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

Among the buildings he erected was Lincoln House Block, on the front portion of the old Worcester House estate, and the block of three dwelling-houses on the rear, now owned and occupied by Charles S. Turner, H. H. Bigelow and William H. Morse. Also, he built in 1848 a dwelling-house for his own occupancy on the corner of Main and Benefit Streets, in which he resided till the fall of 1863, and then sold it to George W. Gill, and it is now owned and occupied by the Children's Friend Society, known as the "Orphans' Home."

After forty years' residence in Worcester Mr. Wall in 1877 removed to Boston, where he has since lived, but he has never given up his connection with the First Baptist Church in Worcester, of which he and his wife have been members for nearly fifty years, and he has never relinquished the idea of making Worcester his last dwelling-place, it being the theatre of most of his active business life ; and he now considers Worcester his real home and Boston but a temporary one. He has never lost his interest in and love for Worcester, among the renewed evidences of which being his recent purchase of the valuable estate called Paine Block. In Boston he has occupied himself in real estate operations in which he has met with success.

In politics he was a Jackson Democrat on general principles and gave his first vote for Andrew Jackson for President in 1832 ; but he has since acted with other parties, when, at times, the issues were more in accordance with his views. He was one of the orignal Anti-Slavery and Liberty partv men, and one of the original " Free Soilers " in 1848 ; secretary of the first Free Soil County Commitee, and an active worker in that cause from the beginning of the movement. Many of the impromptu " Free-Soil " meetings on the Common, in the campaign of 1848, were got up by him, and addressed by speakers from' the east portico of the City Hall.

On the evening of May 18,1887, he gave a complimentary banquet at the Lincoln House to his brother, Caleb A. Wall, the veteran journalist of the Worcester Spy, in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of his brother's connection with the Worcester County press. This was a meeting of about one hundred and fifty of the oldest and most honored citizens of

Worcester, described in the newspapers at the time as "one of the most remarkable gatherings ever held here ; representing those longest and most closely identified with the varied interests of the city, including men from all walks of life, from the pulpit, the legal and medical professions, the National and State Councils, business, trade and the shops, comprising an array of veterans in experience and the venerable in years never before seen together here."

Dedicated To The Semi-Centennial Banquet Confidential

A poem was wanted this b,iDquet to grace ; Most diligent search revealed not a trace Of Poet in Worcester, hence, this lesser plan- To farm out the jolj to a newspaper man, The dailies and weeklies were ready betimes. With scribblers galore, all chock full of rhymes, To suit this occasion, and thus it befel They all got to wrangling about who should tell This story to-night, and te save discontent At last 'twas decided to flip up a cent. Up went the copper - to the writer's surprise The lot fell to him - the GcaeUe won the prize.

And this is the story - a legend in rhyme - Though Pegasus falters, the theme is sublime. Unfolding a record that's writ on Time's Scroll, Indelible there, while the centuries roll.

The Legend

THE LEGEND. Old Time, with his hour-glass, while counting the years Of life, witli its record of hopes and of fears. Its Joys and its sorrows, successes, defeats,

Aweary had grown of his task, and to find A trusty and capable "sub" to his mind, - Dropped in on the Sptj, in its Argus-eyed den. And found our friend Caleb still wielding his pen. "Ah I Caleb, old fellow, a grip of the hand. Delighted to see you ! - The gods must have planned

Now all the old fellows who know Caleb Wall, Mnst know that he never has shirked duty's call. A kindly eye beams 'neath his gray, grisly locks. His heart, well, his heart is at big as an ox. Of course he said " Yes," in his good-natured way, And took up Time's burden as if it were play. Time loafed. Caleb toiled in his 8tead,--he toils yet.

Then, Hip, Hip, Hurrah ! no trouble we'll fear. We'll toast him to-night. He'll embalm us, 'tis clear. In History's pages, and band our names down To far distant ages. Posterity's crown He will win, in a night, for us one and all - The friends and well-wishers of Caleb A. Wall I

Incidental

INCIDENTAL. Hush 1 A word for our host, who gathered us here To honor his brother, and share his good cheer. We know him of old, as a man among men, Not one of our craft, - but who writes with a pen His name In a check-book, on bond, or on deed, [His autograph pays for this bountiful " feed,"] That's honored for all which the paper implies ; Whose word is as good as bis bond, till he dies; Whose history, if written for three-score and ten. Would need a whole volume, and worthier pen. Yet, to point out the moral adorning this tale. How honesty, thrift, and good sense will prevail, And yield a rich harvest, this fact we'll relate : Our host here was born to an indigent stiite. But made his own fortune, nor wronged any man. Never hankered for office. Instead, 'twas his plan Of life to keep every promise and word ; To mind his own business : - And who ever heard Of his failing to do so? That's James H. Wall I As every one know him, who knows him at all.

Then echo, ye walls, to the Walls ye surround I " May brotherly love and good cheer still abound ; " Once more then. Hip ! Hip ! Let us fill to the toast " To Caleb and James - Historian and Host I "

What Caleb remembers, would make quite a store Of family recipes ; guides to explore The art of right living ; a digest of Time For statesmen to chew on, for scribblers to rhyme And wring nutrition : - in a word we might say The Yesterday's viands warmed up for to-day.

Our Caleb remembers, in life's early morn, .Our modern improvements were mostly unborn. In stages, the wealthy, through pasture and wood Went shopping to Boston ; if walking was good

The poor went on foot. How blankly they'd stare At oui- express trains and onr one dollar fare. Or Raymond's Excursions, North, South, East, or West, With Drawing-room, Sleeper, Buffet and the restl

Our Caleb remembers the Pony Express Was lightning despatch, in haste or distress, Ere Telegraph Cables encircled the globe. The Telephonel - torture unknown to old Job Or else he'd have weakened, his patience worn out While pretty girls flirted and left him to shout, - All these comforts and trials, this worry and haste, Are ours, who have life, but no minutes to waste.

Tlie reason is plain, manifest beyond doubt, The people are finding the bl - k rascals out I Just wait a few yeara until that party nins Which means to Reform, -to reform its own sins I

Our Caleb remombers, - and so does thescribe,- That life is misspent which is all diatribe, And therefore craves pardon, and begs to remind The growlers in this world, a better to fled I For all who will read Caleb's volume aright Will find that it pays to "keep honor bright." Don't crowd, fellow-mourners ; Be true ; Be a man ; Press forward ; Look backward ; Improve on the plan I This, then, is the nub we've been trying to borrow : Let yesterday's serve for to-day and to morrow I For brotherly greetings, and this friendly call, Our Caleb will kindly remember you all.

September 1,3, 1831, Mr. Wall was united in marriage with Mary Ann, oldest daughter of Benjamin E. and Elizabeth (Davenport) Davis, and she is still living. From this union there were born seven children, four of whom are now living. Two, Mary Ann and Thomas A., died in infancy, and Joseph S. died in 1864, aged nineteen. The oldest, George F., is married, residing in Worcester; Sarah Elizabeth married Sumner W. Balcom, residing in Boston; James H., Jr., is married, residing in Chicago ; and Emma Isabella married Charles S. Connell, residing in New York City.

Among the civil positions which Mr. Wall held during his forty years' residence in Worcester, he was three years in each branch of the City Council; Common Councilman in 1852, '53 and '58; alderman in 1854, '55 and '56 ; two years assessor, in 1849 and '59 ; and he was highway surveyor for the Centre District the last year of the town, 1847-48.

Mr. Wall has always been considered by those who best knew him, and are best qualified to judge, as a careful and conservative man in all his business transactions. He has frequently been called upon as an expert in the values of real estate, by city, corporate and private parties.

Edward Attgdstu.S Goodno'W.'

Banking and Beneficence are the two words which mark the claim of Edward A. Goodnow to the regard of his fellow-men. As a banker he enjoys the reputation of being one of the most eminently successful in New England ; as a giver of large gifts for educational uses his name is a familiar word in schools and colleges at the east and west and south and beyond the sea. Having a talent for making money and a disposition to give it away, he has scattered his heap as fast as it has accumulated and thus refrained from becoming, what he might easily have become, a millionaire. And having no children of his own he has used his wealth for the education of the children of his fellow-men.

noteworthy towns of Massachusetts. Within its borders rises Wachusett mountain, the most elevated, save one, in the commonwealth. From its summit may be seen in the far distance the golden dome of the State House and the Atlantic ocean, while in the near distance almost numberless white villages and shining little lakes nestling among low hills captivate the eye, with the populous city of Worcester twelve miles away emphasizing the landscape. Princeton village and farms, clustering around the foot of the mountain, are perhaps at a higher elevation than any other inhabited spot in the state. Because of these natural advantages - the sightly mountain, thesalubrious atmosphere, andthe nearness to the great cities - Princeton more than fifty years ago began to be a favorite place for summer resort, and with each returning year has been growing in public favor.

