Worcester County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (1 of 9 so headed), 1889

Biographical sketches

Moses Taft, who is well known as having been, for more than half a century, largely engaged in the manufacture of woolens, was born in Uxbridge, Mass., January 26, 1812, near where Daniel Day, in 1810, built the first woolen-mill in this town.

His father, Luke Taft, the fifth in descent from Robert Taft, the Puritan ancestor, who came from England and settled in Mendon, Mass., about 1680, was born in Uxbridge June 3, 1783, and was brought up as, and followed the occupation of, a farmer till about 1816, when, probably attracted by the hum of the spindle and the thud of the loom of the nearby Day Mill, he was led to procure a jenny of twenty spindles and a hand-loom (there were no others at that time), which he set up in his house and began the manufacture of satinets.

This machinery in the house gave Moses, at an early age, an opportunity to observe some of the processes of manufacturing, and, at the age of seven years, was given his first work in the business, - that of winding bobbins for the weaver. This was the extent of liis manufacturing e.xperience till liis fatlier, in 1821, hired room and power in the Day Mill, when he was inducted into the mysteries of piecing rolls and tending carding-machines.

In 1824 his father bought a water-power on the West River, with land suitable for factory, dwellings and other necessary buildings, and built his dam and canal iu the autumn of that year and his fiictory the next year. The fiictory was put into operation in the fall of 1825, with two sets of cards and twenty powerlooms, - the goods made being satinets.

Moses was here employed in the various departments suitable to his age, attending the usual short terms of the winter schools, with an occasional term in the academy in this town, till 1827, when he received the advantage of a term at the Friends' School, then a popular school, in Bolton, Mass., of which Thomas Fry was the instructor.

The few advantages the district schools aftbrded with those named above, together with the application made by him to obtain an education, and the practical advantages received in the business life he followed in his younger days, has enabled him to discharge, in an efficient and highly satisfactory manner, most important duties, as will be seen as the narrative proceeds.

On his return from Bolton he again took his place in the mill till the spring of 1829, when he took up the occupation of clerk in the store of John Capron & Sons. The business of that company having been closed up by failure, Moses returned to his home, and entered at once upon the business of manufacturing in his father's mill, - making himself expert in every department, from the ability to make a proper selection of stock for the goods that were to be made, to the putting up the finished goods for market.

At eighteen years of age he was competent to take full charge of the mill, after which time his father devoted his time principally to his farm and other business interests.

In 1837 Mr. Taft entered into partnership with his father and brother-in-law, Caleb T. Ohapiu, under the style of " The East River Manufacturing Company."

From this time Luke Taft practically left the business of manufacturing -simply holding his estate and giving his sons the advantage of his advice and credit.

If any manufacturer remembers as far back as 1837, it will be with almost a shudder, as it comes back to him, as to how he lived through that year of trial and failure on all sides of him, and yet contrived to pay one hundred per cent, on all his bills.

This company, though severely tried, as every one was in that year from the integrity of its members, never compromised any of its debts, but paid in full all claims against it.

In 1840 Luke Taft sold one-half of his manufacturing real estate and power to J. Wheolock & Son, and retired entirely from the risks and cares incident to manufacturing, - his son, ]Moses, taking the other half of the property and machinery, - Mr. Caleb T. Chapin giving up his interest in the " East River Manufacturing Company," and taking the superintendency of a cotton-mill in Northbridge.

From this time (1840) till April, 1846, Moses Taft ran his half of the mill successfully. At this last period he sold his share of the estate and machinery to C. A. & S. M. Wheelock.

Soon after the sale to C. A. & S. M. Wheelock, he, in company with Mr. Samuel W. Scott, who had been in his employment several years, hired a mill in Burrillville, R. I., where the present Mohegan Mill stands, and engaged in the manufacture of satinets, under the style of Taft & Scott, which continued till the burning of the mill, in the winter of 1849-50, when the business of this firm was closed up and the firm dissolved.

In 1849 he entered into partnership with James W. Day, a grandson of Daniel Day, the pioneer woolen manufacturer of Uxbridge, under the style of Taft & Day, and hired the Capron Mill, in this town, and commenced there the manufacture of satinets.

After a few years' successful business in the Capron Mill, Deacon Wm. C. Capron became a partner, when the firm took the style of Taft, Day & Co., which was shortly changed to Taft & Capron by the withdrawal of Mr. Day from the company.

