 11,025.95 524,629.30 14,492. 21 •5,169. 74,290.90 The Worcester of 1898. 327 A mounts brought forivard, $10,172.45 Canceling machines, ..... 87-5° Printing facing slips, .... 8.70 Miscellaneous expenses, .... 38.91 Free-delivery expenses, .... 14,954.83 Total expenses for the year. Paid railroad post-office clerks, Transfer to money-order account. Deposited with United States treasury, Total, Total expenses for the year ending June 30, 1897, Increase, ........ Per cent, of increase, 2 1-2. $74,290.90 25,262.39 $99,553-29 10,840.38 4,700.00 M5,ii2.59 ^250, 206. 26 $96,986.80 2,566.49 It may be remarked that the errors noted in this statement were not due to inaccuracy in the postmaster's accounts, but to the fact that the auditor for the Post Office Department found these sums due to the post- master for which he had not taken credit in the previous quarter's account, because they were not settled at the end of the quarter, and he therefore believed that they should be credited in the account for the next qtiarter. Without mention of the earlier migrations of the post office, but beginning with the year in which Worcester became a city, the office then occupied a part of the first floor of what was then, called the Central Exchange, which has lately been reconstructed, and is now occtipied by the Mechanics National Bank and the Mechanics Savings Bank.. It was removed from that place to Post-Office block on Pearl street, where it remained for nearly thirty years, expanding as its business increased, until, in 1893, it occupied the whole of the first floor of that building. In Februar}^ 1897, it was removed to the new government building on Main street, where it will doubtless remain for many years. This building was begun in 1890, or, to be more exact, another building much smaller than the present was then projected and the foundation was laid. In the spring of 1891, the postmaster suc- ceeded in having these plans set aside, the first foundation taken out, and new plans adopted for a larger building. The building as it now stands cost, with the land, $400,000. It is, in convenience of arrange- ment and style of finish, one of the best and handsomest in the country, and its working-room especially is not excelled by any. SOCIAL CLUBS. rfllORCEvSTER is, perhaps, not as much given to club life as some lAll other cities in the land, home attractions prevailing to an extent which overcomes the propensity to find a refuge from family infelicities in the diversions and excitements of artificial surroundings. The club, •of course, serves a useful purpose in its way, and to those who have no home it is in a degree essential. Regarded as a place of resort •on social occasions, which do not follow every day in the week, it is unobjectionable; and the conveniences aft'orded members for the •entertainment of transient guests are worthy of approval. On the whole the club has come to be an institution which is found in all ■civilized communities, and probably it could not well be dispensed with. The most prominent as well as the most exclusive club in the •city is the Worcester, which was organized in 1888 for social purposes distinctively. The elegant dwelling of the late Honorable Isaac Davis ■on Elm street was purchased and refitted, and is now one of the best club homes in the country, perfect in its appointments. The member- .ship is limited to i 50. The Commonwealth Club, the most popular of these organizations in the city, was formed in 1880 and incorporated in 1881, its object being mutual, social and political improvement. The club had its rooms for many years in the bank block on Foster street, but it now occupies the ■entire top story of the vState Mutual Life Assurance building. The Quinsigamond Boat Club, which owns a fine building at the lake, is largely social in its character, and includes in its membership many of the most prominent and wealthy young men in the city. The Washington Social Club is another association of prominence. It occupies a suite of rooms in the city, and also owns a boat house at the lake. The Hancock Club was formed in 1891, and at first occupied a room on Lincoln street, but in 1892 leased the old Salisbury mansion in Lincoln square. This club has no political, social or religious bias. Its membership includes some of the staunchest and most popular business and professional men of the north end. 330 The Worcester of 1898. WORCESTER CLUB. The Worcester Woman's Club was organized in 1880. The constitu- tion has the following preamble: "We, women of Worcester and vicinity, feeling the necessity which the present and prospective status of women imposes upon us, of informing ourselves more fully not only upon subjects of general intent, but also upon the more important special questions which are now pressing upon all people everywhere for a just solution, because involving the welfare of humanity, do agree to form ourselves into an association for the prosecution and accom- plishment of the above-named purpose." The Y. M. C. A. owns a fine boat club house at Lake Ouinsigamond. Other prominent boat clubs which have houses there are the Lakeside, the Tatassit Canoe Club, the Wachusett, the Wapiti, the P'rohsinn, the P'rontenac, the Svea Gille. There are a number of other clubs, of more or less importance, a detailed or individual description of which would exceed the limits of this article. THE PRESS. D N 1848 five weekly and two daily papers were published in Worces- ter. Of these The Massachusetts Spy was the oldest, having been continuously published since 1770, when it was established in Boston,, and in 1775 it was removed to Worcester. This paper and its daily edition are the only survivors of the seven local issues of fifty years ago. TJie National ^-Egis was first established as a weekly in 1804, and was finally merged with the Transcript (which by change of name became the Gazette), and the combined form. The Aigis and Gazette, was published until June, 1896, when the weekly issue of the Gazette was abandoned. Tlie Worcester Palladium, a Democratic weekly until 1856, when it became Republican, was founded in 1834, and its publication was continued until February 12, 1876. TJie Cataract was a relic of HANCOCK CLUB, OLD SALISBURY MANSION. 33- The Worcester of 1898. Washino-tonian temperance times. ])iiblislied weekly, and was soon after discontinued. Elihu Burritt's Christian Citizen, devoted to universal peace and philanthropic objects, established in 1844, was published until 185 I. The first daily paper in Worcester, the Transcript, appeared June 23, 1845, and was followed by the Daily Spy July 24 of the same year, and within a few months these were consolidated under the name of the SpY. The Worcester Daily Journal was printed from September, 1847, to October, 1849. The Daily Morning Transcript, first issued April CALEB A. WALL. I, 1 85 I, is continued in the present Evening Gasette, which took this last name January i, 1866. The Worcester Evening Journal, in the interest of the Native American or Know-Nothing party, was in existence from August 30, 1854, to May 26, 1855. The Daily Bay State was a Demo- cratic organ of brief existence. April i, 1873, l^ic Worcester Daily /Wss, another Democratic paper, appeared, and was continued five years, with heavy loss to those who sustained it. The iVeic England Ilonte Journal, a weekly, was published two or three years from December, 1882, and was finally sold to the Tinus, a Democratic paper, which was published The Worcester of 1898. 333 TATASSIT CANOE CLUB. several years. Another weekly, the illustrated Light, had a similar career. Several French papers besides those now in existence have been published in Worcester since 1869. In the above list, only the more prominent journals have been enumerated, a number of others of less importance and brief appearance being omitted. Of newspaper men distinguished within the period of fifty years, the name of John Milton Earle of the Spy is the best known of those who- were active in earlier years. John S. C. Knowlton, the founder of the Palladium, was its editor during nearly the whole course of its existence. John D. Baldwin, Delano A. Goddard and J. Evarts Cxreene of the Spy,. and Charles H. Doe of the Gazette; Ferdinand Gagnon and Henry M. Smith, the latter formerly editor of The Chicago Tribune, are noteworthy names. Caleb A. Wall, by his long service of over sixty years, nearly all of this time as a member of the Spy staff, is entitled to special mention. He was, probably, in point of active duty, the oldest news- paper man in New England at the time of his death, October 29, 1898. At present nine weekly and five dailv papers are published in Worcester. Of the weeklies, The Massachusetts Spy is the oldest, having been published continuously since 1770. The Messenger is- 334 The Worcester of 1898. FRONTENAC CLUB HOUSE. is a Catholic paper which has recently revived after an interval of suspension. The Recorder, also a Catholic paper, was first issued in March, 1898, and has good prospects of success. L Opinion Piibliquc is a French paper published week days. Skandinavia, Nya Ostens IVecko- blad, Arbctarcns J'^an, and Fiuska Amerikanaiien are Scandinavian papers, the last named representing the Finnish element. The Builders Weekly is a trade journal devoted to building and real estate matters, as its name indicates. Of the daily papers, the Spy in point of seniority stands first. It has recently passed through financial troubles, and is now under the management of Mr. W. S. Walker, who came to Worcester from Chicago, after considerable experience as a newspaper man in that citv, and purchased the 'Spy property. His purpose is to greatly increase the circulation of the paper, and make it a desirable advertising medium as well as a good newspaper. The Telegram was established as a vSunday paper on the 30th of November, 1884, by Austin P. Cristy, a member of the Worcester county bar. The first daily edition appeared May 19, 1886. This paper has been very successful, and has .a much larger circulation than any other paper published in Worcester. The Worcester of 1898. 335 It is a lively sheet, of inquisitive and inquisitorial tendencies, and it is prolific in news. Both the above are morning issues. TJic Evening Post, a one-cent Democratic paper, published week days, iirst appeared September 23, 1891. It is owned by a stock company, and Eugene M. Moriarty is the treasurer. In circulation it ranks next to the Telegram, and with one exception is the only Democratic paper of influence in the State between Boston and Springfield. The Worcester Evening Gazette is now under the editorial management of David G. Rowland, formerly of The Springfield Republican, who during his two years' connection with the paper has fully maintained its repu- tation as a journal of high character, and conservative and refined tendencies. SVEA GILLE CLUB HOUSE. < a a < h- THE CITY CHARTER AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. By the Honorable Rufus B. Dodge, Jr., Mayor of Worcester. HEN Worcester was made a city in 1848, it was the sixth depart- ure in Massachusetts from government directly by the people. Boston was first given a charter. Then followed Salem, Lowell, Cam- bridge, New Bedford and Worcester. Town government had given the American people a simple and effective system of local rule, whereby a voter could realize his sovereignty and see the effect of his ballot. All questions of the slightest importance were settled in town meeting, after thorough debate and deliberation. Committees were chosen from time to time, delegated with authority to do certain specified things, the essentials of which the meeting directed, or caused a report thereon to be made for approval before final action. Never before had any people lived so entirely on a level with civil control, and never were more honesty and hard-headed wisdom shown than in the days before cities existed in Massachusetts. If the people wanted a thing done, they called a town meeting and had it done. They did not hesitate to express opinions, or to give their representa- tives instructions. When the earnest people of the town of Worcester found their clerk had spread obnoxious, Tory sentiments, in the form of a protest, on the records, they dealt with the matter in town meeting, and then and there saw the objectionable matter literally expunged by the clerk dipping his finger in the ink and smearing the page in a manner leaving no doubt as to the sincerity of the obliteration. The record was ordered to be made " utterly illegible and unintelligible," and this was done in open meeting. These were days when theories were not worked into civil affairs to satisfy the craving of quasi reformers for what, in many cases, are mere fads. When the citizens desired certain action on the part of their repre- sentatives, there was no hesitation in giving plain and emphatic instruc- 338 The Worcester of 1898. tions. They did not waste time in deciding just where the imaginary lines might be between legislative, administrative and executive func- tions, but lumped them all together, sometimes adding a little judicial as well. Committees were chosen to act in most concerns of importance, selected for their capacity for the particular duties required, but held at all times to a strict accountability to the people. When William Elder and others published a protest against the conduct of Committees of Correspondence, saying, among other things, "it is in a great measure owing to the baneful influence of such com- FROHSINN CLUB HOUSE. mittees that teas of immense value were not long since scandalously destroyed in Boston," a formal town meeting was held, that this protest might not, for a moment, be taken as the sentiment of the community, and that it might be denounced publicly by solemn vote. Coming from such simple and effective methods of local government, it was natural that the first city charters should have avoided the centralization developed later. Worcester's charter of 1 848 simply placed the control of the city in the hands of a council consisting of two branches, one a common council and the other a board of aldermen. The Worcester of 1898. 339 The mayor had little authority, and his influence lay in the fact that he was substantially a member of the Board of Aldermen, and was on all important committees. Really the City Council now stood in place of the people, and legislated, administered and executed as a body, or by committees. While the mayor was the "chief executive 'officer," that was a mere dignity of ofhce, as Section 8 of the charter was as follows: "The executive power of said city generally, and the administration of the police, with all the powers heretofore vested in the selectmen of Worces- ter, shall be vested in, and may be exercised by, the mayor and alder- men as fully as if the same were herein specially enumerated." This was reenacted in the charter of 1866. Under the charters of 1848 and 1866, the council passed orders for certain work, but the committee of the department by which such work was to be done saw to its execution. Under the practice of these charters, heads of departments took their orders almost entirely from committees instead of from the mayor; so that from the beginning of consideration of a matter to its completion, the same persons had a voice therein. The ordinances recognized and provided for the right of committees to exercise this executive authority. Whatever may be said against this theory, it certainly had the merit of keeping members of the council interested in public works beyond the mere passage of an order, rendering them familiar with all phases of municipal questions, if they took a proper interest in the duties of office. Under the first charter the mayor's salary could not exceed $1,200, " provided, however, that the City Council shall have the power to appoint the mayor commissioner of highways and allow him a suitable compensation therefor." The mayor was a member of the Board of Overseers of the Poor and School Committee, but had no power of veto. The election of city officials was left more to the voters and less to the City Council than now. To sum up briefly, the city's affairs were managed by one large committee of thirty-three, consisting of the mayor, eight aldermen and twenty-four common councilmen. Of course, some particular business was in charge of other boards, such as schools and care of the poor, but in general this council was a grand committee directly managing by itself, or sub-committees, all municipal matters. To see how strongly was grounded this principle of committee con- trol, and how members of the council and the mayor were equal as to the nature of their duties in a general way, it must be remembered that no power of veto existed till 1873. In that year an act was passed by 340 The Worcester of 1898. WASHINGTON CLUB HOUSE. the Legislature giving such power to mayors of cities which should adopt the act bv vote of the people. On December 9th of the same year, the voters of Worcester adopted said act, the ballot showing 1,934 for and. 5 9 against. With this large authority came responsibility fraught with more serious duty than heretofore. Not only must the mayor assume leadership, as the head of the council and of important committees, but he must take into his hand every order, and alone with his solemn trust express approval or disapproval of all important votes of the council. He had, however, the advantage of hearing matters discussed in committee and in meetings of the Board of Aldermen, and the privi- lege of making suggestions of facts oftentimes more familiar to him, and convincing to council members when called to their attention. This benefit is, under the new charter, cut off, as it is no longer possible for the mayor to be a member of committees, and he violates the spirit of the charter if he attends their meetings without special invitation. The transaction of municipal business by committees is practically the system by which the cities of Toronto and (rlasgow are governed two cities generally regarded as exceptionally well managed. Various acts were passed by the Legislature between 1 848 and 1 866 changing the charter, but not until the latter year was a general revision made. The charter of 1866 centralized somewhat the exer- The Worcester of 1898. 341 cise of municipal authority, but still left the council a general committee, and it was not until 1893 that the theory of government was changed by making the council strictly a legislative body, and the mayor purely an executive officer. Three sections of this charter represent fairly the theory upon which it is framed, and are as follows : Section 18. Neither the City Council, nor either branch thereof, nor any committee or member thereof, shall directly or indirectly take part in the employment of labor, the expenditure of public money, the purchase of materials or supplies, the construction, alteration or repair of any public works or other property, or in the care, custody or management of the same, or in general in the conduct of the executive or administrative busi- ness of the city, except as herein required in providing for the appointment and removal of subordinate officers and assistants, and as may be necessary for defraying the contingent and incidental expenses of the City Council, or of either branch thereof, nor shall they or either of them take part in the making of contracts, except as may hereafter be otherwise provided by ordinance. Section 21. Except as herein otherwise provided, the City Council shall have and exercise by concurrent vote the legislative powers of towns and of the inhabitants thereof, and shall have and exercise by concurrent vote all the powers now vested by law in the city of Worcester, or in the inhabitants thereof, as a municipal corporation, and be subject to the duties imposed on city councils; and the Board of Aldermen shall have and exercise, subject to the approval of the mayor, all the powers given to selectmen of towns and to boards of aldermen of cities, and shall be subject to the duties imposed upon such boards. Section 23. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the city, and the executive powers of the city shall be vested in him and be exercised by him, either personally or through the several officers and boards in their respective departments, under his general supervision and control. Thus it is seen that the council may pass orders, but can have no voice in carrying these provisions into effect. It hands its directions to the mayor, but has no control thereafter. The simple outlines of the present charter are best understood by con- sidering the mayor as the superintendent of the city's business, having under him heads of the various departments, who exercise full control thereof, except when the mayor interposes his authorit}^ Together they make contracts authorized by the council, and see that the provisions of such contracts are carried out. These heads of departments are no longer subject to orders from committees, and need only look to the mayor for instructions relative to their o-eneral duties. 34^ The Worcester of 1898. The council is supreme in its own chambers, within the scope of its legal authority, but it or any of its members can not cross the thresh- old of the executive domains with any charter rights. The intention was to create a purely legislative body to decide what .should be done, and leave entirely to another set of officials the doing of it. Every element of execution is taken from the council, and every element of legislation from the mayor. The mayor is no longer presi- dent of the Board of Aldermen, member of any committee, school board, overseers of the poor. He has the right to recommend annual appro- priations and other matters of legislation, and has a veto power, which, however, may be overcome by two-thirds of either branch, or by the same of both branches, if the subject matter requires concurrent action. Great responsibility and power rest with the mayor, easily used for good, and as easily used for evil. The present charter contemplates the positive taking away of the mayor from all participation in legislative stages of municipal work, and while this change was so radical that it was not at first heeded, it has now become a settled condition, and being law should con- tinue observed. Under it more good can be done by a strong man rightly disposed, and more evil wrought by a weak man wrongly disposed. It may not be best that the mayor should mingle with the council and committees as formerly, and that this separation, maybe, leaves him free LAKESIDE BOAT CLUB. The Worcester of 1898. 343 to act with more independence ; but, on the other hand, misunderstand- ings will certainly arise which could not occur otherwise. The chief magistrate should not make a practice of seeking- opportu- nities to express his views to committees as individual members, and it is not natural that such views should be sought for. A comparison of cities will prove that in spite of theories, every system of charter shows success and failure. The best charter produces no results without honest and capable officials use it, and capable and honest officials can govern a city well under any charter ever made. No branch of municipal authority can be so strong and correct as to make the government successful ; and while we are giving some officials, like the mayor and heads of departments, larger power, it should be remembered that such course takes from the council so much of responsibility that the members may not view the duties of office seriously. To give a full explanation of Worcester's charter, or the charter of any large city, would be to write a book ; and to discuss, even in a general way, the different theories under which cities are governed, would be to add a volume or two. London has one system, Paris another, Glasgow is unlike either, while our own country presents an equal variety. An intelligent analysis showing how Paris can be a successful city with a score of mayors, one for each arrondissement, and Toronto a model with only one, and he without any particular authority, then tracing from cause to effect the peculiar and unusual provisions found in various charters, is the province of text-book writers and can not be undertaken here; but perhaps the reader may catch a glimpse of outline showing in a general way the controlling features of our local government from this brief and condensed sketch. HARRISON S. PRENTICE. MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENTS. THE PUBLIC HEALTH. Natural situation and advantages, an abundant supply of pure water, adequate and perfect drainage, and intelligent supervision and con- trol, are the principal factors in the establishment and maintenance of the public health. And in all these factors Worcester is blessed in an uncommon degree. Its hills and valleys and generally favorable climate are included within the first section, and the physical geog- raphy * of the city and its surroundings may be profitably studied in this connection. First in importance are the quality and quantity of the water supply, and it appears that this was a matter of more or less concern in this community one hundred years ago, when the first legis- lative act was passed, March 2, 1798, authorizing the construction of an aqueduct by Daniel Goulding to conduct water from a certain spring owned by him to accommodate some of the inhabitants of the town, the greater number of whom, however, continued to depend upon wells up to the time of the incorporation of the city. Indeed, as late as the year 1858, the inaugural address of the mayor, Isaac Davis, contained an implied recommendation to property owners to obtain their water supply by digging wells of ordinary depth on their own premises. Even in a rural city of 20,000 inhabitants this method would be objected to at this time, with the present knowledge and scientific advancement, and it certainly would not answer in a dense population, with surface filth and other dangers multiplied. Artesian wells are, however, to be considered in another light, as absolute prevention from outside contamination is assured. Several of these have been sunk in Worcester, but most of them to meet the requirements of manufacturing establishments. THE WATER WORKS. The inception of the present system, which is officially designated the Worcester Water Works, was in the formation and incorporation of * See "The Phj-sical Geography of Worcester, Massachusetts," by Joseph H. Perry. Published by the Worcester Natural History Society. 346 The Worcester of 1898. the Worcester Aqueduct Company, February 18, 1845, and the taking of Bell pond, which at that time was considered a sufficient supply, while the water was recommended for its purity. The rights and property of this company were purchased by the city in 1848. vSeveral other sources of supply during the next fifteen years are specified on page 41 of this volume. The Lynde brook source was taken in 1864, imder the able and practical administration of Mayor D. Waldo Lincoln, and this was the real foundation of the present reliable system. The ■dam and reservoir at Lynde brook are located five and a half miles from the City Hall, with an area of 143 acres and a water-shed of 1,870 acres. The capacity of this reservoir is 681,000,000 gallons; depth •of water at dam, 37.4 feet; elevation above City Hall, 481.25 feet. SETTLING BASINS, SEWAGE PURIFICATION PLANT. Parsons' reservoir has a capacity of 9,000,000 gallons, and is a distribut- ing reservoir. There are three reservoirs on the Kettle brook supply, which has a water-shed of 2,314 acres. This supply is connected with Lynde brook reservoir by a thirty-inch main. The Tatnuck brook dam and reservoir, five miles from the City Hall, built in 1883 and raised ten feet in 1892, add 730,000,000 gallons to the supply. The area of this reservoir is 94.52 acres, and it has a water-shed of 3,148 acres- The dam is thirty feet high, and the elevation above the City Hall is 260 feet. The distribution reservoir on Tatnuck brook, below the larger reservoir, contains 2,500,000 gallons. Number of miles of main pipe, 156.96; miles of service pipe, 11 1; which furnishes an estimated •quantity of 62^ gallons daily to each person in the city. Total cost of the water works November 30, 1897, $3,134,822.95; income from water rates in 1897, $210,064.16. Water for domestic service is furnished The Worcester of 1898. 347 at about two-thirds of the cost in other New England cities. There are 1,535 fire hydrants in the city, 1,968 gates; number of meters, 11,508.* The revenue above expenses in 1897 was about $13,000. Water pressure at City Hall: High service, 150 pounds per square inch ; low service, 70 pounds per square inch. Elevation of Main street .at City Hall, 48 1 feet above tide-water. The following table gives the number of dwellings, persons, fixtures, etc., assessed for water in the city of Worcester: 11.008 DwelHngs, . FamiHes, Stores, Offices, Saloons, Markets, ■Shops, Stables, Persons using, Sinks, Basins. 22,653 1,174 875 106 575 2,237 103,702 29,256 15,051 Analysis proves that this water contains a very •of impurity in organic or injurious matter, which is attested by the freedom from typhoid and other similar diseases. Baths, Water-closets, Hose, Boilers, Horses, Cows or oxen. Elevators, Barber shops, Hotels, Schools, Motors, 13,592 28,165 7,469 2,114 5,360 874 308 99 27 65 43 small percentage DRAINAGE. The construction of the present system of sewerage was begun in 1867 under powers given by special act of the Legislature passed in March and accepted by vote of the citizens April 16 of the same year. Under this act the city acquired the right to appropriate certain water courses recommended in a report of a special committee appointed to consider the matter, made to the City Council in October, 1 866. These main channels comprised the following: Mill brook, from Grove street to Green street, which it was calculated would drain 1,552 acres in the city, and its water-shed north of Grove street was computed at 5,024 acres; Lincoln brook, the natural outlet of the sewage in the western part of the city; Austin street brook; Hermitage brook, rising in the northern part of the city with a water-shed of 400 acres; Piedmont brook and Pine Meadow brook. The walling of Mill brook as the main sewer was commenced at Green street May, 1867, and was substantially completed to Lincoln square in 1870 — 2,238 feet open and 3,369 feet arched. The first sewers were laid in the streets in August, 1867. The system of sewers has been extended from year to year. January i, * The above figures are brought down to the end of the year 1897. Construction has teen carried forward during the present year in the usual proportion. 348 The Worcester of 1898. WACHUSETT CLUB HOUSE. 1898, there were 105.72 miles of sanitary sewers and 6.29 of surface sewers, which have cost $3,689,052.16, not including the outlay in 1898.* Some twenty years ago the pollution of the stream below Ouinsiga- mond Village by the sewage of the city began to cause complaint in ISIillbury and other places on the Blackstone river, and after several years' agitation of the subject, the Legislature in June, 1886, passed an act requiring the city of Worcester to purify its sewage within four years (by June, 1890), by some method not specified, before discharging it beyond city limits. In 1888 the Joint vStanding Committee of the City Council recommended the construction of an "outfall sewer," from the end of the present sewer at Quinsigamond Village to the land selected for the final treatment of the sewage before passing into the stream below. The purification works have attracted much attention, and undoubtedly much of the evil has been removed, but whether in a degree equal to the large amount of money expended — $607,660.97 to November 30, 1897 — remains to be seen. According to the monthly analysis of the water after it passes the purification works, made by the State Board of Health, the pollution is greater now than in 1896, but this conclusion is in a measure questioned by the local authority. It seems, however, safe to assume that sewage purification in Worcester is still an unsolved problem, which, with the grade-crossing menace. * Repeated efforts to obtain desired information at the office of the superintendent of sewers were ineffectual. The Worcester of 1898. 349 will seriously disturb the minds and pockets of the tax-payers of the city during the early years of its second half-century. The annexation of Millbury and a covered sewer to Narragansett Bay are among the possibilities of the future, if chemical or mechanical precipitation fails in its attempted work. BOARD OF HEALTH. The Board of Health was established in 1877. It is composed of three members, of whom the city physician is, cx-officio, one. The board also em- ploys general inspectors and an inspector of plumbing. The regulation of all matters that affect the public health, or are connected with the sanitary condition of the city, are properly within the care of the board — drainage, disposal of offal, contagious diseases, etc. ; and the inspection of milk and other articles of food. The board also issues burial permits. All the modern facilities and discoveries for the determination and control of contagious and other diseases, the testing of water, milk and ■other foods, are in use by the board. An isolation hospital was erected in 1896, and is equipped with a steam sterilizer and all the latest appointments for the comfort of patients. The general health of the city compares very favorably with that of other places of its size in New England, as evidenced by the figures given in the following tables: Mortuary Table for Thirty-four Years. t Population. OJ P d Death Rate per 1000, Stillborn Excluded. > Population. Q "0 d Death Rate per 1000, Stillborn Excluded. 1864 29,041 891 30.68 1881 61,000 estimated 1153 18.90 1865 30,058 787 26.18 1882 65,000 " 1230 18.92 1866 32,067 700 21.83 1883 67,000 " 1291 19.27 1867 34,477 677 19.63 1884 70,000 " 1303 r8.6i 1868 36,687 766 20.88 1885 68,383 census ^3^3 19-34 1869 38,896 825 21.21 1886 70,000 estimated 1188 16.97 1870 41,105 938 22.82 1887 78,937 1335 16.91 1871 42,737 1146 26.82 1888 82,000 estimated 1471 17.94 1872 44,369 1394 31-41 1889 85,000 1500 17.64 1873 46,001 1055 22.93 1890 84,655 census 1436 16.96 1874 47,633 993 20.85 189I 89,000 estimated 1586 17.82 1875 49,265 1043 21.17 1892 93,000 1762 18.94 1876 50,000 estimated 1063 21. 24 1893 98,000 " 1895 19-33 1877 50,000 " 1097 21.94 1894 100,410 " 1728 17.2 1878 52,000 " 948 18.23 1895 102,000 water census 1827 17.91 1879 53,000 910 17. 16 1896 103,086 " " 1796 17.42 1880 58,295 1218 20.89 1897 106,202 " 1791 16.86 350 The Worcester of 1898. LAKE IN ELM PARK. Contagious and Infectious Diseases. DiPHTH ERIA. Scarlet F EVER. Typhoid Fever. YEAR. 0) (/: u d ■s Q d Pi g P u5 d :2; Q 'o d 0" Q t/i ■ ^ d "cS d if . Pi s ■5 " (U P< 6. mos of [. 1884 398 64 16.08 60 4 6.66 1885 360 49 13.61 73 I 1.36 t- mos. a f 1896. 1886 170 21 12.35 123 2 1.62 49 5 10. 20 1887 144 35 24.30 124 1 1 8.87 166 13 7-83 1888 212 49 23.11 136 1 1 8.09 94 2 24.46 1889 185 33 17-83 81 127 25 19.69 1890 115 20 17-39 100 6 6.00 94 15 15-95 1891 174 35 20. II 296 13 4-39 84 18 21.42 1892 203 58 28.57 449 16 3-58 92 19 20.65 1893 123 35 20.84 179 10 5-58 143 31 21.67 1894 199 74 37-18 161 7 4-34 160 31 20.62 1895 254 70 27-55 132 5 3-78 139 25 17.98 1896 352 70 19.85 224 6 2.67 127 14 1 1.02 1897 312 55 17.62 254 8 3-14 100 15 15.00 The Worcester of 1898. 351: Small-pox. In 1888 there were seven cases of small-pox and one death. In 1894 there were sixteen cases and no deaths. Measles. Report not required until July, iSSS. (U IT. V. IT. IT. oi -i d d Oh d d ^ tj mos. 1888 318 13 4.08 1893 1 1 12 16 1-43 1889 1083 20 ^•85 1894 485 II .02 1890 158 I •63 1895 29 I •34 1891 681 7 1.02 1896 456 7 •15 1892 5^ I 1.96 1897 522 17 •03 106, 202 1,791 1,749 16.86 16.47 887 41 -..018. Vital Statistics. Population (water census) January i, 1898, ..... Deaths (exclusive of stillborn) in 1897, ...... Deaths (exclusive of stillborn and premature births), Death rate per thousand, stillborn excluded, .... Death rate per thousand, stillborn and premature births excluded, Males, .... 904 Females, .... Stillborn, . . . . 127 Premature births. Insane, .... 68 Births, . . . . ^ THE PARKS SYSTEM. For many years the only public ground in Worcester was the old. Common, or, as more fancifully designated, Central park. This tract, was early set apart by the pioneers in the settlement of the place as a " training field," but in after years it was seriously encroached upon, and a large portion was used for various purposes other than those- implied in the original declaration. The town burial-ground occupied a part of this tract, and school-houses, hearse and gun houses were located here. Roads and paths crossed it in different directions, the discontin- uing of which aroused considerable opposition; and the fencing of the Common was resisted with persistency for several years. The railroad tracks were for a third of a century a menace to safety. It is only within the last twenty years that the ground has taken on an appearance in character with its proper use as a public park. The inclosure now contains about seven acres. 352 The Worcester of 1898. On the 15th of March, 1854, the city purchased the land now com- prised in and known as Ehii park, about twenty-seven acres in extent, paying therefor $11,257.50. Public sentiment in regard to this action was far from being unanimous, and strong efforts were made during the next year to influence the City Council to rescind its vote and throw the land back upon the grantors. This tract remained unimproved for twenty years, and was used during that time as a place for circuses and other exhibitions, but had few of the features of a public pleasure- ground. The genius of the late Edward Winslow Lincoln, for many EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN. years chairman of the Parks Commission, brought about a wonderful transformation, and the park was, under his management, the most attractive pleasure-ground in Worcester, and probably unique in its special features. Governor Levi Lincoln at his death in 1868 left a legacy of $1,000 for the improvement of this park. In 1884 Honorable Edward L. Davis and Mr. Horace H. Bigelow made a free gift to the city of about no acres of land bordering on Lake Quinsigamond, a tract admirably adapted from its location and diversified surface for a public ground. The community thus became possessed of Lake park. Mr. Davis gave $5,000 to improve this park. The Worcester of 1898. 353 and later erected at his own expense a stone tower of picturesque con- struction. Fourteen acres of land included in this tract had in 1862 been offered to the city as a gift by the Honorable Isaac Davis, and was declined. The acquisition of this public ground was followed by a great awaken- ing on the subject of parks. The "Park Act" was accepted by an almost unanimous vote. During the next six or eight years, the city came into possession of nine additional parks, aggregating over 200 acres, as by the following enumeration appears: Crystal or University park, 1887, 8 acres; East park, 1887, 11 acres; Institute park, 1887, 18 acres; Cromp- SHELTER IN INSTITUTE PARK. ton park, 1888, 13 acres; Newton hill, 1888, 60 acres; North park, 1889, 40 acres; Dodge park, 1890, 13 acres; Fairmount, small; Chandler hill, 1892, 37 acres. The aggregate of all the parks in Worcester is nearly 350 acres. Three of the above — Institute, Dodge and Fairmount parks — were gifts to the city by Honorable Stephen Salisbury, Thomas H. Dodge, Esq., and the late David S. Messinger, respectively. The fee of East park is in the Commonwealth. The others were purchased, and a " park loan " was authorized and funded. The total cost has been over $250,000, exclusive of gifts. Institute park has been improved by Mr. Salisbury largely at his own expense, and is much resorted to by those who drive, walk, or ride the 23 354 The Worchster of 1898. LAKE IN INSTITUTE PARK. wheel. North park and Dodge park are in the northern section of the city; East park and the adjoining Chandler hill are situated between Shrewsbury and Belmont streets. Crompton park lies between Mill- bury street and Ouinsigamond avenue. University park is opposite Clark University on Main street. Each of these parks has its own special attractions and points of interest, and altogether they form one of the chief glories of our beautiful city. In September, 1898, Charles D. Boynton presented a deed to the city of about 130 acres of land located in Paxton and Holden "for the pur- poses of a public park, or for a hospital, or sanitarium, or both, or either, as the City Government shall from time to time determine." The deed reserves a life interest in the land to Mr. Boynton. By vote of the City Council October 3, and approved by the mayor October 7, the gift was gratefully accepted. This tract contains the celebrated " Silver Spring," and the land adjoins the city line, and is within easy access. In 1863 the Commission of Shade Trees and Public Grounds of three members was constituted, and entered upon its duties. In 1885 this body was reorganized with five members, and its name changed to that of Parks Commission. It is no disparagement to the valuable services of those who have been his colleagues to say that from the appointment of Edward Winslow Lincoln in 1870 to his death in 1896, he was the back- bone of the commission, and that to his intelligent direction, liberal The Worcester of 1898. 355 views and practical sense Worcester owes much of what she to-day- possesses in the form of public parks. The following are the Park Commissioners for 1 898 : Obadiah B. Had- wen, Chairman ; James Draper, Secretary ; William Hart, Edward L. Davis, Edwin P. Curtis. POLICE DEPARTMENT. The Worcester police force has always maintained a high reputation for efficiency. The first paid policeman in Worcester was Alvan W. Lewis, who was appointed in vSeptember, 1848, night watchmen and constables, discharging most of the duties at that time. The gradual growth of the department is shown by the increase in number every five years: 1855, 5; i860, 12; 1865, 16; 1870, 30; 1875, 50; 1880, 60; 1885, 80; 1890, 100. The department as it stands in 1898 is composed of I chief of police, i deputy chief of police, 2 captains, 2 lieutenants, I secretary, 5 sergeants, 1 1 7 patrolmen, 4 doormen, i matron, 2 inspect- ors, 2 drivers, i janitor; total, 135. On the 28th of May, 1888, the Worcester police force was made permanent, so that officers (excepting the chief and his assistant) can now be removed only for cause. The Police Relief Association is a voluntary organization of members of the force, for the purpose of BOAT HOUSE IN INSTITUTE PARK. 356 The Worcester of 1898. aiding a sick member temporarily, and paying a death benefit to his widow and orphans of $700. There are two police stations: No, i, headquarters on Waldo street, and No. 2, on Lamartine street. There is a bicycle squad of five men, and several officers are mounted in emergency. There are an electric signal system, ambulances and patrol wagons connected with the department. The appropriation by the City Council for the expenses of the police in 1897 was $125,000, and the revenue, $7,597; total expenses, $137,646. There were 4,749 arrests in 1897, and 11,124 tramps were accommodated during the year. Of $16,001 value of property lost or stolen reported, $12,959 was recovered. STREETS. At the beginning of the year 1898, there were in Worcester 181 miles of public streets and 63 miles of private streets, 1 1 miles of paved streets, 79 miles of brick sidewalks, 10 miles of concrete sidewalks, ^ mile of granolithic walks. These streets were lighted by 567 arc and 40 incandescent electric lights, 40 Welsbach gas lights, and 1,798 gaso- lene lamps. Block paving prevails to a great extent; asphaltina and brick paving are gradually coming into use, several streets having already been laid in these materials. Many brick crosswalks have replaced the old flagstones. Many miles of streets are macadam- ized. Under the old law previous to 1896, the abutters were obliged to keep the sidewalks in repair. The new law compels the city to make all necessary repairs, and complaints of defective sidewalks are more numerous than formerly in consequence. The trend is towards reliev- ing the owner from the present requirements of the law to keep his sidewalk clean of ice and snow in winter, and within a short time this duty will probably be performed by the Highway Department, as has been the case with street watering, which is now done by the city, the cost being assessed with the tax upon estates. No damages can now be recovered in consequence of accident due to ice and snow alone, if reasonable compliance with the law has been made by the owner. Formerly large claims were made by those who were injured, and in many cases awarded; but this grew into an abuse to such an extent that an act was passed by the Legislature to correct it. Now gross negligence or an obvious defect in the paving must be proved before the plaintiff can recover. The appropriation for street maintenance and construction in 1898 was $133,000, with $92,500 additional for street lighting. The Worcester of 1898. 357 RESIDENCE OF GEORGE C. BRYANT, 78 WOODLAND STREET. FIRE DEPARTMENT. In 1848, when Worcester became a city, the numerical force of the Fire Department was 247, divided among five engine companies, one hook-and-ladder company, and a board of seven engineers. Only hand- engines were in use at that time. The Fire Department had been incorporated and regularly organized in 1835, and the number of men and engines was from time to time increased as the growth of the place advanced. In 1854, when the Merrifield fire, Worcester's most disastrous conflagration, occurred, the city was as well equipped for fighting fire as any other community of its size in this part of the country; but at that time none of the modern methods or apparatus had come into use, and the devouring element overcame such resistance as could then be brought against it, and swept away everything in its path. ^ To-day a similar fire could be quickly controlled unless adverse circumstances of an extraordinary nature should prevail. The advent of the steam fire-engine, like most innovations, was resisted with bitterness, but its efficiency was so effectively demon- strated that within a few years it entirely superseded the old hand apparatus, the hook-and-ladder excepted. Another valuable adjunct 35H The Worcester of 1898'. RESIDENCE OF A. B. F. KINNEY, 7 WESTMINSTER STREET. and aid to the quick extinguishment of fires was the alarm telegraph, the first portion of which was constructed in 1871. Within the past year or two the wires of a considerable part of this system have been placed under ground. Worcester has now one of the most efficient fire departments in the country, and its reputation is generally acknowledged. The manual force consists of the chief engineer, deputy chief, assistant chief and eighty-eight permanent and ninety-nine call men. The apparatus in- cludes seven engines, fourteen hose-wagons, four chemical-engines and four ladder-trucks. Sixty-two horses are employed. There are sixteen department houses, besides the new headquarters. The department headquarters at Union and Foster streets, just com- pleted and soon to be occupied, cost over $100,000 exclusive of the land. It is one of the most beautiful and commodious fire buildings in the country. An important auxiliary to the Fire Department is the Insurance Fire Patrol, which is maintained by the insurance companies, with the aid of an annual grant from the city. It renders quick service, and by the spreading of rubber covers, and other assistance, saves many thou- sands of dollars' worth of property yearly. The appropriation for the maintenance of the Fire Department in 1898 was $139,000. Edwin L. Vaughn is chief engineer. The Worcester of 1898. 359 PROPERTY AND TAXATION IN 1898. Ward I, Ward 2, Ward 3, Ward 4, Ward 5, Ward 6, Ward 7, Ward 8, Non-residents, Totals, 31,010 ^ Resident bank shares, Totals, Tax on 31,010 polls at $2, Tax on $102,054,315 at $16.20, Total amount raised. Total state, county and city tax. VALUATION. Polls. Real. Personal. Total. 3461 $12,249,050 $4,479,400 $16,728,450 4220 8,546,650 1,136,950 9,683,600 4014 6,062,050 2,391,800 8,453,850 4152 4,860,650 834,150 5,694,800 4740 4,808,600 947,800 5,756,400 3928 11,259,950 3,647,450 14,907,400 3375 11,280,500 2,016, 100 13,296,600 3120 16,037,700 4,032,900 20,070,600 — 6,153,250 146,250 6,299,500 '1,258,400 519,632,800 1,163,115 520,795,915 ijjioo, 191, 200 1,163,115 $102,054,315 $62,020.00 1,653,279-90 '1,715,299-90 1,695,377-27 Overlay ings, . Property Neat $19 922.63 Owners. Houses. Horses Cows. Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Fowls. Ward I, 1897 1320 780 439 45 6 1 12 2320 Ward 2, 2187 1498 757 380 80 — 74 1095 Ward 3, 1640 1 187 818 59 — — — 600 Ward 4, 1523 1212 450 105 2 I — 45 964 Ward 5, 1747 1313 498 154 20 — 27 745 Ward 6, 2419 1561 845 104 8 — 22 358 Ward 7, 2251 1349 649 100 14 — 2 2 330 Ward 8, 2416 1487 890 333 42 14 34 865 Non-residents, 899 744 42 57 8 238 20 333 — 16,979 1 1,67 I 5729 1731 7277 State tax, incl Liding Armory tax $5,845- 06, . $62 350.00 County tax, 119 747-00 City tax. 1,513 280. 21 State tax, $0.31 County tax, 0.87 City tax, 15.02 Total, )i6. 20 The tax rate for 1898 is $16.20 per thousand. The figure is $1.40 above last year's rate, and the highest for ten years. The advance is due to the increase of the appropriation to cover the interest on the general debt, amounting to about $37,000, sewer loan amounting to 36o The Worcester of 1898. about $3,000, contributions to the sinking- fund amounting to aboiit $41,500, and the increase of the county tax from $60,000 to $119,000. Three and one-half millions has been gained in property valuations : three in real, and one-half in personal. The rate is the result of the financial management of some city councils of recent years, and it will be higher if the borrowing continues. The assessors have increased the valuation, but the big loans are bearing heavy interest, and the tax- payers will have to bear the burden. Over five million dollars of property owned by religious, educational, charitable and other institutions in the city is exempt from taxation in 1898, the revenue from which, if assessed, would amount to $80,000. Of religious societies the amount exempted is $2,843,100, and the largest estates are: Union, Congregational, $240,000; St. Paul's, Roman Catholic, $232,200; All vSaints', Protestant Episcopal, $150,400; Old vSouth, Congregational, $146,600; Central, Congregational, $120,200; Plymouth, Congregational, $118,900; Piedmont, Congregational, $116,- 200; St. Anne's, Roman Catholic, $103,300; Young Women's Christian Association, $105,800; Young Men's Christian Association, $88,500. Of educational institutions and libraries the total is $1,617,500, the principal being Worcester Academy, $421,100; Clark University, $414,- 600; Polytechnic Institute, $303,500; Holy Cross College, $299,400. Charitable and benevolent institutions, total, $205,600. Miscellaneous, $427,200. Grand total, $5,093,400. FACTS OF INTEREST. By the first census of the United States, taken in 1790, it appears that Worcester with 2,095 inhabitants ranked as the sixteenth in popu- lation among the cities and towns in the country. Those ranking before it were: i, New York; 2, Philadelphia; 3, Boston; 4, Charleston; 5, Baltimore; 6, Salem; 7, Providence; 8, Taunton; 9, Richmond; 10, Albany; 11, New Bedford; 12, Haverhill; 13, Lynn; 14, Portland; 15, Cambridge. In 1800 Worcester's rank was twenty-fourth. The others ranked as follows: I, New York; 2, Philadelphia; 3, Baltimore; 4, Boston; 5, Charleston; 6, Salem; 7, Providence; 8, Norfolk; 9, Richmond; 10, Albany; 11, Hartford; 12, Savannah; 13, Troy; 14, New Bedford; 15, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; 16, New Haven; 17, Taunton; 18, Portland; 19, Waterbury; 20, Washington, District of Columbia; 21, Lynn; 22, Haverhill; 23, Cambridge. In 1 8 10 Worcester's place had declined to the twenty-seventh; in 1820, to the thirty-sixth; in 1830, to the thirty-ninth; in 1840, to the forty-first; in 1850, to the thirty-third; in i860, to the thirty-fourth; in The Worcester of 1898. 361 1870, to the thirtieth; in 1880, to the twenty-eighth; and in 1890, to the thirty-second. Worcester in 1898 is the second city in population and importance in the State, the third in New England, and the third inland city in the United States. It produces a greater variety of manufactured products than any other city in the United States. Worcester is the third agricultural town in the State, Dartmouth ranking first with only 3,107 population, the annual value of its agricultural products being $697,407. Boston comes second, with a total of $615,562. Worcester's total is $582,439. The Worcester 'dairy is the richest in the vState, its annual value being $214,997. Next come hay, straw and fodder, $149,298; then vegetables, $62,- 'O34 ; greenhouse products, $39,773; poultry, $29,892, Worcester has the largest wire factory in the world ; the largest loom works and envelope factories in the United States. Every kind of a machine used in a woolen or ■cotton mill is manufactured here. There are 1,292 manufacturing 'establishments, with $1 5,092,707 'Capital invested ; employing the last census year 20,185 people, who received $9,533,490 wages, producing $38,311,085 worth of finished products. According to the water census ■of 1898, which includes only those using water, there are in the city 1,211 offices, 99 saloons, 1 1 8 barber-shops, 20 foundries, 2,227 stables, 14,338 baths, 29,- 227 water-closets, 2,201 boilers for heating, 7 mills, 'j^ laun- dries, ^2 churches, 23 hotels, 69 boarding-houses, 590 shops, 21 greenhouses, 70 schools, 356 ele- vators, 1 1 photograph-galleries, 106 markets, 1,222 stores. It is estimated that 1,500 people do not take water. OLD MILL, INSTITUTE PARK. m CHARLES A. CHASE. D FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. By Charles A. Chase, A. M.* T is of course essential to the growth and development of a city that its people should be well supplied with banking institutions, to supply a safe custody for deposits of money, to furnish credit to men of business, and to advance the cash upon bills receivable which merchants and manufacturers wish to turn into money in advance of maturity. In this respect Worcester has been well equipped. The capital employed and the facilities afforded have been well up to the needs of the community — perhaps never behind and never in excess. The city would gain nothing by any increase in the existing number ; and there are certain economies in the matter of administration which are saved to the people by a limitation of the number of banks to the actual need. An idea which prevails among ignorant people that banks benefit the wealthy class at the expense of any portion of the com- munity, is refuted by the moderate dividends which are paid to the stockholders, and the risks which they incur, by a study of the practical operations of the banking system, and by common sense. The first bank of circulation to be established here was organized just at the opening of the century. Banks had been formed in Boston soon after the Revolution, and were required by their charters to loan a portion of their assets upon real-estate mortgages. The records at the Registry of Deeds show a number of such mortgages on property in this county given to Boston banks, the State bank, the Union bank, etc., all of Boston, before we had a bank here. The central position of Worcester, in the very heart of the State, the centre and shire town of a county abounding in fertile farms and teem- ing with manufactures, led the solid men of the place to consider and execute a plan to establish a bank here which should bear the name of the town and should be a benefit to this section of the State. In the year 1803 a number of gentlemen met and appointed a committee con- sisting of Benjamin Heywood, Francis Blake, Isaiah Thomas, William Paine and Daniel Waldo, Jr., who were to solicit subscriptions for the *See sketch in Biographical Department. # i9 m / f STEPHEN SALISBURY, SECOND. The Worcester of 1898. 365;. stock, which, it was planned, was to consist of 1,000 $100 shares, A list for subscriptions was placed in Barker's Tavern in January, 1804, and 183 subscribers was the result. This number was graded down to 150 by the committee, who applied for a charter, with a capital of $150,000. The charter was granted March 7, 1804, and the concern orofanized under the title of the Worcester Bank. Beside the com- mittee the following appeared in the list of corporators: Daniel Waldo, Sr., Stephen Salisbury, Nathaniel Paine, Nathan Patch, William Hen- shaw and Elijah Burbank. The original charter ran for eight years from October, 1804, and provided that the whole amount of capital should be paid in before March, 1805; that the bank might hold real estate for banking purposes to the amount of $20,000, and that neither the circulation nor the loans should exceed twice the amount of capital stock actually paid in. No bills could be issued for less than $5, and the Commonwealth reserved the right to become an owner in the stock to an amount not exceeding $50,000 of additional stock to be created. It was also provided that one-eighth of the funds of the banks should always be appropriated to loans to "agricultural interests," and the bank was bound to loan the State, when required by the Legislature, any sum not exceeding $15,000, to be reimbursed in five annual installments, and at a rate of interest not exceeding five per cent. The original directors were Daniel Waldo, Benjamin Heywood, Samuel Flagg, Isaiah Thomas, Daniel Waldo, Jr., Theophilus Wheeler and Samuel Chandler. Levi Thaxter, appointed cashier, and Robert B. Brigham, accountant, entered themselves in a Boston bank to be instructed in the duties of their offices at their own expense. Daniel Waldo was elected president. The first building was on the site of the Central Exchange. This was destroyed by fire in 1842, and the bank afterward continued in the new building in the same place until 185 i, when the present structure was erected. The concern was made a national bank under the new law, on May 4, 1864, with the title of Worcester National Bank. It was the first of the State banks here to adopt the national system. The capital of the bank had been increased to $250,000 in 185 1, and is now $500,000. The presidents of the Worcester Bank have been Daniel Waldo, for a short time in 1804; Daniel Waldo, Jr., from 1804 to 1845; Stephen Salisbury, 1845 to 1884; and Stephen Salisbury, Jr., from 1884 to the present time. James P. Hamilton has been cashier since July, 1868. All the national banks in the city except one (First) are continuations in effect of State banks which were in existence at the outbreak of the war in 1861. They retained the same officers, the same quarters and the same traditions ; and their history may be very properly regarded- as continuous. STEPHEN SALISBURY, THIRD. The Worcester of 1898. 367 The Central Bank was chartered March 12, 1829, the corporators TVilliam Eaton, Leonard W. Stowell, Isaac Davis, Thornton A. Merrick, David Stowell, Pliny Merrick, William Jennison, Daniel Heywood, •Gardner Paine, Samuel Allen, Levi A. Dowley, Benjamin Butman, Asahel Bellows, Daniel Goddard, Isaac Goodwin, Artemas Ward and Anthony Chase. Its presidents have been Benjamin Butman, Thomas Kinnicutt, John C. Mason, Joseph Mason and Henry A. Marsh. Mr. Marsh entered the service of the bank in 1853, and was cashier from 1862 to January, 1892, when he was elevated to the presidency. The bank was reorganized under the national system May 18, 1864, and in 1865 increased its capital from $250,000 to $300,000. Until 1853 its office was in the brick building owned by Doctor Green, nearly opposite Central street, but a little to the north; then for sixteen years in the second story at the corner of Front street, and since in its present quarters opposite the City Hall. Otis Corbett was the first cashier, from May 16 to November 30, 1829, being succeeded by George A. Trumbull, who retired with the president in 1836. William Dickinson served from 1836 to 1850; George F. Hartshorn, 1850 to 1856, and 1859 to 1862; George C. Bigelow, 1856 to 1859; Henry A, Marsh, 1862 to 1892; and William Woodward, from January, 1892, to the present. The Quinsigamond Bank, with a capital of $100,000, was incorporated March 25, 1833, the corporators being Nathaniel Paine, Samuel M. Burnside, John Coe, Otis Corbett, Ichabod Washburn, Stephen Salis- bury, Frederic William Paine, Thomas Kinnicutt, George T. Rice and Levi A. Dowley. Samuel D. Spurr, Frederic William Paine, Isaac Davis, Alfred D. Foster, Levi A. Dowley, Emory Washburn and vSamuel Damon constituted the first Board of Directors. The bank was opened in Doctor Green's block, now owned by the Merchants & Farmers Insurance Company, but soon moved to the south end of the Flagg building at the north corner of Sudbury street, and afterward, Septem- ber, 1854, to the south corner of Layard place. On January i, 1893, it moved to the first floor of the Five Cents vSavings Bank building. Its •capital has been $250,000 since 1854. Alfred D. Foster, its first presi- dent, was succeeded by Isaac Davis, 1836 to 1842; William Jennison, i843-'53; William Dickinson, one year; Isaac Davis, i854-'78; Edward L. Davis, i878-'84; and Elijah B. Stoddard. Charles A. Hamilton was the first cashier, serving for twenty years. His successors have been Joseph S. Farnum, Alden A. Howe, John L. Chamberlin and Henry P. Murray. A charter was given to the Citizens' Bank on April 9, 1836, the corporators being Calvin Willard, Stephen Salisbury and Harvey Blash- field. The capital was fixed at $500,000, but this amount proved larger than was needed and was reduced gradually to $150,000. The first :^^ /* EDWARD A. GOODNOW. The Worcester of 1898. 369 Board of Directors included Benjamin Butman, Harvey Blashfield, Pliny Merrick, William Lincoln, Ebenezer Aldrich, Edward Lamb, Nymphas Pratt, Frederic W. Paine and Calvin Willard. The bank began business in the south end of a block built by Mr. Butman on the north corner of Main and Maple streets, remaining there until March, 1 88 1, when it removed to the second story of Harrington corner, remaining there for sixteen years, and then returning to almost its original site in the new and beautiful building of the State Mutual Life Assurance Coinpany. The presidents since Mr. Butman have been Nymphas Pratt, chosen in October, 1838; Pliny Merrick, October, 1839; Francis T. Merrick, October, 1842; Francis H. Kinnicutt, November, i860; Benjamin W. Childs, September, 1885; Samuel Winslow, Jan- uary, 1889; and Henry S. Pratt, November 26, 1894. Mr. George A. Trumbull came with Mr. Butman from the Central Bank, and was cashier until his death in 1858. He was succeeded by his son-in-law, John C. Ripley, who served for eleven years. Lewis W. Hammond was cashier from 1869 to 1892, and was succeeded by George A. Smith. The Mechanics National Bank, like the city of Worcester, has just celebrated its golden anniversary, having been incorporated June 15, 1848, four months after the city received its charter. Its incorporators were Frederic William Paine, Henry Goulding and William T. Merri- field, and the capital was $200,000, increased to $300,000 in 185 i, and to $350,000, the present amount, in 1853. The first Board of Directors included Henry Goulding, William T. Merrifield, Francis H. Dewey, William M. Bickford, Charles Washburn, Harrison Bliss, Ebenezer H. Bowen and Alexander DeWitt. Mr. DeWitt was president from 1848 to 1855, from October, 1857, to 1858, and from October, 1859, to Octo- ber, i860; Francis H. Dewey, October, 1855, to October, 1857; Henry Goulding, 1858 to 1859; Harrison Bliss, i860 to July, 1882; Charles W. Smith, to March, 1883; David S. Messinger, to April, 1888, when he resigned and was succeeded by Francis H. Dewey, eldest son of the second president. The cashiers have been Parley Hammond, to July, 1854; succeeded by Scotto Berry, to February, 1866, when George E. Merrill, the present incumbent, was elected. The bank began business in a new brick block built by General George Hobbs on the south corner of Main and George streets, but in October, 185 i, moved to its present quarters, previously occupied by the Worcester Bank, in the Central Exchange. The bank entered the national system March 14, 1865. On March 28, 1854, a charter was given to the City Bank, with a capital of $200,000, the incorporators being William B. Fox, Henry Chapin and Frederic William Paine. It began business in the second story of Harrington corner, a favorite site for banking. About the CALVIN FOSTER. The Worcester of 1898. 371 beginning of the year 1855, however, it removed to the rooms which had been especially fitted for its use in the new building erected by Mr. Foster on the southwest corner of Main and Pearl streets, where it has since remained. George W. Richardson was the first president, and was succeeded by Calvin Foster* in 1878, Parley Hammond was the first cashier, and his successor, Nathaniel Paine, has held that office since 1857. It was organized as a national bank in 1864. The First National Bank, organized June 5, 1863, with a capital of $100,000, was, as its name implies, the first one of the kind in Worces- ter. It was also the second in the State, and the seventy-ninth in the whole country. The first Board of Directors consisted of Parley Ham- mond, Ichabod Washburn, Nathan Washburn, Timothy W. Wellington, George Draper (of Milford), Edward A. Goodnow, Hartley Williams, Charles B. Pratt and Alexander Thayer. Mr. Hammond was the first president, and Mr. Goodnow was president from January, 1867, to 1894, when he was succeeded by Albert H. Waite. Lewis W. Hammond was the first cashier, and was succeeded by Arthur A. Goodell July 18, 1864; George F. Wood, September i, 1869; Arthur M, Stone, April 6, 1874; Albert H. Waite, March, 1879, and Gilbert K. Rand, January, 1 894. The bank was on the second floor at Harrington corner, but in 1869 moved into a new building just south of Pearl street, and in December, 1894, to its present quarters opposite the Common. The original charter expired in June, 1882, but as Congress had not per- fected the necessary legislation which, a month later, gave existing banks the privilege of so amending their original articles of association as to extend their "period of succession" by an additional term of twenty years, another "First" National Bank of Worcester was there- fore organized June 4, 1882, which succeeded the former without any interruption or friction. The Worcester County Institution for Savings was an outgrowth of the success of the Worcester Bank, and was founded in 1828, receiving its charter on February 8. It was the first institution of its kind in this part of the State, and received the support of solid business men from all quarters. The members of the corporation represented almost every town in the county. Daniel Waldo, president of the Worcester Bank, was first president of this institution until his death in 1845. Stephen Salisbury, his successor in both offices, served until 1871, when he resigned from the savings bank, and was succeeded by Alexander H. Bullock. Mr. Bullock continued until his sudden death in January, 1882, when Stephen Salisbury, son of the former president, was elected to the office. This institution has had but three treasurers during the * Deceased November 12, 1S9S. See sketch in Biographical Department. '' liiiitiji I^^^^B^K ° SAMUEL R. HEYWOOD. The Worcester of 1898. 373 seventy years of its existence: Samuel Jennison, to 1853; Cliarles A. Hamilton, to November, 1879; and Charles A. Chase. The secretaries have been: Isaac Goodwin, 1828; William Lincoln, 1833; Thomas Kin- nicutt, 1843; John C. B. Davis, 1848; Joseph Mason, 1850; Joseph Trumbull, 1853; J. Henry Hill, 1854; Charles F. Aldrich, 1890. The bank was at first opened on Wednesday afternoons only, between 2 and 5 o'clock. The first deposit was made by Honorable Abijah Bigelow in the name of his daughter. Miss Hannah Bigelow. The amount was $15, and it was put in June 4, 1828. The present number of depositors BANK BUILDING, FOSTER STREET. is 30,840, and the deposits amount to $14,685,681. The guaranty fund is $732,000. The Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank was incorporated April i, 1854, at the time when the new idea of receiving deposits of less than one dollar was coming in vogue, and has now a large number of such accounts upon its books. Its first president was Charles L. Putnam, who was succeeded by George W, Richardson in 1877, Clarendon Harris in 1878, and Elijah B. Stoddard in 1884. Clarendon Harris, who was at the same time secretary of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, was treasurer of this bank for the first eighteen years, being succeeded by George W. Wheeler (who had been city treasurer for many years previous), and by J. Stewart Brown in 1884. .^i: FRANCIS H. DEWEY. The Worcester of 1898. 375 In 1892 this bank erected an imposing brick building of six stories on the north corner of Main and Walnut streets, removing to its second story at the close of that year. Its deposits October 30, 1897, amounted to $6,497,363, with 24,391 depositors, and a guaranty fund of $230,000. The Worcester Mechanics vSavings Bank was the second savings bank in Worcester in order of incorporation. It was chartered May 15, 185 i. CENTRAL EXCHANGE BUILDING, MAIN STREET. The presidents have been: Isaac Davis, until 1855 ; Alexander DeWitt, to 1859; John S. C. Knowlton, to 1862; Harrison Bliss, until his death in 1888; and J. Edwin Smith. Parley Hammond was treasurer for three years, and that office has been since filled for nearly forty-four years by Henry Woodward. Except for the first three years, its rooms have been in the Central Exchange, at first in rear of the Mechanics National Bank; but since the removal of the post office from the build- ing, it has occupied the rooms on the north. side of the hall. The recent 376 The Worcester of 1898. mr n m^ • n— / 1 W^ ^1 remodeling of the building has given it the long-needed spacious and attractive quarters. Its last return to the State showed deposits of $5,843,090, with a guaranty fund of $208,000, and 9,328 depos- itors. On May 13, 1864, was incorporated the People's vSavings Bank, which began business in the second story at the south corner of Main and Pleasant streets. Its business rapidly increased, and in 1 869 it moved into its own marble-front build- ing on Main street, opposite the Common. Its first presi- dent was John C, Mason, who resigned January 27, 1877, and was succeeded by William Cross, who resigned in 1879. Lucius J. Knowles filled the office until his death, Feb- ruary 25, 1884, and was suc- ceeded by Samuel R. Heywood. Charles M. Bent has been treasurer from the organiza- tion of the bank. It had 16,699 open accounts on Octo- ber 30, 1897, representing deposits of $7,756,195, with a guaranty fund of $294,000. In the period of thirty-one years following the incorpora. tion of the People's Savings Bank in 1864, Worcester had doubled in population, valua- tion, business, and extent of settled territory. In 1895 the four existing- savings banks had so large an accumulation of deposits that the time seemed ripe for another bank, and the Bay State Savings Bank was chartered in that year, beginnmg business on July i in the Taylor building opposite the Common. Richard Healy is president, and George McAleer, treasurer. On October 30, 1897, it had 531 depositors, with $141,868 to their credit. The new institution was well received by the bank men of the city, and was not considered as a rival or competitor. The most cordial rcLations are maintained on both sides. PEOPLE'S SAVINGS BANK BUILDING. The Worcester of 1898. 377 The vast issue of bonds by the national government during the great Rebellion, accompanied and followed by the issues by states, municipal- ities and railroads, created a demand for depositories where the people could safely store their securities and other personal property of value. The Worcester vSafe Deposit & Trust Company received its first charter from the vState as the Worcester Safe Deposit Company in March, 1868, and its sec- ond in May, 1869. It receives deposits subject to check at sight, paying interest of two per cent, per annum on daily bal- ances of $100 or over, but does not issue bills. It is also authorized to act as trustee in probate matters and the like. It assumes the direct cus- tody of valuables, and lets .small safes in its strong vaults, to which the renter alone has access. Its capital is $200,000, with a surplus of $100,- 000, and deposits (October 30, 1897) $2,132,022. Its ^. trust accounts, a sepa- rate department, then amounted to $882,347. George M. Rice was the first president, succeeded by George S. Barton in 1890. On Mr. Barton's death in 1891, Secretary Edward F. Bisco was promoted to the position. Samuel T. Bigelow, the first secretary, was succeeded by Mr. Bisco in 1872, and Samuel G. Clary, who had long been teller, was made secretary in 1 89 1. The State Safe Deposit Company was organized in 1887, solely for the purpose indicated by its name. It began business in an annex of the State Mutual building (recently sold to the Worcester Gas Light 'Company), with vaults constructed for its own use, and has recently CITY BANK BUILDING. 378 Thh Worcester of 1898. WILLIAM WOODWARD. removed to the new building of the Life Assurance Compan}', where it has an equipment unsurpassed by that of any company in the vState. A. George Bullock has been presi- dent from the start, Henry ]\I. Wit- ter, secretary, and Halleck Bartlett, manager. The business of the two local safe deposit companies received a new impetus as a result of the existing war with Spain. The residents of the seaboard cities secured boxes in the vaults, some depositing their securities and others holding the keys, that they might bring their valuables to a place of safety in case of a threatened visit to the sea- coast bv a hostile fleet. COOPERATIVE BANKS, similar to the' building associations which have been of so much benelit in Philadelphia and elsewhere, are among the institutions of Worcester which serve as media between the borrower and the lender. In their case, the borrower is to some extent a borrower from himself. The Worcester Cooperative Bank, Stephen C. Earle, president, was incorporated October 19, 1877, and has $415,315 loaned on mortgages. The Home Cooperative Bank, Enoch H. Towne, president, has $358,500 on mortgages, and was incorporated June 10, 1882. The Equity Cooperative Bank was incorporated on February 9, 1887. Charles L. Gates is president, and the amount loaned on mortgages (figures from last annual report) $287,500. The three cociperative banks have quarters in common in the Walker building, south corner of Main and charles m. bent. The Worcester of 1898. 379' RICHARD HEALY. Mechanic streets, Thomas J. Hastings- holds the offices of secretary and treas- urer of all; and Edward B. Glasgow is. their solicitor. FIRE AND LIFE INSURANCE. The benefit of insurance against fire impressed itself upon the people of this section early in this century, leading to the incorporation of the Worcester Mu- tual Fire Insurance Company seventy- five years ago, or February 11, 1823. Levi Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln were the two corporators from Worces- ter, and there were sixteen from other towns in the county. The charter re- quired that no policy should be issued until subscriptions for at least $200,000 worth should be received; that the field of operations should be limited to this county, and that property should not be insured for more than three-fourths of its value. The first policy, signed by Rejoice Newton, president, and William D. Wheeler, secretary, was issued May 14, 1824. It insured Luther and Daniel Goddard $1,500 on their dweUing-house, wood-house and barn, and $1,100 on their brick store. The buildings were on the east side of Main street, midway be tween Thomas and vSchool streets. The house and store are still standing. The policy was to run for seven years, the rate being one and three-fourths per cent, for the house and barn, and one and three-eighths for the store. Following the rule of limiting fire risks to the safest kinds of prop- erty, this company has always paid large dividends to the policy-holders, the rate having for a considerable time been eighty per cent, of the premium money. It now issues policies for five years or less, and returns seventy per cent, of the dividend on the long-term policies. Isaac Goodwin was secretarv of the company from December, 1828, to 1832; Anthony Chase, to 1853; and Charles M. Miles, to 1879. Frederic W. Paine was president from 1831 george mcaleer. 38o The Worcester of 1898. to 1853; Anthony Chase, 1853 to 1879; and Ebenezer Torrey, 1879 to 1888. Charles M. Miles was vice-president and manager from 1879 until his death in 1887. John A. Fayerweather is now the president; Roger F. Upham, secretary and treasurer ; and Frank P. Kendall, assist- ant secretary. For several years past the company has taken risks outside of this county, but still confines itself within the limits of the Commonwealth. This company had at risk December 31, 1897, $42,108,846, with assets of $741,448 and a permanent fund of $420,000. The ]\Ierchants & F'armers Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized in 1846, to meet the wants of merchants whose goods could not be insured in the older company, and also, it would appear, to attract the patronage of the farmers. Isaac Davis was president until 1884, when he was succeeded by John D. Washburn. The secretaries have been: Charles L. Putnam, John D. Washburn and Elijah B. Stod- dard. It owns the building in which the Central and Citizens Banks and the State Mutual Life Assurance Company were located at different periods of their history. Assets December 31, 1897, $233,659; amount at risk, $21,750,265; permanent fund, $121,574. The First National Fire Insurance Company, organized in 1869, is retiring from business. The People's Fire Insurance Company, the Bay State Fire Insurance Company and the Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company were dragged down by the great Boston fire of 1871, and compelled to abandon the business. The Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Company was chartered in 1834 for the special purpose of insuring manufacturing property. Its rooms were over the Citizens Bank. It was reorganized after a temporary suspension, and in 1861 was merged with the Mechan- ics Mutual, retaining its own name. Philip W. Moen is president, and Waldo E. Buck, secretary. Assets, $334,222; amount at risk, $35,243,155. The State Mutual Life Assurance Company was organized in 1845 with a perpetual charter. Its first president, John Davis; its third president, Alexander H. Bullock, and Emory Washburn, for a long time vice-president, were during their lives chief magistrates of the Common- wealth. John Milton Earle, a director and vice-president until his death, is gratefully remembered for his successful efforts as a member of the Legislature in securing a charter for the company, in the face of a determined opposition from other companies existing at the time. For the first twenty years, the company carried a guaranty capital of $20,000, but since that time it has been purely mutual. The company has been prudently managed from the start. To meet its own wants, as well as to make a safe investment of a portion of its large assets, the company has recently erected a magnificent marble building, nine The Worcester of 1898. 381- stories in height, at the corner of Main and Maple streets, a landmark and an ornament to the cit^^ Isaac Davis succeeded his uncle. Governor Davis, as president in 1853, serving for twenty-nine years. Governor Bullock, his successor, served but a few weeks, dying suddenly on January 17, 1882. He was succeeded by Philip L. Moen, who served but one year, resigning on account of the great pressure of his private business, and being succeeded by the present incumbent, Augustus George Bullock. Clar- endon Harris was secretary, and William Dickinson was treasurer from 1845 to 1883. The former oihce has since been filled by Henry M. Witter, and President Bullock acts as treasurer. The amount of insur- ance in force on January i, 1898, on policies issued by this company was $71,274,718. Its assets were $13,495,690, and the surplus above liabilities $1,298,797. State Mutual Life Assurance Company. — The building erected and occu- pied by the State Mutual Life Assurance Company at the corner of Main and Maple streets is a noble structure of beauty in proportion and elegance in detail. It is one of the largest and most complete office buildings in the country, and is architecturally a credit to the city. It was constructed, after plans by Peabody & Stearns of Boston, by the Norcross Brothers in their usual substantial and thorough manner. The material is white marble built in solid blocks into a steel frame, after the Chicago plan. The structure rises to the height of nine stories above the basement. The ground floor is devoted td four capacious stores and the main entrance. The safe deposit vaults of the State Safe Deposit Company are also located on this floor. The second floor is occupied by the elegant headquarters and offices of the assurance company. Rising above are six floors (each with an area of 138 feet by 123 feet), comprising in the whole 201 offices, which are furnished with all the modern appointments. The ninth floor is occu- pied by club rooms and a restaurant. Four passenger elevators, built by the Sprague Company of New York City, afliord ample accommodation to the tenants and visitors to the building, while freight elevators are located in the rear. The electric and heating plants are located in a separate building back of the main structure, and the former is one of the largest isolated plants in Massachusetts. It comprises three direct connected units of 150 horse power each. The engines are of the Armington & Sims pattern. The storage battery of 2,400 ampere hours' capacity runs the elevators and lights after 6.30 p. m. The capacity is 4,800 candle-power incandescent lights. The switchboard is one of the finest in the State. It is made of fourteen white Italian marble slabs, and is equipped with all the latest designs for circuit-breaking and switches, also meters for registering the amount of current used by each line in the building. It was built by the ■^.ml^g^kr STATE MUTUAL BUILDING. The Worcester of 1898. 