Worcester County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (3 of 5 so headed), 1889

Biographical sketches

When the American Colonies boldly declared for independence, they were sadly deficient in means of defence against the well-armed troops of (treat Britain. They had no public armories; guns were scarce; gun-makers more so, and neither could be readily imported.

Fortunately for the Massachusetts Colony, there dwelt in Sutton a family in which gun-making had been an hereditary pursuit for several generations. Their presence in this locality is thus accounted for :

When Governor Winthrop came, in 1630, to found the Massachusetts Colony, in and around Salem and Boston, he brought a much larger company than the Pilgrim Fathers, who bad previously settled at Plymouth, and embracing various trades and professions. Knowing that the country abounded in wild game and Indians, he took the wise precaution to bring two gun-makers, William Plaise and Richard Waters. They settled in Salem, where the town built for them a shop at public expense. Richard Waters married the daughter of Plaise, and it is a noteworthy fact that gun-making became an hereditary pursuit for seven generations.

Nathaniel, a grandson of Richard Waters, was one of the original proprietors of Sutton Township, estimated at 30,000 acres. He selected his part (onetenth) in North Sutton, now West Jlillbury.

When the Revolutionary War broke out, two of his descendants, Asa and Andrus, espousing the freedom cause with ardor, proceeded forthwith to build a gun-factory on Siugletary Stream, a tributary of the Blackstone River. Guns, previous to this date, had been wrought by hand-labor, and this was the first instance that can be traced by the writer where wat.erpowerlmA been brought to its aid. Gun materials were wholly wanting - even bar-iron.

lay in the Salisbury Mines, Connecticut, nearly one hundred miles distant. They obtained it there in pigs, carting it, through a new and rough country, to Douglas, where, wood being plenty, :i forge was built to refine and hammer the iron into bars. Thence it was carted to their armory, and there wrought into guns.

Andrus Waters lost his life at the Salisbury mines, and, having rare genius for mechanics, his loss at this critical period was regarded as a public calamity, and he was buried with due honors at West Point.

Asa pursued the business with energy, and continued to support the cause with gun-flint arguments, thus proving his loyalty through all the years of the war. In the mean time the State built a powder-mill near his works, placed it under his charge and he was often heard to remark : " Hardly a barn could be found in this region under which 1 have not bent my back to scrape up salt-petre,'' thus showing the desperate straits to which the colonies were driven in their struggle for independence, of which the present generation can form but a feeble conception of the cost of success.

When the clouds began to lower, threatening the War of 1812, rightly termed by Henry Clay "The second War of Independence," two of the sons of Asa Waters, Asa (2d) - the subject of this sketch - and Elijah, built a larger gun-factory below, on the Blackstone River, where greater power was obtained, to which industry they added the making of scythes, saw-mill saws, refining iron, east^steel, etc. During this war Deacon Elijah Waters died, much lamented, leaving his brother Asa alone to pursue the business.

Possessing great physical strength and uncommon energy, inheriting, iu a remarkable degree, the mechanical talent characteristic of his family, and being awarded by the government large contracts, he introduced various improvemeuls in gun-making, which wrought great changes, and out of which grew results whose importance can hardly be overestimated. Two only will be referred to.

Gun-barrels were welded and forged, up to this time, entirely by hand-power, the super having two strikers. All this is within the recollection of the writer.

On October 2"), 1817, he was granted letters-patent for his invention for welding gun-barrels under triphammers, with concave dies, striking four hundred blows a minute, and controlled by a foot-treadle. This patent was signed by James Monroe, President ; John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State ; and Richard Rush, Attorney-General of the United States.

In the following year ( 1818), observing that the English process of grinding the barrels down before a revolving-stone left the metal of uneven thickness around the calibre, and thus liable to explode, led him to invent a lathe to turn the barrel to uniform thick- ness. This patent, December 21, 1818, was also signed by James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, and by William Wirt, Attorney-General, and was the first patent ever issued for turning gun-barrels in a lathe, save one, which was a failure. This proved a success, so far as the barrel was round, but to turn the irregular shape of the butt - " hoc opus hie labor est." As I now approach what may truly be considered an epoch in progressive mechanics, from whence dates an entire revolution in the modes of work in all our large mechanic-shops, I will summon to the stand one who was an eye-witness of its first development, Maj. J. W. Wright, of Michigan, and will (^uote from a letter recently received from him:

I resided must of the early part of my life near tlui Armory of Asa Waters in Milibnry, and was long employed by liiiu : lirst by preparing tinisbed work for tlie llnited States Inspectors, then as chief clerk, and next as Superintendent of his Armory Works. While iu bis emidoy he introduced many improvements, among which was a mode of welding gun-lmrrels by water-power instead of the English mode by hand-pow er. Also a machine for turning the barrels in place of giindiug them down.