To this town, sometime in the last century came Edward Goodnow from Sudbury, on his waysojournng in Northboroiigh long enough to find and espouse a wife. Born to them was another Edward, who in turn became the father of Edward Augustus the subject of this sketch. He was consequently the third Edward in succession and in the third generation from Edward of Sudbury. The name of his mother was Rebecca Beaman. She was born in Princeton and lived to the great age of eighty-seven. In the primitive days of her girlhood it was the custom of the girls of her neighborhood to fetch the Princeton letters from Worcester, their nearest post-office; and Rebecca took her turn with others. Alone, on horseback, guided only by " blazed " trees through the " forest primeval," the intrepid maiden often made her way in the performance of this service.

The house in which Edward A. was born his grandfather had built in 1786. Large, roomy, with stately elms in front and standing on the highway from Boston to Deerfield and " the back towns," it was well suited and situated for a tavern; and as such the father of Edward A. opened it to the public about the year 1823. By the wayside swung the sign bearing the inscription, " E. Goodnow, Inn." The mailcarrier of the earlier day as landlady of the new hostelry showed herself so apt in providing good cheer for her gue=ts that the Goodnow Inn became a house of fame. Drovers of cattle, sheep, hogs and turkeys found it a place much to be coveted for a halt over night, and to make sure of their quarters were wont to give notice of their coming, in advance. Then for a night the premises would be populous. The driven cattle browsed in the adjoining field or rested their jowls on each other's necks, while roosting turkeys filled the apple-trees with unwonted crops. The inn was kept open for twenty-one years and then closed. The fine old house, now the residence of William B. Goodnow, is still in a state of excellent preservation and bids fair to outlast the second century on which it has already entered.

Tavern life is well fitted to quicken a boy's wits and make him alert. In a measure, also, it is a substitute for travel ; the wide world comes to him instead of his going forth into it. The boy Edward Augustus had his full share of such iniiuences and they did much in fitting him for his after life. The common school also did something ; and three terms in Hadley Academy did something. This was all the strictly educational outfit he received. Farm work occupied a large part of his young years, and to work of all sorts he was well inclined. But he had a set rather towards trade, and at the age of nineteen went to work for wages in the store of an elder brother in Princeton. At the end of two years or so, the brothers formed a partnership which continued for about ten years. The general business of a country store, the manufacture of palm-leaf hats and the marketing of country produce made up the business of the firm. For several seasons Mr. Goodnow was his own teamster, rising at two o'clock, driving forty miles to Boston' and spending a good part of one night on the road. This was a regular weekly trip. In 1836 the firm took in a third partner with a view to engaging in the manufacture of shoes. At a later period Edward A. sold out his interest in the concern and engaged in the shoe manufacture by himself. Meanwhile he had taken to wife Harriet Bagg, a daughter of Dr. Henry Bagg the leading physician of Princeton, with whom he lived happily for some five years. After her decease Mary Augusta, the only remaining daughter of Dr. Bagg, became his second wife ; but alter a like period of domestic happiness her decease also left him once more alone. His next matrimonial venture proved more fortunate. In 1846 he secured the hand of Catharine Bowman, eldest daughter of Seth Caldwell Esq. of Barre, by whom for the next quarter of a century his home and all his social surroundings were made a source of unalloyed satisfaction to himself and his friends.

At the age of thirty-seven he found that the limitations of country trade in a country town were not giving him his chance and he began to look out for a broader field. Accordingly, in 1847 he sold out his Princeton business and left the town. During the period of "prospecting" which followed he had charge for a time of the store connected with the great cutlery establishment of Lamson, Goodnow & Co. at Shelburne Falls, making sales at the rate of $60 000 a year. But neither this nor a manufacturing'prospect in central New York offered him the chance he was seeking. Then he retraced his steps and in the city of Worcester found his chance. He was now forty-two years old, with small capital but large capacity, untiring energy and thorough practical training. In Princeton he had become familiar with the ins and outs of the shoe trade and had seen that, of necessity, it was one of the leading industries of the country. At the same time, he was well aware that abundant competition awaited each newcomer. Notwithstanding, he felt that still it was the shoe trade which offered him his best chance, and that if he was to stand well on anything it must be on shoes. Accordingly in 1852 he bought out a small concern in Worcester and began. Retail and jobbing were combined, but the trade was chiefly of the retail sort. Mr. Goodnow soon learned that if money was to be made in large amount it must be by the jobbing business. At the end of four years, therefore, he sold out the retail branch and proceeded to establish the first exclusive jobbing house of any kind in Worcester. This jobbing business was conducted iu a store under Mechanics Hall. For the first year it amounted to $130,000. At the end of ten years it had increased to nearly $400,000.

He was in the thick of this prosperity when the Civil War broke out. It did not daunt him in the least. On the contrary, he welcomed the issue, since it needs must be, and gave himself to the cause of the Union with all his soul. He had long been preparing for the crisis. In Princeton years before he had adopted the principles of the Free Soil party, being among the first eight, and he felt the war to be the legitimate outcome of those principles. With these views he was forward in doing his part. Thirteen of his clerks one after another, encouraged and helped by him, enlisted in the Union ranks. One had his wages continued while he was gone and his place kept open for him against his return. The proposal of Governor Andrew to raise a regiment of colored troops engaged his liveliest sympathies, and he headed a subscription with $500 for their equipment. All the while he maintained unswerving confidence in the government and the final success of its cause. He subscribed liberally to the first issue of its bonds in the face of distrust in high quarters. And when the national bank act was passed and the old state banks were backward in reorganizing under it, he took a leading part in forming the First National Bank, which because of such prompt show of confidence was made and continued for many years the exclusive depositary of the government

With the close of the war he closed up his busi. ness and gave himself a respite. After a year or two of leisure he accepted the office of president of the First National Bank to which he had been unanimously elected. In some banks the president, full of other business, is olten only a figure head ; Mr. Goodnow was the real head. Able boards of directors, accomplished cashiers, expert tellers and other officers did their full share in promoting the prosperity of the bank. But the potential voice was still that of the president. All the paper passed through his hands and he passed upon it all. He took risks which timid men never dare to take and ignorant men never know how to take. He secured large deposits by a liberal attitude towards depositors. For many years the First National was the only bank in the city which offered interest on special deposits subject to check at sight. Men with large balances were quick to see the point. Because of this, a prominent director in another bank made a deposit of $20,000 at one time. The results of this policy were disclosed by the magnitude of the item of "individual deposits" in the published statements of the bank's condition. Then, as he was ready to pay interest on the deposits ill his own bank, so he was careful to obtain the best possible interest on the deposits bi/ his own bank. On first taking the management he found the bank had been receiving what he deemed an inadequate rate from its Boston depositary. This he increased by one per cent., which, in the aggregate, gave the bank a handsome addition to its income. When he took office the stock of the bank had a market value of 110 ; under his management its par value was doubled. On a capital of $300,000 the surjjlus was raised at one time to more than $200,000. Of fifty or more semi-annual dividend-!, only one or two were at the rate of nine per cent., while all the rest were at the rate of ten and twelve. For many years the uniform rate has been ten per cent. In recognition of Mr. Goodnow's agency in producing this great prosperity, his associates on the board and the stockholders at their annual meeting in 1881 unanimously adopted and made of record these resolves :

1. That the present high degree of prosperity of the First National Bank of Worcester, placing it among the foremost banks of the Commonwealth in tlie ratio and amount of its surplns, the percentage of its dividends and its financial stiinding, is largely dne to the management of its president, Mr. Edward A. Goodnow ;

2. That the thanks of the stockholders be and they hereby are tendered to the President for his long and untiring devotion to the interests of the bank and for the great success achieved in its behalf.

The secret of this success was an open secret. Mr. Goodnow gave himself wholly and absolutely to the business of the bank. " This one thing I do " was his motto. An eminent member of the Worcester bar, still living, was wont to say that in a suit he knew no one but his client. "All his might, mind and amity " were engaged for him. Towards all others in such an issue he was relentless. Of Mr. Goodnow also it might be said that he was relentless for the bank. His financial pity was reserved for that ; and no stockholder was ever known to complain.

We have seen how Mr. Goodnow made his money. It will be interesting, and pleasant, also, to see what he has been doing with it. In early life he became, as he hoped, a christian and took upon himself a vow to live and do for others. This he remembered ; and as his gains increased he increased his giving.' He had of course his choice among the objects incessantly presented for his favor, but still his chosen objects were both numerous and various. To the great benevolent societies he was a large and con-

1 stant giver. His subscriptions to the city missions commonly headed the list. His own church shared largely in his giving, of course; but other churches also shared largely. To more than one he gave a communion service. To one not his own he gave $500 for its organ. Again, he gave in order to provide a free gospel. When a new church was about to be organized in the city he left his own and joined the new to help make it a free church. In the meeting for organization he made a motion to that effect ; and in proof that he meant what he said gave $1500 a year to secure free seats for all. He hated a church debt and gave an organ and chime of bells costing about $11,000 as an incentive to the extinguishment of such a debt. All such giving was open and more or less read of men. But unnumbered private gifts went out of his hand of which no man can tell the sum but to which this writer can testify. The aggregate of his gifts at the time of writing this sketch exceeded $200,000.