383 ■General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, and cost $2,000. The boiler plant consists of four 100 horse-power horizontal tubular boilers, made by the Stewart Boiler Works of Worcester. The engine-room meas- Tires about thirty by fifty feet floor space, with white tiles and enameled larick sides. State Mutual Life Assurance Company was chartered March 16, 1844. A guaranteed capital of $100,000 was required, of which one-half was to be paid in cash, the stockholders to stand pledged for the other half at the call of the company, the interest on the paid-up stock not to exceed seven per cent. Provision was made in the charter for the redemption of the stock, one-third of the surplus being required to be held as a reserve fund to be applied to the redemption of the guarantee stock. The company was organized and issued the first policy on the first day of June, 1845. The first executive officers were: Honorable John Davis, President; Hon- orable Isaac Davis, First Vice-President; Honorable Stephen Salisbury, Second Vice-President ; William Dickinson, Treasurer; Clarendon Harris, Secretary; John Green, M. D., Consulting Physician; B. F. Hey wood, M. D., and Joseph Sargent, M. D., Assistant Consulting Physicians. In June, 1865, twenty years after organization, the guarantee capital was retired in accordance with the provisions of the charter, and from that time the company has been purely mutual. At the time the capital stock was retired, the company had outstanding and in force 2,236 policies, insuring $3,295,075, with an annual premium income of $76,413, and an interest income of $53,623 — a total of $130,036. The company was practically under the management of the same Board of Directors from 1845 to 1882. Up to the latter date there had been only two presidents. Governor John Davis, the first president, died in 1853, after a service of eight years. His successor. Honorable Isaac Davis, succeeded the governor, and held the office twenty-eight years. The immediate successor of Honorable Isaac Davis was Governor A. H. Bullock. On the decease of Governor Bullock, in the same month in which he was ■elected president, the Honorable P. L. Moen was chosen to fill out the unexpired term. At the ensuing annual meeting President A. G. Bullock was called to succeed his honored father. From January, 1883, the time the present incumbent entered upon the duties of his olifice, the company has made a rapid and solid growth. At that date the company had in force 5,165 polices, insuring $12,016,345. The annual income amounted to $501,068, of which $382,871 constituted the income from premiums, and $118,197 the interest on invested funds. The assets then amounted to $3,099,248; the liabilities to $2,452,804; the surplus to $646,444. The above statistics, compared with the corresponding ones of January, 1898, will show the progress made by the company during a period of fifteen years. January, 1898, the number of policies in force was 23,301; the insurance in force, $65,977,132. The total income of the preceding year was $3,193,832.64, of which the income from premiums was $2,629,- 662.40; from interest on the invested funds, $564, 170. 24; the assets were ^13,455,690.32; the liabilities, $12,156,897 ; the surplus, $1,298,793.32. Its WORCESTER MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE CO. BUILDING. The Worcester of 1898. 385 present officers are: A. G. Bullock, President and Treasurer; Thomas H. Gage, Vice-President; Henry M. Witter, Secretary; and Thomas H. Gage, M. D., and Albert Wood, M. D., Medical Directors; William E. vStarr, Actuary; B. H. Wright, Superintendent of Agencies. The Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. — Previous to the year 1835 the town of Worcester possessed no adequate force, facilities or appliances for use in extinguishing fires. The only assurance and hope of assistance or protection at times of such calamity was in the efficiency of the two fire societies — the Worcester, formed in 1793, and the Mutual, formed in 1822, in their management of the clumsy hand-engine owned in the town, and their control of the "bucket-brigade," which comprised the members of the two organizations and such individuals as volunteered or were impressed for duty. Large conflagrations in country towns, owing to the nature and isolation of buildings, Avere not frequent, but in almost every instance, large or small, the loss was, for obvious reasons, total, and the strength of the sentiment for prevention or protection excited by the event was in proportion to its importance. It is said "that the immediate moving influence to the formation of the Worcester Fire Society in 1793 was in a then recent fire, by which the valuable cloth manufactory of Cornelius and Peter Stowell, at or near the present corner of Park and Washington streets, was wholly consumed, with no power in the by- standers but to witness the conflagration in helpless inefficiency." Again, in 1815, there can be no doubt that the solicitude of the inhabitants was quickened by the great fire of February 18 of that year, which destroyed the house, store and merchandise of Samuel Brazer, and the bake-house and dwellings of the Flagg brothers on the site of the present Flagg build- ing on Main street, occasioning a loss of over $10,000, a large sum at that time. The fact that the sympathy of the sufferers' townsmen impelled them to subscribe $2,700, while $1,800 was contributed in other places, probably caused the inhabitants of this region to think seriously of some more certain form of indemnity in case their property should be destroyed, and as this fire was followed by others in the surrounding neighborhood of only less importance to this example, the sentiment crystallized, and the result was the organization of the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, now the most venerable as well as one of the most honorable in point of service of the mutual companies of this State. Its charter, granted February 11, 1823, ante-dates that of any other incorporated mutual fire insurance company in Massachusetts. Its first president was Levi Lincoln, who, within a year or two, resigned to become governor of the Common- wealth, and in succeeding years to fill other high offices, including that of first mayor of the city of Worcester in 1848. The first Board of Directors comprised such eminent citizens of the county as Rejoice Newton, Daniel Waldo, Aaron Tufts, Samuel M. Burnside, Abijah Bigelow, Bezaleel Taft, Jr., Isaac Goodwin, Seth Lee and Nathaniel P. Denny. The organization has been maintained to the present time by worthy successors of these men, giving a sense of security to those who are or have been fortunate enough to possess certificates of its protection. 25 The Worcester of 1898. 387 As originally formed the benefits of the company were intended to be confined to the property-owners of the county, but this restriction was later relaxed to include those within the State. The first policy issued was on the 14th of May, 1824, to Luther and Daniel Goddard, to cover property on Main street, and during the first year the business amounted to $153,815, in amount insured, the premiums received to $2,169.86, and the expenses of the company were $610.79. The first loss paid was in 1828, and amounted to $1,800.* It was then the custom that each person holding a policy should sign on the records themselves that they had received the original policy, and the early archives of the company are rich in possession of the autographs of prominent property-owners of the period of from fifty to seventy-five years ago who have played an important part in the city and country's history and development. As evidence of the estimation in which the prospective services of this company in conserving the property interests of the county were held at the time of its organization, the fact can be stated that an office was given for its use and occupancy in the old Court House (which has been demolished the present year) in order to serve the convenience of residents of the county whose business brought them to the courts or the registry of deeds. The company remained in the old building until 1851, when its quarters were removed to the new stone Court House. Here it transacted business until its necessities imperatively demanded more room, and in 1867 it took possession of the west suite of rooms on the second floor of the bank block on Foster street. In October, 1873, the company purchased the property at 373-377 Main street, and has since occupied offices in the second story of that building, f That the company has been an important factor in times past in incul- cating a sound and practical policy in regard to the care of buildings and safeguarding against fire by those in authority, and has kept watch and ward of the public interest, is shown by an extract from the town records of Worcester in 1845. This also exhibits the condition of a large number of dwellings and other buildings in the place at that time, with the comments expressed by the town fathers: "The Board of Selectmen have had an opportunity of seeing the report made to the officers of the [Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance] Company, and the account is truly alarming. It is a cause of much surprise to those who have been informed of the facts that fires in this village have not been a daily occurrence from the culpable carelessness of the occupants of buildings; — ashes, a prolific source of fire, were found in every story of a house, barreled up in garrets, in closets and in cellars — stove-pipes passing through wood without any protection — fire-boards in places where stoves enter the chimneys — chimneys badly constructed, some of them only two or four inches in thickness of walls, and the brick so badly laid that holes could be found through which sticks * To avoid repetition, much in detail of the financial historj^ and the names of succeed- ing officers of the organization, given in Charles A. Chase's chapter on the Financial Institutions of Worcester on pages 363-381 of this volume, are omitted here. f See accompanying illustration. 388 The Worcester of 1898. could be ])assed into the centre of the chimney without obstruction from brick or mortar, and in some of these instances fire-boards had been secured closely upon the sides of the chimneys. It is most manifest that to the superintending care of a kind providence alone have we been indebted for preservation from the ravages of most destructive fires." The company's whole history, from its foundation to the present time, nearly seventy-five years, has been an exceptionally prosperous one, and it has returned to its policy-holders dividends as high as ninety-six per cent., which returns are probably larger than ever made by any other mutual company in this country doing a general dwelling-house business. The company has for a long period of years paid seventy per cent, dividends on expiring five years' policies and fifty per cent, on expiring three years' policies and twenty-five per cent, on expiring one year's policies, and has returned the policy-holder dividends amounting to over $700,000 the past ten years alone. The company has paid all losses promptly, and is to-day a tower of strength and stability in the insurance circles of New England. By insuring only the safest class of property against loss by fire or light- ning, they are enabled to quote the lowest possible rate on first-class property compatible with strong security, and certainly no safer and more judicious investment can be made, as assuredly no more liberal inducements are offered, by any other sound or reliable company to owners of property. The introduction and promiscuous use of kerosene and gasolene oil, together with the careless handling of matches by smokers, as well as the immense influx of immigration to this country by people who are not blessed with careful habits, have increased the fire loss ratio immensely, and the divi- dends which the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company has paid the policy-holders show in a more eloquent manner than anything we might say the careful and conservative manner that has characterized the con- duct of all its affairs in overcoming these conditions. The present Board of Directors of the company is composed of the following gentlemen: John A. Fayerweather, Westborough; Honorable Lewis N. Gilbert, Ware; Stephen Sawyer, Worcester; Major B. D. Dwinnell, Fitchburg; Honorable H. C. Greeley, Clinton; Lyman A. Ely, Worcester; Honorable A. F. Whitin, Whitinsville; Caleb Colvin, Worcester; Roger F. Upham, Worcester; who are represented in the accompanying illustration. The Board of Officers is composed of John A. Fayerweather, President; Roger F. Upham, Secretary and Treasurer; and Frank P. Kendall, Assistant Secretary. PUBLIC SERVICE. STEAM RAILROADS. nHE first railroad communication with Worcester was in the open- ing of the Boston & Worcester railroad in 1835. At that time such undertakings were new, and before their utility was practically demonstrated were regarded with disfavor. Much opposition was manifested during the period in which this railroad was being con- structed, and once a meeting of the stockholders was called, for the purpose of putting a stop to the operations in progress and abandoning the enterprise. But the faith and persistency of a few strong minds prevailed, and all obstacles were overcome, and the road to Worcester was opened to travel July 6 of the above-named year. Immediately steps were taken to extend the line westward, as the main purpose of the Boston capitalists, who had originated the project, had been to open a highway to the west to connect with the Erie canal, and divert some portion of the traffic through that great waterway eastward, and also that from the western part of New England from its threatened tendency to flow to New York. But Worcester people felt at that time that there was a local advantage in keeping the place a terminus of the railway, and so at first opposed the extension, but without effect, and the year 1839 witnessed the opening of the western railroad to Spring- field. Two years later the road to Albany was completed. The two corporations, though in reality sections of one system, were nominally separate concerns, and were operated as such until 1867, when a con- solidation was effected under the name of the Boston & Albany Rail- road Company, which is now one of the largest and most successful corporations in the country. It is the most important route through New England to the West, the New York Central being virtually a continuation of this line, affording direct communication with Chicago and the Pacific. It controls a total length of 388.68 miles of line. This railroad is equipped with 242 locomotives; 247 passenger cars; 60 baggage, mail and express; freight (box, 3,434; stock, 29; coal, 1,528; flat, 802), 5,798; caboose, 80; other, 449; making a total of 6,693 The Worcester of 1898. 391 cars of all descriptions. The total assets of the company as given in the last report of the Railroad Commissioners are $36,518,008.60. The next railroad out of Worcester to be constructed was the Nor- wich, running south fifty-eight miles. This route became very popular, as being the most direct to New York city, connecting with the Sound boats at New London. The Norwich & Worcester railroad was leased in 1869 by the New York & New England Company for a period of ninety-nine years. It is now a part of the New York, New Haven & Hartford system, which had previously obtained control of the Provi- dence & Worcester road. The Providence & Worcester railroad was opened in 1847, entirely superseding the old Blackstone canal, which had been constructed twenty years previously, and which had promised so much in the beginning. Over fifty miles of track are now used on this section. In 1888 the road was leased by the New York, Providence & Boston Company, and was operated by that corporation until it was absorbed by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, of which it now forms the Worcester division. The demand for a line of communication with the north early became imperative, and in 1848 the Worcester & Nashua railroad was put in operation. In 1885 the road, with its extension to Rochester, N. H., was leased by the Boston & Maine, and is now operated as a part of that great system. The Boston & Maine railroad covers the north- eastern part of Massachusetts, nearly the whole of New Hampshire and parts of Maine and Vermont, and also has through or connecting trains to Montreal and the provinces. Its service is of great import- ance to Worcester, being the great northern and eastern outlet for passengers and freight. The Fitchburg & Worcester railroad was built from Fitchburg to Sterling Junction, where it connected with the Worcester & Nashua road. It was opened to travel in 1850. It is now the northern division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, which has absorbed and operates the Old Colony system. Owing to its position as a bond of union between the northern and southern parts of the county, this railroad is especially valuable, and annually attracts to this city many thousands of tons of freight that would otherwise go to Boston or Springfield. The Fitchburg & Worcester branch of the Old Colony railroad has aided materially in establishing a sharp competition for Western business. The Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad was incorporated in 1847 as the Barre & Worcester Railroad. It was opened to traffic in 1871, and was designed to open another route to the West. While it had a fair ^92 The Worcester of 1898. RESIDENCE OF G. HENRY WHITCOMB, 51 HARVARD STREET. local business, and was a great accommodation to shippers along the line, it was never a paying undertaking. It was dependent upon the Fitchburg Railroad for its through traffic, and in 1886 it was sold to that corporation. The change of management marked the beginning of a new era for the road, and to-day it undoubtedly contributes a handsome sum to the Fitchburg road's net profits. It will be seen by the above summary that all the roads entering Worcester are operated by four large railroad corporations — the Boston & Albany, the Boston & Maine, the New York, New Haven & Hartford, and the Fitchburg. The switching-yards of all the roads are ample, the city having all that could be desired in what are called terminal facilities. The freight-houses are capacious and convenient, and, in the main, the approaches are equally advantageous. It will be seen that every point of the compass is reached by the railroad lines leading from the city. By means of these roads and of the electrics, the people of surrounding towns become patrons of the various industries of Worcester. The Worcester Union Passenger Station is one of the finest owned by the Boston & Albany Railroad Company. The movement for its construction was inaugurated in 1873, when the company decided by The Worcester of 1898. 393 unanimous vote that their old quarters on Foster street were inade- quate to accommodate their largely increasing business. The station was begun in 1874, and completed the following year. By a legislative act all the railroads coming into or passing through Worcester were required to enter it. The other roads pay rent to the Boston & Albany, the latter furnishing all the employees about the station. The build- ing is 250 feet wide, 450 feet long, the whole structure covering an area of about four acres of land. The general architecture is Gothic in style, with a clock tower on the west corner. The internal arrange- ments are a model of convenience, combined with a reasonable economy and space. There are in the station a first-class dining-room and news-room, and also a parcel-room, with which is connected a baggage-transfer, and which is the headquarters for all carriages at the station. Tickets for all the railroads entering Worcester are on sale at the Union Station ticket-office, covering all points in the United vStates and Canada via all routes. Number of passenger trains leaving Worcester daily: Boston & Albany railroad going east, . . . 19 Boston & Albany railroad going west, . . . 18 New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad (Provi- dence & Worcester), . . . . . . 11 New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad (Nor- wich & Worcester), ...... 7 Boston & Maine railroad, . . . . . 10 Fitchburg railroad, ...... 5 Total 70 There are also the same number of passenger trains arriving in Worcester daily, making the total number of trains arriving and departing each day 140. Of the eighteen trains going west via the Boston & Albany railroad, four are through trains to New York city, and five make through connections for Chicago and the West. In addition to the four trains to New York city via the Boston & Albany railroad, making western and southern connections, there are two boat lines in winter and three in summer for New York city, with which through trains from Worcester via the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroads connect. They are the Norwich line and Ston- ington line, running all the year round, and the Providence line, run- ning during the summer only. Three trains daily via the Fitchburg railroad connect at Gardner with through trains for the West. There are also three trains daily making 394 The Worcester of 1898. through connection for Montreal via the Fitchburg railroad, and two of these make through connections at Montreal for the West. There are two trains daily leaving Worcester via the Boston & Maine railroad, making connections for Maine points as far as Bangor, and one of these connects through for points in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Boston & Maine has three trains also making through connections for Montreal, two of them making connections for the West. The Worcester Railroad Men's Association was founded November 19, 1896, by the employees of the five steam railroads entering the city RESIDENCE OF EDWIN S. PIERCE, 172 HIGHLAND STREET. at that time. It is an organization for the advancement of the moral, intellectual and social interests of all railroad men. The religion, politics or race of members are never questioned ; all are welcome to enjoy the privilege equally. Through the generosity of all the rail- roads, neat and attractive rooms were fitted up and furnished at the Union Station. Here are found baths, games, reading-room and library, also a large social-hall for entertainments and other gatherings. The same generosity that fitted up and furnished the rooms provides a librarian, who is always glad to meet all comers and show them about. That the generosity of the railroads is appreciated by their employees is attested by the fact that nearly four-fifths of all employees in and about Worcester are registered as members. The Worcester of 1898. 395 The number of men, residents of Worcester, employed by all the steam railroads is about 1,100. This number includes conductors, engineers and firemen, car-inspectors and repair-men, clerks, freight- house men and trainmen. This number of active workers implies the support of from four to five thousand of the population of the city. The total amount of taxes paid to the city by the railroads, which covers real estate and other property in Worcester owned by them, is $33,778.62. GRADE CROSSINGS. One of the gravest difficulties confronting the citizens of Worcester in the year 1898 is the grade-crossing problem. Whether the settle- ment of this matter is to involve the separating of the grade of all the streets and railways from Millbrook street on the north to Hammond street on the south, or the removal of the railroads within these limits and the building of a new union passenger station at South Worcester, the future will reveal. The matter is now in the hands of the Grade- Crossing Commission, appointed in conformity to an order of the City Council passed January 10, 1898. The members are: The president of the Board of Aldermen, Aldermen Hildreth and Mellen ; the president of the Common Council, Councilmen Back, Inman and O'Leary, repre- senting the City Government; Matthew J. Whittall, Charles G. Reed, W^illiam Hart, James Logan and Irving E. Comins, representing the citizens. STREET RAILWAYS. Worcester Consolidated Street Railway. The adoption of electricity as power by the street railway systems of Worcester has done much not only for the convenience of the public, but in the general development of the city and increasing the city's valuation. The oldest and largest of the electric railway systems in which Worcester is interested, is that of the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Company. This company resulted from the consolidation of two horse railway systems — those of the Citizens Street Railway Com- pany and Worcester Street Railway Company, in 1887. The present corporate name was then assumed, as were the rights and franchises of the two old companies. The latter were comparatively insignificant as regards either mileage, traffic or speed. Less than seven miles of track was in operation when consolidation was effected, and less than one and three-quarters million passengers were carried the previous year. In contrast with this about forty-five miles are now operated, and, in round figures, upward of ten The Worcester of 1898. 397 million passengers will have been carried the present fiscal year. The marked difference can be credited largely to one cause — the adoption of electricity for power. Previous to and including 1892, the old-fashioned slow-going horse-car had been depended upon, but that year the company was granted the right to change its system to electric propulsion. In 1893 the work of reconstruction was begun, a power-station was established, and before the close of that year all of the cars were run by electric power. The power-station is located on the line of the Boston & Albany Railroad, a short distance from Webster square. It is in a substantial brick building, in one side of which are nine horizontal tubular boilers, and in the other are the engines and electric machinery. This year the engine capacity of the plant has been nearly doubled, as in the spring a 1,500 horse-power engine, the largest vertical engine in New England directly connected with a generator, was installed. Including this the companv now has five Lake Erie cross coinpound condensing engines in operation, and a total engine capacity of 3,500 horse-power. The plant throughout is thoroughly modern, and in quality of apparatus and general equipment no plant is better fitted. It has been in contin- uous operation for nearly five years, and in this time not a car has been delayed through fault of or mishap at the power-station, a record rarely equaled. Diverging in ten different routes, the company's lines now extend to every part of the city. Many of them are double-tracked, all are in excellent condition, and prompt and satisfactory service is the result. It is not the object of this article to enumerate the advantages accruing to Worcester and its people from this system. But aside from its convenience and the stimulus to business afforded by rapid transit and in quick and satisfactory service, in bringing the centre of the city into closer communication with the suburbs, a development and consequent appreciation of property along and near the lines must be felt, comfortable homes away from the crowded districts are made possible, and in the warmer seasons it affords to people of moderate means an opportunity for indulging in out-door air and recreation at little cost. In 1 893 a large brick structure was erected on Market street for car storage and office purposes. All of the offices are on the second floor of this building. The late Charles B. Pratt had been president of the company for many years, and following his death, in May of this year, Francis H. Dewey was elected to the presidency. The other officers of the company are, and for sometime past have been : A. George Bullock, Vice-President; A. H. Stone, Treasurer; and John N. Akarman, Super- intendent. 398 The Worcester of 1898. The line to Grafton was construeted by the Consolidated Company in the fall of 1898. This road, which extends to the centre of Grafton throug-h North Grafton, is about eight miles in length. TlIK WoKCKSTER & vSuiiURHAN STREET RAILWAY. The Worcester & Suburban vStreet Railway Company was organized in 1890. This company operates the line to Leicester and Spencer, connecting with the Brookfields and Warren ; also the line to Millbury, which was incorporated under the name of the Worcester & Blackstone Valley Street Railway Company, and later was leased by the Worcester & Suburban. The Leicester road was opened in 1891, and the Millbury road in 1892. The latter forms connections with towns in the south- east part of the county to North bridge, and is intended ultimately to connect with Providence. The power-stations are located at Leicester and Millbury, President, Edwin L. Watson of Worcester; Clerk and Treasurer, Thomas T. Robinson of Dedham ; Superintendent, John B. Gorham. Worcester & Marlborough Street Railway. A charter was granted to the Worcester & Marlborough Street Rail- way in April, 1897, and on August 14th the first car on this line came into Worcester. Since that day regular trips have been made. The main line is from Worcester to Marlborough, passing through Shrewsbury and Northborough, and from the latter town a branch of the road extends to Westborough. This gives a total of about eighteen miles. The power-station is at Northborough. Five boilers from the Stewart Works, Worcester, furnish steam, and the engine capacity of the plant is 1,200 horse-power. The General Electric is the system used. This road connects at Marlborough with the electric line to Framing- ham, thus making a continuous electric route between the Hub and the Heart of the Commonwealth. The capital of the Worcester & Marlborough Street Railway is $200,000. The principal offices are at Northborough, and the company's officers are, and from the start have been: J. Russel Marble, President; Otis E. Putnam, Vice-President; vS. Reed Anthony, Treasurer; Arthur D. McClellan, Clerk; E. P. vShaw, Jr., General Manager; and B. L. Dixon, Superintendent. Worcester & Clinton Street Railway. This road M'as incorporated under the general law in April, 1898, with a capital stock of $150,000, and construction was at once begun, The Worcester of 1898. 399 and the road was completed and put in operation in December, 1898. The length of the route is nearly thirteen miles, touching a corner of Shrewsbury and passing through Boylston Centre to Clinton. The power-station is at West Berlin, one and a half miles from the line of the road, this place being chosen on account of its location on steam roads, where coal and other supplies can be cheaply and conveniently delivered. The station is equipped with two 350 horse-power Corliss engines. Half-hour trips in the winter, and fifteen-minute trips in the summer are planned in the schedule. The latest and most approved rolling stock is in use. The officers of the company are : Alexander S. Patten of Leominster, President; Jerome Marble of Worcester, Vice- President; Walter R. Dame of Clinton, Treasurer; John W. Ogden, Superintendent. This line is part of a continuous electric system between Worcester and Fitchburg. Worcester & Webster Street Railway. The Worcester & Webster Street Railway Company was chartered in September, 1898, with a capital stock of $150,000. Dr. Julius Garst is President; Frederick Thayer, Vice-President; and W. A. Bailey, Treasurer. This line is sixteen miles in length, and runs through Auburn, West Auburn, North Oxford and Oxford Plain to Webster and Lake Chaubunagungamaug. The road-bed is partially graded. The power-station will be in North Oxford. THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. No book attempting to describe the industries of Worcester would be complete without giving suitable space to the telephone system, which in all large cities has become almost indispensable to business activities, and very convenient in social life. The first important test of the telephone was conducted twenty-one years ago between Salem and Boston, using a telegraph line for the connection. At that time about 500 people were gathered at the Essex Institute in Salem to hear Professor Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, describe his new instrument. During the course of the lecture conversation was heard from Boston, and the experience was so novel that many people present discredited the fact that the person to whom they w^ere listening was stationed sixteen miles away. The first regular telephone exchange was opened in New Haven, Connect- icut, on January 20, 1878. So rapid was the development from that time on that within five years there were in operation in the United 400 The Worcester of 1898. THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. States 725 exchanges with 97,728 subscribers. On January ist of the present year there were 1,025 exchanges, with about 384,230 subscribers and 16,682 employees. It is estimated that over 3,000,000 exchange connections are made daily in the United States. In the principal central office of Boston alone there are 100,000 telephonic communica- tions per day. The Worcester exchange, which is operated by the New England Telephone & Telegraph Company, was organized in 1879. The earliest printed list of subscribers in Worcester known to be in existence is that of May 13, 1879, which is still preserved in the manager's office in this city. The list contains ninety-one names, many of them still subscribers to the present exchange. The Worcester exchange now contains 1,792 subscribers, making it second in size in the New Eng- land Telephone & Telegraph Company's territory. For nine years the telephone exchange office occupied quarters in Harrington's block, near the corner of Main and Front streets. In 1886 these quarters had The Worcester of 1898. 401 become too small, and an office at No. 44 Front street was fitted up wnth the (then) latest multiple switchboard, which was thought to be of sufficient capacity to take care of the business for some years to come. In 1895 the company erected on the corner of Mechanic and Norwich streets a fine building specially adapted for its purposes as a telephone central office. The building is strictly fireproof, and contains all the necessities and conveniences of modern architecture. In this building, in June, 1896, was installed a so-called "automatic signal multiple switchboard," the first of its type in the world. This board was fitted for fifteen local and eight trunk line operatives, and so arranged as to make it possible, by adding new sections, to accommodate more than 3,000 subscribers. In connection with this switchboard was installed a power-plant for furnishing current, not unlike in appearance and character a small electric-lighting system. This switchboard system, which enables the subscriber to call the office by simply removing the telephone receiver from its hook, and which automatically signals the office when the communication is finished, is considered the ideal telephone system, and is now being introduced in other large cities of the United States. Worcester has also been supplied with under- ground cables and wires covering more than i ,700 miles of insulated copper wires, placed in 165,000 feet of underground cable ducts. The recent introduction of long distance transmitters and metallic circuits overcomes many of the early troubles arising from noisy lines, making it possible now not only to communicate with any one of 40,000 subscribers within the territory of the New England Telephone & Telegraph Company, but also with parties in Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities distant more than 1,200 miles. At no time in the history of the business has there been so rapid growth in number of sub- scribers' stations and in use of the long-line facilities as at the time of this writing. It is impossible to predict the future of this business. It is possible even now, as has been demonstrated in the Board of Trade rooms in Worcester, to receive music from a point 100 miles or more distant with such strength that it can be plainly heard in any part of a large hall without the use of hand-receivers. It is possible, also, to communicate by speech, telephonically, by the use of a ray of light instead of a conducting wire. It is also possible by the use of the telephone to communicate between rapidly moving trains and a fixed station, also between two vessels connected together only by the sea, and from a station on shore to vessels a mile or more distant at sea by means of the water only as a conductor. In w^ar or in peace, on land or at sea, in business and social life, everywhere the telephone is certainly destined to be one of the most active and useful factors of the twentieth centurv life. 402 The Worcester of 1898. WORCESTER GAS LIGHT COMPANY. The Worcester Gas Light Company was chartered in 1 849. It was the first corporation formed in the city of Worcester for the purpose of furnishing artificial illumination. The original works were on Lincoln street, near Lincoln square, but were moved in 1 869 to their present location on Quinsigamond avenue. The company owns about nine acres of land on this avenue, and most excellent works, generally considered to be fully equal to anv works of their size in the country, and of sufficient capacity to supply a large increased demand over their present output. All of the apparatus is of the most approved modern construction, for the manufacture of both coal and water gas. At the present time the company is furnishing a commercial gas composed of about equal parts of coal and water gas, which gives excellent results. The business of the company has increased very rapidly during the past ten years. The street mains system has been extensively enlarged, and each year further extensions are made to meet the public demands. It is the intention of the management to have the service of this company as perfect as it is possible to make it. In February the com- pany moved into its new quarters at 240 Main street in the fine granite building recent- ly purchased by them of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company. The offices are very commodious, and every facility is aft'orded for doing business with the public in a satisfactor}- manner. On the first fioor are the general offices ; on the second floor are the directors' room and the private offices; on the OFFICE BUILDING WORCESTER GAS LIGHT COMPANY. third floor are thc lab- The Worcester of 1898. 403 oratories and a commodious hall, where lectures are given, from time to time, in the uses of gas. The capital stock is $500,000, and the Directors of the company are: Charles Dudley Lamson, A. George Bullock, Josiah H. Clarke, Francis H. Dewey, Albert Wood, Samuel B.Woodward; President and General Manager, Charles Dudley Lamson; Treasurer and Clerk, James P. Hamilton. WORCESTER ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. In 1883 electricity for lighting and power purposes was introduced into Worcester, the Worcester Electric Light Company, a corporation chartered to furnish electric light, heat and power in the city of Worcester, having been organized that year. The original capital of the company was $100,000, and increased from time to time until it became, as at present, $300,000. The initial plant was near Franklin square; but in 1889 a tract of some 61,000 square feet on Faraday street was secured, and in the fall of that year the present exceptionally fine power-station, one of the best in the Union, was erected. MARBLE SWITCHBOARD IN ELECTRIC LIGHT STATION. The Worcester of 1898. 405 The main building is a substantial brick structure having ground lines 200x75 feet, and is two stories high above the basement. The engine-room is 112x42 feet, and the boiler-house is 150x46 feet. The machinery-room embraces all of the main floor, one mammoth room without partitions, and being abundantly supplied with windows on its four sides it is particularly well lighted. Four compound con- densing engines furnish a total steam power of 2,500 horse-power. In way of dynamos, generators and apparatus generally which enter into successful operating, no electric plant is better equipped. New ma- chinery and appliances are constantly being added, and one of the late additions is a mammoth switchboard of blue Vermont marble. This is of recent design, and standing, as it does, in the centre of the great room, it makes an attractive as well as useful centrepiece to an interest- ing whole. More than 150 miles of wire are in use in and about the city; the lines are extended as fast as the needs require, and the capacity of the plant is being correspondingly increased. Improvements in methods or apparatus are quickly adopted, and, perceiving the trend of the times, the company has been gradually preparing to place much of its wire under ground, particularly in the business districts. The Worcester Electric Light Company is a Worcester enterprise, owned and controlled by Worcester men, who, also having other large interests in the place, naturally have the city's welfare at heart. Its affairs are ably conducted, its policy is liberal and progressive, the service is uniformly good, and in matters of electric lighting and power the city is well provided. The officers of the company are, and from the start have been : Thomas M. Rogers, President; Herbert H. Fairbanks, Treasurer and Secretary; William H. Coughlin, Superintendent; Thomas M. Rogers, Stephen vSalisbury, Theodore C. Bates, Loring Goes, A. B. R. Sprague, Josiah Pickett, N. vS. Liscomb, Alzirus Brown, Directors. OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS BOARD OF TRADE. WILLIAM H. SAWYER. LYMAN A. ELY. C. HENRY HUTCHINS. I^.' P- DUNCAN. GEO. W. MACKINTIRE, FRANCIS H. DEWEY. WILLIAM H*RT. O. W. NORCROSS. JAMES LOGAN. ARTHUR M. STONE. MATTHEW J. WHITTALL. IRVING E. COMINS, PRES S. HAMILTON COE, Cler JUSTIN A. WARE. GEORGE L. BROWNELL. THOS. C. MENDENHALL. CHARLES E. SQUIER, SEC, G. STANLEY MALL. ROGER F. UPHAM. A, W. PARMELEE. ELLERY B. CRANE. CHARLES G. REED. J. RUSSEL MARBLE. WORCESTER BOARD OF TRADE. D HE origin of the movement to form the present Board of Trade in Worcester was the issuing of a circular calling a meeting of the business men of the city at the Bay State House on December 15, 1873, and in response a large number gathered at that time. Among those present and participating were: Honorable Edward L. Davis (then mayor-elect), Lewis Barnard, George T. Rice, A. D. Warren, Major O. L. Hatch, Sumner Pratt, L. H. Wells, J. A. Knowlton, E. H. Knowlton, T. W. Wellmgton, C. B. Pratt, G. Henry Whitcomb, Jerome Wheelock and Jerome Marble. A. D. Warren called the meeting to order; Honorable Edward L. Davis was elected chairman, and E. H. Knowlton, secretary. After considerable discussion, the meeting finally referred the subject of the formation of a board of trade to a committee which was to report at a future meeting. This committee comprised Sumner Pratt, A. D. Warren, J. J. Russ, Charles H. Fitch and Jerome Wheelock. The committee called the next meeting in Washburn Hall January 2, 1874, A still larger number than before were present. Honorable George M. Rice was chosen to preside. The committee reported a full constitution, which was adopted; the preamble of which stated the pur- poses of the organization : "To promote the business interests of the city of Worcester and vicinity, and to secure the advantages which the city offers to trade and manufacturers, as well as to cultivate a more intimate and friendly acquaintance among the business men of the city." It took for a name the Worcester Business Exchange. Stated meet- ings were to be held the first Mondays in January, IMarch, May, July, September and November. The meeting elected officers as follows: President, P. L. Moen; Vice-Presidents, L. J. Knowles, Lewis Barnard and George T. Rice; Treasurer, Charles B. Whiting; Directors, Sumner Pratt, T. W. Wellington, E. L. Davis, George M. Rice, Jerome Whee- lock, A. D. Warren, L. W. Pond, E. T. Marble, Edward Sargent, Edward R. Fiske, Charles H. Fitch, J. H. Walker, John D. Chollar, 4o8 The Worcester of 1898. CELEBRATION OF THE EXTENSION OF PROVIDENCE STREET AND OPENING OFTHE ELECTRIC RAILROAD THE RESIDENCE OF HE MOST PROMINENT George L. Newton, John D. Washburn, L. AI. Richardson, Mowry Lapham, Addison Palmer, C. M. Smith and vSamiiel Woodward. The organization secured rooms on Pearl street, which were formally opened March 3, 1874. The occasion was celebrated by a dinner at the Bay State House, at which President Moen presided, and speeches were made by Mayor Edward L. Davis; Honorable George B. Loring, then president of the .State .Senate; Honorable George F. Verry; Secretary Little of the Providence Board of Trade; President Stevens of the Con- cord, N. H., Board of Trade; Honorable John D. Washburn; Honorable W. W. Rice, and Honorable Henry Chapin. In November, 1874, the name of the organization was changed to the Worcester Board of Trade. As such it entertained the Board of Trade of the city of Portland on the occasion of the opening of the Worcester, Nashua & Rochester and the Portland & Rochester railroads. Sumner Pratt was president of the board the second year of its exist- ence (1875), and L. J. Knowles in 1876 and 1877. The boaj-d took part in the contest for a division of Worcester county in 1875 by sending delegates to the legislative hearing to protest against division. Among various topics discussed at the meetings were: water The Worcester of 1898. 409 -■supply, the viaduct bridge, a board of pubHc works, street railway to the Union Station, etc. The board was incorporated May 14, 1875. In February, 1877, new rooms in Taylor's building were occupied. Joseph H. Walker was chosen president in 1878, and continued in that office until the reor- ganization of the board in 1891. For ten years, from 1880 to 1890, the organization was inactive, with only a nominal existence. In the summer of 1891 a number of gentle- men interested themselves in the project for the formation of a new board of trade, but it was found that the old charter was still in force, and it was thought best to revive the old body and unite the new movement with it. A paper favoring the undertaking was signed by 327 names. At a meeting held in the Common Council chamber October (5, 1891, these signers were admitted members of the old body, and November 5, at Washburn Hall, a new board of directors was elected. November 9 the new board organized with C. Henry Hutchins as president, and A. M. vStone and P. W. Moen as vice- presidents. Succeeding presidents to the present time have been: A. M. vStone, to 1897; Charles G. Reed, 1897-98; Irving E. Comins, 1898. The first secretary of the board was E. H. Knowlton, who was succeeded in turn by J. Brainerd Hall and Charles A. Chase. On the reorganization in 1891 E. T. Raymond was chosen to that place, and served one and a half years. L. F. Herrick served one year, and the present incumbent has been in office since 1 894. The officers of the board in 1898 are: President, Irving E. Comins; Vice-President, J. Russel Marble; Treasurer, George W. Mackintire; Secretary, Charles E. Squier; Auditor, Charles A. Chase. S. Hamilton Coe is clerk of the corporation. There is a board of twenty directors. The upper story of the Bank block on Foster street was fitted up to meet the requirements of the Board of Trade, and was occupied until the present year, when the quarters were transferred to the story below. These rooms have fully met the requirements of the article of the constitution, which states the object for which the corporation w^as formed, in " the establishment and maintenance of a place for friendly and social meetings of the business men of Worcester"; with the further purpose "to concentrate their judgment and influence in forwarding such movements as shall tend towards the prosperity of the city." The working force of the board is divided into twelve important committees, besides the Executive Board, and the Committees on Membership and Ways and Means, as follows : manufactures, meet- ings and receptions, mercantile affairs, transportation and railroads, statistics and information, legislation, arbitration, new enterprises, municipal affairs, taxation and insurance. 4IO Thb Worcester of 1898. The Board of Trade ean rightly be termed a bureau of information in regard to the business interests of the eity. It has no funds to invest in business, no bonuses to offer, and will not make any efforts to get any rebates from the city other than would apply to those already in busi- ness. It can, however, offer inducements, which in part are: the very best city in New England to do business in, on account of its freight and express facilities; its schools, libraries and churches; its abundance of skilled labor; and other advantages which serve to keep the people satisfied. Among the subjects and methods successfully agitated by the board in recent years are: extension of express free delivery; improved railroad train service; municipal street sprinkling; twenty-four hour service in the Western Union Telegraph office; electric roads to suburban towns; good country roads; bankruptcy bill; sound money; water rates; grade crossing; postal laws; currency reform; reciprocity with Canada; Nic- araguan canal (by resolution); peace resolutions. The board has entertained South American visitors, the Kansas City visitors and the National Grange ; and has presented the statue of "AuQfustus" to the Art Museum. RESIDENCE OF ELIZABETH T. SAWIN, 40 MAY STREET. COMMERCIAL INTERESTS. nN the^following section, only a few of the older and more prominent mercantile establishments are represented — those whose identity, reputation and permanency have been interwoven with the business life and advance of the city for many years. It was no part of the plan to comprehend in this volume anything like a description in detail of all the trades-houses, or even a list of them ; but the purpose has been to include only those which were distinctively representative in their several lines, and it is felt that this effort has been fairly successful. The names alone of the concerns here noticed are sufficient warrant for their inclusion in the above-named classification. The Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company. — This is the oldest as well as the largest establishment of its kind in central Massachusetts, it being strictly a dry-goods house and not a bazar. The origin of the business was in 1842, and its founder, Henry H. Chamberhn, still lives in rugged old age. In 1850 Mr. Chamberlin associated with himself two of his former clerks, Lewis Barnard and George vSumner, under the firm name of H. H. Cham- berlin & Company. In 1852 the firm removed to Mr. Barnard's block (then just finished) on the opposite side of the street, and in 1853 the style became Chamberlin, Barnard & Company. In this location the establishment has remained to the present time, increasing its space as the growth of busi- ness demanded, until it now occupies the whole of the five-story block. In 1856 Mr. Otis E. Putnam was admitted a member of the firm, and in 1857 Mr. Chamberlin retired, and the name of Barnard, Sumner & Com- pany remained without change until 1892, when the concern was incorporated as the Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company. The premises occupied by the company comprise five floors, each 75 X170 feet. The building is of modern construction, well ventilated, lighted and heated, and is equipped with all the requirements and improvements needed in the transaction of the immense business carried on. Nearly 300 persons are employed, and many of the clerks and heads of departments have been in the service of the company many years. The Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company does an importing and jobbing- business as well as a retail trade, and handles everything comprehended LEWIS BARNARD. GEORGE SUMNER. OTIS E. PUTNAM. The Worcester of 1898. 415 BARNARD, SUMNER & PUTNAM COMPANY. under the general head of dry and fancy goods, from the artistic fabrics, embroideries, laces, etc., to the cheapest calicoes, flannels and domestics. Its dress-goods department has long been famous in this region, and in every other line in variety and quality its stock is unsurpassed by that of any other dry-goods store in this country. Ladies' suits, cloaks and millinery are well-known specialties. The house has a large mail-order business, and gives prompt service and other facilities to buyers equal to those of the largest metropolitan establishments. In the line of house-furnishing goods, sheetings, napkins, table-linens, car- pets and upholstery, curtains, tapestries, etc., this house stands unrivaled, and it frequently equips hotels and other public institutions in various parts of the country. Mr. Sumner died in 1893, and Mr. Barnard, the senior member of the firm, in 1897. The officers of the corporation at present are: Otis E. Put- nam, President and Treasurer; Edward P. Sumner, Vice-President; A. D. Putnam, Assistant Treasurer. JOSIAH H. CLARKE. The Worcester of 1898. 417 J. H. Clarke & Company. — The wholesale and retail dry-goods business now as formerly conducted under the firm name of J. H. Clarke & Com- pany, was established in 1846 by Newcomb, Thayer & Clarke. In 185 1 Mr. John B. Clarke became sole proprietor, and two years later the ownership was transferred to his brother, Josiah H. Clarke, who was for more than forty-four years identified with the business. In 1864 Mr. Thomas B. Eaton entered the firm and remained until 1882, and on his retirement Mr. Clarke formed a new co-partnership with H. A. Johnson and C. H. Carpenter, which continued imtil January, 1897, when Mr. Clarke withdrew, his interest being purchased by Messrs. Johnson, Carpenter and Thomas E. Knight, who now constitute the firm. For some years the store was located in the Partridge block, opposite the Central Exchange, but for a quarter of a century it has occupied its present location at No. 353 Main street, in the American House block. The business has always been conducted within the lines of the legitimate dry-goods trade, and a heavy stock and great variety of choice foreign and domestic fabrics are carried to meet the demands of a large wholesale and retail business. Custom dress and cloak making is an important branch, and one in which the firm maintains a high reputation. Two floors in the block are occupied for trade and manufact- uring purposes, and about thirty clerks and assistants are employed. The name of the establishment has always been a synonym for reliability and fair dealing. The senior member of the firm, Hannibal A. Johnson, son of Mark and Sarah (Simmons) Johnson, was born at Hallowell, Maine, June 4, 1841. He is a son of the Revolution through both his father's and mother's ancestry, two great-grandfathers, vSamuel Johnson and Ebenezer Mayo, serving in the war for independence, a patriotic record fitly supplemented by his own brilliant record in the War of the Rebellion. At the age of seventeen Mr. Johnson entered a dry-goods store in his native city. On the breaking out of the Civil War in i86r, he enlisted on the 25th of April, at Augusta, the State Capitol, as a private in Company B, Third Maine Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Oliver O. Howard. By slow promotion, as advancement had to be earned in this gallant regi- ment, he passed through all the non-commissioned grades, and as first sergeant of his company was given the Kearney cross by his division commander after two years' service in the field. At Gettysburg, while with his regiment in the most advanced position of the Federal troops during the second day's battle, he was captured, taken to Richmond, and confined at Belle Island for seven weeks. Later he was exchanged, returned to his regiment, and was commissioned as lieutenant. At the battle of the Wilderness he was with a brother officer recaptured by running into a South Carolina brigade while penetrating the Confederate lines for infor- mation of their strength and location, then of vital importance to the Federal commander; and the Confederate officers have since stated officially that they had great difficulty in preventing their men from shooting these Federals in their rash attempts to regain the Union lines. Lieu- tenant Johnson was taken to Macon, Georgia, and later with other officers 27 41! The \^'ORCESTER OF 1898. HANNIBAL A. JOHNSON. was placed under fire of our own guns at the siege of Charleston, South Caro- lina, to prevent if possible the bombard- ment of the city. He was then taken with others October ist to Columbia, and on the 20th of November with three other officers efTected his escape. After forty-nine days of intense suffering and hardship, he reached Knoxville on the yth of January, 1865. Thirty days after capture his regiment, after brilliant service in the principal and most bloody battles of the war from first Bull Run to Cold Harbor, was mustered out, but as soon as his health was restored from long confinement in Confederate prisons, Lieutenant Johnson again entered the service as first lieutenant and adjutant of the First Maine Battalion, and on the 5th of April, 1865, again went to the front. The war soon ended, but Lieutenant Johnson's command was retained in the South for a year, and in April, 1866, he was finally mustered out after a continuous service of nearly five years. In 1876 Lieutenant Johnson had his sword, captured at the Wilderness battle, returned to him by his former captors. Lieutenant Johnson returned to the dry-goods business in 1866, and for ten years he was employed in Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1876 he removed to Boston, where he was superintendent with Spalding, Hay & Wales until they gave up business. He then became buyer of foreign dress goods for Jordan, Marsh & Company, and in 1882 came to Worcester and formed a connection with J. H. Clarke & Company. Lieutenant Johnson is a Free Mason; a member of Post 10, G. A. R. ; Military Order of the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts; Society of the Army of the Potomac; Third Army Corps Union; and the Worcester Club. He married Emma Watts Lombard, daughter of Captain John and Martha (Given) Lombard, in 1S68, she also being a direct descendant from Rev- olutionary ancestry. They have one son, Walter L. Johnson. Charles Hudson Carpenter, the second member of the firm, who has been connected with the store for thirty-three years, was born in Douglas, Mas- sachusetts, son of Siba and Melinda Carpenter, October 4, 1839. He came to Worcester when a boy, and received his education in the public schools of the city. He entered into employment with Henry O. Clark, in the fancy dry-goods business then in the Dickinson building, but who removed soon after to the Clark, now the Walker building. Later Martin Stowe suc- ceeded to Mr. H. O. Clark's business, and upon his death Mr. H. L. Stowe purchased the stock of his uncle Martin's estate, Mr. Carpenter then engaging with the J. H. Clarke & Company, and remaining in that situation until he entered into the firm in 1882. The Worcester of 1898. 419 CHARLES H. CARPENTER. Mr. Carpenter early identified himself with the Methodist Church on Park street, and was one of the first official board of Grace M. E. Church, which was organized and for a time worshiped in Washburn Hall, with Reverend J. O. Peck, D. D., first pastor. Mr. Carpenter is now the only present official who has served continuously as steward or trustee to the present date, and has been honored with nearly every office in the church. He was one of the original members of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is a life member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association; Monta- cute Lodge, A. F. and A. M. ; Worcester Lodge of Perfection; and a member of Worcester Board of Trade. October 10, 1S60, Mr. Carpenter married Abbie L. Warden, daughter of the late John Warden, a well-known merchant tailor and real-estate owner of Worcester. Of two daughters, Minniola Louise died at the age of nine- teen, and Lillian Gertrude survives. Thomas Edward Knight, the junior member of the firm, was born at Knightville, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, September 22, 1851. His father, Thomas E. Knight, was a noted and extensive shipbuilder and a well- known Democratic politician in his time. He founded the village which bears his name, and died in 1867. His mother, Dorcas R. (Bradford), was in line of descent from Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony. Mr. Knight received his education in Portland, and was for several years clerk in Eastman Brothers & Bancroft's dry-goods store in that city. In 1874 he entered into the employ of Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company in Worces- ter, and remained in that situation- twenty-three years, until he formed the connection as a member of the firm of J. H. Clarke & Company in January, 1897. Mr. Knight is an Odd Fellow and a Free Mason, being connected with Mon- tacute Lodge, Eureka Chapter, Hiram Council, and Worcester County Com- mandery, Knights Templars. He married in February, 1877, Delia McKenzie, a native of Portland. They have two children: Roy E. and Ethel A^era Knight. THOMAS E. KNIGHT. 420 THi£ Worcester of 1898. Boston Store. — The rinn of Dcnholin & McKay Company opened a single dry and fanc}- goods store November 26, 1870, in the building since called the Walker building, at the corner of Main and Mechanic streets. William A. Denholm, the senior partner, had gained experience in this trade in (Glasgow and New York city. W. C. McKay was born in Kingston, Ontario, and had been a salesman for Churchill, Watson & Company, Bos- ton, before coming to Worcester. Soon after opening the store the sales- room was found too small, and the basement was htted up; in 1873 another enlargement was necessary — an archway was made to connect the adjacent THE BOSTON STORE. Store. This addition relieved for a few years the pressure of the increasing business. But in 1882 the quarters were found entirely inadequate. Efforts to purchase the building and the lot in the rear in order to increase facilities failed on account of the refusal of an abutter to yield his right of way. Since then J. H. Walker has succeeded, and the remodeled Walker build- ing is the result. At that juncture Jonas G. Clark oft'ered to build the block on Main street now occupied by the firm, and in the summer of 18S2 the block was built, and on September 21, 1882, the firm opened up in its new (juarters. Since then the store has been greatly enlarged, the entire building having The Worcester of 1898. 421 been leased and the firm occupying the greater part of it, a small office section being rented. The number of clerks has increased from eighteen in 1870 to between 400 and 500 at the present time. New departments have been added each year until there are now forty-three live and well-equipped separate departments under one roof. Many improvements have been made within the last few years — noticeably: The entire front remodeled, making the finest window front in all New England; a new electric light plant, which furnishes light and power; a new conservatory; new sprinkler system; Luxfer prisms installed in front and rear windows; and many others. The present officers of the corporation are: A. vSwan Brown, President; Irving Swan Brown, Vice-President; A. E. Flint, Secretary; R. J. McKay, Treasurer; J. E. Macdonald, Assistant Manager. The tremendous growth of the business has also in part been due to the Syndicate Trading Company, an organization of dry-goods houses that buys goods together and in great quantities and at very low rates, and so sell the more cheaply than can firms not in such a combination. The syndicate has twenty men in its New York office and twenty-four merchandise buyers in Europe, who are in constant intercourse with the commercial and manufac- turing centres of Europe, and so secure goods at a tremendous advantage. The Syndicate Trading Company was established in 1879, and Denholm & McKay were charter members. The company is commonly known as the "Scotch Syndicate." The Boston Store, as it has always been termed, is unquestionably one of the finest and best equipped establishments in all New England, and one in which Worcester justly takes pride. The John C. Maclnnes Company. — This establishment was founded in the year 1873, and at first occupied half of the ground floor of the Gross & Strauss building at 462 Main street. From year to year as the business expanded, other floors were taken until the entire four stories were brought into use, and within the past eighteen months the quarters have been further enlarged by the acquisition of the Gorham block on the north and the Buttrick and Whipple building on the south, all of the four stories of each being needed to meet the increasing demands of the trade. As a dry-goods department store it is excelled by no' other in the country in the quality and variety of its dress goods, silks and other fine fabrics. Ladies' suits and millinery are important branches, and imported goods are largely dealt in. Reliability and enterprise have from the beginning marked the progress of the concern. In 1S92 the business, which had to that time been carried on in the name of its founder, was incorporated as the John C. Maclnnes Company, with a paid-up capital of $;ioo,ooo, the officers of the corporation being John C. Maclnnes, President and Treas- urer; Albert A. Spaulding, Vice-President ; Charles A. Homer, Clerk; and the above with Alexander J. Moir as Directors. John Comrie Maclnnes, the founder, was born July 3, 1849, at Auchter- muthill farm on the Drummond Castle estate in Scotland. The Maclnnes family occupied this farm at the time of the rebellion of 1745 in favor of 422 The Worcester of 1898. JOHN C. MAClNNES. llie pretender, Charles Edward, and in consequence of the sympathy of the earl of Perth with his cause, the Drum- niond Castle estate was confiscated by the crown. The Maclnnes family, how- ever, continuc(l through several genera- tions to lease the farm until the death of Mr. Maclnnes' father in 1861. John C. Maclnnes served a four years' apprenticeship in the dry-goods business in Glasgow, and in 1868 came to the United States to engage with the well- known Scotch dry-goods firm of Callen- der, McAuslan & Troup at Providence, Rhode Island, remaining in that situation until his removal to Worcester to estab- lish business here. ^Ir. Maclnnes is a director in the Citi- zens National Bank and the Worcester & Marlborough Railroad Company, and is a member of the Commonwealth Club and the Worcester Board of Trade. He resides on Harvard street in the commodious house erected by the late A. D. Warren, and also owns a tine farm on Pakachoag hill in Auburn, where he has given some attention to the breeding of fine cattle, and is president of what is known as the Dutch Belted Cattle Association, an organization which comprehends numbers of distinguished breeders of this variety in different sections of the country. Albert A. Spaulding, vice-president of the corporation, was born in Ash- ford, Connecticut, October 14, 1853. Mr. Spaulding came to Worcester September 19, 1870, and served three years in the dry-goods business with Charles B. Eaton, where the State ]\Iu- tual building now stands; and also seven years with Denholm & McKay at their old stand, corner of Main and Mechanic streets, there gaining a thorough knowl- edge of the dry-goods business. He has been connected with Mr. Maclnnes since 1881, and has been very active in building up the business. He was a large share-holder when the corporation was formed in 1892, and was elected its vice-president. Charles A. Homer, one of the directors and clerk of the corporation, was born in Rutland, Massachusetts, and was well known in the dry-goods trade in Worces- ter previous to his engagement with Mr. Maclnnes in 1880. Hosiery, under- albert a. spaulding. The Worcester of 1898. 423 CHAR,_ES A. HOf^ER. wear and gloves are his special depart- ments, also the wholesale department is under his supervision, and his efforts have contributed to the general success of the establishment. Alexander J. ]Moir became a director of the company in 1892, after being in the store for seven years. Mr. Moir was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1870, and came to Worcester in 1885. His particular attention is given to the fancy goods department. D. H. Eames, the founder of the com- pany which bears his name, is a native of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and first came to Worcester to engage in business in 1846. On the first day of April, 185 1, he, in company with William D. Thayer, took possession of the then new store on Harrington corner, and began the long business career which is to-day without a parallel in the commercial life of Worcester. No one of Mr. Eames' contemporaries during the half century is occupying the same location he did in 1851; very few if any of his associates at that time are in active life now. Mr. Eames was for many years the sole pro- prietor of the store until the corporation was formed in February, 1897, and of which he became president. In the early years the custom and the ready-made clothing lines were combined, as was usual in such establishments; but in course of time, lack of room compelled the abandonment of the first, and the ready-made cloth- ing trade was made the exclusive interest in the business. It was necessary at dift'erent times to enlarge the store, then the basement, and finally to take rooms over an adjoining store, so that at present the quarters are probably five times as large as those which were first occupied. The basement room is nearly 100 feet long, with light at front and side, giving a salesroom equal to any in the city. The street floor is also used as a salesroom, and here is located the business office. The children's depart- ment on the upper floor, reached by elevator, is considered one of the best in New England, and is arranged espe- cially for the convenience of those who bring their children to this store. Mr. Eames was among the earliest of the merchants in this country to adopt Alexander j. moir. D. H. EAMES. The Worcester of 1898. 425 the one-price system, and also the custom of returning to his patrons their money in cases of dissatisfaction. Both of these rules have operated beneficially in establishing confidence in the reliability of the concern, and they demonstrate the wisdom of its founder. His reputation for trust- worthiness is universally acknowledged, and it has built up and retained a large patronage. From the first the business has constantly increased, and the concern is now ranked among the largest clothing-houses in New England. A large portion of the goods sold here is manufactured by the company at its factory in Boston, and products of the very best material and workmanship at lowest prices are thus assured. Mr. Eames has witnessed a great evolu- tion in the clothing-trade. Formerly the purchaser of a suit of clothes, if he desired complete satisfaction in material and make, had to rely on the ■custom tailor, and pay a price in accordance with the process involved. To-day the manufacture of clothing has been reduced to a system. The best artists in the country are employed, many of them receiving from ten to fifteen thousand dollars annual salary. This makes it possible for a man to replenish his wardrobe with ready-to-wear garments of better material, better make, and for less money than under the old methods. Brewer & Company, formerly Bush 8c Company, wholesale and retail ■druggists, with retail department at 56 Front street, and wholesale depart- ment (in same building) at 2 and 4 Commercial street, is the oldest drug -establishment in Worcester county. It was established in 1848 by the late William Bush, who at first made a specialty of the botanical part of the business. Later he took his brother into partnership under the firm name of Bush & Company. In 1888 E. A. Brewer purchased a half interest, and in 1891 became sole owner, but the business was carried on under the old name. December 8, 1897, the concern moved into the new building, erected by them in the same location as the old store, and the firm name was changed to Brewer & Company, formerly Bush & Company. During the past few years the business has greatly increased; particular attention is given to prescriptions, and in the retail department on the street floor medicines exclusively are sold without the accompaniment of confectionery, soda and fancy goods so common in drug-stores. The wholesale and manu- facturing departments and laboratory are models of convenience. The former is located in the basement, which is 176 feet long, with a freight- track the entire length, the whole well lighted. Here are stored the patent medicines and mineral waters. The manufacturing department, on the fourth floor, is mostly devoted to the making of tablets and elixirs for physicians' use. All the floors of the rear of the building are used by the concern, with the otifices in the second story, two floors for drugs and laboratory, and printing-oflice on the upper floor, all connected by elevators and telephones. In all its appointments it is one of the best equipped establishments of its kind in the country. Fifteen years ago only three or four were employed in the store; now the services of thirty- three are required. The Worcester of 1898. 427 Edwin Avery Brewer, the proprietor of this the largest drug-store in central Massachusetts, was born in Wilbraham October 28, 1853. He was the son of Mr. Edwin Bliss Brewer, who belonged to one of the oldest fami- lies in that town. Mr. Brewer came to Worcester in the spring of 1876, and entered as an apprentice the drug-store of David Scott, corner Main and Mechanic streets. In 1884 he became a clerk in the store of Bush & Company, and grew up with the business. Although Mr. Brewer's family is not now residing in Wilbraham, it still retains the old home farm of 150 acres, which is among the best farms in western Massachusetts. It has been in the family for five generations. Warden & Phelps. — The growth of Worcester has no doubt been in a con- siderable degree accelerated at dififerent times by the enterprising and progressive spirit of certain citizens, which has been manifested in the development of unim- proved tracts of land, and the opening for settlement of districts outlying yet adjacent to the city's thickly populated region. All increase in a town's surface extent and inhabited portion is by accre- tion, and this process accompanies the advancement of all civilized communities. There have been, during the fifty years of Worcester's city life, a number of undertakings in this line of more or less magnitude, not the least notable of which was the laying out in 1892 of Columbus park, by which a tract of sixty-eight acres north of Webster square was opened to purchasers of homes, eleven new streets laid out, and a residential suburb established offering all the attrac- tions of a quiet and refined neighborhood, assured by certain restrictions in building and preventive conditions against contaminating influences. The projectors of this enterprise were William A. Warden and Willis F. Phelps, both natives of Worcester. This suburb contains about seventy new homes at the present time. William A. Warden, son of John and Narcissa (Davis) Warden, was born IMarch 2, 1852. He was educated in the public schools of this city. At the age of twenty he entered into business for himself as a dealer in fancy goods in the city of Lynn, and later in the crockery business, first at 338 and afterwards at 546 ]\Iain street in this city. This business he sold out in 1885 to engage in the renting and care of several large estates, and in connection with this charge he carried on a general brokerage business in buying and selling real estate. In 1889 he formed a copartnership with Mr. Phelps, and they began to develop suburban property, first on Shrews- bury street, near Bloomingdale ; later on Eastern avenue, north of Belmont WILLIAM A. WARDEN. 428 The Worcester of 1898. RESIDETJCE OF VJ\LUAM A. VA-^RDEf;, 7 i:iRCUIT AVENUE, COLUMBUS PARK. INTERIOR VIEW WILLIAM A. WARDEN'S RESIDENCE. The Worcester of 1898. 429 WILLIS F. PHELPS. Street; Elm hill; fifty-four acres on Au- burn line; and finally Columbus park. Air. Warden is a justice of the peace and a notary public. He is connected with several Masonic orders, including the Knights Templars, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias; was for several years secretary of the Masonic Relief Association. He is a member of Trinity M. E. Church, and has been for many years one of its official board. He mar- ried in April, 1876, Ella M. Durfee of Fall River. They have three children living: Florence D., Charles Franklin and J. Emerson. Willis F. Phelps, son of the late Frank- lin F. and Sabra W. (Claflin) Phelps, was born August 18, 1850. He received his education in the public schools of this city. Later was with the Pacific Mail Company as purser on its line of steamers plying between San Francisco, Yokohama, Shanghai and Hong Kong. On his return to his native city he was for a number of years in the foundry business. He passed several years in the West, engaged in mining in Colorado and other mining states. In 1889 he entered into partnership with Mr. Warden for the purpose of developing real estate, and continues in that connection at the present time. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity. In 1874 he married Ella E. Hunt of Brattleboro, and they have one daughter, Ethel. The E. T. Smith Company. — The extensive wholesale grocery establish- ment conducted under the above name has grown out of small beginnings, until to-day it ranks second to no other concern in New England. • In 1858 Mr. E. T. Smith, now the president of the company, began in a small way as a retail grocer in a little store ten feet square at the corner of Shrews- bury and Mulberry streets. Gradually increasing his business, and entering into partnership with his brother Jesse, the firm dealt in lime and cement in addition to groceries, until, in i86S, the senior brother entered into the- jobbing line, and in 1870 relinquished the retail part to Jesse Smith, and taking as a partner the late Charles A. Bigelow, engaged from that time solely in the wholesale trade. On the death of Mr. Bigelow in 1885, a new partnership was formed with Charles F. Bigelow, a son of the former partner; Charles H. Robinson; Charles A. King; and Frank A. Smith, son of the founder. Mr. Robinson withdrew in 1895, and the following year the E. T. Smith Company was incorporated, with E. T. Smith as president and C. F. Bigelow, treasurer, and a capital of $100,000. Mr. Frank A. Smith is the buyer for the concern. In 1893 the firm relinquished the store at Shrewsbury and Mulberry streets and occupied the present building erected by them at the corner of Summer and Bridge streets, the impelling motive being direct communication with -430 The Worcester of 1898. the tracks of the Fitchhurg raih-oad, by which goods can be loaded and unloaded between the cars and their doors, saving many dollars annually to the company. The new l)uilding is three stories in height, and has 10,000 square feet of room on each floor. The basement is used for storage for the heavier goods. The street floor contains the offices and salesrooms, with departments for tea-testing, tobacco and cigars, extracts, etc. The second floor is used as a packing-room and storage for wooden-ware. On the third floor are the apparatus for roasting coffee and the spice-mills, one of the best plants in the country. The floor, walls and ceiling of this room are E. T. SMITH COMPANY, 203 SUMMER STREET. absolutely fireproof. The company deals largely in all the staples — teas, coffees and spices — and has established a reputation for reliability and fair dealing. In the course of its existence it has passed through all the various changes in methods of doing business and handling goods, from the time when most of the staples were sold in bulk to the present era of packages and canned articles, and has kept pace with all the improvements and inno- vations of the times. Probably twice the quantity of goods has to be handled to-day to render the same profit as was necessary fifteen years ago, and other changes common to this and other kinds of business have required an adjustment to new conditions which has been successfully accomplished by the managers of this company. Guy Furniture Company. — This company was incorporated in 1897 under .the State laws of Massac-husetts. Its capital is $75,000, and its oflicers The Worcester of 1898. 431 are W. P. Guy, President; E. G. Guy, Vice-President; and B. E. Guy, Secretary and Treasurer. This company has houses in Brockton and Springfield as well as in this citv. They are the outgrowth of a furniture business started in Brockton about twenty years ago, and the Brockton house is still the largest one of its line in that city. The Worcester business was started in a small way in 1887, occupying only its floor salesroom, and an idea of the business growth can be formed from the fact that the company's salesrooms now comprise seventeen, including basement — three entire blocks — besides extensive stock-rooms in rear buildings. The Springfield house was started later, and is now one of the largest in that city, and occupies five floors on the Main street. The Worcester house is the largest of the three and is the headquarters, the central house of the company, and is easily among the leading house- furnishing establishments of the State. It is located on Main street, Nos. 517 to 527. This firm carries a large stock of furniture, stoves, carpets, crockery, glass-ware, and all kinds of house furnishings, which they sell largely on the installment plan. The Messrs. Guy are Massachusetts men. The president of the company, W. P. Guy, lives in Springfield, while the vice-president and treasurer reside in Worcester. The E. G. Higgins Company stands at the head of all dealers in its line, not only in the city of Worcester, but it is the largest wholesale and retail wall-paper house in New England. The company's business is located at 274-278 Main street, occupying nearly the whole of that large building, the RESIDENCE OF MRS. F. B. KNOWLES, 842 MAIN STREET. ^AURORA," CHARLES F. STEVENS' APARTMENT BLOCK, 652-660 MAIN STREET. The Worcester of i! 433 floor space measuring about half an acre. It also has a branch house in Boston. The business was started in a small way by E. G. & F. W. Higgins in 1869, and by honest dealing a permanent, reliable and ever-increasing trade was built up. For nearly thirty years this firm has enjoyed the confidence of the trading community. F. W. Higgins retired from the firm in 1876, and for four years Mr. E. G. Higgins continued the business. In 1880 Francis E. Higgins purchased a half interest in the business, and a jobbing department was added. The name was changed to E. G. Higgins & Company. In 1884 Mr. F. E. Higgins made an extensive trip abroad for the purpose of studying the development of the art of interior decorating, and upon his return he extended this feature of their business. The E. G. Higgins Company was in- corporated in February, 1893, Mr. E. G. Higgins being elected president, and F. E. Higgins was chosen clerk and treas- urer; he also became the manager of the business, and by his energy, push and thorough system the trade has more than trebled in the past six years. This company is now the leading firm of its kind in the New England states, and the large assortment and heavy stock car- ried by them make their store the most desirable place to purchase paper-hang- ings and interior dedorations. They have four salesmen on the road, and their wholesale trade extends to all parts of New England, eastern New York, Canada and the provinces. They im- port goods direct from England, France, Germany and Japan, besides handling all the best American papers. Francis Elon Higgins, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, is the oldest son of Elon G. and Lucy Maria Higgins. He was born in Worcester October 15, 1851, and educated in the public schools of his native city. After leaving school he was employed in the office of the Ames Plow Company until 1869, when he entered his father's store, and, as stated above, he has grown up with the business. Mr. Higgins has done some work in oil and water-color painting, and was a charter member and for seven years the treasurer of the Art Students' Club. He is a member of the Commonwealth Club, Builders' Exchange and the Worcester Board of Trade. He is also a member of Quinsigamond Lodge, F. & A. M. On the 12th of October, 1885, ^^ was married to Miss Sarah C. Heald, and they have three children: Etha Hazel, Gladys and Francis Raymond. Their pleasant home is at 51 William street. FRANCIS E. HIGGINS. 