Various machines were got up about the same time at other Armories They all finally succeeded in turning the barrel so far as it was round, but to turn the irregular shape of the butt baffled all the efforts and defied the ingenuity of all tlie mechanics iu all the Armories.

After laboring long and hard on the problem, Mr. Waters, hearing of a budding genius in a neighboring district, sent for liim to come to his Armory and see if he could suggest something. He came, and soou after produced a model for a very peculiar and entirely original " Cam motion," which relieved the dirticulty at once.

To reduce the forged butt to proper shape cost, in labor and files, a doU.ar on each gun, and this motion re(lu(;ed the expense more than half. One of the stockers, while watching the operation, said to the filer, " Blauchard has robbed you of your,)ob, but he cannot rob ns of ours, for he cannot turn a gun-stock." This young man, since famous as Thomas Blanchard, modestly replied : " I'm n-jt so certain of that." His mind being thus directed to this matter, after the study of a year or more, he brought to the Armory of Mr. Waters a wooden model, lour feet long, for a machine to turn a gun-stock. The expert mechanics thought favorably of it, and a full-sized machine was built. Some of the I'nited States inspectors, on service at the Armory at the time, wanted it sent to Springfield for examination and trial. Blauchard consenting, it was carted to the Armory there by Horace Waters. It remained long enough to build another similar, was then returned to Mr. Water-s' Armory, and there remained in use numy years.

While in the employ of Mr. Waters I married the niece of Thomas Blanchard, and was thus brought into close and intimate relations with both. I had frequent conferences with Blanchard upon his various iaventious, and was often requested to aid him in his suits for infi'iugements, which were unending.

In after-years the great inventor declared that it was at this visit to the armory that the idea first flashed into his mind of the " Eccentric Lathe." The " Cam Motion '' was the germ from which the "Lathe" sprung, it involving the same principle. From it has grown, by successive improvements, what is now known as the " Uniformity or Interchange System," which has revolutionized the workshops of the world, and forms an epoch iu progressive mechanics, the greatest since the introduction of steam-power, and reduced the price of watches, firearms and everything made by machinery.

Lathe," in thus calling to his aid the services of Thomas Blaiichard, for had he not been called at this time his inventive genius might have been turned in another direction.

By a flash of genius, as by inspiration, here was revealed the discovery of a new principle in mechanics, which has proved one of the greatest labor-saving inventions ever made. By this, a machine driven by motive-power could be made to work out almost any . design or pattern - be it round or square, crooked or j straight, however irregular - and rapidly reproduce j an exact copy every time.

Thomas Blanchard's fame soon reached Washington, and he was invited by the War Department to take the whole charge of stocking guns in the Spring field Armory. He there extended the principle to mortising in the iron parts, until the whole hand-labor of stocking guns was performed by sixteen power machines of his own invention, which did the work with perfect uniformity, and at greatly reduced expense. The machines had exact and perfect uniformity in every part. Here a new difficulty arose. While all his work had perfect uniformity, the locks and other iron parts had not been brought up to this perfection and frequent misfits occurred. This raised loud complaints against the innovators of hand-labor and threatened the whole improvement. Blanchard then made ingenious contrivances to make his work ununiform, so as to fit the variations of the iron parts. The War Department reported that it was important that after a battle the broken guns could be gathered up and readjusted into perfect arms; and for the model of 1840 they gave directions for all the parts to be so uniform as to be interchangeable.

This was at first pronounced to be impossible, especially of the lock, which parts were lettered or numbered to preserve their identity. It was then at least impracticable, and a legion of contrivances and experiments had to precede before the iron-work could be brought up to the standard of Blanchard's.

Thirteen years elapsed, as appears from Mr. C. H. Fitch's report, before the contrivances Blanchard had made to make his work un-uniform could be .dispensed with.

In this part of the interchange system many other inventors and mechanics should share the honors, notably: Hall, of Harper's Ferry; Cyrus Buckland and Thomas Warner, of Springfield. It was under the auspices of the latter, as master armorer in 1842, that the system finally triumphed - and a grievous triumph it was for American mechanics. Individuality of parts was thus merged in numbers, and lettering and other distinguishing marks abandoned forever.

The chief feature in bringing the iron-work up to the standard was the " Milling Machine." This useful machine might well be called the Universal Filer. Such have been the improvements inaugurated by the "Interchange System," that the old-time idea that hand-work was superior to machine-work has become an exploded notion. No human hand can compete with the sewing-machine in perfect uniformity of stitch, much less in rapidity; none with the micrometer gauge in infinitesimal nicety, nor approach it; none execute the machine engraving on bank-notes and watch-cases.