In the beginning it was said that Mr. Goodnow's munificence was bestowed largely for educational uses. It may now be added that much the larger part was so bestowed. The amount given in this way cannot have been less than about $140,000. Scholarships for needy and worthy girls was a favorite because selfperpetuating form of educational investment. Probably not less than fifty young women are to-day receiving their education at Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley, Northfield, Oberlin, Berea in Kentucky, Hampton in Virginia and elsewhere, because of Mr. Goodnow's charitable foundations at those schools. And the procession will go on until a hundred times fifty will have had reason to remember the name of the founder as interwoven with their own best history. Besides, scholarships, many thousands were given for the erection of educational buildings. When a cyclone swept away the entire group of Iowa College buildings, Mr. Goodnow gave $15,500 to provide for the erection of a building of stone for library and observatory and of a cottage for the accommodation of the female pupils of the College. Another sura of $16,000 was given to Huguenot Seminary in South Africa for a building there. Huguenot Seminary was conceived on the plan of Mary Lyon's School. To aid in realizing the plan graduates from Mt. Holyoke were called for, and among others Miss M. Lizzie Cummings responded to the call. After a time it was found that a large Hall was exceedingly needed and Miss Cummings returned to America in quest of funds for the purpose. She presented her cause in public and private but failed to obtain much help. Then she bethought herself of her cousin, Mr. Goodnow. Her appeal touched his sympathies and secured all the help she needed. Because of entire lack of timber in the region the frame was prepared in this country and shipped to South Africa with all the requisite furniture. In due time the building stood complete and was named by the Seminary authorities

Goodnow Hall. Then the grateful pupils of their own motiou prepared and transmitted to the giver a handsomely illuminated testimonial to which were appended their autographs to the number of one hundred and sixty-nine.

Other educational gifts were: the sum of $5000 to a John Brown Professorship in Washburn College, Kansas ; $5000 to provide the Catharine B. Goodnow fund for the Young Women's Christian Association of Worcester; $700 to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute ; to Worcester High School a marble bust of Gen. Grant and marble tablets inscribed with the names of soldier-students who died for their country ; to Mechanics Hall life-size portraits of President Garfield and Vice-President Wilson.

But his crowning educational gift was reserved for his native town. In 1884 he completed and gave to the town a building which he named Goodnow Memorial Building, in memory of his first two wives and only child. Constructed of granite and browustone finely harmonized in color, with a clock-tower and clock and bow front and gable, and standing on a most commanding site, the building presents to the eye an object of exquisite architectural beauty. Its design embraces the double purpose of a library and a school. Two rooms are specially fitted and furnished for a graded grammar school. Tne decoration within answers to the beauty without. A charming readingroom occupies the ample bay and looks out over a landscape that stretches miles away. Accompanying the gilt of the building was a gift of five thousand dollars in money to provide for the care and repair of the building the purchase of books for the library and the beautifying of the grounds. Including some thousands of dollars given towards the construction of the attractive Town-Hall which stands near, the whole gift amounted to about forty thousand dollars. When both buildings were completed and all things were ready, the busy town turned aside from its business and on the 6th of September 1887 gave itself up for the entire day to an elaborate dedication of the two buildings.

It is one of the distinctions of Mr. Goodnow that he has never been an office-holder nor an officeseeker. One office of much responsibility and no emolument came to him unsought. In 1867 he received from Governor Andrew the appointment of trustee of the Westborough Eeform School for a term of three years. At the end of the term he was reappointed by Governor Bullock. Although a very busy man, he gave himself up to the service of the institution beyond the ordinary measure of his duties. He was especially in earnest to provide for the moral and religious instruction of the young wrong-doers who thus came under his official supervision, and to that end he did not spare his own purse.

George Crompton

The textile manufacturing interests of New England have heretofore been greatly benefited by the skill and inventive genius of men from the Old World. And to the Crompton family, especially, much is due. The father of the subject of this sketch--William Crompton - who was the inventor of the widely known and highly approved Crompton loom, was a Lancashire man ; but neither he nor his son, George, had ever been practical mechanics or had worked at machinery ; yet from true theoretical knowledge both father and son were destined to accomplish great wonders in the art of weaving. Cartwright was the inventor of the power-loom, but his loom could only weave heavy fabrics, like sail-cloth ; not a yard of fancy cassimere was ever woven by power till William Crompton's invention. To the fulfillment of the demands of the time William Crompton sedulously devoted himself. One or two mills were established by him in Worcester County, and for a time he prosecuted a thriving business. But he finally became financially embarrassed ; not, however, before he had, by his skill, inventions and suggested improvements, given an impetus to manufacturing - an impetus which is felt to this day. The Crompton loom has a world-wide reputation, and the works, at this time, are among the most extensive in Worcester, second only, indeed, to the wire-mills.

George Crompton, to whom this sketch refers, was born in Tottington, Lancashire, England, on the 23d of March, 1829, and came to this country when about ten years of age. Up to the time of his father's failure he had had nothing to do with the mechanical part of the mill, but simply kept the books. At the time of the failure, being left entirely to his own resources, he entered Colt's Pistol Factory, at Hartford, and remained there about a year, at the end of which time he began himself the manufacture of his father's loom, at Worcester. The knowledge gained while at Colt's factory enabled him, when the Civil War commenced, to enter upon the business of gunmaking, which he pursued to great pecuniary advantage. But the principal business of his life was loom-making, which, having languished during the war period, on the return of peace, again became exceedingly profitable.

Mr. Crompton was gifted with a power of keen insight into mechanical principles, and the adaptation of mechanical appliances - a fact which is abundantly testified to by his having secured more than a hundred patents, most of them connected with manufacturing machinery.

It cannot be said that Mr. Crompton, during his whole business career, was uniformly successful, or above the common vicissitudes incidental to business life. He lost largely by the devouring fire of 1854, and by financially crippled debtors during the wartime, and his law expenses in defending his patents drew largely upon his purse. But by his indomitable courage, financial ability and unwearied activity he triumphed, and, on the close of a life of many benefactions, left a very large estate. He always had a tender regard for his credit, well knowing that to be a fundamental requisite for success, had a horror of long-standing accounts, and, especially in all minor transactions, kept his affairs well squared. At the time of his decease there were some seven hundred hands at his works, all well paid-up. " His inevitable rule," says the writer of the biographical sketch of him in the handsomely illustrated and well-prepared volume, published in 1888, by Oliver B. Wood, and eniitled "Worcester: Its Past and Present," "was to pay his help monthly until a few years ago, when he adopted weekly payments, and it was his boast that he never failed to pay his men on the exact day named. During his earlier business years he once found pay-day approaching and no funds to meet it. He at once started on a collecting tour. The evening before pay-day found him with the money in his pocket, but on the wrong side of the Connecticut River, swollen with a spring freshet and filled with large cakes of ice, with no bridge in the neighborhood upon which he could cross. He hunted until he found a boatman with a small boat, who was willing to risk his life for an adequate compensation, and the two started across the river. It was several hours before they landed on the opposite shore, at a long distance below the starting-point, and completely wet through, but Mr. Crompton's men were paid before night on their regular pay-day." Mr. Crompton was a man of taste in its broader sense, and an admirer of the beautiful, as well in art as nature. His elegant residence, surrounded by finely embellished grounds, and commanding extensive and rich landscape views, and within supplied with many works of art and objects of refined adornment, give evidence of ample means and cultivated taste. Worcester, with its breezy hill-tops, sunny acclivities, and in every way charming surroundings, affords numberless lovely sites for residences, and many are becomingly occupied. But very few, if any, of the estates yet to be seen are more attractive than the Crompton.

Mr. Crompton was, in 1853, united in marriage with Miss Mary Christina Pratt, a daughter of Cbarles Pratt, of Cork, Ireland, by whom he had twelve children, nine of whom are living.

Mr. Crompton was remarkably quick of apprehension, very social in his habits, and loved to relate in anecdotal form his early experiences, often giving a humorous or pathetic turn to his recitals or impressing some useful thought. He was a deep thinker, and had a wonderful power of mental concentration and self-abstraction, insomuch that he was sometimes called absent-minded. He was educated in the private schools of his native town, and continued his studies till his seventeenth year at the Millbury Academy, at the end of which time he became his father's clerk. But, although obliged to leave school so young, because his rapidly developing talents made him invaluable to his father, he continued his education at home. His father procured a good library and his son profited by it.