434 The Worcester of 1898. Mercantile Agencies. — The primary function of mercantile agencies is to afford means for ascertaining^ the credit of persons engaged in business; but the purpose and effect are more comprehensive than the compilation and distribution to subscribers of a "black list." These agencies exert an important influence in the promotion of trade, as a systematic investiga- tion of the responsibility of those having commercial relations and the reports based upon it afford important data indicating the trend of business in general. These reports are consulted throughout the country, and are regularly quoted by the press. The printed volumes containing the commercial ratings are a great individual convenience and saving, as by THE "EVANS" APARTMENT BLOCK. them a merchant or manufacturer can at once ascertain the financial stand- ing of anyone in trade in any part of the country, without the delay or expense incident to a personal investigation by correspondence or otherwise. Worcester is well provided in this respect. The agency of Edward Russell, now absorbed by the R. G. Dun Company, has had an office in this city for several years. The Rradstreet Company, which formerly included Worcester in its Boston district, now has an office in Worcester. This company, by a uniform system, covers all parts of the United States, and maintains branches in (Ireat Britain, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Austria and Australia. The "Evans." — The writer has long believed that the usual method of con- structing buildings is defective, and that one of the worst enemies to their The Worcester of 1898. 435 permanency, "shrinkage," could in a great measure be prevented. The matter seemed so important that on the large buildings erected by him, he has tried to reduce this difficulty to a minimum. Until the erection of the "Evans," his plans have met with but partial success. In the case of the "Evans" they were successful. His architects, Messrs. Barker & Nourse, gave their consent that while the drawing of the plans and writing of the specifications were in progress, he might be present and supervise the whole matter, which he did. Again he was favored in letting the contract to build the block to a builder, Mr. George Hubbard, whose reputation for following plans and specifications and for doing good work was all the writer could desire. Mr. Hubbard entered upon his work fully understand- ing what was expected of him, as did all his sub-contractors, and at the completion the writer had the long-desired building; and now after eight winters of steam heat we have a structure that sho.ws no greater sign of shrinkage, such as cracks in wall and ceiling, settling of floors, doors refusing to work properly, etc., etc., than at the time of completion. To accomplish this result we start with a good foundation for walls and parti- tions, and then as we go up, the floor joist and partition above rest on the partition studding below, and so on up to and including the roof, so that every floor joist might be removed, and our building, including partitions and roof, remains. The skrinkage is confined to its own flooring and not added to by each additional floor. With the usual and common practice of taking the timber full of water from the saw-mill, and as rapidly as may be constructing the building to the roof, setting the partition studding upon the floors, thus adding the shrinkage of floor after floor to the structure, it is not remarkable that cracks are found in the walls, increasing in size as we near the top; uneven floors; doors continually out of order; plumbing, gas piping and electric reduced to disorder, calling for almost constant repairs. The "Evans" is not one of these. This of which I have w^ritten is not seen in the finished building; the result of this careful preparation can be seen in the stability of the finished structure. The article published in the ]\^o?'ccstcr Coviincrcial and Board of Trade Bulletin^ J^ily^ 1892, "Beautiful Homes .of Worcester," will apply to the "Evans" to-day just as truly as when written, and we will close by copying a portion of that article: "One of the finest apartment houses in this city is that of H. H. Hough- ton, on the corner of Main and Hammond streets, lately completed. The 'Evans' is a structure of imposing appearance, constructed of brick with brownstone trimmings, and embodies several improvements in convenience and sanitary conditions. The arrangements for disposing of the dust and ashes, and the ventilating facilities of the building have received special attention, and the results will undoubtedly be appreciated by all concerned. "The 'Evans' has a frontage of 69 feet on Main street and 70 feet on Hammond street, with bay windows on both fronts, and is so situated that no buildings in the immediate vicinity could obstruct the excellent view from its windows. The main entrance on Main street is reached bv a flight The Worcester of 1898. 437 of granite steps, flanked by nickel rails, and the doorway is supplied with all the modern conveniences in the way of electric bells and speaking-tubes. The public hall is finished in oak, and contains, besides a spacious stairway, one of the Hutchins Machine Company's new and improved passenger elevators, which runs to the fourth floor. The private halls, parlors and sitting-rooms are finished in red birch, while the sleeping-rooms are finished in ash. " The two lower tenements have a basement, which is entered from Main street on the street level, which contains the dining-room and kitchen, with all the modern conveniences in set-tubs, bowls, etc. Upstairs are located the parlors, sitting-rooms, music-rooms and sleeping-rooms of the lower tenements. Each tenement contains ten rooms, with the closets, etc., indispensable to good housekeeping. "The remaining three floors are occupied by six tenements of eight rooms each, all of them as complete in detail as the two lower ones, and each sup- plied with a separate piazza. The ash-chutes are on an improved plan, thereby avoiding the dust attendant upon the use of the old methods. The bath-rooms are equipped with a cold-air ventilator in the floor, a constant current of air being kept up by a hot-air flue, which makes the supply of fresh, pure air all that could be desired. "The building is heated by steam, and fitted up with wires for electric lighting as well as with gas piping, while the system of speaking-tubes, electric bells, dumb-waiters, etc., makes communication easy. "The 'Evans' was named after Charles Evans Houghton, a son of Mr. H. H. Houghton, who died at the age of eleven years." WILLOW PARK. The following reference to an interesting locality, the natural features of which are now being obliterated by the march of improvement, is extracted from a description written several years since : Willow Park, connected with the vSouth Main street residence of Thomas H. Dodge, Esq., is an attractive place. The merry sound of the water fall- ing from the fountain into the basin below ever greets the eye and ear of the passerby from night to morning of each day and night of the year. At the south end of the basin and park stands the "ancient willow," whose roots have derived life and nourishment from the crystal waters of the natural spring from which the fountain is supplied and the basin kept full. The late Professor Thompson believed the water came from great and un- known depths, rising through a crevice formed by volcanic action in Oread's rocky base, and from which place the water is now conducted in a four-inch pipe to the fountain in Willow Park, an engraving of which we give, together with a very touching and suggestive poem, "To the Ancient Willow," by Harriet Prescott Spofiford, whose writings the people of the United States have delighted to peruse, and Worcester people will read with enhanced 438 The Worcester of 1898. interest her feeling tribute to one of the marked objects of nature in the Heart of the good old Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To rnK Ancient Wii.iow. 1Ia««I1:T I'RItSCOTT Sl'OIFOKD. Streams from earth's most secret place, Poured at Oread's rocky base, Filled thee with the vital force Of the planet's deathless course Ages gone, till thou hadst grown And made the upper skies thine own. And still thy tender vernal shoots Take the thrill those eager roots Feel, deep hidden from the sun. Where those crystal sluices run. Who thy mj-stic rede shall spell. Who thy generations tell ? Haply in the open glade The lover of some dusky maid Cast thee once, a supple wand. O'er thee since what days have dawned, What innumerable hours White with storm and gray with showers. Mornings bursting rosy bars. Purple evenings sown with stars ! Long ago, from ambush sprung. Through thy depths the war-whoop rung ! Awful lights about thee blazed When the braves their war-song raised ! Round thee curled what clouds of fleece When they smoked their pipe of peace ! Cobwebs in the vanished gleam. Less than shadows of a dream. Even their dust is blown away, — Thou and thy green branches stay ! Thou hadst known how many springs Of building birds and darting wings When thy great tops caught the fires Of freedom's sunrise, and our sires For a cause that w^as the Lord's Turned their sickles into swords ! Thou hast seen those conquering men Beat their swords to plowshares then. And the hamlet in its health Grow a mighty commonwealth ! Rent was all thy ancient mail. Familiar of the winter gale. That night the bell-towers' wild alarms Called a nation into arms. And trembling to the squadrons' tread Earth made ready for her dead. Torn and twisted, gnarled, yet green, Living ruin, thou hast seen Empire from sea to sea complete And history pausing at thy feet. Alas, alas, we come and go, And still thy yellow tassels blow, Still shall thy quickening reddening sprays Be first to promise genial days Of April, with her bright face wet. And the remembered violet. Still shalt thou toss thee grey and hoar When ruffling winds across thee soar In thy undying life, while we Fall like thj^ leaves, old Willow Tree ! DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING. By THE Honorable Charles G. Washburx.* D HE great development of Worcester as a manufacturing community- has taken place within the past seventy years, for prior to 1830 manufactures were of the most primitive kind; this was also true of the country at large. The attitude of England before the Revolution towards any attempt to manufacture by the colonists was well expressed in a remark made by the Earl of Chatham that the " colonists had no right to manu- facture so much as a single horseshoe nail." This policy was carried into effect by oppressive legislation, which has been said by an eminent historian to have been the real cause of the Revolution rather than the irritating measures which followed Mr. Grenville's plan of taxation. Some idea of the absolute lack of manu- facturing industries in this country, prior to the Revolution, is sug- gested by the fact that in 1767 it was recommended that the people engage in the making of potash, for the purpose of securing an article of export with which to pay for imports from Great Britain. Works for the manufacture of potash were established as early as 1 760 in different parts of Worcester, and Pleasant street was once known as Potash hill. The manufacture of paper to meet local wants was entered upon at an early day. At a convention of delegates from towns in Worcester county held May 3, 1775, it was voted that the erection of a paper-mill in the county would be of great public advantage. The manufacture of paper was carried on in Sutton in 1778, and Isaiah Thomas, who conducted a large business as printer and publisher in Boston and Worcester, and who published the Spy, began the manu- facture of paper in 1793 at the water privilege in Quinsigamond Village. But up to the time of the Revolution almost everything, excepting food and the ruder kinds of cloth, was imported, principally from England. The enforced cessation of commercial intercourse with England by reason of the war stimulated such manufacturing interests as were in existence, and led to the establishment of new ones. * See sketch in Biographical Department. CnARLtS G. WAbHBURN. The Worcester of 1898. 441 But upon the declaration of peace in 1783, the importation of foreign rgoods bade fair to destroy the business of our domestic manufactures, and the want of a strong national government with power to establish and enforce a uniform tariff system was keenly felt. By no class of people was the prospect of a constitution more warmly welcomed than by the manufacturers, mechanics and trades people, and the Federal Constitution was adopted in Massachusetts largely through their influence. A decided impulse was given to manufacturing by the embargo declared in 1807, by the complications then existing between this coun- try and France and England, and by the War of 18 12, which led to an almost complete stoppage of importations. I have said enough to indicate the general conditions prevailing and the simple mechanical industries of Worcester prior to 1820, which were only sufficient to supply the wants of a small community. Up to this time the industries of Worcester were very much the same as those ■of every New England town. Indeed, it was not until 1820 that Worcester became the largest of the towns in the county. The census of lyS^-yG gave Worcester the fifth place in population, following Sutton, Lancaster, Mendon and Brookfield. In 1790, 1800 and 18 10 Worcester stood third, Brookfield and Sutton preceding. In 1820 Worcester took first place, and from that time until the present has had a constantly increasing percentage of the population of the county. The history of the mechanical industries of Worcester from 1820 until 1898 is the history of the growth of a village of 3,000 to a city of upwards of 100,000, an increase from the production of the food and •clothing necessary for her own inhabitants to an annual product of upwards of $40,000,000 scattered through every state in the Union, and to be found in almost every civilized country on the face of the globe. It is a matter of surprise that so large a community could develop where the water-power is so limited. Our own people, even, thought that this would be fatal to our growth. It is related that the late Judge Merrick once said to vSamuel Slater that Worcester never could become a manufacturing town because of the lack of water-power, and that Mr. Slater replied : " Mr. Merrick, you may live to see the time when Worcester will need all the water of Mill brook to provide the steam for her steam engines." As Judge Merrick lived until 1867, this prophecy was pretty literally fulfilled. It is difficult to realize that W. A. Wheeler, who is credited with liaving had the first steam-engine in the State west of Boston, should 442 The Wurchster of 1898. have discarded it in 1825 and used horse-power until 1840, when he put in another engine. The late W. T. Merrifield at the same time put in an engine of from four to six horse power. These were probably the first efficient steam-engines in town. The rapid growth of Worcester as a manufacturing city is most largely dine to the following causes: 1. The introduction of steam-power. 2. The building of railroads. 3. The facilities afforded to men with small means to begin business. 4. The character of the people. The necessity for means of communication with the seaboard was recognized by our enterprising people at a very early day. The plan of making a navigable waterway to both Boston and Providence was sug- gested as early as 1796. Work was begun upon the Blackstone canal in 1822, and w-as completed in 1828, and on October 7th of that year- the first canal boat, the "Lady Carrmgton," arrived from Providence and moored in the basin on Central street. The canal was used for twenty years, the last toll having been collected in November, 1848. The Boston & Worcester railroad was completed and the first train run to Worcester July 6, 1835, and the road was extended to Springfield in 1839. The Norwich & Worcester railroad was first operated between Worcester and New London March 9, 1840. The Providence & Worcester railroad began operations October,. 1847; the Worcester & Nashua railroad December 18, 1848; and the- Boston, Barre & Gardner September 4, 1871. There are now at least five outlets and thirteen routes to the West. Before the opening of the canal and the building of the railroads, the only communication between Worcester and other places was by wagon, or stage. Prior to 181 3 there was no stage or mail route between! Worcester and Providence, and a stage route begun in 18 14 was later abandoned, as it did not pay, but was resumed in 1823. In 1827 there were eighteen different lines of stages running from Worcester, and the passengers averaged 100 daily. Without facilities for shipping her products at small cost to distant points, Worcester manufactures could never have grown beyond the needs of the rural population. In 18 12 it cost $10 per ton per 100 miles to move freight. To-day a hundred pounds of freight can be carried from Worcester to Chicago for no more than it costs to send a trunk across the street. The third reason which I have given for the rapid growth of Worces- ter as a manufacturing city, is the facilities which have been afforded The Worcester of 1898. 443 to mechanics to begin business in a small way without incurring the expense incident upon the erection and equipment of a shop, and there are few manufacturing enterprises in Worcester that have not at one time or another occupied room in buildings erected for rent with power to a number of tenants. The first of these buildings, the old Court Mills, erected some time prior to 1832 and located at Lincoln square, was occupied at one time or another by the Messrs. Goes, manufacturers- of wrenches; Ruggles, Nourse & Mason, makers of agricultural imple- ments; Thomas E. Daniels, maker of planing machines; Samuel Flagg,. pioneer maker of machinists' tools in Worcester, RESIDENCE OF GEORGE H. BURTIS, 4 GERMAIN STREET. The Merrifield buildings, most widely known of all, were built in 1835, and rebuilt after the fire of 1854. In 1859 they were occupied by over fifty firms employing from two to eighty hands each. A building for the same purpose was erected by Doctor Heywood on Central street about 1846. The stone shop at the Junction lately occupied by the Knowles Loom Works was erected in 185 i, and first and last has been occupied by a large number of tenants. An enumeration of the causes which have contributed to the growth and prosperity of Worcester would not be complete without some reference to the character of the people who have been prominent in her affairs. Worcester is essentially a manufacturing city, and it is to her successful mechanics that her prosperity has been most largely due.. 444 The Worcester of 1898. The manufacturing interests of Worcester, almost without exception, began in a small way, and through careful and intelligent management have, some of them, become known the world over. There was very early manifested on the part of our mechanics a disposition to secure opportunities to educate themselves. About 18 19 -a number of young mechanics who had been active in reforming the schools and establishing a lyceum and temperance society, made an attempt to form a mechanics' association. This failed. But in 1841 a public meeting was held to consider the matter, which resulted in the formation of a successful association, and in the completion in 1857 of Mechanics Hall, so conspicuous in the history of the city. The object of the association was "the moral, intellectual and social improvement of its members, the perfection of the mechanic arts, and the pecuniary assistance of the needy." Steps were taken to establish a library and an annual course of lectures. The first lecture was delivered by Elihu Burritt, then a resident of Worcester, and was upon the importance of educating the mechanics and workingmen of the country. From that time to the present the Mechanics Association has provided a course of lectures •every winter, besides instruction in drawing, for the benefit of ambitious young mechanics. Another object in forming the association was the holding of an .annual fair for the exhibition of the mechanical products of the city. The first fair was held fifty years ago, in September, 1848, and was very successful. The reports of the judges were printed and circulated, creating a wide knowledge of and consequently large demand for the products of Worcester mechanics. Another illustration of the public spirit of the mechanics of Worcester is found in the fact that among the contributors to the fund to provide a suitable location for the Polytechnic Institute were workmen in twenty of the then largest shops and factories. To know all the causes contributing to the prosperity of Worcester, we must look without as well as within. Were there no markets or means for reaching them, it would be useless to establish factories. The necessary market for our products has been furnished in an enormous territory and a rapidly growing population ; means for reaching the market have been supplied in ample railroad facilities, and the national govern- ment has, by tariff legislation, promoted the growth of our industries. The Louisiana purchase of 1 803 more than doubled the territory of the United States. The Mexican cessions of i848-'53 added two-thirds as much territory as we originally possessed. Threading this vast area in every direction are 184,428 miles of rail- road and 243,441 miles of track, to say nothing of the commerce of the The Worcester of 1898. 445. Great Lakes and of our larger rivers. Telegraph and telephone lines form an aerial network, which covers the country like a web. A journey to the equator can be taken to-day in less time and with less inconvenience than a journey from Boston to Washington when John Adams was president. Correspondence can be conducted to-day by wire with vSan Francisco with a smaller expenditure of time than by letter with Boston seventy years ago. The merchandise transported by rail in the United States is double that of all other nations of the earth combined, and freight charges in 1890 were less than ninety-three cents per ton per mile, one-half the customary charge in Europe, against $10 per ton per mile in 18 12. Another of our beneficent institutions, shared in common with all the people of the United States, but which has in very large measure stimu- lated our mechanics, is our national patent system, under which the individual, in return for the benefit bestowed upon the community, can secure to himself for a limited period the exclusive right to his inven- tions. A large number of patents have been issued to Worcester mechanics, and this incentive to discover and adapt to practical uses new methods and new mechanisms has been very potent in keeping our factories at the very highest point of efficiency. I have been asked to write an introduction to the description in detail, which will follow, of the individual manufacturing industries of Worcester, and this confines me to a general statement of the condi- tions under which Worcester has grown and prospered, but will per- haps permit of brief mention of the humble manner in which some of our more conspicuous industries had their beginning. The wire business was commenced in 1831 by Ichabod Washburn and Benjamin Goddard on a small water privilege in Northville, where they made card wire and wire for screws. The business was in 1835 removed to its present location on Grove street, and since then has grown to its present large proportions, contributing to the support directly and indirectly of perhaps one-sixth of the population of Worces- ter, and known the world over. All this has been done with local capital, thrift and enterprise. An interesting illustration of what large results may follow from apparently accidental circumstances, is found in the following incident: Sometime during the year 1831, Mr. Washburn, Mr. Goddard and General Nathan Heard made an arrangement with three brothers named Read, who were manufacturing screws in Providence under a patent they owned, to move their business to Worcester. This they did, bringing the machinery up from Providence on a canal boat, the -446 The Worcester of i8g8. journey occupying- three days. The business was located in the North- ville factory of Washburn & Goddard, where the wire was made. Subsequently, in 1836 or 1837, the screw business was moved back to Providence, and became the nucleus of the Eagle, now the American Screw Company. Had this business been kept here, it would have been of the greatest value to the city. The manufactttre of paper machinery, now so important an industrv, came about in the following manner: Isaac Goddard was apprenticed to Elijah Burbank at Uuinsigamond to learn paper-making. In 1836 he came to Worcester, and in company with Mr. Howe began to make paper-machinery at the old red mills on Green street. They subsequently moved to the factory on Union street, where the business was conducted under the name of Goddard, Rice & Company, and their successors are now widely known as the Rice, Barton & Fales Machine Company. Doctor R. L. Hawes of Worcester was at one time the New York agent for Goddard & Rice, and there saw some hand-made envelopes. Doctor Hawes thought that he could make envelopes by machinery, and returning to Worcester built an envelope-machine in the shop of Goddard & Rice, on which a patent was issued in 1853, the third United States patent on a machine for making envelopes. This led to the development in this city of the great envelope industry which has been so large a factor in our prosperity. In 1840 the late vSamuel Davis happened to meet in Boston William Crompton, father of the late George Crompton. Mr. Crompton was looking for someone to build his loom, and Mr. Davis recommended Phelps & Bickford of Worcester, who subsequently arranged to manu- facture the loom on a royalty. Worcester looms are now known the world over. One would expect to find in close proximity the manufacture of card- clothing and card-wire. The making of card-clothing was, from earlv times, the chief industry in the neighboring town of Leicester, whence the Earles moved to Worcester in 1843, ^^d continued the business here. The existence of a foundry in Worcester as early as 1825 led Samuel Flagg to move his machine shop from West Boylston to Worcester in 1839 ^'■^ save cartage on his castings. He located in Court Mills as lessee of Samuel Davis, and made hand and engine lathes. As an indication of the insufficient equipment of a machine-shop in those days, it may be stated that ^Ir. Flagg had no planer when he commenced business, but did that work by hand-chipping and filing. This was the beginning of the manufacture here of machinists' tools, for which Worcester has been well and widelv known. The Worcester of 1898. 447 The brothers Goes, both born in Worcester, invented and patented a ■w^rench about 1840, which was the basis of their extensive manufactur- ing interests at New Worcester. The manufacture of the Daniels planer in Court Mills by Thomas Daniels, the inventor, in 1839, has led to the manufacture here of wood- "working machinery. Ethan Allen was attracted to Worcester in 1847, and began the manufacture of firearms, which subsequently became an important busi- ness, and here invented the first set of machinery ever devised for making metallic cartridges. In 1857 the firm of S. C. & vS. Winslow ventured to make twenty-five pairs of skates in their machine shop in Merrifield building. This was the beginning of the Samuel Winslow Skate Manufacturing Company. The manufacture of Brussels carpets was suggested by the invention liere in 1870 of a loom for weaving them. These brief references are sufficient to indicate how natural and healthy has been the growth of the manufacturing industries of Worcester. It is difficult to realize that within so short a time, and largely through the enterprise and sterling character of her own citizens, such great results have been accomplished. Honest, industrious, shrewd, public- .spirited and benevolent have been the men who have made Worcester what she is. Their works will live long after them, and their example "will lend inspiration to succeeding generations. RESIDENCE OF A. H. HAMMOND, 9 CLAREMONT STREET. ALBERT CURTIS. INDUSTRIES OF WORCESTER. nHE following tables, furnished by Honorable Horace G. Wadlin, chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, show the growth and changes in manufacturing in Worcester by decades since 1837. The information is transcribed directly from the census returns, but in the early years as compared with the later is, of course, less complete; nevertheless, it is all that is available. The early censuses were not taken with the care which now characterizes such work. For that reason comparisons indicating growth by decades are somewhat mis- leading. Industries of Worcester — 1837. Classification of Goons Made. Number of Establish- ments. Amount of Capital Invested. Value of Goods Made. Number of Persons Employed. Bonnets, straw. i $1,000 Boots and shoes, — — 59,020 122 Chairs and cabinet work 3 — 18,300 21 Coaches and chaises. 2 $25,000 60,000 40 Cotton goods. 3 45,500 62,182 81 Cutlery, . I 2,000 3,500 6 Hats, 4 — 33,200 3^ Hats, palm-leaf. — • — 1,000 — Iron castings, I 12,000 30,000 20 Lead pipe. I 5,000 1 1,000 5 Machinery, paper, . I 5,000 10,000 10 Machinery, woolen. 9 75,000 240,000 160 Paper, 2 23,000 54,815 22 Plows, I — 9,000 7 Tin-ware, 3 — 18,300 14 Wire, . I 25,000 45,000 35 Woolen goods. 8 99,500 360,352 225 Totals, .... $1,016,669 800 450 The Worcester of 1898. Industries of Worcester — 1845. Classikication oi' Goods Made. Number of Establish- ments. Amount of Capital Invested. Value of Goods Made. Number of Persons Employed. Artisans' tools. _ $12,000 8 Blind fastenings, etc., . — $400 2,400 3 Brass foiindrv work, . ■ . r 400 2,000 3 Brick, . ' . — — 28,000 40 Boots and shoes, — — 288,500 685 Boxes, fancy, .... — 500 2,500 5 Card-presses, hand, — 2,000 4,000 4 Card-presses, machine, . — 5,000 18,000 4 Cards, ..... 2 7,000 22,000 8 Carpetings, .... — 7,000 26,000 1 1 Chairs and cabinet work. 3 ^5^500 27,500 28 Cordage, .... I 1,500 4,000 4 Cotton goods. 3 53,200 45,184 97 Doors, sashes and blinds. • — 8,500 16,500 23 Firewood, .... — 9,254 8 Hats and bonnets, straw. — — 10,000 10 Hats and caps, 5 I 1,600 24,752 32 Hollow-ware and castings, 47.500 134,500 135 Japans and varnishes. ■ — 1,000 7,500 I Locks, ..... 2 2,700 6,000 1 1 Lumber, .... — ■ — • 6,000 8 Machinery, .... 12 89,800 310,000 239 Monuments, marble. — 2,200 5,000 7 Musical instruments. — 100 300 1 Paper, ..... I 11,000 30,000 12 Paper-hangings, — 2,500 6,500 7 Plows, ..... I 10,000 48,000 35 Presses, letter, — 1,600 3,500 4 Pumps, copper and wooden, . — 700 2,500 6 Railroad cars, etc., 5 67,450 221, 100 127 Reeds and harnesses, 1,500 8,000 25 Saddles, harnesses and trunks. 4 2,000 7,500 12 Sieves and wire-work, — 3,000 8,000 1 1 Soap and tallow candles, 2 2,000 4, 100 4 Stone, building, — — 23,500 51 Tin-ware, .... 6 8,600 38,500 26 Tobacco, snufif and cigars, — — 4,000 8 Trusses, ..... — 1,000 350 I Umbrellas, . . . . — 3,000 4,500 6 Wheels, water. — 3,000 5,000 5 Whips, — — 1,500 2 Wire, — 60,000 I 10,000 51 Wooden-ware, — — 7,250 10 Woolen goods, 6 — 194,040 U3 Totals, . . . . $1,739,730 1911 The Worcester of 1898. 451 Industries of Worcester — 1855. ji ^ 0) •■>-> Classification of Goods Made. Number Establish ments. mount Capital nvested. J umber o Persons m ployed < ^ •^ 7^ W Artisans' tools, _ $448,424 334 Beer, — — 6 000 10 Blacking, .... - — ■ — 2 000 2 Boots and shoes, — $176,000 1, 160 970 1446 Boxes (paper and wooden), . 4 3,500 19 165 19 Brass founding. 2 1,500 II 750 6 Bread, cake and pastry. 6 7,800 74 500 29 Brick, — ■ — 32 450 55 Camphene, .... I 1,000 — I Cards (machine), . 2 31,600 63 000 15 Carriages and wagons, . 6 85,200 203 000 141 Chairs and cabinet work, 4 7,000 20 000 20 Cigars, — — 7 950 13 Clocks, watches and jewelry. I 3,000 10 000 3 Cordage, .... I 2,500 — 3 Cotton goods, 3 — 104 120 139 Cutlery, I 500 2 000 2 Currying, .... 3 10,000 95 000 18 Daguerreotypes, 7 7,000 — 14 Doors, sashes and blinds. 2 4,000 25 000 25 Earthen and stone ware. I 8,000 18 000 16 Firearms, .... 4 55^000 130 000 194 Firewood, .... — 25 430 41 Gas, ..... I 90,000 22 000 6 Hats and caps. 5 15,000 — 55 Hollow-ware and castings. 5 90,000 479 000 190 Hosiery and knit goods. I 3,000 21 500 17 Lumber, .... — — 1 1 000 5 Machinery (cotton and woolen) 7 T55,ooo 373 000 190 Musical instruments, 4 12,000 27 000 26 Paper, ..... I 3,000 16 000 8 Plows, etc., .... I 1 10,000 500 000 225 Rolling, slitting and nail mills. 83,000 332 500 82 Saddles, harnesses and trunks, 8 8,800 39 800 50 Soap and tallow candles. 4 6,500 18 000 22 Stone (building). 16 310 36 Tanneries, .... I 4,000 8 000 5 Tin-ware, .... 9 11,500 34 500 34 Upholstery, .... 3 4,600 12 000 1 1 Whips, , . . . . — — n 000 2 Woolen goods. 6 — 287 070 — - Miscellaneous manufactures, . 55 237,800 939 500 1701 Totals, .... $5,598,939 5211 452 The Worcester of 1898. Industries of Worcester — 1865. Industrik.s. Agricultural implements, Arms and ammunition, Artificial teeth & dental work. Artisans' tools, Boots and shoes, . Boxes (paper and wooden), . Brick, tiles and sewer pipe, . Brooms, brushes and mops, Building, . . . . Burial cases, caskets, coffins, Carriages and wagons. Chemical prep, (compounded) Clocks, watches and jewelry. Clothing, Cordage and twine, Cotton goods. Earthen, plaster & stone ware Fancy articles, etc., Food preparations. Furniture, Gas and residual products. Hair work (animal and hu man). Leather, Liquors: malt, distilled and fermented, Lumber, ... Machines and machinery, Metals and metallic goods. Models, lasts and patterns. Musical instru. & materials Paper and paper goods. Photographs and materials Polishes and dressing, . Printing, pub. & bookbinding- Railroad cons, and equip.. Saddlery and harness, . Scientific instru. & appliance Stone, .... Tallow, candles, soap, grease Tobacco, snuff and cigars. Whips, lashes and stocks. Wooden goods, Woolen goods. Totals. lis :3 en g 4 7 10 13 49 3 3 I 63 3 I 4 10 66 I 3 I I 17 I 3 5 3 4 32 53 2 4 3 10 2 16 8 8 4 9 8 6 I 13 14 484 So c < ^ $206,000 227,000 5,550 256,950 418,026 16,500 6, 100 5,000 14,600 7,750 16,000 4,000 4,650 1 14,800 800 105,500 7,000 2,000 48,500 25,500 203,521 400 31,500 3, 100 5,000 444,300 1,290,900 10,750 27,900 37,500 12,500 1,500 28,400 103,550 8,350 2,600 16,800 4,250 12,100 800 24,000 850,000 h6n,947 o ^ 13 -^ $470,400 86,500^ 3^5,334 1,658,904 15,500 250 6,000 211,745 5,700 8,000 2,080 218,013 4,oool 55,775] 3,500; 3,000; 100,024! 29,225! 25,926 700I 65.500 350 807,831 1,810,830 5,340 22,550 104,750 45,166 2,107 38,885 217,697 9,500 3,900 9,607 30,350 20,800 800 10,138 1,194,870 o rt § >§ I $7,621,547 $783 449 19 804 2,586 26 20 14 408 18 27 12 12 409 6 70 10 4 364 62 55 I 86 1,846 3,813 17 88 151 90 4 210 378 21 7 42 43 45 2 35 2,255 442 777 300 889 383 000 900 000 430 167 500 000 500 081 OOOj 275! 000! 800 572 637 589 475 920 469 906 254 100 000 752 300 733 466; 249J 350 955 200 600 000 171 857 o .. -a ■- a 9 290 328 16 493 1940 24 31 18 317 15 15 6 16 1527 3 90 7 7 93 34 13 $15,317,099 3 24 939 1616 14 46 84 55 3 95 128 24 6 55 15 30 2 734 9232 Currency values: Currency value of $i.oo in gold, $i.57- The Worcester of ii 453 Industries of Worcester — 1875. Industrip:s. liber ;ablish- unt of pital ;sted. ue of 5 Made nd Done. ber of sons loyed. ■5 'A Pi aj 3"^ n g ^> 13'^ --^ S 5 a. S^ So s > § ^^ S 5 < ^ $247,150 Z W <■" Arms and ammunition, $166,000 227 $'45,803 Artificial teeth & dental work, 9 8,455 11,175 * * Artisans' tools. 20 728,925 593,716 154 '05,923 Boots and shoes, . 85 1,677,336 5,402,312 2,290 I, 182,987 Boxes (paper and wooden), . 3 43,000 140,000 62 40,704 Brick, tiles and sewer pipe, . 6 25,000 44,300 * * Building, .... 170 234,430 1,744,185 753 434,871 Burial cases, caskets, coffins, 6 24,500 62,123 * * Carpetings, .... 5 131,000 313,400 100 43,384 Carriages and wagons. 25 68,625 181,532 90 58,917 Clocks, watches and jewelry. 38 7,585 31,223 24 11,895 Clothing, .... 100 244,568 840,351 813 339.026 Cotton goods. 4 56,000 138,885 176 53,708 Drugs and medicines. 6 30,350 35,036 4 2, 241 Fancy articles, etc., 3 5,000 19,400 * * Food preparations. 54 363,464 2,340,796 253 110,582 Furniture, 19 155,950 324,492 103 68,826 Leather, 7 223,500 415,260 86 55,095 Liquors and beverages (not spirituous), . 4 20,500 83,880 * * Machines and machinery, 54 1,571,200 1,875,256 1,093 709,144 Metals and metallic goods, . 75 2,091,012 2,430,481 1,767 871,859 Models, lasts and patterns, . 6 81,300 78,045 * * Musical instruments and ma- terials, .... 12 360,450 488,300 258 200,366 Paper and paper goods. 2 150,000 489,993 '75 67,401 Perfumes, toilet articles, etc. 7 6,850 5,963 * * Photographs and materials. 13 1 16,200 150,200 * * Polishes and dressing, . 3 1,075 5,333 2 726 Printing, publishing and bookbinding, . 19 215,470 302,704 205 I 12,221 Print works, dye works and bleacheries, . 37 10,495 23,988 12 4,500 Railroad construction and equipment. 4 543,000 1,252.870 100 50,000 Saddlery and harness, . 8 25,550 78,320 * * Stone, ..... 13 80,000 180,615 149 73,425 Tallow, candles, soap, grease. 7 28,365 114,086 * * Tobacco, snuff and cigars, . 14 38,000 128,876 56 13,737 Wooden goods, 29 159,340 438,668 158 99,110 Woolen goods, t3 563,500 1,725,631 760 329,776 Other industries, . 26 962,170 758,222 900 323,809 All Industries, 911 $11,218,165 $23,496,767 10,770 $5,510,036 Currency values: Currency value of $i.oo in gold, $r.i2. * Not returned separately. 454 The Worcester of 1898. Industries of Worcester — iSS;, INDISTRIES. in" T3 V It c 'C 2 — '■J 1-5 = c "^ "s (U rt •- Paid Year June Arms and ammunition, 7 $325,200 $64,555 $284,589 340 $181,530 Artificial teeth and dental work, . 25 14,421 7,615 35,480 — — Artisans' tools, .... 14 430,650 70,174 272,627 253 "6,338 Boots and shoes, .... 55 1.927.538 2,612,919 4,051,384 2,633 949,623 Boxes (paper and wooden), . 5 89,400 73,884 138,502 70 30,173 Brick, tiles and sewer pipe, . 5 36,350 9,935 47,70c 85 23,600 Building, no 760,414 899,159 1,912,864 1,502 629,949 Carpetings, 4 574,784 585,210 815, 700 397 138,025 Carriages and wagons, . 28 71.345 32,500 1 17,292 82 40.059 Clothing 86 305.291 390,528 1,148,372 1,065 294,990 Cotton goods, .... 3 59.121 33.124 58,035 93 19,408 Drugs and medicines, . 30 29,665 44,595 101,773 16 9,532 Food preparations. 28 442,561 1,049,686 1,374,161 271 119,342 Furniture 19 178.528 88,898 222,829 III 53>6i2 Leather, 17 467.355 511.958 651,096 123 66,719 Liquors and beverages (not spirit- uous), ... 3 13,000 2,646 6,944 4 1,936 Liquors: malt, distilled and fer- mented, 3 130,275 154,637 256,536 44 29,369 Machines and machinery. 69 2,788,043 1,132,492 3,229,957 2,419 1,120,318 Metals and metallic goods, . no 5,526,986 4,814,236 8,273,597 4,162 2,023,044 Models, lasts and patterns, . 3 9,020 3,167 15,600 II 7,880 Musical instruments & materials, 12 926,759 398,973 1,086,146 490 304,677 Paper and paper goods, 3 326,751 579,929 802,636 350 108,666 Photographs and photographic materials, .... II 15.700 6,542 29,350 23 8,564 Polishes and dressing, . 6 27,275 39.579 58,575 12 7,242 Printing, publishing and book- binding, . . • . 26 242,230 148,202 379,858 262 105,724 Print works, dye works and bleacheries 3 37,866 32.443 72,998 58 18,882 Scientific instruments and appli- ances, 4 13.815 4.193 15,622 8 3,054 Sporting and athletic goods. 4 121,725 148,040 575,000 146 80,355 Stone, 12 88,500 43,208 168,824 164 77,238 Tallow, candles, soap, grease. 6 39,550 34,924 66,859 28 14,458 Tobacco, snuff and cigars, . 9 23,660 46,281 92,687 60 24.033 Wooden goods, .... M 88,255 33.764 122,343 85 38.353 Woolen goods 9 482,891 339.569 968,642 520 160,792 Other industries, .... 29 1,729,484 579,182 1,244,946 679 253,270 All Ixdustriks, . 772 $18,344,408 $15,016,756 $28,699,524 16,566 $7,060,755 The Worcester of 1898. 455 Industries of Worcester — 1895. 0) ^ B -d u S ■w > c a u 5il E2-d 3 ;; '^ i2 C 1) 3 bo c< Industries. -^ oj 2 " •-*- zj < Arms and ammunition, . 5 II $294,173 $101,358 $492,776 688 $299,808 Artisans' tools, 20 34 343.069 134,346 482,786 342 185,812 Boots and shoes, 94 134 780,482 1,504,107 2,360,837 1,371 606,712 Boxes (paper and wooden) 4 7 55>798 123,732 204,330 112 44,926 Brick, tiles, and sewer pipe, 6 6 15,019 5.735 27,624 24 10,002 Building, 211 265 1,095,888 2,054,909 4,086,797 1. 791 1,108,352 Carriages and wagons, . 48 66 234,965 216,479 442,739 245 133.504 Clocks, watches and jewelry, . 32 37 27,376 13,953 54,540 24 14,104 Clothing, 357 485 632,668 1,030,183 2,390,480 1,793 602,326 Cotton goods. 5 20 220,706 413,566 602,098 179 69,367 Drugs and medicines, . 62 130 38,782 81,537 237.632 43 23,942 Electrical apparatus and appliances, 6 II 18,635 30,190 63,843 40 14,833 Fanc}' articles, etc., 6 15 58,942 74,053 202,039 143 50,665 Food'preparations, 72 107 808,132 2,024,284 2,722,042 547 250,662 Furniture, 30 49 176,444 207,850 438,688 178 80,440 Hair work (animal and human). 5 5 1,930 1,965 4,171 5 1,326 Leather, 7 x6 1,125,005 934,800 1,575.097 512 254,968 Liquors and beverages (not spirituous). 3 3 5,100 3.031 8,250 '2 484 Liquors: malt, distilled and fermented, 1 1 25 438,218 356,464 779,785 124 97,585 Lumber, 3 3 9,440 10,038 21,200 8 3,086 Machines and machinery, 77 477 4,398,402 1,878,260 4,491,908 3.046 1,549,943 Metals and metallic goods. 124 746 6,606,085 4,640,383 10,950,379 5.039 2,759,630 ]\Iodels, lasts and patterns, 6 II 97,474 38,622 143,506 76 58,104 Musical instruments and materials. 13 27 287,006 136,495 377,603 231 127,487 Paper and paper goods. 5 28 611,360 627,766 1,010,720 479 185,359 Photographs and photo- graphic materials, . 19 23 48,780 40,946 220,719 49 25,626 Polishes and dressing, . 4 6 15.630 22,052 30,600 6 2,886 Printing, publishing and book-binding. 40 96 379,298 161,142 650,995 437 237,864 Print works, dye works and bleacheries, 6 10 56,016 97,284 167,583 86 46,228 Railroad construction and equipment. 3 2 261,500 77,562 132,170 106 49,896 Saddlery and harness, . 17 19 16,352 18,944 53.310 31 18,601 Scientific instruments and appliances, 7 25 7,510 12,195 33. M4 10 4.730 Stone, .... 12 25 181,770 38,897 145,244 134 62,262 Tallow, candles, soap and grease. 5 5 56,270 87,027 119,083 33 17.794 Tobacco, snuff and cigars. 19 25 43,340 34,537 111,809 74 38,784 Wooden goods. 21 51 216,025 225,024 453,572 242 131,687 Woolen goods, 10 20 725,450 750,975 1,461,372 857 338,969 Other industries, . 40 273 2,377.671 1,861,967 3.431. 140 1,726 756,426 All Industries, 1415 3298 $22,766,714 $20,072,858 $41,082,611 21.733 $10,265,179 The Worcester of 1898. 457 WIRE. Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Co. — The wire manufactory of the IVashburn & Moen Corporation maintains in the year 1898 the place it has held during the half century as the largest single industrial enterprise in Worcester. This great establishment, which gives employment to 4,000 persons, and indirectly supports several times that number, is the outcome of the small beginning made in 1831 by Ichabod Washburn, who, in com- pany with Benjamin Goddard, entered into the manufacture of wire in a wooden building at Northville, occupied in part by C. Read & Company, makers of wood screws, whom Mr. Washburn had induced to come to Worcester from Providence and set up their business. It was in connection with screw-making [that Mr. Washburn produced his first wire, and suc- cessfully meeting the requirements of this trade he very soon turned his attention to the manufacture of wire for other and more general purposes, especially for cotton and woolen cards. Three-quarters of a century ago wire was drawn by hand process, the best workmen producing only from fifteen to twenty-five pounds each per day. Previous to the year 1831 a large proportion of the wire used in the United States was imported from England, at a lower price than it could be made with the rude American appliances. Mr. Washburn saw the advantage that would result if the home product could be made to equal foreign wire in quality and cheapness, and his mechanical and inventive genius enabled him to overcome certain difficulties which stood in the way of success. With the adoption and perfection of the draw-block, and the bringing into use from time to time as the exigencies required of other appliances and methods, the business steadily increased until, within a little more than a quarter of a century, the undertaking assumed such proportions as to achieve the distinction of being the largest wire manufactory in the world. In 1835 Mr. Washburn dissolved partnership with Mr. Goddard, and removed from Northville to a new building erected for him on Mill Brook by the late Honorable Stephen Salisbury, who also constructed a dam, forming Salisbury pond. This building, 80x40 feet, three stories high, was the nucleus of the present extensive Grove street works. About 1840 Mr. Washburn bought and occupied the South Worcester property, in recent years operated by the Worcester Wire Company, and before 1850 the Quin- sigamond location was acquired. During this period Charles Washburn, a brother of Ichabod, was in partnership in the business, the firm name being I. &: C. Washburn; and later a new company was formed known as Wash- burn, Moen & Company, Henry S. Washburn and Philip L. Moen being the new partners. Through various changes this concern became in 1869 the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, with a capital of ^1,000,000, and authority to increase the amount to $1,500,000. From wire for card-teeth and other common varieties, the output of the establishment was probably first greatly increased by the demand for tele- graph wire in 1847 and later. In 1850 the manufacture of piano wire was attempted, and the Worcester product soon superseded the English wire in PHILIP L. MOEN. CHARLES F. WASHBURN. .460 The Worcester of 1898. the American market. The flat wire used in the manufacture of hoop- skirts was {)roduced in hirge quantity during the time crinoline was in fashion, from about i860 to 1870, and this was succeeded by the enormous demand and supply of the varieties of barbed wire for fencing. In the last few years several new lines of production have been added. For over ten years the company has made practically all of its higher grades of steel at its own works, with the best results. The yearly output of steel made by themselves is upwards of 40,000 tons. A great variety of iron and steel cables, hawsers and ro[)es is made at the Ouinsigamond works. With the great evolution in the use of electricity, it was found desirable to create a new de{)artment for the manufacture of insulated wires and cabled conductors. This has developed into a large industry by itself, and the consumption of copper for insulated wires and for bare wires for tele- graph, telephone and railway purposes amounts to many thousand tons yearly. A large outlet for the steel made in the company's furnaces is found in the manufacture of an endless variety of spiral springs for almost every purpose. All of these departments, with the larger demands for iron and steel wire in the commoner forms of ties for binding hay and of barbed wire, so universally used, have increased the total output of the works at Worcester to nearly or quite 100,000 tons a year. It may not be amiss, even in this article, to state that in 1891 the company erected works at Waukegan, Illinois, with facilities for making nearly as much wire as is now made at the Worcester works. Wire is also manufactured in great variety by the Worcester Wire Com- pany. The mill is located on Kansas street on the "old South Worcester privilege." William E. Rice is president and treasurer. Wire is used in the manufacture of a large number of articles and machines, and facility in obtaining the product probably induced the estab- lishment in Worcester of several large wire-working concerns. The National Manufacturing Company on Union street does a large business in manufac- turing wire goods. The origin of the enterprise goes back to 183 1. In 1880 Charles G. Washburn established the business now carried on under the name of the Wire Goods Company, which was incorporated in 1882. A. W. Parmelee is president and treasurer, and the factory is on Union street. Other concerns are the Wright & Colton Wire Cloth Company on Hammond street, Hamblin & Russell Manufacturing Company on Water street, and Henry E. Dean on Austin street. LOOMS. Crompton & Knowles Loom Works. — The parallel history of two great industries ultimately amalgamated into one immense corporation of excep- tional strength and influence in any particular line of business or of trade is The Worcester of 1898. 461 always of especial interest, but when such an event becomes the subject of one of the most important chapters in the history of one's own city, it assumes particular interest and importance. No better illustration of this fact can anywhere be found than that furnished by the record of the rise, progress and development of the loom industry, which has contributed so much to the rapid and substan- tial growth of the city of Worcester. When Carl made his famous "Tour of Main Street" many years ago, it is not recorded by the historian that the industry to which this chapter refers had begun to assume any especial importance in the minds of the citizens, or that the voice of prophecy had in any way associated the city's future progress therewith. In fact it is doubtful if the general knowledge of the people concerning textile fabrics extended much beyond the homespun and hand-woven fabrics of the industrious housewives of the times, and yet in the intervening years between then and now this industry has come to assume an importance second only to the wire industry of our city, and is only exceeded by it in the amount of capital invested, the number of men employed and the extent and variety of its production. As is suggested by the title of this corporation, the names of Crompton and Knowles are synonymous with the development of the art of weaving in the United States to the extent that this corporation has become the largest of its kind in the world, a fact of which Worcester may justly be proud. The foundation for this great business was laid by Messrs. George Cromp- ton and Lucius J. Knowles in the early fifties, the former having located in Worcester in 1851 in copartnership with Merrill A. Furbush for the manu- facture of looms under the renewal of a patent granted his father in 1837, and the latter, having been granted his first loom patent in 1856, entered into copartnership with his brother, Francis B. Knowles, in the town of Warren, removing later to Worcester. The two important principles involved in most of the different types of looms built by these two rival companies have been, and are still known as, the "Crompton close-shed" and the "Knowles open-shed," terms familiar tO' every user of looms in the world, and to the exemplification and demonstra- tion of the advantages of these two widely differing theories of weaving, each company constantly gave its undivided attention, and applied the best of the inventive skill at its command. The constantly increasing demand for textile fabrics of every variety in every line of commerce and of trade, and the consequent extension of the textile industry throughout the entire country, have contributed very mate- rially to a rapidly increasing demand for weaving machinery, to the extent that the growth of the loom-building industry has been truly phenomenal, especially when it is considered that it was not until the year 1840 that the first fancy woolen cassimeres were woven by power in this country, if not in the world, this being accomplished upon the Crompton loom at the Middle- sex Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1859 the partnership of Furbush & Crompton was dissolved, and Mr. Crompton continued his business alone until his death in 1886, rapidly J.''*' The Worcester of 1898. 463 developing it from its small beginning in the old "red mill" on Green street into the present extensive manufactory at the same location. From 1866 to 1879 the firm of L. J. Knowles & Brother, the name given to the copartnership existing between Mr. L. J. Knowles and Francis B. Knowles, was located at Allen court, when its quarters became so much ■outgrown that it was necessary to move the business to the "Junction shop," so called, on Jackson street, where it remained until its continued expansion compelled another change. Upon the death of Mr. Crompton in 1886, his business was incorporated under the name of the Crompton Loom Works, with his widow, Mrs. M. C. Crompton, as its president, she being succeeded at her death in 1895 by her eldest son, Charles Crompton. Mr. L. J. Knowles died in 1884, and the following year the business was incorporated under the name of the Knowles Loom Works, with Francis B. Knowles as its president, and upon his death in 1S90 Mr. C. Henry Hutchins was elected as his successor to the presidency. During the many years of the active history of these two partnerships and corporations as independent industries, many valuable alterations and additions were naturally made to the original machines which were the foundations of the business at the beginning. To enumerate these various changes in detail would be of little interest to the average reader, a constant succession of new patents having also been issued to both companies, and numerous other patented devices having been acquired by purchase. In the development of these various ideas Mr. Crompton was materially assisted by the practical work of his efficient co-laborer, Mr. Horace Wyman, and •others, and Mr. L. J. Knowles received similar assistance from Mr. George F. Hutchins, the able superintendent of his works, the result being that the entire product of these two great industries was brought to the highest standard of perfection. Improvements have not been confined to any especial type of loom, but to every department of fancy weaving, to the end that looms are at present constructed at these works to weave woolen and worsted goods from the heaviest felts to the lightest of dress fabrics; in cotton from the heaviest duck for sail-cloths to the most delicate and flimsy material for ladies' wear; in carpets from the most elegant Axminsters and Wiltons woven by power to the most ordinary carpet made from rags, and from the art square to cover a whole room, to a mat for the door; and in silk goods from the widest for dresses to the narrowest for ribbons. Looms are also made to weave iron wire netting, paper matting, glass cloths for ornamental purposes, horse- hair for furniture covering, and for every material capable of being woven. Previous to the death of Mr. L. J. Knowles, negotiations were entered into for the introduction of the Knowles open-shed fancy loom into the European market, and arrangements were completed with Messrs. Hutch- inson, Hollingworth & Company of Dobcross, England, large builders of machinery, whereby they should build this loom. The wisdom of this move is evidenced by the fact that over 15,000 woolen and worsted looms built upon this principle have been introduced into the leading mills of England ,^t^„«»i-<««'%ii^S^^ LUCIUS J. KNOWLES. FRANCIS B. KNOvVLES. GEORGE CROMPTON. The Worcester of 1898. 467 and the continent. The arrangement between these two companies not only included the building of the loom abroad, but carried with it the con- stant interchange of ideas relating to loom construction in all its branches, thereby contributing greatly to their mutual and personal advantage. In further pursuance of this broad policy in the management of the Knowles Loom Works, they in 1893 acquired the business of the George W. Stafford Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island, since which time it has been carried on as an independent branch, and has reached such proportions as to exceed the most sanguine expectations of the managers of the business at the time of its purchase. In 1890 the Knowles Loom Works, having again outgrown its quarters, removed to its present location at Grand and Tainter streets, into a plant which, next to the Wire Works, is the largest in the city of Worcester. From the preceding sketch of the history of the loom business as con- ducted by these two independent organizations, it naturally follows that the advantages of consolidation under one management should gradually impress themselves upon those interested in the further development of the business, and to this end there was brought about in the early part of the year 1897 the consolidation of these two great establishments, with a •combined capitalization of $3,000,000, under the name of the Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, a most important event, not only in the history of the two corporations, but in the manufacturing and financial life of the city as well. Seldom, if ever, has it occurred that two great enterprises of the impor- tance of those herein mentioned, each occupying the front rank in the same line of manufacture, have both selected the same city as the centre and basis ■of their business operations, and Worcester is particularly fortunate in retaining within its limits an organization of this magnitude. The present management of this corporation is vested in the same indi- viduals as had previously brought the Crompton Loom Works and the Knowles Loom Works to their high standard of excellence, the president of the corporation being Mr. C. Henry Hutchins, and the remaining officers and directors being the same as those connected with the prior corporations. The magnitude of the business done by it is indicated by the fact that there is scarcely a weaving plant in the United States which does not use looms of some one of the types manufactured by it, and the extent of the business is well shown by the illustration of the various machine shops of the corporation, which is shown herewith, in which fully 2,500 mechanics find constant employment. The policy of the management for the future as in the past is to be one •of persistent push and skill, that it may serve its customers in every pos- sible way that will to any extent further the progress and development of the textile industry throughout the civilized world, and to continue to maintain a broad and philanthropic yet conservative interest in the municipal advancement of the city of their chosen location. The Gilbert Loom Company was established in 1866, and incorporated in 1894. Open-shed fancy looms for weaving various fabrics, cane and wire The Worcester of 1898. 469 are made. The factory is at 186 Union street. C. W. Gilbert is President and Treasurer; J. A. Colvin, Vice-President; and Clinton Alvord, General Manager. A. H. Steele manufactures battens and shuttles used on narrow-ware looms, at 54 Hermon street. COTTON AND WOOLEN MACHINERY. American Card Clothing Company. — In Worcester and the neighboring- town of Leicester the manufacture of card-clothing has been an impor- tant industry for upwards of a century, and has been particularly so in Worcester during the fifty years just closed. The largest manufacturer of card-clothing in this country, the American Card Clothing Company, has its general offices in the Knowles block in this city. This company was incorporated June 4, 1890, with an authorized capital of $1,500,000. Its first president, George L. Davis of North An- dover, died December 24, 1891, and was succeeded by Joseph Murdock of Leicester, and on the death of Mr. Murdock April 19, 1898, George A. Fuller of Providence was elected to the presidency. Mr. Charles A. Denny, a leading manufacturer of Leicester and Manchester, has been vice-presi- dent and general manager virtually all of the time. Mr. Edwin Brown of Worcester, who became a partner in the business of the Earle factory in 1872, and agent and treasurer when the T. K. Earle Manufacturing Com- pany was formed in 1881, has been treasurer of the American Card Clothing Company since it was organized, and for the past two years H. Arthur White of Philadelphia has been the company's secretary. In 1 89 1 the American Card Clothing Company purchased outright facto- ries in Worcester, Leicester, Philadelphia, Providence, Walpole, North Andover, Lawrence, Manchester and Lowell. The two Worcester factories were those of the T. K. Earle Manufacturing Company and the Sargent Card Clothing Company, and in November, 1890, the lease of the building near the South Worcester station having expired, the business of the latter was transferred to the Grafton street factory, and is run by the American Card Clothing Company in connection with the m.achinery purchased of the T. K. Earle Manufacturing Company. The Sargent factory was one of the largest in the State, and was equipped entirely with modern machinery, and now being connected with the Grafton street factory under one management, it becomes one of the best arranged establishments in the country. The largest of the American Card Clothing factories is located in Worces- ter, and naturally is the one in which Worcester people, as a whole, are most interested. The building was erected by T. K. Earle & Company in 1857, and enlargements to the original building have several times been made. The members of this firm, Messrs. T. K. and Edward Earle, were descended from Pliny Earle of Leicester, who in 1790 was the first in America to engage in the manufacture of machine card-clothing. In his time Mr. T. TIMOTHY K. EARLE. The Worcester of 1898. 47 r K. Earle was the acknowledged head of the card-clothing industry in this country; his factory was one of the best equipped, and in it many important improvements originated. The equipment of all of the American card-clothing factories has been thoroughly modernized, improvements are constantly being introduced, and the company's directors and the managers of its several factories are men of large experience. Not only card-clothing of a superior quality is pro- duced, but the machines used are also manufactured in the company's machine-shops, and these machines are covered by patents in this country and foreign countries. The organization of this great corporation has been of benefit to textile manufacturers. It has resulted in uniformity and reduction in prices, betterment in quality of production, and has tended toward a feeling of security and reliability in textile business generally. Albert H. Howard, son of Ebenezer A. and Lucy (Harrington) Howard, was born in Worcester, Otsego county, New York, December 14, 1843. His- father was a native of Connecticut, and his mother was born in Grafton, Massachusetts. When Albert was eleven years of age, the family removed to Spencer, Massachusetts, where the lad received such schooling as the town afforded at that time, and assisted his father on the farm until he was eighteen. He then went to Leicester, the adjoining town, and learned the card-clothing trade, and subsequently worked in Andover and Worcester. In 1867 he entered into business with his brother, Charles A., and Clarence Farnsworth for the manufacture of card-clothing, and on the retirement of Mr. Farnsworth the following year the firm was designated Howard Brothers, and thus remained until it was incorporated in t888. The factory was- HOWARD BROTHERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY. 'Ifl*t ALBERT H. HOWARD. The Worcester of 1898. 473 located in Washington square until the large building erected in Vine street in 1892 was occupied. Of the Howard Brothers Manufacturing Company, Mr. Howard is the president and general manager. His native energy is illustrated by the fact that when in 1890 his concern refused to enter the syndicate of the American Card Clothing Company, and in consequence was deprived of facilities for procuring the cloth backing for cards, he went to England and returned in twenty-eight days with machinery which enabled his company to make its own cloth, and it is now the only American factory which owns such machinery. Howard Brothers Manufacturing Company has established a well-deserved reputation for the quality of its goods. In politics Mr. Howard is a staunch Republican. In religion he is an Orthodox Congregationalist, and was for several years a deacon and member of the Standing Committee of the Salem Street Church. He now attends Plymouth Church. December 14, 1866, Mr. Howard married Ruth L., daughter of Jotham Randall of Spencer. Of three children born of this union two are living, Edith L. and Ethel L. Charles F. Kent. — Charles Frederick Kent, son of William vStone and Mary (Howard) Kent, was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, September 23, 1834. The family for several generations was well known in Leicester, and intermarried with the Watsons, another prominent family, one of whom, Samuel, began in 18 14 the manufacture of cloth in that town. An aunt of William S. Kent, Lydia Watson, died in 1889 at the great age of 102 years. The father of the subject of this sketch was employed for twenty-one consecutive years by the old card-clothing firm (now extinct) of Woodcock & Knight, and after an interval returned and was engaged with J. & J. Murdock for several years longer. He died in 1885. His brother, vSamuel Watson Kent, became a noted builder of card-machines, removed to Worcester in 1858, and continued in successful business there till his death in 1883. Charles F. Kent received his education in Leicester schools and academy, and was employed inore or less during his boyhood in the card factory with his father, and continued at this trade after he passed his majority. In 1856 he married Maria E. Bond. In 1861 he removed to Worcester and entered the employ of T. K. Earle as assistant foreman, and remained in that situa- tion four years, when he was engaged as superintendent by Davis & Furber, who were about to start the card-clothing business in Andover. Mr. Kent successfully established this plant and conducted it for three years. In r868 he returned to Worcester and was superintendent of the Sargent Card Clothing Company's shop for eleven years, when the business was purchased by James Smith & Company of Philadelphia. In 1880 Mr. Kent started the card-clothing business for himself in a small way on Southbridge street, and this was the nucleus of the present large establishment conducted by him. The machines used were con- structed by his uncle, Samuel Watson Kent, and on these he made im- provements which vastly increased the speed. This was the beginning of CHARLES F. KENT. The Worcester of 1898. 475 FACTORY OF CHARLES F. KENT. high-speed card-clothing machines. ]\Ir. Kent carried on his business entirely independent of the card-clothing combination, and has continued in this way to the present time, being the first manufacturer to take that stand and maintain it. In 1890 he visited England to purchase improved machinery, and to enlarge his facilities for the procuring of cloth, wire, etc., much of which he imports. On his return he purchased the property at the corner of Chandler and Bellevue streets, refitted the shop, and removed his factory there in 1891. With a capacity of about 500 square feet daily production, his facilities for the manufacture of card-clothing of all kinds are adequate to the demands of the trade, and he enjoys a well-earned reputation for enterprise and business integrity. Curtis & Marble Machine Company. — Among the early manufacturing in Worcester was that of cloth-finishing machinery. As early as 1831 Mr. Albert Curtis established the business in a small shop at New Worcester. At first he made only shearing-machines for woolen goods, but gradually he enlarged his work by the addition of other kinds of machinery for finishing cotton and woolen cloth. In 1863 Mr. Edwin T. Marble purchased an interest in the business and became the active manager. The partnership of Curtis & Marble continued for thirty-two years. Their plant on Webster street was from time to time enlarged and a greater variety of machinery built. Shearing-machines have always been their specialty, and improvements in them have con- stantly been made, so that at the present time they are the largest manu- facturers of varied styles and widths, adapted to nearly every class of fabrics manufactured, ranging from light lappet lawns to heavy rattan mats, and from narrow silk braid to three-yard rugs and carpets. For finishing woolen, worsted, felt and knit goods, they build besides shearing- The Worcester of 1898. 477 machines an extensive line of machinery for gigging, napping, brushing, pressing, measuring and rolHng, etc., together with many special machines required for different fabrics. In addition to these they furnish a very complete variety of machines for finishing the many different kinds of cotton goods from light muslin to heavy duck, and also finishing machinery for silk, cotton and mohair plushes, velvets, corduroys, etc. In 1875 Messrs. Curtis & Marble purchased and removed to Worcester the patterns and machinery of the Goddard Wool Burring Machine Works of New York city, thus adding a new department for the manufacture of burring, picking and mixing machinery for preparing wool for carding. ^Ir. Curtis sold his interest in the machinery business to Mr. Marble in April, 1895, and the following December' the business was incorporated under the name of the Curtis & ^larble Machine Company, with a capital of ^75,000. During 1897 the company built a large plant at 56 Cambridge street, near Webster square, where they are now located. The main build- ing of this new plant is 228 feet x 64 feet, four stories high, and is through- out a model in mill construction; an ell 40 feet x 75 feet contains the power, heating and lighting equipment. There is also a blacksmith-shop 40 feet x 50 feet, and in the rear the necessary storehouses, lumber-sheds, stable, etc. The new factory is equipped with new and modern machinery, and in all its appointments is as complete as any in the city. About 100 skilled mechanics are employed. The officers of the company are : President and Treasurer, Edwin T. Marble; Vice-President, Edwin H. ]\Iarble; Secretary, William C. Marble; Cashier, Chas. F. Marble ; Superintendent, Albert C. Marble. The pro- ducts of this company are distributed throughout the United States and Canada, with frequent shipments to England, Germany, Russia, Japan and Mexico. Harwood & Quincy Machine Company. — The old method of hand-feeding to woolen cards has largely been abandoned. Ingenious machines which do the work far better and more accurateh^ have superseded it. One of the leading machines used for this purpose is the Bramwell feeder, the invention of Wm. C. Bramwell, who began its manufacture in 1875. ^^^ 1878 the firm of Harwood & Quincy purchased the patents and rights and arranged with Mr. Edwin H. Wood, a skillful manufacturer of Worcester, to produce this feeder for them. This Mr. Wood continued to do in his own shops until 1881, when the Harwood & Quincy ]\Iachine Company was incorporated, and since that time ]\Ir. Wood has been that company's general manager in Worcester. The shops of the Harwood Sz Quincy ^Machine Company were built in 1 88 1 and are well-lighted brick structures on Lagrange street adjacent to the Boston & Albany, New York, New Haven & Hartford, and New England railroads. The story of the success of the Bramwell feeder is best told in the statement that nearly 10,000 of them have been made and sold on this continent since the patents were purchased from Mr. Bramwell. The present officers of the Harwood & Quincy Machine Company are : John Harwood, President; Sydney Harwood, Treasurer; and E. H. Wood, 478 r The Worcester of 1898. FACTORY OF HARWOOD & QUINCY MACHINE COMPANY. General Manager. The Messrs. Harwood reside in Boston, but Mr. Wood, the general manager, has made Worcester his home for almost a half century. Other large establishments are N. A. Lombard &• Company, 64 School street, which dates back to 1823; the Cleveland Machine Company at 54 Jackson street, making carding, spinning, twisting and finishing machinery; Johnson S: Bassett, Foster street, wool-spinning machinery; David Gessner at 172 Union street, finishing machinery for woolen and cotton goods; and A. E. Windle, 32 Union street. B. S. Roy & Son, 775 Southbridge street, make patent improved card-grinding machinery of every description. George L. Brownell, 49 Union street, builds spinning and twisting ma- chinery for hard or soft twines, lines and cordage. THE ENVELOPE INDUSTRY. Logan, Swift & Brigham Envelope Company. — This corporation was formed in March, 1884, the members being James Logan, Henry D. and D. Wheeler Swift and John S. Brigham, all formerly connected with the Whitcomb envelope factory. The location first (Kxuipied was at No. 16 Union street. The com])any began the manufacture of envelopes with Leader and Reay machines, but these were superseded by new devices invented by the Messrs. Swift, who stocked the plant with the necessary The Worcester of 1898. 479 machinery for rapid and economical production. The quality of goods manufactured has always been the best, and perfect reliability has always marked the transactions and products of this concern. It has set the stand- ard in grade, and has scrupulously maintained and insisted upon correct representation in all matters. It has thus gained an h(^norable reputation. No traveling salesmen have ever been employed, Mr. Logan from the first attending to the trade. The business of this company has expanded to large proportions, and at the time it was consolidated with the United States Envelope Company in August, 1898, it operated the largest envel- ope manufactory in the United States, and had the finest plant. In 1889 the erection of the present factory on Grove street was begun, and the building was occupied the following year. In 1897 an addition was made 1 III SSI 'i\&jj I if \'. 'inii, {rff ir ^lnif[.:.r(:ii lu si .39»^ ... .^ „ .. .. ,,^ j^ If ir rnrr mrri-f-J^ LOGAN, SWIFT & BRIGHAM ENVELOPE FACTORY. increasing the space one-third. About 200 hands are employed. The establishment is now known as the Logan, Swift & Brigham Division of the United States Envelope Company. The only member of the original firm now in active connection with the business is Mr. Logan. Mr. Brigham died in 1897, and the Swift brothers retired after the consolidation with the new company. James Logak, son of David and i^Iary (Kennedy) Logan, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, May 6, 1852. His parents came to this country when he was about three months old, and after living a short time in Connecticut removed to Worcester in 1853. His father was employed several years as a watchman by the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company, and later engaged in farming in Cherry Valley, to which locality the family re- moved after a short residence on Millbury street. James attended the lower grade public schools, but before he reached the age of ten years Avas put to work in the Parkhurst woolen mill at Valley Falls. This mill was the lower one of a series, all being dependent upon water- power, and in consequence the mill was idle a portion of the day during 48o I'HE Worcester of 1898. school hours, and the lad was able to improve some opportunities for educa- tion which were opened to him by a kind-hearted teacher in the school- house near by, and being an apt scholar was able to maintain equal rank with the regular pupils. An accident in the mill, which for a time disabled him, caused him to turn his thoughts to other means of gaining a livelihood, and he acquirc-d the principles of and became proficient in bookkeeping. He was first employed in the office of vS. R. Heywood's boot shop, and later he kept books for A. Y. Thompson, the well-known dry-goods dealer, and then for G. N. & J. A. Smith at Cherry Valley. In 1873 he entered the book-store of vSanford & Company, and remained there five years; and from June, 1878, to December, 1882, was in the employ of G. Henry Whit- comb & Company as bookkeeper and salesman, in the latter capacity building up a large and reliable trade. Near the close of the year 1882 Mr. Logan formed a partnership with George H. Lowe of Boston, under the firm name of Logan & Lowe Envelope Company, and began the manufacture of en- velopes with Leader machines in Stevens' block on Southbridge street. This business was pros- ecuted with indications of success, l)ut in July, 1SS3, the partners had such inducements to abandon the enterprise made them that the factory was closed, the machinery sold, and in September following Mr. Logan resumed his former connection with the Whitcomb Company, which, however, was continued but a short time, for in January, 1884, the Logan, Swift & Brigham Company was formed, with Mr. Logan as senior member. ( )n the consolidation of this concern with the L^nited States Envelope Company, Mr. Logan was elected vice-president and general manager of the last-named corporation. Mr. Logan possesses remarkable business qualifications, which have proved of invalual)le service in building up the commercial relations of the great corporations with which he has been connected. Of strict integrity, clear judgment and genial manner, he is much esteemed in the community, and is often called to places of responsibility and trust. He is president of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, a director of the Worcester Board of Trade, and a member of the Grade-Crossing Commission. He has been for many years prominently connected with Central Church, and is one of its JAMES LOGAN. The Worcester of 1898. 481 deacons; has been president of the Young Men's Christian Association; is a member of the Congregational Club, and of The Worcester vSociety of Antiquity; and is a Free Mason. He is much interested in art, and possesses many fine paintings. Mr. Logan married in 1879 Annie D., daughter of Levi Johnson. Of four children, one son and two daughters are living. Henry D. and D. Wheeler Swift. — These brothers, to whose inventive genius and practical ability the great advance in envelope manufacturing during the last thirty years is largely due, are natives of West Falmouth, Massachusetts, sons of Daniel and Hephzibah (Hoxie) Swift. Daniel Swift owned and worked a small farm in West Falmouth, and here brought up his sons with such advantages as the country district schools afforded. Their father was of an inventive mind and good mechanical ability, and in early life was concerned in ship- building with his brother Seth. One of their ships coursed the high seas for more than fifty years. AVhile deprived of the much cov- eted advantages of education, a generous compensation was theirs in an inherited inventive genius, which by close study and appli- cation resulted in most successful development. The family were members of the Society of Friends, and in that connection the broth- ers continue to-day. Henry D. Swift, the elder of the brothers, was born May 21, 1833. At the age of eighteen he went to North Fair Haven to learn the cabinet-maker's trade, in which he became proficient, and worked for several years in its different branches, particularly at wood-turning. D. Wheelqr Swift was born June 12, 1840. In 1861 the brothers produced their first invention — a clothes-wringer — for which they obtained a pat- ent, and engaged in its manufacture at vSouth Dedham, now Norwood, but sold the patent soon after, and the wringers are still profitably manu- factured by other parties. In the spring of 1864 Henry D. came to Worcester and was employed in wood-turning at the shop of John M. Goodell on Cypress street, and while here made the acquaintance of James G. Arnold, who had invented an envelope-machine, which he soon after sold to G. Henry Whitcomb & Company. Messrs. Arnold and Whitcomb were desirous that ]\Ir. Swift, of whose mechanical ability they had become aware, should operate the machine in the manufacture of envelopes, which was about to be started by Mr. Whitcomb; but the 31 HENRY D. SWIFT. 482 The Worcester of 1898. young mechanic, who had a faniil\- to support, naturally hesitated at what then seemed an uncertain \n-iUuiU', but finally sent for his brother, D. Wheeler Swift, who was unmarried, to come to Worcester and imdertake the task, which he did in the fall of 1864. Mr. Arnold's machine was theoretically a great invention, intended to perform nearly all the operations which have since been accomplished by envelope machinery, but practically it proved a failure and had to be dis- carded. In the meantime Mr. Whitcomb moved from School street to ^lain street, near the corner of Walnut, and in the spring of 1865 purchased a machine patented by George H. Reay, which with several others of the same pattern bought later, the younger Swift operated successfully several years, until the demands of the business necessitated more rapid and cheaper production. Henry D. Swift during this period also became an employee of the Whit- combs, and together the brothers introduced many improvements to the Reay machines, and invented a band-cutting machine, emboss- ing-machine, a gum-mill, sealing- machine, combination cutter, and other appliances which greatly facilitated the work in the factory, the most notable of which was the folding-machine patented in 187 1, which resulted in much profit to the Whitcomb Company, not only reducing the cost of produc- tion, but by the sale of the old Reay machines, the price received for each machine sold being sufifi- cient to build two of the Swjfts' D. WHEELER SWIFT. rr,, -r^ , ■ i patent. The Reay machme and the Swift patent were folding-machines, which fastened the bag part of the envelope, but did not gum the flaj). This had to be done by hand, and the desideratum now was a machine which would perform this operation in addition to what these could compass. After much cooper- ative study and effort this was successfully accomplished by the brothers, and in 1875 the Swift self-gumming machine was patented. This machine included the counting and registering mechanisms, which made it possible for one girl to operate two machines. At the end of ten years thirty-one had been constructed and were in operation in the Whit- comb factory, giving that concern a great advantage over its competitors. Within a short time the Swift automatic printing-press was produced, the use of which enabled the Whitcomb Company to obtain the contract for printing the envelopes of the Western Union Telegraph Company, a result The Worcester of 1898. 483 of great pecuniary benefit to the proprietors of the factory, the Swifts having assigned to them the controlling right in all their patents. The Whitcomb manufactory with these advantages largely increased its capacity of production, and soon outstripped all its rivals. At the time of the formation of the Logan, Swift & Brigham Company, it had become the largest envelope factory in this country if not in the world. The causes influencing and the circumstances attending the forming of the new com- pany, with which the Swifts associated themselves, need not be entered into in this sketch. The record of the advance of this enterprise is one of hard struggle, desperate courage, wonderful persistency and great patience under formidable difficulties at first, and complete triumph and success in the end. All the obstacles to mechanical execution in the business had to be overcome anew by methods and machinery dift'erent from those formerly originated by the Swift brothers in order to avoid infringement of their old patents, which were controlled by their former employers; but their genius and skill were equal to the task, and the results greatly surpassed their earlier efforts. Their abilities and the remarkable business qualities of Messrs. Logan and Brigham formed an exceptional combination of great power, and the outcome could not have been other than what it was. The Swift brothers are quiet, unassuming men, of gentle manner and kindly presence, who carry out in their every-day life the principles which govern the sect to which they belong. Retired from active business, they are in the full enjoyment of the fruit of their labors and of their just reward, late but ample. Henry D., the elder, married April 14, 1861, Emma C. Fuller of Sharon, Massachusetts, and of four children two sons survive: Arthur Henry, a missionary of the Iowa Board of Foreign Missions of the Society of Friends in the island of Jamaica; and Willard Everett, now in school. Mr. Swift is much devoted to the study of astronomy, to which he has resorted for years as a diversion from the vexations and cares of business. He has built on his estate on Channing street an observatory, which is equipped with a fine equatorial telescope with magnifying power of 450 diameters, the finest instrument in this section, and in its use he is an adept. D. Wheeler Swift resides in a beautiful home on Oak avenue. He married in 1871 Sarah Jane Gifford of North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. They have no children. The Swift brothers have taken much interest in the improvement of their native village, West Falmouth, and by their generous donations have made possible the erection and furnishing of a handsome library building. John Stillman Brigham, son of John Mason and Arminda C. (Stillman) Brigham, was born in Worcester May 12, 1847. He received his education in the common and high schools of the city, and at the age of eighteen became bookkeeper for D. H. Eames, the well-known clothier in the store at Harrington corner. He also kept books evenings for the Worcester Horse Railroad Company during this period. In 1867 he entered the employ of the Whitcomb Envelope Company, and remained in that situation eighteen years. In 1884 he was one of the organizers of the Logan, Swift & Brig- ham Envelope Company, and was treasurer of that concern until his decease. 