Great improvements have been made on Blanchard's machines, but the principle that he introduced has never been superseded, and will be found active to-day in factories where breech-loaders, revolvers, watches and other interchangeable work is executed. His inventive genius has rarely been surpassed, and his motto was : " Whatever the human hand can do, a machine can be made to do." He was born June 24, 1788, in North Sutton (now Millbury), and lived here until after he had made this invention, the tackmachine and many others.

It thus appears that Thomas Blanchard's inventions were the primary cause, and are still the indispensable conditions of the interchange system, and that Asa Waters was the pioneer and his armory in Millbury the birthplace of this great improvement. His inventions preceded and were the direct cause of Blanchard's great discovery.

The War Department was very liberal in its contracts with Asa Waters as long as he lived, in consideration of the improvements he introduced. He was born in North Sutton (now Millbury) November 2, 1769. He married, May 19, 1802, Miss Susan Holman, daughter of Col. Jonathan Holman. They had eight children - seven daughters and one son.

He founded the Millbury Bank in 1825, was its first president and largest stockholder. He gave the site for the Millbury Academy. He originated five water privileges in the Blackstone Valley, and was one of the largest real-estate owners in the county. His business was extensive and diversified. In addition to his gun, scythe and forge works, he held the three water privileges now known as the Millbury Cotton-Mills, the sash and blind shop and the Berlin Mills. He also owned the extensive privilege at Wilkinsonville. In 1815 he purchased the Dudley farm, which included the water-power there, and which he afterward sold to David Wilkinson, of Providence, from whom the village received its name_ He owned three farms in Millbury, and numerous houses, a farm of two hundred acres in Gialton, and nearly a thousand acres of woodland in Douglas. His forge furnished the bar-iron for his gun and scy the works, and Douglas woods the coal and timber.

He was a member of the Legislature when the controversy occurred about Amherst College, helped obtain its charter, and with Rev. Joseph Gotfe and General Burbank each contributed five hundred dollars towards founding it.

He was one of the founders of the Second Congregational Society, and obtained its charter in 1827. In 1818 he was granted a patent for the invention of an improved method of building paddle-wheels for steamboats, and later heiuvenled further improvements in wheels for boats and water-power; also a rock-drill.

He lived the last twelve years of his life in the homestead which he built, and which was completed in 182tl. It was three years in building, and was for many years one of the finest mansions in the county.

Asa Holman Waters.'

Among the men who came into the colony of the Massachusetts Bay in its early years was Richard Waters, who arrived with Governor Winthrop in 1630 and settled in Salem, where he became a substantial citizen.

In Salem the family lived and developed itself through three generations. After King Philip's War, and especially after the beginning of the last century, there was a great movement of population from the coast to take possession of the inland territories and forui new towns. It was soon after this period that Jonathan and Nathaniel Waters came from Salem and settled on the hills of Sutton. There the family lived on through three generations more. The orderfroui the beginning at Salem down to the present has been: (1) Richard, (2) John, (3) Nathaniel, (4) Jonathan, (5) Asa, (6) Asa. This last was the father of Asa Holnian (7) Waters, the subject of this sketch.

In the development of character, it is a great gain when a child can rest back upon a solid and honorable ancestry. Many a child, it is true, has risen to the high places of honor and influence in the world without such advantages. But none will deny that a worthy ancestiy bears an important part in the formation of noble manhood or womanhood. At the time of Mr. Waters' birth there was no family-name of more weight and dignity than his owu in the town, and it stood connected with its thrift and industry as well as with its best moral and religious interests.

On his mother's side also there was an honorable background. Susan Holman was one of twelve children of Colonel .Jonathan Holman, who commanded a regiment in the War of the Revolution, known as the "Sutton Regiment." It was so called partly because he raised it and partly because a large portion of the men were gathered from this ancient town. The people were proud of the services Colonel Holman had rendered the country in that long and trying war for independence, and especially of the high and patriotic spirit with which he encountered labors

He prepared for college at Monson Academy, and in 1825, then only seventeen years of age, entered Yale. He graduated in 1829. He subsequently entered upon the study of the law at Harvard, and in 1835 was admitted to the bar.

But hardly had he entered upon his professional life, when it became evident that his father, by reason of advancing years, needed his assistance, and so he turned into the walks of business, and never followed his chosen profession, though his studies in this department added to his general culture, and were of great use to him in his business life. (His father died December 24, 1841, and his mother eight years later.)

In his early life Colonel Waters connected himself with the Democratic party. On the second election of (Jovernor Marcus Morton in 1843 as Democratic Governor of Massachusetts, he chose Mr. Waters on his staflT, and it was in this way that he gained his title of " Colonel."

