Worcester County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (3 of 9 so headed), 1889 (part 2 of 2)

Andrew B. Sherman was educated in the district and private schools of his native town, and, after reaching the age of eight years, worked diligently during vacations - in summer on the farm and in winter in the saw-mills, and helping team lumber, &c., in which his father then dealt extensively.

With the exception of one winter, during which he worked in the store of his uncle, the late Zacchreus Parker, he passed his time thus until the age of twenty, acquiring the habits of industry which have so strongly characterized his whole business career.

In 1849 he left home and entered the country store of J. M. Harrub, of North Plympton, where for two years and ten months he worked from fourteen to sixteen hours per day, attending carefully to all parts of the business. He rendered valuable assistance in keeping the books and also in attending to finishing

Though the original engagement with Mr. Harrub was but for a few months, Mr. Sherman's interest in the business was so great and his services so valuable, that his employer induced him to remain with him for the period above mentioned, at the expiration of which time Mr. Sherman, having determined to make the dry goods trade his business, went to Boston to endeavor to secure a position where, with much better opportunities to learn the whole business, he might fit himself to enter upon it on his own account, if he so desired.

Upon his arrival in Boston he called on Mr. William F. Brett, who introduced him to his recent partner, Mr. Samuel Ellis, of Samuel Ellis & Co., 131 and 133 Federal Street, and Mr. Sherman at once entered the employ of this firm. Here he formed the acquaintance of Mr. Luther J. Brown, who later came to Fitchburg, but who was then in the employ of Samuel Ellis &Co.

About this time the firm began to close out the stocks of several out-of-town stores owned by them, and also to dispose of superfluous stock. Mr. Sherman was soon sent to Medford with a stock. Here he remained six months, applying himself early and late, sleeping in the store most of the nights.

From Medford he went to Duxbury, where he stayed about the same length of time, meeting with good success in both places, selling a large amount of goods and making money, while one of his employers, Mr. Moore, with an assistant, sold a less amount and lost money at a store in South Abington.

Mr. Sherman then took charge of the East Abington store for the next two years, as general salesman in dry goods, carpets, clothing, millinery, furniture, crockery, etc.

At the expiration of this time, the firm being financially embarrassed, Mr. Sherman went to Dover, N. H., with a large stock of dry goods. Here he stayed six months, sending to the firm one-third more money per week than had been calculated upon.

In Dover Mr. Sherman, by close attention to business and unostentatious manners, gained the respect and formed the acquaintance of nearly all in the front ranks of business and society in the place. As an expression of regard at the time he left Dover, he was tendered a reception and presented with a handsome gold seal-ring, upon which was inscribed the names of some of the prominent young men of the place ; and since then this pleasant friendship has been kept up by both parties.

Mr. Sherman then engaged as general salesman at the East Abington store for about a year, and in February, 1855, came to Fitchburg to dispose of a stock of dry goods. Here, although located in the " Old City," a half-mile from the other three dry-goods stores in town, he was fairly successful, and enjcjyed a liberal share of the trade from all parts of the town.

At the end of six months, believing that Fitchburg would in time be a prosperous city, Mr. Sherman purchased the stock of goods of his employers, and, with what money he had saved during his clerkship, commenced on his own account.

One of his salesmen was Mr. L. J. Brown, with whom he soon formed a partnership, which lasted about three years. In the meantime Mr. Brown married, and it was thought best to dissolve the partnership ; and for the past thirty years Mr. Sherman has carried on his prosperous business alone.

He paid close attention to his business, and the opportunities made possible by the condition of the markets during the Civil War made it quite profitable, - buying largely when goods were offered at less than it was then possible to make them, storing them and selling on a high market. As profits accumulated, he invested tbem in securities, v/hicli, in most cases, appreciated as well as paid interest.

At several different times, as more room was needed, the store was enlarged, until 1870, when he moved into his present commodious store, in the then new Rollstone Bank building. At that time he added a stock of carpets, to which he gave much study and attention.

In November, 1867, he established a dry-goods store in Wincheudon, which was profitably operated until November, 1885, when it was sold to W. A. Sanford & Son, of Brockton, being then located in the I. M. Murdock block.