484 The Worcester of 1898. His ability, application, industry and good judgment contributed much towards the advancement and success of that great business, and as a result he accumulated a handsome fortune. Mr. Brigham was naturally of a retiring disposition, and never j)Ut him- self forward for public office. He was, however, elected a member of the Common Council from Ward i, and served two terms, 1887 to 1890 inclusive, and he also served as one of the Board of Overseers of the Poor for several vears. He was a member of Central Church, and prominent in the work of that religious organization. Thoroughly devoted to his family, his busi- ness, and the care and enjoyment of his beautiful home, he left a wide circle of friends to regret his untimely death, which occurred suddenly at Colorado Springs February 19, 1897, where he was sojourning for a time for the benefit of his health. Mr. Brigham married Nellie J. Spurr. His widow and one son survive him. Whitcomb Envelope Company — - In August, 1864, G. Henry Whit- comb began to manufacture en- velopes on vSchool street, under the name of the Bay State Enve- lope Company. In November of that year he removed to the Partridge building, opposite the old Central Exchange on Main street, with rooms running back to Walnut street. At this time the name first used was abandoned, and he continued under his own name until 1866, when his father, the late David Whitcomb, be- came a partner, and continued in that relation until his death, the style being G. .Henry Whitcomb & Company. In the spring of 1865 new machines were purchased, and the business increasing a new building was erected in Bigelow court, off Front street, and a removal eft'ected January i, 1866. The firm con- tinued in this location until 1873, when the first portion of the present extensive plant was occupied. In 1879 the southeast ell was erected; in 1886 the Prescott street addition was built, and in 1892 another ell was added, so that now it is one of the largest envelope factories in the country, and has a floor space of between two and three acres. The firm has largely developed and built most of its machinery, and evolved to the same end, but through different lines, most of the improvements in methods in use by other concerns. As late as 1880 envelopes were gummed by hand, but since that date this process has been accomplished by ingenious machmery. JOHN S. BRIGHAM. The Worcester of 1898. 485 Rapidity in, and consequently cheapness of, production have been the great desideratum in this business, and it has been achieved in a wonderful degree. Formerly five girls could produce 60,000 envelopes in a day. Now one girl can make 75,000 in the same time, and by the perfected machinery a far better envelope. The Whitcomb factory has a capacity of 2,000,000 envel- opes a day. Since 1868 a large paper-box manufactory and a printing establishment has been carried on by the concern in connection with the envelope business. In 1884 the Whitcomb Envelope Company was incor- porated, with David Whitcomb as President, and G. Henry Whitcomb as Treasurer. On the death of Mr. David Whitcomb in 1887, Mr. G. Henry Whitcomb was chosen to fill the vacancy, and acted as president and treasurer till 1894, when Mr. M. F. Dickinson, Jr., was elected president. WHITCOMB ENVELOPE FACTORY. Mr. G. Henry Whitcomb acted as vice-president, and continued as treasurer. ]\Ir. Henry E. Whitcomb was chosen secretary and assistant treasurer in 1894. In August, 1S98, the entire property and business of the company, includ- ing its real estate, was sold to the United States Envelope Company, and at present the plant is operated by them under the name of Whitcomb Envelope Company Division. ]\Ir. Henry E. Whitcomb is the manager, and represents the third generation of Whitcombs that have carried on this business. The W. H. Hill Company, whose factory is located on Water street, represents the original envelope manufacturing concern in Worcester in direct line from Doctor Russell L. Hawes,* the inventor of the first practical envelope-machine. His successors in 1857 were Hartshorn & * wSee sketch and portrait of Doctor Hawes in Biographical Department. o K O The Worcester of 1898. 487 Trumbull, and they were succeeded in 1861 b}' Trumbull, Waters & Company. In 1866 Hill & Devoe took the business, and later Mr. W. H. Hill was the proprietor until his death. The Hill Company consoli- dated in 1898 with the United States Envelope Company. The old Hawes machines in this factory were, many years ago, superseded by the inventions of Mr. Abram A. Rheutan, who largely stocked the plant. vSome Reay machines were also used in this establishment. The Worcester Envelope Company, Foster street, has manufactured envelopes for several years. This concern was an offshoot from the Logan, Swift & Brigham Company. It is independent of the United States Envelope Company. A new envelope company has recently been formed by John A. Sherman, who was for several years superintendent of the Whitcomb factory, and who withdrew soon after that concern was absorbed by the United States Com- pany. CARPETS AND TEXTILES. William James Hogg & Son — The progenitor of this family in this country was William Hogg, a wealthy linen manufacturer, born in Scot- land, who came to America early in the present century, and settled in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. His son, William Hogg (second), a staunch Presbyterian, removed to Philadelphia when a young man and engaged in the manufacture of shawls and other woolen fabrics, and in 1832 began the manufacture of carpets, which was then in its infancy in this country, and many of the present large carpet manufacturing concerns in Philadelphia date their origin from this house, where their founders were employed in various capacities. William Hogg (third), the father of William James Hogg, was born in Philadelphia in 1820, and died June 8, 18S3. He married Catherine L. Horner, and had by this marriage five children, William James Hogg being the only son. William James Hogg was born in Philadelphia June 5, 1851. He received his education at Doctor Faires' private school of that city, and at LaFayette College, eastern Pennsylvania. In 1872 he was taken into partnership with his father, the name of the firm being the Oxford Mills. In 1879 he came to Worcester, and in company with his father bought the Crompton Carpet Company's plant, which company had been unsuccessful. The name was changed to the Worcester Carpet Company, the firm name being William James Hogg & Company. William James Hogg still retained his interest in the Philadelphia firm, the Oxford Mills, until 1882, when he withdrew from that firm and bought out his father's interest in the Worcester Carpet Company, becoming the sole proprietor. In 1883 he built a new mill, enlarging the weaving capacity of the mills one-third, and in 1884 he added to this plant the factories known as "The Pakachoag Mills," which plant was purchased from George Crompton, whose -t ■• ' -.-"!}%.. tA -SV^ [ ^ CD V./0 ben ^ ^ ^ ta^ P— I ■3 I J pn The Worcester of 1898. 489. WILLIAM JAMES HOGG. spinning-mill had been burnt to the ground. In 1885 this spinning-plant was further enlarged by building a wing to meet the demands of a rapidly grow- ing business. The product of the Worcester Carpet Company's business is Wilton and body Brussels carpets of the finest grades, and this product finds a prompt market all over the United States. The business has been steadily prosperous from the start, and now gives employment to about 500 operatives, which operatives for the most part are skilled workmen. Owing to the increasing demands for rugs throughout the United States, Wilton and Brussels rugs of every description are now being manufactured. The sales ofifices are located in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Omaha, Nebraska. The facilities of power for running this plant were improved by Mr. Hogg buying the Stillwater pond and dam. William James Hogg married Frances Happoldt of Philadelphia in 187 1, by whom he has two daughters and three sons living. The eldest son, William F. Hogg, was taken into partnership on January i, 1897. In addi- tion to the carpet mills, in 1887, Mr. Hogg with H. C. Stockwell bought the property known as the Stoneville Mills, Auburn, which were refitted and furnished with new machinery for the manufacture of worsted and woolen yarns, under the name of the Stoneville Worsted Company. The product of these mills is sold to the carpet manufacturers of Philadelphia and elsewhere, and gives employment to 150 operatives, nearly all of whom reside in cottages, all of which are owned by the company. Like his father, who was largely in- terested in real estate in Philadelphia, William James Hogg has for years been a large investor in building lots in the southwestern section of this city, where he owns large tracts of land, which he has improved by opening new streets and building a number of modern houses for investment. About eight years ago he purchased a summer residence for himself, the famous Hillside farm, once the home of the celebrated temperance orator and reformer, John B. Gough, which he has further beautified and im- william f. hogg. 490 The Worcester of 1898. proved, and his success there as a raiser of pure bred Jersey cattle is unsurpassed, even by his manufacturint^ industry. In politics, both William James Hogg and William F. Hogg are Republi- cans, and both believers in the principles of protection to American industry. During the past year William James Hogg has completed and now occupies the resid-ence at the corner of Elm and Ashland streets, one of the most beautiful houses in that neighborh(^()d. William James Hogg is a director of the Quinsigamond National Bank, the Worcester Board of Trade ; trustee of the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank, and is connected with other banks. He is largely interested in charitable work and associations, many of which are deeply indebted to his generosity. He ranks also high in the Masonic order, and is widely known as a successful manufacturer, a liberal and public-spirited citizen and a genial gentleman, for though a young man he has won a prominent place in business circles, chiefly by his own energy and enterprise. William F. Hogg was graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, subse- cpiently taking a course at Harvard College, leaving the latter to enter a business life. He has been employed in every department with a view of thoroughly learning the manufacturing business, and represents the fourth generation of the family in carpet .manufacturing in this country. Both father and son are members of leading social clubs of Worcester, Boston and New York, and own and appreciate good horses, in the riding and driving of which they are very proficient. i\s both gentlemen are young, and have a practical knowledge of their business, the success of the Worcester Carpet Company is assured. CITY RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM JAMES HOGG, 54 ELM STREET. The Worcester of 1898. 491 HILLSIDE," SUMMER RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM JAMES HOGG. Matthew J. Whittall was born in Kidderminster, England, March 10, 1843. He received a practical education in his native town, and at the age of twenty-one moved to Stourport, taking there the entire charge of the carpet works of Thomas B. Worth, a well-known manufacturer of carpets, and remained there six years. He was married at Stourport in October, 1868, to Ellen, youngest daughter of the late Henry Paget. Five children have been born to them, of whom a son, Matthew Percival, and a daughter, Edgeworth Paget, are now living. In 187 1 Mr. Whittall came to this country as superintendent of the Crompton Carpet Company in Worcester, and remained in that position until 1879, when the company was dissolved. The following year he pur- chased machinery for the manufacture of Wilton and Brussels carpet, leased a building at South Worcester, and began to manufacture on his own account. In 1883, his business increasing rapidly, he bought land and erected his first carpet mill, which the next year was extended, and in 1889 he built another, and in 1S91 the third, which with the Edgeworth mill for the manufacture of worsted yarns, purchased in 1885, and several additions made in later years, cover an area of nearly 200,000 square feet of land. In 1892 he bought out the Palmer Carpet Company, and is still running that factory, which is one of the principal industries of that thriving village. Mr. Whittall's long and practical experience as a carpet manufacturer •enables him to take advantage of every novel idea which can be utilized The Worcester of 1898. 493 in the production of new and desirable goods. His carpets are always in •demand throughout the country, and the order to supply the government buildings with carpets has been given to him from 1891 to 1897 inclusive. President and Mrs. McKinley also complimented Mr. Whittall by the choice of his carpets for some of their rooms in the AVhite House. Rapid strides have been made in the manufacture of carpets since the industry was started in Worcester as well as a great reduction in prices. This is largely due to the wonderful improvements in machinery and reduction in profits. Besides the standard patterns made, new English and French designs are constantly being introduced, and also many original ones by his own artists. Previous to 1897, only Wilton and Brussels carpets had been made in Worcester, but in that year he started an entirely new industry to this city, the manufacture of Wilton plush carpets. The num- ber of carpet looms now in operation in his various mills is 146. MATTHEW J. WHITTALL'S SPINNING-MILL. Mr. Whittall is a liberal-minded and public-spirited gentleman, and has -entered into the active life and interests of his adopted city and country. He is a director of the Board of Trade, the Associated Charities, the Peo- ple's Savings Bank, and the Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company ; president of the Blackstone Valley Street Railway Company, and vice- president of the American Car Sprinkler Company; a member of the Grade- Crossing Commission, the Worcester Club, the Commonwealth Club, the Tatassit Canoe Club, the Episcopal Clubs of Worcester and Boston, and a prominent j\Iason. In 1895 Mr. and Mrs. Whittall gave to the Parish of St. Matthew, of which he has been warden since 1874, the beautiful church building now standing on the corner of Cambridge and Southbridge streets. On the opposite corner is his house, which with its extensive grounds, laid out in excellent taste, forms one of the pleasantest and most attractive residences in the city. MATTHEW J. WHITTALL. The Worcester of 1898. 495' RESIDENCE OF MATTHEW J. WHITTALL, 592 SOUTHBRIDGE STREET. Worcester Textiles. — Manufacture of woolens is confined principally to cassimeres and satinets. The Worcester Woolen Mill, incorporated in 1881, produces fine woolens and broad cassimere and suitings. E. D. Thayer manufactures cassimere and piece-dyed goods. The Curtis Manufacturing Company operate two mills, one for satinets, the other for cassimeres. Other satinet mills are those of A. W. Darling, F. C. Smith, Southgate Woolen Company, and the Hopedale Manufacturing Company. F. A. Lap- ham, L. L. Brigham and Thomas Williams also manufacture woolen goods. In cotton goods J. C. Green makes cotton warps and fancy cotton, and light woven goods are manufactured at the Wachusett Mills. The Worces- ter Textile Company is a concern established in 1897 by former employees of the Knowles Looms Works. The product is union and Turkish toweling in variety, and the output is large. L. D. Thayer and H. M. Witter & Company make webbing and tapes. There are three thread mills in the city: Glasgow, the Ruddy, and the Worcester. MACHINERY AND TOOLS. F. E. Reed Company. — This is one of the leading manufacturing corpor- ations of Worcester. It was incorporated in 1894, with Mr. F. E. Reed, President and Treasurer, and Mr. J. R. Back, Superintendent. This company makes a specialty of the manufacture of lathes. The business- The Worcester of 1898. 497 was established in 1S75, and has steadily increased since then to very large proportions. The firm now occupies an extensive plant on Gold street, extending to Lamartine street, the large brick buildings of which contain more than one and one-half acres of floor space, with solid foundations for the heavy machinery used in the works. The firm gives employment to about 225 workmen, nearly all of whom are skilled machinists. The shops are well lighted by windows and sky-lights, and by electric lights at night, and no expense has been spared to make the establishment one of the most complete in the country for the manufacture of machine-tools. The Reed lathes early acquired and have maintained a high standard for excellence, not only in the United States, but in nearly every civilized country in the world. Their specialty in manufacture is a superior line of engine-lathes from ten to thirty inches swing, but they also build chucking- lathes, hand-lathes, wood-turning lathes for manual training school use and screw-cutting and plain foot-lathes. The product of this company is well and favorably known throughout the mechanical world. The designs of their machinery are thoroughly modern and up to date; and they maintain the very highest class of workmanship by employing the most skillful workmen to be obtained. The pay-roll of the company amounts to about $140,000 per year, and this money, coming as it does from all over the world in payment for their product, is dis- tributed among the artisans of Worcester, thus literally adding to the wealth and well-being of our city by bringing money into it from other places and retaining it here. Alonzo Whitcomb, proprietor of the Whitcomb ^lanufacturing Company, was born at Saxton's River, a village in Rockingham, Vermont, April 30, 1818. He is a descendant of the John Whitcomb who came to Boston from England about 1630, and was one of the first settlers of Lancaster, Massa- chusetts. Alonzo was the oldest son of Colonel Carter Whitcomb and his wife, Lucy, a daughter of Jonadab Baker, who was a highly respected citizen of Marlborough, New Hampshire. He came to Worcester in 1845, and was employed in the machine shops of S. C. Coombs & Company until 1849, when with his brother. Carter, he purchased the copying-press business of George C. Taft on Union street, in the old Howe & Goddard shop. This business assumed considerable proportions in a few years, and the firm, then known as C. Whitcomb & Company, needing larger quarters for its grow- ing business, moved, in 1852, into the Merrifield building at the corner of Union and Exchange streets, where it remained until burned c^ut in the great fire of 1854. After the fire, the business was moved to the "Junction shop " for a few months, and then back again to the Merrifield building, this time at the corner of Exchange and Cypress streets. In addition to the manufacture of copying-presses, the firm also took up the manufacture of metal-working machine-tools soon after its first establishment in the Merri- field building, and this branch of the business has since far outstripped that of making copying-presses. In 187 1 Carter Whitcomb retired from the firm, and it has since been known as the Whitcomb Manufacturing Company. Larger quarters still being required, Mr. Whitcomb moved, in 1872, to the 32 / "^'^ ALONZO WHITCOMB. The Worcester of 1898. 499 Estabrook shop at the Junction, and later, in 1877, to the Rice & Griffin shop on Gold street. Here Mr. Whitcomb experienced another disastrous fire, suffering a loss of $45,000, with but $5,000 insurance. In 1892 he built his present shop at the corner of Sargent and Gold streets, and has since occupied it in carrying on his business. The principal products of the company now are metal planers, shears, punches and copying-presses, of which the first named have become the company's specialty. As many as 4,000 copying-presses were made by Mr. Whitcomb in a single year at one period, and the planers produced by him now number over 2,600. In partnership with Augustus Rice, Mr. Whit- comb succeeded to the business of Timothy F. Taft in 1866, and, as a separate firm, under the name of Rice & Whitcomb, carried on the business of making metal shears and presses, until the retirement of Mr. Rice brought about the union of the two concerns owned by Mr. Whitcomb about the year 1881. Mr. Whitcomb was the projector and one of the founders of the Kabley Foundry Company, which carries on a very successful business of making castings at 56 Gold street, and is now its treasurer. In this fiftieth year of his business, it may be said that, notwithstanding heavy losses by two destructive fires, Mr. Whitcomb has never ceased to do business, and main- tain his credit unimpaired. Personally, he is of a quiet, retiring disposition, never seeking public notice, happy in his family, and at eighty years is as active as men usually are at sixty-five. Draper Machine Tool Company. — In the half century just closed, Worces- ter has gained for itself a wide reputation as a metal-working centre, and the making of lathes and machine-tools has formed no inconsiderable por- tion of the city's manufactures. The pioneer lathe industry of Worcester was that from which the Draper Machine Tool Company is the outgrowth. It antedates the incorporation of the city, having been started in 1845 ^y Shephard, Lathe & Company, and was known as the Lathe & Morse Tool Company immediately previous to the organization of the present company. The works were moved to Gold street in 1881, and in 1896 the size of the plant was fully doubled by the addition of a large four-story brick building in the rear. They are operated by a seventy-five horse-power engine, and from seventy-five to a hundred men, the most of them skilled, are given employment. The products are engine-lathes, special crank-planers, screw-machines, etc. In these, improvement has followed improvement, and recently a lathe has been perfected which is considered secand to none in the market. The company's products have long been widely known, and they are in use not only throughout the Union, but in many foreign countries. The Draper Machine Tool Company was organized in 1892 with a capital of $60,000, and in 1896 the capital was increased to $90,000. From the start the officers have been: Honorable William F. Draper, President; and C. E. Thwing, Treasurer. The former, a resident of Hopedale and the present ambassador to Italy, has been interested in the industry since 1891, 500 The Worcester of 1898. and ]\Ir. Thwing, the treasurer, has been connected with it since 1879. He is a son of one of the former proprietors, and previous to coming into the office had gained a practical knowledge of the manufacturing part by regular apprenticeship and experience in the works. P. Blaisdell & Conipany, Jackson street, continue the business established in 1855 by Parritt Blaisdell, a former employee of Wood, Light & Company, a well-known firm forty years ago. Mr. Blaisdell died in 1874, and the business was taken by J. P. Jones, S. E. Hildreth and Enoch Earle. On the death of Mr. Hildreth his son succeeded to his interest. The Powell Planer Company, 385 Cambridge street, was incorporated in 1887. Iron planers and appliances for lathes are the specialties made. Prentice Brothers, 383 Cambridge street, make drilling machinery and engine-lathes. The L. W. Pond Machine Company, ]\IcMahon & Company, and others, are in this line. Norton Emery Wheel Company. — The industry of this company illustrates in its growth what able direction may accomplish. It was started in an experimental way by Mr. F. B. Norton something more than a quarter of a century ago, and was conducted on a small scale in connection with his pottery business on Water street. Not until 1880 had it become of any importance, and its great development really dates from 1885. June 20th of that year the Norton Emery Wheel Company was organized. It purchased the emery-wheel business from Mr. Norton, and in 1887 erected a building for the industry at Barber's Crossing. This measured 120x50 feet, and was greater than was then needed, and the company offered for rent a portion of the premises. But in comparatively short time not only all of this building was needed by the company, but greater space became imperative to accommodate the growing industry. The third addition in way of enlargement to the original building had been made, and, as the demand for more space continued, another large building, a structure of brick and iron, was erected in 1896, and this virtually doubled the size of the factory. These are among the important additions that have been made, but plans are drawn for a brick extension to the main building, and to this the offices and shipping-rooms are to be moved. In the meantime, in 1893, an important addition to the business of the Norton Company had been made by the purchase of the stock and good- will of the Grant Corundum Wheel Manufacturing Company of Chester, Massachusetts, that company's works having been destroyed by fire. Up to 1897 the boiler and engine rooms had been in the basement of the original building, but in the fall of that year a new power-house of brick, measuring 40 x 70 feet, w^as erected, and in this the company has exception- ally well-fitted and conveniently-arranged premises. A new Westinghouse engine of 200 horse-power capacity has been installed, as have new upright boilers, a large generator for lighting all of the buildings by electricity, and the Webster apparatus for heating them by steam. Six great kilns have been erected, and in these not only the grinding-wheels, but fire-brick for the factory's use are kilned. Much of the machinery and many of the devices used are from special designs and covered by patents owned by the The Worcester of 1898. 501 Norton Company. These are built in the company's well-equipped machine- shop, as is also grinding-machinery for the market. It will be seen from the foregoing that the plant is complete in itself. The works are immediately on the line of two great railway systems, the Boston & Maine and Fitchburg, a spur track running through the original building, rendering teaming unnecessary either in receiving fuel or raw material, or in shipping the manufactured product. Each of the two rail- roads makes Barber's Crossing a regular station for both passengers and freight, and the Norton Company's express matter is taken from or put aboard the cars at the company's doors. The principal business, that in which the company is most widely known, is the manufacture and sale of emery wheels, corundum wheels, and wheels in which emery and corundum are combined, and a successful novelty is the emery brick or rub-stone. NORTON EMERY WHEEL COMPANY. Raw material is received at the factory, as ground emery and ground corundum, in different degrees of coarseness. It is largely of imported stock, though some native material is used for special purposes, but all must be of the purest quality. The different processes it undergoes — sifting, mixing, puddling, shaping, drying, baking, truing and testing — are interesting. Of the millions pro- duced, every wheel is numbered and registered; a history of its treatment from the time of its shaping is preserved, and before leaving the works it is subjected to a test many times greater than it is ever apt to receive when in actual use. Norton wheels are now used for an almost infinite variety of purposes. Their shapes and sizes are almost numberless, but there is only one quality, and that the best. They range from 1-4 to ;^6 inches in diameter, and from 1-32 to 4 inches in thickness. Thirty degrees of coarseness are made, about 120 different kinds and numbers of emery are used, and there is a possibility of some fifty degrees of hardness. 502 The Worcester of 1898. About 175 people, the most of whom are skilled, are employed in the works, and an idea of the maj^nitiide of the business may be formed from the fact that though the oTeater part is order work, some 500 tons in finished stock is usually carried. Since the organization of the company, there has been no cessation in the growth of its business. Its products now go to every portion of the civilized world, and though the reputation enjoyed is second to none, the constant aim is at improvement. The capital of the Norton Emery Wheel Company originally was $20,000, but it has been increased to $102,000. The ofificers are, and from the start have been: ]\T P. Higgins, President; George I. Alden, Treasurer; Charles L. Allen, Secretary ; and John Jeppson, Superintendent. The home office is at the works, but the company has selling agents in nearly all of the larger cities in the United States and in many foreign countries. Goes Wrench Company. — In 1836 two young men of Worcester, Loring and Aury G. Coes, started in a small way the manufacture of woolen-mill machinery. They were in a little shop at what was then called Court Mills, a few rods south of Lincoln square. Two years later they were burned out, and, having nothing with which to resume their work, they both removed to Springfield, and for nearly three years were employed as' pattern-makers in a foundry. During this time they were studying up some new inventions, and in the winter of 1840 and '41 they returned to Worcester, and procured letters- patent on a screw-wrench. This patent was granted to ]\Ir. Loring Coes in April, 1841. The brothers then hired a small shop at Court Mills, and started business in a very humble way, having no money at their disposal; but with energy and perseverance they succeeded in overcoming the obstacles incident to a want of capital. A few of these improved wrenches were made, and put on the market in one of the Worcester hardware stores. Their superiority was at once recognized and acknowledged, and the way was open for orders. Later they removed to the basement of Albert Curtis's shop at New Worces- ter, where they continued the manufacture, but on a larger scale. In 1845 a building was purchased, and the business became one of the largest of that time. This building had been used as a woolen mill, and was 30 X 70 feet, two stories high and a basement. Later on, as the demand for these wrenches increased, another building was erected of the same size and style as the other; also a blacksmithing shop, 50x75 feet, was built in the rear and on the same lot. These brothers thus continued in business for over twenty years, but in 1869 the partnership was dissolved, and the large property which they had accumulated was divided. Mr. A. G. Coes took the wrench plant, and with his sons, John H. and Frederick L., continued the business at Webster square. Mr. Loring Coes took the knife shop on Mill street, which was another factory that they owned and had been running. Two or three years after this dissolution of partnership, ]\Ir. Loring Coes built the new and modern factory at Coes square, and began the manufac- The Worcester of 1898. 503 ture of wrenches. The old patent had expired, and several improvements were made. This new plant consisted of a main building, 50 x 75 feet, three stories high and basement; a forging shop, 50x50 feet; a two-story build- ing, 30 X 125 feet, the ground floor being used as engine and boiler room, and the upper story was arranged for storing manufactured goods. In the centre of the main building is a tower with a clock. This clock was origi- nally in the steeple of the Old South Church which stood on the Common. Mr. A. G. Coes died in 1875, and his sons continued the business at the old factory until 1888, when a joint stock company was organized and duly incorporated, and the manufacture of Coes' patent screw-wrench by the two firms was thus united. The name of the company is the Coes Wrench Com- pany, and the capital stock $100,000. Mr. Loring Coes is the President; John H. Coes, Treasurer; and Frederick L. Coes, Secretary. COES SQUARE FACTORY OF COES WRENCH COMPANY. This company is operating both plants, and the shops are equipped with special machinery, which is adapted to the rapid and accurate production of the class of goods manufactured. The beautiful pond above these factories furnishes a fine water power, but at certain seasons of the year it is insuffi- cient, so that steam power is provided to meet that emergency. The "Coes patent screw-wrench " is a standard article in the hardware market. It is made in eight sizes and two styles of finish, and it is sold all over the world. This company has now the only manufactory of screw- wrenches in Massachusetts. It employs about 150 hands, and turns out from 30,000 to 40,000 wrenches per month. The Coes Wrench Company is, and has been for years, one of the leading establishments of Worcester. Morgan Construction Company. — The business of this company was estab- lished in 1888 by Mr. Charles H. Morgan, and three years later the present company was incorporated. The capital stock of the company is $50,000, and the officers are: Charles H. Morgan, President and Treasurer; Paul B. Morgan, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer; and V. E. Edwards and R. L. 504 The Worcester of 1898. MORGAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, LINCOLN STREET. Morgan, Mechanical Engi- neers. The office and works ()ccu])\- buildings owned l)y Mr. Charles H. Morgan, 1 1 to 21 Lincoln street. The business of the com- pany is the building of roll- ing-mill machinery for steel billets, merchant shapes, rods, cotton ties and barrel hoops ; also wire-drawing and hydraulic machinery; and special attention is given to the equipping of entire plants, including buildings, boilers, engines, machinery, etc. The manufacture of gas-engines has been entered upon, and a full line of sizes will soon be placed upon the market. The business of the company has steadily increased in volume, and in addition to that in this country a large export trade has been developed. The engineering branch of the business is, perhaps, of the most importance; a number of skilled designers and draughtsmen are employed. In addition to the drafting department there are departments for patent-making, black- smiting and general machine work. About sixty men are now employed. This company holds patents upon a number of special devices for the handling of the enormous product of modern rolling-mills, which is so much increased over previous practice that the disposition of its product by hand would be quite impossible. A specialty is made of the continuous system, which process of rolling steel is at present being adopted by leading concerns in this country and in Europe. Morgan Spring Company. — This company was incorporated in 1881 with a capital stock of $50,000, and immediately began business on Lincoln street, at which place it was confined until two years ago, when the fine plant at Barber's Crossing was finished, and to which the works were removed. Here the facilities for shipping the products are excellent, the buildings being on the tracks of both the Boston & Maine and the Fitch- burg railroads. The company manufactures the best grade of oil-tempered steel wire; also spiral and fiat springs of every description, many being made for agricultural implements. There are departments in the works for wire-drawing, tem- pering and spring-making. For motive power this company has one of the largest and most complete gas-engine i)lants in the Union, fuel gas for the engine and other purposes The Worcester of 1898. 505 lORGAN SPRING COMPANY, BARBER'S CROSSING. being made on the premises. In the busier seasons about 125 people are ■employed. The business is growing in volume all the time, and the trade extends to all parts of the United States and Canada. Charles H. Morgan is President; and Francis H. Morgan, Treasurer and General Manager. The Union Water Meter Company was incorporated under State law November 9, 1868. The first building occupied by the company was a one- .story wooden building erected on the rear of lot 31 and t,t, Hermon street. In 1872 the present brick building, 100 feet long, 45 feet wide, with four :stories and basement with engine and boiler rooms, was erected, and the old building was used for a brass foundry. In 1885 the lot No. 35 and 37 Hermon street was bought, and a second brick building 80 x 40, with three stories and basement, was erected. The company was formed to manufacture water-meters. The first meter made by the company was the Ball & Fitts reciprocating piston meter, the joint invention of Honorable Phinehas Ball (who was the first president of the ■company, and held that position until his death in 1894) and Benaiah Fitts. The chief peculiarity of this meter is in its having but one valve to do all the work of admitting, discharging and regulating the flow of water to and from the four cylinders. The valve is a rotary conical valve, having parts so arranged that when they are opened by the revolution of the valve on its axis, the admission and exit of water to and from the cylinder is made gradual. This meter is made in sizes from § inch to 4 inches inclusive. In 1876 this company brought out the Union rotary piston meter, the invention of Benaiah Fitts. This meter was of peculiar construction, the working parts consisting of two revolving pistons, used in duplicate, inter- locking each other, so as to form a continuous revolving diaphragm or .abutment between the inlet or outlet ports, in the same manner as the piston in the steam or water cylinder forms a complete dam or dividing abutment between the parts of the inlet and exhaust valve. The pistons j^^ m JOHN P. K. OTIS. The Worcester of 1898. 507- UNION WATER METER COMPANY, HERMON STREET. are guided or controlled in their revolution by elliptical gears. This style of meter is made in all sizes, from f inch to 12 inches inclusive, and is the largest positive measuring meter made. In 1892 this company brought out the Columbia pattern meter the invention of Honorable Phinehas Ball. This meter was specially made and adapted to use in waters that carry more or less sediment, or that have a tendency to form deposits in the inside of meters. It is very simple in construction, consisting of a vertical valve chamber with its corresponding valve, and a measuring chamber with a revolving piston. This style meter is made only in the small or house sizes. Besides the manufacture of water-meters, this company manufactures water, steam, gas and air pressure regulators, steam fire gongs, chronom- eter governor valves, hydraulic valves, cement-testing machines, cement- lining presses, hand-feed drills, corporation, waste and band stops, etc., etc. It also executes special hydraulic work. The product of this com- pany is used in every state and territory of the United States, and is favorably known in quite a number of foreign countries; this last part of the trade, as well as home consumption, is rapidly increasing, due to the fact that the utility of meters in reducing the waste of water is becoming better understood. It has been proved conclusively that in cities using meters the consump- tion of water is from one-fourth to one-third of the consumption of water in cities of similar size and conditions not using meters. The officers of the company are: John C. Otis, President and Treasurer* John P. K. Otis, ^Manager; Edward P. King, Superintendent. 5o8 The Worcester of 1898. Matthews Manufacturing Company. — The cut below represents the new and coninioclious factory of the Malthews ]\Ianufacturing Company, located at No. 104 Gold street. This company was incorj)orated under the laws of Massachusetts in February, 1894, with a paid-up capital of $10,000, the oiTficers being: F. E. Reed, President; John Reed, Treasurer; and A. T. Matthews, General Manager. Stove trimmings, steam-pipe collars, bicycle fittings, ferrules and sheet metal specialties are the principal products of the factory. The company was originally organized in April, i m.!-. ^^at. fc,», .^ ^7;.- O o tfir*~''iMIMMii3m-^':At'^^i rs. They also build a great many water-wheel cases, penstocks, oil and water taidimcnt Resolutions. Louis L. Auger, M. D., was born in Louiseville, Canada, April 23, 1859. His father, Doctor Charles L. Auger, was a practising physician in that place, and the son had the advantages of an excellent education. After finishing his classical studies at Nicolet College, he took a course at Victoria University in Montreal, and was graduated in 1879. He located in Great Falls, New Hampshire, where he remained ten years in the active practice of his profession, and the last four years he was city physician. He also published for a short time in that place a French newspaper entitled Le Protect cur. In 1888 at a general convention of the French people of the country held at Nashua, New Hampshire, Doctor Auger was vice-president and a mem- ber of the committee to invite President Cleveland to visit the convention. In 1890 Doctor Auger visited Europe and spent three years in study in Paris and Berlin. For a time he was first assistant in the hospital of Doctor Doloris in Paris. In 1893 he came to Worcester, and he has established in this city a large and lucrative practice. He is a member of the Obstetrical and Gynecological Society of Paris, and the Medico-chirurgical Society of Montreal; the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Worcester Medical Society ; and is also connected with several local societies and clubs. Doctor Auger was married in August, 1884, to Miss Albina Magnan of Joliette, Province of Quebec. They have no children. John Stanton Baldwin was born in New Haven, Connecticut, January 6, 1834. His father, John Denison Baldwin, was a Congregational minister, and was afterwards editor of the Boston Daily CommomvcaltJi, and later of the Worcester Spy ; he represented the Worcester District in Congress from 1863 to 1869. His mother was Lemira, daughter of Captain Ebenezer Hathaway of Dighton, Massachusetts. She is still living. He married, in October, 1863, Miss Emily Brown, daughter of Albert Brown, a descendant of one of the first settlers of Worcester. LOUIS L. AUGER. The Worcester of 1898. 553 John S. Baldwin learned the printer's trade, titted for college, and was ■graduated from the Connecticut State Normal School. Since his twentieth year he has been connected with a daily morning newspaper, first in Boston, and since 1857 in Worcester, where for many years he was chief owner and editor of the ] Worcester Spy. His public service has been in the City Council, the School Board, the Legislature, and in the War of the Rebellion as captain of a company in the Fifty-first Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. Phinehas Ball* was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, January 18, 1824. His grandfather, Elijah Ball, was a Revolutionary patriot, who attained the rank of first lieutenant in 1779 in General Israel Putnam's command, and after the war passed the remainder of his life in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture upon a farm which he transmitted to his son, the father of the subject of this sketch. This son, Manasseh Sawyer Ball, married Clarissa Andrews, who was descended from Simon and Anne Bradstreet, prominent in colonial history. Phinehas, the eldest son of this marriage, passed his youthful life upon the farm, rendering his father such assistance as his feeble strength and uncer- tain health permitted, alternating the summer's work with attendance at the winter's district schools, where he received his only instruction until he .arrived at the age of sixteen. In the winter of 1840 he spent some time in Rhode Island with an uncle, who taught him the principles of surveying, and he was enabled with the -aid of an old compass which had belonged to his great-great-grandfather to perform considerable service in land-surveying in Boylston and vicinity during the few succeeding years. In 1841 and 1842 he was able to attend during two terms a boarding- school in Berlin, and this instruction, with his former schooling, comprised -all the educational advantages he ever received other than those acquired by self-application. He taught school for several terms in neighboring towns, and in this way .and by surveying and other labor, was enabled to maintain himself for several years, until in 1846 he removed to Worcester and entered upon the occupation of civil engineer, in which in after years he was destined to fill .so prominent a place. In April, 1849, he entered into partnership with Elbridge Boyden under the firm name of Boyden & Ball, architects and engineers, which connection was maintained until i860. During this period Mr. Ball platted many of the real-estate changes consequent to the development of the rapidly grow- ing city, and was also identified with such limited public works as were then in progress. But it Avas later under the mayoralty of that public-spirited and clear- sighted man of affairs, D. Waldo Lincoln, that Mr. Ball gained his most solid and lasting reputation in the planning and construction of the water works from Lynde brook in Leicester to supply the imperative and increas- *See portrait on page 4: /'■ JOHN S. BALDWIN. The Worcester of 1898. 555- ing needs of the city, the first of the great system of aqueducts now in use. An immediate result of this service was the election of Mr. Ball as. mayor for the year 1865, an office which he did not seek, accepted with misgivings, and relinquished with relief and thankfulness, but the duties of which he discharged with faithfulness and ability. The events of his. administration are recounted in another part of this volume. From 1863 to 1867 Mr. Ball was water commissioner, and from 1867 to 1872 city engineer, and these duties, with a previous term in the City Covmcil, comprised his direct services to Worcester in its corporate capacity. The present extensive sewerage system was instituted and considerably advanced under his official supervision. The success of Mr. Ball and the experience acquired in the local works led to his selection toconstruct or to report upon similar undertakings in other places in the State and in New England, notably water works in Spring- field, Amherst, Leominster, Marlborough, Lawrence, Brockton, Glouces- ter and Lynn, in Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; Nashua and Claremont, New Hampshire; New Haven and New Britain, Connecticut; and sewerage systems for Keene, New Hampshire; Fall River, Massachusetts, and New Britain, Connecticut. He undertook the drainage of the Mystic valley, near Boston, at the request of the State Board of Health, which important task he was compelled by physical disability to relinquish. Li 1869 Mr. Ball became interested in the manufacture of water meters and appliances, some of which he had patented, and the Union Water Meter Company was formed, with which he maintained his connection as president until his death. Mr. Ball was an active member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, and served as clerk, treasurer, vice-president, and president. He was a member of the Worcester County Society of Engineers, the Boston Society of Engineers, and the American Water Works Association. He was also an active member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and gave to that institution the ancient compass which he had used in his first work of surveying. He was early interested in the temperance and anti- slavery movements, and in politics was first a Free-Soiler and then a Republican. For thirty-one years he was deacon of the First L^nitarian Church in Worcester, and was for seven years president of the Worcester County Conference of Unitarian Churches. He was for a time a trustee of the Worcester County Free Institution of Lidustrial Science, now the Poly- technic Listitute, and always had a deep interest in that establishment for practical education. Mr. Ball married, in 1848, Sarah Augusta Holyoke of Marlborough, who died in January, 1864. Of the two children by this marriage, a son died early, and a daughter, Miss Helen A. Ball, survives him. Li November, 1865, while mayor, Mr. Ball married Mary Jane, daughter of Benjamin B. Otis, formerly a prominent resident of Worcester, and sister of John C. and Harrison G. Otis, and who survives her husband. -556 The Worcester of 1898. After a period of declining health, Mr. Ball died on the 19th of Decem- ber, 1894, respected, and his death was regretted by all who knew him. Lewis Barnard,''' for many years the senior nu-nibcr of the large dry-goods firm of Barnard, Sumner *!<: Company, was born in Worcester May 15, 1816. He was a son of Captain Lewis and Bathsheba (Lovell) Barnard. He received his education in the comnion schools, at the high school in Tem- pleton, and at Leicester Academy. In 1839, at the age of twenty-three, he engaged in the dry-goods business in Springfield, where he remained until 1842. In 1S47, having returned to Worcester, he became connected in business with Henry H. Chamberlin, and later with George Sumner and Otis E. Putnam, the firm being first Chamberlin, Barnard & Company, and then IJarnard, Sumner & Company, until in 1890 the company was incor- porated as the Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company, with Mr. Barnard as president. Through all these years the business continually increased in volume, and the house was known throughout New England as the largest and most reliable dry-goods establishment in central Massachusetts. Mr. Barnard was, during his fifty years' active life in Worcester, known .as a public-spirited and enterprising citizen. He served five years in the Board of Aldermen, and was a representative in the General Court from 1870 to 1873, a member of the Committee on Railroads in 1872, and chair- man of the Insurance Committee in 1873. He was a director of the City Bank from 1855, a director of the Bay State Fire and of the Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Companies, a trustee of the Mechanics Savings Bank, and a director of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad. As a relaxation from the exacting cares of business, Mr. Barnard passed two years in Europe with his family. For many years he resided in the fine estate on Lincoln street, which remains in the possession of his children. Mr. Barnard married, September 2, 1839, Mary A., daughter of Roland and Annie (Clark) Parkhurst. One son, John Clark, and two daughters, Mary Flora and Helen Josephine, survive their parents. Mr. Barnard died March 31, 1897. Frank Roe Batchelder was born in Worcester July 24, 1869, the son of James Warren Roe and Susan Maria (Marshall) Batchelder, and has been a resident of the city from his birth. He attended the public schools, being graduated from the Worcester high school with the class of 1887. Soon after leaving school, he engaged in newspaper work, at first as a reporter upon a daily paj)er, and later as one of the editors of LigJit, a weekly publication. In 1890 he became the private secretary of Honorable J. H. Walker, rep- resentative in Congress from the 3d Massachusetts District, and has served in that capacity to the present time. He is also clerk of the Committee on Banking and Currency of the House of Representatives. When thirteen years old, Mr. Batchelder began the publication of an amateur newspaper called the CiO-AJicad, which he printed himself, and while in the high school conducted with a classmate the High School 'See portrait on page 412. The Worcester of 1898. 557 FRANK ROE BATCHELDER. .-i/^i^'/^s, and later acted as chief editor of the Acadi'i/ic\ the official organ of the school. j\Ir. Batchelder's first writings for the professional press were in the form of humorous and satirical verses, some of the best of which were published in Lifc\ the New York satirical weekly. He has since contributed verses, short stories and other matter to various weekly periodicals and magazines, and in some cases has illustrated his writings by means of photo- graphs made by himself. He is a Mason and a member of Worcester County Commandery of Knights Templars, and at the organization of the Young Men's Republican Club was elected its first presi- dent. He married, in 1893, Mabel Caroline Streeter of Worcester, and they have one son, Roger Batchelder, born 1897. Theodore Cornelius Bates, son of Elijah and Sarah (Fletcher) Bates, was born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, June 4, 1843. He received his education in the schools of his native town, and at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, New Hampshire. He was a member of the first class graduated at the high school of his native town. He fitted for college at Pinkerton Academy. He was for several years employed in teaching in the Brook- fields, and later engaged in business in Boston and other places until 1876, when he acquired an interest in the manufacturing plant of the Worcester Corset Company, and afterwards became sole proprietor. He early took a prominent position in the Republican party in this State. In 1879 he was elected to the General Court from North Brookfield. In the House he was chairman of the Committee on Claims, and a member of the celebrated Retrenchment Committee of Governor Thomas Talbot's admin- istration. He was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1883, and served as chairman of the Joint Committee on Railroads, was a member of the Committee on Prisons, and also on the State House Committee. He declined a iinanimous renomination both to the House and Senate. He never missed a vote in either branch of the Legislature, and he gave to the Free Public Library and Reading-Room of his native town his salary while in the Legislature, both House and Senate. He was for several years chairman of the Executive Committee of the Republican State Central Committee and also for many years chairman of the Executive Committee of the Worcester County Republican Com- mittee, and of the Congressional District Committee. He was elected a delegate from the Worcester Congressional District to the National Republican Convention at Chicago in 1884. He was elected by the Legis- lature a State director of the Boston & Albany Railroad Company in iSSo,^ THEODORE C. BATES. The Worcester of 1898. 559 and served until the Commonwealth disposed of its stock in that corpora- tion. He was also for several years a member of the State Board of Health, resigning after five years of service, on account of his numerous business engagements. He was appointed by President Hayes commissioner for Massachusetts for the proposed World's Fair to be held at New York in 1883, of which General U. S. Grant was president, and Mr. Bates was chair- man of the Executive Committee from New England. For many years he has been identified with the manufacturing interests of New England, and is also interested in the promotion of railroads and other public works. He is president and director in several corporations, and was for a number of years president of the Corset Manufacturers' Association of the United States. In the welfare of his native town he has always felt a deep interest, and has exerted him.self in many ways as a public-spirited citizen to confer benefits upon it. He was the founder there of the Free Public Library and Reading-Room, having given freely for its establishment and maintenance, and having been for eighteen years chairman of its Board of Trustees. He was influential in the construction of the North Brookfield railroad, which was largely built by the town, and of which he was since its incorporation in 1875 a director, and for several years past its president. He served as chairman of the committee elected by the town to publish the town history of North Brookfield, which has been widely commended as a model in its line. He was also chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners, and chief promoter of that enterprise, which provided the town with one of the best water systems in the State, a work accomplished with great difficulty and at enormous expense for so small a town. Mr. Bates was married in 1868 to Emma Frances Duncan of North Brook- field. They have one daughter, Tryphosa Duncan, now the wife of Francis Batcheller of North Brookfield, president of the shoe manufacturing firm of E. & A. H. Batcheller Company. Mr. Bates has been blessed with a great measure of success in worldly matters, and has achieved by his own native force and talent a position attained by few. He possesses great personal magnetism, which attracts to him many friends, and he exerts a strong influence in the community, and in the political party to which he has so many years given faithful service. Merrick Bemis, M. D., was born in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, May 4, 1820. His parents removed to Charlton, thence to Brookfield, during his early childhood, and he was brought up on a farm, with such advantages as the country district schools afforded. A natural thirst for knowledge, however, led him to seek further improvement, and he was able by his own efforts to pay his way through Dudley Academy, walking each way every week the twelve miles' distance between his home and that place. With money obtained by teaching school in the winter, he entered Amherst Academy, with the intention of pursuing the full course in Amherst College, but a severe illness of long duration compelled him to abandon this purpose. He was engaged for several years in teaching school in Brookfield. At the asfe of twentv-two he began the studv of medicine, and soon after went to MERRICK BEMIS. The Worcester of 1898. 561 Boston, and remained live years in the office of Doctor Winslow Lewis, leaving the office during the winter months, however, that he might, by teaching, defray the expenses of his medical studies, — in the meantime attending medical lectures at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Castleton, Ver- mont, receiving his degree from the college in the latter place in 1848. On November 14th of the last-named year. Doctor Bemis came to Worces- ter to take the place temporarily of one of the physicians in the State Lunatic Hospital, and was soon after appointed assistant physician to Doctor George Chandler, who was superintendent of that institution, and continued in that connection eight years. Doctor Chandler resigned at the close of the year 1855, and Doctor Bemis was elected his successor by "HERBERT HAIL," SALISBURY STREET. the trustees. He was granted leave of absence for the purpose of travel and study in Europe, and after an extended tour of eight months, returned and took charge of the hospital in the summer of 1857. In this station he remained seventeen years, resigning in 1872. During this period several important changes in rnethods and administration were carried through, and the institution maintained a high reputation among similar establish- ments throughout the country. He was the first to advocate the employ- ment of female physicians in asylums, and the custom soon became general. In the closing years of his service here. Doctor Bemis purchased the various estates now constituting the hospital property at the lake, and submitted plans for the erection of buildings, and, in view of the change of location, again, in 1868, visited Europe to inspect hospitals and treatment of patients there. After twenty-five years' continuous service in the State 36 02 The Worcester of 1898. institution, Doctor Bemis resigned, and soon after established the private asylum for the care and treatment of women afflicted with various forms of mental and nervous disease, at Herbert Hall in Worcester. This large mansion, situated on vSalisbury street, was erected in 1857 by the late Reverend Nathaniel T. Bent for the purposes of a young ladies' school, and the property, which includes an estate of about ten acres, came into Doctor Bemis' possession in 1S73. This institution he has conducted with great success to the present time, his son, Doctor John M. Bemis, being associated with him in the management for the last few years. As an expert in insanity. Doctor Bemis' services are frequently solicited in consultation and in courts. Doctor Bemis was a member of the Board of Aldermen in 1861, 1862 and 1863, and he served on the School Board during the same period. In war- time he took an active interest in the welfare of the soldiers and their families, and contributed much of his means and effort toward their relief. All matters of public concern have had his ready sympathy and active assistance to the extent of his ability. He has been a director of the Mechanics National Bank, is a member of the Horticultural vSociety, The Worcester Society of Antiquity and the Natural History Society, and is and has been for several years president of the last-named body. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Worcester District Medical Societies and of the American Medical Association, also of the New England Psycho- logical Society and of the American Medico-Psychological Association. He is connected with the Masonic order, and is a member of the Church of the Unity and a life-member of the American Unitarian Association. Since 1887 he has been one of the State Trustees of the Baldwinsville Hospital Cottages for Children, and is president of the corporation. In this connection it may be stated that Doctor Bemis was the first American physician to advocate the division of hospital buildings for the insane into separate cottages or pavilions. Doctor Bemis is a book-lover of more than ordinary fervor, and has gathered, through a long series of years, a line library, which comprises many rare editions and costly works of art. In the companionship of these volumes he has found solace and diversion from the exacting duties of his profession, and in their possession one of the chief gratifications of life. Doctor Bemis married, January i, 1856, Caroline A. Gilmore. Her father was a physician of Brookfield for more than thirty years. They have one son, John Merrick Bemis, a physician, and member of the Massachusetts and Worcester District Medical Societies and of the American Medical Association. Charles M. Bent,* a son of the late Reverend Nathaniel T. and Catherine E. I). (Metcalf) Bent, Avas born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, ()ctol)er 5, 1835. In 1849 his family moved to Worcester, and in 1851 he became a clerk in the Worcester Bank, where he received careful training from the late William Cross, the cashier, who was considered one of the most skillful * See portrait on page 37S. The Worcester of 1898. 563 financiers in the city, and who developed in the young man those traits of sagacity and sound judgment which entitled him in after years to a position among the prominent financial men of the State. When the People's Savings Bank was incorporated in 1864, Mr. Bent, then bookkeeper in the Worcester National Bank, became its treasurer, which position he holds at the present time. Being enthusiastically devoted to the interests of the bank he represents, he has had little time to devote to public affairs. Mr. Bent possesses musical tastes above the average, and is closely iden- tified with the musical interests of the city. He was at one time president of the Choral Union, and has for many years been a director and is now president of the Worcester County Musical Association. By birth and education an Episcopalian, he has for many years been prominently and officially connected with All Saints' Church, of which his father was at one time the rector. Mr. Bent was married in 1867 to Helen Maria, daughter of James L. Kennedy of Milton, Massachusetts. They have had two children, one of whom. Miss Catherine M. Bent, is living. Horace H. Bigelow was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, on June 2d, 1827. He attended the public schools of his native town until the age of fifteen, when he began to learn the shoemakers' trade, which at that time was in the crude state of all trade work. In 1850 he went to New York with an uncle to engage in the manufacture of New York city shoes. He subsequently continued this business in Albany, New York; Providence, Rhode Island, and Trenton, New Jersey. It was during this period of his life next succeeding that Mr. Bigelow interested himself in the great question of the employment of convict labor. In 1864 he removed to AVorcester, and for eight years was superintendent of the Bay State Shoe & Leather Company, in which he had the largest primary interest. Endowed naturally with a spirit of progress, it was inevitable that Mr. Bigelow's long connection with the shoe business should bring forth now ideas of his own for improving the industry. For instance, in 1869 he patented a product of machine for making heels from waste leather, which proved a valuable innovation, and it was universally introduced in this country and in Europe. In 1875 occurred the union of the McKay and Bigelow heeling-machine companies, which ended a bitter struggle between rival interests. After this date Mr. Bigelow retired from active interest in shoe manufacture and turned his attention to other enterprises. He established the electric lighting in Worcester, and also the power company, Avhich was the direct forerunner to the present company, to which Mr. Bigelow sold out. He became largely interested in real estate on both shores of Lake Ouinsiga- mond, and at the same time secured control of the Worcester & ShrcAvsbury Railroad. He operated the railroad until its lease to the Consolidated Street Railway two years ago. He was instrumental in establishing most of the club-houses at the lake, and has built up practically the whole of the suburb known as Lake View. In 1884 he gave to the city sixty acres of land on the shore of Lake Quinsigamond, which tract was the foundation of the present Lake park. In 1882 Mr. Bigelow purchased the land known r ii HORACE H. BIGELOW. The Worcester of i: 565 as the Rink property, between Foster and Mechanic streets, which up to that time was the largest real-estate transfer in Worcester, and he is now engaged in improving this property. Mr. Bigelow has always been free from sectarianism in religion and all party prejudice. He has always been a supporter of freedom of thought and of all worthy liberal movements. He largely aided in a pecuniary way the publication of the Genealogy of the Bigelow Family, and other undertakings have received assistance from him at different times. He was twice married. His first wife, Lucy Ann Howe, died in 1857. He married Adelaide Elizabeth Buck of Portland, Connecticut, in 1859, and has a daughter, Adelaide F. Stevens, and two sons, Irving E. and Francis H. RESIDENCE OF GEORGE F. BLAKE, 129 LINCOLN STREET. George Fordyce Blake, Jr., born February 9, 1859, at Medford, Massa- chusetts, is a descendant in the eighth generation from William Blake, who came from Little Braddon, Essex, England, in 1630, and first settled in Dorchester, removing in 1636 with William Pynchon to Springfield, the line being as follows: William,' James,' James,'' Increase,^ Increase,* Doctor Thomas Dawes,® George F.,^ who married first in 1845 Sarah S. Skinner, and second, in 1857, Martha J. Skinner, a sister of his first wife. Of this second marriage the subject of this sketch was the oldest child. George F. Blake, Jr., was educated in the public schools, Warren Acad- emy at Woburn, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the class of 1879. In 1880 he made a trip around the world, and for the next GEORGE F. BLAKE, JR. The Worcester of 1898. 567 four years was engaged with the George F. Blake Manufacturing Company, of which his father was president, as draughtsman. February 28, 1884, he entered into business at Worcester in the iron and steel trade as a member of the firm of Blake, Boutwell & Company, which in 1891 became George F. Blake, Jr., & Company. In addition to this interest the con- duct of an iron-mill in Wareham and a store in Boston was assumed in 1893, and in 1896 the firm of Blake, Sampson & Company, dealing in coal, was formed. Notwithstandirig these various responsibilities, Mr. Blake is actively connected with several large corporations and important financial institutions. He was three years a director of the Providence & Worcester Railroad before it was absorbed by the New York & Boston and then by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. He is a trustee of the Worcester County Institution for Savings; a director of the Central National Bank of Worcester, the Stale Mutual Life Assurance Company and the SUMMER RESIDENCE OF GEORGE F. BLAKE, SALISBURY STREET. Callahan Supply Company; and president of the Light, Heat & Power Corporation, owners, lessees and operators of light, heat and power plants, Boston. He is a member of the Worcester and Commonwealth Clubs ; of the Quinsigamond Boat Club, of which he was two years president ; of the Tatnuck Country Club; the Exchange Club, Boston; the Calumet Club, New York, and the Technology Club, Boston ; of the Worcester Board of Trade and the Home Market Club. Mr. Blake married, April 29, 1885, ]\Iiss Carrie Howard Turner, daughter of Job A. and Vesta (Howard) Turner. They have two children born in Worcester: Fordyce, February 10, 1889, and Vesta Carolyn, March 31, 1896. Elbridge Boyden was born in Somerset, Vermont, July 4, 1810, and died in Worcester March 25, 1898. His father was a Revolutionary soldier. He early developed mechanical talent, and was employed when a mere boy in a saw-mill, and soon received wages equal to the best mill-hands. His school education was limited, but he possessed a strong common sense. ELBRIDGE BOYDEN. The Worcester of 1898. 569 which served him through Hfe as well as book knowledge. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a carpenter in the town of Athol, and the first year began to study architecture, and in drawing soon became profi- cient. He was engaged in building in Athol about twenty years, and came to Worcester to follow that business in April, 1844. He had, previous to this, given some indication of the genius which waited an opportunity for development. He came into competition in Worcester with several noted builders, some of whose specimens remain to-day in the mansions of that time ; but they soon passed away, and for many years he was the principal designer and architect of the city. In 1847 he formed a business connection with Phinehas Ball, civil engineer, under the name of Boyden & Ball, which continued fourteen years, and during that time most of the engineering and architectural work in the city and surrounding towns came into their hands. Mr. Boyden made plans for buildings in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Oregon and Georgia. His designs were characterized by breadth, symmetry, and often by grandeur. His best known work is Mechanics Hall, acknowledged to be one of the finest halls in America. He, without following him in every principle, belonged to the school of which Bulfinch was the representative, his work appealing more to popular appreciation, as does Gray's " Elegy" and Bryant's " Thanatopsis," than the more involved conceptions of the present time, which require a great deal •of explanation before they can be understood. Mr. Boyden conceived the idea of using burnt clay for ornaments, and interested a potter in the notion long before he heard of terra-cotta ; and in many ways he evidenced originality and independence. Mr. Boyden was a broad-minded and public-spirited citizen, and a whole- souled man. His disposition is well illustrated by the stand he took in regard to the location of the new City Hall, declaring that while it was for his personal interest to have it placed at Lincoln square, he was for the whole city, and that the building should go on the Common. He remained active and vigorous to the very end of his life, maintaining a deep interest in all matters of public concern, exhibiting a keenness of intellect character- istic more of middle life than of age. His death was universally regretted in a community in which he had been for more than half a century a prominent figure. Alzirus Brown, son of Joel and Lucy Brown, was born in Concord, Massachusetts, October 17, 182 1. He lived in Boylston during his child- hood, and came to Worcester from that place in 1838, sixty years ago. At that time the town contained only 5,800 inhabitants, and Mr. Brown has witnessed the rise and progress of everything of importance which goes to make up the great city of to-day. He learned sash and blind making on coming here, and later was for fourteen years at the Bradley car-shops as contractor, doing the finishing of the inside work in cars. While at this place he became interested in the manufacture of the Buckeye mowing-machines, which he built here for many years, and was .at the time of his death, though not actively, connected with that industry. EDWIN BROWN, The Worcester of i! 571 ALZIRUS BROWN. About thirty years ago he established a large heavy trucking business, which he continued until his death. In the early forties Mr. Brown joined the Fire Department as a member of the old hook-and-ladder company, and was soon elected its foreman. He was pro- moted to the Board of Engineers, and in 1 86 1 became chief engineer, which office he held five years, ill health com- pelling him to retire. The department during this time comprised 467 men, and Mr. Brown's popularity was evidenced by the presentation to him on his withdrawal of a handsome silver service. Mr. Brown was one of the compara- tively few remaining who voted at the first city election in 1848. He had always been a good citizen, favoring all measures which would promote the city's interests. For fifteen years he was on the School Board of the city, and for eighteen years on the Overseers of the Poor, but excepting these he would never accept political office. He was a director in the Electric Light Company, and was financially connected with the Buckeye Mowing- machine Company, and with other Worcester industries. When he bought his residence at 633 Main street (which was built for a sister of Governor Bullock, the wife of Nelson Wheeler, principal of the high school), forty years ago, it was considered out of the world, but it is now not far from the city's centre. Mr. Brown died September i, 1898. In 1843 Mr. Brown married Miss Harriet D., daughter of Gains Proctor and Betsey (Pickens) Proctor of Concord, Massachusetts. Edwin Brown, son of Albert and Mary Blair (Eaton) Brown, was born in Worcester March 24, 1844. Through his mother he is descended from Jonas Rice, the first permanent settler, and his son, Adonijah Rice, the first white child born in Worcester. Mr. Brown received his education in the public schools, and in i860 became a clerk in the City Bank, where he remained initil 1862, when he enlisted in the Fifty-first Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, serving until 1863, when he returned to the City Bank, remaining there until 1871, with the exception of one year in the Worcester National Bank as teller, and then returned to the City Bank as assistant cashier. In 187 1 he became a member of the firm of T. K. Earle & Company, card-clothing manufacturers, and later was manager and treasurer of the T. K. Earle Manufacturing Company. When the American Card Clothing Company was formed in 1890, Mr. Brown was elected treasurer of that corporation, and still holds the office. Mr. Brown was one of the original members of the Quinsigamond Boat Club, and maintains his connection Avith it. He is a member of the GEORGE L. BROWNELL. The Worcester of 1898. 573-- Worcester Board of Trade, of the Worcester Fire Society, the Grand Army of the Republic, and various other societies and organizations. He is a Republican in politics. In 1872 Mr. Brown married Mariana Mifflin, daughter of Timothy Keese and Nancy Shove (Hacker) Earle, and they have four sons. George Loomis Brownell was born July 13, 1854, at East Haddam, Con- necticut. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, and at the vShefifield Scientific School of Yale University, where he was graduated in 1875. He RESIDENCE OF GEORGE L. BROWNELL, 14 JOHN STREET. was among the leading athletes while in college, rowing on the victorious Yale freshmen crew at Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1873, and with "Bob" Cook on the Yale University crew at Saratoga in 1874 and 1875. After leaving college he was engaged in teaching for two years in his native town, during which time, when not employed in school duties, he invented an improved twisting-machine, which he built and had patented in 1878. He afterwards built and sold several of his machines, and looking for a better locality in which to develop his inventions, came to Worcester in 1880, and had two machines built by contract under his personal super- vision at the Washburn machine-shop. He then hired a small room in the basement at 57 Union street, and began the manufacture, on a limited WILLIAM H. BURNS. The Worcester of 1898. 575 ■scale, of the improved twisting-machinery which has developed into the present extensive business. He moved in 1883 to No. 16 Union street, and again in 1895 to his present quarters at 49 Union street. He now employs about fifty men, the majority of whom are skilled artisans, who have been with him many years. Several of them having learned their trade here have never worked elsewhere. His relations with his employees have always been marked by mutual consideration and courtesy. At first only one style of machine was built, but now the list includes a great variety of machines for spinning and twisting cotton, flax, hemp, silk, jute, sisal, manilla, wire, hair, paper, etc. Mr. Brownell has taken out a large number of United States and foreign patents, all of his machines having been invented by himself. The machines are used in all parts of the United States and in foreign countries, and the business has constantly in- creased. While living in East Haddam, Mr. Brownell was a member of the School Committee of that town. He is a member of the Central Church in Worces- ter, and was secretary of the Building Committee when the present fine church edifice was erected. He married in 1881 Miss Elizabeth M. Reed of Brookfield, Mass. They have two sons, Leroy, aged twelve years, and Carl Reed, nine years old. William Henry Burns, president of the William H. Burns Company, was born June 22, 1856, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the historic Bunker Hill. He was the son of Mr. James Monroe Burns, the descendant of a Scotch family who came to this country in the seventeenth century and settled in what is now the city of Haverhill. Mr. Burns' parents moved to Somerville when he was very young, and his early education was received in the public schools of that city. He is a graduate of the Bryant & Stratton Business College, Boston, and also of the State Normal School at Bridgewater. He intended to make teach- ing a profession, but later developed a strong liking for business life. His father died when he was fourteen years old, and, as the family was poor, young Burns had to work his way under depressing circumstances. An aunt gave him some assistance in procuring an education, but he worked hard, studying nights, and substantially provided for himself. After his graduation from the Normal School he spent three years in teaching in the public schools of Spencer. But in the fall of 1881 he entered upon a more active business life; this was traveling for a Boston house selling underwear. Born with an ambition to get to the top of the ladder and as soon as possible, he settled in Worcester two years later and commenced the manufacture of these goods. The business has been wonderfully developed and made a success, as noted in the sketch of the company which appears in another part of this book. Mr. Burns was united in marriage November 21, 1882, with Miss Annie F. Green, only daughter of Henry R. Green of Spencer. The fruit of this union is four sons: Arthur Henry, William Russell, Randall Green and Ernest Clement, who were born December 31, 18S3; February i, 1887; December 11, 1890, and September 5, 1892, respectively. 576 The Worcester of 1898. His rclii;i()us \-iews are of the Trinitarian order, and he is a regular attendant on public worshi]) at Plymouth Church. In politics Mr. Burns is a staunch Republican, always liberal in his contributions to every commendable object of reform and benevolence. He has not sought public life, but believes every man should be willing to devote some time to the public good if called ui)on to do so. He was a member of the City (lovernment from Ward 8 for two years, 1893 and 1S94, but owing to his large l)usiness interests was obliged to decline a. second term. RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM H. BURNS, 57 CEDAR STREET. Albert Conant Buttrick, a leading civil engineer of this city, was born in Jartrey, New Hampshire, September 2, 1829. He is a descendant of William Buttrick, who came to this country from England and settled in Concord, ^lassachusetts, in 1634. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Holden, and at the select school then having its sessions in the Town Hall, following that at the Leicester Academy. He then studied civil engineering with the late Honorable Phinehas Ball in 1850 and 1851, and since that date has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession in Worcester, the New England States and New York state. Always having had his office in Worcester he has been identi- fied with the engineering in connection with numerous large buildings in this city. Among these may be mentioned the Y. ^I. C. A. building, that The Worcester of 1898. 