When the great moral questions pertaining to American slavery began to blend themselves strongly with the politics of the country. Colonel Waters passed as a dissenter from the Democratic, through the Free-Soil party, into the Republican, where he remained until his death. In 1848 - 49 he represented the town of Millbury in the General Court, and in 1853 was a member of the Constitutional Convention in Boston. At various times he held many i)Ositions of responsibility and trust, including all the leading offices of his native town. He was united in marriage, June 27, 1849, with Miss Mary Elizabeth Hovey, daughter of Daniel and Susan (Jacobs) Hovey, of Sutton. Prom this marriage there were three daughters: (1) Isabel Holman, (2) Lilian Hovey, (3) Florence Elizabeth.

Lilian Hovey was united in marriage, October 23, 1873, with Professor Edwin A. Grosvenor, of Robert College, Constantinople. They have three sons : Asa Waters, Edwin Prescott, Gilbert Hovey. Florence Elizabeth married, October 4, 1888, Henry Ayling Phillips, of Worcester, S.B., M.I.T., '73.

In 1845 Colonel Waters associated with himself Messrs. Thomas J. Harrington and Benjamin F. Flagg in establishing and carrying forward the Millbury Cotton Mills, under the tirm-name of A. H. Waters & Co. In later years he built the Stillwater Mill, one of the handsomest mills on the Blackstone River, which was afterwards destroyed by fire. This order of things continued until the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861. When the gigantic nature of this struggle began to make itself manifest, the Government turned again to find, if possible, the remains of the old private armories, which by its summary action it had ruined in 1845. There were but two which had survived, Waters' of Millbury, and Whitney's of New Haven. It was a work of great labor and expense to equip tlie old armory with new machinery for resuming the manufacture of firearms ; but after considering the matter, it was arranged that the worlvs at Millbury should be engaged only in the manufacture of rods and bayonets for the relief of the Springfield Armory, which was greatly overburdened with work.

Millbury was again a scene of stir and activity, in a form of business to which it was thoroughly accustomed in the ancient days, and the enterprise was highly remunerative. The United States spent money with a liberal hand until the Rebellion was completely subdued. When the enterprise was started at Millbury it could not be told how soon it might be brought to an end, and Colonel Waters took upon himself great personal financial risks. After the close of the war the Atlanta Mills Company was formed and Colonel Waters was the first president.

In 1868 Colonel Waters retired from active business with a good property. In the years of leisure which now came on he developed that decided literary taste which was rooted and grounded in him through all the years of his activity, but which he had not found much time to indulge. It is true, through the years of the anti-slavery struggle preceding the war, and also as a member of the Free-Soil party, he took an active part at political meetings as a public speaker in almost every town in the county, where his speech was persuasive and effectual in moving the voters.

But now, in the calm of his advancing years, he found delight in his pen, and did not a little excellent work with it. He had also leisure for entertaining his friends and exercising hospitality. From his youth up he was gifted with fine conversational powers. His sense of humor was keen and comprehensive, and as a story-teller few could surpass him. He was a rare contributor to the deliglit of social converse. His conversation was always bright, entertaining, instructive.

In 1874, with his wife and two daughters, he made a journey to Europe and the East. They were gone from the country two years. Quite a long portion ol' this time was passed at Constantinople with his married daughter, but also long periods of time were si)ent in general traveling through the countries ol Europe and the East, including Egypt. Looking over the note-books which he kept through this long journey, one is surprised to notice with what care and accuracy he recorded and described, in his clear, handsome handwriting, the events of the passing days and the notable things with which he came in contact.

He returned to this country, with his fanuly, in 1876, and in the ten years of his life that remained be did no small amount of literary labor which was continued till within a few days of his death. In a sketch like this it would hardly be advisable that we should go into any extended review of the various writings which occupied his time and thought in this advanced period of his life. Some of them were in a measure controversial, and were designed to correct what he deemed to be grave historical erroi's and misstatements. He believed that Wendell Phillips' famous lecture on the " Lost Arts " was visionary, not founded on truth and reality, but only on seeming truth, which vanished away when thoroughly examined. He did not believe that the human race had ever lost a single art or mechanical power of any value, which had once been in its keeping. Some arts might be lost that ministered simply to fancy or luxury, but they were always lost if at all, because they were superseded by something better which had displaced them, or were "arts abandoned for better methods." ,