The firm of Taft & Capron continued till about 1862, when the business and unexpired lease of the mill was sold to Messrs. R. & J. Taft, and the firm of Taft & Capron was dissolved.

Before selling his interest in the factory built by his father to C. A. & S. M. Wheelock, Mr. Taft had conceived the idea of building a factory on the west side of the Blackstone River, above the dam of the "Uxbridge Woolen Company."

To do this it would be necessary to secure all the interest of the "Blackstone Canal Company," in water and canal together, with a release from each individual owner on the river of the right to divert the water and to procure all necessary land for the erection of factory, tenements and other conveniences required for such an establishment.

Having obtained all the necessary titles and releases to the estate in 1852, he laid the foundation for the mill, which was built the following year, with tenements and other necessary buildings.

This mill, which was known for some thirty years as the "Central Woolen Mill," was leased first to Messrs. Southwick & Sayles, till 1859, then to Messrs. Bradford, Taft & Co., of Providence, R. I.

In 1865 Mr. Taft sold his " Central Mill " estate to Messrs. R. & J. Taft, who, in 1883, sold the property to the " Calumet Woolen Company,'' a corporation that now holds the estate.

Since retiring from the " Capron Mill" Mr. Taft^ has been, and now ia, interested in several woolenmills, namely - the " Caryville Mill," in Bellingham, Mass., with seven sets of machinery ; the " Douglas Woolen Mill," in East Douglas, Mass., with five sets of machinery; the " Chattanooga Mill," in Ashland, Mass., with five sets of machinery ; besides an interest in the " Putnam Woolen Company," in Putnam^ Conn., and the " Calumet Woolen Company," in this town.

Not alone as a manufacturer has Mr. Taft been known. Since 1865 he has been president of the " Blackstone National Bank of Uxbridge, Mass.," besides being a member of its board of directors for several years previous to that date. He has also been president of the " Uxbridge Savings Bank " from its organization, in 1870.

Nor has he been negligent of his duties as a citizen or failed to receive the confidence and honors in the gift of his fellow-townsmen, having been elected and served several years on the Board of Selectmen of the town and as chairman of the board. In 184.') he represented the town in the General Court for that year He has served " Uxbridge Lodge, No. 120, 1. O. O. F.," some fifteen years as its treasurer.

In the parish of the " First Congregational Society " he has often been called upon to discharge the duties of various committees and to assist in matters of great importance.

In all the affairs of business life, in all the various duties of social life, as citizen, as neighbor, as friend, he has been conscientious, faithful and considerate helping where help has been needed, and givinggood advice where advice was the best thing to give.

When Moses Taft is withdrawn (may it be long before itshall be ! ) from the business and duties of life, it may be truly said a man will be missed.

Jerry Wheelock

Jerry Wheelock, born in Uxbridge, Mass., September 19, 1784, was well known in this vicinity (Uxbridge, Worcester County, Mass.) as an ingenious mechanic, both as a builder and operator of woolen machinery in the early days of woolen manufacturing.

He was of the sixth generation from the original immigrant of the race, Ralph Wheelock, who w.is born in Shropshire, England, in 1600. He was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, was a dissenting preacher, and came from England in 1637, when the tide of persecution ran highest. After remaining in Watertown one year, he removed to Dedham at the time of its settlement, and was active in the formation of the church there ; was a freeman in 1639. He was the founder of Medfield, which waa set off" from Dedham in 1650, and received the first grant of a house-lot in that town.

1741 in Mendon, Mass. The first we hear of Simeon is on a memorandum book kept by him as an orderly at "Crown Point, dated Aug. 4, 1760; then under the command of Christopher Harris, Colonel of the R. 1. Regiment."

He came to Uxbridge probably in 1768, as he appears in the registry November 28, 1763, as declaring intention of marriage with Miss Deborah Thayer, of Mendon.

He was a blacksmith by trade, and bought the land now owned by the heirs of Royal Jefterson and others, a little north of the " First Congregational Society's Meeting-house," of John Harwood in 1768, and built the house now standing there, and where most of his children were born. His blacksmithshop is said to have stood opposite his house, and about where the academy building now stands. He was town clerk of Uxbridge from 1773-77, and was also a soldier in the War of the Revolution.

He joined the government forces in suppressing the Shays' Rebellion, and died at Springfield in consequence of injuries received from a fall on the ice in descending Arsenal Hill, leaving a widow and eight children; Jerry, the youngest, being in the third year ,of his age.