577 ALBERT C. BUTTRICK. of the Y. W. C. A., the Armory, county jail, new County Court House grounds, hospital buildings, machine-shops through Grove and Union streets, and various churches. He made the surveys for inaugurating a system of sewerage for the city; this was under Mayor Blake's administration in 1866. In March, 1874, the dam at Lynde brook reservoir broke away, and the con- sequence was the destruction of all the dams through Cherry Valley down to New Worcester. Mr. Buttrick did the engineering and superintended the recon- struction of most of these dams. He has made preliminary and locating surveys for railroads in this and adjoining states; and in 1854 he was associated with the late Gill Valentine in the laying out of Hope cemetery. Mr. H. A. Pratt is now associated with him, and they have a fine office in the State Mutual building. At present they are engaged in laying out new streets and developing new tracts of land in the northwest part of the city. Mr. Buttrick is one of the original members of the Worcester County Society of Engineering, and was its first president; also was one of the first members of the Worcester Congregational Club, and is a life member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association. He is a member of the Old South Church, and was one of the committee for disposing of its interest in the Common and purchasing the new site and building its present house of worship. He has been twice married ; his first wife was Miss Elizabeth S. Newton, and his present wife was Miss Teresa Corbett, to whom he was united in 1887. They have two daughters, Louisa A., nine years old, and Lizzie N., five years of age. Their pleasant home is located at 52 May street. Clarence F. Carroll, A. M.,* the superintendent of schools in Worcester, was born in Enfield, New Hampshire, April, i85r. He attended the district schools of Sutton, New Hampshire, until he was thirteen years of age, when he became a student at Colby Academy in New London, New Hampshire, graduating from that institution in 1869. He entered Yale College the same year, but was forced to give up his studies after a few weeks on account of ill health caused by over-study. During the two years following he traveled in Europe, and later taught in academies and district schools in different towns. In September, 187 1, Mr. Carroll was elected principal of the graded school in Mamaroneck, New York, and three months later was called to the principalship of the Fourth Warren School, Long Island City, New York. In September, 1873, he became principal of * See portrait on page i6S. 37 HENRY H. CHAMBERLIN. The Worcester of 1898. 579 the grammar and high school at East Orange, New Jersey. He remained here until September, 1878, when he returned to college and entered the sophomore class. He received his degree from Yale in 1881. Immediately after graduation he was .elected siiperintendent of schools in Oil City, Pennsylvania. In 1883 he was made principal of the Normal School at New Britain, Connecticut, where he remained ten years. He originated and practically organized the normal school system of Connecticut, and placed it on its present successful basis. In 1893 he was elected superin- tendent of the schools of Worcester, Massachusetts, which position he still holds. Henry Harmon Chamberlin was born in Hardwick on the 7th of January, 1813. The family moved to Worcester in 1822, where he has since resided. He attended the Latin Grammar School till 1827, when he was apprenticed to Daniel Hey wood, who kept one of the three country stores in town, where were sold dry goods, hardware, shoes, groceries and liquor. In 1835 he opened the old "Hamilton Store," a small one-story building standing nearly opposite where Mechanics Hall now stands. In 1840 the firm of H. H. Chamberlin & Co. was formed, ard this subse- quently became the firm of Chamberlin, Barnard & Co. Abo it 1850 the store now occupied by the firm of Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company was built. He left the firm in 1858 and began the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods in North Oxford, where he remained during the Civil War. He afterwards carried on an extensive wool business in Worcester, and is now engaged in real-estate business. He was much interested in the Free-Soil movement, and was instrumental in urging the Spy to support the movement. In 1854 he was a member of the Legislature, and in 1872 he was a member of the Board of Aldermen. Robert Horace Chamberlain, sheriff of the county, was born in Worcester June 16, 1838. He is a great-grandson of Jacob Chamberlain, who came to Worcester from Newton about the year 1740, and settled on a farm in the north part of the town. John Chamberlain, the eldest son of Jacob, and grandfather of the subject of our sketch, was prominent in town affairs, selectman fifteen years, and deacon of the First Parish twenty-two years. He married Mary, daughter of Captain John Curtis, and was the father of a distinguished family. One son, John Curtis Chamberlain, became a lawyer of note in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and was a member of Congress; another, Levi Chamberlain, also a lawyer of distinction in New Hampshire, was a member of the Peace Congress of 1861; and a third, Henry Chamberlain, practised law in Maine and Alabama. Thomas Cham- berlain, the father of Robert H., was for seventeen years crier of the courts in Worcester, and was president of the first Common Council of the city in 1848. He filled most of the offices in the State Militia from corporal to brigadier-general. He was a man universally respected. Robert H. Chamberlain was educated in the public schools of Worcester, and at the Worcester Academy. He learned the machinists' trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years in Ball & Ballard's shop on School street. 58o Thi: Worcbsthr of 1898. ROBERT H. CHAMBERLAIN. lie \v\i this oi'cupalioii to enlist in Company A, l^'ift_\ -first Massachu- setts X'olimteers, a nine months' reii,iment raised in 1862, and was ap|)ointed ser!;-eant. At the end of tliis service he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Sixtieth Reoiment. and was afterwards captain, serving until mustered out in November, 1864. In 1865 he reorganized the Worcester City (luards, and was captain two years. In the State Militia he passed suc- cessively through the grades of major and colonel to that of brig- adier-general of the Third Brigade. General Chamberlain was a mem- ber of the Common Council of the city in i869-'7o. In 1870 he was appointed superintendent of sew- ers, which position he held until 1888, when he was appointed mas- ter of the House of Correction. He was elected sheriff of the county The duties of this office, which he still holds, have been dis- _ by him with marked ability, and to the satisfaction of his constituency. General Chamberlain is a member of several social and fraternal bodies, and of other societies. He is active in the Mechanics Association, and was its president for three years. He is a past eminent commander of Worces- ter County Commandery, Knights Templars, and was for many years the executive ofihcer of the same at public parades. General Chamberlain married Esther Browning of Hubbardston in 1865. Henry Chapin* was born in Upton, Massachusetts, May 13, 181 1. His parents possessed small means, and he had no early advantages beyond those commonly enjoyed by all the sons of New England. By the sudden death of his father, he was thrown almost wholly upon his own resources, and he decided to learn the carpenters' trade, but became convinced after a few months' trial that he had neither the aptitude nor the inclination for that avocation. He now determined to apply himself to study, and began at once to fit for college. He was graduated at Brown University in 1835. He then taught school in his native town, afterwards studied law with Emory Washburn and at Cambridge, and on his admission to the bar in 1838 began to practise in Uxbridge. In 1846 he removed to Worcester and became a partner of Rejoice Newton. His {)ractice at the bar was large in 1892. charg-ed wSee portrait on page 20. The Worcester of 1898. 581 and successful, and through his natural ability he soon came into promi- nence. He was a member of the General Court from Uxbridge in 1845, and was elected mayor of Worcester in 1849 and 1850, declining a third nomination; but he accepted the office again for a short time after the death of Mayor Blake in 1870 until a successor could be chosen. He was nominated by the Republicans for representative in 1856, but declined the honor. In 1858 he was appointed judge of probate and insolvency for the county, which office he continued to hold until his death, which took place October 13, 1878. Judge Chapin was for many years a member of the State Board of Education, and for fifteen years one of the trustees of the Worcester Lunatic Hospital. In these positions he was influential in establishing the State Normal School in Worcester, and in locating the new Insane Hospital at the lake. He was for many years president of the People's Fire Insur- ance Company, a director of the City National Bank, and vice-president of the Worcester County Institution for Savings. He served as a director of the Prt)\ndence & Worcester Railroad about thirty years. He was a member of the Church of the Unity and superintendent of its Sunday school. He was twice elected president of the American Unitarian Association, and was otherwise prominent in the denomination. He was a member of the American Antiquarian Society. Three years before his death he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Brown University. In politics he was an effective force, and was of radical tendencies in regard to the slavery and temperance questions. He was a witty and able speaker, and was always welcomed in public gatherings. Mr. Chapin married, October 8, 1839, Sarah, daughter of Joseph Thayer, Esquire, of L'^xbridge, who died in 1869. Their only child died at the age of seven years and ten months. In 1871 he married Louisa, a sister of his former wife. The Memorial Home for Nurses on the grounds of the City Hospital was erected in memory of these two sisters, by their brother, Edward C. Thayer, Esquire, of Keene, New Hampshire. Charles A. Chase,* treasurer of Worcester County Institution for vSavings, was born in Worcester September 9, 1833. He received his early education in the public schools of his native town, and was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1855. He was for several years connected with the editorial staff of the Boston Advertise)-. In 1865 he was elected treasurer of the county of Worcester, succeeding his father, the late Anthony Chase, who resigned the office after many years' service; and in 1876 he relin- quished that position to become register of deeds. In 1879 he was appointed treasurer of the Worcester County Institution for Savings, and has dis- charged the duties of that office with marked ability to the present time. Mr. Chase is a ready and correct writer, and is especially interested in matters connected with the history of his native place, in which he is regarded as an authority. He has contributed several papers of wider * See portrait on page 362. .?^im ^^ •Mp^ JONAS G. CLARK. The Worcester of 1898. 583 scope to the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, of which he is the recording secretary. He is treasurer of the Memorial Hospital, and is connected with various societies, clubs and other institutions. He was married in 1863, and has two children. Jonas Gilman Clark, the founder of Clark University, was born in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, February i, 18 15. His great-grandfather, John Clark, a direct descendant of Hugh Clark, the emigrant, settled in Hubbardston before the Revolution, and in 1775 was a delegate to the Provincial Congress held at Cambridge. His son, William, married Hannah Smith of Rutland in 1776; he was a soldier in William Mareau's company of Colonel Doolittle's regiment which marched on the Lexington alarm in April, 1775. William vSmith Clark, father of the subject of this sketch, married Elizabeth, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel Clark. Her father was also a Revolutionary soldier. Jonas G. Clark remained on his father's farm until he was eighteen, receiving such educational advantages as the country schools afforded. He then learned the carriage-makers' trade, which calling he pursued several years, finally removing to Boston and establishing a number of stores for the sale of his carriages. In 1836 Mr. Clark married Susan W. Wright of Hubbardston, who has been the constant companion of her husband through life, and has accom- panied him in all his travels. In 1853, during the period of the gold excitement, Mr. Clark removed to California and engaged in enterprises which resulted successfully. The greater part of his fortune, however, was made after his return to New York five years later. During his early life he had cherished a desire to travel, which abundant means enabled him to gratify, and he spent several years in exploring Europe and the distant East, inspecting the results of modern civilization and viewing the ruins of the old. With definite pur- pose to bestow his large wealth in such manner as would best confer benefit upon his own people and nation, he studied European institutions to dis- cover the proper method to bring this result into practical form, and after long and careful consideration announced his purpose to found a university which would afford American youth the advantages of a training embracing the most desirable features of French, German and American institutions of learning. On his return to America, ]\Ir. Clark established his residence in Worces- ter, and erected on Elm street the elegant mansion which he has occupied, and in addition built two large and substantial business blocks, and made other investments, preliminary, it would seem, to the grand object in view of locating here the university which he had in mind. The details of his plan he made public in 1887, and the transfer to trustees of the site and the erection of the buildings followed, and the university was opened October 2, 1889. To sustain the institution he provided the munificent endowment of $2,000,000. The purpose of the university is to afi^ord means and opportunity for the highest education and original research. Unlike any other university, it WILLIAM L. CLARK. The Worcester of 1898. 585 has no distinctively undergraduate departments. It aims to increase the sum of human knowledge, and transmit the highest culture of one genera- tion to the ablest youth of the next. The above is only one of Mr. Clark's benefactions. To his'^native town he has given a fine library and town building, which he has supplied from time to time with books and other accessories. His private library of rare books will become the property of the university. Mr. Clark presents an example of the strong New England character, in which thrift and shrewdness are combined with breadth of view, ability to achieve and execute, a purpose to bestow upon mankind the results of individual effort and earnest endeavor, of which his is not the only instance. William Leonard Clark, son of Leonard and Eunice (Gleason) Clark, was born in Worcester December 29, 18 19. He was descended in the eighth generation from Hugh Clark, the emigrant, who was born in England in 1 613, and came to America sometime previous to the year 1641, through John,^ John,'* Isaac,'' John,' William,'^ Leonard.^ At the time of the birth of William L., his father kept a country tavern and store at Adams square, in buildings which are still standing. In 1828 Leonard Clark and his family removed to Hubbardston, and again a year later to Rutland, where the subject of this sketch remained until he was sixteen years of age, receiving such advantages of education as the country district schools aft'orded, and at work on the farm. In 1835 his mother died, and soon after, William returned to Worcester and engaged with General Nathan Heard to work upon his farm, remaining in this situation nearly three years. On the first day of April, 1838, he was employed by Colonel James Estabrook in his grocery store (in the owner- ship of which Edwin Conant and William Barker were interested) in the building at the corner of Lincoln square and LTnion street, which {1898) is occupied as a grain-store. Here he continued until April, 1840, when he formed a co-partnership with James Whittemore for the purpose of carry- ing on the grocery business and also the manufacture of shoes, but these undertakings were not successful, and the connection was within a year and a half dissolved. For most of the time during the next three years he worked in a grocery-store for Francis Harrington in what was then Granite row. Mr. Clark, in April, 1846, opened a grocery in company with Benjamin Reed, in the store in Granite row previously occupied by Horace B. Claflin in the dry-goods trade. Mr. Clark bought the interest of Mr. Reed in 1857, and continued in the business until 1868, when he finally retired, with the intention of engaging in the flour and grain business, but while looking for a location, he was, in February, 1869, elected an assessor of the city, and served by successive re-elections for twelve years, ten years of which time he was chairman of the board. In 1881 and 1882 he was a member of the Legislature, and an alderman in 1883. In the discharge of the duties of these various offices, he exhibited sound judgment, business ability, tact and common sense — qualities rare in combination, and which gained for him the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. During the last 586 Thh Worchsthr of 1898. twenty years his ser\-iees have been of ten soHeited and rendered in the appraisal of real estate, both by private parties and eorporations, and most of his time has been divided between this work, the settlement and care of large estates, and his own personal interests. He was a trustee of the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank \nv twenty-one years, all of the time as a member of the Finance Committee and one of the appraisers of real estate. He was one of the Building Committee of the block owned and occupied by that institution. A man of social instincts, he was a member of the Commonwealth and Hancock Clubs and a 32° Mason. He was an active member of the Worcester County Mechanics Associa- tion, the Worcester County Agricultural Society, The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and an honorary member of the Worcester Continentals and George H. Ward Post 10, (irand Army of the Republic. yiv. Clark became a member of the First Congregational, or Old South, Church of Worcester in 1838, and continued in that connection until the formation of Plymouth Church, of which he was one of the original mem- bers, and which he attended to the close of his life. He was one of the Building Committee and a benefactor of the church. Mr. Clark cast his first vote in 1S40 for Harrison and Tyler, and has voted at every presidential election since that date, sup})orting successively the Whig, Free-Soil and Republican nominees. Mr. Clark married, December 19, 1843, Lucretia Flagg, daughter of Roland and Anna Clark Parkhurst of Hubbardston. She died August 22, 1892. Of this marriage the only child was born, and died the same day. He lived at his late place of residence on Walnut street forty-seven years, having moved but once previously. In the transaction of business, Mr. Clark show^ed no diminution of activ- ity, and was as ready in response to the many calls upon his time and attention to within a few days of his death as in former years. Blessed with a measure of success seldom realized in worldly matters, he possessed what is still more valuable, a kindly heart and a cheerful disposition, which enabled him to endure the rubs of life to some purpose, and which endeared him to a host of friends. ^Ir. Clark died suddenly December 16, 1898. Josiah Howe Clarke,* son of Benjamin and Lucy (Howe) Clarke, was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, on the 26th of December, 1827. He received his education in the public schools of his native town and at Leicester Academy, and at the age of twenty engaged in the dry-goods business in Marlborough as a member of the firm of Bucklin, Clarke & Co. In 1850 he removed to Worcester, and in 1853 established the well-known dry-goods store of which he remained the head until he retired from active business management in 1897, a period of forty-four years. Mr. Clarke has large financial interests outside of his dry-goods business. He is or has been a director of the Worcester National Bank ; a trustee and a member of the Finance Committee of the State Mutual Life Assurance: *See portrait on page 416. The Worcester of 1898. 587 Company; a director of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company, Worcester & Shrewsbury Railroad Company, Worcester Gas Light Com- pany, State Safe Deposit Company, McKay Shoe Machinery Company, Boston; Union Trimmer Company, Boston; a director and vice-president of the Sherman Envelope Company; and trustee of the Worcester County Institution for Savings. In religion he is an Episcopalian, and has been vestryman of All Saints' Church for more than a quarter of a century. He was a member of the Cit}^ Council in 1862. He is fond of travel, and in 1865 made a voyage around the world, remaining some time at Foo Chow with his brother, who was consul at that port. In recent years he has visited California and various parts of Europe, and in 1898 he journeyed to the far East, the itinerary including Germany, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and the Nile. Mr. Clarke married, in 1S58, Frances C, daughter of Horace and Mary (Woodworth) Ayres. Four children were born to them : Mary Woodworth and Fanny Ayres, now living, and Josiah Howe, Jr., and Grace Howe, deceased. Loring Goes. Of those whose ingenuity and enterprise have assisted in developing the industrial resources of Worcester, no name is more familiarly known than that of Loring Coes. His business career, in certain particu- lars, affords a parallel instance to that of his near neighbor, Albert Curtis. He also is a native of Worcester, and he is to-day living, at an age greatly RESIDENCE OF LORING COES, 1049 MAIN STREET. LORING GOES. The Worcester of 1898. 589 exceeding' the vScriptiiral allotment, in contemplation of the results of a life of industry and usefulness. Born April 22, 18 12, in that part of the town now known as New Worcester, his early life was passed upon his father's farm. He received few educational advantages, attending school only during the winter months, and at the age of fourteen years was apprenticed to learn the carpenters' trade. After reaching his majority he was em- ployed in making the wooden parts of woolen machinery by different manufacturers in Worcester, and finally with his brother, Aury G. , bought out the firm of Kimball & Fuller at the old Court Mills. Their establishment was destroyed by fire in 1838, and the brothers found employment at Springfield as pattern-makers. Here was invented the improved wrench which they afterwards for so many years successfully manufactured. The improvement consisted in the application of a screw so that the wrench could be held and adjusted with one hand. In 1840 the brothers returned to Worcester, and soon after began the manufacture, under a patent, with the firm name of L. & A. G. Goes. The business afterwards included shear-blades and tempered knives. The brothers dissolved in 1869, and the business was divided. Mr. Goes has served in both the Gommon Coinicil and Board of Aldermen. He was a representative to the General Gourt in 1885-6. He is a director of the Gity Bank, and has other large financial interests. In 1864 he mar- ried Harriet N. R. Reed, and they have had four children. Reverend A. Z. Conrad, D. D.,* pastor of the First or "Old South " Ghurch in Worcester, was born near Shiloh, Indiana, November 26, 1855. His father, the Reverend J. E. Conrad, a Presbyterian minister, removed with his family to Minnesota in 1856, and in that vState the subject of this sketch received his early education and grew to manhood. At the age of seventeen he engaged in teaching, and followed that vocation until in 1874 he entered the preparatory department of Carleton College, where he remained three years. He then followed the prescribed four years' classical course of that institution, and was graduated with high honors in the class of 1882. In both the freshman and junior "prize debates" he won the first prize. He then entered Union Theological Seminary in New York city, and, graduating in 1885, immediately became pastor of the Ainslie Street Pres- byterian Ghurch in Brooklyn, having received a unanimous call to that station before he left the seminary. Here his uncommon abilities as a preacher were soon recognized, and large audiences were attracted; the church was greatly strengthened in membership and prosperity, over four hundred persons uniting with it during his five years' pastorate. In this relation he continued with increasing success and popularity until 1890, when he accepted a unanimous call from the Old South Congregational Church in Worcester, and was installed on the 6th of November of that year. In this city the same qualities by which he was distinguished in Brooklyn have been manifested in an eminent degree, and have drawn and retained * See portrait on page 2S4. •590 The Worcester of 1898. a lari>;c and loyal fullowin^-. His influence ami i)i)pularity wilh the younjr people are unexampled. lie is a strong- advocate of societies in the church, and has brought about a thorough organization in every department of work. His eloquence and power as a ])reacher are universally acknowl- edged, while in the management of the affairs of his church and in the discharge of all the duties of a Christian minister, he has demonstrated his wisdom, efficiency and faithfulness. Doctor Conrad uses no manuscript in the ])ulpit, and never has. When he took up his duties in Brooklyn he even had the pulpit removed and preached from the pulpit platform, as he does at present. He spends every day, up to two o'clock, in his study; the afternoons he devotes to his parish calls, for he is an indefatigable visitor. In preparing his sermons he first of all gets his material thoroughly in mind, and then makes a rough outline of the discourse. He then dictates his sermons into a graphophone, from which they are taken by his secretary, and when they are typewritten and brought back to him he studies them thoroughly, making such emen- dations as he considers desirable. He then makes another outline of the same sermons, and this outline he commits thoroughly to memory, using his phraseology before the congregation to suit the occasion. In his preaching as in his conversation, his utterance is rapid, but never unintelligible. A ready, fluent diction and a graceful form of speech make Doctor Conrad distinctively one of the elocjuent preachers of the city. His church, absolutely united, is now the largest in Worcester, and one of the largest in the State. Over 800 members have been added during the present pastorate. An advance in his salary in the sum of a thousand dollars proffered l)y the parish in 1897 was promptly declined, on the ground that the church needed to increase its benevolences. Doctor Conrad was married August 26, 1886, to Miss Harriet N. Adams of Maine, a woman of literary and musical culture, to whose extraordinary capabilities he attributes a great deal of his success. Mrs. Conrad is a composer of recognized ability, both of sacred and secular music, and an active member of the Friday jNIorning Club. In 1887, while the church edifice in Brooklyn was being enlarged, he took an ■extended European trip with ]\Irs. Conrad. They have traveled exten- sively in the United States. In recognition of scholarship, the following- degrees have been conferred upon him: Bachelor of Arts, 1882; Master of Arts, 1885; Doctor of Philosophy, 1891 ; Doctor of Divinity, 1892. He is a corporate member of the American Board, president of the Worcester Congregational Club during 1898, and was honored as the preacher of the sermon at the State Association meeting of 1898. EUery Bicknell Crane* was born in the town of Colebrook, Coos county. New Hampshire, November 12, 1836. He is the son of Robert Pruden and Almira Paine Bicknell Crane, and of the seventh generation of the descend- ants of Henry Crane of Wethersfield and Guilford, Connecticut, and of the eighth generation descended from Zachary Bic-knell of Wevmouth. Both *See portrait on page 262. The Worcester of 1898. 591 his ancestors came from England to New England early in the seventeenth •century, the former about 1640, the latter in 1636. The father of Mr. Crane moved from New Hampshire to Wisconsin in 1837, and was one of the earliest settlers in the town of Beloit, where the subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools, Beloit Seminary and the preparatory department of Beloit College. For a time he was employed as bookkeeper in the office of a Beloit lumber merchant. In i860 he made the trip overland to California, and remained two years on the Pacific coast. In 1863 he returned to the East, and was engaged until 1867 in the lumber business in Boston. The latter year he came to Worcester and opened a lumber yard in partnership with Jonathan C. French, and after a few years became sole proprietor of the business, which he has conducted to the present time. During his residence in Worcester, Mr. Crane has been active in public affairs, and has advanced in political ofifice to his present position as senator for the First Worcester District. He was for nine years a member of the Republican City Committee, serving one year as chairman. He has been a member of both branches of the City Council, and in 1895 was elected a representative in the General Court, and was reelected to serve in 1896. He is now serving his second term in the Senate. In the House he was a member of the Committees on Constitutional Amendments and Election Laws, and in the upper branch on Election Laws, Roads and Bridges, Street Railways and Taxation, serving as chairman of the latter committee in 1897, and chairman of Committee on Parishes and Religious Societies in 1898. Mr. Crane is a prominent member of the Mechanics Association, and was its president in 1890 and 1891. He was three years president of the Builders' Exchange and also for three years president of the Sons and Daughters of New Hampshire. He is one of the directors of the Board of Trade. Mr. Crane is deeply interested in genealogical studies, and has published histories of the Rawson and Crane families. He was an early member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, was vice-president from 1877 to 1881, and its president for twelve years, from January, 1881, declining a reelection for 1893. He now holds the position of vice-president for the second time; and it is largely due to his efforts that the society is established upon its present basis. In religion he is a Unitarian, and he has been an attendant at the Church of the Unity for many years. Air. Crane married, in 1859, Miss Salona Aldrich Rawson, a descendant in the eighth generation from Edward Rawson, secretary of Massachusetts Bay Colony. They have one son, Morton Rawson Crane, who is engaged in business with his father. Albert Curtis,* a son of Samuel and Eunice Curtis, was born in Worcester July 13, 1807. He was one of a large family, and in consequence of the death of his father was early obliged to depend upon his own exertions. See portrait on page 44S. 592 The Worcester of 1898. He passed his youthru! lite on the farm of his uiu-le in Auburn, and al llie age of seventeen entered the em])loynient of ^Vhite iSj Boyden, manufae- turers of woolen machinery at South Worcester as an apprentice, working with them several years after he attained his majority. After a short residence in Pittslnirg, Pennsylvania, he retiu'ned to Worcester, and with John Simmons and Abel Kimball began the manufacture of machinery used in the various processes of production of woolen cloths, establishing the business in the location at New Worcester occupied by him and his ])artners ever since. In 1842 his factory was destroyed by fire, and was at once rebuilt. He also occupied and operated the mill at Trowbridgeville for the manufacture of cotton sheetings, and at different times engaged in the manufacture of satinets and horse blankets, of late years in partnership with P2dwin T. Marble. He acquired a handsome competence, and at the great age of ninety-one closed a useful and honorable career. Mr. Curtis was a man of kindly disposition and open generosity, but naturally diffident, and shunning ostentation. He was a large benefactor of the Old Men's Home, the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, and of the Union Church, of which he was for many years a member. His gifts in other directions were also large and numerous. He built Curtis Chapel at Hope cemetery, and presented it to the city. He was a great reader, and was much interested in the history of his native town and city. He was for some years a vice-president and was an honorary member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity. All matters of public concern claimed his attention, though his quiet tastes and retiring nature generally caused him to avoid public life. Mr. Curtis was a member of the old town government, serving as select- man in the board of 1 840-1 841. He was also a member of the first Common Council of the city in 1848, and was an alderman in 1857. Mr. Curtis married, in 1833, Mrs. Sally K. Griffin, who died leaving no children. He married, in 1880, the widow of Reverend David Bancroft, whom he outlived. He died suddenly July 27, 1898. Edward Livingston Davis,* son of Isaac and Mary H. (Estabrook) Davis, was born in Worcester April 22, 1834. He was educated in the public schools of Worcester and at Brown University, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1854. He studied law in his father's office and at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1857. He gave up the practice of the law the following year, and engaged in the manu- facture of railroad-iron and car-wheels until the year 1882, when he retired from the Washburn Iron Company, of which he had been treasurer since its organization. Mr. Davis was a member of the Common Council of Worcester three years from 1865, and was president of that body in 1867. In December of T873 he was elected mayor of Worcester, to serve the following year. Under his administration public improvements were carried on, notably the construction of a portion of Park avenue, the value and necessity of which See portrait on page 54. The Worcester of 1898. 593 have since been recognized. While holding' this office, ^Ir. Davis saw the growing need of the city for additional parks and play-grounds, which he has since in another official capacity, and privately, so efficiently helped to supply. In 1876 Mr. Davis was a member of the Massachusetts Senate. Since that time, with the exception of his present service as chairman of the Board of Park Commissioners and chairman of the Commissioners of the Sinking Funds, he has held no public office. In 1884 Mr. Davis presented to the city of Worcester a tract of land on the shore of Lake Quinsigamond, comprising sixty acres, which with the portion given by Mr. Horace H. Bigelow, forms Lake park. In addition, Mr. Davis gave the sum of $5,000, which was immediately used for the development of the park. He has also erected a stone tower of picturesque form, and has made other additions which have greatly increased the attractiveness of this locality. Mr. Davis is a member of several social, literary and other organizations in Worcester. He was president of the Worcester County Musical Associa- tion from 1888 to 1894, and is a generous benefactor of that institution. He is a director of the Boston & Albany, Norwich & Worcester, and Ver- mont & Massachusetts railroads, of the Worcester National Bank, and one of the vice-presidents of the Worcester County Institution for Savings; a councilor of the American Antiquarian Society, and president of the Pro- prietors of Rural Cemetery. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian, and has long been senior warden of All Saints' Parish. While the present church was building, from 1874 to 1877, he was chairman of the Building and Finance Committees, and contributed generously both in time and money. He has repeatedly repre- sented the parish in the Diocesan Convention, and has been for several years a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese, and four times one of the four lay deputies of the Diocese to the general convention of the church. Mr. Davis married, iirst, in 1859, Hannah Gardner, daughter of Seth Adams, Esquire, of Providence, Rhode Island, who died in 1861. Their only child, a son, survived her but a few days. He married, in 1869, Maria I^ouisa, youngest daughter of the Reverend Chandler Robbins, D. D., of Boston. They have two daughters, Eliza Frothingham (Mrs. Henry Forbes Bigelow of Boston) and Theresa (Mrs. A. Winsor Weld of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts), and a son, Livingston. Isaac Davis,* son of Phineas and Martha (Eager) Davis, was born in Northborough, Massachusetts, June 2, 1799. He was descended in the seventh generation from Dolor Davis, the progenitor of the family in New England. Isaac was the fourth in a family of eleven children, and his parents, burdened with the support of a large household, were unable to afford him educational advantages other than those to be obtained in the common *See portrait on page 28, 38 594 The Worcester of 1898, district schools. Ilavint;' received an injury whicli for a time disabled him from assisting his father in his occupation as tanner and currier, he resolved to prepare himself for a professional life. He was obliged to depend largely on his own exertions for support and the cost of his educa- tion, hut he courageously overcame all difficulties, and, after pursuing the necessary course at Leicester and Lancaster i\cademies, entered Brown University in 1.S18, and was graduated with honor in 1822. By teaching school in winter, and giving lessons in penmanship, he was able to meet the expenses of his college training, and soon after his graduation was appointed tutor in the university at a salary of $400, which enabled him to begin the study of law tmder the direction of General Carpenter, then one of the leaders of the Rhode Island bar. After a few months he removed to Worcester, and entered the office of Levi Lincoln and John Davis, the latter his uncle, as a student, maintaining himself in part by copying deeds in the office of the register. He was admitted to the bar in 1825. His success was remarkable, and the labor which his constantly growing practice required was beyond the capacity of most men. With clear foresight and strong faith in the future prosperity and growth of Worcester, his surplus earnings w^ere sagaciously invested in real estate and in the stock of industrial and financial corporations, and thus was laid the foundation of the handsome fortune which he transmitted to his family. p[is services as trustee and director of moneyed and other corporations were highly valued. He was many years president of the Quinsigamond Bank, of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, and of the Merchants & Farmers Mutual Fire Lisurance Company; a director or stockholder in several railroad companies, in the Washburn L"on Company, and other industrial companies. He improved frequent opportunities of aiding men of enterprise and merit, and if his judgment approved the risk, his assist- ance had no bounds except the limit of his own resources. Mr. Davis was through life a consistent adherent and supporter of the Democratic party, whose principles he adopted at the outset, manifestly to his own disadvantage in a community strongly opposed. He was, however, elected to several places of trust and importance. He served the town as selectman, and in 1835 was its first chief of the Fire Department. He was elected to the State vSenate in 1843 and 1844, was a member of the lower branch of the Legislature in 1852, and of the governor's council in 1853. He was mayor of Worcester in 1856, 1858 and i86t. From 1852 to i860 he was a member of the State Board of Education, and several years of the Board of Visitors of the West Point ^lilitary Academy, audits chairman in 1855. President Pierce tendered him the office of assistant treasurer of the United States, which he declined. The Democratic party three times nominated him for governor, and repeatedly sent him as delegate to national c~onventions. Mr. Davis was a long-time member and an active worker in the Baptist Church, and was ])rominent in the yearly conventions and other assemblies of that denomination. Fie was president of the American Baptist Home Mission Societv, and a liberal supporter of all the charitable, educational The Worcester of 1898. 595 and other objects of that religious sect. He was a generous benefactor of the Worcester Academy, and was president of its Board of Trustees for forty years. He was a trustee and fellow of Brown University, and a councilor of the American Antiquarian Society, to whose special funds he largely contributed. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Columbia College, Washington, and from Brown University. He was a man of great influence in the community, of stately presence and of striking personality ; grave and dignified, yet courteous and kindly with all. Mr. Davis married, in 1829, Mar}- H., daughter of Joseph Estabrook of Royalston, Massachusetts. Of a family of ten children — four sons and six daughters — all lived to be married, with the exception of one son, who died in infancy. Mrs. Davis died in 1875; Mr. Davis died April i, 1883. William Alexander Denholm, founder of the well-known dry-goods firm of Denholm &- i^IcKay, was born in Dundee, Scotland, Ma}' 8, 1837. His father, John Denholm, was a native of Berwick-on-Tweed, Scotland. His mother was Jessie Milne of Perth. William was the youngest of eight children. Mr. Denholm, Senior, carried on a foundry business in Dundee until his death at the age of sixty-one. At his father's death William, then thirteen years of age, started his business life in a dr3^-goods store in Glasgow, and a few years later went to London. His progress there was marked, for in 1857, when barely twenty, he was sent by his firm to manage the New York part of its business. A year later he entered the employ of Linder, Kingsley & Company, New York, a white-goods and lace house, and became a member of the firm very soon. On October 3, 1859, he married Grace jNIcLay of Glasgow, vScotland, making his home in Brooklyn, New York, for seven years, and afterwards residing for five years in Passaic, New Jersey. In 1870 Mr. Denholm purchased the dry-goods business of Finley, Law- son & Kennedy, located on Main street, corner of Mechanic street, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He had for partner William C. McKay of Boston, and they proved to be "up-to-date" merchants in every particular, as their progress was rapid from the start. They built up an enormous business from a small beginning, and after twelve years moved into their large quarters in Jonas G. Clark's new block, specially built for them. In 1884 Mr. McKay died, and the business was bought and carried on by Mr. Denholm, and still increased, ranking as the largest store of its kind in New England outside of Boston and Providence. Mr. Denholm was a man of unusual energy and ability, and his success excited the admiration of all his contemporaries. In addition to his business Mr. Denholm engaged in many outside affairs. He was a director of the First National Bank and of the Worcester Electric Light Company; a Mason, Odd Fellow and Continental ; active in the cause of temperance and in Y. M. C. A. work; a prominent member of the Old South Church, and an indefatigable student. Mr. and Mrs. Denholm had a family of five children: Elizabeth, wife of Edward L. vSmith ; Jessie C, wife of John G. Howland of Bridgeport, WILLIAM A. DENHOLM. The Worcester of 1898. 597 Connecticut; Grace P., wife of Harry A. Cook; William James, a graduate of Harvard, '97, who married Mabel E. Norcross; and John A., a member of the class of '99, Harvard. Mr. DenhoJm died March 2, 1891, at the age of 53 years, lo months, his wife and children surviving him. Francis Henshaw Dewey,* son of the late Honorable Francis H. and Sarah B. (Tufts) Dewey, was born in Worcester March 23, 1856. His father was for twelve years a justice of the Superior Court of the State, and his grand- father occupied for thirty years a seat on the Supreme Court bench. The subject of this sketch received his early education in private schools in Worcester, and then spent four years at St. Mark's School in Southborough preparing for college. He entered Williams College in 1872, and wasgraduated four years later as one of the six highest in his class and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, in which membership is determined by scholarship. In 1879 he received the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater. He began the study of law in the ofifice of Staples & Goulding, and later entered the Harvard Law School, from which he was graduated in 1878 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to practice in February, 1879, and has followed his profession to the present time. He is a vice- president of the Worcester County Bar Association. On the death of his father in 1887, Mr. Dewey was chosen to succeed him as trustee of the Worcester Mechanics Savings Bank and director in the Mechanics National Bank, having been solicitor for those institutions since 1880. In April, 1888, he was elected president of the National Bank, which position he has ably filled ever since. He is also president of the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Company, and has been for many years a director of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company, the Worcester Gas Light Company, the Worcester Traction Company, the Worcester Theatre Association, and the Proprietors of the Bay State House, being also treasurer of the two last-named companies, and is connected with various other corporations. He is vice-president of the Art Museum, and also a director of the Board of Trade, and a trustee of several large estates. Mr. Dewey has been prominently identified for many years with the First L^nitarian Parish, and has been superintendent of the Sunday school, and chairman of the Parish Committee. He is interested in works of benevolence, and is a director in the Associated Charities. He is a member of the American Antiquarian Society, and of several other societies and clubs. Mr. Dewey was married in 1878 to Lizzie D., daughter of the late Harrison Bliss, and has two children. Politically he is a Republican, and although he has a number of times been solicited to accept public office, has declined, as he preferred to devote himself to his profession and to his private business. William H. Dexter, son of John B. and Lucinda (INIcIntire) Dexter, was born in Charlton, Massachusetts, January 11, 1823. His father was an enterprising builder and contractor, and was also engaged in general * See portrait on page 374. WILLIAM H. DEXTER. The Worcester of 1898. 599 merchandise business. He was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, in 1797, and died in Worcester in 1867. The family descended from Gregory Dexter, one of the companions of Roger Williams when he founded Providence Plantations in 1636-7. William H. Dexter was educated in the schools of his native town, and at the age of fourteen was with his father as an assistant in his store. Soon after he was employed as a clerk at Burrillville, Rhode Island, remaining in that place about two years, and then resumed duty with his father for a short time. He then went to Boston as a clerk in a general merchandise RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM H. DEXTER, 3 CHARLTON STREET. establishment. Here he acquired a good knowledge of business, and, having secured the necessary capital, he came to Worcester in 1846 and opened a grocery store on Southbridge street, the first store of its kind off Main street. This he managed with success for five years, and then he engaged in the wholesale and retail flour and grain business near the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, which proved so profitable that three years later he erected a fine four-story block on Main street, above Park street, and removed his business to it. The land he purchased of Judge Charles Allen for one dollar a foot, which was then considered an extravagant price, but Mr. Dexter's business sagacity was vindicated in 1893, when he sold the same property for thirteen dollars a foot. In course of time he carried on the largest flour and grain business in Worcester county, and his reputation for integrity and high commercial standing was widespread. 600 The Worcester of 1898. In 1.S77, haviiig acquired a handsome fortune, Mr. Dexter disposed of his (afterwards the Municipal and Central District) Court in Worcester, and 666 The Worcester of 1898. held that office until 1S71, when he was appointed chief justice of the First District Court of Southern Worcester, which position he resigned a short time before his death. As clerk he created a complete series of "complaint forms," which were a marvel of conciseness and accuracy, and became the model in the minor courts; and he carried to the bench the same clear common-sense which had characterized him in the subordinate place. His decisions on appeal were sustained in higher courts in larger proportion than is the fortune of the average minor courts. Judge Jillson was elected and served as mayor of Worcester in 1873, 1875 and 1876, and was the first mayor who exercised the veto power, as well as the first under whose administration the city debt had been reduced in thirteen years. He was the first president of the Sons and Daughters of Vermont, and was vice-president and president of The Worcester Society of Antiquity. In the last named society his influence and services were preeminent, and he more than any other shaped the policy and sustained that institution during its early and successful period. He was the author of a large number of publications, including public addresses and a history of his native town, many of them being issued from his private press; and he took great delight in antiquarian literature, and gathered a rare collec- tion of early imprints dating from 1470. He was a man of great independ- ence of character, broad intelligence and executive force, and by those who most intimately knew him, his loss was deeply felt. His death occurred June 5, 1894. Judge Jillson was married in 1855 to Ruth Elizabeth Lilley, who died in 1893. Of three children, Lewis Lilley died in 1870 at the age of ten years; Franklin Campbell, a practising physician of Boston, Massachusetts, and ]\Iary, the wife of Henry L. Parker, Junior, of Worcester, survive. Frank H. Kelley, M. D.,* was born at New Hampton, New Hampshire, on the 9th of September, 1827. He attended the district school in his native town, and entered the academy there in 1840, where he remained three years. Subsequently he was a clerk in a dry-goods store, and in 1846 left New Hampton for Boston. Within a few months he engaged as a student of medicine with Doctor Bethuel Keith at Dover, New Hampshire. Doctor Keith kept at that time a small private hospital in connection with his- general practice, and the situation thus afforded a fine opportunity for observation. The fall and winter of i847-'48 was passed at Cincinnati, Ohio, attending medical lectures, and he received his degree there. After the engagement with Doctor Keith terminated in 1849, one was formed with Doctor Aaron Ordway of Lawrence, which lasted until 1851, when Doctor Kelley removed to Worcester and entered into partnership with Doctor Calvin Newton. The latter shortly after engaged in other business and left his practice in Doctor Kelley's hands, and after Doctor Newton's death the entire charge fell to him, and he continued active in the duties of his profession until 1883, when ill health compelled him to retire. He * See portrait on page 5S. The Worcester of if 667 remained in large and lucrative practice for the period of thirty-two years, and during that time enjoyed a wide and well-deserved popularity. His professional income for several years probably exceeded that of any other physician in the city. He became a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1875, and delivered the annual address before the Worcester District Medical Society in 1880. He was the first president of the Board of Trustees of the City Hospital in 1870, and served in that capacity thirteen years, besides being a member of the medical staff several years. While closely devoted to the duties of his profession, Doctor Kelley gave much time to public service. He was connected with the City Govern- ment for a period of twenty years, as member of the School Board two years, of the Common Council six years, of the Board of Aldermen eight years, and finally as mayor of the city in 1880 and 1881. It was during his mayoralty that the City Hospital building was begun, and the Board of Health was also established during his term. The details of his adminis- tration will be found in another part of this volume. Doctor Kelley married in 1853 Lucy Ellis Draper, who died in 1873. They had two children. He married, second, in 1879, Mrs. Jennie P. Martin, who survives him. He died October 26, 1890. Reverend G. W. Kent, minister of the South Unitarian Church of Worces- ter, was born in London, England, and educated there, taking his course in divinity, however, in America, at St. Lawrence LTniversity in New York. Ordained in 1878, when only twenty-two years old, he has preached in the twenty years since at Jamestown, New York; Peoria, Illinois; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Reading, Pennsylvania, and Worcester. During the five years of his ministry at Halifax, his was the only church of liberal Christian faith in the province, and he gave himself with characteristic energy to the missionary service called for, his sermons and addresses being widely published. At Reading he was successful in securing the building of a new church, a window in which commemorates his services. Coming to Worcester about seven years ago as the first pastor of the South Unitarian Society, he found the little congregation worshiping in an improvised hall, an unoccupied store having been supplied with reading-desk and chairs. Minister and people have worked together with such unanimity and zeal that two years ago the beautiful brownstone church on Main street was erected, and the society has become one of the substantial working forces of the city. ^Ir. Kent's services are in frequent demand as a lecturer; he is also active in the work of his denomination, and is at present secretary of the old Worcester reverend george w. kent. HENRY W. KING. The Worcester of 1898. 669 Association, in which the Unitarian clergy of the county have found an intimate and helpful fellowship with one another for more than a century. Mr. Kent was married in 1883 to Miss Frances Comstock of Buffalo, and four children contribute to the charming domestic life of this one among the many happy homes of Worcester. Henry W. King was born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, on October 14, 1856. He is the son of George and Jane (Adams) King. His ancestors on his father's side are of English descent, and were among the early settlers in the State of Connecticut. His grandfather, William King, during the latter part of the last century remov^ed from Windham county, Connecticut, to Langdon, New Hampshire, where George King, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1820. In 1836 George King re- moved to North Brookfield. Mr. King's mother, Jane Adams, was in the direct line of descent in the eighth generation from Henry Adams, the founder of the Adams family in this country, who settled in Braintree, now Quincy, in 1630. Mr. King was prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy and at Williston Seminary in Easthampton, and entered Cornell University in 1875. He studied law at the Harvard Law School, where he was a classmate of Judge Francis C. Lowell of the United States District Court, and of Judge Robert P. Grant. After leaving the law school he completed his prepara- tion for the practice of his profession in the law office of Robert M. Morse and Richard Stone in Boston. He was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Judicial Court in Suffolk county. Upon his admission to the bar he began practice in North Brookfield. In January, 1881, he formed a partnership with the late Edmund B. Sprague and began to practise law in Worcester under the name of Sprague & King, still maintaining his office in North Brookfield. This copartner- ship continued until the fall of 1882, when it was dissolved, and each partner continued to practise separately. In February, 1884, after the death of the late Francis T. Blackmer, he entered into partnership with the late Honorable William W. Rice, under the style of Rice & King; in 1886 Mr. Rice's son, Charles M. Rice, was admitted into the firm, and the business continued under the name of Rice, King & Rice until the death of the senior partner in 1896. Since that time Mr. Charles M. Rice and Mr. King have continued the associa- tion, preserving the old name. The firm has always enjoyed a large general law business, and has also been more or less engaged as counsel in patent causes. Both members of the firm have long been admitted to practice in the United States courts. Mr. King has never sought public office of any kind. He has always devoted himself to the practice of his chosen profession without political aspirations. He is a member of the Worcester Club and of other associations. On March 9, 1880, he was married to Florence W. LeFevre of Boston. They have one son, George Adams King, who was born December 28, 1883. Another son, William Whitney Rice King, born November i, 1892,. died in infancy. Mr. King still retains his residence in North Brookfield. CHESTER W. KINGSLEY. The Worcester of 1898. 671 HOMER R. KING. Homer R. King, son of Marvin and Eunice B. (Alden) King, was born in Ludlow, Massachusetts, June 4, 1846. Marvin King, the son of a Revolutionary soldier, born January 20, 1807, is still living in good health in Ludlow, on the farm which he has cultivated for sixty- five years. The mother of Homer R., Eunice Brown Alden, who died in 1873, was a direct descendant of John Alden of the Mayflower. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common and high schools of his native town, and for a time was engaged in teaching penmanship. At the age of sixteen he enlisted, in 1863, in the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Massa- chusetts Volunteers, as a member of Com- pany I, and served to the end of the Civil War, being actively engaged much of the time. He was wounded in the jaw at Cold Harbor on the 4th of June, 1864, and at Pittsburg on the i8th of July received another wound, in the hand. He participated in fifteen battles and was in the hospital three months. In June, 1865, he was mustered out, and in March, 1866, he removed to Fair Play, South Park, Colorado, where he was engaged in placer gold mining for three years, working for others a portion of this time. During this period he held the various positions of justice of the peace, trial justice, and deputy clerk of Jefferson county, Colorado. Mr. King returned East in 1869, and on December 2 of that year married Hattie L., daughter of Edward L. and Harriet A. (Fisk) Ward of Millbury. This change in his condition influenced him to remain in Massachusetts instead of returning to the West, as he had intended, and he purchased the farm of 140 acres at Tatnuck in Worcester, on which he now resides, and engaged extensively in buying and selling" cattle, sometimes handling as many as a thousand head in a year. He keeps a dairy of from forty to one hundred cows. Mr. King served three years in the Common Council of Worcester as a member from Ward 8, and was also a member of the Board of Aldermen for an equal period. He is a member of the Masonic order; of Post 10, Grand Army of the Republic ; of the Grange, and of the Order of American Mechanics. Chester W. Kingsley. Worcester is fortunate in the generosity and public spirit of its own citizens, and in the philanthropy which has led men who live abroad, as well, to enrich our city through their admiration of its noble institutions. On this growing list of our city's benefactors stands the name of the Honorable Chester W. Kingsley of Cambridge, by whose generosity the great laboratories that bear his name have been added to the equipment of the Worcester Academy. 672 The Worcester of 1898. ^Ir. Kingsley is spruni;- from the best of New England stock, and unites in himself some of the strains that have given New England its distinctive character and glory. He was born in Brighton, Massachusetts, June 9, 1824, under those conditions of honest penury that have been the congenial soil from which so many of our great men have risen. He was the youngest child in his father's family of nine children, and in early manhood would pray, as his ambition was forming, that God would give him "a hand to get and a heart to give." The youth's spirit was prophetic of the future. Here in the young man was the potential energy that was to direct the man. whose benefactions extend around the world. The opportunities of the public schools of a small town sixty years ago gave him his one chance for an education; and he sustained himself in school by doing janitor's service at eight dollars for the winter. At ten years of age he sought his fortune in the then distant State of Michigan, and within five years returned East, beginning his journey by a hundred- mile walk to Ann Arbor, carrying his shoes part of the way, that he might save them. Such incidents give the moral outlines of the boy, and indicate the large measure on which he was building his character. On leaving school he entered the State Bank of Brighton as a messenger and in two years he was appointed teller. When twenty-seven years old he became cashier of the Cambridge Market Bank. In 1879 he was elected president of the National Bank of Brighton and fdled this otifice eight years, until the bank closed its career, when each stockholder received $126 a share. In 1865 Mr. Kingsley became interested in mining, and is still actively concerned in the famous Excelsior mine of Northumberland, Pennsylvania. ^Ir. Kingsley's public services have been notable. Besides serving sev- eral terms in both branches of the State Legislature, he has given invaluable service to the city of Cambridge on the School Committee, on the Board of Aldermen and Water Board. He was for twenty-nine years on the last named board, and was for many years its president. The late Governor William E. Russell once said he was undoubtedly the most useful citizen Cambridge had ever had. Probably the most significant fact in Mr. Kingsley's life is his deep interest in education. Not educated himself, after the phrase of the schools, this man, who obtained as a boy only an elementary school training, and who was able to receive this only by doing humble duties, has had a great ambition to secure for others what was so largely denied to himself. His gifts to education alone aggregate several hundred thousand dollars, given widely and discriminatingly. And not until all things become known shall we learn how wonderfully the prayer of his early life, that God would give him "a hand to get and a heart to give," has been answered, and his motto since reaching mature manhood has been, "Let me do something good while I live that will live for good after I am dead." ]\Ir. Kingsley's entire career has been characterized by unquestioned integrity, marked ability in organization and execution of business enter- The Worcester of 1898. 673 prises, and by a widespread Christian benevolence that has made him one of the great laymen of Massachusetts. He was married in 1846 to Mary J. Todd of Brighton. The youngest of their seven children was C. Willard Kingsley, who was graduated from the Worcester Academy in 1891, and died in Colorado Springs in 1895. Mr. Kingsley's warm interest in the Worcester Academy may be attributed partly to the fact of his son's graduation from it. Matthew B. Lamb. Worcester owes her great success and wonderful development in manufacturing and business industries very largely, if not entirely, to the home efforts of her own inhabitants. In this respect she differs materially from other cities, the business interests of which are controlled mostly by outside capitalists. It is by this home development she derives the qualities of industry, morality and progress that make her a model city, in which all her people take a just pride. Her manufacturers, bankers and business men have nearly all of them carved their way from the bench in the work-shop, the cashier's desk, or the store counter — self- made men, imbibing in their early lives qualities that fit them for intelligent and humane employers, willing to share the fruits of their opportunities with their fellow citizens, thereby establishing a contentment in their employees that is rarely found in those of most cities. Mr. Lamb, the subject of our sketch, is one of those self-made men. Coming to Worcester in 1870, and not finding employment which his education called for, he entered the Rice, Barton & Fales Machine & Iron Works, and served his time as an apprentice at the trade of machinist. In 1877, Mayor Charles B. Pratt appointed him to the police force, and in 1884 Mayor Charles G. Reed named him sergeant and assigned him to Station 2. A few months after this last appointment, he was offered a position as bookkeeper and manager by S. R. Leland & Son, the leading music dealers at this time, with whom he remained until 1893, when he established a business for himself in pianos, organs and musical merchandise, and became proprietor of the Worcester Musical Instrument Co., manufacturing and importing band and orchestra instruments and musical supplies of all kinds. He is considered one of the shrewdest buyers, a good salesman, and a financial manager of rare ability. He has built up one of the largest and most flourishing music businesses in New England, and this since 1893, during the most severe panic our city has experienced. He has established for himself a reputation for business ability and integrity which demands the respect of his fellow citizens. Mr. Lamb takes a deep interest in all public matters affecting the development of the city, and he has been tendered nominations for alderman, high sheriff, and has served two years as license commissioner under Mayor A. B. R. Sprague. He is an old-line Democrat, and is highly respected by men of both parties. Mr. Lamb recently purchased the old Claflin estate on Oread street, where he enjoys the fruits of his labors in a comfortable home. His son, Fred J. Lamb, is associated with him in business in the Knowles building. 43 MATTHEW B. LAMB. The Worcester of 1898. 675 Frank Edward Lancaster, the son of John and Mary L. Lancaster, was born at Acworth, N. H., on January 4th, 1833. He was educated at the public schools, and afterwards entered and completed a course at the Gilmanton Academy, one of the leading institutions of that time. After his academic course, he early sought the work most congenial to his tastes, and secured a position with a large cotton manufacturing company at Manchester, N. H. In 1863 he accepted a tempting offer, and came to Worcester to engage in the manufacture of machinery as superintendent for Goddard, Seaverns&Co. In 1864 the Goddards retired and the business was continued, and John L. Seaverns and William Dickinson were associated Avith Mr. Lancaster in carrying it on. New designs and patterns were made, and many large and improved machines were built, which were ahead of anything then in existence for the manufacture of paper. One of the incidents of the business at this time was the designing and building of the machinery for making the silk fibre paper used by the Treasury Department for the demand notes, treasury notes and greenbacks used during the war. Also at this time a large and complete Fourdrinier paper-machine, with dryers, calenders and paper-engines, was built for the Currency Bureau and set up in the Treasury Department at Washington, and so urgent was the necessity of getting this machinery in operation that it was shipped by Adams Express, the weight being between thirty-five and forty tons. In 1870 the business was sold to John L. Seaverns, and removed to Newburg, N. Y. The premises on Foster street were retained and fitted up, and Mr. Lancaster established there the Worcester Felting Co. William Dickinson and Henry H. Chamberlin were associated with him in this enterprise. In 1874 Mr. Chamberlin retired, and the remaining members of the company continued. Feltings of every description were manufactured, and the business was eminently successful, the product being half a million dollars a year. In 1884 Mr. Lancaster retired from this business, and soon after engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods at North Oxford. In 1892 Mr. Lancaster relinquished business, and after a much-needed rest became treasurer of the Globe Corset Company, which position he now holds. Mr. Lancaster was a member of the Common Council from 1878 to 1882, and served on prominent committees, including the committee having in charge the building of the City Hospital, the removal of the Mechanic street burial-ground, and the opening of Foster street. Mr. Lancaster has been a trustee of the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank since 1873, and vice-president since 1893; is a director and auditor of the Merchants & Farmers Fire Insurance Co. ; has been a trustee of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, a director of the Millbury National Bank, was an original member of the Worcester Continentals, and served on the staffs of Colonels Hopkins, Russell and Smith, and has been a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Compan}- of Boston. Mr. Lancaster was an original member of the Brigade Club, which was an acknowledged power in the politics of Worcester city and county for many years. FRANK E. LANCASTER. The Worcester of 1898. 677 John Edward Lancaster, the son of Frank E. and Susan C. Lancaster, was born in New York city December ist, 1863. Early in the following year the family removed to Worcester. He was educated at the public grammar schools and at the Classical high school, and, after his course at the latter, entered immediately upon a business career. His tendencies early were toward manufacturing, and he held a position with J. H. & G. M. Walker in 1S80 and 1881, when the firm was one of the largest boot manufacturers in the United States, and later a position with L. C. Chase & Co. of Boston, the largest plush manufacturers in the world. In 1888 he left the latter position to associate himself with his father, who then owned and operated RESIDENCE OF JOHN E. LANCASTER, 91 SALISBURY STREET. the cotton mills at North Oxford, Massachusetts. In January, 1892, he left the cotton business, and was elected secretary of the Worcester Corset Company, and on December ist, 1893, relinquished this position and commenced business for himself, under the style of the "Globe Corset Company," at 15 Union street. It was here that the training of the past ten years, the inherited manufacturing traits, and the native ability, were given full opportunity for the display of their powers, and under his guiding hand was built up from nothing the large business of the present day. In 1897, at the incorporation of the Globe Corset Company, he was elected president and general manager, a position which he now holds. Mr. Lancaster early showed a great liking for the militia, and enlisted in Company C, Worcester Light Infantry, Second Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, on June 13th, 1885 ; was elected second lieutenant June i8th,i885, and resigned May 7th, 1887; second enlistment. May loth, 1887; appointed JOHN E. LANCASTER. The Worcester of 1898. 679 ANDREW P. LUNDBORG. regimental sergeant-major May 12th, 1887, on staff of Colonel B. F. Bridges, Jr. ; ap- pointed first brigade provost sergeant on staff of General Bridges February 21st, 1889; appointed adjutant of Second Regi- ment Infantry on staff of Colonel E. P. Clark April 5th, 1889; resigned ]\Iay 12th, 1896. Third enlistment in B Battery, First Battalion of Artillery, June 8th, 1896, and honorably discharged at completion of term. Mr. Lancaster was married April 6th, 1892, to Agnes Fanning, daughter of David H. and Rosamond H. Fanning, and has three children. Andrew P. Lundborg was born in Afton, Washington county, Minnesota, Septem- ber 20, 1862. His parents were Swedish farmers, who emigrated to this country from their native land. He attended Gustavus Adolphus College at St., Peter, Minnesota, andAugustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, graduating from the latter institution in 1887. He came to Worcester in 1889, and opened a Swedish book-store in part of the store at 212 Main street, and occupied the entire store a year and a half later. In 1894 he moved his business to larger quarters at his present location, 221 Main street, and added a new line of goods, including watches, jewelry, etc. His establishment is the largest depository of vSwedish books in the United States east of Chicago, and he maintains a wholesale as well as a retail trade of considerable proportions. Mr. Lundborg has from the first taken an influential position among the Swedish people of Worcester. He is a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church on Mulberry street; has been treasurer for seven years, and superin- tendent of the Sunday school for eight years. He was a member of the Common Council of the city of Worcester in 1896 and 1897, and declined a reelection, as his business demanded his entire attention. Albert Gerry Mann, son of Aaron and Eliza (Weld) Mann, was born in Orford, New Hampshire, July 19, 1827. He is a descendant in the eighth generation from Richard Mann, who came from England to Scituate, Massachusetts, previous to 1644, through Richard^, Nathaniel^, John\ John", Aaron", Aaron'. Albert G. Mann was brought up on the farm, and was also engaged during a portion of the year in lime-burning, which was carried on to some extent by his father. In this he learned the rudi- ments of the business in which he attained success in later life. His education was limited to what could be obtained in the district schools, but his training, particularly in arithmetic, was thorough so far as it w^ent. At the age of eighteen he left home and went to Leicester, Massachusetts, and worked in that town, in Worcester, and in his native place during the ALBERT G. MANN. The Worcester of 1898. 681 next few years. In 1847 he was employed about three months by David Woodward, the leading- stone-cutter in Worcester, and at that time cut nearly all the window caps and sills for the Warren block on Pearl street. In 1851 Mr. Mann came to this city to reside permanently. In 1853 he engaged in business with David Damon in a stone-yard on School street, and continued in that connection about four years. In 1857 he purchased real estate on Southbridge street, and established the extensive stone business which he conducted for so many years. The yard he enlarged several times by buying adjoining estates. During the next twenty-five years he carried on the largest stone business in Worcester, employing at times eighty men, some of whom remained with him many years. In 1868 he acquired the granite quarry at Marlborough, New Hampshire, and from this a large part of his material was drawn. He furnished the city with a great quantity of block paving, and all the stone in the rough for the ashlar work in the Union Station and that of Plymouth Church was supplied by him. In 1881 he furnished and put up the granite work in Jonas G. Clark's block opposite the City Hall, the largest and most substantial business block in Worcester at that time, and long will it remain an exam- ple of fine workmanship. Much of Mr. Mann's business was cemetery work, tombs, curbing for lots, monuments, etc., and its execution was characterized by thoroughness and durability. Many examples of his workmanship in years past are to be found to-day in all parts of the city, and are noticeable in contrast to those of more recent construction, which they have outlasted. Mr. Mann was the first stone-worker to harden the heads of tools used in cutting; he also improved the construction of derricks, and made other valuable changes in methods. In 1876, in consequence of the threatened withdrawal of railroad facili- ties, Mr. Mann removed his stone-yard to Crescent street, and in 1885 disposed of his entire interest, including the New Hampshire quarry, to George D. Webb, who continues the business. In recent years Mr. Mann's services have several times been rendered in the oversight of large under- takings, in which his long experience, sound judgment and perfect trustworthiness have been of inestimable value. He served on the Building Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, and on that of Central Church. He is a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association and The Worcester Society of Antiquity. Of kindly disposi- tion his manner carries with it that old-fashioned politeness which has now become so rare. Mr. Mann resides in a fine house on Harvard street, at the head of George street. This house he has greatly improved, and it is probably the only building in the city which has the floor of the cellar formed of stone slabs set in cement. Mr. Mann attributes his success in business largely to placing the material in all his work where it would be in harmony with the natural laws of construction for solidity and durability, not forgetting proportions, good taste and fine workmanship. Edwin Tyler Marble, son of Royal Tyler and Ann B. (Clement) Marble, Avas born in Sutton, Massachusetts, August 18, 1837. He received such EDWIN T. MARBLE. The Worcester of 1898. 683 education as the district schools afforded, and also attended several terms at the Worcester County Manual Training School, the name under which the Worcester Academy was known in its early days. In 1841 he came to Worcester with his father's family, and at the age of eighteen entered the shop of Albert Curtis and served a three years' apprenticeship as a machinist. After this he worked in various shops in Worcester as journeyman, foreman, and superintendent, notably as foreman for some time with Thayer, Houghton & Co., manufacturers of machinists' tools, and later as superin- tendent for E. C. Cleveland & Co., in the manufacture of woolen machinery. In 1863 he formed a partnership with Albert Curtis, which connection was maintained until 1895, when Mr. Curtis retired, and the Curtis & Marble jNIachine Co. was incorporated with Mr. Marble as president and treasurer. Mr. Marble has closely devoted himself to his business, and in addition has served his fellow citizens in various public capacities. He was a member of the School Board in i860, and from 1872 to 1880; a member of the Common Council in i866-'68, and of the Board of Aldermen from i869-'72. In 1870 he was a representative to the General Court, and served in the State Senate in i887-'88. He has also acted as a director of the Free Public Library. He has been an influential member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, and was its president in 1877 and 1878. He is a director of the Worcest^er Safe Deposit & Trust Company, a vice-president of the People's Savings Bank, and is connected with other organizations. In religion he is a Congregationalist, and has been a member of Piedmont Church from its early history. In politics he is a Republican. In 1850 Mr. Marble married Harriet H. Chase of Shelburne Falls, who had been a teacher in the Worcester public schools. She died in 1892, leaving four sons and one daughter. In 1890 Mr. Marble built a fine residence at the corner of Main and Clement streets, where he now resides. Henry Alexander Marsh,* president of the Central National Bank, was born in Southborough, Massachusetts, September 7, 1836. In 1849 he removed with his parents to Worcester, where he continued his education in the public schools, and was also for some time under the private instruction of the Reverend Edward Everett Hale. In 1853 he became a clerk in the Central Bank, and through} successive promotions attained the cashiership, which office he held nearly thirty years, being chosen president of the bank in 1892. Mr. Marsh has, by reason of his peculiar fitness, been prominently identified with Worcester and other financial interests. He has been a trustee-at-large of the City Hospital since 1889. He was for thirteen years a commissioner of the city sinking funds, and a commissioner of the Jaques fund and other funds of the City Hospital for five years. He was one of a committee to examine the accounts of the treasurer of Harvard College in i875-"77, and is a vice-president of the People's Savings Bank. He was for several years chairman of the Worcester Clearing House Association. He has served as treasurer of several public relief funds, and as execvitor of * See portrait on page 70. 684 The Worcester of 1898. many large estates. Mr. Marsh was six years a director of the Free Public- Library, and is a member of the American Antiquarian Society, the St. Wulstan Society, and other literary and social bodies. He was a member of the Common Council in i867-'68, and of the Board of Aldermen in ^SyS, '79, '80, '81, being president the last named year. He was mayor of Worcester in 1893, '94, '95. In his second election to the office of mayor he received 12,420 votes, there being no other candidate. He has always been a Republican in politics. He was married in 1864 to Emily W. Mason, and has two daughters. George McAleer, M. D.,* was born November 20, 1S45, at Bedford, Lower Canada, now province of Quebec, on the farm on Avhich his father and mother located in 1834 when they arrived from the County Tyrone, Ireland. Naturally apt at learning, he finished the course of the district schools at an early age, and was sent to the Stanbridge Academy, an institution of much more than local repute, where he studied the classics and higher mathematics, and graduated in 1863. He then took the government examination for a school teacher, and received a diploma of the first class, and taught school during the following school year. Never an admirer of royalty nor of the British government, he came to Worcester in 1865 and obtained employment as bookkeeper, and began the study of medicine. Being of an inventive turn of mind, he invented a number of folding- chairs, which were much superior to any then on the market, and for which several letters-patent were granted to him. In 1866 he entered upon his medical course in Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1 869. Meanwhile folding-chairs made under his patents became so popular that they led all others in the markets of this and many foreign countries. This led to infringements and extensive and expensive litigation which continued in the courts six years, and so occupied his time that he was unable to engage in the practice of medicine. Such spare time as he could command he devoted to keeping the books and aiding in the harness and saddlery business carried on by his brother, Reynolds McAleer. In his patent litigation he was entirely successful, and the business of his brother having been expanded to profitable proportions, he formed a partnership with him under the style of R. ]McAleer & Co., which has been successfully continued ever since. He was active in the organization of the Bay vState Savings Bank in 1895, and was elected its first treasurer, which office he now holds. Doctor McAleer is a man of versatile tastes and talents, a great lover of nature, and a sportsman of wide renown. He is equally familiar with the canvas-back of Virginia and the moose of northern Maine. There is no better living authority to-day on the practical use of the rifle, rod and shot- gun. In his extended explorations of famous hunting and wild regions his camera always accompanies him, and it has furnished many valued souvenirs of his journeyings to his less-favored friends. He is as ready with his pen as "'See portrait ou page 379. The Worcester of 1898. 