So, too, he did not believe that Mr. Garrison and his party associates abolished American slavery. The destruction of slavery in this country did not come along that line. The Garrison party had no succession of events leading up to it, or even in any marked way leading toward it. The historical line by which this great result was reached seems to have been as follows ; There was a wide-spread anti-slavery sentiment in all the northern portion of the country when Mr. (iarrison began bis work. What he and his associates did was one outcropping of this growing sentiment. But at the very time when he was beginning his anti-slavery activities you might have gone to the colleges all over the North, and you would have found hundreds of students of decidedly anti-slavery sentiment; but they could never be brought to adopt Mr. Garrison's methods. If you had gone to the form-houses, to the homes of the people far and wide, you would have found this rising spirit of opposition to slavery, which did not follow in Mr. Garrison's steps, but which, on the other hand, marshaled the voters into the Liberty party, the Free-Soil party, the Republican party. When the anti-slavery voters of the country chose Abraham Lincoln President of the United States, the South rose and plunged the nation into civil war. To put down this Rebellion, the government, after long waiting, brought slavery to a summary end by the proclamation of emancipation, .lanuary 1, 1863. But the Garrison party was not composed of voters or of soldiers. How, then, can the small band of Garrisonian abolitionists claim that they were the chief instruments in bringing about this result, or that they were anything more than indirect contributors to this end. This was in general the ground maintained by Colonel Waters in his long and spirited controversy on this subject with Mr. Oliver Johnson, of New York.

Still more extended and varied have been his articles on Thomas Blanchard and his remarkable inventions, which brought alxiut the " Uniformity or Interchange System " in mechanics. On this gene- ral subject, to which he had given special attention, several articles of his have already been published, and more are yet to appear. He furnished several valuable articles for the "History of Sutton," which was published in 1878. He prepared for it the " Genealogical Record of the Waters Family," the article on "Gun-Making," ".Sutton in the Revolution," and other important matter. He was also interested in the " Worcester County History," published in 1S79, and lent much aid in the preparation of that work.

After his retirement from business in 1868, and more especially after his return from the Old World in 187G, lie was very much at home, busy with his books and his pen. He was thus brought into a daily intimacy and companionship with his family, such as could not naturally exist during his years of active business. His home was the centre of his brightest joys. This constant presence, this daily companionship, made his death even more of a breach in his liousehold, and the more so because it was not preceded by a long illness. He liad a rich and varied character, and his family have a blessed memory of devotion, gentleness and goodness.

He was at work with his pen until within a few days before his departure. His breaking down was sudden, not apparently from any positive disease, but by a sudden giving w.ay of all his powers, such as is seen not infreciuenlly in old age. He lingered on for some days without pain, until .lanuary 17, 1887, when " he was not, for God took him," a tranquil end to old age. In three weeks more he would have reached his seventy-ninth birthday.

The subject of this sketch was born at Whitesboro', N. Y., February 5, 181.3. His father was a dyer by trade, but at that time followed the occu|)ation of a farmer. Until nineteen years of age Mr. Rhodes followed his father's occupation, attending school a part of the time.

After the close of his school-days Mr. Rhodes went to North Carolina, and with a team, traveled through that State for some time, selling dry-goods at retail. His first connection with mill work was as a dyer, in the State of Connecticut, which was continued at Providence, R. I., until he was about twenty- I'liur years old. Later he was employed at the same business by J. & A. Morse, of Smithville, R. I. In 1840 he removed to Bellingham, Mass., and operated a mill for the manufacture of cotton warp. This mill was run by him until 1851. He then came to Millbury, and, in company with Joseph H. Merry, hired a small mill of the Cordis Company, and continued the manufacture of cotton warp at tliat place

Some ten years later Mr. Rhodes leased, at North Oxford, what was known then as the Protective Mill, and a year later bought the property which was afterwards known as the Oxford Cotton-Mill. He associated with him a partner, and the firm was known as Rhodes & Wilmarth. This mill was sold by Jlr. Rhodes in 1888.

In 1872 he bought what is known as the Pinafore Mill, situated on the site of the old Braman Mill, and which is now run by him on cotton warp.

1888. - Several years after the death of Alfred Morse, at Farnumsville, in company with Wm. Andrews, of Woonsocket, ami Capt. Peter Simpson, of Millbury, Mr. Rhodes bought the privilege, tenements, hotel and all the factory property formerly owned by Mr. ISIorse. The business was continued some two or three years, when Mr. Rhodes withdrew. Two mills in town are at present run by him. He was married, in 1838, to Sarah B. Johnson, of West Woodstock, Conn., by whom he has had two children - Otis W. and Maria, who married Henry M. Wilcox, of Johnson, R. I. Mrs. Rhodes died in 1880. In 18()9 Mr. Rhodes w.aa chosen to represent his town and district in the Legislature of 1870, a position wliich he filled acceptably.

His career as a business man has been successful. Throughout his long business life he has paid one hundred cents on the dollar - at any and all times. By thorough application to all the details of his business a prosperous one lias been maintained, which has done much for the growth and prosjierity of the communicv about him.