The family was left in somewhat straitened circumstances, and the more so from the fact that the father had sold his estate in the centre of the town, and bought a place some three miles away, which, after his death, was found to be mortgaged; and to save what had already been paid, nearly as much more was paid by the widow.

At this time it is evident that Jerry, at the age of a little more than two years, was left to the care of a mother in straitened circumstances, with other children of tender age, who were likewise dependent on the same over-burdened care.

We, whose children find everywhere the best appliances for obtaining an education, can scarcely conceive of a time when the best means for obtaining (irey education was to lie on the hearth before afire of blazing pine-knots with such books as those times aftbrded ; or, when attending the schools of that day for the short time they were kept, to be told

After a discussion in a town-meeting on the subject of appropriating money for educational purposes, in which the writer took a part, his father said to him, and with more feeling than he ever saw him manifest on any other occasion : " Charles, I never want any child told as I have been - ' You pay nothing for your schooling, therefore you must give your seat to , who pays.' "

His education, and it was rjood for the times, must have been principally obtained from his mother, who, from papers in my possession of her preparation, must have had a superior education for a woman of those times.

At a suitable age he learned the trade of a " Set workman," a trade now made entirely obsolete by the large factories that by power machines turn out hundreds of cedar pails and tubs daily.

He next took up the trade of turner, and made bobbins and spools for John Slater. Afterwards he took up the business of chair-making, which he followed for several years.

Jerry Wheelock having married the eldest daughter of Mr. Day, became a member of the manufacturing firm of Daniel Day & Co. Having natural taste for mechanics and tact in the management of machinery, after a few years he left the company and went into the employment of Artemas Dryden, Jr., of Holden, Mass., who was then, and for many years after, noted as a builder of woolen-carding machinas, and was engaged, principally, in setting up and putting into operation machines of his make in various places ; and was setting up machinery in Falmouth, Mass., in 1814, during its bombardment by the British ship-of-war " Nimrod."

In 1814 the association - afterwards incorporated - known as the " Rivulet Manufacturing Company " was formed. Jerry Wheelock became a member of the association, and was the mechanical manager and superintendent of the mill till the spring of 1819, when he gave up the place and returned to his old home and immediately commenced the building of woolen machinery.

This business he continued till 1834. He was well known, not only in this immediate vicinity, but in parts of Connecticut, New Hampshire and the eastern part of New York, as a thorough workman and as making great improvement in the machinery he built, both in its workmanship and in the ease and perfection of its operation.

In 1834 he abandoned the building of machinery and went into manufacturing in company with his sons, which he continued till 184G, when he retired from active business.

Strict integrity and the most perfect workmanship possible with the means possessed for doing work, it is believed, are the characteristics that would be ascribed to him by those best acquainted with him.

Of the former, when advised by his sons that, considering the risks of business and his age, it was best for him to withdraw from business, after considering the matter with regard to reflections that might fall on him in case of failure of his successors, he said to the writer: "Charles, I am not going to shirk any responsibility or have it said I left the business to escape from it ; and I want you to remember all my interest in this property must be considered as much at stake as if my name stood as a member of the iirm."

Fortunately, by good luck or good management, no risk was incurred and no call was made upon his property to make good the failure of his successors.

.Of his workmanship, the greatest fault ever found with it, was that the unimportant with him, was just as important as the most important in the eyes of others ; and at times many careless persons would consider time thus spent to be spent to a useless purpose.

Whether, in view of the great inclination to slight work without regard to consequences that may follow, this should be written down against him as a grievous fault is left for others to judge.

As a citizen he was honored by his townsmen with the various municipal oflices of the town, the duties of which he discharged with the same faithfulness as he did all other works.

Silas Mandeville Wheelock

Mr. Wheelock, well known as a manufacturer and business man for some fifty years, was born in Uxbridge, Mass., November 11, 1817, at the time his father, Jerry Wheelock, was superintendent and mechanical agent of " The Rivulet Manufacturing Company." He has always been a resident of the town of his nativity, and never lived without the limits of the school district of his early boyhood.

He early manifested an ability for the management of affairs, and whatever work he was called upon to perform, he was always able to find playmates ready to assist him in his work while he did the planning and superintending; and it may safely be said, and, as his life will show, this faculty has never been lost.

His opportunity for obtaining an education was very limited. The district school of about ten weeks of a male teacher in winter, and about the same length of time of a female teacher in summer, to which was added three or four terms to a select school in this town, taught by young college graduates, among whom were Mr. E. Porter Dyer, afterward Congregational minister in Shrewsbury, in this county, and Mr. C. C. Jewett, afterward Prof Jewett, librarian of "Smithsonian Institute" and of the " Boston Public Library."

