Worcester County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (6 of 9 so headed), 1889

Biographical sketches

The following account of this firm, and the men who were associated in its management, was prepared by Mr. Charles Adams, Jr., and was the last literary work of his life. It is printed, without alteration, from his manuscript.

Of all the men who have been citizens of this town since its incorporation, no one, probably, has done so much to promote its material growth and prosperity as Deacon Tyler Batcheller; and a history of the town, without a brief sketch, at least, of his active and useful career, would lack an essential element. He may truly be called the founder of ihe now large and flourishing central village of North Brookfield. He was born, as will be seen in the genealogical record, December 20, 1793, in the town of Sutton, where he lived with his father till April, 1802, when the ftimily removed to this town, which, however, was then the North Parish, or "Second Precinct in Brookfield;" his father purchasing of Solomon & Edmund Matthews, by deed, August 19, 1801, and for many years occupying the farm ever since known as the " Batcheller place," now (3885) owned by J. Winslow Bryant. At an early age, probably in his fifteenth year, he went to Grafton and learned the trade of shoemaking of Mr. Nathan Johnson. At the close of his apprenticeship there be returned to North Brookfield, and was employed in the establishment of Mr. Oliver Ward, who, in 1810, had commenced in this town the manufacture of "sale shoes," the first and only manufactory of the kind in the State, west of Grafton. In the family of Mr. Ward he found a pleasant and congenial home for about eight years.

In 1819 he commenced business on his own account, at the " Wetherbee bouse," so called, which stood on the spot now occupied by the house of Mrs. Erastus Hill. Having married, the same year, be resided there with his family ; the back part of the house serving as his manufactory. At first his entire business consisted only in what shoes he could make with his own hands; soon, however, taking into his service one or two apprentices, and his brother Ezra, who had already learned the trade of Mr. Ward. The first shoes he made were chiefly of a low-pri:ed quality, especially adapted to the Southern trade. These he packed in empty flour-barrels and consigned to Mr. Enoch Train, who in those days ran a line of sailing packets between Boston and Havana. On these small consignments a large per cent, of profit was realized. In 1821 he purchased the "Skerry house" and farm in the centre of what is now the main village of the town, expecting to enter into possession the first of the following April ; but in February, 1822, his dwelling and shop at the Wetherbee place were totally destroyed by fire, and he at once removed bis family to his new purchase, the "Skerry house," where he resumed and continued his business in an out-building on the premises, until 1824. In that year, having previously taken into his service several additional employes, he built a small two-story shop, which is now a part of the immense structure known far and wide as the " big shop," into which January 1, 1825, he removed his business, and at the same date took into partnership bis brother Ezra, continuing the same business, though somewhat enlarged, under the firm of T. & E. Batcheller. From this time forward to the end of his life the two brothers were associated as partners through all the changes in their business ; and in giving a history of it, their names cannot be dissociated. Tyler, the senior, attended to the purchase of stock and to all other business abroad ; while Ezra was the efficient and popular superintendent, almost always at home.

and at his post, giving direction to all matters pertaining to the manufactory. Harmonious in all their business relations and interests, as well as in all measures devised for the public weal, the act of one was the act of both; and in most matters their names were usually coupled, and they were familiarly spoken of as " the Deacon and Ezra."

They now added to their business the manufacture of " Batcheller's Retail Brogan," an article adapted to the New England trade, and kept for sale in all the stores in this and many of the neighboring towns ; their main business, however, being the manufacture of goods for the Southern and Western Slates. The firm of T. & E. Batcheller continued, with a constantly increasing business, until January 1, 1830, when, by the admission of Freeman Walker, it was changed to " T. & E. Batcheller & Walker." The business having largely increased, the factory was now enlarged to three times its original size. In 1831 they introduced the manufacture of Russet Brogans, specially for the trade of the Southern States - the first that were made in Massachusetts. They soon became a leading article in the shoe trade and continued to be so for many years. Mr. Walker retired from the firm in 1834, and the firm resumed its former style of "T. & E. Batcheller." At this time the business had increased from its small beginnings to what was then considered very large ; but the manufacture for an entire year then was probably no more than the product of a single week iu the " big shop " at the present time. Nothing that could properly be called machinery had been introduced to prepare the stock for bottoming, none of which was done in the factory, but was put out and done by workmen in their small shops in this and most of the towns in the vicinity - in some instances the stock was carried to a distance of twenty to thirty miles.