685 with his t>'un and fly-rod, has the faculty of keen observation, vigorous and fascinating- expression, and is an esteemed contributor to leading sportsmen's and other publications. He is a Roman Catholic in religion, and a prominent member of St. Paul's Church. In politics he is a Democrat of the old school type, and naturally, therefore, he is not in sympathy with the modern doctrines and methods so industriously sought to be engrafted upon his party. Not desiring to hold public office, he settled in an overwhelming Republican ward more than twenty years ago. He married, June 2, 1S74, Helen Frances Kendall, a native of Groton, Massachusetts, but a resident of Worcester since childhood. Reverend Archibald McCullagh, D. D.,* pastor of Plymouth Church in Worcester, is a graduate of Princeton University, class of '68. He took the full three years' course in Princeton Theological Seminary. At the close of his second year in the seminary, in the spring of 1870, he was licensed by the Presbytery of Ncav York city to preach the gospel, and immediately after he supplied the pulpit of Reverend Wil- liam Blackwood, D. D., one of the most prominent and scholarly pastors in Philadelphia, during the three months' absence of that gentleman in Europe; and within a short time he received an invitation to become his colleague, which was declined. Before his graduation he received simultaneously unanimous calls from two churches in Philadelphia and from the Second Presbyterian Church of Germantown. The one from the last named he accepted, and he was installed its pastor in May, 1871. Seven years, unmarred by a single jar, were spent with this people. In 1877 he was given a unanimous call from the Ross Street Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York, which, several times renewed after repeated declinations, was finally accepted, and Doctor McCullagh entered upon his work there April 25, 1878, and labored with great success until 1890. During his pastorate of twelve years, over $200,000 was raised and contributed by his people to various causes, including the payment of a debt of $50,000; and within the same period 550 names were added to the roll of church member- ship. On the 30th day of July, 1890, Plymouth Church in Worcester extended a unanimous call to Doctor McCullagh to become its pastor. His compliance involved leaving a people to whom he was strongly attached, leaving a city with whose interests he had become identified, and withdrawing from a great historic church in which he was born ; but believing that the voice of duty called him, he accepted and came to this city. Here he has taken and maintained a foremost position among the Christian workers of the place, and his influence among his brethren of the ministry, as with his people and the Christian community, is powerful and far-reaching. In a large city a minister must be more than preacher. It is expected that he will be adeqviate for any emergency. He must be a financier, organizer, society man; understand how to build a church, raise the debt, be a church * See portrait on page 288. HENRY H. MERRIAM. The Worcester of 1898. 687 lawyer; in fine, an ecclesiastical factotum. In all these lines Doctor jMcCullagh has proved equal to the demand. As a pastor Doctor McCullagh visits all his people once a year, and in special cases as often as necessary. He is spoken of as tender, sympathetic, genial, and having rare tact in dealing with delicate cases of spiritual distress, as unselfish, and ready to go anytime and anywhere to help the afflicted. As an organizer he not only can map out work, but is successful in getting others to undertake it, and carry it to completion. As a scholar Doctor McCullagh ranks high. He economizes labor and time by preaching sermons which grow out of an extended course of reading. Out of this study he gathers materials for books, and has become favorably known as an author. The degree of Doctor of Divinity, conferred on him by the University of the City of New York, is a well-deserved honor to a hard worker, earnest and whole-soided Christian man. Henry Harrison Merriam was born in Randolph, Ohio, March i, 1841. His father was a native of Grafton, Massachusetts, and a descendant of the Merriams who were among the founders of that town. When Henry was only four years old his parents moved back to New England, and after living two years in Shrewsbury settled in the old home town of Grafton. Here the subject of this sketch received his early education, and, after going through the high school, took an academic course at the Wilbraham Academy, fitting for college. He entered Amherst College in the class of 1866, but left before completing the course, and worked upon his father's farm at Grafton. He taught district school several winters at Grafton, and at vShrewsbury, Mass. He enlisted in Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, July, 1864, and was mustered out November, 1864. In April, 1866, he entered the employ of L. J. Knowles & Brother, who were then manufacturing looms at Warren, Massachusetts. In the fall of the same year the Messrs. Knowles removed their works to Worcester, and Mr. Merriam came with them and entered the office as bookkeeper. In 1885, when the Knowles Loom Works were incorporated, he was elected secretary of the company, and two years ago, when the Crompton and Knowles companies were consolidated, he was chosen to the same office in the new corporation, which position he now occupies. Mr. Merriam is the senior deacon in the Old South Church, having been elected to that office in 1869. When the city bought the society rights on the Common in 1886, he was chairman of the Board of Assessors of the parish. For several years he was superintendent of the Sunday school, and is now teacher of a large young men's Bible class. He is one of the foremost workers in this aggressive and very successful society. Deacon Merriam has been connected with the Young Men's Christian Association of this city since 1867, and was for a long time a director and one of the presidents of the society. At the time the fine hew building on Elm street was erected, he was the treasurer of the Board of Trustees, and had the 688 The Worcester of 1898. handling- of all the funds. He is still one of the Board of Trustees and its secretary and treasurer. Mr. Merriam is an ardent, conscienticnis Rci)iil)]i('an, hut has never accepted public office, although many times urged to d(j so. He was married in 1863 to Miss Marielle E. Harlow of Shrewsbury. Their residence is at No. 22 King- street. They have two sons, Wilton H., a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of this city, and Arthur H., who was graduated ivom Amherst College, class of 1897, and is now engaged iji business at Springfield, Mass. Reverend Eldridge Mix, D. D., superintendent of the Worcester City Missionary Society, was b(n-n in Atwater, Ohio, January 15, 1833. At water is a town on the western reserve which was settled by people from Walling- ford, Connecticut, and the place was named after Deacon Atwater, who was the leading man in the settlement. Doctor Mix's ancestors on his father's side went from Wallingford, and his mother was a descendant of the Talcott family that settled in Hartford county. His early education was received in the public schools and at the academy of his native town. He prepared for college with Reverend E. C. Sharp, his pastor, and in 1850 entered the Western Reserve University, then located at Hudson. After spending two years at this institution, he went to Williams College, where he was graduated in 1854. During the following year he was prin- cipal of the academy at Windham, Ohio, and for two years after taught in a school at Wilton, Connecticut. He then took a course of study in preparation for the ministry at Union Theological Seminary of New York and at Andover Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in i860. Doctor Mix was first called to be assistant pastor of the West Presbyterian Church, New York city. His pastorates have been six years at the First Congregational Church, Burlington, Vermont; fourteen years at First Presbyterian Church, Orange, New Jersey, and eight years at Central Congregational Church, Fall River. After leaving Fall River he served the Congregational Church at Wellesley, Massachusetts, as acting pastor for a year and a half. In 1878 Princeton College conferred upon Doctor Mix the degree of Doctor of Divinity. While living in Orange, New Jersey, Doctor Mix was on the Board of Examination of teachers for the public schools; was a member of the State Commission on the deaf, blind, and other unfortunates, and for several years served on the Board of Church Erection under appointment of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. REVEREND ELDRIDGE MIX. The Worcester of 1898. 689 Doctor Mix located in Worcester in the autumn of 1S92, where he has since resided. For nearly a year he supplied the pulpit of the First Congrega- tional Church, Spencer, and later preached for the Congregational Church in Westborough. He also supplied for several months the Pilgrim Church in St. Louis, Missouri ; the North Church, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and the Second Presbyterian Church, Cleveland, Ohio. He has always been an active worker, and nearly every Sunday finds him preaching in the pulpit at the present time. He is now supplying the Belmont Street Church of this city. For nearly four years past he has been in charge of the City Missionary Society's work, and has filled the position with marked ability and ac- ceptance. Philip Louis Moen,* for many years so prominently connected with the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, was born in Wilna, New York, November 13, 1824. He entered into business in New York city in a hardware store, in which wire made by Ichabod Washburn was sold, and he became acquainted with Mr. W^ashburn and his family, married his daughter, and came to Worcester to live. He engaged in business with his father-in- law, and the conduct of the rapidly increasing wire manufactory in its financial management largely fell into his hands, Mr. Washburn being devoted more especially to the mechanical part of the business. The building up of this immense industry on a solid foundation, its steady progress to the present proportions, and its almost unparalleled success, are in no small measure to be credited to the clear foresight and business ability of Mr. Moen. He was for many years previous to his death, which took place April 23, 1891, president of the corporation. Closely devoted to his charge, he found little time to give to public duties. He was a presidential elector in 1885 ; and was a trustee and treasurer of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute several years. He was a prominent member of Union Church, and a man of great force in the community. He was twice married, his second wife being Maria S. Grant, who, with three children, survived him. Charles Hill Morgan, president of the Morgan Construction Company, manufacturers of rolling-mill and wire-drawing machinery, and the Morgan Spring Company, makers of fine steel springs, is an eminent mechanical engineer. He has been prominent in the development of the wire industry and processes for- rolling steel into the various commercial shapes, and is still active along these lines. Almost without an exception the larger steel and wire mills of this country have in their works machinery invented or designed by him. He is a direct descendant of Miles Morgan, a native of Wales, who came to this country in 1836. His mother was a daughter of Doctor Noah Rich, and a woman of superior ability and force of character. Mr. Morgan was born in Rochester, New York, January 8, 1831, but his parents soon after moved to Massachusetts and settled in Clinton. His *See portrait on page 458. 44 CHARLES H. MORGAN. The Worcester of 1898. 691 early education was received in the common schools of that day and at the Lancaster Academy. At the age of fifteen he began to learn his trade in the machine-shop of his uncle, and soon developed a love for mechanical drawing. In 1852, when twenty-one years of age, he was put in charge of the Clinton Mills dye-house. Here he devoted himself to the study of chemistry, and was able to fill his new position with entire satisfaction and at the same time gain valuable experience in the management of men. For a time Mr. Morgan was draughtsman for the Lawrence Machine Company and for Erastus B. Bigelow. While with the Lawrence Machine Company he was sent to Worcester to look after the now famous Merrifield engine on Union street, which was built by that company and was at that time being erected. In i860 he joined his brother in a manufacturing enterprise in Philadel- phia, but remained there only a short time. Returning to Worcester in 1864, he became the general superintendent of the Washburn & Moen Wire Works, a position he held for over twenty-three years, and was one of the directors of that company for over eleven years. While with the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, Mr. Morgan designed the first direct hydraulic elevator introduced into New England. Not only has he borne a leading part in the wire industry of America, but as a trustee of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute his inventive genius and business ability have been applied in making the machine-shop con- nected with that institution a place for thorough instruction and practice of mechanical engineers. Among the engineering societies with which he is identified are the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Mining Engineers, and British Iron and Steel Institute. In 1852 Mr. Morgan was married to Miss Harriet T. Plympton of Shrewsbury, and two children were born to them, one dying in infancy. C. Henry Morgan is the other child by this marriage. He resides in Worcester, and is employed by the Morgan Construction Company. While living in Philadelphia Mrs. Morgan died, and in 1863 he was married to Miss Rebecca Beagary of that city. They have four children : Harriet, wife of Doctor W. D. Mitchell of East Orange, New Jersey; Char- lotte, wife of Frederick ]\I. McFadden, a lawyer of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania; Paul B., secretary of the Morgan Construction Company; and Ralph L., mechanical engineer with the same company. Mr. Morgan is an earnest Christian gentleman, one of the founders of Plymouth Church and a director of the Young Men's Christian Association. Mrs. Morgan is also interested in Christian work, being president of the Young Women's Christian Association of Worcester. Alexander Cole Munroe, son of Charles and Mary (Cole) Munroe, was born in ^Nlillbury, Alassachusetts, August 22, 1831, but removed with his parents soon afterward to Worcester, where he attended the public schools until 1S46, removing that year to Lowell. In 1850 he accepted a clerkship in the Lowell post office, where he continued for three years, having charge of the mailing department. In 1S53 he ALEXANDER C. MUNROE. The Worcester of 1898. 693 accepted a position in the freight department of the Boston & Lowell Railroad at Lowell, spending six years in the freight and ticket departments of that road, and holding the position of superintendent of transportation for a time at Lowell. In July, 1859, Mr. Munroe accepted the position of station agent of the Providence & Worcester Railroad at Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he remained until his appointment in April, 1861, as general agent of the Providence & Worcester Railroad and Providence & New York Steamship RESIDENCE OF ALEXANDER C. MUNROE, 30 HOLLYWOOD STREET. Company, with headquarters at Worcester, where he removed in 1861, and has since resided. Mr. Munroe continued in charge of the business of the corporations named, including all freight by the " Neptune Line," from Worcester and points North and East to New York, the South and West, amounting in through billing to more than $200,000 annually for a period of more than twelve years. Having purchased in February, 1873, the insurance agency of the late General George A. Washburn, Mr. Munroe took up with alacrity that line of work, retaining, however, the management of the transportation business at the request of the railroad and steamship companies named until October I, 1873, when, finding the double duties onerous, he tendered his resignation as general agent on account of the labor required to carry on satisfactorily to himself both kinds of business. 694 The Worcester of 1898. ^Ir. Munroe is now the duly authorized ai^ent and attorney for central Massachusetts for eighteen of the largest fire insurance coni])aniesof England and the United vStates. During his twenty-five years as an insurance agent, he has earned for his companies more than $300,000 above all losses and expenses, and his office stands to-day among the leading insurance agencies of the state. Mr. ]Munroe, from his youth a lover of music, was one of the band of earnest musical pioneers who in 1863 organized the Worcester County Musical Association, and it was during his official connection with the Worcester Music Festivals that they advanced from small beginnings to a jjrominence which challenged comparison with the great English festivals, calling out enthusiastic praise and admiration from the country at large, and warm commendation from European sources. Mr. Munroe was a member of the High Street Ouartette Choir, Lowell, in 1858 ;a member of the quartette choir of the Baptist Church, Woonsocket, R. I., in 1859 and i860. He was four years a member of the quartette choir of the Union Church, Worcester, and twenty-three years a member of the quartette choir of the Old South Church, Worcester, of which choir he was for twenty-two years bass and director. He was for a time chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Worcester Mozart Society, treasurer of the Worcester Beethoven Society, treasurer and afterwards president of the Worcester Mozart and Beethoven Choral Union, and for thirty-three years connected with the Worcester County Musical Association — twenty-three years as secretary, eight years as vice-president, and two years as president, resigning the latter position January 20th, 1896. He has never had any political aspirations; is a member of the Board of Trade; the Worcester Mechanics Association ; the Board of Underwriters, of which body he has been for two years president; the Old South Church; the Congregational Club, of which he was for a time treasurer; and is an honorary member of the Worcester Continentals. He has been a member of the Commonwealth Club and The vSociety of Antiquity. Since his retire- ment from active choir membership, he has been for four years chairman of the Music Committee of the Old South Church, but has now retired from the active management of musical organizations, although still loving music and singing occasionally in various societies. Mrs. Munroe was for twenty-one years a member of the same choirs with her husband, and beginning her church choir work at fourteen years of age as leading contralto of a large choir, she continued to sustain positions in church quartette choirs for thirty-two years, twelve years as soprano and twenty years as contralto, her voice, of more than three octaves in range, enabling her to sing either part. For twelve years she was the principal contralto soloist of the Worcester and other music festivals. Mrs. Munroe is now and has for five years been president and a singing memberof the Worcester Ladies' Home Music Club, which, organized through her efforts, has proved a source of much pleasure to the members and their friends; she is now and for five years has been president of the Women's Auxiliarv to the Worcester Yountr Men's Christian Association. The Worcester of 189S. 695 JOHN P. MUM ROE. John P. Munroe, son of John and ]\Iary (Epps) ]^Iunroe, was born in Concord, New Hampshire, June 28, 1850. His father, a native of Rutland, ^lassachusetts, be- longed to that branch of the Munroe family which had settled in Lexington previous to the War of the Revolution. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Concord, grad- uating from the high school in 1865. From 1865 to 1872 he was a telegraph operator, and in April, 1S69, at the age of eighteen, came to Worcester to take news dispatches of the Associated Press for the Daily Spy. March i, 1872, he entered the employ of the Spy as city editor, and remained in that capacity and as night editor until July i, 1898. For many years he has been the Worcester correspondent of the Boston Herald. ]Mr. Munroe retired from the Spy staff to become the general agent for Worcester county of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the L^nited States, with an ofihce at 713 State Mutual building. Mr. Munroe is prominently connected with Masonic and other fraternal bodies; is a member of Quinsigamond Lodge, Eureka Chapter, Hiram Council, and Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templars; also of the Scottish Rite bodies, including the Massachusetts Consistory, of Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine; the Worcester Lodge of Odd Fellows, Worcester Lodge of Elks, Wapiti Club, and Gesang Verein Frohsinn. In Septem- ber, 1898, he was unanimously nominated by the Republicans of Ward 2 to represent them in the Legislature of 1899, and was elected withotit opposition November 8. Mr. Munroe was married September 19, 1874, and has five children. One of his sons, John E., is a cadet in the L'^nited States Military Academy at West Point, by appointment of Congressman Walker, as a result of competitive examination, and a daughter, Lucy A., is a member of the junior class at Smith College. James Atkinson Norcross. There is nothing to be told of an ancient name or of an ancestrally acquired fortune in this story of a plain man's life. Jesse Springer Norcross, the father of the two men who made the great building firm of Norcross Brothers, was simply one of those hardy pioneers who were doing the rough hewing of American civilization in the primeval forest early in this century. This eldest Norcross, after whom the little town amid the woods was named, had his own quite wonderful constructive ability. There was nothing called for in that peaceful conquest of the wilderness, from the construction of a saw-mill in its every detail to the making of a violin or pair of shoes, at which he did not show himself an JAMES A. NORCROSS. 700 The Worcester of 1898. expert. James, his eldest son, born in Winslow, Maine, in 1831, was yet a boy when his father died, one of those many adventurous men who perished in the rush to California in '49 and '50. Upon the backwoods lad fell the support of the widowed mother and the little host of children, and in his own simple, straightforward fashion he accepted the duty and fulfilled it. F'rom that day until she died in her son's house in Worcester, in 1883, he never let her want for anything he had to share with her. Marrying in early manhood Miss Mary Ellen Pinkham, he never hesitates to assert that the best thing life has brought to him is the wife that has borne him company through all the vicissitudes of nearly fifty years. For some years after his marriage he remained in Salem, where as a carpenter and builder he had been the mainstay of his mother. Here several of their children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Norcross, and here, in 1864, he and his brother Orlando, eight years his junior, formed the partnership of Norcross Brothers, and began business in the little town of Swampscott. As early as 1866 they were undertaking contracts in Worcester county, and were securing a name and laying the foundation of their extensive business. During these earlier years, in which James, as the elder and more experienced of the two brothers, naturally took the lead, it is noteworthy that the reputation of the firm for absolutely honest work, the very best that skill and fidelity could insure, was thoroughly established. In the city of Worcester to begin with, and afterward extending over the whole country, the monuments to their faithful workmanship and courageous enterprise have multiplied till in themselves they would suffice to the making of a stately city. In 1897 James retired from the firm to enjoy the leisure which so many of America's men of affairs have planned, and so few have been wise enough to take in time. Building for himself and family and always welcome friends the noble mansion crowning his beautiful estate of "Fairlawn," among the hills on the western edge of Worcester, Mr. Norcross is finding scope for all his old-time energy in a multitude of public and private enterprises. Those'who know the things of his life that he is most disposed to hide, tell us of an active and constant benevolence for which many and many a life is happier and better, and the cause of religion and temperance and education is very much the better off. Mr. and Mrs. Norcross are of lifelong Unitarian faith and practice. They are consistent and active members of the South Unitarian Church of Worcester ; to the erection of its handsome and substantial edifice they were generous contributors, Norcross Brothers being the builders. Orlando Whitney Norcross, son of Jesse S. and Margaret (Whitney) Nor- cross, was born in Clinton, Maine, October 25, 1839. His father, a native of Wayne, Maine, was a mechanic of exceptional ability, who for many years constructed saw-mills in the lumber districts of the Pine Tree State. He removed late in life to Salem, Massachusetts, and going to California at the time of the gold excitement died at Benicia, that State, in 1850. The mother was a native of Westborough, Massachusetts. The Worcester of 1898. 701 The subject of this sketch received his education in the Salem public schools, and was at first employed in the leather business, and afterwards learned the carpenters" trade. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fourteenth Massachusetts Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, afterwards the First Massa- chusetts Heavy Artillery, and served three years. In 1864 he, in company with his brother, James A., engaged in the building business, under the firm name of Norcross Brothers, since so widely known and justly celebrated in connection with the erection of so many notable and costly buildings throughout the United States. The first contract of more than ordinary consequence was for the construction of the Congregational Church in Leicester, and soon after they erected another in North Adams. Locating in Worcester, their business increased until it assumed large proportions, beginning with the building here of Crompton block, the First Universalist Church and the Classical and English High School during the years i868-'7o, and ending, so far as the record of the city's first half century is concerned, with the building during the last three years of the State Mutual Life Assurance building, the Art Museum and the new City Hall. (3ther notable specimens of their workmanship in Worcester are the beauti- ful All Saints' Church and the Burnside building. In the meantime they erected in different parts of the country no less than between seventy and eighty buildings, all remarkable for their size and costliness, as partly comprised in the following list: South Congregational Church, Springfield, Massachusetts, and in 1872 the Hampden County Court House. In 1873 Trinity Church in Boston, the late Mr. Richardson's architectural masterpiece, was built. Subse- quently they executed other notable work of Richardson's design. In the six years i873-'79 they constructed the Norwich Congregational Church at Norwich, Connecticut; the Cheney Block, Hartford, Connecticut; the Latin and English High Schools, Boston; the Gymnasium and Sever Hall, Harvard College; the Ames Library and Town Hall, North Easton, Massachusetts; the Woburn Library, Woburn, Massachusetts; Trinity Church parsonage, Boston; and the Newport villa of Mrs. Annie W. Sher- man. During the eighties they extended their operations over the country, building the City Hall at Albany, New York; the Allegheny County Court House and Jail, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Chamber of Commerce, Cincin- nati; Howard Memorial Library, New Orleans; Turner and Lionberger Buildings, St. Louis, Missouri; Marshall Field Building, Chicago, Illinois; New York Life Insurance Buildings at Omaha and Kansas City; Presby- terian Church, Albany, New York; Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey ; and the Crouse Memorial College, Syracuse, New York. Within the same period they built the Yale Memorial Building; Harvard College Law School Building ; Vermont LTniversity Building ; the Durfee High School, Fall River; Crane Memorial Hall, Quincy; Maiden Library, Maiden; Fiske Building; Syndicate Building, and other business structures; also the First vSpiritual Temple, and the Algonquin and Art Clubs, Boston ; the South Framingham and Springfield stations on the Boston & Albany Railroad, and the Union Railroad Station at Hartford ; Baptist Church at ORLANDO W. NORCROSS. The Worcester of 1898. 703 Newton, and Grace Church, New Bedford ; also in New York city the Union League Club, Union Theological Seminary, and St. James' Episcopal and Holy Trinity Churches; and numerous pretentious and costly private residences in various cities throughout the country. They also constructed the Soldiers' Monument at West Point, New York, the largest polished monolith in the world, and the Ames Memorial Monument at Sherman, Wyoming, on the highest elevation of the Rocky Mountains crossed by the Union Pacific railroad. Their later work includes the Ames Building, Chamber of Commerce, Tremont Building, Youth's Companion Building, Devonshire Building, State House Extension, Exchange Building, Boston; Industrial Building, Telephone Building and Banigan Building, Provi- dence; also the Rhode Island State House; Dormitory Building and Commencement Hall, Princeton College; Perkins Hall, Conant Hall and Fogg Art Museum, Harvard College; Society for Savings Building, Hart- ford, Connecticut; College for Teachers, New York; residence of the late Colonel Elliot F. Shepard, Scarborough, New York; Bloomingdale Asylum, White Plains, New York; Library, Physics and Natural vSciences Build- ings, Columbia College, New York; Equitable Building, Baltimore; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; New England Building, Cleveland, Ohio; Chemical and Physical Laboratory, Amherst College. The facilities at command, which are both numerous and varied, include besides extensive wood and iron working shops in Worcester, stone-yards in Boston and Cleveland, Ohio, and granite, sandstone, slate and marble quarries in different states. On January i, 1897, Orlando W. Norcross purchased his brother's interest in the business, and the present operations, which include the new Union Station, Boston, are being completed by him. In May, 1870, Mr. Norcross married Miss Ellen P. Sibley of Salem, Massachusetts. Of his five children three are living, namely: Alice Whit- ney, Mabel Ellen and Edith Janet. ' In 1875 he served upon the committee of experts appointed to examine the condition of the Federal building in Chicago, and the report of that body was afterwards justified. He takes an active interest in local public aflfairs, and is an earnest advocate of temperance. Prior to the Rebellion he belonged to the Salem Cadets. William Joseph Ham Nourse was born in Canada April 24, 1864. His grandfather, William Nourse, came a boy from Scotland in the early part of the present century in the emplo}- of the Hudson's Bay Company, married a Miss Corrigill, whose mother was a descendant of one of the great Indian chiefs, and became in course of time chief factor of the company. His son Charles, father of the subject of this sketch, born at Sault Ste. Marie, was also employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. He married Elizabeth J. Ham, who was descended from an English family of distinction. William J. H. Nourse received his early education in the common schools of Canada, and at a private school in Memphis, Tennessee, the family passing the winters in the South, his father owning a cotton plantation at Como, Mississippi. He was graduated at Whitby Collegiate Institute, which maintained a military training department, and in which he was one of the JOHN C. OTIS. The Worcester of 1898. 705 WILLIAM J. H. NOURSE. most efficient students. During this period he was a member of the Thirty-fourth Battahon, and later of the Winnipeg Field Battery. He early manifested a strong interest in outdoor sports and athletics, and became an expert swimmer and boatman. In 18S4, impelled by his natural love of adventure, he responded to the call of Lord Wolseley, whose ex- perience with Canadian voyageurs during Reil's Rebellion had given him a knowl- edge of their prowess, and who desired to enlist a force of competent boatmen to overcome the difficulties of the Nile in his contemplated effort to relieve General Gordon at Khartoum, and joined that famous expedition, being absent from his home for nearly three years. For his gal- lantry in rescuing several companions from imminent peril in the waters of the Nile, he was decorated by Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the khedive of Egypt. After many hardships and much rough service, he arrived home in 1886. After an engagement of a few months' duration with H. D. Gary, safe manufacturer at Buffalo, New York, Mr. Nourse entered the employ of M. C. Hood & Company, dealers in proprietary articles, Boston, remaining with that concern six years. He then became connected with Bradstreet's Mercantile Agency as a reporter for the Boston office, his territory including for three years the Worcester district. Bradstreet's Agency established an office in Worcester April i, 1897, and he was placed in charge as superin- tendent, in which capacity he remains at the present time. Mr. Nourse has written considerably for newspapers and magazines in narration of his remarkable adventures, and has lectured more or less before societies and clubs. He possesses many valued souvenirs of his travels and experiences, and his close observation, clear memory and graphic power of relation render him an interesting talker and speaker. John Carter Otis, son of Benjamin Bailey and Mary (Carter) Otis, was born in Worcester March 12, 1825. He received his education in the public schools. At the age of fifteen he entered the employ of Samuel B. Scott, who kept a shoe-store in Worcester, and also went to live in his family, remaining in this situation four or five years. Later he assisted his father, who was a shoe and leather dealer and manufacturer, in his business. In 1844 he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where his mother's brother resided, and was employed two or three years as a clerk, and afterwards engaged in the commission business. He returned to Worcester in 1848, and was in partnership with his father until 1850, when he formed a business connection with C. H. Fitch, under the firm name of Fitch & Otis, for the manufacture of boots and shoes, occupying first a shop on Front street, and later a 45 7oO The Worcester of 1898. portion of Bangs block on Main street. The financial troubles of 1857 caused a suspension of their business in common with that of many others. In 1861 Mr. Otis was employed for a time in the office of the city treasurer, and the following year entered the Quinsigamond Bank as teller, and during the absence of the cashier on account of ill health, served as assistant cashier. He remained in this situation nearly ten years, and retired, greatly to the regret of the directors, to devote himself exclusively to the duties of treasurer of the Union Water Meter Company, an office to which he had been elected in 1868, when the cc^mpany was formed by his brother-in-law, Honorable Phinehas Ball, and Abram and Benaiah Fitts, for the manufacture of the Ball & Fitts water meter. This position Mr. Otis still holds, and also that of president of the company, to which office he was elected on the death of Mr. Ball in 1894. Mr. Otis is a vice-president of the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank; is a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, of which he has been vice-president, and served twelve years as a trustee; and is an active member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity. In religion he is a Unitarian; has been from childhood a member of the First Unitarian Church in Worcester, and was elected deacon in 1863; is a life member and was for several years a director of the American Unitarian Association; and served twenty-five years from 1866 as treasurer of the Worcester County Confer- ence of Unitarian Churches, of which body he is now vice-president. He is a man of upright character, generous and kindly disposition, and other solid cpialities, which are justly appreciated by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Otis married April 18, 1849, Mary E., daughter of John P. and Maria (Vose) Kettell. Mrs. Otis died February 2, 1894. Of their three children, two — a son and a daughter — survive. John P. K. Otis,* son of John C. and Mary E. (Kettell) Otis, was born in Worcester March 9, 1853. He attended the public schools of this city, leaving the high school in the second year. He was in the city engineer's office from 1869 to 187 1, then entered the Worcester Free Institute, and was graduated as a civil engineer in 1873. He was assistant engineer of the Springfield, Massachusetts, water works from 1873 to 1876, and engineer of the Portland, Maine, Water Company from 1876 to 1878. For three years following he was instructor of civil engineering in the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In 1880 he associated himself with the Union Water Meter Company, and in 1890 became manager of that concern, in which position he still remains. Mr. Otis is a member of the following organizations: The Worcester County Mechanics Association, the Worcester Board of Trade, the Worcester Society of Civil Engineers, The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and the Commonwealth Club. Mr. Otis married in 1874 Miss Isabelle C. Stratton. They have five <-hildren. * See portrait on page 506. The Worcester of 1898. 707 Nathaniel Paine, A. M.,* is a native of Worcester, born August 6, 1832. His ancestors were prominent in town affairs in Revolutionary times, and his grandfather was for many years the judge of probate of the county. Mr. Paine received his education in the public schools of Worcester, and at the age of seventeen entered the Mechanics Bank as clerk. In 1854 he became assistant cashier of the newly organized City Bank, and three years later was promoted to be cashier. This offtce he held to December 12, 1898, at which time he was elected president. He is connected with other financial institutions, is vice-president of the Worcester Five Cents vSavings Bank, and chairman of the Worcester Clearing House Association. He was one of the founders of the Worcester Natural History vSociety, and its president for several years. In June, 1898, he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College. It is perhaps as an antiquary and historical student that Mr. Paine is best known. He is a prominent member of the American Antiquarian Society, and has for many years been its treasurer. He has contributed numerous papers and essays of value and interest to the publications of that society. He has written much of local history, and many articles from his pen have appeared in different publications. He is also actively associated with many other historical societies throughout the country. He was one of the founders of the Worcester Art Society, and has been its president, and is a director of the Art Museum Corporation. He is a great lover of books, and possesses a fine library, which contains many valuable and unique specimens, not a few of which are the result of his own handiwork in the line of extra illustrated copies. Mr. Paine was a director of the Free Public Library for eighteen years, and served one term in the Common Council, but his tastes do not naturally lead him into public life. Edmund L. Parker, son of John and Mary (Lawrence) Parker, was born at Cohasset, Massachusetts, February 8, 1847. He received his education in the public schools and at Wilbraham Academy. He for a time filled a position in the Second National Bank of Boston, and in 1870 became a member of the firm of Caverly, Parker & Young at Lynn. In 1876 he came to Worcester and was associated with his brother, John L. Parker, in the manufacture of sheet-metal goods at 70 School street. This business he continues, his brother having died several years ago. Mr. Parker has traveled extensively in this country and in Europe on business and pleasure, and is a man of affairs and large experience. He served four years in the Common Council from 1887 to 1890 inclusive, and was an alderman in 1891 and 1892, retiring with an enviable record for sound judgment and straightforward action. In politics he is a Republican, and has always been a consistent temperance man. As a candidate he proved a very popular man, receiving the highest number of votes on the ticket, and he declined a renomination to public office, greatly to the regret of his supporters. Mr. Parker married Miss Eva S. Jones of Lynn. In religion he is an Episcopalian, and a prominent member of St. John's Church. 'See portrait on page 220. EDMUND L. PARKER. The Worcester of 1898. 709 Henry Langdon Parker,* a son of Asa and Margaret Ann (McCoristone) Parker, was born at Acton, Massachusetts, October 7, 1833. He was educated at Lawrence Academy, Groton, and at Dartmouth College, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1856. He studied law and entered upon the practice of his profession in i860 in the town of Hopkinton. He was appointed a trial justice for Middlesex county in 1862, and held that ofifice until his removal to Worcester in 1865, in which city he has for the past thirty-three years resided, and where he is well known as one of the most reliable and prominent members of the Worcester county bar. While devoted to his profession and closely applying himself to its demands, Mr. Parker has given some time to public service. From 1882 to 1888 he was a member of the School Board of Worcester, where his influence was felt in all matters which contributed to the elevation of the standard in public education. In i886-'87 he was a representative in the Legislature, and was chairman of the Committee on Probate and Insolvency during his second term. He Avas a member of the Senate in 1889 and 1890, and was chairman of the Committees on Public Service, on the Judiciary, and on Rules and Election Laws. He was chairman of the committee appointed to revise the City Charter in 1893. Mr. Parker is deeply interested in horticulture, forestry, and kindred subjects, and was president of the Worcester County Horticultural Society from 1889 to 1896. He is one of the Trustees of Public Reservations in Massachusetts. In nature study and in literature he finds relaxation from the arduous duties of his law practice. In religion Mr. Parker is an Epi.scopalian, and has been closely connected with that denomination for many years, serving as warden in both St. Matthew's and St. Mark's Churches. He has always been a Republican in politics. He was married in 1861, and has three sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Henry L. Parker, Jr., a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1885, and of the Columbian Law School at Washington, D. C, is in law practice in the same ol^ce with his father. Another son, William H., is an instructor in Yale College. Charles Augustus Peabody M., D.,f was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, June 4, 1845. He was educated in the schools of his native town, at Phillips Andover Academy, and, entering Amherst College, was graduated in the class of 1868. For two years he was engaged in teaching as principal of the Georgetown Academy, in Delaware. Afterwards he began his medical course, and in 1873 he received his degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He immediately came to Worcester, and within a few months was chosen one of the physicians of the Washburn Memorial Dispensary, which was opened in March, 1874, at the old Abijah Bigelow house on Front street, in the quarters vacated by the trustees of the City Hospital. In the fall of 1874 Doctor Peabody was elected superintendent * See portrait on page 236. f See portrait on page 266. 710 The Worcester of 1898. of the Worcester City Hospital, which was then located at the corner of Wellington and Chandler streets, on the Jaques estate, and he remained in that station until the fall of 1876. Resigning this place he passed the next three years in India, going by way of Europe and returning by sailing- vessel over the Pacific ocean to Portland, Oregon, thence across the conti- nent to Massachusetts, thus completing the circuit of the world. During his stay in India he was in active practice in Bombay, and this experience and the knowledge acquired there have proved very valuable in later years. Early in 1880 he returned to Worcester and opened an ofifice. He was appointed on the visiting staff of the City Hospital and served one term, but soon after accepted an appointment as one of the physicians at the vState Lunatic Hospital, where he remained until December, 1881. When the new City Hospital on Jaques avenue was completed, he was reap- pointed to his former position as superintendent of that hospital, the duties of which office he has from that time to the present ably discharged. During this period he has always worked in harmony with the trustees, and under his management the hospital has developed into one of the best in the country. The various changes in methods of administration, the many and valuable improvements in the buildings and their appointments, the inception and successful operation of the Nurses' Training School, and many other necessary innovations, are largely due to his intelligent com- prehension, suggestion and supervision, and the cordial cooperation of the trustees. Within twenty years the number of patients treated has increased five-fold, and the accommodations at the institution have necessarily been enlarged in proportion. Doctor Peabody is a member of the Massachusetts and the Worcester District Medical Societies, and of the American Academy of Medicine. He is well known in social and fraternal bodies, has taken the several degrees of Free Masonry, and is a Knight Templar. He served one term as director of the Free Public Library. He is a member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and was one of the original members of the Con- gregational Club. His church connection is with the First or Old South, and he has been for several years clerk of the parish. He is president of the Amherst Alumni Association of Central Massachusetts. Doctor Peabody married in 1881 Miss Caroline E. Allen of Hubbardston. They have one son. Reverend Frank Dee Penney, pastor of Lincoln Square Baptist Church in Worcester, was born in Adams, Jefferson county. New York, April 26, 1857. His father, Alva Penney, a native of Plainfield, Otsego county, was in early life a mechanic, and later engaged in teaching school. He married Helen Stanbro, removed to Jefferson county, and later became a farmer in Oneida county, N. Y. He was a man of some prominence in that region, an intimate friend and admirer of Senator Roscoe Conkling, and in i866-'67 he represented his district in the Assembly in New York. The subject of this sketch received his early education in the district schools of his native place and at West Winfield Academy. He then passed three years at Colgate Academy in Hamilton, and, entering Colgate The Worcester of 1898. 7ir REVEREND FRANK D. PENNEY. University, was graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1885, after a full four years' course. His preparation for the ministry was pursued for the next three years at Hamilton Theological Seminary, from which institution he received his degree as Master of Arts in 1888. During this period he was professor of elocution in Colgate Academy, and assistant professor of elocution in Colgate University, serving in each position two years. June 23, 1888, he became pastor of the Second Bap- tist Church in Auburn, New York, where he was ordained July 27 of the same year, and remained five years; and from Sep- tember I, 1892, to February 14, 1897, he was pastor of the First Baptist Church in North Adams, Massachusetts. In both pastorates he labored with eminent success, leaving with his people the memory of faithful and efficient service in all departments of a Christian minister's work, having led in great revivals. Two days after the close of his term at North Adams, on the i6th of February, 1897, he received a unanimous call from the Lincoln Square Baptist Church of this city, which he accepted on the 19th of that month, with the understanding that he was to pass the next three or four months in travel. Taking passage on the 27th of February, he made an extended tour through the eastern hemisphere, visiting Egypt, the Holy Land, Constantinople, Greece and Italy, returning in June. On the first Sunday in July, 1897, he began his active pastorate in Worcester, and has continued in the active discharge of the duties of his office to the present time. Under his direction the church has greatly prospered, both spiritually and materially, his coming marking an era of advancement in the history of that body. He is a strict, ardent advocate of temperance; a friend to the poor, and exempli- fies a symmetrical ministry; is public-spirited, sharing a wide acquaintance with business men. As a Christian minister he emphasizes the triumphs of the gospel and the evangelistic nurture of his people. Mr. Penney married July 27th, 1887, Florence, daughter of David and Janet (Marsh) Wheeler of Mannsville, Jefferson county, New York. Mrs. Penney was educated in Oswego Normal School and the Ladies' School at Hamilton, and was an efficient teacher for several years. They are the parents of two children: Sterling Wheeler, born June 19, 1892, in Auburn, New York, and Frank Dee, Jr., born in North Adams, Massachusetts, March 4th, 1896. Frank D. Perry, one of the leading business men of Worcester, resides in Quinsigamond Village, and in the same house where he was born, July 25, 1856. His parents were Dexter H. and Elizabeth A. Perry, and the Perry family has been residents of this neighborhood for several generations. FRANK D. FERRY, The Worcester of 1898. 713 Mr. Perry was the sixth in a family of seven children. He was educated in the public schools of this city, leaving the high school before he had completed the course, on account of the death of his father March 16, 1872. For the following five years he worked on the farm for his mother, who died April 19, 1877. In 1876 he started an omnibus line to the city, and in 1877 began to do general teaming. This new line of business proved a successful undertaking, and for ten years he continued it, having in use, at times, over twenty horses. In 1882 he opened a coal and wood yard, commencing in a small way, and gradually increasing to its present dimensions. He has also done a large business as a contractor in stone-work and street-making. At one time RESIDENCE OF FRANK D. PERRY, 951 MILLBURY STREET. associated with Mr. H. S. Pike, he built streets in the Salisbury extension, cutting down a heavy hill where the art building now stands, also another where the electric light plant is situated. Subsequently, in company with Henry W. Carter of Millbury, he graded the road-bed for the Millbury Electric Road, and put in the foundation for the power-station, engine-beds and the stone-work for the car-house, also much other work of a similar nature. Mr. Perry began the street-sprinkling business in 1887, using at that time only two carts. Later he bought the carts and good will of the late John A. Bancroft, who was carrying on the same kind of business, and for several years ran fifteen to twenty sprinklers. In 1895 the American Car Sprinkler Company was organized for the purpose of operating the invention of John R. Gathright of Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Perry is a large stockholder, JOSEPH S. PERRY. The Worcester of 1898. 715 director, clerk of the corporation, and general superintendent. He is also president of other companies of the same kind in Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut. Mr. Perry is a Royal Arch Mason and an Odd Fellow. For several years he served his lodge as treasurer, and was compelled to decline further service on account of pressing business duties. In politics he is a Republican. He was married on his twenty-second birthday to Miss Elizabeth A. Carpenter of Putnam, Connecticut. Three children have been born to them, and two are still living. The family reside at the old homestead and in the house where Mr. Perry was born, which he has rebuilt, making an attractive, modern home, with all conveniences for comfort and beauty. Joseph Stone Perry was born on Vernon street hill, Worcester, November 3, 1828. He now lives on a part of the old home farm, which originally covered about 100 acres, and has been in the possession of the Perry family for nearly 150 years. The subject of this sketch was one of a family of ten children, and a brother is president of Doane College, Nebraska. Mr. Perry's education was obtained in the public schools and at the Leicester and Wilbraham Academies. The business of his life has been farming, and he is one of the largest and most successful farmers in Worces- ter county. He has also been interested in real-estate transactions, build- ing and selling houses erected on new streets cut through his farm. He now has a landed estate of nearly 200 acres and has twenty-one cottages and thirteen three-tenement houses, which he rents and now offers for sale. He has a large dairy and keeps about forty cows, running two milk routes. Large crops of hay, grain and vegetables are raised for market, and also to feed his live-stock. He has in the town of Auburn a fine, young apple orchard, which covers thirty acres and numbers 1,400 trees. In 1880 Mr. Perry was elected highway commissioner, and for three years served the city as street superintendent. He was chosen representative to the General Court, and sat in the State council during the session of 1885, serving as a member of the Committee on Agriculture. For many years he has been an active member of the Worcester County Agricultural Society, and is at the present time one of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Perry was married on New Year's day, 1855, to Miss Lucy A. Day of Ludlow, and six children have been born to them, four of whom are still living. One of the daughters was married to a son of Rev. Jonathan Green, a missionary to Honolulu. She died leaving two sons, who now live with their grandparents. Their youngest daughter. Miss Josephine Perry, was graduated from Smith College in the class of '96, and resides with her par- ents. Mr. and Mrs. Perry have traveled extensively in this country and Europe. Their last trip abroad was made last summer, their daughter accompanying them. They went by way of Gibraltar to Naples, Italy; then traveled through Switzerland and Austria to Russia, visiting Moscow and St. Peters- burg. From there they went to Norway and Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France; spending some time in Paris, and sailing for home at Havre. GENERAL JOSIAH FICKETT. The Worcester of 1898. 717 The trip was much enjoyed, and Miss Perry brought home many interesting photographs of places and things which she took with her own camera. General Josiah Pickett. There are few names among those of the citizen soldiery of jNIassachusetts entitled to more prominent mention than that of Brevet Brigadier-General Josiah Pickett of Worcester. This honor and distinction are the result of his native force of character, personal bravery, and actual service in the War of the Rebellion. General Pickett was born at Beverly November 21, 1822, and after attending the common schools in his native town, successfully followed a mechanical occupation until called into the service of his country. Early in life he became earnestly interested in military affairs, which led to his enlistment as a member of Company F, Sixth Infantr}^, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in July, 1840, being elected a lieutenant three years later. The gold excitement in 1849 carried him to California, and upon his return he came to Worcester in 1855, identifying himself soon after with the Worcester City Guards, and at the call for troops in April, 1861, responded as first lieutenant of this company, in which he served with Major Devens' Rifle Battalion at Fort McHenry, Maryland, for a term of three months. Returning from this service he organized and was com- missioned captain of Company A in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry. This regiment formed a part of the famous Burnside expedition that encountered serious peril by sea, the objective being Roanoke Island, where Captain Pickett was officially complimented for gallantry in the engagement of February 8, 1862. He participated, in the capture of New Berne March 14, and was promoted to the rank of major March 20, 1862. Major Pickett served as such until October 29, 1S62, when he was made colonel to succeed Colonel Upton, who had resigned. This splendid regi- ment, one of the best and bravest, saw most of its distinguished service under the direction of Colonel Pickett, and much of the unrivaled discipline and gallant conduct of the Twenty-fifth so brilliantly displayed in the War for the Union can be attributed to the ability of its commander. During the Goldsborough campaign and the subsequent active military operations in North Carolina, Colonel Pickett won further distinction for efficient service. In the spring of 1863 he was in command of the garrison at Plymouth on the Roanoke when seriously threatened by the Confeder- ates, and the following autumn successfully commanded the sub-district of the Pamlico, for which he received honorable mention when ordered to Virginia in December, 1863. Rejoining his regiment, then assigned to the Army of the James, Colonel Pickett won special praise for courage and military capacity in the opera- tions south of Richmond during the spring of 1864. At Arrowfield Church his bravery and coolness were particularly conspicuous. In the severe fog-fight at Drewry's Bluff", after the capture of General Heckman, Colonel Pickett quickly rallied the shattered regiments of the brigade and saved the Union right from serious disaster. Later, while serving with the Army of the Potomac, Colonel Pickett achieved his highest reputation as a soldier as he gallantly led his heroic ALFRED S. PINKERTON. The Worcester of 1898. 719 regiment through that terrible fire at the battle of Cold Harbor, in which he was severely wounded and the Twenty-fifth nearly annihilated, sustain- ing a loss of seventy-three per cent, in killed and wounded and missing. This gallant charge of the regiment is described by the Confederate General Bowles, who witnessed it from the rebel entrenchments: " On looking over the works I discovered what I supposed one regiment, with an officer in front with sword raised high in air, calling on his men to charge. The heroic regiment that made this gallant charge was the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, which was the only regiment that obeyed orders to advance. The balance of the brigade had refused to go forward, and not since the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava has a more heroic act been performed." For distinguished bravery on this occasion and meritorious conduct during the war, Colonel Pickett was commissioned brevet brigadier-general, to date from June 3, 1864. It was not until the following November that General Pickett returned to his regiment. He was still suffering severely from his wound, and being disabled from further active military duty completed his regimental reports, took leave of his old comrades and retired from the service in January, 1865, carrying with him the respect and good wishes of the officers and men, who under his command had performed their duties so faithfully, and fought so gallantly to sustain the honor of the flag and the supremacy of the government. General Pickett accepted a position in the Custom House in October, 1865, and in September, 1866, he was appointed postmaster of Worcester, discharging the duties of this office to the satisfaction of the public and the department for more than twenty years. In 1889 Governor Ames appointed him a member of the State Armory Commission. The military associations of General Pickett formed during the Civil War have been actively sustained in times of peace. He is a charter member of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Loyal Legion, president of the Twenty-fifth Veteran Regiment Association, member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has been treasurer of Post 10 relief fund from the beginning. The other military and civic organizations with which he is widely known and identified are quite too numerous to mention in this limited space. The patriotic service of General Pickett during the perilous days of the Republic deserves gratitude and honor. His services in civil office have been invariably efficient. Fidelity to duty is the controlling motive of his life. Alfred S. Pinkerton, son of William C. and Maria Pinkerton, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1856. He was educated in the schools of Lancaster and Scranton. At the age of thirteen, his father having died, he removed with his mother, who was a native of Massachusetts, to Worces- ter, where he was employed as a bookkeeper in a large manufacturing establishment. Having determined to enter upon a professional career, he pursued his studies evenings after working through the day, and after thorough preparation began the study of law in the office of the late 720 The Worcester of 1898. Honorable Peter C. Bacon. He was admitted to tlie bar in i8cSi, and in his chosen calling and in politics he has been very successful. In 1887 he was elected a representative in the Cieneral Court, and was twice reelected, serving as chairman of important committees, as a member of the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and taking a foremost place in debate on the floor of the House. In 1890 he was elevated to the Senate as a member from the Fourth Worcester District, and served four terms. His prominence in that body is evidenced by his appointment, in his second year, as chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, the highest honor in the gift of the chair, and by the fact that the two last years of his service he Avas elected presi- dent of the Senate by a unanimous vote. He was also a member of the Committees on Constitutional Amendments, on Probate and Chancery, and others. During his long service in both branches, he was frequently heard in debate, always commanding attention; and in the chair of the Senate he made a reputation as a parliamentarian. For a number of years he has been prominent in the Republican party organization, serving on Republi- can State Central Committee and as chairman, secretary and treasurer of the County Committee. He is in constant demand as a public speaker, especially during political campaigns. Mr. Pinkerton is prominently connected with the Masonic fraternity, being past master of Athelstan Lodge, member of Eureka Chapter, Worcester Council, and Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templars. He is also high in the councils of Odd Fellowship; has served at the head of Worcester Lodge and Wachusett Encampment, and holds membership in the Canton and Rebekah Lodge of that order. Entering the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts in 1882, he was elected grand master in 1888, and was the youngest man who ever held that position ; was elected representative to Sovereign Lodge in 1889- 1893, where he has taken a commanding position. Since retiring from the office of grand master, he has been chairman of the Com- mittee of Finance of the Grand Lodge, and was a member of the committee which reported in favor of the establishment of an Odd Fellows' Home, which has since been erected in Worcester. He is now the head of the order in the Avorld. He is a member of the Republican Club of Massachusetts and of the Hancock Club of Worcester, and is one of the vice-presidents of the Middle- sex Club. He has served as a director of the Free Public Library in Worcester. Mr. Pinkerton is unmarried. Charles B. Pratt * was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, February 14, 1824. His i)arents were unable to afford him even the ordinary educational advantages, and he was at an early age thrown u{)on liisown resources. He obtained employment in a cotton-mill in Fitchburg before he was twelve years old, and a year later had made his way to Rochester, New York, where he engaged to learn the moulders' trade. In 183S, when only fourteen years of age, he began his remarkable experience as a sub-marine diver by See portrait on page 56. The Worcester of 1898. 721 volunteering' to take the place of a professional diver who had engaged to give an exhibition at Rochester and failed to appear. Young Pratt remained under water an hour, and was paid fifty dollars for the feat. He afterwards engaged extensively in operations at Key West, Gibraltar and other places, and was well known in connection with the attempts to raise the Hussar, the British treasure ship, which was sunk at Pot Rock, in the East river, near New York, November 25, 1780, with specie to the amount of ^960,000. Mr. Pratt took up his residence in Worcester in 1847. He was engaged more or less in sub-marine diving until 187 1, but found time during that period to engage in other enterprises and to devote to public duties. He was city marshal from 1863 to 1865, and in this position his native energy and executive ability were conspicuous. His connection with the Worcester County Agricultural Society as its president for several years brought him into contact with large numbers, and greatly increased his popularity. In December, 1876, he was elected mayor of Worcester over the regular Republican candidate, and was twice reelected. The difficulties with which he had to contend during his administration were met and overcome by the exercise of those qualities for which he is distinguished. In 1883 he was a member of the State Senate. Mr. Pratt's large financial and business interests had made him widely known as a man of enterprise and sound judgment. He organized the Citizens' Street Railway Company in 1885, and had been president of the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Company since 1892. He was president of the First National Fire Insurance Company, and identified with several other corporations. He was a 32° Mason, an Odd Fellow, and a member of other fraternal organizations. Mr. Pratt married Miss Lucy Ann Brewer, who died several years ago. Their son, Captain Charles T. Pratt, is well known as a press correspondent. The only other child, Isaac Davis Pratt, died at four years of age. Mr. Pratt died May 9th, 1898. Henry Salem Pratt, eldest son of Salem and Sally (Hobbs) Pratt, was born at Brookfield, Massachusetts, November 18, 1836. His grandfather. Captain Joseph Pratt, was an officer in the War of 181 2. Henry's parents removed when he was quite young to Charlton, and here he remained until he was seventeen, receiving his education in the schools of that town, and working with his father bottoming boots. In 1853 he came to Worcester and worked at first in a shoe-store for his board. After two years' experience as a clerk in a dry-goods store, he, in 1855, engaged as a salesman in the clothing-store of A. P. Ware, and ten years later became a partner in the business. In 1866 a branch firm was formed under the name of Ware & Pratt, which in 1869 was consolidated with the old establishment as Ware, Pratt & Co. The store was moved from the Paine block, near Walnut street, to the First National Bank building. The present year has witnessed another removal to the State Mutual Life Assurance building, where they now have the largest and finest clothing-store in the vState. In 1857 the company began the manufacture of clothing for the retail trade, and the business has developed into one of the largest of its kind in Massachusetts. 46 HENRY S. PRATT. The Worcester of 1898. 723 Mr. Ware retired from the firm in 1870, and Edward T. Wardwell and William W. Johnson became associated with Mr. Pratt as partners. January i, 1888, a stock company was formed, with Mr. Johnson as president and Mr. Pratt as treasurer. Several years ago Mr. Pratt purchased the Hillcroft farm, where he has erected a fine residence. This is one of the most charming- spots in Worcester, the view from there being extensive and varied. He also erected the Chadwick building on Main street. In 1887 Mr. Pratt became a director in the Citizens National Bank, and vice-president in 1891. On the death of Honorable Samuel Winslow, the RESIDENCE OF HENRY S. PRATT, BURNCOAT STREET. president, in the fall of 1894, Mr. Pratt was chosen to fill the vacancy. He has been at the head of that institution ever since. He is also connected with the Mechanics Savings Bank, and occupies the position of trustee. On the 24th of December, 1857, Mr. Pratt was married to Miss Malor Fletcher, whose mother's family name is perpetuated by the Chadwick building. They have no children. In religious belief he is a Unitarian, and attends the First Church. He has always been a Republican in politics, but never wouldaccept office, preferring to devote his time and ability to his business inter- ests. Mr. Pratt belongs to the Hancock and Commonwealth Clubs, and is held, in high esteem by his friends. He is an unassuming, respected and pros- perous citizen, and the active manager of the Ware-Pratt Co. \ 0ff SUMNER PRATT. The Worcester of 1898. 725 Sumner Pratt, son of Elias, Junior, and Sally (Conant) Pratt, was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, September 30, 1809. His grandfather, Captain Elias Pratt, on whose farm he was born and where he lived during his early childhood, was a Revolutionary soldier of some note and a descendant in the fourth generation from Thomas Pratt, who came from London, England, and was a resident of Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1647. In 1817 the par- ents of Sumner removed to Sutton, where he attended school and worked on the farm until he became of age. In 1831 he left home and engaged in the manufacture of loom-shuttles at North Grafton and Wilkinsonville until 1835, and during the eight years following sold loom-shuttles and cotton yarns on commission. In 1843 he removed to Worcester, trans- ferring the machinery from Woonsocket to a mill at New Worcester, and for two years manufactured cotton thread, finally disposing of the business in 1845 to Albert Curtis. From that time until his withdrawal from busi- ness in 1883, Mr. Pratt engaged in selling cotton and woolen machinery and mill supplies. The store at 22 Front street was established in 185 1; the business gradually extended to reach manufacturers in distant parts of the country, and in its management he built up a large and profitable trade. Mr. Pratt was a man much esteemed in the community for his integrity and sound judgment, and his services were often solicited in places of honor and trust. He served as a member of both branches of the City Government, and for one year was president of the Board of Trade. He was a trustee of the Worcester County Institution for Savings, a vice-president of the Peo- ple's Savings Bank, and a director of the Safe Deposit & Trust Company. In politics he was at first a Whig, and then a Republican. He was an Episcopalian, and a warden and vestryman of All Saints' Church. He died January 6, 1887. Sumner Pratt was twice married. His first wife was Serena, daughter of Caleb Chase of Sutton, and the two children of this marriage, Frederick S. and Emma A., are now living. He married, second, in 1850, Abby Curtis, daughter of Ebenezer Read of Worcester, by whom he had one son, Edward R., who died in 1880. Harrison Southwick Prentice,* son of Henry and Tabitha Leland (South- wick) Prentice, was born in Worcester August 10, 1836. He was educated in the public schools, and at the age of eighteen engaged in the provision business. He soon became interested in buying and selling real estate, and has been connected with extensive operations in this line. He has erected several of the largest and finest business blocks in the city, on Front, Pleas- ant, Main and other streets, the latest being the Bellmar on Main street. Although at different times solicited to hold public office, Mr. Prentice has uniformly declined, the single exception being his appointment as a member of the commission to supervise the erection of the new City Hall, which service he with his colleagues creditably discharged. Mr. Prentice married in 1859 Emma N., daughter of Charles Bowen. Of six children a son, Charles H., and two daughters, Elizabeth Helen, the See portrait on page 344. 726 The Worcester of 1898. wife of Doctor R. II. Swan, and Miss ICninia Louise, are living. His youngest son, Harrison 11, died at the age of twenty-six, Clara Emma at the age of two years, and Edward Harrison at the age of five years. Otis Earle Putnam,* son of Salmon and Tryphena (Bigelow) Putnam, was l)orn in Leicester, Massachusetts, February 20, 1831. He is a direct de- scendant in the eighth generation of Thomas Putnam, son of John Putnam, who came to America in 1634. His parents removed to Boston when he was quite young, and in 1843 changed their residence to Worcester, where the subject of this sketch has since lived. He received his education in the common and high schools, and in 1847 became a clerk in the dry-goods store of John B. Wyman, who in 1850 sold the business to H. H. Chamber- lin. He remained in the employment of H. H. Chamberlin & Co., and also with Chamberlin, Barnard & Co. until 1857, when he was admitted to the firm and maintained that connection until 1892, when the Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company was formed under the laws of the Common- wealth. Of this corporation he has been successively treasurer and vice- president, and is now president and treasurer of the said corporation. During his connection with the business it has developed from moderate proportions into one of the largest dry-goods establishments in New England, and this result is in no small degree due to the business ability, energy and sound judgment of ]\Ir. Putnam. The company enjoys a reputation for fair dealing and general reliability equaled by few in the country. Mr. Putnam is connected with several financial and social organizations in Worcester. He is a director of the City National Bank, a trustee of the Five Cents Savings Bank, of the Worcester Music Hall Association, and vice-president of the Worcester & Marlborough Electric Railroad. He is a member of the Board of Trade and of the Worcester Commonwealth Club, and an honorary member of the Worcester Light Infantry, of Battery B and of the Worcester Continentals. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Putnam married, first. Miss Harriet E. Waite of Worcester, who died in 1863. He married, second, in 1866, Miss Louisa Davis of Lowell. They have one son, Arthur D. Putnam, born February 16, 1868, who is at present assistant treasurer of the Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company. Mr. Putnam occupies the fine residence at the corner of Harvard and Dix streets. Edward Tilly Raymond, son of Tilly and Mercy R. Raymond, was born in Worcester August 8, 1844. He was educated in the public schools and at the Highland Military Academy. On the i8th of September, 1861, at the age of seventeen, he entered the L^^nion army as sergeant of Company K, Twenty-fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers. In August, 1862, he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Thirty-sixth Regiment, and was promoted to be captain and major. In Jime, 1863, he was detailed on staff duty as assistant inspector-general in the Ninth Army Corps, and served with Generals Curtin, Griffin, Bartlett, Potter and Burnside. He was *See portrait on page 4:4. The Worcester of 1898. 727 EDWARD T. RAYMOND. present and participated in thirty-five sieges and battles, including- the Wilder- ness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, and had five horses shot under him, and was mustered out of service June 8, 1865. After the war he was appointed super- intendent of bonded warehouses for the port of Boston and Charlestown, and remained in that capacity until 1882. He was admitted to the bar in 1880, and in January, 1882, entered upon his dutie as clerk of the Central District Court, which office he has held, with the excep- tion of one term, to the present time. During the interim, from 1892 to 1897, he was one year secretary of the Board of Trade, and four years chief of police. He was chief marshal of the Columbian and Semi-Centennial parades in 1893 and 1898. Charles Gardner Reed* was born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, April 22, 1835. He removed to Worcester with his parents in 1849. Obliged to work in the wheel-factory during the day, his only opportunity for an education was the evening school, and by close application he was able to pass the examinations and to enter the high school without going through the intermediate grades. After leaving the high school, he became interested in the manufacture and sale of carriage-wheels and carriage material, and has successfully carried on this business in Worcester, with branches in Boston, and Mount Airy, North Carolina, for more than forty years. Mr. Reed has been greatly honored by the trust and confidence of the citizens of Worcester, receiving, when voted for, an election with the largest number of votes upon the ticket. He is a member of many organizations, in all of which he has been elected to the highest offices in their gift. He has been a trustee, vice-president and president of the Worcester County Mechanics Association. He has served upon every important committee of the City Government, and as chairman of nearly every one. He was eight years a member of the City Government as councilman and alderman, and two years mayor, making ten years' service at the City Hall. He was president of the Common Council three years, and president of the Board of Aldermen while a member of that board, and represented the latter upon the Board of Trustees of the City Hospital. Alderman Reed, as chairman of the Water Committee, was the leading spirit in the securing of Tatnuck brook as the source of an additional water supply, as well as the introduction of the water in reservoirs and pipe-lines to the city proper. While chairman of the Committee on the Fire Depart- ■ See portrait on page 64. 728 The Worcester of 1898. ment, the department was reorganized, new rules were adopted, and the present Station 2 of the Pohce Department transferred to the police from the Fire Department, and better accommodations provided for the Fire Department, at the same time giving that section of the city better police protection. At the expiration of j\Ir. Reed's term as alderman, he was elected mayor for the year 1884, and again elected for 1885. As mayor under the old charter, he was, cx-officio, president of the School Board, chairman of the Overseers of the Poor; also director of the Boston, Barre& Gardner Railroad, representing the city in the sale of the stock to the Fitchburg Railroad. Ex-Mayor Reed is much interested in all that concerns Worcester. He was active in the reorganization of the Board of Trade, has been one of its directors for the past five years, and president the past year. He is a Republican in State and national affairs, and independent in city politics, holding that in local affairs the citizens should vote for the best man irrespective of political affiliations. William Whitney Rice,* son of Reverend Benjamin and Lucy (Whitney) Rice, was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, March 7, 1826, and died in Worcester March i, 1896. On his father's side he was descended in the seventh generation from Edmund Rice, the progenitor of the family in America, who came from England and settled in Sudbury in 1639. His mother was a daughter of Phinehas Whitney of Winchendon, the sixth in direct line of descent from John Whitney, the emigrant, who was a resi- dent of Watertown in 1635. Mr. Rice's boyhood was passed at New Gloucester and Buxton in Maine, places of his father's settlement as minister, with the exception of the time during which he attended the academy in Gorham. After three years' instruction in the last-named institution he entered Bowdoin College and was graduated in the class of 1846. He taught school for a short time in Maine, and in 1847 became a teacher at Leicester Academy in Massachu- setts, where he remained four years. In 1851 he began the study of law in the office of Emory Washburn and George F. Hoar in Worcester, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He at once entered upon a large practice. He was chosen a member of the School Committee and served as secretary several years. In 1835 he received the appointment of special justice of the Police Court, and three years later became judge of insol- vency for the county, which office he held until it was merged with that of judge of probate. In December, 1859, he was elected mayor of Worcester, being the first Republican and the youngest man who, up to that time, had held that office. The specific acts of his administration are detailed in another part of this volume. From 1868 to 1873 Mr. Rice discharged the duties of district attorney for the Middle District with marked faithfulness and ability. In 1875 he served one term as a representative in the General Court, liis services being especially desired at that time to oppose the threatened division of Worcester county. * See portrait on page 34. The Worcester of 1898. 729 In 1876, on the retirement of the Honorable George F. Hoar from his eight years' service as the representative of the Worcester District in Congress, Mr. Rice was selected to succeed him, and he was continued in that office by successive reelections until March 4, 1887. In the national House of Representatives he manifested the same qualities for which he was distinguished elsewhere, and he carried a quiet but strong influence in that body. The following appreciative review of his services was printed in the Boston /ounial: "Representative W. W. Rice was appointed a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and on Indian Aft'airs, as well as a member of the select committee for additional accommodations for the Congressional Library. The most important bill of a public character which he introduced was one to terminate the provisions of the treaty of 187 1 with Great Britain relative to the fisheries. His list of reports shows that he was a very conscientious member of that committee. His report on the Congressional Library build- ing will be a permanent authority on that subject, even if the scheme which he has so much at heart for the construction of a new library building should fail. His report from the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the brig 'Gen- eral Armstrong,' on Fisheries, on St. John's and St. Francis river bridges, and on the Venezuela Mixed Commission, leaves nothing more to be said on these subjects. They are exhaustive treatises on every one of the matters to which they relate, and some of them will have a permanent value as historical works. There is no better chapter of that portion of American history to which it relates than Mr. Rice's report on the brig 'General Armstrong," and he had the satisfaction of seeing the bill upon which he had spent so much labor finally become a law after it had been before Congress for a quarter of a century. His report on the fisheries is an exhaustive treatise, and is one from which Congressional reports will be compelled to draw their facts. From the Committee on Indian Affairs he submitted a report on the traditions of the Sioux and Dakota Indians. His principal speeches were on the following subjects: 'The Death of General Burnside'; ' The Appropriation for Cherokee Indians'; ' Chinese Immigra- tion'; 'The Congressional Library'; 'The Brig "General Armstrong"'; the international fishery question; the bill to protect innocent purchasers of patented articles; on the bill granting the right of way through the Indian Territory to the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company; on the proper reference of questions relative to treatise; and on the transfer of War Department records to the State Department building. Mr. Rice was constantly in attendance upon the investigation of the Foreign Affairs Committee into the Chili-Peru business, and his work is seen in the exhaus- tive report of that committee, although it is not directly credited to him." Mr. Rice was a warm personal friend and admirer of Mr, Blaine, and felt a keen disappointment at his defeat for the office of president. Had the result been otherwise, there is no doubt that Mr. Rice would have taken .a prominent place in the administration. After his retirement from Congress, Mr. Rice took no public office, but devoted himself to the duties of his profession until declining health com- CHARLES A. RICHARDSON. The Worcester of 1898. 