Early in life, in his ninth year, he began work in a woolen-mill at almost the only work that children of that age could be employed, - piecing rolls.

From that time he has been constantly connected with woolen manufacturing in some form, - as workman in its various branches, as superintending in some of its departments, and as manager and financier of private companies and corporations, and in having

In 1846 the business firm of C. A. & 8. M. Wheelock was formeil, the Imsiness being the manufacture of satinets, plaid linseys and tweeds. This business was continued till 1855, when, after making a very considerable enlargement of its factory and putting in steam power, it entered upon the manufacture of fancy cas simeres, giving up its other manufactures. Tliis business has been continued to the present time, now nearly forty-three years, during which time S. M. Wheelock has been the general business manager and financier.

In 1870 he bought the Harriss Woolen Company's property in Putnam, Conn., consisting of a factory, twelve sets of woolen machinery, water-power, onefourth of the Quinnebaug River at this point, together with dwelling-houses and other property.

This purchase, in connection with business men, was organized under an act of incorporation by the Legislature of the State of Connecticut as " The Putnam Woolen Company.'' After an increase of the capital stock in 1880, a second factory with machinery power, one-fourth of the Quinnebaug houses and other property, was bought and added to the previous purchase. S. M. Wheelock was chosen treasurer of the company and business manager, which position he maintained till the fall of 1887, when other business occupied so much of his attention as to make it expedient for him to resign the treasurership of this company.

In 1883 he purchased the Central Mill property in this town, consisting of factory, machinery, power, the whole of the Blackstone River at this point, houses and other property. A company of business men being formed and incorporated under the general corporation laws of Massachusetts as the " Calumet Woolen Company," took the property, and after making extensive repairs and changes and additions, began the manufacture of fancy cassimeres, S. M. Wheelock being the treasurer and principal manager of the company.

In 188(5 he purchased the property known as the Uxbridge Woolen Factory, which included buildings, machinery, power, the whole of the Blackstone River at this point, dwelling-houses and other property. The Calumet Woolen Company, after an increase of its capital stock, took this property, and after making very great alterations and additions, have put it into operation as " The Hecla Mill."

Since this last purchiise and putting into operation of the Hecla Mill, he has continued, as before, the management of the Calumet Mills, and also the Wacautuck Mills, by which name the mills of C. A. & S. M. Wheelock are known.

S. M. Wheelock has manifested but little ambition for political life, although he has discharged the duties of one of the Board of Selectmen of this town for some three or four years, and served on various committees appointed for temporary purposes.

In 1887 his friends thought his age and practical ability fitted him for the discharge of the duties appropriate to a member of the Massachusetts Legislature.

At a Republican convention held for the purpose of nominating a candidate to represent the Second Worcester Senatorial District in the then ne.xt General Court he received the nomination for that position, which was duly confirmed by his election in November following to the Senate of Massachusetts by a majority that showed him and his immediate friends that it was not merely as a partisan he owed his election, but for his qualities as a man of practical ability.

He has this year - in accordance with the general rule of the political parties in relation to Senators - been again elected to the same position by a gratifying majority.

It is not as a politician on which the reputation of S. M. Wheelock is to stand, but as a thorough, practical business man, for which he early in life manifested a striking ability ; for stern integrity in business matters, worth more th.an millions obtained by fraud and chicanery. For more than fifty years of business life, during which time revulsions in business have been encountered that have swamped those apparently the most strongly prepared to endure the storm, he has been able to fulfill all his engagements, never paying less than one hundred per cent. But in doing this it has sometimes been felt as a hardship to be obliged to compete with those who, after settling their obligations for fifty per cent, or less, still continued to meet him in the busine-s mart.