Mr. Crompton was not especially active in public life. He, however, served as alderman and as a member of the Common Council of Worcester, a year or two in each position, and in 1871 he was a candidate for the mayoralty. He also took such a strong interest in public affairs as led to exertion in behalf of any project that promised benefit to the city.

Benjamin Walker

Mr. Benjamin Walker, whose death occurred on January 28, 1888, was a citizen whose active life was identified with the life and growth of this his adopted home. He was descended from a line of Worcester County yeomanry, though he was born (November 8, 1808) in Greenfield, to which place his father, Benjamin, had removed from Barre, the old home of the family. His mother, Nancy Lee, was the granddaughter of Henry Lee, one of the original proprietors and early settlers of Worcester, a selectman, assessor and justice of the peace. This Lieutenant Henry Lee, a native of Concord, descendant from John Leigh, who came from Loudon in 1635 and settled in Ipswich, was evidently a man of strong character. His name appears very frequently upon committees appointed by the proprietors; he was granted a prominent position for his "pue" in the first ("Old South") meeting-house; but his independence and firmness are strikingly portrayed in a letter, preserved in the State Archives (Vol. 102, page 153), in answer to a circular letter from the secretary of the province, denouncing the " Land Bank Scheme," and ordering the courts and magistrates " to prevent the spreading of the great fraud," and " by no means to pass, receive or countenance " the bills issued by the bank. Squire Lee replied that he had examined the scheme and was determined to support it; that his privilege as an Englishman was sufficient warrant therefor; that to be punished in any way for differing with the Governor and Council in his opinion would be a civil persecution; and to be deprived of his oflSce until he were proved unfaithful in it or violated the laws of the land would be an invasion of his natural lights, but that to sacrifice his post for the interests of his country would be infinitely more honorable than to keep it on the base conditions of blindly following the inclinations, not supported by laws, of those above him. The letter was dated April 14, 1741, and on the 30th he was removed from his office of justice. His death followed within a few years.

Mr. Walker came to Worcester in the spring of 1834. He had learned the trade of a blacksmith in New Salem, and followed it for a year or two at West

Boylston. But this great stage centre offered a better opening for his business than did the smaller towns, and establishing himself on Columbia (now Exchange) Street, he set to work to hammer out the foundation of the competency which he was to leave to his family. He was six feet of stature, with a strong frame and a face in which amiability and stren'^th of character were commingled. An intimatel-riendof Mr. Walker's, his neighbor in business for several years, says that he seemed from the first to be guided by a determination to meet all his obligations ; he believed in work and always earned his breakfast before he ate it.

The last forty years of Mr. Walker's life were spent in a pleasant and remunerative business, which gave him sufficient leisure to attend to duties which his fellow-citizens imposed upon him. About the year 1848 Dr. Benjamin F. Heywood introduced into Worcester the system of supplying private families and hotels with the luxury of ice, obtaining his supply from the pure source of Lincoln's Pond, immediately west of the present residence of P. L. Moen, Esq Two or three years later Mr. Walker and the late Stillman S. Sweetser purchased the outfit and rights of Dr. Heywood, secured the right to cut ice from the larger pond of Mr. Salisbury, and for several years occupied the field without competition. Mr. Sweetser retired after some years. Later Mr. L. h. White son-in-law of Mr. Walker, was taken as a partner, and Goes' Reservoir was secured for an additional and purer supply of what is regarded no longer as a luxury, but as one of the necessaries of

Mr. Walker's innate sound judgment was ot great service to himself and to the community. It led him to make some excellent investments in real estate, and he was often called upon as an expert in the appraisal of property. The Worcester County Institution for Savings, of which he was for twenty-one years a trustee, called him to serve on its Board of Investment; and on the creation of the commission to manage the trust funds of the Jaques Hospital he was appointed a member, serving in that capacity until his death, and as chairman for the last eight years He was a director in the Worcester Safe Deposit and Trust Company from its organization, in 1868 He served as city assessor for three years, was a member of the Common Council in 1852 and of the Board ot Aldermen in 1854, 1862, 1881 and 1882. He was a zealous member of the Worcester County Mechanics' Association ; and a fellow-member has declared, since his death, that " to him the association owed more than to any other man for sustaining it in the time of its financial peril and weakness."

Mr. Walker, who, as we have seen, was the greatgrandson of one of the most prominent of the original proprietors of the town, married, in November, 1837 Charlotte, daughter of Nathaniel Eaton and great-granddaughter of that Adonijah Rice who was the first white child born in Worcester. Mrs. Walker survives, with their two children - Charlotte E. wife of Elisha D. Buffington, and Agnes Lee, wife of Levis G. White. The daughter of the lastnamed couple, Helen Agnes White, is the direct descendant, in the sixth generation, from Lieutenant Henry Lee and Adonijah Rice.

Calvin Foster was the architect of his own fortunes. He had no ancestry to boast of, and no one to help him so much as he helped himself. He was born in the early part of the century on Court Hill in a house which stood where now stands the First Unitarian Church. Worcester was then a village of about twenty-five hundred inhabitants. On Court Hill stood the old court-house, the house in which Isaiah Thomas was then living and the printing-office from which every week he issued the Massachusetts Spy. In the Square below, on its south side, stood the old stone jail fronting the Salisbury mansion on the north side. Just around the corner in Summer street stood the small frame school-house where Calvin Foster learned his first lessons. In the midst of these surroundings he passed his early years. Living, as he did, hard by the court house, it was one of his childish pleasures to watch the court officials as they passed in and out. Especially impressed on his memory was the figure of General Ward the Sheriff, as clad in official blue and buff and breeches and cocked hat and sword he escorted the Judges to and from the court-house. When past the age of seven he went as an inmate of his father's family to reside in Rutland, and afterwards alone to live in Barre. In the latter place he remained until the age of sixteen when he returned to Worcester. While on a visit to a relative in that place, he looked about for employment which he soon found in the store of Caleb Newcomb then standing on what is now Harrin.'ton corner. Mr. Newcomb was a manufacturer of ^tinware and a dealer in stoves hardware and metals The parental consent having first been obtained, Calvin engaged him.elf as an apprentice to this business. His time was divided between benchwork in the shop and selling goods in the store. At the former part of his duties he proved to be less apt than at the latter. " Calvin," said his employer, " you're a better salesman than mechanic " and so k-pt him chiefly in the store. He however learned enough of the mechanical part of the business to furnish him with a practical knowledge of the class of goods which was afterwards to be the basis of his fortune In this situation he remained until after his majority when he went to Fitchburg and bought an interest in the hardware business of Horace Newton This was in September 1834. Remaining uniBy Chas. E. Stovens.

til the uext April he then sold his interest and returned to Worcester. Meantime he had attracted the favorable regard of Col. Ivers Phillips who manifested his interest by appointing Mr. Foster on his staff as adjutant of the " (light infantry) regiment in the second brigade and sixth division of the militia of the commonwealth." This appointment, so flattering to a young man, was accepted by him and confirmed by a commission from Gov. John Davis. The old compulsory militia system had just before given place to the volunteer system and the young adjutant was one of the officers who assi-ted at its inauguration. His first muster-field was in Leominster where he formed his first regimental line. A restive horse by rearing and plunging severely tested his nerve in the face of his troops ; and while he was in the air a private stepped forward to seize the bridle and bring him to earth. But Adjutant Foster declined the proffered aid and conquered the misbehaving steed for himself Having made proof of his military efficiency he was, in the following year, 1835, elected major of the same regiment ; in 1837 its lieutenant-colonel, and a year or two later its colonel. His next muster-fields were successively in Princeton, Westminster and Sterling. Before occasion arose for acting under his commission as colonel he had obtained his discharge and brought this military episode to an end.