Hon. Levi Lincoln Whitney was born in Princeton, Mass., January '20, 1838. His tather. Colonel John Whitney, was a farmer, holding at one time adeputysherifi^'s commission in the county. His colonel's commission came from serving in the Ma.ssachusetts militia. At the age of thirteen Levi left home to live with his grand father. Colonel Jacob W. Watson, an oldtime tanner and leather nuinufacturer at Princeton, then one of the leading men in the town. Young Whitney remained with him about three years, during which he attended the common schools.

At the age of sixteen he came to Millbury and entered the employ of A. Wood & Sons, shoe manufacturers, remaining with them a year. He next went to Worcester and attended Worcester Academy one year. He then returned to Millbury and the second time entered the employ of A. Wood & Sons. He remained with them until twenty -one years of age. Previous to this his brother, Charles A. Whitney, and O. E. Thompson, formerly of Millbury, had established at Chicago the first regular boot and shoe manufactory started in that city. In 1859 Mr. Whitney removed to that city and became a member of the firm of Thompson, Whitney & Co. This firm, with some changes, did a successful business up to the time of the great fire, in 1871, when they were burned out. This was the largest manufactory of the kind in that city up to that time. This closed the affairs of the firm and Mr. Whitney returned to Millbury and associated himself with the firm of Crane & Waters, hosiery manufacturers, continuing with them until 1885, when the concern was merged into a corporation.

In 1875 he was also engaged in the manufacture of indigo blue dye at Millbury, which business he still continues as Whitney & Molt. In 1877 Mr. Whitney bought the old cotton -mill privilege, once owned by General Burbank, and where later Harvey Waters built a machine-shop, which was followed by a woolen-mill, run by the Woodward Brothers, Woodward efe Gorton, and later, as a cotton-mill, by the Larneds, Jonas A. Hovey, Jonathan A. Pope, Emerson & Brierly, and others. At this place Mr. Whitney manufactured yarns until 18S-t, when the mill was burnt.

In 1886 he erected the present brick niachiuo-sho|) on this site. The building is leased to the Stonraetz Printers' JIachinery Company, which came here from Erie, Pa., Mr. Whitney being the president. He is also treasurer of the Pentecost Steam Generator Company at Worcester. He was chosen a director of the Millbury National Bank in 1875, holding that position ever since. He was elected a trustee of the Millbury Savings Bank in 1873, and chosen president of the institution in 1888. He was elected as one of the selectmen of the town in 1877, '78, '79, and again in 1881, and the fifth time in 1887. In 1880 he was chosen to represent the old Fifteenth District in the House of Representatives, composed of the towns of Sutton, Auburn and Millbury. In 1888 he was elected to represent the Third Worcester Senatorial District in the Legislature of 1889. He is also a member of the Worcester County Commandery of Knights Templar.

Mr. Whitney married, in 1862, Annie R., daughter of the late Hon. Hosea Crane, of Millbury, by whom he has had four children, - one son, Walter L., a partner in the Worcester Steam Heating Company, of that city, and three daughters, one being dead. Mr. Whitney is one of the self-made men of the county - a man successful in all his bu.siness ventures. He has done much for the interests of his adopted town. A strong opposer of intemperance, he has done much to rid the town of this curse to its growth and prosperity. He is ever found on the side of right and justice - a man in the prime of life respected and honored by his fellow-citizens.

Mowey A. Lapham

Mr. Lapham was born in Burrillville, R. I., in 1819. His father followed the occup.ition of a carpenter and a mill workman. The subject of this sketch attended school until about sixteen years of age. He then worked with his father at the carpenter's trade, until he reached the age of eighteen. Removing to Waterford, Mass., he followed the same occupation there for the space of two years. He next entered ihe machine-shop there of W. & D. D. Farnum, with whom he remained two years, after which he entered the machine-shop of Southwick & Brown, at Millville. Here he remained two years, and then removed to Fall River, and entered a machine-shop there, being employed by Hawes, Marvill & Devoll. While at this place he was married to Harriet T. Thayer, of Mendon, of the part which is now Blackstone. After his marriage he remained there about two years. At the age of twenty-six he returned to Millville, and was employed in the machine-shop of Farnum & Harding as superintendent of the iron and wood- working department. His career as a manufacturer may be said to have begun in 1860, when he went to Cherry Valley, Mass., and began the manufacture of kerseymeres under the firm-name of Lapham & Smith. At the end of two years Mr. Smith retired, when Mr. Lapham took the business and run the mill about four years, when it was burnt.