Richard Sayles was born September 1.3, 1819, at Gloucester, R. I., situated in the northwestern part of the State, in Providence County. Here he lived with his parents, attending school until eleven years old ; he then went to live with a farmer a few miles distant from his home, receiving for the first year a compensation of eleven dollars and board, and during the winter months a few weeks of schooling. Out of this sum he clothed himself and saved nearly one-third of it. He was well liked by his employer and continued with him on the farm until sixteen years of age, each year receiving an advance in wages and saving a large part. At sixteen he left the farm and entered a grocery-store in Providence, R. I., as clerk, retaining the position al>out five years. In 1840 he came to Uxbridge and attended school in the Old Academy building for one year, having earned and saved the money to pay his tuition while a clerk at Providence. He was a diligent student, and, with characteristic energy and industry, employed his time in a ])rofitable manner outside of school hours: in company with a fellow-student of his own age, he hired a piece of land, from which they raised a large crop and disposed of it at a profit, all the work of cultivation being performed out of school hours. At the end of his year's schooling at the Old Academy he entered the employ of the Uxbridge Woolen Company, and remained with them about three years. He then returned to Providence and bought out his former employer in the grocery business, at the corner of Charles and Randall Streets. The business proved successful, and he continued in it three years, and then returned to Uxbridge again and entered the employ of the Uxbridge Woolen Company as bookkeeper, filling the position some six years with great credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the company, who offered him an interest in their business to remain with them. January 1, 184(), while in the grocery business, in Providence, he was married to Sarah Eddy McBride, who was born at Bolton, Mass., October 14, 1822, at the time of her marriage re.siding at Northbridge, Mass. Her parents were members of the Society of Friends. April 1, 1853, Mr. Sayles entered the employ of Mr. Moses Taft, of Uxbridge, and superintended the building and equipment of the Centreville Woolen-Mill, now known as the Calumet Mill, on the completion of which, in the summer of 1853, he, in company with his brother-inlaw, Mr. Israel M. Southwick, hired the mill, and, under the firm-name of Southwick & Sayles, commenced the manufacture of a fine grade of fancy cassimeres, which they continued successfully until July 1, 1859. They then sold out to Messrs. Bradford, Taft & Co., of Providence, R. I., Mr. Sayles remaining with the new firm in the capacity of agent and superintendent, and Mr. Southwick as mastermechanic. Messrs. Bradford, Taft & Co. were succeeded by Messrs. Taft, Weeden & Co. Mr. Sayles remained with them until January 1, 1864. During a part of the time, from July 1, 1859, to January 1, 1864, - that is, from the breaking out of the War of Rebellion, - the mill was engaged in the manufacture of a fine grade of indigo blue goods for officers' overcoats and suitings, all of the product being contracted direct to the United States (Tovernment, and receiving the highest commendation. Tlie mill for a time was run day and night upon this line of goods, requiring sixteen blue vats for the coloring of the wool. During this period of manufacture for the army the duties devolving upon Mr. Sayles were excessive, often requiring his |iresence at the mill until late at night ; this close application to business proved too severe a strain upon him and resulted, January 1, 1864, in a severe shock of paralysis, from which he did not fully recover for several months. After a partial recovery, having severed his connection with Messrs. Taft, Weeden & Co., he leased, about April 1, 1864, the Laurel Ridge Woolen-Mill, in thetownof Burrillville, R. I., and village of Pascoag, operating it for one year in the manufacture of satinets, residing during the time with his family in Uxbridge. May 28, 1864, in company with David A. McBride, a brother-in-law, he bought of Mr. Chandler Taft the old Rivulet Mill property, situated in the north part of the town. After moderate improvements and repairs, they commenced the manufacture of shoddy, supplying Mr. Sayles' mill, in Pascoag, and also manufacturing for the market. They continued this business successfully for about two years. On February 9, 1866, Mr. Sayles purchased Mr. McBride's interest in the property and sold the same to Mr. Israel M. Southwick, his former partner at the Centreville Mill. Immediately they commenced extensive additions to the property with the intention of manufacturing fancy cassimeres ; but owing to the great depression in the business, which soon followed, the project was given up, and the property remained unoccupied for several months.