Several years before, he had resumed his old place in the establishment of Mr. Newcomb. Continuing in it as clerli until 1840 he then bought out his employer and formed a partnership with Amos Brown under the name of C. Foster & Co. At the end of two years Lemuel I. Fox was added to the firm. In 1848 the death of both partners opened the way for Augustus Whitman who came in as one of the company in the following year. The accession of David Whitcomb in 1855 was followed at the end of two years by the purchase of Whitman's interest. Through all these years and with all these partners the firm name continued unchanged and so remained until Mr. Foster himself retired. In 1836 the business had been removed from Harrington corner to a frame building on the corner of Main and Pearl streets. This building was of two stories and of the same length as the fine brick and iron block by which it was superseded. It had been erected by Hon. Charles Allen about the year 1825 and occupied by Daniel G. Wheeler & Co. as the first exclusive dry-goods store in Worcester. The new block was erected by Col. Foster in 1854 and first occupied by his firm for the hardware business in March 1855. The front was constructed of iron from flagstone to roof finely relieved in each story by columns of the Corinthian order and noteworthy as being the first iron front in New England. Before commencing the building Col. Foster had conceived the idea of a new hank with a part of the new block for a bankinghouse. The scheme met with the warm approval of friends whom he consulted. With characteristic promptness he at once proceeded to obtain subscriptions to the stock and had $75,000 on his paper before beginning to build. With some aid from others the subscription was increased to $300,000 which was the amount of capital proposed. A petition for a charter was now prepared and presented to the legislature. Quite unexpectedly, the committee to which it was referred came to the point of making an adverse report. AVorcester, it was said, did not need another bank. An intimation of what was impending reached the ears of Col. Foster before the report was made. Without loss of time he called a trusty person to his aid and set him at work to collect and classify all the statistics of the various branches of business and of the mechanical and manufacturing industries of Worcester. In two weeks the work was done and laid before the untoward committee. This brought the charter with a capital of $200,000. Though less than asked for, the amount was accepted to be afterwards increased to $400,000. The new bank, named the City Bank, was first opened for busine.sg in September 1854 on Harrington corner where it remained till the January following when it was removed to the new building, by that time completed, on the Pearl street corner. The organization of the corporation was effected in the law office of Henry Chapin on Foster street. A list of directors made out by Col. Foster was duly elected. The question then came up, who should be the President of the bank? . Several named Colonel Foster; and there was no doubt that he could have been elected had he desired. But he refused the honor and steadily remained content with the office of director. Once launched, the bank had a career of prosperity for many years; and then, by the wrong-doing of one, fell into mishaps. From having paid ten per cent, dividends it fell to passing its dividends. Then it became clear that the man to put at the helm was the man to whom the bank owed its origin. Accordingly, Col. Foster was made President and the management placed in his hands. The good effects of this course soon began to appear. Payment of normal dividends was resumed, and in no very long time the surplus had risen from $53,000 to $170,000. And this was largely the result of a new and distinct line of policy proposed by the new President. He believed in going west for loans. His experience as a hardware merchant had let him into this secret. His associates came round to his point of view and a maximum of profits with a minimum of losses amply justified the policy. In all this it is not intended to under-estimate the important share which the board had in restoring the prosperity of the bank. No one could be more forward than Col. Foster to recognize their claims in that respect or less forward to assert his own.

other corporations. Of the Worcester Safe Deposit and Trust Company he was one of the projectors and the first to procure subscriptions to the stock ; heading the petition also for a charter. The primary design of this institution was to relieve the bank vaults which had become inconveniently crowded with the private boxes of depositors. When this was found to be unprofitable the charter was enlarged so as to make it a bank of discount also. The People's Savings Bank was another monetary corporation which he helped to organize, although at the time a trustee of the Worcester County Institution for Savings. When, some time after, a law was passed that no person should hold any office in two Savings banks at the same time. Col. Foster elected to remain with the one of which, if not the father, he was at least the foster-father. This, though the youngest of all the Worcester savings banks, has outstripped all except the oldest. From the beginning Col. Foster was one of its vice-presidents and one of the board of investment. Still another concern of which he was one of the originators was the Bay State Fire Insurance Company. It was the second stock company of the kind in Worcester. Unfortunately, the great Boston fire came before it was in a condition to resist that tremendous onset, and like many others it went

With the railroad system of Worcester Col. Foster identified himself from the first. The Nashua, Norwich and Providence roads all felt the benefit of his aid. But his sympathies and eflbrts were chiefly devoted to the Gardner road. To retain the northern trade of the city and to prevent the division of the county were the two objects which he proposed to accomplish by this enterprise. In the lead were Levi Heywood, Stephen Salisbury, Calvin Foster and Ivers Phillips. But the building of the road proved to be a hard job. The subscriptions went on slowly. Col. Phillips, who had been enlisted to work up the enterprise, after awhile became disheartened and declared he had a mind to give up the business. But Col. Foster kept him in heart, put him in the way of getting subscribers, and staid by until the road was built. It is the testimony of a fellow-director that Calvin Foster did more for the road than any other man in Worcester. He became one of its directors and also one of the executive committee and so remained as long as the load retained an independent existence. At one time he was elected President of the road, but this position he absolutely declined.

When Worcester became a city in 1848, he was elected a member of its first common council, Governor Lincoln being the first mayor. He thus had a hand in shaping and giving character to the new organization. Two or three years after, under the mayoralty of Isaac Davis, he was elected upon the board of aldermen. During this period of his connection with the city government Edward Everett came to the city to repeat his oration on Washington. A reception was tendered to him by the city government, and it fell to the lot of Col. Foster as one of the reception committee to express the words of welcome to Mr. Everett. This for the first time brought him into personal relations with the commander in chief from whom in early life he had received one of his military commissions. Gov. Everett was affable and Col. Foster greatly enjoyed his conversation. It all ministered to a desire which he habitually cherished of seeing and hearing and, if it might be, conversing with persons of distinction. On going to reside in Fitchburg he had met and made the acquaintance of Gov. Everett's brother, Alexander H. Everett, who invited him to his house and loaned him books from his library. In his youth he had been wont to spend his leisure hours in the court room for the purpose of gratifying this laudable curiosity. In this way he had the rare good fortune, as he esteemed it, of seeing and hearing Daniel Webster at the bar. Many y^rs after, he met Mr. Webster as a fellow traveller on the same steamer. The two being alone in the saloon, Mr. Webster accosted him and a conversation ensued. In the course of it Col. Foster told of having seen him at the Worcester bar. " And how did Hook," quoth Mr. Webster. "Tall and thin, with long arms and a big head," responded the Colonel. Mr. Webster laughed, became companionable and when the journey was continued by rail they took the same seat together and on arriving at Springfield Mr. Webster invited his companion to a seat beside him at table, although in the course of the journey he had been joined by a personal friend. That Col. Foster should have treasured up in his memory this incident is not surprising in view of the hero-worship which Daniel Webster called forth from every New Englander.

It has often been said that out of every hundred men engaged in business ninety-five sooner or later " fail." Never at any time in the course of a business career extending over half a century was Calvin Foster numbered among the ninety-five.

The domestic relations of Col. Foster were a source of happiness to himself never interrupted except by death. Of his remoter ancestors he knew but little. His grandmother he had seen, and he paid her the homage of saying that "she was the handsomest woman he had ever beheld." His mother was provided with a home and tenderly cared for by him for more than thirty years and until her decease. He was three times married but outlived every wife. Of five children born to him two survive. The education that he had always felt the need of for himself he provided for them with all ample appliances and means. Nephews and nieces also were made to share in such educational provisions.

When this sketch was written Colonel Foster was living in the enjoyment of a serene old age and in the assiduous discharge of daily duty as President of tlje Bank of which he had been the founder.