Mr. Sherman has, at times, invested the earnings of his business in shipping, having been part owner in eight diflerent three-masted schooners engaged in the coasting trade, one of them bearing his name.

He has always manifested kind feelings towards his competitors and neighboring merchants, and has at various times, aided tbem without extra remuneration.

He has, for many years, been a trustee of the Worcester North Savings Institution, and a director of the Wachusett National Bank since its incorporation, and one of its largest stockholders.

Mr. Sherman served one year in the Common Council, and two years in the Board of Aldermen. He has, during his long residence in Fitchburg, gained the respect and esteem of the community, which he well deserves.

H. A. Blood

Hiram Albro Blood was born in Townsend, Mass., February 3, 1833, and was the son of Ezra and Lydia Ann (Jefis) Blood ; received an academical education in the town of his birth, and lived thereuntil the age of eighteen, at which age he went to Worcester in search of employment.

At the age of twenty he entered the commissionhouse of Bliss, Sutton & Co., in Worcester, Mass., as a clerk, and became a member of the firm in 1854, at which time he opened a branch house in Fitchburg, and went there to live and has resided there ever since.

In 1857 he dissolved his connection with Bli.ss, Sutton & Co., and entered into a copartnership with William 0. Brown, of Fitchburg, under the name of Blood & Brown, which existed until 1860, when Mr. Brown withdrew to enter the United States army, becoming a major of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, and a new firm was formed under the name of H. A. Blood & Co., which continued to carry on the business.

In 1865 Mr. Blood withdrew from all mercantile pursuits and became entirely interested in railroads, to the construction and operation of which he has ever since given his time and attention.

He afterwards built, or was largely instrumental in building, the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg, the Framinghara and Lowell, the Mansfield and Framingham, and the Fall River Railroads, of which he successively became superintendent and general manager, and afterwards united and consolidated them, together with the New Bedford and Taunton, and the Taunton Branch Railroads, into one system, under the name of the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad Company, reaching from Fitchburg and Lowell in tlie north, to Mansfield, Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River in the southern part of the State.

This system of railroads was for a time operated by Mr. Blood as general manager, and was afterwards united and consolidated with the Old Colony Railroad Company, of which it now forms an important part.

In 1875 he procured the charter for the Wachusett National Bank, of Fitchburg, obtaining all the subscriptions to its capital stock, established the bank and liecame its first vice-president.

He was the third mayor of Fitchburg, and was first elected by the Boardof Aldermen and Common Council November 2, 1875, to fill out the unexpired term of Eugene T. Miles, and, at the subsequent annual election in December, he was elected by the people, and was inaugurated January, 1876, and filled the office of mayor for one year and two months.

He is now chiefly interested in railroads in the State of Ohio, being tlie president of the Cleveland and Canton Railroad Company in that State, which position he has held since May, 1884, but he still retains his residence in Fitchburg, where he has an office as well as an office in Boston, Mass.

Henry A. Goodrich

The name of Goodridge, or, as it is now commonly spelled, Goodrich, has been very closely identified with the history of Fitchburg ever since the incorporation of the town.

David Goodridge, one of the original settlers of the town, was deacon of the First Church in Fitchburg and a member of the First Provincial Congress. Like most of his fellow-townsmen, he was possessed of but limited means, but his sterling worth and integrity and his belief in the dignity and efficacy of honest toil made him an influential citizen and caused him to be often called to fill positions of trust and honor in the little colonial town of Fitchburg. Succeeding generations have kept the family name in the same good repute, and two of Deacon Goodridge's greatgrandsons - Alonzo P. and John Goodrich - have spent their long and honorable lives of usefulness in our midst. The former is still with us in the enjoyment of a hale and hearty old age, but John Goodrich, the father of the subject of this sketch, died in this city in April, 1888, at the age of nearly eighty years.

Henry A. Goodrich, the eldest son of John and Mary A. (Blake) Goodrich, was born in Fitchburg, November 22, 1830. His early education was obtained in the district schools of the town, and later he attended the Fitchburg Academy and the Fitchburg High School.

He was one of the eight boys who attended during the first term of the High School, and the only one of the eight who remained permanently in Fitchburg. In 1849 he took a position as overseer in a woolenmill, and in the course of the next four years saved money enough to start in business for himself.