November 13, 18t)6, Mr. Sayles purchased Mr. Southwick's interest, and goon after sold it to Mr. Zadock A. Taft, of Uxbridge, a copartnership was formed under the firm-name of Sayles & Taft, and the manufacture of shoddy was commenced on an extensive scale, and was continued with success until July, 1869. They then leased the property to Messrs. E. S. Bradford & Co., of Providence, R. I., who commenced the manufacture of fine and medium grades of woolen yarns ; this firm was succeeded by Messrs. Pierce & Paine, of Providence, and they continued the business until October, 1872, when the mill was burned to the ground, making a total loss. The following year Messrs. Sayles & Taft commenced the rebuilding of the property on an enlarged scale, and when completed began the manufacture of cotton warps and yarns, and continued the business for about one year, and then .sold the cotton machinery and replaced it with machinery for the manufacture of satinets, which business they commenced and continued under the firm-name of Sayles & Taft, until October 1, 1878, when they associated with them Mr. Henry S. Morse, of Uxbridge, the firm-name becoming Sayles, Taft & Co., the manuflicture of satinets being continued. January 1, 1882, Mr. Taft retired from the firm, and Mr. Sayles and Mr. Morse continued under the firm-name of Richard Sayles & Co. The various business interests of Mr. Sayles in his connection with the Rivulet Mills property have proved successful, as is reflected in the appearance of the village, its improved streets and lands, substantial mill buildings, neat and comfortable houses, all of which point to the enterprise, industry and integrity of Mr. Sayles, its projector, who, in every respect, was a self-made man ; broad and progressive in his views, his aim was to have his village and its people surrounded by the best influences, and to that end contributed liberally of his means and effort. Largely to his influence was due the erection of the handsome Baptist Church near his village, he being elected and serving as chairman of its building committee, and contributing generously to its fund and also to its support. In his religious views he combined those of the Universalists and Unitarians: in politics a stanch Republican and strong advocate of protection to American labor and American industries. He several times refused public office, devoting all his time to his business and improvements in his village. He was a strictly temperate man, and a man of very decided opinions, always expressing them in a straightforward and honest manner. As an employer, he was kind and generous, doing all in his power for the comfort and welfare of his employes, always kind-hearted and genial, ever ready to lend a helping hand and speak a word of encouragement. It was a pleasure to meet and converse with him. He was a man in every sense of the word, a man of the strictest integrity and sterling honesty.

May 23, 1887, after several weeks of extremely painful illness, he passed away in the sixty-eighth year of his age, although in appearance a much younger man. He leaves a wife, three sons and a large circle of friends. He was a lineal descendant from John Sayles and Mary Williams, daughter ol Roger Williams. John Sayles was a native of England, and Mary Williams was born at Plymouth, Mass., in August, 1G33.

Esek Sayles, the grandfather of Richard Sayles, was born at Gloucester, R. I., November 20, 1753, and was married, January 9, 1788, to Mary Harris, hi^- second wife, who was born at Gloucester, R. I., October 16, 17G3, by whom he had eight children, - six sons and two daughters, - all born at Gloucester. Amasa Sayles, the oldest child, was born November 18, 1788, and was married November 22, 1811, to Mary Keach, who was born at Gloucester, R. I., January 10, 1794, and were the parents of Richard Sayles, he being the fifth of seven children, - six sons and one daughter, - all born at Gloucester. But two of the family survive - Mrs. Israel M. Soutliwick and Rensselaer Sayles, both residents of Uxbridge.

Daniel Farkum

Daniel Farnum was of the fifth generation in descent from John Farnum, an early settler at the ancient town-seat in Mendon, and a little later in the southerly part of Uxbridge.

The lineage is .John, Moses, Moses, David, Daniel. His grandfather Moses was an eminent minister in the Society of Friends, whose memory is still fragrant in many bosoms. Mr. Farnum lived through all the mature part of his life in Northbridge, near the border of Uxbridge. He was the oldest son of a large family, and is survived only by his youngest brother, Samuel J., now a resident in or near Poughkeepsie.

Daniel Farnum was born with a good constitution, which he preserved well by regular and temperate habits, experiencing but little sickness, and retaining his faculties in remarkable vigor till within the last year of his life. His was emphatically a sound mind in a sound body; he was characterized for sound common sense, a strong sentiment of justice and honesty, insistence on his own rights, and respect for those of others ; economy, simplicity and hospitality in domestic afl'airs ; was provident, faithful and kind in the family circle ; a serviceable, judicious and trustworthy townsman, honored with the principal municipal offices, including those of seleclman and Representative in the Legislature ; a reliable counselor in financial matters ; a lover of his country and its liberties ; a firm opposer of slavery and oppression ; sparing in religious professions, of broad tolerance toward all denominations; liberal in theology, and a steadfast lioper in the final triumph of go(id over evil. These were qualities and characteristics which in Mr- Farnum overshadowed the incidental imperfections common to human nature. He was warmly attached to the interests of the town, and was a constant attendant on town-meetings, the last one he attended being in 1878, when in his ninety-fourth year. Among the positions of public financial tru.st he occupied was that of director in the Blackstone Bank, of Uxbridge, over twenty years. He had been expecting his departure for three years, expressed his entire resignation to the Divine disposal, and passed away in the confident assurance of the life everlasting, December 10, 1879, aged ninety-five years and eighteen days.