William Trowbridge Merrifield, manufacturer, contractor and builder, son of the late Deacon Alpheus Merrifield, was born at Worcester, April 10, 1807, and being connected on the maternal side with the Rice brothers, becomes identified with the earliest permanent settlers of his native town. He worked on his father's farm until the age of fifteen, the last two years of which doing his full share of labor on a farm of eighty acres ; here he laid the foundation of a rare physical development. During the winter school-days he enjoyed the advantages of the district school. At the age of fifteen he began a six years' service as an apprentice at the carpenter trade. At the age of eighteen he was entrusted with the erection of several buildings, and soon after attaining his majority he erected a block of houses, a store and a mill. In 1830 he began his career as a builder, and soon became a prominent and leading contractor of that day. In 1832 he also included a general lumber business. In 1840, Mr. Merrifield put in operatioii one of the first, if not the first, steam-engines in Worcester, and added the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds and builders' finish, introducing into Worcester the first power planer. Two years later he erected at Princeton a steam saw-mill, and, so far as is known, this was the first engine set up in the woods for the manufacture of lumber. In 1844, Mr. Merrifield took the contract for building the Lancaster and Coach Lace Mills at Clinton, which, with the eighty dwellinghouses, and other buildings, covered several acres of ground ; this being before the days of railroads, he employed fifty teams to transport the necessary building material. The contract price exceeded three hundred thousand dollars, a notable outlay at that day, and from this beginning the industrial development of Clinton dates. In 1848, Mr. Merrifield realized theadvantages in making Worcester a leading mechanical centre, and with a large investment laid the corner-stone of her material growth and industrial progress. In those experimental days of industrial transition, the inventors and mechanics needed power and rooms, that they might perfect their various specialties. Mr. Merrifield furnished these at an all important era in the history of Worcester; he erected a series of buildings, exceeding one thousand two hundred feet in length, forty feet in width and four stories high, with over one and a half miles of main shafting, turned by a steam-engine of five hundred horse-power, and suitably dividing the buildings to meet the mechanical needs of Worcester at that day, and rented the same to fifty individuals and firms, many of whom now have world-wide reputations. New industries were immediately developed in these buildings, and Worcester, mechanically, was greatly expanded. From this point of beginning dales the energizing impetus which gave her the possibilities that have made her what she is. In 1854 these buildings were burned, and immediately re-built, substantially as before, and devoted to the same general purposes. Mr. Merrifield has always retained his natural love for agriculture and horticulture ; upon his farm of one hundred and thirty acres he has a herd of high-grade Jerseys, having been a breeder of valuable stock for over fifty years. For twenty-five years or more he has been a prominent exhibitor at the annual fair of Worcester County Agricultural Society ; for many years was president of the Worcester County Horticultural Society which made large drafts upon his greenhouses at their annual exhibitions; his contributions of rare exotics and specimen plants added much to the society's success. In both of these honored societies he has rendered valuable aid in educating public taste to a higher level of appreciated merit. He has been a member of both branches of the city government of Worcester. In 1856 and '57 he was a member of the Legislature ; he held for ten years the office of trustee of the State Lunatic Hospital, and was made a director of the Mechanics' Bank on its organization, which office he held for ten years he was for some time president of the Worcester Mechanics' Association, also for ten years director in the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1836 he was one of the first members that organized the Union Church in Worcester, and has ever since been a constant attendant. He has been married twice. On the 27th of April, 1830, he married Margaret, daughter of the late Jabez Brigham, of Worcester. William F. and Henry K. are the surviving children of this marriage. On March 9, 1847, he married Maria C, daughter of the late Captain Charles Brigham, of Brigham Hill, Grafton. One daughter survives, Harriet, wife of Hon. W. T. Forbes, of Westboro'. In common with all marked men, who have been pioneers in shaping the material growtli and prosperity of a community, Mr. Merrifield has those sturdy characteristics which clearly define a strong individuality - selfreliance and even temper under the severest exigencies, a uniform courteous bearing. Kindness of speech, tenacity of purpose, courageous in action, and unconquerable by discouragements, are some of the more pronounced traits of character on which Mr. Merrifield has built a symmetrical manhood of substantial moral worth - a clear type of a sturdy, self-made. New England character, which took deep root in the early years of the century.

Phinehas Ball

Mr. Ball is a native of Boylston, Mass., and was born on the 18th of January, 1824. He was a son of Manassah Ball, who was the youngest son of Elijah Ball. His mother was Clarissa Andrews, and is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. His fa'her and grandfather were well-to-do farmers, and the farm which they owned is still in possession of the family. His education was such as the district school afforded, supplemented by a course of instruc- tion in the academy of the neighboring town of Berlin, then under the charge of Preceptor Josiah Bride. An uncle of Mr. Ball, Gardner Smith, of Woonsocket, R. I., in the winter of 1840, taught him the rudiments of surveying and leveling, and this was the foundation of his attainment in civil engineering, a profession in which be has since become so accomplished. He commenced field-surveying when about seventeen years of age; and his acquirements in other branches of engineering have been derived from actual practical work, and close, though self-directed

Mr. Ball's natural temperament leads him to great activity in his chosen pursuits, which are often of a multifarious character, and, to use a trite, though expressive figure, he is sometimes found with " many irons in the fire" at the same time, but owing to his care and watchfulness, none seem often to become over or under-heated.

He came to Worcester in March, 1847, and since that time his home has been here. Civil engineering and kindred pursuits have been the business of his life. From April, 1849, to April, 1860, he was in partnership with Elbridge Boyden, the first who, for any length of time, maintained an architect's office in the city. The firm-name was Boyden & Ball, and they conducted the general business of architects and civil engineers, and their office was at No. 14 Central Exchange. During this time he did chiefly a jobbing business, assisting much in the architectural department of the office, drawing up nearly all the specifications and contracts. Since 1860 the most of his time has been devoted to cities and towns, to naaking plans for water-works and sewers, and attending to the construction of the same. Among his other achievements it may be mentioned that he acted as engineer of the State Board of Health and Harbor Commissioners in presenting a plan for the abatement of the Miller's River nuisance in Somerville and Cambridge. He also built the Springfield water-works.

Mr. Ball's efficiency, prudence and alertness have been availed of, from time to time, in various ways, by his fellow-citizens. He was Water Commissioner from 1863 to 1867, and City Engineer from 1867 to 1872. He was a member of Common Council in 1862 and '63, and in 1865 he was Mayor. In all these positions, by his fidelity to the city's interests, he merited and received the approbation of his constituents.

In religious sentiment Mr. Ball is a Unitarian, in which faith he may be said to have been born and bred. He has been connected with the Second Parish of Worcester from 1849, and for seven years (1866-73) he was president of the Worcester County Conference of Congregational (Unitarian) and other churches

Mr. Ball does not claim to be a great student of books, but is a man of strong reflective powers and a close reasoner. He is not one who can boast much of foreign travel, but he can boast of a large acquaintance with leading men of New England, with whom the interchange of opinions and the discussion of principles has led to the formation of views at once sound and liberal.

The bent of Mr. Bill's mind is strongly in the line of mechanics, where he has developed genius and skill of a marked character. Several valuable inventions of his, probably not less than twenty in number, have been patented. The business of the Union Water Meter Company of Worcester was commenced November 9, 1868, and has been carried on ever since, largely by the aid of some of these inventions. He has been clerk, treasurer, director, vice-president and president of the Worcester County Mechanics' Association.

Mr. Ball has been twice married. His first wife was Sarah Augusta Holyoke, daughter of William Holyoke, of Marlborough, Mass., the marriage taking place December 21, 1848, and their children were: Allard Holyoke Ball, who died in October, 1857, and Helen Augusta Ball, born April 25, 1858, and who is now living. Mrs. Ball died January 14, 1864. His second wife was Mary Jane Otis, a native of Worcester and daughter of Benjamin B. Otis. The marriage took place in Lancaster, November 29, 1865; the wife is still living, but no children have been born to them.

Feank Loring E. Coes

To that class of the young men who were animated by love of country in her hour of need, and whose short lives tell only the simple story of patriotic devotion, must be assigned Frank Loring R. Coes, the eldest son of Loring Coes, and the subject of this brief sketch. He was born at Worcester June 9, 1837. He received his early education in private schools and subsequently attended Leicester Academy and Middleboro' Academy. He early developed a taste for military afl'airs, and at nineteen was lieutenant in the Worcester City Guards. In the early part of the War of the Rebellion be enlisted in the Twentyfifth Massachusetts Volunteers and served until nearly the close of the war, when, by reason of disability, he was compelled to return to his home. He subsequently became associated with his father in business continuing to the time of his death. In 1867 he married Persis J. Putnam, daughter of Salmon Putnam, of Worcester.

There survives him his widow and one son, Frank L. Coes. While never of a robust physique, his untimely death at the early age of thirty-four was precipitated by his exposure on the field of battle.

The best criterion by which to judge of a man is the general reputation he sustains in the community where he is best known. No one whose good qualities do not predominate will be the subject of popular commendation, the conclusion of the community being a sort of digested summary, which is not much affected by individual opinions that may be founded on personal likes and dislikes. Now, judging by this criterion, it is certainly safe to say that the subject of this sketch will not suffer. It would not do to say of anyone that he is without blemishes, as that would be making him more than human. The wise historian, Hume, after speaking in the highest terras of King Alfred, significantly adds, " . . .we wish to see him delineated in more lively [life-like] colors and with more particular strokes, that we might at least perceive some of those small specks and blemishes from which, as a man, it is impossible he could be entirely exempted." No one, better than the writer of biographical sketches like those in the present volume, can realize how prone we are to view a character from one particular standpoint ; in other words, to illumine the whole by radiations from one prominent trait. Perhaps the Old Testament furnishes some of the most truthful models for biographical sketches that can be found. But it would require no small degree of boldness to follow those models in many cases that occur among us. But this may seem a little overcharged as the introduction of a notice of one who makes no pretension to expand above the common condition of life.

Mr. Fobes was born in Oakham, Worcester County, on the 25th of September, 1829, and was a son of Peres and of Melissa Nye Fobes. His early life was, like that of most country youth of the period, one of industry, if not of hardship, or what in these days would be called hardship. His education, gained in the common school, was practical and available, as far as it went, and formed a substantial groundwork for the attainmeut in after-years, by reading, study and association with people of culture, of all that was necessary for favorable standing in a community like that of busy, progressive and fastiduous Worcester.

He remained in his native town till 1846, when he came to Worcester and commenced labor as an apprentice at the provision and marketing business. And that traffic he followed in a subordinate capacity till 1854, at which time he began business on his own account in Front Street. He was remarkably successful, insomuch that in about twenty years he had accumulated enough to warrant his retirement from active trade. It was in 1875 that he closed his business in the line that had so carried him on to fortune. He did not, however, then abandon himself to indolent ease, but continued, to some extent, to deal in real estate and live stock ; and by shrewd and careful management his means were considerably increased.