731 pelled him to cease active participation in business. In 1892 he \'isited Europe, an experience which gave him much satisfaction and enjoyment, particularly as he was enabled to visit the old home in England of the Whitney ancestors, from whom he descended, and to make clear and to verify the early records of "The Whitney Family," a work into which he entered with delight. His carefully prepared "Whitney Narrative" was printed by his family after his decease. Mr. Rice was an overseer of Bowdoin College, a trustee of Leicester Academy, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University, and a member of the American Antiquarian Society. He was a director and the solicitor of the City National Bank for many years previous to his death. His alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1886. In 1855 Mr. Rice married Cornelia A. Moen, who died in 1862. Two sons were born of this marriage, of whom the elder, William Whitney Rice, Junior, died in early childhood. The other, Charles Moen Rice, a graduate of Harvard University in 1882, was in a law partnership with his father several years, and continues a member of the firm of Rice, King & Rice. In 1875 Mr. Rice married Alice Miller, a daughter of the late Henry W. Miller, and sister of the present wife of Senator Hoar. His widow survives him. Charles A. Richardson, son of Charles O. and Mary E. Richardson, was born in Boston April 29, 1858. He removed with his parents to Worcester in 1870, and completed his education at the Worcester high school. In 1892 he organized the Worcester Construction Company under the laws of the State of Massachusetts. The business of this company increased from $60,000 at the start to something over a million of dollars in 1897, during which year it employed about twelve hundred men. It has built and equipped, including tracks, electrical structures, power-stations, car-houses and rolling-stock, the following roads: Gloucester, Essex & Beverly, Milford, Holliston & Framingham, Warren, Brookfield & Spencer, Athol & Orange, Worcester & Marlborough, Norfolk Central, Norfolk Suburban, Boston, Milton & Brockton, Worcester & Millbury, Marlborough & Hudson, West Roxbury & Roslindale, Southbridge & Sturbridge, in Massachusetts; Calais & St. Stephen, Bangor, Oldtown & Orono, Bath Electric Railway, in Maine ; Barre & Montpelier Traction & Power Company, in Vermont ; Hoosic Street Railway Company, in New York; Torrington & Winchester, in Connecticut; Olean, Rock City & Bradford, and Easton, Palmer & Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania. Mr. Richardson is part owner in all the above roads, and has, without doubt, built and equipped more electric railway systems than any other contractor in New England if not in the LTnited States. He is president of the Worcester Construction Company, president of the Easton, Palmer & Bethlehem Street Railway Company, treasurer of the Olean, Rock City & Bradford, and of the Torrington & Winchester Street Railway Companies; general manager of the Bradford Street Railway Company of Pennsylvania, and director of the Maiden Trust Company, Maiden, Massachusetts; also a V" ^ 1 ^^^^^^' ■ '"'^B^p^ \l m tKm^m^jM m i ^B^^^^ 1 i i m ^^^^^ 4 m CHARLES O. RICHARDSON. The Worcester of 1898. 733 member of the firm of Ferguson & Richardson, electric car-builders of Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Mr. Richardson is a 32° Mason and a Knight Templar ; a member of Blake Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and past chancellor of the order; a member of the Worcester Board of Trade and of the Worcester Club ; and of the Exchange Club of Boston. Charles 0. Richardson was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, Sep- tember 26, 1833. At the age of sixteen he went to Boston, where he engaged in the paving business, and remained in that city over twenty years. In 1S70 he removed to Worcester, and during the twenty-eight years of his residence here was given all the contracts of the city for paving the public streets, and also during that time carried on an extensive paving business in other New England cities. In 1892 he became treasin'er of the Worcester Construction Company, which office he held at the time of his death. His business ability and reputation were of a high order. He was a man of large means and broad charity, and he yearly dispensed considerable sums in unostentatious benevolence. Mr. Richardson was prominent in social and fraternal organizations. He was a 32° Mason, a member of Montacute Lodge, and Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templars; of Quinsigamond Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; of Blake Lodge, Knights of Pythias; and of other local bodies. He was a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, of the Commonwealth Club, honorary member of the Wellington Rifles and of the Fire Patrol. He was interested in religious and charitable work, was a member and trustee of the Laurel Street Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Methodist Episcopal City Missionary and Church Extension Society. He formerly resided at the old Hayward estate on Main street, and latterly at 6 Woodland street, where his death occurred July 7, 1898. His surviving family consists of his widow, two sons — Charles A. and Morton O. — and a daughter, Mrs. George A. Loud. Alfred Seelye Roe,* son of Reverend Austin M. and Polly C. (Seelye) Roe, was born in Rose, Wayne county. New York, June 8, 1844. His father is a Methodist minister, whose ancestry settled on Long Island in 1660, and his mother is of an early Connecticut family. Mr. Roe prepared for college at Falley Seminary, Fulton, New York, and was graduated at Wesleyan University in 1870. He served during the Rebellion in Company A, Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, Colonel William H. Seward, Jr. ; was taken prisoner at Monocacy Junction, Mary- land, June 9, 1864, and was held at Dansville, Virginia, till February 22, 1865. In 1870 Mr. Roe came to Massachusetts, and was principal of the high school in Ashland for five years following. In 1875 he became a teacher in the Worcester high school, and succeeded to the principalship in 1880, in which position he remained ten years, maintaining an enviable popularity with his pupils to the end. In 1890, after his resignation, he visited *See portrait on page 258. THOMAS M. ROGERS. The Worcester of 1898. 735 Europe. During the years 1891 and 1892 he was the editor and publisher of Light, a weekly journal of news and literature. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in November, 1891, to serve the succeeding year, and was three times reelected. He was a member of the State Senate in 1896, 1897 and 1898, and it is worthy of note that in the annual nominating conventions during this period of seven years he met little or no opposition. This almost unexampled record is in itself a sufficient attestation that his legislative course has met with the approval of his constituents. During six years of his term of service he was House or Senate chairman of the Committee on Education, and he has been a member of the Committees on Cities, Libraries, Public Service, and the State House. He introduced the plan to add $100,000 yearly to the public school fund till it should reach $5,000,000, and secured the passage of the bill for manual training. He is one of the acknowledged saviours of the Bulfinch front of the State House, and gave the address, January 2, 1895, when the old representatives' hall was vacated for the new. Also he deliv- ered the centennial address of the Bulfinch State House January 11, 1898. Both addresses are published by the State. He introduced and carried through the law for the preservation of song-birds. In all matters con- nected with education, temperance and morals he has taken a prominent part. Mr. Roe is the author of numerous pamphlets on education, local history and military matters. In 1892 he published a history of the Worcester high school, and in 1893 a history of his native town of Rose, New York. He is the editor of the Massachusetts Year Book, and supervised the printing of the Bradford Manuscript for the Legislature. He has lectured many times before Young Men's Christian Associations and other bodies on education, temperance, and kindred subjects. He is a member and past commander of Post 10, Grand Army of the Republic, is president of the Worcester Young Men's Christian Association, and is a prominent member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity. Mr. Roe was married June 22, 1874, to Nora A. Metcalf of Ashland. They have two children living, Annabel C. and Harriet E. Thomas Moore Rogers was born in Holden May 10, 18 18. He was the only son of his parents, Nathan and Mary C. Rogers, but both had children by former marriage, and he was brought up in a numerous family of half brothers and sisters, which was increased after his mother's death in 1828 by his father's third marriage. He was early inured to hard labor upon the farm, and became rugged and self-reliant, doing almost a man's work at the age of twelve. He attended the district and high schools of his native town, and also had the advantage of one term at Westfield Academy. At seven- teen he bought the remainder of his time of his father for $100, which he paid when he reached his majority, and he had saved quite a sum in addition. He came to Worcester in August, 1840, to work for Blake & Trumbull, grocers, who kept a store in Butman block. In 1841 he engaged with a partner, under the firm name of Smith & Rogers, in the manufacture of goatskin shoes, at the north corner of Main and Mechanic streets, but the 72>^ The Worcester of 1898. buildino- was burned in less tlian two months, and the undertaking- was not renewed. He then passed several months in Oswego, N. Y., where he went to start a shoe-store, and returned to Worcester in January, 1842, and again engaged in the manufacture of shoes. In April, 1843, Mr. Rogers was married to Mary S., daughter of Israel and Charlotte Rice of Shrewsbury. Two children were born of this marriage, Ellen Frances and Walter Thomas. The former survives. In 1844 Mr. Rogers entered into partnership with John P. Southgate in the leather and shoe-findings business. They first occupied a store on the site of Piper block, and in 1850 removed to the corner of Main and Pleasant RESIDENCE OF THOMAS M. ROGERS, 28 HIGH STREET. Streets, where Rogers block now stands. With changes in partners, Mr. Rogers remained in this location until he retired from the business in 1873. In the meantime he had become largely interested in real estate, of which he acquired several valuable parcels and tracts in ditiferent parts of the city and elsewhere. He purchased a part of the Deacon Brooks farm at South Worcester, through which he laid out Southgate and Canterbury streets. He also bought valuable lots on Trumbull and Front streets, and in 1863 built the first large brick block on Front street west of Church street and east of Harrington corner block. In 1869 he built Rogers block, the estate having come into his hands by purchase three years before; and in 1880, with Edwin Morse, erected the Odd Fellows' building on Pleasant street. In 1883 the large block in Salem square was built, and he has engaged in other ventures. His fine residence at the corner of High and Chatham streets he erected in 1868. The Worcester of 1898. 737 Mr. Rogers served in the Common Council in iS-j-'yS, and was an alderman in i8S6-'87. He is connected with the management of several banks and other financial mstitutions, and president of the Electric Light Company. He has always been a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Union parish. Charles F. Rugg was born on the Bancroft farm, now known as Bancroft park, Worcester, March lo, 1842. His father, with his family, had removed from Salem, Massachusetts, in 1840. Charles received his education in the public schools, was a pupil of the Thomas street school during the principal- ship of the late C. B. Metcalf, and afterwards attended the Worcester Academy. He engaged in business with his father, and succeeded him upon his decease. While Mr. Rugg has never sought office, he has several times been called into serv- ice by his fellow citizens, and by several institutions. He was for two terms a member of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, and part of the time chairman of the Farm Committee. He served one term in the Board of Aldermen in 1884 and 1885, was a member of the Committee on Sidewalks and Streets, and chairman of that committee the last year of the term. The order for the drinking fountains on Main and Front streets and at Washington square was introduced by him. During his official term he was true to his con- victions, and voted against all applica- tions for license to sell intoxicating liquors. For several years Mr. Rugg was presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Association, and has always taken a deep interest in the welfare of the young men of the city. John M. Russell was born in Oakdale, West Boylston, Massachusetts, August 31, 1857. His family can be traced back to Revolutionary times. He received his early education in the public schools of his native town, and entering the Worcester Polytechnic Institute was graduated in the class of 1876. At present he is president of the Alumni Association of that institu- tion. He came to Worcester in 1882, after having been for several years in the office of the L. M. Harris Manufacturing Company and the West Boyl- ston Manufacturing Company at Oakdale. From 1882 to 1885 he was head bookkeeper for L. J. Knowles & Brother, and in 1885 was one of the incor- porators of the Knowles Loom Works, and its cashier until the organi- zation of the present Crompton & Knowles Loom Works in 1897, when he became the assistant treasurer of that concern, and now holds that ofifice. He is connected with several other industrial and financial corporations as officer or director, and is actively interested in various charitable and phil- 47 CHARLES F. RUGG. JOHN M. RUSSELL. The Worcester of 1898. 739 l^^g RESIDENCE OF JOHN M. RUSSELL, INSTITUTE ROAD, CORNER BEECHMONT. anthropic institutions. He is an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Royal Arcanum and several similar bodies. In politics he is a strict Republican, and belongs to the Greenhalge, Middlesex, Republican and Home Market Clubs, but has never had a desire for political preferment of any kind, and has uniformly declined every office that has been tendered him, feeling that his active business life demanded the fullest measure of his time, strength and mental ability. He has gained the reputation of a shrewd, careful and conservative manager and a strictly honorable man. Stephen Salisbury,* the second of that name in Worcester, was born March 8, 1798, and died August 24, 1884. His father came from Boston in 1767, and established in this town a branch of the commercial house of Samuel & Stephen Salisbury, and acquired the foundation of the large fortune which has descended to the present representative of the family. Stephen, second, received his education in the district schools, at Leicester Academy and at Harvard College, graduating in the last-named institution in 181 7, in the class with George Bancroft, Caleb Cushing, and others of note. He studied law with Samuel M. Burnside, but did not engage in the practice of his profession, his large financial interests and various public and private responsibilities requiring all his attention. He was a selectman of Worces- ter in 1839, a member of the first Board of Aldermen of the city, represent- ative in 1838 and 1839, State senator in 1846 and 1847, and a presidential elector in i860 and 1872. He also served as a director of the Free Public Library, and president of that board ; as overseer of Harvard College, and as trustee and treasurer of the Peabody Museum for many years. He was * See portrait on page 364. 740 Thh Worcester of 1898. a nieiTil)er of several literary liodies, of tlie American Anticjuarian Society from 1840, and its president for thirty years previous to his death. He was a man of much liberality and breadth of view, unassuming in his manner, kindly and charitable towards all, and was universally respected during life, and widely lamented at his death. He was a large benefactor of several institutions, and a list of his gifts is too long to be included in this brief sketch. He was a director of the Worcester Bank for fifty-two years, and its pres- ident thirty-nine years. He was also president of the Worcester County Institution for Savings twenty-si.x years; and was connected with numerous other financial and railroad corporations. He was the first president of the Worcester County P'ree Institute of Industrial Science, now the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard College in 1875. Mr. Salisbury married in 1833 Rebekah Scott Dean, who died in 1S43, leaving one son, the present Stephen Salisbury. He married, second, in 1850, Nancy Hoard, widow of Captain George Lincoln, who died in 1852; and third, in 1856, Mary Grosvenor, widow of Honorable E. D. Bangs, whoni he survived. Stephen Salisbury, =!= third, was born in Worcester March 31, 1835. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1856, and afterwards traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, studying in Berlin and Paris. He received the degree of Bachelor of Laws at the Harvard Law School in i860, and was admitted to the bar in Worcester the following year. He never entered into the active practice of his profession, his large financial interests requiring all his attention. Mr. Salisbury has contributed largely to the advancement and prosperity of Worcester in recent years by his active public spirit and liberality. Besides his private enterprises, which have aided the growth of the city at the north end, he has made a gift of Institute park, and has improved and beautified it at his own expense. His other benefactions to the city and to various public institutions are numerous. Although his private affairs would naturally claim a large part of his time, he has not shirked public duty. He was a member of the Common Council three years, and three years represented Worcester in the State Senate. He is president of the Worcester National Bank and of the Worcester County Institution for vSavings, and is connected with numerous other financial institutions and business enterprises. He is much interested in educational, literary and kindred matters; is president of the Trustees of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a trustee of Clark University, president of the American Anti- quarian Society, and an active member of many other societies. He has aided archaeological and scientific investigation in Central America and elsewhere. His large gifts of land and money established the Art Museum in Worcester. Ezra Sawyer was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, July 27, 1815. At the age of ten years he removed with his parents to Holden, and soon after went * See portrait on page 366. The Worcester of 1898. 741 EZRA SAWYER. to work in a cotton-mill in Unionville in that town, where he learned the trade thoroughly, and was in charge of the looms four years. On account of ill health he engaged in the wheelwright business in Holden, and continued in it until 1840, coming to Worcester the last day of that year to work for Benjamin Walker, black- smith and wheelwright, on Exchange street. He was afterwards employed at the Bradley Car Works, and at the Red Mill for Howe & Goddard, removing with them to Union street, where he made some of the patterns for Doctor R. L. Hawes's famous envelope-machines. He remained with the above firm eleven years, having the contract for making the wooden parts of paper machinery; and was also eleven years with Johnson & Tainter, making the woodwork for spinning-jacks. He then, on account of his health, spent three years on a farm in Sterling. After his return to Worcester he engaged in pattern- making with the Union Water Meter Company, and, with Benaiah Fitts, invented the magnetic metal-separator, which machine he now manufac- tures, having early purchased Mr. Fitts's interest. He acquired an inter- est in the Union Water Meter Company, and has been a director for the last six years. Mr. Sawyer was one of the corporate members of the Salem Street Con- gregational Church, and continued in that connection for forty-six years, and was a deacon there six or seven years. He now attends Park Congregational Church. He was also one of the corporate members of the City Missionary vSociety. He has been for many years a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association; also a member of the Horticultural Society. He was a Free-Soiler, and a voter in 1848, and has always been a Republican. He married, first, Eliza, daughter of Captain Francis Winn of Holden, and second, Harriet Newell, twin daughter of Sanford M. and Susan Woodcock of Leicester. An only child, by his first wife, died in infancy. At the age of eighty- three Mr. Sawyer is still active in business, and as able, apparently, to attend to his affairs as many men of half his age. William Henry Sawyer* was born in Bath, New Hampshire, August 8, 1843. He was educated in the district schools and at Newbury Seminary in Vermont. His early life was passed on the farm, and he received that rugged training which develops self-reliance and physical power. His father was a farmer on a large scale, and owned much lumber-land, on which his sons found the practical experience so valuable in later years in *See portrait on page gS, 742 The Worcester of 1898. the business which they naturally pursued. On reaching his majority William and his brother engaged in lumbering on their own account, and built a saw-mill from which to turn out products for quick shipment to the cities. After several years of increasing and successful business, Mr. Sawyer in 1870 came to Worcester to engage in the retail lumber-trade, and entered into partnership with Joseph Chamberlain in a lumber-yard on Grove street. A year later, having dissolved his connection with Mr. Chamberlain, he opened a yard on Lincoln street at the location now occupied by his present extensive establishment. By close attention to business he built up a large retail trade. His naturally enterprising nature, however, could not be confined within narrow limits, and he, a few years later, engaged extensively in wholesale business, establishing in 1877 a yard at Tonawanda, New York, a few miles from Buffalo, and in 1880 another at Bay City, Michigan, dealing largely in Michigan, Wisconsin, Canadian and Southern lumber. These adventures proved very fortunate, and Mr. Sawyer accumulated a handsome fortune. While Mr. Sawyer is, strictly speaking, a business man, he has found time to give to public service and to the gratification of his tastes for books and travel. He was an alderman of Worcester in i888-'89; was a member of the Parks Commission from 189010 1895; and when the new City Hall was projected he was appropriately made chairman of the com- mission to direct its construction, a duty which he cheerfully assumed, and which he faithfully and ably discharged. Mr. Sawyer has traveled extensively in this country and more or less in Europe, and by his quick observing powers has gathered a store of inter- estmg and valuable information. He is a constant reader, and has a deep interest in historical and other literature. He has been for many years an active member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and is now one of its vice-presidents. He was a member of the Building Committee, and was a liberal contributor to the fund raised to erect the fine edifice occupied by that society, the general design of which was largely influenced by his good taste and sound judgment. He is a member of several other societies and organizations, was one of the founders of the Hancock Club, and is a director of the First National Bank, of the Worcester Board of Trade and of the City Missionary Society. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Congregational Church. ]\lr. Sawyer married, first, in 1S70, Sylvina T. Child of Bath, New Hampshire, who died in 1872. He married, second, in 1874, Fanny A. Weld, and has four daughters and one son by this marriage. He lives in a fine residence which he erected several years ago at the corner of TJncoln and Catharine streets. Mr. vSawyer enjoys an enviable reputa- tion for lionesty and fair dealing, as well as for readiness to lend a helping hand in all approved enterprises. His abundant means enable him to indulge his natural inclination to liberality in aid of the worthy objects of charity so constantly presented. In the furtherance of missionary work he is especially interested. But he is not one to make an ostentatious display or obtrusive boast of his good deeds. The Worcester of 1898. 743 ^^' JAMES A. SAXE. James A. Saxe. Among the young law- yers who have won a recognized position in Worcester is Mr. James A. Saxe. He was born in Troy, New York, on the 2d of December, 1863. Wesleyan University gave him the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1885, Master of Arts in 1888, and Harvard University gave him the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1888 and Bachelor of Laws in 1892. In 1891 he was admitted to the Suffolk bar. He began the prac- tice of the law in the office of James R. Garret, from whom he learned that care and method so essential to the success- ful conveyancer and title-examiner. In 1893 the Massachusetts Title Insurance Company gave him charge of its exam- inations in the Middlesex Registry of Deeds. In 1895 he came to Worcester to examine titles for the Metropolitan Water Board, and early in his work for the State he decided that Worcester county offered a good field for a man with Boston training and methods. In title examination the great essential is the ready command of an immense amount of accurate data. To secure an accurate, elastic, always indexed and ever-ready plant, printed blanks, uniform in size, but differing in color and printed form, were carefully studied out and copyrighted, and "file covers" were specially made which allowed the addition of data at any time in any place in the cover, the same being so arranged in relation to the plates of the latest Worcester city and county atlases that the act of filing was also the act of indexing. It is not very interesting to examine the individual title, but to build up the city out of the ancient town with its then outlying farms, while the old farm lines are kept in sight, and the story of their subdivision read in the growth of the sparsely settled district into the crowded centres, is very attractive work. Mr. Saxe is a member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and many of its members believe his work will prove also very valuable historically. Worcester as an Art Centre. It would be an injustice to the good sense of our people to call our city an art centre, or boast of any of her citizens as great artists, still the tendency of late years shows a decided advancement, and with the aid of our Art Museum, art clubs, art exhibitions and advo- cates of art, we shall in a few years be able to rejoice and live in an artistic atmosphere. That photography is an art, or rather an aid to the fine arts, we think there can be no question, for what is said of painting, sculpture, music or poetry can also be said with equal truth of photography and photographer's work. Simplicity is the guidance to art, and simplicity is the foundation of art in photography. HERMAN SCHERVEE. The Worcester of 1898. 745 It is a curious fact, though not often insisted upon, that the art of pho- tography is ruled by the same general laws as govern the art of painting. Almost the same teaching, word for word, may be given. Color, light, shadow, grouping, perspective, proportion, selection, treatment, are as im- portant to be considered in photography as in painting. As the mind of man is scarcely limited in scope of thought and invention, so will photography have no limits to its advance in realms of art. There is a strong force of intellect constantly working to develop this art, and photographic ranks are filled with men of aesthetic minds who study to present nature in her highest aspect by works infused with poetic thoughts and feelings. Worcester has done a great deal in promoting art in photography through the efforts of Herman Schervee, who stands to-day at the head of New Eng- land photographers, and whose works are admired not only throughout this country, but in Europe as well, where his exhibitions have won for him a name and glory that we are glad to share. His studio is simplicity in itself, and his work is stamped with his individuality and artistic feeling. Born in Tonsberg, Norway, in 1867, after years of study in art schools and studios, he appeared in his present studio in the Paine block, where his efforts and influence have done a great deal to elevate the artistic feeling of his fellow citizens. Mr. Schervee is president of the New England Photo- graphic Society, and a prominent advocate and worker for the elevation of photography, which is untouched art. We may well rejoice in the thought that Worcester can add photography to her laurels. Moody Edson Shattuck, founder of the present extensive tobacco-dealing and manufacturing business conducted by the M. E. Shattuck Cigar & Tobacco Company, was born in Waterville, Vermont, May 9, 1835. His ancestors were early settlers of that region, and descendants of William Shattuck, the progenitor in America. Lemuel Shattuck, the historian, and Doctor George C. Shattuck, the celebrated Boston physician, were of the same line through another branch. Mr. Shattuck's youthful life was passed upon the farm, with such educational advantages as the country district schools afforded. At an early age he started out into the world to seek his fortune, and began in a small way as a dealer in cigars and tobacco, and in this line traveled con- siderably. In 1858 he came to Worcester, and purchased a cigar-store in the Lincoln House block, which he conducted two years. He then removed to the present Walker building, where the business grew to large proportions, and at one time it was the largest in New England. Twenty years later he removed to the store now moody e. shattuck. 746 The Worcester of 1898. RESIDENCE OF MRS. HELEN A. SHATTUCK, 768 MAIN STREET. occupied by the company. In 1886 ]Mr. vShattuck took in partnership J. A. Clemence, who was brought up in the business, and John H. Dally; and in 1888 the company was incorporated, with Mr. Shattuck as its president. Mr. Shattuck was a man of the strictest integrity, upright in all his dealings; a kind husband, and a firm friend. A regular attendant at Plymouth Church, he felt much interest in the work of this prominent religious society, and was a liberal contributor to its building fund. He was generous in his benefactions, and directly or indirectly assisted many friends and worthy objects. In politics Mr. Shattuck was an old-school Democrat. He was a member of Quinsigamond Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, of Worcester Lodge of Odd Fellows, and of the Worcester Continentals. He married, January 12, 1863, Helen Augusta Prouty of Brimfield, a member of the prominent family of that name in Spencer. Mrs. Shattuck is of Revolutionary stock on both sides. Her father, John Prouty, served the town in various capacities, and was elected to the Legislature against his own wishes. Ill 1885 Mr. Shattuck, having accumulated a handsome fortune, erected, at 768 Main street, the large and fine brick mansion in which his last years were spent, and which is now occupied by Mrs. Shattuck. It is one of the most elegant residences in that neighborhood, an engraving of which appears- above. Mr. Shattuck died April 10, 1892. The Worcester of 1898. 747 Joseph Alden Shaw, A. M.,* head-master of the Highland Military Academy, was born in Athol, Massachusetts, January 4, 1836. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1855, and at Harvard University with the class of 1858. For six years he was principal of the academy in New Salem, Massachusetts, and a part of that time was secretary of the vSchool Committee of that town. In 1867 he first came to Worcester as teacher in the Highland Military Academy, and in 187 1 he was appointed principal of the school. He has been actively connected with this academy for twenty-five years. During a period of six years while he was away from Worcester, he taught the classics in the Chickering Institute at Cincinnati, at the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut at Cheshire, and at the Trinity School at Tivoli-on-Hudson. For the past eleven years he has been head- master of the Highland Military Academy. Mr. Shaw has been for over twenty years a member of the American Philological Association; was one of the founders, and for several years a director, of the Hancock Club; and is a member, and for the past ten years has been a vestryman, of St. John's Episcopal Church in this city. Mr. Shaw is naturally and by education qualified to instruct and govern boys; and his skill and tact have aided in making the Highland Military Academy one of the best schools in the country. Elliott T. Smith, son of Lewis and Maria (Rice) Smith, was born at Rockland, Maine, July 13, 1833. His parents were natives of Rhode Island, RESIDENCE OF ELLIOTT T. SMITH, 839 MAIN ■"See portrait on page 187. ELLIOTT T. SMITH. The Worcester of 1898. 749 and his father was engaged in the manufacture of lime in that state and went to Maine to pursue the same calling, and in 1849 removed to Worcester with his wife and family of eight children, residing in this city until his death, and was well known for many years as a lime-dealer. Elliott T. received his education in the district schools of his native town, and, arriving in Worcester on his sixteenth birthday, entered the employ of the Western Railroad, in the freight department principally, and remained in that situation three years. He then engaged with Hitchcock & Muzzy, manufacturers of fire-arms, in the Merrifield buildings, and was employed in the boring and straightening of gun- barrels until 1857. The winter of i857-'58 he passed in New Orleans in the lightning-rod business. In 1858 he started the retail grocery business in a small way in the building at the corner of Shrewsbury and Mulberry streets, which was occupied by his father as a storehouse for lime, and in this locality or near it he has continued to the present time. The business has constantly increased until it has reached its present large proportions. In 1868 he began in the jobbing and wholesale line, and two years later relinquished the retail part of the trade entirely. In 1870 Mr. Charles A. Bigelow was admitted a partner, and after his death in April, 1885, a partnership was formed with Charles F. Bigelow, Frank A. Smith, Charles A. King and Charles H. Robinson, the latter withdrawing in 1885. The present E. T. Smith Company was incorporated in 1896, with Mr. Smith as president. The large block in Washington square erected by Mr. Smith in 1874, and now occupied by Smith-Green Company, was relinquished in 1893, when the company removed to its present quarters on vSummer street. Mr. Smith is an enthusiastic sportsman and a member of the Worcester Sportsmen's Club. He is a member of the Worcester Board of Trade, and is connected with the Free Masons and the Knights Templars. Mr. Smith married in i860 Elizabeth C. Campbell of Worcester, and their only son, Frank A., born April i, 1864, is now an active member of the E. T. Smith Company, and the buyer for the concern. Jesse Smith, at the time of his sudden death November 18, 1897, presi- dent of the Smith-Green Company, dealing largely in groceries, lime and cement in Washington square, was born in Rockland, Maine, March 27, 1836, a son of Lewis and Maria (Rice) Smith. His education was obtained in the schools of his native place, and in those of this city after he came here with his father's family in 1849. In 1851 he entered the employ of Thayer & Fames, clothing-dealers at the corner of Front and Main streets, in the same store now occupied by the D. H. Eames Company, and re- mained in that situation nine years. From 1861 to 1866 he was engaged in the clothing business on his own account in Lewiston, Maine, and returned to Worcester the last-named year and became a partner with his brother, Elliott T., in the retail grocery trade on vShrewsbury street, and in this connection continued several years. When his brother relinquished the retail business and established the large wholesale establishment now conducted by the E. T. Smith Company, Jesse Smith, in company with the late Henry A. Green, continued the retail department under the firm JESSE SMITH. The Worcester of 1898. 751 RESIDENCE OF MRS. JANE SMITH, 21 OREAD STREET. name of Smith & Green, which became after the death of Mr. Green the present Smith-Green Company, incorporated in 1893, with Jesse Smith as president. The undertaking proved very successful, and the establishment is now one of the largest in the retail grocery trade in this region, in addi- tion to which an extensive trade in lime and cement is also carried on. Mr. Smith was a Knight Templar, a 32° Mason, and treasurer of the Worcester Masonic Charity and Educational Association. He was a member of the Commonwealth Club, Tatassit Canoe Club, and of the Worcester Board of Trade. He married, February 17, 1859, Miss Jane Hopcraft, a native of England. Of their children, one daughter, the wife of R. C. Cleveland, now president of the Smith-Green Company, is living. William Addison Smith, one of Worcester's best-known and justly esteemed citizens, was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, March 2, 1824. His father, John A. Smith, was a prominent citizen and manufacturer of that town. Through his mother, Sarah Sargent, he is descended in the seventh generation from William Sargent, who came from England to Maiden, Massachusetts, in 1638, and was the progenitor of the well-known and numerous family of that name through John," Nathan,^ Jonathan,^ John,^ Sarah. ^ William A. Smith was educated at Leicester Academy, Derby Academy in Hingham, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1S43 in the class with Charles A. Dana, O. B. Frothingham, Thomas Hill, John Lowell, William A. Richardson and Horace Binney Sargent. He studied law with Emory Washburn and Francis H. Dewey, and practised with the latter until 184S, 752 The Worcester of 1898. m J ",% when he took a position in the office of the clerk of the courts for Worcester county, and served as clerk /7-^ tc^/L until 1850, when the office of assistant clerk haxiny; been created, he was appointed to tliat ])lace Ijy the Supreme Court and served by successive appointments until 1865, when he went abroad for his health, and on his return resigned the office. From 1866 to 1869 he was engaged in manufacturing. In ]^Iay of the last-named year he became agent for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, and in 1870 he was elected clerk and treasurer of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, in which office he still continues. ]\Ir. Smith was clerk of the first Common Council of Worcester in 1848, and at this present writing is the sole survivor of the first City Govern- ment. He served as clerk of the Common Council thirteen years in all, finally retiring in 1861. He was for eight years a director of the Free Public Library from the time that institution was opened, and during a part of this period secretary of the board. He also served on the School Committee in 1876. For many years he was a justice of the peace, and is a commissioner to fix and take bail in criminal cases and to qualify civil officers. He is a man of marked literary tastes, and is a member of the American Anti- quarian Society and The Worces- ter Society of Antiquity. With the Masonic order he has been prominently connected for nearly half a century ; was the first master of Montacute Lodge ; district dep- uty grand master, eleventh district, 1874; R. P. G. M., Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Massachusetts, 1867; grand junior warden and grand senior warden of the Grand Encampment of Massachusetts and Rhode Island; and was once elected eminent commander of Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templars, but declined installation. He was for several years the only ^^° Mason in Worcester, and is now the eldest of three in this city who have reached that honor. Mr. Smith married, April 18, 1849, Eliza Adeline Howe of Worcester, and of this union five children were born, two of whom survive. Augustus Brown Reed Sprague* was born in Ware, Massachusetts, March 7, 1827, son of Lee and Lucia (Snow) Sprague. His ancestors on both sides were of Puritan stock, his maternal grandmother, Alice Alden, being in the WILLIAM A. SMITH. ■ See portrait on page 72. The Worcester of 1898. 753 sixth generation in direct line from John Alden who came over in the Mayflower. The subject of this sketch received his education in pubHc and private schools. In 1842 he came to Worcester and entered the employ of H. B. Claflin, afterward the famous New York merchant. Later he was for a time with H. H. Chamberlin, who founded the present establishment of Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company. He afterward engaged in mer- cantile business for himself, and as a partner with his father in the firm of Lee Sprague & Co. He reached his majority and cast his first vote in 1848. He joined the Worcester Guards at the age of seventeen, and served as private, non-com- missioned and commissioned ofificer, beginning a military career that made him of service to his country in her greatest need. He was adjutant of the Eighth Regiment, and brigade-major and inspector of the Fifth Brigade, M. V. M., holding the latter office at the outbreak of the war. At the first call for troops he was unanimously elected captain of the Worcester City Guards, Company A, Third Battalion of Rifles, M. V. M., under Major Charles Devens, and served from April 19th to August 3d, 1861, during the last month as commander of the battalion, Major Devens having resigned to become colonel of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers. In September, 1861, Captain Sprague was active in the organization of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers and was commissioned lieutenant- colonel, and participated with his command in the famous Burnside Expedi- tion, and served until November 11, 1862, in its battles and skirmishes, and was ofificially reported for "bravery and efficiency" in the engagements at Roanoke Island and New Berne. In November, 1862, he was promoted to be colonel of the Fifty-first Massachusetts Regiment, and was assigned to the Eighteenth Army Corps, serving in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. After the expiration of its term of service, in consideration of the great public peril attending the invasion of Pennsylvania by the army of northern Virginia, Colonel Sprague offered his regiment for further service, which was accepted and ordered to Baltimore, thence to Maryland Heights, join- ing the Army of the Potomac, and only returned to Massachusetts when Lee was rapidly retreating in Virginia. February i, 1864, he reentered the service as lieutenant-colonel of the Second Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, and later became its colonel. He served with it in North Carolina and southern Virginia, commanding the regiment in its field service, moving with Geperal Schofield to open communication with General Sherman at Goldsboro, North Carolina. Colonel Sprague was finally mustered out September 20, 1865, after nearly four years of service, and was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, to date from March 13, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious services during the war." In January, 1867, General Sprague was appointed city marshal of Worcester by Mayor Blake. In June of that year he resigned, having been appointed collector of internal revenue for the Eighth Massachusetts District. During the five years of his incumbency $3,980,000 passed through his hands. 4S 754 I'HE Worcester of 1898. On the death of Honorable J. S. C. Knowlton, sheriff of the county of Worcester, General Sprague was appointed his successor July 1871, and afterward was elected for six successive terms of three years each, to Jan- uary, 1890, holdiiiL!,- the office longer than any of his predecessors excepting vSheriffs Ward and Willard. Soon after taking the ofifice, the Worcester prison was rebuilt, and greatly enlarged to accommodate the increasing demands. After its completion, the sheriff took personal supervision, and began that work which he and his friends justly regard as a public benefit and a distinguished advance in the improvement of modern prisons. The whole system of accounts was revised as well as the diet table in both this institution and the one in Fitchburg, over which the sheriff has entire control. He did away with the shaving of heads and the wearing of i)arti-colored garments, believing them unneces- sary indignities imposed upon short-term prisoners. Food of better quality, in greater variety and at a less cost was furnished and prepared according to the best hygienic principles of cooking. Better clothing and bedding were added, and later the library was greatly increased by many new and carefully selected books. This work is due to the untiring efforts of General Sprague, who for years devoted himself to the searching out of the latest and best improvements in the prisons of this and of other states. That this work was appreciated by the Commissioners of Prisons may be seen in their yearly reports, where they call the Worcester county prisons the model prisons of the Commonwealth. While holding this office, he was urged by Governor Long to accept the wardenship of the vState prison. General Sprague was commander of the Department of Massachusetts, Grand Army of the Republic, in 1868; was junior vice-commander of the Massachusetts Commandery of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States the same year, and in i873-'74 was quartermaster general of the Grand Army of the Republic by the appointment of General Charles Devens commander-in-chief. A. B. R. Sprague Post 24, G. A. R., of Grafton was named in his honor. He is vice-president of the Mechanics Savings Bank, and has been a director in the Worcester Electric Light Company from its organization. For several years he has been treasurer of the Putnam & Sprague Com- pany, a long-established furniture-house. General Sprague has served in both branches of the City Government. In December, 1895, he was elected mayor of Worcester, and reelected the following year, serving from January, 1S96, to January, 1898. The new City Hall was erected and many other important public works were either begun or finished during his administration, and are detailed ill another portion of this volume. (jeneral Sprague was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth J. Rice, who died in February, 1889. Of the five children of this union one son, Fred Foster, survives. In October, 1890, he married ]\I. Jennie Barbour, assistant librarian of the Free Public Library of Worcester, and a daughter, Alice Alden, is their only child. The Worcester of 1898. 755 HAMILTON B. STAPLES. Hamilton Barclay Staples was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, February 14, 1829. He was descended in direct line from Abra- ham Staples, the progenitor of the family in this country. The father of Hamilton was a farmer of moderate circumstances, and the boy passed his youthful years in light work on the homestead and attend- ing the district school in the winter. As a lad he evinced a great love for books and inclination towards learning, which caused his parents to gratify his desire for a liberal education. He fitted for col- lege at the Worcester Academy, and entering Brown University was graduated next to the head of his class, which was that of 1 85 1. He delivered the salutatory at the graduation. Selecting the law as his profession, he studied in the office of Chief Justice Ames in Provi- dence, Rhode Island, and with Peter C. Bacon of Worcester. Mr. Sta- ples was admitted to the bar in 1854, and at once began practice in Milford, where he remained fifteen years. In Milford he at once became prominent, and was frequently called upon to act as toastmaster and orator on famous occasions as well as to prepare eulogies of distin- guished citizens. In 1869 he removed to Worcester, and entered into partnership with Frank P. Goulding, a connection which proved notable. In 1873 Mr. Staples was elected district attorney for the Middle District, and discharged the duties of this office with marked fidelity and ability for eight consecutive years, something very unusual. He was for one term a member of the Common Council, and also a trustee of the City Hospital. In 1881 he was appointed an associate justice of the Superior Court to succeed the late Honorable Francis H. Dewey, who then retired, and he brought to this station the fruit of his ripe experience at the bar, a natural insight and a calm and impartial bearing, w^hich well fitted him for the dignity of the place. He continued on the bench ten years, or until his death. Judge Staples was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1878, and he contributed several valuable papers to its proceed- ings. He had a natural taste for the investigation of certain lines of history, to which he resorted as a relaxation from the exacting demands of his profession. He was several times called upon to deliver lectures for the benefit of good causes, and was always willing to assist worthy charities. Two visits to Europe enabled him to gratify to some extent his desire for more knowledge of the greatest and best works in literature and art. In recognition of his services and abilities, his alma mater in 1884 conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. WILLIAM E. STARR. The Worcester of 1898. 757 Judge Staples was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth A. Godfrey of Mendon. She died in 1867. In 1868 he married Mary Clinton Dewey, daughter of the late Judge Charles A. Dewey of Northampton, who was for nearly thirty years judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of the State. Judge Staples died on the 2nd of August, 1891. His widow and an only son, Francis Hamilton Staples, survive him. The latter is secretary of the Charles Baker Company. One son, Charles Dewey, died in infancy. William Eli Starr was born in Thompson, Connecticut, March 1,1812. He is a descendant in the seventh generation from Doctor Comfort Starr, the immigrant who came from Ashford, in England, to Newton, now Cambridge, in Massachusetts, in 1635, through John'', Comforf, Comfort^ Ebenezer', Darius^ Doctor Comfort Starr removed to Duxbury and later to Boston, where he died in 1660. He ministered as a physician in all these places. He was accompanied to New England by three sons, John, Thomas and Comfort; and a deed which the first named gave of the Duxbury property, and which was witnessed by Miles Standish, is preserved in Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth. Darius Starr married Sally, daughter of Jonathan Wilson, and of a family of seven children; the subject of this sketch was the fourth. William E. Starr attended the district school in that part of Thompson which is now Putnam, Connecticut, and was also a student at Monson Academy for a term and a half, but his education was principally received at home under the immediate direction of his parents, who were compara- tively well educated. William early evinced a fondness for books, and manifested a strong predilection for mathematics, in which he attained great proficiency, and the study of which he has assiduously pursued through life. These tendencies naturally influenced him to become a teacher, and he entered into that occupation in his eighteenth year, his first school being in that part of the town of Dudley which is now Webster. During the next seventeen years he was engaged in different occupations in difl:"erent places, a portion of the time in teaching, but not regularly, and on the ist of September, 1846, he took charge of the English department in the Classical and English high school at Worcester, where he remained until the close of the year 1856, maintaining a high reputation as a teacher of the exact sciences. For four years succeeding he was superintendent of the State Reform School for Boys at Westborough. In 1861 he returned to Worcester and served one year as city marshal by appointment of Mayor Aldrich. He was president of the Common Council in i865-'66. From 1863 to 1869 he was assistant assessor of internal revenue in the ofifice of Colonel Ivers Phillips, the assessor for this district. In 1869 he was elected treasurer and clerk of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad, and remained in that position until the road was sold to the Fitchburg Railroad Company in 1885. Mr. Starr served more or less as actuary — which specifically in this country is the technical expert — of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company from 1848 to 1870, and from that year to the present has been regularly elected, being the only person who ever held the office of actuary in the company. CHARLES F. STEVENS. The Worcester of 1898. 759 The exacting and increasing duties of this position have demanded his full attention during his later years, but time has touched him gently, and he still discharges his responsibilities with his characteristic skill, faithfulness and vigor. Mr. Starr is a director of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, having held that position since 1S75. He is also a charter member and the oldest member of the Actuarial Society of America. He is the oldest actuary now in service in America if not in the world. Mr. Starr married, in 1837, Pamelia Porter, daughter of Daniel and Polly (Barton) Batcheller of Western, now Warren. She was a sister of the late Mrs. Peter C. Bacon, and a cousin of Clara Barton. Of this union three sons were born : William, now living in New Orleans; Darius, who enlisted from Dartmouth College in the Second United States Sharpshooters, and died a prisoner in Andersonville September 2, 1864; and Daniel Batcheller, who resides in Worcester, unmarried. Mrs. Starr died May 7, 1886. Mr. Starr is a man of kindly yet dignified presence, normal mental poise, and firm physique. Although he has passed his eighty-sixth birthday, he bears few marks of age, and those who have known him during the past quarter of a century have observed few changes in his appearance. The universal esteem of the community in which he has so long been a familiar figure is a recognition of his especial talent and the just reward of an upright and well-spent life. Charles Franklin Stevens was born in Worcester August 16, 1855. His early education was received in the public schools and at Howes' Business College. He next studied under private tutors and then took a course at the Harvard University Law School, from which he was graduated in 1876 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He returned to the law school in the fall and remained through the school year, taking a post graduate course. At the December term of the Superior Court, 1877, Mr. Stevens was admitted to practice in the courts of Massachusetts. The same year he received an appointment as justice of the peace from Governor Alexander H. Rice, and during the administration of Governor George D. Robinson he was first commissioned as a notary public. He has always followed his chosen profession, and has been in active practice for upwards of twenty years. During the first five years he was associated with Honorable Henry L. Parker. On the 3rd of December, 1884, he was admitted to practice in the LTnited States courts. Mr. Stevens is a straight Republican, and has always taken an interest in the success of the party. He served Ward 7 in the Common Council for the years 1889 and 1890. His residence is at 96 Woodland street, and it is one of the pleasantest homes in the city. He has this year built a very fine block next to Trinity Church on Main street. A picture of it appears on page 432. It is a white marble front and six stories high. There are four stores on the first floor and one hundred rooms above, including a large dining-room, intended for a private cafe. It is one of the finest apartment blocks in the city, being finished throughout in ash, with marble stairs and wainscoting. It is supplied with incandescent lights, electric bells, speaking-tubes, steam heating, 760 The Worcester of 1898. RESIDENCE OF CHARLES F. STEVENS, 95 WOODLAND STREET. passenger and freight elevators, and all the modern appliances and con- veniences. Mr. Stevens is a son of Charles P. Stevens, who with his brother was engaged for many years in the sash, door and blind business; the firm was D. & C. P. Stevens. He was married, June 29, 1880, to Miss Mary Brad- ford Gooding, daughter of Josephus Gooding of Bristol, Rhode Island. George Sumner,* the youngest son of Erastus and Lavinia (Boyd) Sumner, was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, on the 25th of July, 1824. He was a lineal descendant in the sixth generation from William Sumner, the first representative of the family in this country who came to Dorchester from England in 1635. From the same ancestor through a different line descended Charles Sumner, the distinguished Massachusetts senator. The grandfather of George, the Reverend Joseph Sumner, D. D., was an eminent divine, settled as minister of Shrewsbury from 1762 to his death in 1824. The subject of this sketch received his education in the district schools of his native town, and at the age of sixteen became a clerk in the store of Bigelow & Goodnow, and afterwards entered into employment at the establishment of Henry W. Baldwin. These were old-time trading-places in Shrewsbury, and he received such training during his two years' experi- ence as fitted him to enter a broader field. In 1842 he came to Worcester, and was engaged by Henry H. Chamberlin, then the largest dry-goods dealer in the town, and now well known as the founder of the extensive * See portrait on page 413. The Worcester of i: 761 business with which Mr. vSumner was so long and prominently connected. In this connection he made his services so valuable that when he became of age he was received as a partner in the concern, under the firm name of Chamberlin, Barnard & Co. On the retirement of Mr. Chamberlin the long-familiar title of Barnard, Sumner & Co. succeeded, to be followed in later years by the Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Company. These successive changes in designation only marked periods of increasing expansion of the business, and Mr. Sumner's influence in developing its proportions into the largest dry-goods house in central Massachusetts was freely acknowledged by his associates, and his business ability universally admitted among those connected with the trade. To the realization of all this he devoted years of untiring work. Mr. Sumner maintained his connection with the com- pany to the end of his life, and his son, Edward P., is still an active partner in the business. Devoting himself closely to the interests of the enterprise in which he was concerned, Mr. Sumner found little time to give to outside matters, and he felt no inclination to mingle in politics. He had a natural taste for books and antiquarian matters, and in this and the enjoyment of his home life at his city residence and at Shrewsbury on his ancestral estate, he found almost his only relaxation. He was an active member and for several years a vice-president of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and manifested great interest in the welfare of that association. He was a director in the Worcester Safe Deposit & Trust Company, and a vice-presi- dent of the Five Cents Savings Bank, and was connected with various other organizations. A Unitarian in sentiment, he was long a member of the Church of the Unity. He was a man of kindly nature, cordial manner, and generous disposition. After a period of declining health he died on the 5th of January, 1893. Mr. Sumner married, in 1854, Sarah E., daughter of Charles and Mary Richardson of Manchester, New Hampshire. Four children, George Rich- ardson, Mary Locke, Edward Prentiss and Caroline Allen, were born of this union, all of whom survive. Jesse Partelow Taber was born in Up- ham. New Brunswick, April 15, 1850. He was brought up on a farm, and received a common school education. His grand- father settled in that place many years before, coming from Newport, Rhode Island. He was a descendant of Philip Taber, who came to Massachusetts in 1634, and whose son married a daughter of John Cook, the last survivor of the Mayflower. Mr. Taber came to Worces- ter in 187 1, and entered the employ of Charles Fuller, distinguished as a church- builder. In 1880 he engaged in business jesse p. taber. R. JAMES TATMAN. The Worcester of 1898. 763 for himself, and largely developed real estate in buying land and erecting houses, and has done more to improve and build up Ward i than any other man, excepting Honorable Stephen Salisbury. He resides in a fine and attractive home at 198 Park avenue, and his office is at his house. He is a Republican in politics, and has been a member of the City Committee several years. In 1896 he served in the City Council. He is a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of Malta. In religion he is a Methodist, has been one of the official board of Grace Church for many years, and is now one of the trustees. Mr. Taber married in September, 1874, Miss Nellie A. Willoughby of Hollis, New Hampshire, a descendant of one of the first settlers of that town. They have two daughters: Bessie M., twenty-one years old, and Florence N., seventeen, both living at home. Charles Taylor Tatman, son of R. James and Susan M. (Taylor) Tatman, was born in Worcester December 16, 1871. He was educated in the public schools, was grad- uated from the Worcester high school in 1889 as president of his class; attended the Worcester Polytechnic Institute two years, then took the full three years' course at the Harvard Law School, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1S94, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He has practised in all the State courts and in the district and circuit courts of the United States, and has rapidly risen in his profession. He has been active in Republican politics, and was chairman of the Republican City Committee in 1898. In November, 1898, he was elected a repre- sentative in the General Court from Ward 8, to serve during the term of 1899. Mr. Tatman is a prominent member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a college fraternity, and is now a committee of one to revise the ritual. He has taken all the degrees of the York Rite, and to the 32d of the Scottish Rite in Masonry. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and of The Worcester Society of Antiquity. He served three years in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia in the Wellington Rifles. He is much interested in the study of numismatics, has written several monographs, and possesses a valuable collection of coins. In recognition of his contri- butions to this science, he has been made a member of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society. R. James Tatman. The first Tatman in America was a Puritan, who came from England in 1632 and settled in Roxbury, where his descendants dwelt for a century. In 1737 one of them came to Worcester and settled on the farm which has remained in the familv name ever since. A son of the first CHARLES T. TATMAN. 764 The Worcester of 1898. Tatman in Worcester married Sally, the daughter of Daniel Gookin, who Avas the first high sheriff of Worcester county. The sheriff was grandson of Daniel (lookin, one of the three original proprietors of Worcester, whose father had been the leader of a colony in \"irginia. From this branch of the family the subject of this sketch is descended. R. James Tatman was born at the old family homestead on Greenwood street, Quinsigamond Village, February 29, 1836. His father was Reuben Tatman, a prosperous farmer, a man highly respected in the community, and a member oi the School Committee. R. James Tatman was brought up on the farm. He received a public school education, and attended Eaton's Commercial College. In 1857 he was a wire-drawer in the wire works of Charles Washburn & Son, which have since developed into the Quinsigamond works of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company. At the age of twenty-two he went to Boston, and for four years was a clerk in the freight office of the Boston & Worcester Railroad Company. Next he returned to Worcester and became bookkeeper for Charles Washburn & Son. At the age of twenty-eight he married Susan M. Taylor, daughter of Charles Taylor of Northbridge. Mr. Tatman was then employed at Taunton by Ransom C. Taylor for nearly two years, and for a like period at Pough- keepsie. New York. He then returned to Worcester, bought an interest in the store of Burbank Brothers, and under the name of Burbank, Tatman & Co. carried on a wholesale trade in fruit and produce at No. i Allen court for ten years. In 1877 he served as assessor of taxes for the city of Worcester. At the end of that year Mr. Tatman was elected secretary of the First National Fire Insurance Company of Worcester, of which Honorable Charles B. Pratt was president. After ten years' service as secretary Mr. Tatman was made vice- president and treasurer of the company, which position he has held ever since. He is now senior partner in the firm of Tatman & Park, general insurance agents, carrying on business in the ofiice of the First National Fire Insurance Company. In 1882 and 1883 Mr. Tatman served as alderman from Ward 8, being elected on the Citizens' ticket. He served on several of the most prominent committees, including that on finance. At the end of his term he was tendered a renomination by both parties, but declined to be a candidate. He has been prominently mentioned for many years as Republican candidate for mayor, but has always refused to allow consideration of his name. He is regarded as one of the most highly respected citizens, and is a powerful factor in municipal politics. Mr. Tatman has been very prominent in Masonic circles. He is a member of all bodies of the York Rite and of the Scottish Rite to the 32°. He has been worshipful master of Montacute Lodge and eminent commander of Worcester County Commandery. He is now, and has been for fifteen years, treasurer of the commandery; is also treasurer of Lawrence Chapter of Rose Croix. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Masonic Fraternity, and for nine years was a trustee of the Worcester County Mechanics Association. The Worcester of 1898. 765 He has two children, ]\Iary Elizabeth, wife of Wright S. Prior, street commissioner of the city of Worcester, and Charles Taylor Tatman, a promising young lawyer. Ransom Clarke Taylor, son of Charles and vSusan (Butler) Taylor, was born in Winchester, New Hampshire, February 24, 1829. His parents removed during his early childhood to Northbridge, Massachusetts, and at the age of twelve he assisted his father, who was engaged in the retail meat trade, by driving the delivery wagon about the town. Five years later he went to Worcester to take charge for his father of a factory and business for the manufacture and sale of various meat products, and at the age of eighteen, having bought his time for $300, which sum he engaged to pay his father on attaining his majority, he entered into business on his own account in the town of Sutton. Here he remained four years with increasing- success, and then returned to Worcester, where he continued in the manu- facture of meat products, the enterprise assuming such proportions that within a few years he established branches in New York, Albany, Troy, Hartford, New Haven, Springfield, Taunton, and other places. He employed a large number of men, and his business became one of the most important of its kind in New England. Mr. Taylor has had, from the time that he became a permanent resident of the city, a strong faith in the prospective and continual growth of Worcester, which he has evinced by extensive investments in real estate, until he is now the largest individual owner and the heaviest tax-payer in this community. He has erected a large number of business and industrial buildings in and around the centre of the city, principally on Main and Front streets, and now owns more than one-half the structures on the last-named thoroughfare. He built the first five-story, the first six-story, and the first seven-story blocks in Worcester, and has always kept in advance of the growth of the city, influencing advancement by providing the requisite accommodations for the expansion of business before the necessity was apparent to the average observer. This prophetic sagacity has worked greatly to his own material advantage, as it has to the advantage of the city at large. To all proposi- tions for public improvements Mr. Taylor gives his firm support, as he believes that collective and individual interests are inseparable. His clear insight, sound judgment and exceptional ability in the management of financial transactions are continually manifested and universally recognized. He has been connected with the First National Bank of Worcester for many years, and is interested in other moneyed institutions in the city. Mr. Taylor has been an alderman, and was once a candidate of the Democratic party for councilor, but his extensive property interests have prevented him from devoting much time to politics. He is a lover of horses, and the owner of several equine specimens of choice pedigrees, the exercising of which gives him much pleasure. He is a man of powerful physique and strong powers of endurance, which enable him to undertake and perform labor and responsibility what few men are equal to. Mr. Taylor has been twice married; first, to Mary Louise Chase of Sutton, and in whose memory is named the largest of the buildings erected by him; RANSOM C. T/ nR. The Worcester of 1898. 767 and, second, to Mary S. vStevens of Newton. He is the father of three sons and three daughters. He lives at the south end of the city in a fine mansion of colonial style, which is one of the most beautiful residences in that section. Edward Carrington Thayer.* Joseph Thayer, the father of Edward C. Thayer, the recent donor to the city of Worcester of the magnificent building for the Memorial Home for Nurses, which is now a part of the equipment of the City Hospital, was prominent in central Massachusetts fifty or more years ago by his connection with railroad and other public interests. He was a graduate of Brown University, a lawyer of repute, and was several times a member of the State Legislature, and served his fellow citizens in other capacities. He married Chloe, daughter of Hon- orable Bezaleel Taft, and settled in Uxbridge, where the subject of this sketch was born. May 10, 1830. Edward C. Thayer received his education in the public schools of his native town, in the academy there, at Leicester Academy, and at Day's boarding- school in Lanesborough. In 1847 he became a clerk in the office of Welcome Farnum, a prominent manufacturer in Waterford, Massachusetts, where he remained five years. He then returned to Uxbridge to assist his father, who was in ill health, and for several years was engaged in manufacturing enter- prises in Worcester and Millbury. In 187 1 he leased the Ashuelot Mill at Ashuelot, New Hampshire, and two years later with other parties pur- chased that and the Turner Mill near by, and engaged extensively in the manufacture of overcoatings and cloakings. Later he became the sole owner of the property, and increased the business until it gave employment to 350 people. Soon after his removal to New Hampshire, Mr. Thayer became a resident of Keene, where he took a prominent part in public and business affairs. He served in both branches of the City Government, and his large financial interests gave him an influential position in the place. He was president of the Winchester National Bank, a director of the Fitchburg Railroad, and was actively interested in other railroads, commercial, manufacturing and financial corporations throughout New England. But it was as a public benefactor that Mr. Thayer will be permanently recognized. In his native town of Uxbridge he erected under his own supervision a very handsome library building, in memory of his father and mother, and presented it to ^' town, with a fund the income of which is to be used for the purchase 01 books. The present year he gave to his adopted city of Keene a fine and commodious establishment for a public library, and endowed a scholarship at Brown L^niversity in memory of his father. These free-handed evidences of generosity and public spirit will give him a place in the memory of those who will receive the benefit of his acts in all coming time. In the early part of the year 1897 the Trustees of the Worcester City Hospital received from Mr. Thayer a wholly unexpected but most welcome intimation of his desire to supply such a home for the nurses as the board ■See portrait on page 250. 768 The Worcester of 1898. might a])prove, and later the mayor and City Council received from him a letter, in which, after expressing his wish to erect some monument in Worcester to the memory of his sisters, Mrs. Sarah Thayer Chapin and Mrs. Louisa Thayer Chapin, he modestly suggested that if the city would grant him the right to use and occupy so much of the city's land opposite the hospital buildings as might be required, he would deem it a great privilege to erect and furnish a suitable home for nurses at an expense of not less than $35,000, and to present it when completed to the city as a memorial to his two sisters. This generous offer was accepted, and the completed structure, perfect in all its appointments, and which had largely exceeded in cost the sum above mentioned, was appropriately dedicated and passed into the possession of the proper authorities on the 15th day of June, 1898. By this circumstance the name of the giver is enrolled with those who have so munificently endowed the City Hospital of Worcester. Mr. Thayer married in Winchester, New Hampshire, in 1873, Julia Beatrice, daughter of David and Fanny (Capron) Ball. They occupied a fine estate in Keene, and also owned a home in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, where a portion of the year was passed. In religion Mr. Thayer was a Unitarian, yet his views were broad and liberal towards other denominations. He was true to his convictions, and fearless in their expression. He was justly esteemed for his ability, good judgment, generosity and unquestioned integrity. Mr. Thayer died suddenly at Keene, New Hampshire, on July 3d, 1898. Eli Thayer. Eli Thayer was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, June ii, 1819. He is a descendant in the seventh generation in this country through Thomas Thayer,^ Ferdinando," Benjamin,^ Aaron, ■* Benjamin,!" and Cush- man.*^ He is sixth in descent from John Alden, who came in the Mayflower, through Ruth, daughter of Reverend Noah Alden of Bellingham, who married his grandfather, Benjamin Thayer. Eli Thayer received his early education in the district schools of Mendon and the Bellingham high school. Later he attended the academy at Amherst and the Manual Labor School, now the Worcester Academy, at Worcester. In 1835 -'36 he kept a school in Douglas, and the next four years assisted his father in a country store in Millville. In May, 1840, he reentered the Manual Labor School to fit for Brown University, and was entered as a student at that institution in the fall of that year. In 1842 he kept a school in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, and while here was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity, an honor seldom conferred before the senior year. In vSeptember of 1844 the superintendent of schools in Providence, Nathan Bishop, induced him to take charge of the boys' high school for the remainder of the year by the offer of $600. This school, which had proved unmanageable in the hands of several masters, he reduced to order and subjection; but in consequence of these undertakings he lost a year in college. He was graduated in 1845, the second in his class. He immediately came to Worcester to teach in the Academy, and later became principal. In 1845 he purchased of John Jaques four acres and ninety rods of land on what was then called Goat hill, at $150 per acre, The Worcester of 1898. 769 and in 1S4S began the erection of the building called the Oread, which was completed in 1852. Here he established the famous school for young women, which he conducted with great success until he entered upon his Kansas and Congressional work. He was elected a member of the School Board in 1852, was an alderman in i852-'53, and he served in the State Legislature in 1853 and 1854. During his first year he became conspicuous by the introduction of a bill to incorporate the Bank of Mutual Redemp- tion, which was hailed with delight by bankers and moneyed men throughout the State, as it afforded a means of release from the autocratic rule of the Suffolk Bank of Boston. But it was in 1854 that Mr. Thayer accomplished the great act of his life, which will enroll his name among the benefactors of mankind, in originating the plan which saved Kansas and the other territories to freedom, and settled the destiny of the nation; for if the Southern leaders had secured the territories, it would have given them the balance of power for many years to come, and there would have been no Rebellion ; the North would have acquiesced, as it always had, in the decision of a Congressional majority. It was at a meeting to protest against the repeal of the Missouri Com- promise, held in the old City Hall in Worcester, on the evening of March II, 1854, that Mr. Thayer announced his celebrated "Plan of Freedom." It was simply to take possession by lawful means of the new territories through organized emigration of free-state men sustained by a base of supplies. This Mr. Thayer tersely defined as "Business Anti-Slavery," distinguished from sentimental and political anti-slavery, both of which had been tried for many years and failed, slavery in the meantime con- stantly growing stronger. I^Ir. Thayer clearly saw that whichever side obtained the majority of actual settlers would control the institutions of the new section in spite of all eft'orts to establish others among them, and to the purpose of securing this majority for freedom he devoted all his energies and all his means until that end was accomplished. He immediately secured the passage of an act to incorporate the Massa- chusetts Emigrant Aid Company, and before the vote to repeal the Missouri Compromise was taken, hired a hall in Boston, and began to speak afternoon and evening in promotion of his undertaking. But the intense excitement and strong opposition which had followed the announcement of the purpose to repeal the compromise in a great measure subsided after that act was accomplished, and Mr. Thayer found extreme difficulty during the next three months in persuading a suiffcient number of men to join in his enterprise to form the first colony. The Know-Nothing frenzy so fully absorbed the public mind that other considerations were almost entirely excluded, and the Free-Soil vote of 1854 dwindled to a few thousands, the Republican candidate for governor of the State himself deserting his party and voting with the native Americans. Mr. Thayer traveled over a wide section and addressed many thousand people before he was able to revive the enthusiasm which had greeted his first appeal. But after the departure of the advance colony in July, 1854, there was little difficulty, and the South soon awoke to the fact that it had 49 ELI THAYER. The Worcester of 1898. 