In January, 1855, he entered upon his successful mercantile life by buying out a hat and furnishing store under the Fitchburg Hotel. Here he remained until 1869, when he removed to his branch store, established some years previously, in Belding & Dickinson's Block. He had also, in the mean time, started another branch store in Brattleboro', Vt. In January, 1885, he moved into his present elegant and commodious quarters in E. M. Dickinson's new brick block, where, as senior partner, we now find him at the head of one of the finest and best regulated clothing and furnishing establishments in New England.

Mr. Goodrich married, in December, 1856, Miss Harriet Stebbins, daughter of John Stebbins, Esq., of Vernon, Vt. He has one son, William Henry, and one daughter, Mrs. W. L. Humes.

In addition to his mercantile pursuits, Mr. Goodrich has been largely interested in real estate operations in Fitchburg. He was, at one time, half owner of the "L. J. Brown Block,'' and sold his interest to

Mr. Brown. In 1868 he bought the American House property, and later erected two large blocks on Day Street, one of which bears the name of " Goodrich Block." He sold the American House in 1874, and became a stockholder and director in the Haskins Machine Company, which proved to be a disastrous venture.

Like many other active and ambitious men, he has encountered reverses, but, by energy, perseverance and industry, has quickly overcome them, and started anew with a fresh determination to win success.

During the War of the Rebellion Mr. Goodrich was the treasurer of the Fitchburg " Bounty Fund,'' and collected and disbursed over $20,000, the greater portion of which was afterward refunded by the town. After the terrible battles of the Wilderness in 1864 he was sent by the town, with Dr. Alfred Hitchcock and E. B. Hayward, to look after the sick and wounded Fitchburg soldiers in the hospitals at Fredericksburg and Washington. A reference to the files of the Fitchburg Sentinel about that time will show how thoroughly and conscientiously he performed his full share of the sad duty.

Mr. Goodrich has also been for many years a frequent contributor to the press on current topics. During the great "Silver Discussion," in 1878, he wrote a series of communications, which appeared in the Fitchburg Sentinel over the signature of " Inquirer," favoring the passage of the Bland Silver Bill. These communications were written in a clear and forcible style, and showed a thoroughly business-like familiarity with, as well as careful study of, the subject in hand. A correspondent of the Boston Herald said of these articles at the time, - " Our bankers and business men are considerably exercised at the appearance of a series of letters in the Sentinel, the past week or two, favoring the passage of the Bland Silver Bill. The Sentinel opposes the sentiments of these communications editorially, but it is beginning to be evident that the unknown writer is more than a match for the newspaper men, at least in vigorous style, mastery of the arts of logic and power of special pleading.''

In politics Mr. Goodrich has never been, in any sense, an extreme partisan. In early life he was a stanch believer in, and advocate of, anti-slavery principles. He served on the first " Free-Soil Town Committee" with Moses Wood, Charles Mason and Henry A. Willis. His first vote was for John P. Hale for President. He has been a Republican since the party was organized ; but, being naturally independent, has not always fully acquiesced in every political measure advocated or adopted by that party. As a rule he has supported Republican candidates.

In 1869 and 1870 Mr. Goodrich represented his native town in the Legislature, being elected thereto as the Republican candidate, and served two years on the Hoosac Tunnel committee during the most important epoch in the history of the great tunnel enterprise.

At the organization of the city government he served on the Board of Assessors, and for several j-ears was one of the trustees of the Public Library. In 1885 he was the Citizens' candidate for mayor, though practically a temperance man, but shared the fate of the entire Citizens' ticket, which was that year swept away by a tidal wave of radical prohibition.

He was active in organizing the Fitchburg Board of Trade, and was one of its first vice-presidents. He has been one of the managers of the Massachusetts Mutual Aid Society from its organization, and in 1887 was elected its president. In 1887 he was also president of the Merchants' Association and of the American Pruning Company.

Mr. Goodrich has always led a busy, active life, and has ever been ready to aid in the forwarding of all projects tending to increase and strengthen the prosperity of his native town ; and his high mercantile and social standing is the result of integrity, energy and perseverance.