Few men are better known in Worcester than Mr. Fobes; and none are more respected for integrity and trustworthiness. As a citizen he stands conspicuous for liberality both in public and private affairs. His hand is never closed against the appeal of penury ; and every enterprise of a public character that promises benefit to the community at large, finds in him a liberal and a working friend.

Mr. Fobes has not been much in strictly public office, though he has served in both branches of the city government. He was a member of the Common Council in 1879 and '80, and an alderman in 1881 and '82 ; and his course in these positions was marked by affability, prudence and a conscientious regard for the public interest. His services have, however, been in almost constant requisition in offices of a semi-public nature; in positions of trust and responsibility, where prudence, ripe judgment and vigilance were primary requisites, such as director in the First National Fire Insurance Company, director in the Safe Deposit Company and in the Street Railway Company.

In religious sentiment Mr. Fobes can hardly be ranked as a sectarian, though his place of worship is of the Trinitarian Congregational order. Theologically, his sentiments are liberal; practically, his conduct is governed strictly by the moral law. In politics he has steadily adhered to the principles of the Republican party, and, though not a zealous, or rather not a vociferous partisan, has been always ready to contribute his share for the furtherance of the policy he believed most beneficial.

Mr. Fobes was married on the 29th of September, 1870, to Celia Elizabeth Brayton, of Smithfield, R. I., and the fruit of the union was five children, three sons and two daughters, only two of whom, one son and one daughter, are now living.

Matthew John Whittall

Mr. Whittall, who is another of those energetic and skillful manufacturers to whom Worcester is so much indebted for her prosperity, was born in Kidderminster, England, on the 10th of March, 1843. His father's name was Eli and his mother's Eliza. His father, at the time of his birth, was a hand carpet-weaver.

At the age of fourteen the subject of this sketch began his industrial life in the employ of Messrs. Humphries, carpet manufacturers, at Kidderminster. There, by his industry, dexterity and aptitude, he, within a few years, became assistant superintendent.

At the age of twenty-one he left the Messrs. Humphries, and entered the employ of T. B. Worth, carpet manufacturer, at Stourport, as superintendent of his works. There he remained till 1869, when he took -a similar position with Messrs. Fawcutt & Spurway.

spondence with the late George Crompton. with the view of coming to Worcester to superintend the Crompton Carpet Works. The result of the correspondence was that hither he came in May, 1871, and remained with the company until they dissolved, in

Mr. Whittall then returned to England and purchased machinery for manufiicturing Wilton and Brussels carpets. He started business in South Worcester with seven looms, in a building owned by the Wicks Manufacturing Company. His business has greatly prospered, insomuch that he has already built two large mills, and is now doing the most extensive business of any individual manufacturer of Wilton and Brussels carpets in the United States.

In his religious connection Mr. Whittall is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and has been an officer in St. Matthew's ever since the edifice was erected, in 1871. The parish was organized in 1874, at which time he was elected a warden. Recently he has been elected president of the Episcopalian Club of Worcester.

Mr. Whittall was married at Stourport, England, October, 1868, to Ellen, youngest daughter of the late Henry Paget. Several children have been born to them, only two of whom are now living-a son and a daughter.

A great deal has of late been said against the incoming of laborers, artisans and others from foreign lands. But certainly no true statesman would object to any number of incomers were they of the character and habits of the individual to whom this brief biographical sketch relates. It is hardly reasonable to conclude, after taking a fair review of the industrial history of Worcester, that she would have attained the proud position she now occupies as a manufacturing centre had she not received and encouraged the location within her borders of some of those from other lands whose careers have been outlined in the present work. And to none, perhaps, is she more indebted than to Mr. Whittall, who, in his particular line of manufacture, presents an exceedingly beautiful and excellent style of goods, which have made not only his own name, but that of Worcester, favorably known throughout the country.

Charles B. Pratt

His early years were marked by toil and hardship. He lacked educational advantages, and was almost without home training; yet, by his native ability and energy, he overcame these early disadvantages, which would have daunted a less determined and hopeful spirit, and achieved in his mature years not

Mr. Pratt was born in Lancaster, Mass., February 14 1824. His parents were very poor, and at the tender age of nine years he left his fiither's house to make his own way in the world. He worked in a cotton-mill in Fitchburg for three years, and then, impelled by the restlesss spirit of adventure which marked his early years, he went to Rochester, N. Y., where, at the age of thirteen, he bound himself during his minority to learn the moulder's trade.. The year following, his attention was called to an exhibition of submarine diving, and, having secured his release from his apprenticeship, he spent the next six years of his life in thoroughly mastering the details of work under water. At the age of twenty, having saved up a.large portion of the money that had been paid him in wages, he returned to Worcester to finish his trade as moulder at the old Wheeler foundry. Before reaching the age of twenty-one he married Miss Lucy Ann Brewer. This union was a particularly happy one.

No small part of Mr. Pratt's success m life has been due to his happy domestic relations and to the shrewd good sense and clear-headed judgment of his chosen help-meet. Seven years later Mr. Pratt went into the submarine business on his own account, and for twenty years followed it with great success, undertaking many important and hazardous operations along the Atlantic coast and on the great lakes. He held high rank in his business, and some of his contracts were very profitable. In 1871 he retired from the submarine business in order to devote his entire time to his interests in Worcester, which had become large and engrossing.

In December, 1876, Mr. Pratt was nominated by the Democrats for mayor of Worcester. His personal popularity proved a very important factor in the campaign and he was elected over Joseph H. Walker, the regular Republican candidate, though the candidates for aldermen on the Walker ticket were elected by handsome majorities. He was re-elected mayor in 1877 and again in 1878, running on a non-partisan ticket and receiving the support of leading men of both parties. His political opponents could find no fault with his thoroughly successful, business-like administration of city afiairs, and he enjoyed the entire confidence and good will of the community. During his three years in office he settled all the claims for damages arising out of the breaking away oftheLynde Brook reservoir dam, built the Foster Street exteusion in accordance with the terms of the legislative act accepted by a former administration, and constructed the great sewer through the ledge from Cambridge Street to Quinsigamond village, thus draining and making valuable a large tract of real estate in the " Island " district. These three items of extraordinary expenditure amounted to over five hundred thousand dollars; yet, all this work was accomplished during the three years of Mr. Pratt's administration with a net increase of the city debt of less than fifty thousand dollars, and average net tax rate of less than $14.50 per thousand dollars. During Mr. Pratt's administration the shiftless policy that had prevailed in regard to the management of the great funds of the City Hospital was changed, and commissioners were appointed who put into the market the land on the west side left by Mr. Jaques, thus adding largely to the material and taxable wealth of the city. It was also through his persistent efforts that the cily finally carried out the conditions of the Jaques bequest, although the actual work of building the hospital was not begun until he had retired from oflBce. Mr. Pratt gave up the mayoralty at the end of his third term in order to be able to give more time to his private business^ refusing flattering invitations from representative men of both parties to accept a re-nomination. His success in the office of mayor was due mainly to his excellent business capacity, his sound judgment and his exceptional tact in dealing with men. When he first came into office he found a Board of Aldermen solidly opposed to him in politics, but he ignored entirely partisan considerations in his administration of city affairs and soon had the entire confidence and hearty support of his associates.

In 1883 Mr. Pratt was nominated by the Democrats for State Senator in the city district and was elected, receiving a majority of two hundred and twenty-six votes over the late Judge Dewey, the Republican nominee. This election was another striking proof of Mr. Pratt's popularity, for Judge Dewey's associate candidates for minor offices on the Republican ticket received between four hundred and fifty and five hundred majority in the city. During his term in the Senate, though belonging to the minority party, Mr. Pratt held a prominent and influential place. He was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, and was active in defeating the project for a division of Worcester County, which was one of the issues before the Legislature that year. He declined a renomination to the Legislature.

Mr. Pratt's public career includes service in both branches of the City Council of Worcester, and both branches of the Legislature, and it is a remarkable fact that though not a member of the Republican party, which has always been in the majority in this city, he has never but once been defeated, when a candidate for an elective office before the people. Soon after retiring from the city government he was elected one of the three commissioners to manage the funds of the City Hospital, and also an overseer of the poor, both of which positions he still holds, to the great acceptance of his colleagues and all others with whom his official duties bring him in contact.