The firm of T. & E. Batcheller continued until June 10, 1852, when Charles Adams, Jr., Alfred H. Batcheller, William C.King and Hervey J. Batcheller were admitted to the firm, and its style changed to T. & E. Batcheller &Co.; meanwhile a store bad been established in Boston for the transaction of their business, and Tyler Batcheller had found it necessary, for greater convenience, to remove his residence to Boston the latter part of 1848. Mr. Adams retired from the firm January 1, 1860, the firm-name remaining the same, and Hervey J. Batcheller retired soon after. The business had then increased, from the day of small things, to nearly a million and a half of dollars annually. In April, 1861, the Southern Rebellion broke out, paralyzing for a while almost the whole business of the country. This firm suffered with the rest, and their business being very largely with the Southern States, their losses were proportionally large. A suspension was inevitable, and they were temporarily under the general financial cloud. But an arrangement, highly honorable to them, was soon made, and in a few months they were enabled to pay, and did pay, every dollar of their indebtedness, principal and interest. But Tyler Batcheller, the founder and for years the sole proprietor and manager of the business, and the efficient senior partner of the firm from its beginning, did not live to see that fortunate consummation. The disappointment and anxiety caused by the apparent loss of a large fortune - the accumulations of a half-century of successful business - the inability to meet present pecuniary liabilities ; the future darkened by the civil war in which the nation was then involved, the termination and result of which could not be anticipated by any human foresight ; - in the midst of this accumulation of adverse and discouraging circumstances, and probably to some extent in consequence of them, his health failed, and his constitution, never robust, and which had begun to feel the eflfects of advancing years, seemed entirely to give way, and after a brief confinement to his house and bed, and without any clearly-defined disease he died, October 8, 1862, nearly sixty-nine years of age, - apparently of mere exhaustion of the vital powers, accelerated, probably, by mental care and anxiety. Thus ended a life distinguished for industry, energy, perseverance, integrity and usefulness. If his life had been spared but a few months longer he might have seen the cloud, which overhung their business at the time of his death, dispelled, all the pecuniary liabilities of the firm paid in full, an ample competency for himself and family retrieved from the wreck of the old business, and a most favorable prospect for a future business, which, although he did not live to see it, was more than realized by the surviving partners, of whom his brother Ezra was henceforward to the end of his life the able and efficient senior partner. Mr. King retired from the firm in 1865.

In the early years of Tyler Batcheller there were no special indications of the prominent positions he was destined to fill in the community, and in the business world. In boyhood he was noted for his mild and peaceful disposition ; never zealously mingling with his contemporaries in their noisy and boisterous sports; then and always modest and unassuming in his deportment ; improving to the best of his ability the very limited advantages afforded in those days for schooling : a very few weeks in the district school each winter being the extent of his school education - a defect which was ever a source of regret to him.

He was very early inured to habits of industry and economy, which he retained through life. The following incident exemplifies both traits. The first three years of his service with Mr. Ward were the last three years of his minority, and his stipulated wages went to his father; over and above which, during that time he earned and saved five hundred dollars - a large amount for those days - the interest on which, as he told the writer, was his self-restricted annual allowance for clothing for several years - until he went into business on his own account.

He united with what is now the First Congregational church in North Brookfield, June 8, 1817. In the spring of 1818, in connection with Joseph A. (afterward Deacon) Moore, he organized and superintended the first Sabbath-school in town, and for sixteen years he was a member of the supervising committee of the same.

September 15, 1820, he was elected a deacon, when he was twenty-seven years of age, and continued in that office twenty-eight years - until he removed his residence to Boston.