771 at last met a formidable power. The unlawful aggression of the slave element against the free-state settlers in Kansas soon aroused the North, and the conflict which followed is familiar in history. Mr. Thayer gave all his strength, his time, his money, to the work of saving Kansas, until the border rufifians and the powers at Washington abandoned the fight at the end of 1856. He then turned his attention to the colonization of western Virginia, and founded the town of Ceredo. His "Friendly Invasion" of the Old Dominion had the countenance of Governor Wise and other prominent men of that section, and the undertaking progressed to consid- erable extent ; but the opening of the war suspended the work. In the fall of 1856 Mr. Thayer was elected to Congress as the representa- tive from the Worcester District, and at once took a leading position in the national Legislature. His speeches on Central American colonization, on the " Suicide of Slavery," and on the admission of Oregon, brought him great fame. By the former he extinguished the hopes of the Southern propa- gandists, who were planning a great slave empire to include Mexico, Central America and Cuba ; and by the latter and by personal effort he secured the admission of Oregon into the Union against the caucus decision of his own party. In this act he planted himself upon broad and states- manlike grounds in opposition to partisan dictation, and was sustained by leading Republican organs throughout the country, although he received some censure at home. In i860, after a most exciting canvass, he failed of reelection by a narrow margin. During the Rebellion Mr. Thayer proposed to Secretary Stanton a plan for the military colonization of Florida as an efi^ective method of quelling the insurrection and restoring the Union. The plan was approved by President Lincoln, several of the military leaders, and a majority of Congress, and was supported by great meetings held in Cooper Institute in New York, and in Brooklyn, but other military operations intervened and the opportunity passed, much to the regret of those interested. In recent years Mr. Thayer has advocated his colonization scheme as a remedy for polygamy in Utah. Mr. Thayer took the initiative in developing the south end of the city for manufacturing purposes in erecting, more than forty years ago, the large shop since known as the Adriatic Mills, and in securing the erection of the Junction shop, the latter the property of the late Colonel James Estabrook. He also laid out and improved several streets and tracts of land in that vicinity. He is the author of "The Kansas Crusade," a graphic account of his great work; and he has written much of history for magazines and newspapers during the past twenty years, showing that in the events above recorded the present and most important epoch of our country's history had its origin. John Randolph Thayer, congressman-elect from the Worcester District, was born in Douglas, Massachusetts, March 9, 1845, son of Mowry and Harriet (Morse) Thayer. He received his early education in the common schools of his native town, and at the age of sixteen became a student at Nichols Academy, Dudley, where he fitted for college. He entered Yale A JOHN R. THAYER. The Worcester of 1898. j-ji College at New Haven in 1865, and was graduated four years later, with more than an average standing. While in college he took an active interest in athletics, and rowed on his class crew. He was a member of several college societies, and was popular with his associates. In 1869, the year of his graduation, he came to Worcester, and began the study of law in the office of the late Judge Henry Chapin, and in 1871 was admitted to the bar. He was associated in practice at first with the late Judge Hartley Williams, and later, for six years, with W. A. Williams. He then formed a partnership with Charles S. Chapin, under the name of Thayer & Chapin, and in 1885 the existing connection with Arthur P. Rugg, now city solicitor, was formed, with the firm name of Thayer & Rugg. Mr. Thayer has from the beginning enjoyed an extensive law practice, and has tried many important cases, including several notable ones for capital offences. Perhaps in his profession and practice of law his most conspicuous successes have been achieved in the trial of causes before judges. He is peculiarly adapted by nature and training to this branch of his profession. His position at the bar has been prominent, and he is well known throughout the county and the State. Of late years Mr. Thayer has given more attention to civil cases, which now employ most of his time. Mr. Thayer early entered into politics, and for many years has been a prominent exponent of the Democratic policy in political campaigns. His powers as a public speaker are generally acknowledged, and he has the faculty of getting in touch with his hearers. His personal popularity is great, and he has always, whenever he has been a candidate for office, received more votes than other nominees of his party. His traits of personality are inborn, and he is a strong believer in the equality of men, a belief which he lives out in his every-day life and conduct. A friend once made is seldom lost by him, and he remembers his friends the year roiind. His is not a forced assumption of friendship, manufactured simply for ready use during a political campaign, and those with whom he comes in contact thoroughly appreciate this. He was for four years a member of the Common Council, and served a corresponding period in the Board of Aldermen. In 1880 and 1881 he was a representative in the General Court, serving on the Judiciary Committee, and taking a very active and prominent position among the leaders of the House each year. In 1S90 and 1891 he was in the State Senate, where he ranked among the first in that body. Mr. Thayer has been a candidate once for mayor, and received the largest vote ever given a Democratic candidate for that office. In 1892 he contested a seat in Congress with Honorable J. H. Walker, coming within 784 votes of election, the Democratic candidate for president running behind the Republican candidate by more than 3,000 votes in this district. In 1S98 Mr. Thayer was again a candidate against Honorable Joseph H. Walker, who had held the office of congressman for ten years, and Mr. Thayer was elected by a majority of 167. Mr. Thayer is a man of strong personal magnetism, kindly heart, and strong will, which he always holds subject to influence by argument and information, but never by popular clamor. He has the power of making and CHARLES S. TURNER. The Worcester of 1898. 775 holding many friends. He is an enthusiastic sportsman, president of the Worcester Sportsmen's Club; but, aside from some college societies, never joined any secret societies or clubs of any kind whatsoever. Mr. Thayer married, January 30, 1872, Charlotte D., daughter of Pitt and Diana (Perrin) Holmes. They have six children: Henry Holmes, John Mowry, Charlotte Diana, Marguerite Elizabeth, Mary Perrin, and Edward Carrington. The first two have graduated from .Harvard College, and are now studying law. Charles Salisbury Turner was born in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. He was one of five brothers, sons of Timothy P. Turner, whose father, James, emigrated from Maine to Bethlehem in 1788. Charles, at the age of twenty-one, left home and went to Norwich, Connecticut, where he found employment with the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company. Later he was station-agent at Putnam, and then for fifteen years was general agent of the railroad and steamboat company. He removed to Worcester, and was sixteen years superintendent of the Worcester & Nashua Railroad, and finally, for four years, president of the Worcester, Nashua & Rochester Railroad. Three of his brothers were prominently connected with railway service in New England. After his retirement Mr. Turner devoted himself to the management of his private afi^airs. He was a director of the Worcester & Shrewsbury Railroad, and also of the Worcester & Shrewsbury Street Railway. He was one of the organizers of the Worcester Board of Trade. He was for many years a member of the Church of the Unity. Mr. Turner married Sarah, daughter of John Andrews of Boston. Mrs. Turner died several years ago. Of their three children, a son is deceased, and two daughters, Harriet I. and Helen Gertrude, survive their parents. Mr. Turner died August 8, 1897. Roger Freeman Upham, son of Freeman and Elizabeth (Livermore) Upham, was born in Worcester September 13, 1848. He is descended from John Upham, who came to Weymouth from England with the Hull colony in 1635. On his mother's side a prominent ancestor was Oliver Watson, a Revolu- tionary patriot of Leicester, and through the Livermore line he is a lineal descendant from John, the emigrant, who settled in Watertown in 1638; and whose son of the same name was a lieutenant in King Philip's war. David Livermore, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a Revolutionary soldier in Captain Ebenezer Mason's company from Spencer, who marched to Lexington on the 19th of April, 1775, and joined Colonel Jonathan Warner's regiment. The father of Mr. Upham was a well-known carpenter and builder of this city fifty years ago. Roger was educated in the public schools in Worcester, passing in course through the several grades, and graduating at the high school in 1866 as salutatorian in the English department. Immediately after graduation, he entered the office of the People's Fire Insurance Company of Worcester as entry clerk, and was soon advanced to the position of bookkeeper, and within a few years became assistant secretary. In consequence of losses incurred in the Boston ROGER F. UPHAM. The Worcester of 1898. 777 fire of 1872, the People's Company was compelled to suspend business, and soon after Mr. Upham formed an engagement with the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company, to which he has given faithful and devoted service for twenty-six years. This company was formed in 1823, and antedates any other incorporated mutual insurance company now doing business in the vState of Massachusetts. Its first president was Levi Lincoln, who resigned within a year to become governor of the Commonwealth, and succeeding presidents have been Rejoice Newton, Frederick William Paine, Anthony Chase, Ebenezer Torrey and John A. Fayerweather, and the secretaries Henry K. Newcomb, William D. Wheeler, Isaac Goodwin, Anthony Chase and Charles M. Miles. Mr. Upham became assistant secretary in 1873, ^^'^'^ i^i 1880 was elected secretary, which office, conjointly with that of treasurer, he still holds. An honor was conferred upon this old company by the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Union, composed of the managers of the mutual companies of this Commonwealth, by electing Mr. Upham as its president. Mr. Upham is a trustee of the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank, secretary of the Home for Aged Men, trustee of the Rural Cemetery Cor- poration, and is interested in various philanthropic and social organ- izations. Mr. Upham was married in 1873 to Clara Story of Worcester. They have one daughter, Edith Story Upham. Joseph Godfroi Vaudreuil was born in Lotbiniere, province of Quebec, November 15, 1S50. He spent his early life on a farm, and received his education in the public schools of his native place. He came to Worcester in the spring of 1868 and commenced work with Mr. J. C. French. Two years later he became the foreman for H. W. Eddy, a leading builder and contractor. In 1S89 he went into business for himself, and has been a very successful contractor, building many fine residences. Among them are those of Mr. P. W. Moen, Charles F. Washburn, Charles G. Washburn, Jesse Moore, C. S. Barton and A. B. Woods. He also was the builder of the Worcester Academy buildings and Prentice Bros. ' big shop. Mr. Vaudreuil has a shop at No. 93 Fos- ter street, where he manufactures all his house finish and does general cabinet work. He is president of the Quinsiga- mond Steamboat Company. He is a member of the St. Jean Baptiste Society, and was for six years its presi- dent. He also belongs to the Casino Club, was its president for many terms, and all the French societies of Worcester. He is a member of the Worcester Continentals and the Hancock Club. joseph g. vaudreuil. 778 The Worcester of 1898. CHARLES A. VAUGHAN. In politics Mr. \"audreuil is a staunch Reptiblican, but has never held office, preferring to devote his time wholly to business. Charles Augustus Vaughan, the subject of this sketch, was born in vShoreham, Vermont, August 19, 1847. His father was George P. Vaughan, a well-to-do farmer of the old, substantial Vermont stock. When Charles was quite young the family removed to Thetford, and in the schools of that town he received his educa- tion. He left Thetford Academy when he was eighteen years old and came to Worcester, since which time he has made this city his home. He learned the carpen- ters' trade of Messrs. H. & A. Palmer, and was in their employ for several years. About twenty years ago he started in business for himself , and has become one of the leading builders in this part of the State. His special line has been the erection of elegant and substantial residences, and his work has always given satisfaction. As samples might be mentioned the houses of Gilbert Harrington and L. D. Thayer on Main street; T. P. Brown and Henry C. Taylor, Richards street ; William H. Sawyer and George F. Blake, Junior, Lincoln street; George Hey wood, Gardner street; J. D. Baldwin, Cedar street, and Frederick S. Taylor, Institute road. Mr. Vaughan has always been an ardent Republican, but has never held a political office. At the city election this winter he was chosen as alderman from the ist Ward by a very flattering vote; and he will thus become one of the leading members of our City Government for the year 1899. He has been identified with and interested in the city's growth and prosperity for several years, being a member of the Board of Trade and the Builders' Exchange. For two years he was president of the Exchange, and has ever been one of its most active members. He is a member of the Vermont Association, and was for a time its president. He is also a director in the Merchants & Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In religious faith Mr. Vaughan is a Congregationalist, and a member of Union Church. He is one of the trustees, and was one of the Building Committee in the erection of the new church edifice. Mr. Vaughan has a fine residence at 28 William street, where he has lived the past thirteen years. Joseph Henry Walker,* representative in Congress from the Worcester District, was born in Boston December 21, 1829. His parents, Hannah Thayer (Chapin) and Joseph Walker, were residents of Hopkinton during the early boyhood days of the subject of this sketch, and in 1843 removed to Worcester, where the elder Walker established the boot and shoe manu- *See portrait on page 314. The Worcester of 1898. 779 facturing business, which was continued and expanded by his sons. Joseph H. received his education in the public schools, but acquired most of his information through his own methods and natural aptitude. He is a born debater, and was prominent in the Young Men's Rhetorical Society, where he gained a thorough knowledge of parliamentary practice, and a familiarity with public speaking. He was elected to the Common Council of the city of Worcester at the age of twenty-three, and its president in 1869; and was elected to the State Legislature in 1879, 1880 and 1887. All this time he was actively engaged in business as one of the leading boot and shoe manufacturers in the country. He was for several years a member of the National Hide & Leather Association, and was a vice-president of the New England Shoe & Leather Association, and was president of the Worcester Board of Trade for many years. He gave much attention to the subject of finance, and wrote and spoke frequently on trade, banking and coinage. In 1888 Mr. Walker was elected to Congress, where he has served continuously by successive reelections to the present time. His great familiarity with his specialty of finance brought him at once into prominence, and he has made numerous speeches and taken part in the debates on this and kindred questions. He was appointed by Speaker Reed on the Committee on Banking and Currency, and the Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, in the Fifty-first Congress, and was made chairman of the former committee when the Republicans regained control in the Fifty-fourth Congress, and still holds that place, which is regarded as one of the most important in the House. There is no man in Congress who has greater practical knowledge of the effects of tariffs or the necessities of the interests involved than Mr. Walker, and his influence in three great tariff debates has been strongly felt. No citizen writes to Mr. Walker without getting a prompt reply, and what he asks for is obtained if it is possible to get it. He is free from all suspicion of acting as the agent of any corporation, and is beyond all question of serving his own personal interest at the sacrifice of that of the public. Mr. Walker is a trustee of Brown University, a trustee of Newton Theologi- cal Seminary, and president of the Board of Trustees of Worcester Academy. He is also prominently identified with other public and financial institutions. Mr. Walker married in 1852 Sarah Ellen, daughter of Jubal Harrington, who died leaving one daughter, now Mrs. Milton Shirk of Peru, Indiana. In 1862 he married Hannah M. (Kelley) Spear, and they have three children, Joseph and George Walker and Mrs. Adams D. Claflin. Charles Grenfill Washburn,* son of Charles F. and Mary E. (Whiton) Washburn, was born in Worcester January 28, 1857. He received his earlier education in the public schools, was graduated at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1875, ^^^ ^^ Harvard University in 1880. In 1880 he established the business of the Wire Goods Company of this city, with which he is still connected; and in 1882 became treasurer and manager of the Worcester Barb Fence Company, a corporation which has since ceased to do business. From See portrait on page 440. 78o The Worcester of 1898. 1884 to 1891 he was connected witli tlie Wasliburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, and during the latter ])art of this period was a director and executive officer. In 1886 he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and has practised law in Worcester since 1891. He is a trustee and the treasurer of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1897 and 1898, serving the first year on the Committee on Mercantile Affairs, and the second year as chairman of the Committee on Taxation, and has been elected to the State Senate to represent the First Worcester District. Mr. Washburn married, April 25, 1889, Caroline Vinton Slater, daughter of H. N. vSlater of Webster. They have two sons: vSlater Washburn, born August 3, 1896, and Charles P>ancis Washburn, born May lo, 1898. RESIDENCE OF JESSE P. TABER, 198 PARK AVENUE. Charles Francis Washburn* was born in Harrison, Cumberland county, Maine, August 23, 1827. His father, Charles Washburn, born in Kingston, Massachusetts, was of a good, old colony family, and in direct line of descent from Governor William Bradford. His mother, whose maiden name was Blake, belonged to one of the best and most respected families in Maine. Charles Washburn, the father, a practising lawyer in Harrison, Maine, came to Worcester in 1835 to engage in the wire business with his twin brother, Ichabod. His son, Charles, then a boy eight years old, attended the schools in Worcester, and was subsequently graduated from the Leicester Academy. He was, however, prevented by ill health from going to college, and went into his father's mill, where he learned the wire business, in which he continued for over forty-five years until his death. *See portrait on page 459. The Worcester of 1898. 781 He was a director in and vice-president of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, taking a leading part in the administration of the affairs of that great corporation ; and to his enterprise and apparently intuitive knowledge of those branches of the wire business which could be most profitably engaged in, is due in large measure the prosperity of this corporation. This is most conspicuously illustrated by his foresight in securing to his company the control of the barbed-wire patents and the commanding position in that large and lucrative business. Mr. Washburn was so entirely absorbed in his business that he had little time to give to public affairs, and, save one term in the City Council, held no public office. He was upon the governing board of two of Worcester's notable charities, founded by his uncle, Ichabod— the Memorial Hospital and the Home for Aged Women — being vice-president of the former and president of the latter. He was a man of fine literary tastes, widely read, and found his greatest pleasure and most complete relaxation among his books. Mr. Washburn was a man of deeply religious nature, and a communicant in All Saints' Episcopal Church. His life was well described by some of his associates as "that of the good citizen and Christian gentleman, an example to his fellow men and a blessing to the community." He was married, October lo, 1855, to Mary, eldest daughter of James M. Whiton of Boston, Massachusetts, and Plymouth, New Hampshire. They were the parents of eight children — seven sons and one daughter — all of whom survived their father, excepting one son who died in infancy. Mr. Washburn died in Worcester July 20, 1893. John Kelso Warren, M. D., son of Joseph H. and Mary A. (Kelso) Warren, was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, March i, 1846. He received his early education in the public schools and at Mount Vernon and Francestown Academies, and entered upon the study of medicine at the New York Homoeopathic Medical College, from which institution he was graduated on his twenty-fourth birthday in 1870. The expenses of his education he paid by working and teaching vacations. He began the practice of his profession in the town of Palmer, Massachu- setts, where he remained, with the exception of a year's absence abroad, until he removed to Worcester at the close of the year 1882. During a portion of this time he was the only homoeopathic physician in practice between Worcester and Springfield. In i879-'8o he spent several months in Europe perfecting himself in the study of surgery at the hospitals of London, Edinburgh, Paris and Heidelberg, and acquiring the results of the latest scientific research at the great medical centres. Immediately upon his removal to Worcester, Doctor Warren entered into a large practice, and has maintained a high reputation as a skillful and successful surgeon and physician. In 1893 he established a private surgical hospital, the first institution of its kind in the city. He was foremost in the foundation of the Hahnemann Hospital, which was opened JOHN K. WARREN. { The Worcester of 1898. 783 in 1897. He is a member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, of the Massachusetts State Medical Society, and the Massachusetts Surgical Society, and of various local social and other bodies. Doctor Warren was married in 1873 to Augusta A. Davis of Newport, New Hampshire, who died in April, 1892. Of this, marriage there were two daughters. He married, second, Nettie Coffin Balch of Newburyport, Massachusetts, in the year 1895. Of this union there is one daughter. Charles S. Webster was born in the south part of the town of Leicester, Massachusetts, March 3, 1856. His father, Benjamin Webster, a native of Leeds, Yorkshire, England, came to this country at the age of fourteen, and died in 1890 while on a visit to his native land, and is buried near his birthplace. His mother, Elizabeth Helf, a native of Bavaria, Germany, came to America at the age of five years, and is still living on Orchard street in this city. Charles obtained a partial school educa- tion in Leicester, but at an early age went to work in the carding-room of the old Booth Bottomly woolen mill at Cherry Valley, afterwards working at the Ash- worth & Jones' mill in the same depart- ment, and continued in that situation until he came to Worcester in 1870. Here he attended the Belmont street school and the high school. He afterwards passed six months in England for his health, and finished his education. In 1875 he located in Middletown, New York, where he was employed for three years as superintend- ent of an eleven-set woolen mill, and after a two years' residence in Yonkers in the same business, returned to Middle- town, finally leaving there and coming again to Worcester in 1881. He was in the grocery basiness here between two and three years, and then became a traveling salesman for the whole- sale grocery house of Babcock & Brigham of Providence, Rhode Island, his territory covering New England, and removed to Providence with his family. Later Mr. Webster was in the employ of Cobb, Aldrich & Co. of Boston, and of the importing house of the R. L. Rose Company of Provi- dence, and left the latter to enter into business for himself, organizing the Worcester Welting Company at Worcester in 1892. This concern did a large business during Mr. Webster's connection with it, exporting shoe welts to several European countries, besides supplying the domestic trade. From the time that he Avas a boy working in the mill, and during all the years that he was engaged in business, Mr. Webster had given his spare time to study, particularly of the law, and had always cherished an ambition to enter that profession. He was, therefore, at the time he entered the office of P. T. Carroll, Esquire, to prepare for entrance to the bar, well CHARLES S. WEBSTER. r I m ^W| lp^^ \ GEORGE D. WEBB. The Worcester of 1898. 785 advanced in the knowledge of that branch of learning, and after about two years' study was admitted to practice June 30, 1897. He is now engaged in general law business, principally civil matters, but gives much attention to probate and insolvency cases. In politics Mr. Webster has always been a Democrat, and has served as delegate in city, county and councilor conventions, but has invariably declined office. In religion he is an Episcopalian. He is a 32° Mason, a Knight Templar of St. John's Commandery of Providence, the oldest commandery in the country; and a member of Palestine Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is a member of Eagle Lodge, No. 2, I. O. O. P., of Provi- dence; and is senior past chancellor of Lancelot Lodge, No. 169, K. of P. of Middletown, New York, of which he was the founder and organizer. He has been a member of the Grand Lodge, K. of P., of New York eighteen years. Mr. Webster married, November 5, 1879, Minnie W., daughter of John B. and Henrietta Tarbell of Worcester. They have no children. George Daland Webb was born in Barre, Massachusetts, April 16, 1854. He commenced business for himself when very young, coming to Worcester in 1873 and starting the stone business on a small scale at New Worcester. In 1879 he removed to Millstone hill and opened a quarry. Finding this too small for his energy and aspirations, he went into the same business at Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, in 1882. Three years later he opened his works at Marlborough, New Hampshire, where he now has one of the largest and finest granite quarries in this country. He disposed of the quarries at Fitzwilliam in 1895. In 1891 the Webb Granite & Construction Company was incorporated under the laws of New Hampshire, with headquarters in Worcester. Mr. Webb is the president and manager. The business has increased rapidly, and its building operations extend all over New England. The company's quarries are on a branch of the Fitchburg railroad, and it ships out about three thousand cars of stone each year. Much of it comes to its yard in this city, and the works on Crescent street are worth examining. Here it has machinery for cutting, sawing, turning and polishing. It is this year at work on the new County Court House in Worcester; also in erecting a fine substantial block on Waldo street for the Dwight Foster heirs. The stone for the Back Bay station of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Boston, is being furnished by this company. The company employs between five and six hundred men. It built the Union Church on Chestnut street, the Holy Cross College extension, the new city Fire Department building on Bigelow court, Curtis & Marbles* new machine shop. Rice, Barton & Fales' new factory, all of this city; First Congregational Church, Nashua, New Hampshire, and the Somerset Hotel, Boston. Mr. Webb was married in 1875 to Abbie Holman Barnard of New York. They have five children — two boys and three girls. He is a member of the Worcester and Commonwealth Clubs of this city, and the Exchange Club of Boston. He also belongs to the Builders' Exchange and the Board of Trade. 50 FRED W. WELLINGTON. The Worcester of 1898. 787 In politics Mr. Webb is independent, and still retains his residence in New Hampshire. Fred Williams Wellington was born in Shirley, Massachusetts, May 31, 1 85 1. His father, Timothy W. Wellington, who was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, July 4, 181 1, is remembered as a prominent and patriotic citizen of Worcester in the time of the war for the Union, giving four sons to the service of the country, and sacrificing the lives of two of them to the cause; and contributing much in means and effort to ameliorate the hard- ships and relieve the sufferings of the soldiers. He died in Alburg Springs, Vermont, August 26, 1884, aged seventy-three years. The great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch. Captain Timothy Wellington of Lexington, was distinguished in the Revolutionary War. He was a member of Captain Parker's company, the first to meet the king's troops on Lexington Green, April 19, 1775. The family descended from Roger Wellington of Watertown in 1639. Fred W. Wellington came to Worcester with his father's family when the removal from Shirley was made in 1855, and attended the public schools, and also for two years schools in Germany and France. The military instinct was strong in him, and in his youth he was drummer boy, from 1861 to 1865, for the old State Guards. In June, 1868, he became bookkeeper at the First National Bank in Worcester, remaining in that place until October, 1869. He was in charge of the Southbridge street coal yard of T. W. Wellington from October, 1869, to November, 1871, and from that time to June, 1872, was in California. In June, 1872, a partnership was formed under the name of T. W. Wellington & Company, of which firm he was the junior member, for the purpose of carrying on the wholesale and retail coal business, and he remained in that connection till May, 1874. In 1874 Colonel Wellington associated himself with James S. Rogers and Arthur A. Goodell, doing business under the firm name of J. S. Rogers & Company. In 1876 the name was changed to A. A. Goodell & Company, Mr. Rogers retiring. In 1877 Colonel Wellington bought the Hammond street yard, and engaged in the wholesale and retail trade on his own account. The following year the two companies consolidated, and the style became Fred W. Wellington & Co. He is the sole owner of the business at the present time, and has been twenty-one years. He is also president of the American Car Sprinkler Company, for watering streets by electric power. Colonel Wellington joined the militia in 1882, and was commissioned on the 2 2d of March second lieutenant in Battery B, Light Artillery, First Brigade, M. V. M. In January, 1883, he became first lieutenant, and by his great interest in the militia, evinced in various ways, came to be considered a representative military man, and was very popvdar with his command. He became captain September 29, 1884. In January, 1887, he was appointed assistant inspector-general on the staff of Governor Ames, with the rank of colonel. This office he resigned in 1891, and enlisted in Battery B, his old command. He was reappointed to the same position on the staff of Governor Greenhalge in 1894, by whom he was reappointed in 1895; and again by Acting Governor Wolcott, who has continued Colonel JEROME WHEELOCK. The Worcester of 1898. 789 Wellington in the same position by successive annual reappointments to the present time, making seventeen years' continuous service in the State militia, excepting a short interval during the administration of Governor Russell. At the breaking out of the Spanish War of 1898, Colonel Wellington earnestly desired to enter the active service of his country, and received the strongest endorsements as to his qualifications from Governor Wolcott, Senators Hoar and Lodge, and Congressman Walker; and his appointment as inspector-general, with the rank of major, was nearly consummated, but Senator Hoar, after his return home from Washington, for some reason best known to himself, withdrew his support, without which the president would not make the appointment, and the cherished ambition of Colonel Welling- ton's life was defeated. The Wellington Rifles, attached to the Second Massachusetts Regiment in the Cuban War, was named in his honor. He is a 32° Mason, and a member of Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templars. In 1892 he was captain-general in that body. In politics Colonel Wellington has been more or less prominent, serving on the Republican State Central Committee in i887-'88-'89, and returning in i893-'94-'95 and '96, and served as a member of the Executive Committee. He was chairman of the Fourth District Senatorial Committee in 1887- '88, and secretary of the Tenth Congressional Republican District in i886-'87-'88. He was chairman of the Republican County Committee from 1887 to 1898, and still continues in that position. Colonel Wellington married, September 4, 1883, Lydia A., widow of General Arthur A. Goodell, of the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Regiment in the war for the Union. Jerome Wheelock, son of Daniel and Susan (Pratt) Wheelock, was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, June 20, 1834. He is descended in the seventh generation from Ralph Wheelock, who was born in Shropshire, Wales, in 1600; came to America, and died in Dedham, Massachusetts, at the age of eighty-three, through Samuel,^ Samuel,^ Paul," Paul,' and Daniel.* He received the benefits of such limited opportunities as the common schools of the period afforded, and at an early age left his home without the knowledge or consent of his parents, and his whereabouts and circumstances were unknown to them until he was in a situation of independence. By the assistance of the Honorable Abraham M. Bigelow he obtained a place in the Taunton Locomotive Works, and served a full apprenticeship, leaving that establishment with the highest recommendations as to his ability and trustworthiness. In 1858 he came to Worcester and entered the employ of the Washburn Iron Works, and while in this situation he invented the now celebrated Wheelock steam cylinder packing, and soon engaged, in company with Mr. Charles A. Wheeler, in its manufacture extensively. After the death of Mr. Wheeler in 1867, Mr. Wheelock carried on the business alone. During the next two or three years several inventions by Mr. Wheelock appeared in rapid succession, and in 1870 the works on Union street were occupied, 790 The Worcester of 1898. where these and the Wheelock cni;ine were developed. With the money obtained through the success of minor patents, he was able to perfect and to bring to a practical demonstration the engine, and the universal acknowl- edgment by the most competent mechanical experts of its merits is sufficient proof of its excellence. In 1875 the great gold medal of progress, the only one ever awarded for a steam engine, was given Mr. Wheelock by the American Institute, New York. He also received the medal and diploma of the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. At the Paris International Exposition of 1878 he was awarded the grand prize, the only one for a steam engine, and he was one of the eight in this country that received this honor. At London, Edinburgh, Brussels and Cincinnati, the Wheelock engine was given the highest prize, and it has also received the commendation of the highest mechanical experts in all countries. The various stages of development of this engine to its perfect construction were not passed, as is well known to the citizens of Worcester, without a continual and persistent struggle to attain that end. The Wheelock engine is now manufactured in the United States, Canada, England, France, Belgium, and other countries. In 1888 the Wheelock Engine Company was incorporated, and Mr. Wheelock was relieved of the active management and given time to develop to a fuller degree the usefulness of his inventions. Several years ago he devised a system of ventilation for large halls, which has been successfully demonstrated in Mechanics Hall in Worcester, and he was in consequence given a special vote of thanks by the trustees of the Worcester County Musical Association. Mr. Wheelock has taken out a large number of patents, and has crossed the Atlantic sixty-six times in the interest of his inventions abroad. Mr. Wheelock is a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and in 1879 the Iron and vSteel Institute of Great Britain made him a member without solicitation, and in 1898 he was made a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers of London, one of the oldest scientific bodies in Great Britain. He is a t,2° Mason. In politics he is a Republican, but he has never sought or accepted office, though often solicited. His religious views are liberal. He is against all shams that masquerade as piety under whatever name, but believes fully in the practical application of the doctrine that sixteen ounces make a pound, and one hundred cents a dollar. He is a man of presence and distinguished personal appearance. Mr. Wheelock married in June, 1858, Lydia Ann Robinson of Concord. Of five children, two sons are living, Herbert and Harvey Lincoln, the latter a graduate of Harvard University, class of 1896, and now of Columbia Law vSchool; he was admitted to the New York bar in June, 1898. A distinguished authority says of Mr. Wheelock: "As an inventor his name occupies a high place on the rolls of those distinguished engineers whose works adorn their country and their age." The Worcester of 1898. 791 Joseph S. Wesby. In a place like Worcester, which one hundred years ago was probably the most important book-publishing centre in this country, and in which the formation of several valuable libraries has been in progress for many years, bookbinding is an important branch of indus- try. Isaiah Thomas undertook to maintain binderies in connection with his large publishing business, and in a measure succeeded, some of the finest of his editions being bound in his own establishment; but he was obliged to let out much of his less costly and elaborate work to persons in various parts of the county, who took the folded sheets to their homes and clothed them in the wooden boards, covered with dark blue paper and plain sheepskin backs, the style so common at that time. This required little skill or training. It is a singular fact that the origin of Robert B. Thomas's celebrated ''Old Farino-'s Almanac^' was in the circumstance that the author, who had bound books for Isaiah Thomas in the manner above stated, and had taken his pay in printed almanacs which he sold about the country, had a falling out with the Worcester printer, which caused his supply of those useful pamphlets to be shut off, and he issued an almanac of his own, which has long outlived the one of which it was a rival. Early bookbinders in Worcester were George Merriam, who married a daughter of Reverend Doctor Joseph Sumner of Shrewsbury. He died in 1802. For many years Clark Whittemore was almost the sole representative of the craft in the town, and he was not all the time in business for himself, but worked for Clarendon Harris and other book- sellers in shops which the}^ maintained. Andrew Hutchinson next succeeded with intervals of absence from Worcester, followed by Elijah H. Marshall, William Allen, Jonathan Grout and others. In 1842 Hutchinson & Crosby were running a bindery opposite the old Central Church on Main street, and it is at this time that the subject of this sketch first appeared in Worcester. Joseph S. Wesby was born in Philadelphia February 18, 1818. The origin of the family name is involved in obscurity, and it has few known representatives. Certain ancestors lived in Madeira, and were extensively engaged in business, and found their way to Philadelphia through the ways of commerce. The life of the boy of whom we write was much like that of others of his time, receivmg such advantages as the common schools of the city of his birth afforded, and being early apprenticed to a useful calling, in his case that of a pilot on the numerous water-ways in and around Philadelphia. After a while, however, finding that the duties exacted of him were irksome, and the associations and surroundings not according to his liking, he made his way back to his home, and soon after engaged in the vocation which he followed to the end of his life. He entered the employ of the since well-known publishing house of Lippin- cott, and there was initiated into and thoroughly mastered the mysteries and difficulties of the art of bookbinding. After the term for which he had been engaged expired, he worked at his trade in Philadelphia, and then made his way to Boston, and was employed in the bindery of the famous Bradlevs, and wdiile there an advertisement of the above-named Worcester JOSEPH S. WESBY. The Worcester of 1898. 793 firm met his eye, and he came to this town about the beginning of the year 1843, and took a place in their establishment as a temporary supply. At that time John B. Gough, then just beginning his distinguished career as a reformer and orator, was an employee of Hutchinson & Crosby. In his autobiography he states that being distrustful of his ability to maintain himself by lecturing on temperance, he asked permission to leave his work for two weeks, and return if not successful in his new calling. He was binding polyglot Bibles and had fifty of them in process of com- pletion, so he carefully wrapped his apron around them and went away, "and never saw books or apron afterwards." There is evidence that Mr. Wesby finished those Bibles, for he took Mr. Gough's place in the bindery. Naturally industrious and enterprising, the young man did not long remain in the position of an employee, and as early as 1845 we find him in business for himself, and thus he continued for a period of over forty years until his death, November 3, 1886. During most of this time he carried on the largest bindery in Worcester, and the only one capable of executing at all times all classes of work. Not a small part of his patronage from the first came from the library of the American Antiquarian Society, and this was supplemented by the binding from the Lyceum Library, which with the Doctor Green collection formed the nucleus of the Free Public Library. This patronage has continued to the present time in increasing proportions, which with the commercial and other work from the several large printing-offices in the city and State, contribute to the extensive business now in the hands of the sons of the founder, Herbert and Edward Wesby, under the name of J. S. Wesby & Sons. During the half century since the business was established, various locations have been occupied, two nearly opposite the head of Central street on Main, one of them being the southern store in Dickinson block, where he carried on a book-store in connection with the bindery, and was burned out in 1854; another on the site of the Burnside building; and the present quarters at 387 Main street were taken in i860. Since the death of their father the sons have established a branch at 50 Foster street, where most of the printed bookbinding is done, leaving the blank-book work at the old place, where the business office remains. Mr. Wesby married Annie E. Puffer, who died October 26, 1898. The children of this marriage, two sons and a daughter, survive their parents. John Whitaker was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, July 5, 1839. His father was a silk-printer in that city, and soon after the birth of John the family moved to Staten Island, New York. In 1849, when the California gold fever broke out, the father departed for the Pacific coast, and was never afterwards heard from. The son was thus early thrown upon his own resources, and began at the age of eleven to keep books for a coal-dealer. Some time later he was sent to Worcester to attend school, and within a few months his mother followed him. After his schooling was completed, he engaged himself to J. Brown, who had a shop on Mechanic. street, to learn the machinists' trade, and continued 794 The Worcester of 1898. JOHN WHITAKER. in that situation until he arrived at the age of twenty-one, when he began business for himself as a manufacturer of loom- reeds, in whit:h he continued to the end of his life, and in which he achieved great success. At one time he added rail-mak- ing to his business, but this was hot con- tinued. His loom-reeds were supplied to all sections of the country, particularly to the South, in the equipping of the new mills there. In the manufacture he kept pace with all the modern improvements, and in all his methods he was systematic and practical. At his death he had ac- quired a handsome competence, the result of his industry and enterprise. In early years Mr. Whitaker received an injury which resulted in a permanent lameness, which did not, however, affect his activity. He was a man of genial temperament and social disposition, and made many friends. He was a 32° Mason, a life member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association and the Worcester County Agricultural Society, and a trustee and treasurer of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1875 he married Jeanette E. Waite of this city, who died three years later, leaving one daughter, Nettie S. While visiting in the South, he made the acquaintance of Mrs. Mary A. Irwin, a woman of many accomplishments, the widow of a cotton-planter, who after her first husband's death carried on a cotton plantation at Mechanicsburg, near Yazoo City, Mississippi, and they were married on the 6th of January, 1890. Mr. Whitaker died on the 3rd of March, 1897. Harvey Bradish Wilder, son of Alex- ander H. and Harriet E. Wilder, was born in Worcester October 12, 1836. He was educated in the public schools and at Leicester Academy. In 1855 he be- came a clerk with Ticknor & Fields, the widely known publishers of Boston, in their famous "Old Corner Bookstore." He returned to Worcester in September, 1856, and entered the ofifice of the regis- ter of deeds as head clerk, holding this position until the death of his father in 1874, when he was appointed by the County Commissioners to succeed him as register. This ofifice he resigned in 1875, but was elected to fill it again in 1876, and by successive reelections has continued to harvey b. wilder. The Worcester of 1898. 795 discharge its duties to the present time, having now been connected with the registry for a period of forty-two years, with the exception of the year 1876. Mr. Wilder has always had an interest in military matters, and was a member of the City Guards from 1S56 to 1861, and for many years has been a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. He is connected in Worcester with several social and other organizations. As a public official he is distinguished by his uniform courtesy, and in private life is esteemed for his sterling qualities. Mr. Wilder has been twice married; first, to Anna F. Chapman of Ossipee, New Hampshire, who died November 12, 1864; second, to Mary J., daughter of Doctor Jefferson Pratt of Hopkinton, June 14, 1870. He has one son, Charles P., by the last marriage. Samuel Winslow* was born in Newton, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, February 28, 1827. He was a descendant from that family which was prominent in the early history of Plymouth colony. He was educated in the common schools, and was in his boyhood employed in the manufacture of cotton machinery, and at the age of twenty he was made foreman of a large shop. . In 1855 he came to Worcester, and with his brother, Seth C. Winslow, started a machine-shop in the Merrifield building on Cypress street. In 1857 they began to manufacture skates, which industry is still continued. After the death of his brother in 1871, Mr. Winslow carried on the business alone until the formation of the Winslow Skate Manufacturing Company in 1886, of which corporation he became president and treasurer. Mr. Winslow was a member of the Common Council in i864-'65, an alderman in 1885, and represented the Tenth District in the Legislature in i873-'74. In December, 1885, he was elected mayor and served four years, with one exception, a longer term than any of his predecessors. Mr. Winslow was early identified with the Mechanics Association, and served it as trustee, vice-president and president. He was a director of the Citizens National Bank, and president from 1889 until his death. He was also a trustee of the People's Savings Bank. During his last years he was interested in organizing and developing the electric railway system of central Massachusetts. He died October 21, 1894. Mr. Winslow married in 1848 Mary, daughter of David and Lydia Robbins of Newton. Two sons, Frank Ellery and Samuel Ellsworth Winslow, were born of this union. Cyrus Grout Wood was born in Uxbridge November 16, 1S19. He died at his residence, 21 Harvard street, this city, March 3, 1898. Though never identified with the manufacturing interests of Worcester, his home was here from May 8, 1880, and few men had a deeper concern in all that pertained to the city's lasting good. Of long Massachusetts lineage, he early began the battle of life in his native town. As a merchant and manufacturer, he excited and retained the thorough confidence of all his fellow townsmen, and as an Uxbridge business man he continued until in 1874, when the chief See portrait on page 66. I- CYRUS G. WOOD. The Worcester of 1898. 797 part of his interests were transferred to the town of Holden, where, at Quinapoxet, he developed the extensive satinet business of that thriving hamlet. No man ever gave more complete attention to his duties, yet he always had time to look after the welfare of his employees, and to join heartily in the joys and concerns of his neighbors. A Republican in politics, he left undone no task that appeared his to perform, and in 1855 he represented Uxbridge in the Legislature. A member of the Unitarian Church in Worcester, he was an interested listener to the ministrations of the Rev. Calvin Stebbins, who, at the funeral of his parishioner, spoke eloquently and feelingly of his worth. He was a charter member of the Uxbridge Lodge of Odd Fellows. In Worcester he was at one time a director of the Citizens National Bank, a member of the Board of Trade, and an active worker in The Worcester Society of Antiquity. From a tribute written by a personal friend after the death of Mr. Wood, the following extracts are taken: " His influence was always on the right side. He was open and generous- hearted. In every good cause he was ever ready to contribute of his means and his energy. He had decided opinions, but they were intelligently formed and never offensively expressed. " He liked to see young people growing up under wholesome influences and starting in right courses of life, and many a young man was encouraged by his friendly and cheerful words. "Integrity was one of his marked characteristics, and it never failed to secure him the confidence of all with whom he was associated in business, while his strong attachments, his love of his home, his family, his friends, his church, and his native town and its associations made him highly esteemed in a wide circle of acquaintances. Though his mind was conserva- tive, he was of an enthusiastic nature. In his age he displayed the enthusiasm of boyhood in whatsoever things he liked." His widow, nee Southwick; his daughters, Gertrude Southwick and Sarah Louise, continue to reside at 21 Harvard street. His elder son, John Franklin, married Mary Leonard of Putnam, Connecticut, and has his home in Quinapoxet; Ernest Henry, the youngest son, married Adelaide Wyman, and resides at 69 West street in Worcester. The business begun by Mr. Wood is carried on by the two sons at Ouinaj^oxet. Edwin Hayward Wood was born in Bolton, Massachusetts, in 1829, but his parents moved to the old homestead in West Acton when he was a child, and in that place he remained until 1849, when he came to Worcester. His boyhood days were spent in the public schools of his native town and in working on the farm with his father. He is a descendant of the Hayward family that took a prominent part in the early days of the Revolution. James Hayward, a brother of Mr. Wood's grandfather, was killed while fighting in Captain Davis's company at the battle of Lexington April 19, 1775. Mr. Wood learned the machinists' trade of Daniel Tainter, and when only twenty-five years old he was given the management of Mr. Tainter's shop. This was one of the largest and best shops of its kind in those days. 798 The Worcester of 1898. EDWIN H. WOOD. In iSjj; he first engaged in business on his own account, and was success- fully continuing' it when he entered into arrangement with Messrs. Harwood & Quincy for the making of the Bramwell feeder. This was in 1878, and when the Harwood & Quincy Machine Company was organized in 1881, Mr. Wood took a third interest and was made the general manager, a position he has held ever since. Mr. Wood was married in 1854 to Calista Johnson of Worcester, who died in i860. One child was born to them, who lived until he was three years and three months old. In 1862 Mr. Wood was married to his present wife, who was Miss Katie M. Hey wood of this city. They have two children : a son, Frederick Crosby, born January 3, 1870, who has learned the machinists' trade, and now works in the Harwood & (Juincy Machine Company's factory with his father; and Bessie Rutherford, born September 2, 1885. The family reside at 48 Queen street, corner of King, where they have a beautiful home, wdiich \vas pur- chased in 1891. Mr. Wood joined the Masonic fraternity in 1865, and is a member of Eureka Royal Arch Chapter and the Knights Templars. He is a Republican in politics, and attends Piedmont Church. Though sixty-nine years of age, time has sat lightly on him, and few would believe him to be over sixty. Oliver Brooks Wood, son of Eliphalet S. and Susan Hudson (Farrar) Wood, was born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, February 7, 1857. At the age of twelve he began work in a printing-oflice in Winchendon, and with the exception of about five years spent in obtaining his education, he has been actively engaged in the printing business from that time. At an early age he became foreman in the newspaper and job ofiice of the Franklin County Times at Greenfield, and later was engaged in offices in Fitchburg and Chicago. In 1878 he returned East and took charge of the job-printing 'estab- lishment of Edward R. Fiske, in Worces- ter, at that time one of the largest offices in the city. In 1880 he engaged with Sanford & Co., stationers and printers^ as foreman of their printing department, and in 1882 purchased a half interest in this department, which was conducted OLIVER B. WOOD. The Worcester of 1898. 799 under the name of Sanford & Wood until a few months later, when he became the sole owner, and has carried on the business alone to the present time. In 1894, having outgrown the old quarters on Maple street, he removed to the commodious building at No. 50 Foster street, where his establishment occupies the entire second story. Law and mercantile printing is a specialty, and the work of his office has always maintained a high reputation for excellence and accuracy. Mr. Wood is connected with several Masonic, military, social and other bodies in Worcester, and has been president of the local Typothetae. In politics he is a Republican. He was married in 188 1 to Jennie Chase Flagg of Grafton. They have had four children: Olive Marguerite, Roger Hamilton (died in infancy), Hamilton Brooks and Gladys Jeannette Wood. William Woodward,* son of Francis Gardner and Mary (Phillips) Woodward, was born in Worcester October 23, 1856. He was educated in the public schools, graduating from the high school in 1874. The same year he entered the Central National Bank as clerk, and successively filled different positions in that institution until he was elected cashier in January, 1892. Mr. Woodward has been a constant student of financial and economic subjects, and for several years has contributed regularly to current financial literature, articles from his pen appearing from time to time in the Bankers Magazine 2inA the leading New York and Boston journals. He has published two monographs: the first, issued in 1886, entitled "Our Future Money," is a succinct presentation of suggestions regarding a proper basis for our paper currency, and of the relative merits of gold and silver as monetary standards; the second, " A History of Massachusetts Savings Banks," pub- lished in 1889, was favorably received as a contribution to our State history. Mr. Woodward is prominently identified with religious and benevolent activities of the city, and is a member of the Piedmont Congregational Church, in which he holds several official positions. He was for twenty years an officer or director of the Young Men's Christian Association, and its president for two years; he is president of the City Missionary Society, and treasurer of the Home for Aged Women. He is frequently called upon to speak on financial and literary topics, and his efforts are always well received and highly appreciated. * See portrait on page 37S. GENERAL INDEX. Page. Abercrombie, Daniel W., portrait, 17S; sketch, 537 Aborn, James S. .portrait and sketch, 538-539 Academ}^ Worcester, 174-180; library, 217 Adams Hall, 177 Agricultural Implements and Machinery, 511 Agricultural Society, land given to, 78; sketch, 225 Agricultural Products of Worcester, 361 Alden, George I. , portrait and sketch, 539-540 Aldrich, P. Emory, mayor 1S62; por- trait,*36; administration of, 37 Allen, Charles A., portrait and sketch, 540-541 Allen, Rev. George, 79 Allen, Ethan, portrait and sketch, 541-545 Allen, George L. , portrait, 523 Allen, Lamson, portrait and sketch, 546-549 Allen, William, portrait, 523 Allen, William P., portrait, 523 Allen Boiler Works, 524 All Saints' Church, 29S Almshouse, 21; new, 25, 241 American Antiquarian Society, 222-224; library, 204-209 American Card Clothing Companj', 46S-471 American Political Society, 221 "Ancient Willow," poem, 438 "Angel Gabriel," 27 Aqueduct Corporation, 21 Armory, 55; illustration, 278 Art League, 233 Art Museum, gift of, 74; illustration, 232; sketch, 234 Art Society, 229 Art Students' Club, 233 Associated Charities, 245 Athenaeum, Worcester County, 222 Athy, Andrew, 82, 95; portrait and sketch, 54S-551 Atlantic Cable Celebration, 31 Auger, Louis L. , portrait and sketch, 551-2 "Aurora" Block, 432 SI Back, John R. , portrait, 145; sketch, 146 Bacon, Peter C, mayor 1S51-2; portrait, 22; administration, 23 Bailey, W. A., residence, 31S Baker Lead Company, 527 Baker, Peter, 527 Baldwin, John S. , portrait and sketch, 551-554 Ball, Phinehas, mayor 1865; portrait, 42; administration, 43; sketch, 553 Bancroft Endowment Fund, 253 Bangs Librarj', 217 Bank Block, 373 Banks, 363-378 Barber, B. A., residence, 319 Barnard, Lewis, portrait, 412; sketch, 556 Barnard, vSumner & Putnam Company, 411-415 Barrett, Thomas J., portrait, 141; sketch, 142 Barton, William vS. , portrait and sketch, 154 Batchelder, George E. , portrait and sketch, 157 Batchelder, Frank R., poem, 163; por- trait and sketch, 556-557 Bates, Theodore C. , portrait and sketch, 557-559 Bath-House, public, 75 Bell, Broken, 46 Bell Pond, 41, 57 Bemis, Merrick, portrait and sketch, 559-562 Benchley, Charles H. .portrait and sketch, 161 Betichley, Edmund N. , portrait and sketch, 28 1 Benefactors of Worcester, 247-257 Beneficiary Organizations, 272 Bent, Charles M. , portrait, 378; sketch, 562 Benton, Thomas H., 79 Betterment Act, 46 Bi-centennial celebration, 63 Bigelow Monument, 37, 251 Bigelow, Horace H., gift of park land, 255, 352; portrait and sketch, 563-565 Blackstone Canal, 17, 442 Blake, George F. , Jr., portrait and sketch, 565-567 802 The Worcester of 1898. Blake, James B. , mayor 1S66-1S70; por- trait, 44; administration, 45; death, Board of Trade, 4"7 Boiler Manufacture, Bomb Explosion, Boot and Shoe Manufacture, 516 Boston Store, Boulevard, Bowker, John B. , portrait and sketch, Boyden, Elbridge, portrait and sketch, 567- Boynton, John, Boynton, Charles D. , j^ift of park, 256, Brady, John ()., portrait and sketch, Braman, Dow & Co., Brannon, Henry, portrait, 142; sketch, Brewer & Company, 425- Bridges, Steel, Brierl}', Benjamin, portrait, Briggs, Gov. George N., Brigham, John vStillman, portrait and sketch, 48 3- Brown, Alzirus, portrait and sketch, 569- Brown, Edwin, portrait and sketch, 570- Brown, Freeman, portrait, 160; sketch, Brownell, George L. , portraits, 406, 572; sketch, Bryant, George C. , residence, Bullock, Alexander H. , mayor 1859; ad- ministration, 31; portrait, 32; eulogy on Lincoln, Biickley, Thomas H., portrait, Bullock Medal Fund, Burial Grounds, on Common, 27; Rac- coon Plain, 30; Pine street. Burns, William H., portrait and sketch, 574 Burns, William IT., Company, Burritt, Elihu, Burtis, George TL, residence, Butman Riot, Buttrick, Albert C. , portrait and sketch, 576 49 410 523 23 •518 420 46 156 •569 190 354 157 525 143 -426 73 526 17 -484 -571 -573 159 573 357 45 525 253 39 •576 515 227 443 27 •577 Carpenter, Chas. H., portrait and sketch, 41S Carpets and Textiles, 4iS7, 495 Carroll, Clarence F. , portrait, 16S; sketch, 577> 579 Catholicity in Worcester, 293 Causeway over the Lake, 35 Celebration, Atlantic cable, 31; nation's centennial, 57; bi-centennial, 63 Centre School District, 21 Central Bank, 367 Central Church, 2S7 So 245 -162 Page. Central Exchange Building, 375 Cereal Machine Company, 51S-521 Chamberlain, Robert H., portrait and sketch, 579-580 Chamberlin, Henry IT, portrait and sketch, 57S-579 Chapin, Henry, mayor iS49-'5i; por- trait and administration, 20; sketch, 5S0 Charities, Public, 237-245 Charter, city, revised, 46; new, 71; and Municipal Government by Mayor I^odge, 337-343 Chase, Charles A., portrait, 362; sketch, 5S1 Children's Friend Society, 243 Choral Union Library, 215 Citizens Eank, 367 City Bank, 369; building, 377 City, Bird's-eye Views, 210 City Government, i8g8, 139-153 Cit}' Hall, old, 77-79; view of, 76; alter- ations in, 19-45; history of, 77-79 City Hall, New, corner-stone, S3-93; contents of box, S9-90; dedication, 93-118; description, iiS; cost, 99; west front, frontispiece; east front. City Missionary Society, City Officials, 1898, i Clark, Jonas G., residence, 316; por- trait and sketch, 5S2-5S4 Clark, William L. , portrait and sketch, 584-586 Clark University opened, 367; account of, 194-197; library, 217 Clarke, J. H., &• Co., 417-419 Clarke, Josiah H., portrait, 416; sketch, 5S6 Clubs, Social, 329 Coates Clipper ]\Ianufacturing Co., 508-509 Goes, Lpring, portrait and sketch, 587-589 Coes Wrench Compan3% 502-503 Coffey, James C, sketch, 159; portrait, 160 College of the Holy Cross, 1S0-185; view, 182; librarj^ Colvin, Caleb, portrait, Comins, Irving E. , portrait. Commercial Interests, Commercial Street, Common, vote to remove railroad tracks, 47; tracks removed, 59; removal of Old South Church, Connelly, John H., portrait, 145; sketch, Conrad, Rev. A. Z. , portrait, 2S4; sketch, Contagious Diseases, 350; hospital. Contractors, Worcester, 216 386 406 4"-434 474 65 146 589 75 52S The Worcester of 1898. 803 Cooperative Banks, Corsets and Underwear, Court-House, view, Court Mills, Page. 37S 512-513 214 4+3 Crane, Ellery B., portrait, 262; sketch, 590 Crompton, George, portrait, 466; anec- dote, 535 Crompton & Knowlcs Loom Works, 460, 467 Curtis, Albert, 24S ; portrait, 448; sketch, 591 Curtis Chapel, 256-257 Curtis & Marble ^Machine Company, 475-477 Dale Hospital, 175 Dam Burst, 57 Davis, Edward L. , mayor 1S74; por- trait, 54; administration, 53; sketch, 592; gift of parkland, 255, 352; an- ecdote, 536 Davis, Isaac, mayor 1S56, 1858, 1861; portrait, 28; administrations of , 29, 31, 35; gift to hospital, 24S ; sketch, 593; tendered gift of park, 38 Davis, John, 7S Davis Hall, 175, 177 Davis Tower, 138 Death Rate, 349 Debt of City, iS48-'97, 75; in 1S98, 165 Dedication of new City Hall, 93-iiS Denholm, William A., portrait and sketch, 595-97 Denholm & McKay Company, 420 Denominational Strength, 291 Devens, Charles, 63; portrait, 280 Dewey Charity Funds, 253 Dewey, Francis H., portraits, 374, 406; sketch, 596 Dexter Hall, 177 Dexter, William H., portrait and sketcn, 597, 600 Diphtheria, 350 Directory Library, 219 Diseases, 350-351 Dispensaries, 239 Dodge, Rufus B., Jr., maj^or i898-'99; acceptance of City Hall, 100-102; sketch, 139; portrait, 140; chapter on City Charter, 337, 343 Dodge, Thomas H., gift of park, 256; residence, 270; Willow park, portrait and sketch, 600-603 Downey, Daniel, portrait and sketch, 603-604 Drainage, 347 Draper, Edwin, portrait and sketch, 604-607 Draper, James, portrait and sketch, 607-608 Draper Machine Tool Company, 499 Drennan, James M. , portrait and sketch, 160-161 Duncan, Harlan P. , portrait, 406 Dwinnell, B. D. , portrait, 3S6 Eames, D. H., portrait and sketch, 423-425 Earle, Edward, portrait, 48; adminis- tration, 51 ; sketch, 608 Earle, Stephen C, portrait and sketch, 609-610 Earle, Timothy K. , portrait, 470; sketch, 610 Eddy, Harrison P., portrait, 159 Educational Institutions, 167-197 Electric Light, first, 63; company, 403-405 Electric Railways, 69, 395-399 Elm Park, 27, 352 Ely, Lyman A. , portraits, 386, 406 Employment Society, 243 Envelope Industrj-, 478-48 "Evans" Apartment Block, 434, 437 Explosions, 23, 31, 49 " Fairlawn," residence J. A. Norcross, 697-699 Facts of Interest, 360 Fanning, David H. , portrait and sketch, 611-613 Farwell, James E., portrait and sketch, 617; residence, 617 Fa3'erweather, J. A. , portrait, 386 Financial Institutions, 363-388 Fire Department, 21, 30, 38, 41, 113, 357; new headquarters, 75; illustra- tion, 336 Fire Engines, First Steam, 33 Fire Insurance Companies, 380 Fire Society, Worcester, 222 Fires, 27, 55 First National Bank, 371 First Parish Rights, 65 Five Cents Savings Bank, 373 Flodin, Ferdinand, portrait and sketch. 614-615 Fobes, Hiram, portrait and sketch, 615-617 Fobes, Mrs., residence, 323 Forehand Arms Company, factor}-, 510; account, 512 Forehand, Sullivan, portrait and sketch, 618-619 Foster, Calvin, portrait, 370; sketch, 619 Foster Street Extension, 59 Franklin Building, 328 8o4 The Worcester of 1898. Pa<.k. P'raternal Oi'ders, 267-274 Free Public Library, foundation, 33; Sunday opening, 51; account of, 198- 204 ; benefactions, 253 Free Masons, 267 Free-Soil Party, 79 Frohsinn Club House, 338 (nibriel (see "Ang-el (labriel"). Gage, Dr. Thomas II., portrait, 638 Gaskill, Francis A., portrait and sketch, 620-621 (las Light Company, formation, 23; ac- count of, 402 General Court, Worce.ster in, 259-265 Gilbert, Lewis N., portrait, 386 (iile, William A., portrait and sketcli, 621-624 (jill Benefaction, 248 Globe Corset Company, 512-515 Goodnow, Edward A., portrait, 368; sketch, 624 Good Samaritan Society, 244 Gough, John B. , 79 (lOuld, Rev. George H. , portrait and sketch, 627; residence, 629 Goulding, Frank P., portrait, 122; ad- dress, 123, 13 r Grade Crossings, no, 395; law, 71 Grand Army, 271,275 Grant, Charles E., portrait and sketch, 632-634 Graton, Henry C. , portrait and sketch, 635-637 Graton & Knight Manufacturing Co. , 521 Greeley, H. C. , portrait, 386 Green, Dr. John, gift of books, 33 ; bene- faction, 253; death and legacy, 45, 253; portrait, 254 (ireen, Samuel S. , portrait, 202; sketch, 631 ; chapter on libraries, 199-219 (ireene, J. Evarts, portrait, 308; sketch, 631 ; chapter on Post Office, 309-327 Griffin, Rt. Rev. Thomas, prayer, 121 ; portrait, 291; sketch, 637 Grout, John William, portrait and sketch, 281 Grout, Jonathan, portrait and sketch, 636-638 (luy I'urniture Comjiany, 430 Had wen, Obadiah K. , portrait and sketch, 639-643 Hahnemann Hospital, 239 Hall, Frank B., .sketch, 144; portrait, 145 Hall, Ci. Stanley, 196-197; portrait, 406 Hammond, Andrew IL, portrait and sketch, 643-645 ; residence, 447 Hammond Bequest, 249 Hammond Reed Company, factory, 528 Hard Times of 1857, 534-535 Harrington, Francis A., mayor iS90-'92; admini.stration, 67; portrait, 68 Harrington & Richardson Arms Co., 51 1-5 12 Harris, Henry F. , portrait and sketch, 644-647 Hartshorn, Calvin L. , portrait and sketch, 647-649 Harwood & Ouincy Machine Co., 477-47S Hawes, Russell L. , portrait and sketch, 649-650; reference to inventions of, 533 Health, Board of, 57, 108, 349 Health, Public, 345-35' Heath, Frank M., portrait and sketch, 146 Healy, Richard, portrait, 379; sketch, 650-651 Henshaw Pond, 30 Heywood Boot & Shoe Company, 516-517 Hey wood, Samuel R. , portrait, 372; sketch, 651 Higgins, E. G. , Company, 431-433 Higgins, Frank E., portrait and sketch, 433 Highland Military Academy, 185-189; library, 217 High vSchool, buildings, 47, 173; Classi- cal, 170; library, 217; English, 69, 172; library, 217 Highways (see Streets), 108-109 Hildreth, Charles H., 2d, portrait, 142; sketch, 143 Hildreth, Samuel E. , mayor 1883; ad- ministration, 61; portrait, 62; .sketch, 652 "Hillside," summer residence W. T. Hogg, 491 Historical Society, Worcester County, 222 Hoar, George F. , 45, 63; portrait, 312; sketch, 653 Hobbs, Horace, portrait and sketch, 655 Hogg, Wm. F. , portrait and sketch, 489-490 Hogg, Wm. J., portrait and sketch, 487-490 Holmes, Grand Master E. B. , 88, 91, 93 Home Farm (see Almshouse), 241, 255 Home for Aged Men, 241, 244 Home for Aged Women, 241, 244 Home, Temporary, and Day Nursery, 241 Homer, Charles A., portrait and sketch, 423 Homoeopathic Medical Library, 217 Hope Cemetery (see Curtis Chapel), 25, 29 Hopkins, William S. B. , portrait, 130; address, 131-138; sketch, 655 Horse Railroad Company, 39 Horticultural Societ}^ library, 213; ac- count of, 225 The Worcester of 1898. 805 Hospital, City, gift of land for, and open- ing of, 51 ; new, 6i ; gifts to, 247; ac- count of, 237-239 Hospital Libraries, 217 Hospitals, 237, 239 Howaixl, Albert H. , portrait and sketch, 473; factory, 472 Howe, John W. , portrait and sketch, 660-661 Hunt, George C. , portraitand sketch, 146-147 Hunt, James, portrait and sketch, 146-147 Hunt, Richard Morris, Si Huot, Napoleon P , portrait and sketch, 142-143 Hindburt, George B. , portraitand sketch, 156 Hutchins, C. Henry, portraits, 406, 65S; sketch, 657; residence, 659 Hutchins, Fred L. , portraitand sketch, 162 Industries of Worcester, 449 Infectious Diseases, 350 Inman, Albert H., portrait and sketch, 147-148 Institute Park, 256, 353 Insurance Companies, 379-3S8 Isolation Hospital, 239, 256 Jacques, Urgel, portrait and sketch, 661, 663 Jail, illustration, 274 Jaques Fund Commission, 57 Jaques, George, offer of land, 47; gift of land, 51, 237, 247; portrait, 246 ; tablet, 248 Jefferson, INIartin V. B. , portrait and sketch, 662-664 Jillson, CJark, mayor 1873, '875, 1876; portrait, 52; administrations, 53, 55; sketch, 664 Johnson, Fred D. , portrait and sketch, 147-14S Johnson, Hannibal A., portrait and sketch, 417-418 Jones, George, first city marshal, 21 Kelley, Frank H., mayor 1880-1881 ; por- trait, 58; administration, 59; sketch, 666 Kendall, Louis J., portraitand sketch, 147-14S Kendall, Sanford C. , portrait and sketch, 148-149 Kent, Chaiies F., portrait, sketch and factory, 474-475 Kent, Rev. George W. , portrait and sketch, 667 Kettle Brook, 71 King, Henry W., portrait and sketch, 668-669 King, Homer, portrait and sketch, 671 Kingsley, Chester W. , portrait and sketch, 670-672 Page. Kingsley Laboratories, 177 Kinney, A. B. F., residence, 358 Knight, Henry A., portrait and sketch, 161-162 Knight, Thomas E., portrait and sketch, 419 Knights Templars, 271 Knowles, Francis B. , portrait, 465 Knowles, Lucius J., portrait, 464 Knowles Maternity Ward, 249 Knowles, Mrs. F. B., residence, 431 Knowlton, John S. C, mayor 1853-1854; portrait, 24; administration, 25 Kossuth, Louis, 25, 79 Lakeside Boat Club, 342 Lamb, Matthew B. , portrait and sketch, 673-674 Lancaster, Frank E. , portraitand sketch, 675-676 Lancaster, JohnE., portrait and sketch, 677-679; residence, 677 Land Recovered, 41 Lapham, Fred A., residence, 317 Law Library, 212 Library (see Public Library). Library Building, corner-stone, 33; new, 69 Life In.surance Companies, 381 Lights, Street, 65; superintendent of, 69 (See Electric Lights.) Lincoln, Abraham, 79 Lincoln, D. Waldo, mayor 1863-1864; ad- ministration, 39; portrait, 40 Lincoln, Edward Winslow, 352 Lincoln, George, sketch, 280 Lincoln, Levi, mayor 1848; portrait, 18; administration, 19 Lincoln Park, 327 Lind, Jenny, 79 Logan, James, portraits, 406, 4S0; sketch, 480-482 Logan, Swift & Brigham Envelope Com- panj^ 478-484 Loom Manufacture, 460-469 Lovers' Lane, 272 Lunatic Hospital, view, 218 Lunch Wagons, 524-525 148-149 Lundberg, John F. , portrait and sketch, Lundborg, Andrew P. , portrait and sketch, 679 Lynde Brook Dam, 57 Macadamization, 45 Maclnnes, John C. , portrait and sketch, 422 Maclnnes, John C. , Company, 421-423 ^lackintire, George W., portrait, 406 8o6 The Worcester of 1898. Machinery and Tools, 495 Mann, Albert G. , portrait and sketch, 679-681 Manufacturing, Developincnl of, 439-447 Manufactures, 449-529 Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance C()m]uiny, 3S0 Marble, Edwin T. , portrait and sketch, 681-683 Marble, John (X, portrait and sketch, 544-546 Marble, J. Russel, portrait, 406 Market, Free, 47 Marsh, Henry A., mayor 1893-1895; ad- ministration, 69; portrait, 70; sketch, 683 Martyrs of Three Wars, 279-281 Mathew, Father, 23 Matthews Manufacturing Company, 508 McAleer, George, portrait, 379; sketch, 684 McClure, Frederick A. , portrait and sketch, 158 McCullagh, Rev. Archibald, prayer, 96; portrait, 288; sketch, 685 McMahon, Bernard H., portrait and sketch, 148 Meagher, John H. , portrait and sketch, 149 Measles, 351 Mechanics Association, library, 212; sketch, 227 Mechanics Bank, 369 Mechanics Hall, dedication, 30; view, 226 IMedical Society, Worcester District ; library, 209-212; sketch, 225 Mellen, James H. , portrait and sketch, 143 Memorial Hospital, 239-240; Aid Society, 244 Mendenhall, Thomas C. , portrait, 406 Mercantile Agencies, 434 Merchants and Farmers Fire Insurance Company, 380 Merriam, Henry H., portrait and sketch, 686-688 Merrifield Buildings, 443 Merrifield Fire, 27 Merritt, Wesley, portrait and sketch, 149 Metcalf, Caleb B. , 185 Miller, Rev. Rodney A., 19 Military Histories, 275 Military- Matters, 275-283 Mix, Rev. Eldridge, portrait and sketch, 688 Moen, Philip L. , portrait, 458; sketch, 6S9 Moir, Alexander J., portrait and sketch, 423 Monahan, Thomas, portrait and sketch, 162 Money Order System, 313 Morgan, Charles H. , portrait and sketch, 689-691 Morgan Construction Company, 503-504 Morgan Spring Company, 504-505 Page. Mortuaiy Table, 349 Municipal Dej^artments, 345-35'^ Alunicipal Government, 337-344 Munroe, Alexander C. , portrait and sketch, 691-694; residence, 693 Munroe, John P., portrait and sketch, 695 Musical Association, library, 215 ; sketch, 229 Musical Instruments, 528 Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 385-386 Mycological Society, 235 Natural History Society, 217, 227 New Common Purchased, 27 Newspapers, 331-335 " Nobility Hill " Removed, 49 Norcross, James A., portrait and sketch, 695-700; residence, 697-699 Norcross, Orlando W. , portrait and sketch, 700-703 Normal School, wState, 192-195; library, 217 Norton Emery Wheel Company, 500-501 Nourse, William J. H., portrait and sketch, 703-705 Nurses' Home, 75, 239, 251-252 O'Connell, David F. , portrait and sketch, 143-144 O'Connell, Philip J., portrait and sketch, 149-150 Odd Fellows, 268, 273 "Old Farmers' Almanac," origin. Old Mill, Institute Park, 361 Old South Meeting-House, centennial, 41; buildings removed, 65; view, 76; account of, 77 Old South Church, 286 Ordinances, Revised, 6r, 73 Orphans' Homes, 243 Ornithological Club, Ridgway, 235 Otis, Harrison G., portrait and sketch, 154-155 Otis, John C. , portrait and sketch, 705-706 Otis, John P. K. , portrait, 506; sketch, 706 Outfall Sewer, 348 Paine, Nathaniel, jiortrait. 220; sketch, 707 Paine, Dr. William, gift tendered, 78 Panic Years, 30, 35- 53 Paper-Making Machinery, 511 Park Act, 353 Park Avenue, 46, 53- 55 Parker, Amos M. , portrait and sketch, 155 Parker, Edmund L., portrait and sketch, 707-708 Parker, Henry L. , portrait, 236; sketch, 709 The Worcester of 1898. 807 Parks Commission, 63, 112; loan, 65; system, 6j, 351-353 Parks Opened, 67 Parmelee, A. W. , portrait, 406 Passenger Trains, 393 Paving of vStreets, 1 1 o Peabody, Charles A., portrait, 266; sketch, 709-710 Peck, Charles H., portrait and sketch, 159 Penney, Rev. Frank D. , portrait and sketch, 710-71 1 People's Savings Bank, 376 Perky, Henry D., 520 Perry, Frank D. , portrait and sketch, 711-713. 715 Perry, Joseph S. , portrait and sketch, 714. 7i5> 717 Phelps, Willis F. , portrait and sketch, 429 Pickett, J(«iah, portrait and sketch, 716, 717, 719 Piedmont Church, 294 Pierce, E. S. , residence, 394 Pilgrim Chvirch, 296 Pine Meadow Sewer, 61, 63 Pinkerton, Alfred S. , portrait and sketch, 718, 719, 720 Piper, Mrs. Nancy S. , residence, 322 Plummer, Osgood, 535 Plymouth Church, 294 Police Department, 355; headquarters, 65; Relief Association, 355; force, 38, 46, 53 Police, Mounted, 57 Policeman, First, 21, 355 Polytechnic Institute, opening, 46,67; account of, 189-191 ; view, 1S8 Poor Department, 114 Population in 1825,17; during fifty years, 75 Post Office Growth, 309 Potter, Burton W. , address, 102-117; portrait and .sketch, 141 ; residence, 324 Powell, Albert M., portrait and sketch, 150-151 Pratt, Charles B. , mayor i877-'79; ad- ministration, 57; portrait, 56; sketch, 720-721 Pratt, Henry S. , portrait and .sketch, 721-723 Pratt, Sumner, portrait and sketch, 724-725 Prentice, Harrison S. , 82; portrait, 344; sketch, 725 Press, The, 331-335 Press, Daily, 53 Prior, Wright S. , portrait and sketch, 158 Property in 189S, 359 Protestant Churches, Public Libraries, Public Service, Purification Works, Page. 285-291 198-219 389-405 69 Putnam, Otis E., portrait, 414; sketch, 726 Quinsigamond Bank, 367 Quinsigamond Lake, Lincoln Park, 328 Railroad Men's Association, 394 Railroad Station, 55, 390 Railroad, stock subscribed for, 47 ; tracks removed, 47, 59 Railroads, Electric, 395-399 Railroads, Steam, 17, 47, 53, 59, 3S9-395 Railways, Street, 29, 67 Raymond, Edward T. , portrait and sketch, 726-727 Reading Room Fund, 45, 253 Rebellion, opening of, 35; end of, 43; cost of, 43. (See Militaiy Matters. ) Records of Worcester, 231 Red Men, 274 Reed, Charles G. , mayor i884-'85; ad- ministration, 63; portrait, 64, 406; sketch, 727 Reed, F. E. , Company, 495-497 Regatta, 119 Relief Funds, 257 Rice, William W. , mayor i860; admin- istration, 33; portrait, 34; sketch, 728 Richardson, Charles A., portrait and sketch, 730-731 Richardson, Charles O. , portrait and sketch, 732-733 Richardson, George W. , mayor 1855, 1857; administrations, 27, 30; portrait, 26 Rivard, John, portrait and sketch, 150-151 Roe, Alfred S. , portrait, 258; sketch, 733 Rogers, Thomas M. , portrait and sketch, 734-735 Royal Arcanum, 273 Rugg, Arthur P. , portrait and sketch, 1 54 Rugg, Charles F., portrait and sketch, 737 Russell, Edward J., portrait and sketch, 143-144 Russell, John M., portrait and sketch, 737-739 Ryan, James F. , portrait and sketch, 151 Safe Deposit Companies, 377, 536 Salisbuiy Bequest, 248 Salisbuiy Laboratories, 67, 191 Salisbuiy, Stephen, 2d, portrait, 364; sketch, 739 8o8 The Worcester of 1898. Salisbury, Stephen, 3(1, portiuit, 366; sketch, 740 Sargent Bequest, 249 Savings Banks, 371-373 Sawin, E. T., residence, 410 Sawyer, Ezra, portrait and sketch, 741 Sawyer, Stephen, portrait, 3S6 Sawyer, William H., 82; address at dedication of new City liall, 97-199; portraits, 98, 406; sketch, 741 Saxe, Janus A., portrait and sketch, 743 vScarlet Fever, 350 Schei-vee, Herman, portrait and sketch, 743-745 School Committee, 30 School-Houses, Dix street, 46; Lamar- tine street, 46; Thomas street, 61, Winslow street, 59 Schools, Private, 197 .Schools, Public, 103-104; 167-174; statis- tics, 173 Seal of the City, 165 Secret Societies, 267-274 Semi-Centennial Celebration, 1 19-138 vSewage Pollution, 61 ; purification act, 65; disposal, 107; plant, 346; works, 348 Sewerage System, 49, 59, 347 Sewers, Pine Meadow, 61, 63; trunk in Sutton lane, 67 Shade Trees and Public Grounds Com- mission, 38. (See Parks Commission. ) wShattuck, Moody E. , portrait and sketch, 745 vShaw Bequest, 248 Shaw, Joseph A., portrait, 187; sketch, 747 vShea, John F. , portrait and sketch, 151 SheiTnan Envelope Company, 487 Small-Pox, 53,351 Smith, Elliott T. , portrait and sketch, 747-749 .Smith, E. T. , Company, 429-430 .Smith, Jesse, portrait and sketch, 749-750 Smith, William A., portrait and sketch, 751-752 Social Clubs, 329 Societies, 221-235 Soldiers' Monument, 49, 252, 276 .Spanish War, 277 Spaulding, Albert A., portrait and sketch, 422 Special Deliveiy, P. O. , 313 Spofford, Harriet Prescott, poem, "An- cient Willow," 438 Sprague, Augustus B. R. , mayor 1896- '97; administration, 73; portrait, 72; sketch, 752; address at laying of cor- ner-stone new City Hall, 85-88 Page. Scjuier, Charles E. , portrait, 406 Staples, Hamilton B. , portrait and sketch, 755 Starr, William 11, portrait and sketch, 756-759 .State Mutual Life Assurance Comjjany, 381 ; building, 382 State Normal School, 192 Statistics, 1848-1897, 75; manufacturing, 1837-1895, 449-4i5 .Steam Roller, First, 63 .Stebbins, Rev. Calvin, prayer, 83-84 Stevens, Charles F. , portrait and sketch, 758-759; "Aurora" block, 432; resi- dence, 760 Stoddard, Elijah B. , mayor 1882, ad- ministration, 61 ; portrait, 60 Stoddard, Marj- E. D. , gift to City Hos- pital, 249 .Stone, A. M., portrait, 4C6 Stoneville Worsted Mills, 4S8 .Street Railways, 39, 67; electric, 69, 395-399 .Streets, 356 St. John's Roman Catholic Church, 302 .St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal Church, 299 .St. Paul's Roman Cathttlic Church, 304 .St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, 305 St. Vincent's Hospital, 239; view of building, 242 St. ^^'ulstan Society, 233 Suburban Railways, 398 .Sumner, George, portrait, 413; sketch, 760 Swedes, First, 47 .Swift, Henry D. and D. Wheeler, por- traits and sketches, 481-483 Taber, Jesse P., portrait and sketch, 761 ; residence, 780 Tatman, Charles T. , portrait and sketch, 763 Tatman, R. James, portrait and sketch, 762-763 Tatnuck Brook Water, 763 Taxation in 1898, 359 Tax Rate, Low, 69; from 1848 to 1897, 75; in 1898, 359 Taylor, Ransom C. , portrait and sketch, 765-767 Telegram New.spaper, 65, 334 Telephone Exchange, 399 Tenney Bequest, 248 Textiles (see Carpets), 495 Thackeray, William M. , 79 Thayer, Edward C. , portrait, 250; gift of Nurses' Home, 251-252; sketcli, 767 The Worcester of 1898. 809 Thayer, Eli, 79; portrait and sketch, 768-771 Thayer, John R. , portrait and sketch, 771-775 Thomas, Benjamin F. , 17, 19, 57 Thomas, Isaiah, gifts to town, 253 Thomas, Robert B. , anecdote, 791 Thompson, Albert M., portrait and sketch, 144 Timon, James F., portrait and sketch, 151-152 Towne, Enoch H., portrait and sketch, 153 Town Hall, sketch of, 77 Trust Funds, City, 247-257 Turner, Charles S. , portrait and sketch, 774-775 Union Church, 290 Union Passenger vStation, 55, 390 Union Water Meter Company, 505-507 Unitarian Church, South, 300 Upham, Roger F. , portraits, 386, 406, 776; sketch, 775 Valuation in 1825, 17; in 1850, 17; from 1848 to 1897, 75; in 1898, 359 Vaudreuil, Joseph G. , portrait and sketch, 777 Vaughan, Charles A., portrait and sketch, 778 VeiTy, George F. , mayor 1872; admin- istration, 51 ; portrait, 50 Veto Power of Mayor, 53 Viaduct, 57. 59 Vital Statistics, 351 Volunteers in the Rebellion, 37 Voters of 1 848, 94 Wachusett Club House, 348 Walker, Joseph H., portrait, 314; sketch, 778 Wall, Caleb A., portrait, 332; notice of, 333 Wall, George F., portrait and sketch, 152 Ward, George H., portrait, 282 Warden, William A., portrait puBsketch, 427 Warden & Phelps, 427 Ware, Justin A., portrait, 406 Warren, Frederick, death of, 31 Warren, John K., portrait and sketch, 781-783 Washburn, Charles F., portrait, 459; sketch, 780 Washburn, Charles G., portrait, 440; sketch, 779 Washburn, Ichabod, 241 Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Com- pany, 456-460 Washington Club House, 340 Water and Sewer Department Building, 46 Water Supply, 2r, 30, 106; failure, 71 Water Works, 43, 59, 345 Webb, George D. , portrait and sketch, 7S4-785 Webster, Charles S. , portrait and sketch, 783 Webster, Oaniel, 77 Welcome Mission, 243 Wellington, Fred W. , portrait and sketch, 786-787 Wesby, Joseph S. , portrait and sketch, 791-792 Wheelock, Jerome, portrait and sketch, 788-789 Whitaker, John, portrait and sketch, 793-794 Whitcomb, Alonzo, joortrait and sketch, 497-498 Whitcomb Envelope Company, 484-4S5 Whitcoinb, G. Henry, residence, 392 Whitin, A. F. , portrait, 386 White, Frederick W. , portrait and sketch, 1 52 Whittall, Matthew J. , portraits, 406, 494 ; sketch, 493-495 Whittle, James H., factory, 527 Wilder, Harvey B., portrait and sketch, 794 Williamson, Frank E. , portrait and sketch, 153 Willow Park, 436-438 Winslow, vSamuel, mayor 1886- 1889; ad- ministration, 65 ; portrait, 66; sketch, 795 Winslow vSurgery, 75, 249 Wire Manufacture, 457-640 Wood, Cyrus G. , portrait and sketch, 795-796 Wood, E. H. , portrait and sketch, 797-798 Wood, Oliver B. , portrait and sketch, 798 Woodward, William, portrait, 378; sketch, 799 Worcester Academy, 174-180; view of, 176 Worcester Bank, 363 Worcester Boiler Works, 523-524 Worcester Continentals, 277 Worcester Corset Company's factory, 513 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 189-191 Worcester Safe Deposit & Trust Com- pany, 377; origin, 536 Worcester Society of Antiquity, libraiy, 215; sketch and building, 230-231 Worcester Steam Heating Company, 526 Wyman & Gordon, 524 Young Men's Christian Association, building, 306 Young Women's Christian Association, 243 ; building, 307 2 8 3 2 [J I 5