Mr. Pratt was for sixteen years president of the Worcester County Agricultural Society, and in that capacity had much to do with bringing the exhibitions of the New England Society, of which he was a trustee, to this city, and arranging and managing the details. During the last year of his presidency of the society there was talk of selling the fair-grounds on the west side. In order to bring the land into market, Mr. Pratt suggested the expediency of running horsecar tracks to the grounds. He pushed the scheme with characteristic energy, and uniting with some out-of-town capitalists, organized the Citizens' Street Railway Company, of which he was chosen president Under his management tracks were laid, not only to the West Side, but to South Worcester, Quinsigaraond Village and out Grove Street. This was in 1886. The next year the old and new companies united, and Mr. Pratt was made president and general manager of the consolidated company, which position he now holds.

Mr. Pratt has been a leading spirit in the organization and management of several other well-known Worcester corporations. He was one of the original board of directors of the Worcester Theatre, and was its heaviest stockholder, and for years he has been a director in the Bay State House corporation. He helped to organize the L. W. Pond Machine Company, and is now its president. He has been president of the First National Fire Insurance Company since 1872, and for many years was sole manager of its business. In this way he became well and favorably known to the underwriters of New England. When the insurance companies organized the Worcester Protective Department, which maintains the Fire Patrol, he was made its president, and has held the position by successive re-elections ever since. He h.is been a director in the First National Bank since its organization, and has been for many years a trustee of the old Worcester Institution for Savings. He is a member of very many secret societies and social organizations. He has attained to the thirtysecond degree in Freemasonry, and is a member of the Worcester County Commandery of Knights Templars. He is, besides, a member of various Odd Fellow and Pythian organizations.

Mr. Pratt possesses not only fine business tact and executive ability, which have won for him marked success in all his undertakings, but he has a kindly heart, a cordial greeting and a ready sympathy that have given him a warm place in the afiections of his friends. He gives freely in private to worthy objects, but he is not one of those whose charities and benefactions are ostentatious.

Noeckoss Brothers

James A. Norcross and Orlando W. Norcross. The names and some reference to the businees of this firm cannot well be omitted from any enrollment of our representative men. For nearly twenty years their enterprise and sagacity has been creating for them a place and rank as building contractors held by few and surpassed by no others in the United States. If there is such a thing as heredity of a calling, these brothers came naturally by their vocation. Their father, Jesse S. Norcross, was a man of remarkable mechanical ability. Their mother, whose maidenname was Whitney, injas a native of Westboro', Mass., Jesse Norcross was kept busy among the woods of Maine, setting up saw-mills. At an early age, however, by the death of their father, the sons were left dependent upon their own resources, and for a time the family were thrown upon the exertions of the eldest of these brothers. From the circumstances of the itinerant calling of the father, James A. Norcross was born in Winslow, Me., March 24, 1831, and Orlando W. Norcross in Clinton, in the same State, October 25, 1839. Through early self-dependence the sons found their way to the calling of carpenters and builders, pursuing their trade in the eastern part of this State, starting business together in Swampscott, Mass., in 1864, the association and its openings at first affording nothing more than ordinary promise. But the beginnings of success were not far away, for in 1866 the Norcross Brothers were given the contract for building the Congregational Church in Leicester, an undertaking of most modest proportions in the test of their later business, yet it seems to have proved the golden key of success, and the brothers Norcross still cherish with warmest remembrance the kindness and aid of Leicester friends who gave them their first strong assistance on the highway to fortune. Worcester had begun a marked slage of improvements, and the Norcross Brothers found here their opportunity. In the period between 1868-70 they built the Crompton Block on Mechanic Street, the First Universalist Church and the noble Worcester High , School building - the latter their fir.st structure of like prominence and cost. A few seasons later they built the beautiful All Saints' Church in this city. Their reputation was by this time eatabli>*hed ; not the reputation the heedless, lucky man leaves to take care of itself, but one to be cared for and built upon, and so it grew. The story of their work since that time gives them a succession of building triumphs, such as have in like numbers and prominence fallen to few American builders. We leave .the mere list to be told most compactly, as shall follow, but no mere enumeration, however rich, can tell the whole story of such success as this - the painstaking skill, the diligence, the strength of will and purpose, that not only make fortunate circumstances, but conquer them, can only be imagined. It was the exceeding good fortune of these brothers to have been, on notable occasions, made associates with the late lamented architect H. H. Richardson, in some of the best work of that grandest of all masters and experts in stone as a material, and their work will stand with his for generations to come as some of the best known in this century. This can be readily noted from the appended list, that gives some of the best and most notable structures of the time, in all classes for public usesecclesiastic, educational, memorial. To this end we have given the classification that follows, a noble story of twenty years' work by the Worcester builders, extending through thirteen States and to be summed . up in millions of dollars.

Railroad Stations. - Station at South Framingham for Boston and Albany Railroad, contract 1885, cost $48,000; station at Springfield, Mass., for Boston and Albany Railroad, 1888, $375,000; station at Hartford, Conn., for New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, 1888, $200,000.

Norcross Brothers also built the Ames Memorial Monument at Sherman, Wyoming Ter., at a cost of $62,000. It has medallions of Oakes A. and Oliver Ames on either side, cut on the solid stone, sixteen times life-size. This monument is situated on the highest elevation of the Rocky Mountains that is crossed by the Union Pacific Railroad, and commands an extensive view from this road.

The Norcross Brothers have filled a very important line of building construction, in railroad structures of the best and most permanent class, represented in the new passenger station on the Boston and Albany, Old Colony and other railroads. These contracts have been executed in the best of all known building materials, but very largely, in the case of some of the more notable structures, of the beautiful, compact and grainless Longmeadow Brownstone, which was comparatively unknown when they began to employ it about 1873. It is a material massive and not laminated, and hence free from splitting and exploitation. Another materia*, a favorite with them and their patrons, is what they term the Worcester granite, the fine pink-tinted atone from their quarries in Milford, in this county. Of this last material are being built the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and the immense structure the Court-House and Jail at Pittsburgh. The contracts of the brothers Norcross, in many instancea, are such as the skillful architect best loves, an all-including affair that gives the finished building, complete. To this end no small share of their skill has been devoted to workmen and

Some of the carved wood-work from their shops has been the envy of connoisseurs. Theirs has been the art to summon to their aid the best forms of art in every department of architectural achievement and finish.

A word as to the personnel of the two brothers, both in the prime of active life. James A. married at the age of twenty-one, his wife being Mary Ellen Pinkham, of Peabody, Mass., eminently well-fitted for her share in the sacred contract. Nine children have blessed their union, six of whom - four sons and two daughters - are now living. Mr. Norcross takes a lively interest in the affairs of the day, and is, as is his brother, a strict and consistent friend of temperance. He was a member of the City Council in 1877. Orlando W. Norcross, at the call of the country in the War of the Rebellion, enlisted in the Fourteenth Massachusetts Infantry, which became the First Massachusetts' Heavy Artillery. He was in the service for three years. In May, 1870, he married Ellen P. Sibley, of Salem, Mass. The children resulting from this marriage have been two sous and three daughters, the daughters only living. In wide and deserved recognition of his .skill as a building expert, he was a member of the notable commission set to investigate the condition of the Federal Building, Post-Oflice and United States Courts at Chicago, HI., a most difficult and delicate task, which will long be remembered in building annals with the fact that no suggestion or finding of this commission has failed to be sustained by subsequent events.

Loring Goes

Perhaps no class have so greatly added to the prosperity and extended the fame of Worcester as her inventors, her ingenious and skilled mechanics. True, she has had the honor of reckoning among her residents, during all periods of her history, men of renown as statesmen, jurists, historians and savants, in ail departments of mental culture. But it may be questioned whether all of them have done so much for the general good of the community as the mechanical class just alluded to. Any one who takes an observant round among the huge manufactories that give a busy air to almost every neighborhood cannot fail to be impressed with the idea that more and deeper thought must havebeen expended in perfecting some of the subtile machinery than could ever have been applied to the production of many a great book, the elaboration of many a great political scheme or the elucidation of many a great philosophical problem.

In the present volume appear the portraits of a number of those who have done good work for Worcester and not in a small degree added to her fame. And these portraits are accompanied by biographical sketches, which, ia several Instances, exhibited a remarkable upward growth ia individuals from native indigence to wealth and social distinction. They are all worthy of being had in remembrance, and will be so held from generation to generation, until respect for benefactors becomes a lost virtue. Among them will long stand conspicuous the name that appears at the head of this sketch.

Daniel Goes, the father of Loring Goes, was a farmer in the outlying district now known as New Worcester. Like most of the farmers in this vicinity during the first part of the present century, he was compelled to labor hard for little more than a bare subsistence, and hence was obliged to have all the assistance that his son could render, up to the age of fourteen; the opportunity which winter vacations from farm-work afforded was gladly taken by young Goes for attendandance on school ; ' and thus was laid the foundation for a subsequent superstructure of self-education, which ultimately proved of the most practical and useful kind.

Loring Goes was born in Worcester on the 22d of April, 1812, and consequently has now reached something more than the " common age of man " in his life's journey. On the llth of January, 1834, he