He was married April 6, 1819, to Miss Nancy Jenks, daughter of Mr. Nicholas Jenks, one of the early residents of the town. She was a most estimable lady and helpmeet, the mother of all his children. Her early and lamented death, in 1828, was a great lots to the whole community. She was born August, 1796, and died October 5, 1828, leaving four small children - three daughters and a son. He married for his second wife, Octobers, 1829, Miss Abigail Jones Lane, daughter of Captain Samuel Lane, a very worthy young lady who had been an inmate of his family four years, and had the care of all his children, to whom she was now called to be a second mother; the oldest was only seven years old at the death of their mother. She lived to see the daughters all married, and survived her husband six years. She was born at Bedford, Mass., August 1, 1810, and died at Boston, March 10, 1877.

The "Skerry farm," which he purchased in 1821, covered a large portion of what is now the central village - the whole of the northeast quarter and part of the southeast, on no part of which was there any building except the old Skerry house in which he lived until 1836, when it was demolished, and a new house built on its site, and which was his home until he removed to Boston in 1848. It is now occupied as a part of the " Big Shop,'' and is the southwesterly portion of it. About 1825 the land on the streets by which the fiirm was bounded began to be wanted for building lots. In disposing of them Mr. Batcheller, with a view to the development and growth of the village, rather than to his individual interest, adopted the liberal policy of selling them at only about their value for agricultural purposes, to men of good character who would probably become permanent citizens and to workmen whose services were wanted in or near his manufactory. The first sale was to his brother and partner, Ezra Batcheller, where Frank A. Smith now lives : and in a few years those streets were lined by neat residences owned and occupied by a very desirable class of citizens. When "Grove Street" was opened through his land, and real estate had largely increased in value, he was asked by several individuals at the same time to set a price on building-lots; he declined, giving as a reason that several of his interested friends had intimated to him that at the prices at which he had been parting with building-lots, he was doing less than justice to him- self, and perhaps to them. He accordingly proposed to leare the price to be made by two disinterested men mutually agreed upon, and that he would abide by their decision. The proposition was accepted, and carried into eflect.

In 1848 it became necessary, for the convenience of the extensive business of the firm, that he should remove to Boston, which he did in December of that year, and, as was said at his funeral, " he carried his religion with him." He attended meeting regularly at Park Street Church, and November 2, 1850, he and his wife united with that church, then under the pastoral care of Rev. A. L. Stone, now of San Francisco, Cal. September 17, 18.'i7, he was elected a deacon of that church, and to the close of life remained an active and devoted officer. He was also for several years a member of the Prudential Committee of that society.

Mr. Batcheller was an original member of the Boston Board of Trade: was chosen a member of its Committee of Arbitration, and served on other important committees.

In removing his legal residence to Boston Mr. Batcheller did not forget the town of North Brookfield, where he had passed nearly a century of his life, - nor the church and society there with which he had been connected more than thirty years, as was shown by his frequent visits and acts of liberality and beneficence.

Ezra Batcheller, the junior member of the original firm, if less prominent before the public, was, equally with his brother, an efficient and essential factor in the growth and prosperity of the manufacturing establishment. And to his business tact and energy is largely due the prompt extrication of the concern from their temporary embarrassment in 1861. He was a large-hearted, public-spirited man, of earnest piety ; and his memory is fragrant of good deeds and an honorable and useful life.

The present firm name is E. & A. H. Batcheller & Company ; and this is the only boot and shoe manufactory now in operation in North Brookfield. In 1875, as appears from the census report, they gave employment to 927 males and 150 females, and manufactured goods of the value of $1,817,000. Their facilities for business have been considerably increased since that date.

Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., A.M.

According to his own prepared family record, Mr. Adams is descended from Henry\ who came from England and settled in Braiutree; the line running through Edward- of Medfield, John' of Medfield, Abraham* of Brookfield, Jesse" of Brookfield, Charles, M.D.^ of Antrim, N. H., and Oakham, Mass.

Charles, Jr.', was born at Antrim, in the part then known as Woodbury Village, now South Antrim, January 31, 1810, and died at North Brookfield, April 19, 188G. In addition to the advantages of the common schools, he attended a select school in Brookfield under Rev. John Bisbee, and studied eight months with Rev. Josiah Clark, of Rutland. This completed his school education. He served an apprenticeship of five years in a country store at Petersham, and was employed as clerk, for a single year by J. B. Fairbanks, of Ware. He came to North Brookfield in 1832, and entered the employment of Messrs. Batcheller, shoe manufacturers, as book-keeper and accountant, which position he held for twenty years. In 1852 he became a member of the firm, and so continued until 1860, when he retired with a competence.