In 1863 he had bought the old paper-mill privilege, formerly owned by General Burbank, at Millbury, purchasing of F. H. Richmond, of Providence. A company was formed as M. & S. Lapham, and a mill built. After the death of Smith Lapham, the business was continued under the name of M. A. Lapham. The mill which had been erected was burnt in 1876. The present fine mill was erected in 1879. An excellent quality of woolen goods are made at this mill, and their reputation is a national one. The mill is one of the largest in town, is lit with electric light, and has all the most improved machinery, and gives emphiyment to a large number of hands. The spot is an historic one, having for more than a century been used for manufacturing purposes. Mr. Lapham has held several offices in the county, having served as selectman and overseer of the poor at Blackstone two years. Of late years his residence has been at Worcester, where he was on the Board of Alderman six years. For the i)ast sixteen years he has been a director of the Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company, of that city. He has two children, - Frederick A. Lapham, superintendent of the mill, and Hattie M., wife of Mr. F. A. Leland, ot Worce.ster. The death of Mrs. Lapham took i)lace in 1884.

Mr. Lapham is one of the .succesiful manufacturers of the county. By industry and good management he has established a prosperous business, which has contributed much to the material welfare of the town of Millbury.

Joseph Griggs

Captain Joseph Griggs was born in Sutton, Mass., November .'!, 1780. His early youth was spent upon his father's farm. When the time arrived for him to fit himself for the duties of life, he left home and went to Charlton, Mass., and there learned the tanner's trade of Colonel Bacon, a noted tanner of those times. Having fitted himself by experience, he went to Northampton, Mass., and worked awhile at his trade. After remaining there a short time he returned to Sutton and went to school. Having added to his store of knowledge as be»t he could, he taught school awhile in the part of Sutton now Millbury.

At the time of the incorporation of this town, in 1813, he was engaged in the tanning business at West Millbury. Previous to this, however, he had worked at his trade in Providence. His first venture at Millbury was in company with Colonel Fay and IJeut. John Jacobs. Later, between ISIO and 1820, he was interested in the tannery on the Ramshorn stream, it being run by a stock company composed of Millbury people. The affairs of this company being wound up, a company was formed as Griggs, Abbot & Whitney. This firm run the tannery awhile, when, meeting with losses, they failed. In the settlement of the debts was shown the integrity of Captain Griggs. He had assumed those owing in the State, which was paid in full, principal and interest. He again resumed business, and was fora time connected with the late Captain Amasa Wood. About 1836 or 1837 he was again involved in business affairs, and the second time failed. About 1848 the captain became involved for the third time through his business connections, but again resumed business and paid his obligations. Captain Griggs was a constituent member of the Baptist Church in Millbury. In religious matters in town he was prominently identified - the church, the Sabbath-school and prayer-meeting.

He was early commissioned a captain in the Massachusetts Militia; and served the town in the Legislature. He was a man respected greatly in the community, having great infiuenee with those about him. He was a liberal-hearted man, ever ready to help the poor and needy. He was prominent in the anti-slavery cause, being an active member of the Millbury Society, engaged in that work. He married a daughter of Lieut. Jonathan Trask, of Millbury, by whom he had several children. Some died in childhood, and one when a young man. Two daughters survive, Almira and Mary T., wife of Jonathan Munyan, Esq., of Worcester. After the death of Lieutenant Trask, Captain Griggs came into possession of his farm, which he occupied many years. After the close of his business life he removed to Worcester, where he died December G, 1852, respected and honored.

Samuel Davenport Torrey

Samuel Davenport Torrey was born in Mendon, Worcester County, Massachusetts, on the 14th of April, 1789, and died at his home in Millbury, in the same county, December 23, 1877.

His ancestors came to the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the year 1640, from the parish of Combe, St. Nicholas, in the county of Somerset, Englaud, and settled in the town of Weymouth, Mass.

The genealogical line of descent has been traced from William Torrey, of Combe, St. Nicholas, Somersetshire, whose will was dated in l-')"i6, through Philip, his son, and the second William, and then through the second Philip to the third William, who was born in 1608, and came to America in 1640.

This William Torrey was a conspicuous character in Massachusetts, for many years a member of the House of Deputies, and always chosen clerk ; a magistrate, and a captain of militia. He died in 1690. He was a man of affairs, with education, having some knowledge of Latin, and also fair literary ability, which appears through a printed essay on " The Futurities," a quaint production still extent.

He had three brothers who settled severally - Philip in Roxbury, James in Scituate, Plymouth Colony, and Joseph in Newport, Rhode Island. William's oldest son was the distinguished scholar and pre.acher. Rev. Samuel Torrey, who lived in Weymouth, and died there after a pastorate of fifty years. He was educated at Harvard College, and it is recorded that he subsequently twice declined the presidency of the college. He had also the unusual honor of preaching three " election sermons " before the "Great and General Court of Massachusetts." He left no descendants.