Mr. Adams was much in public life - having held by election most of more responsible town offices : was representative to the General Court fVir the years 1850, '51, '52 and '62; State Senator 1865, '66, 77 and '78 ; member of the Executive Council 1867, '68, '69 and '70; Treasurer and Receiver-General of the Commonwealth 1871, '72, '78, '74 and '75. He was also honored with special trusts ; was commissioner of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad Sinking Fund ; and for many years president of the North Brookfield Savings Bank. Perhaps it is enough to say, that in all these offices and trusts he fully met the expectation of his constituents for industry, ability, foresight, good judgment and integrity.

In manners, Mr. Adams bad the dignity, without the preciseness, of a gentleman of the old school of official station. What was lacking in courtliness was more than made up by self-poise and an unaflected cordiality that won esteem, while it did not lessen respect. Always collected and maintaining a proper self-respect, he yet was at home equally in the kitchen of the farmers and the parlors of the educated. He saw a true manhood in whomsoever it existed, and yielded it due homage ; he detected and did not conceal his contempt for mere pretence and outside show.

Though he often lamented his early disadvantages of schooling, yet he was, in the best sense, an educated man - not "self-made " as the popular phrase is, which implies the creatingof one's surroundings and means. Rather, he subjected those surroundings to his will, and made them the means to develop and furnish his mind ; and thus was educated and trained. He utilized whatever advantages were within his reach, whether at home or at school, behind the counter or in the counting-room ; first as a subordinate and after as partner, owner and director. He was a learner, always and everywhere; seizing the opportunities, which both old and young so often throw away, to gain knowledge of men, and methods, and principles, and business, as well as books. And this early training, and the formation of habits of observation and inquiry and research, and this steady application to the work and duty of the hour, laid the foundation of the self-reliance and power of concentrated effort which fitted him for the higher duties and responsibilities of business life and official position. He succeeded because he had paid the full price 'of success.

North Brookfield

Nor was his lack of school privileges apparent. He was well read in general and local history, as well as in political economy, the industrial sciences and finance. His was retentive, and was well stored with available knowledge. He was a good talker; and though commonly very practical in conversation, he yet possessed a mobile fancy and a vein of humor slightly imbued with satire that, combined and incited by refined instincts and pure thoughts and associations, made him a desirable acquisition to any social circle.

In the quiet life of a busy manufacturer, and even in the responsible station of a State official, there is little of incident and few turns of affairs to attract special notice and give interest to a biographical sketch. The startling situations, and conflicts, and triumphs which attach to military and professional life and make the reputation and renown of men of those classes and furnish the emphatic points in their biographies, are either wanting in legislative, and judicial and mercantile experience ; or they are of strictly personal and temporary concern. They may have touched matters of success or popularity, vital in their day ; but that day was a brief one, and results affected mainly the parties immediately interested.

While a member of the Legislature and the Executive Council, Mr. Adams gave his attention largely to matters of banking and finance, and questions growing out of the State's connection with the Troy and Greenfield, and the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroads, and other corporations. He was chairman, or a member of the appropriate committees. To these committees is entrusted the shaping of the financial policy of the Commonwealth. And as several of his terms of service followed close upon the ending of the late Civil War, his sound views and practical good sense made his influence at that juncture of especial consequence. The reports from his pen are distinguished by a broad grasp, and able reasoning, and safe conclusions.

Mr. Adams did not claim to be a popular speaker, and attempted nothing in the line of oratory. He wrote out his intended remarks ; and as he was a good reader, he made a favorable impression whenever he chose to appear before the public. He had himself and his theme well in hand ; his points were clearly put ; his evident mastery of his subject enlisted the hearer's attention, while his unaffected earnestness made a deep impression, if it did not carry conviction.