His brothers were William, Mieajah, Josiah, .Jonathan and Angell, the youngest, who settled in Jlendon in 1680, and from whom the line comes down through a fourth William, and through Joseph to a fifth William, the father of Samuel Davenport Torrey, the subject of this sketch. Tradition credits the family with unusual physical proportions, the last William being fabulously reported as six feet and seven inches in height.

His wife was Anna Davenport, daughter of Seth and Chloe (Daniels) Davenport, of JMendon, by whom he had six children - Samuel, Jo.seph, Louisa, Stephen, Benjamin and George.

The oldest son, Samuel Davenport Torrey, established himself early in life in Boston, in the West India trade, at No. 25 South Market Street, near Faneuil Hall, where the busine-'s has ever since continued in the family name. In 1831, his health being somewhat impaired, and having acquired what he regarded as a competency, Mr. Torrey retireil from business and located himself permanently in Millbury.

its affairs, as also of the Congregational Church, of which he was a member. His life was a model of courtesy and uprightness, and his genial and cordial manners were a true index of his rare character.

Mr. Torrey was twice married. His first wife, Delia Ghapin, died in 1821, about a year after their marriage. In 1824 he was again married, to Susan Holnian Waters, the eldest child of Asa Waters, the founder of Armory Village, and granddaughter of Colonel Jonathan Hoi man, who raised and commanded a regiment in the Revolution.

Mrs. Torrey was a woman of rare endowments and character. Neglecting none of the varied practical duties of her life, and even attaining unusual success in the performance of them, her highest interest was always in the world of thought. She had an irrepressible desire to know the best that had been written in literature and philosophy, and in her search for this knowledge weariness and weakness were forgotten, and the limits of her strength were often passed. She had the courage to follow the new views of truth, which her active and progressive mind attained, to their conclusions. She died in Millbury, February 3, 1866. Her memory is cherished by her children as a precious legacy.

Five children were the fruit of this marriage - four daughters and one son - the third child, Samuel Davenport, who died in infancy. The daughters are - Delia Chapin, who resided with her father till his death; Louisa Maria, wife of Judge Alphonso Taft, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who was Secretary of War and also Attorney-General under General Grant, afterwards United States Minister to Austria, and later to Russia; Susan Waters, wife of Samuel A. Wood, of San Francisco, Cal. ; Anna Davenport, wife of Edward Orton, LL.D., president and professor of geology in Ohio State University at Columbus, and afterwards State geologist of Ohio.

Mr. Torrey will long be remembered as a man of marked individuality, of thorough business methods, of inflexible integrity, with a decision and force of character which left a lasting impression wherever he was known.

In Millbury he devoted his attention to the care of his farm, to his family and his friends, taking also a lively interest in passing events. As he advanced in life his health became so far established that he was spared many of the painful infirmities of old age.

Dr. W. H. Lincoln was born in Dorchester, Mass., August 19, 1825. By the death of his mother, which occurred while he was quite young, the family circle was broken, and the five children, of whom he was the oldest, deprived of the many advantages which result from passing the first few years of life under a mother's influence. His early education was received at the ordinary public schools of fifty years ago, and later at the South Paris Academy, South Paris, Maine.

He began active life as a dentist in Portland, Maine. It was here that Dr. S. B. Chase, a leading physician of that city, suggested to him the idea of studying medicine, and kindly offered him the use of his library and practice. Thus it was that in 1850 he matriculated at Bowdoin Medical School, and passed the next six years of his life practicing dentistry for present needs and studying medicine for future usefulness.

He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1856, and at once began the practice of his profession in Turner, Maine. Here he married Laura Nudd, of Brunswick, Maine, who died one year later. Soon after her death Dr. Lincoln removed to Hubbardstown, Mass., where he married Eunice A. Reid, and where he practiced medicine until May, 1862, when he received a commission as assistant surgecju in the Seventh Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, then in the field before Richmond, and joined them at once.

In September, 1863, he was promoted to "full" surgeon, and as such served with this regiment until the exiiiration of its term of service. At the close of the war he became a fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and located at Millbury, Mass., entering at once into a large and laborious practice, which he still continues.

Dr. Lincoln never courted public opinion or sought public fiivor. He is a man open to conviction, but outspoken in religion, politics and whatever concerns the public welfare, building his own house and living in it. He has always been an active citizen, and interested in all municipal questions. In professional life his manner is zealous and determined; to him the patient is always of paramount, the friends of .secondary importance.

His professional life has been one of unquestioned ability rather than of remarkable popularity, although it has already placed him in a position to enjoy his practice in the years to come.