His style of writing was largely influenced by his leading pursuits. It was direct, unadorned, and what in Addisonian times would have been called didactic. He used Anglo-Saxon words and idioms ; and the guiding thread of logic was always apparent in his sentences and consecutive sections. Having Scotch blood in his veins, it was only natural that he should have a love for Scottish history and literature. He became particularly fond of the poetry of Gray and Burns, and the poetry and romance of Sir Walter Scott. And the chance he had of going abroad in 1871, to complete the sale of Slate bonds in London, and which opportunity he embraced for extended travel in Scotland as well as on the Continent, intensified the early passion, and gave direction to his study and reflection in later years, after his retirement from office.

In a paper which he wrote in 1873, on " The Life and Times of Robert Burns," he tells us how he was first led into this attractive field. " In the year 1827, when I was in my seventeenth year, in a trade with another young man, to make the bargain even, I received a copy of ' Burns' Poems ' in two small redmorocco bound volumes, without at the time knowing or caring who Robert Burns was. On opening the books I was delighted to find in them several songs which I had often heard sung by my mother - a descendant from clan McAllister - who was a fine singer - of course the finest I had then heard, and you will pardon me if I say the finest I have ever heard to this day (in my estimation). Some of her favorites, which I found in these volumes, were ' Bonnie Doon,' ' John Anderson my Jo,' ' Auld Lang Syne,' ' Highland Mary,' 'The Lea-Rig,' etc. And the reading of these songs in their peculiar dialect, naturally led my thoughts beyond the songs themselves and the singer, and awakened an interest in the author and his life and home ; and thus insensibly I became an ardent admirer of Burns and Scotland." He then relates his visit to the Land of Burns in 1871, and gives expression to the thoughts inspired by the sight of the places and associations amid which the poet lived and wrote.

This paper, filling sixty-three closely-written pages of manuscript, reveals a trait of character which was prominent in all his life, viz., a tender and appreciative regard for his mother; and it furnishes k fair sample of his literary style. It is characterized by vivid descriptions of natural scenery and peasant life. He groups the hamlet, and its occupants and homesurroundings in a spirited picture, charming by its lights and shades, its mingling of the real and ideal, and all enveloped in the fitlul sunshine and mists of the Ayr and Ayrshire. This paper, and a diary kept by him, and since writt^ out in full, take rank above many modern published e-says and books of travel.

Mr. Adams prepared and delivered an address at the semi-centennial of the Oakham Sabbath-School, May, 1868 ; an address at the centennial of Antrim, N. H., June 27, 1877, in response to the toast - "Scotch character: still marked by grit and grace;" an address delivered on Washington's birthday, 1874; and read a paper on North Brooklield family history before the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, February, 1884 ; and had partly completed a Sketch of the Life of Thomas Gray. But his principal literary work was the compilation of family biog- raphies, comprising the leading Brookfield settlers, and filling ten large quarto volumes. These manuscript volumes contain historical matter, personal anecdotes and adventures, and family memorials of great value to genealogists, and are a monument of the author's patient research and discriminating judgment.

Both by nature and self-culture, Mr. Adams was a conservative man. But his was a conservatism that is an element of strength, and not of weakness ; which was a consequent of deliberation and forecast, and not of timidity. He built on well-laid foundations and not on the sand. He made no more " haste " than " good speed." The meteor may outdazzle the evening star, but Jupiter remains king of the nightly heavens.

And this habit of mind fitted him for his work in the State treasurership and his other financial trusts. A wise conservatism always begets confidence, and, when joined with a clear head and habits of investigation, is the common antecedent of permanent .success. This trait appeared as a factor in his daily life, in his friendships, in his views on education, on political and moral reforms, and on questions of theologv and religion. He learned the Assembly's Shorter Catechism from his mother, and was accustomed to recommend it as a safe manual of Scripture doctrines to be taught to children. He was for fifteen years a member of Dr. Snell's Bible class. And he united with the Presbyterian Church because of its steadfiist adherence to the old standards of faith and practice.

Mr. Adams was tender and strong in his social friendshi[)s, and his heart and purse were open to the calls of the needy and suffering. He bestowed his charities freely, but unostentatiously, on those who had a claim on his generosity and kindness. Many a widow and orphan will miss his timely help, and cherLsh and bless his memory.