Athol Town

Journalism

corresponding secretary to the present time. He was also one of the delegates sent to Cincinnati to organize the National Press Association in 1885 which has since held its sessions in the different states of the Union, most of which he has attended. He has had an extensive and varied experience in travelling in the United States and Mexico, having been in every state except Washington. Mr. Waterman was married Jan. 1, 1861, at Cambridge, Mass., to Henrietta Florence Taylor, daughter of Charles and Mary E. Taylor of that city. Miss Taylor was a native of North Heading, and was born at the old Whittredge homestead, which has been in the possession of her family from the Colonial days. Mr. and Mrs. Waterman have had three children, Charles A. J., who was born in Cambridge, and for a number of years was successfully engaged in the job printing business in Athol. He died in 1889, leaving a widow, one daughter and a son. George Burton, born in Barre, died in infancy, and Marshall B., born in Barre in 1866 is the only surviving child.

The first number of the "Athol Transcript" was issued Tuesday morning, Jan. 31, 1871, byE. F. Jones & Co. Mr. Jones was an able and popular printer, and had been for several years the foreman of the Chronicle office. Lucien Lord was the silent partner, and Dr. V. O. Taylor became the first editor. The changes that have taken place in the ownership and management of the paper are as follows: July 3, 1872, Col. George H. Hoyt bought Mr. Lord's interest, and the firm name of E. F. Jones & Co. was continued. Col. Hoyt doing the editorial work, and giving the paper a strong political tinge. During the absence of Col. Hoyt in the Legislature the editorial duties were ably assumed by his sister, Mrs. Clare H. Burleigh. June 24, 1873, Lucien Lord, W. L. Hill and E. A. Smith purchased the entire business and plant and a new firm was organized, under the name of Smith, Hill & Co., with Mr. Smith as business manager, Mr. Hill as editor, and Mr. Lord as silent partner. This partnership continued until April, 1881, when Messrs Lord and Hill purchased Mr. Smith's interest, the former continuing as silent partner, and the latter as editor and business manager, the company name being the Athol Transcript Company. In September, 1893, W. H. Brock purchased Mr. Lord's interest, and succeeded him as silent partner, the firm name remaining as before.

Dr. Vernon O. Taylor, the first editor of the Transcript, was born in Charlestown, Mass., Aug. 28, 1847. He was educated in the public schools of Charlestown, and Park Latin School of Boston, entered Tufts College, but left that institution in the sophomore year to enter the Harvard Medical School, from which he received the degree of M. D., in July, 1868. In September of that year he went to the west coast of Africa, and sojourned in the colony of Senegal until April, 1869. In September, 1869 he located in Athol, and commenced the practice of medicine. In addition to the duties of his profession he was local and special correspondent for the Springfield Republican, and was editor of the Transcript for nearly two years. He was married Sept. 15, 1871, to Sabra J.

Lord, eldest daughter of Ethan Lord, and they have one child, Lucien Edward Taylor, born June 24, 1872. In 1874 he removed to Lowell, Mass., to accept a position with the firm of Dr. J. C. Ayer & Co., and in 1882 went to Providence, R. I., where he took the position of foreign correspondent, and had charge of the advertising department of the Rumford Chemical works. He resigned this position in July, 1889, to accept the special agency of the Winner Investment Co., of Kansas City, Mo. While in Athol Mr. Taylor was appointed a Justice of the Peace by Gov. Wm. B. Washburn, was regular correspondent of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, and also United States Examining Surgeon for Pensions. He took a great interest in Masonry, was Master of Star Lodge, and was active in securing the dispensation and charter for Athol Commandery of Knights Templars, of which he was the first Eminent Commander.

Wells Louet Hill, editor and part proprietor of the Athol Transcript, was born in Athol, July 25, 1850, the youngest child of the late John C. and Dolly (Smith) Hill. He is descended, on his mother's side, from Aaron Smith, one of the early 'settlers of the town, and a member of Athol's first board of selectmen. He was educated in the common schools of the town, until a severe attack of scarlet fever deprived him wholly of his hearing, at the age of twelve years. He then attended for four years the American School for the education of deaf people at Hartford, Conn., and entered the college at Washington, D. C, in 1868, from which he graduated with high honors in 1872. A few years after he was honored by his alma mater with the degree of Master of Arts. His first newspaper work was done while in Washington, as correspondent, first for the Worcester West Chronicle, and later for the Athol Transcript. In June, 1873, Mr. Hill, in connection with Edgar A. Smith, purchased an interest in the Transcript, forming a partnership with Lucien Lord, one of the founders of the paper. Mr. Hill became the editor at that time, and has held the position ever since. In 1889, he was chosen by the directors of the American School for the deaf at Hartford, Conn., to represent that institution at a grand international congress of the deaf, held in Paris, France, called for the purpose of considering methods of educating the deaf. He was absent abroad about two months, and on his return made a lengthy report of his doings, which was printed and widely distributed at the instance of the directors of the Hartford school. Mr. Hill has frequently been called upon by his friends among the deaf to make addresses in their behalf, and he has ofiiciated in this way in Boston, Hartford, Conn., Washington, D. C, New York, Worcester and other places. In May, 1875, he married Abbie M. Earle, a member of the well-known Hunt family. Four children have blessed this union, the oldest son, J. Clarence Hill, being local editor of the Transcript.

Edgar A. Smith, son of Abner Smith, was born in New Salem, Sept. 2, 1849. In 1865, he entered the employ of the Vermont & Massachusetts R. R. Co., as the first telegraph operator at the Athol station. He was afterwards operator at Fitchburg, and in 1869 was appointed timekeeper and clerk in the master mechanics' office at Fitchburg, then general utilitj' man on the trains, and private secretary to Otis T. Ruggles, superintendent of the Vermont and Massachusetts R. R. He then became train dispatcher on the Fitchburg road from Boston to North Adams, and in 1890 was made General Superintendent of Telegraph from Boston to Troy, and was empowered to or^nize and put in operating condition the entire telegraph system of the Fitchburg railroad between those places. In 1897, he was appointed Passenger Train Master, having general direction of the whole passenger equipment. Mr. Smith was for nearly eight years one of the owners of the Athol Transcript, having in June, 1873, with Lucien Lord and W. L. Hill, purchased the business and plant, the firm name being Smith, Hill & Co., Mr. Smith being the business manager. This partnership continued until April, 1881, when Mr. Smith sold out his interest. He was married May 3, 1875, to Josie M. Chapin, of Hartford, Conn.

Frank W. Gourlay was born in Boston, Jan. 17, 1859. He attended the public schools of that city, which was his home, with the exception of four years spent in New Haven, Conn., until he came to Athol in 1876. He immediately entered the Transcript office, where he has been employed to the present time, and has for the last nine years held the position of foreman. He is a member of all the local Masonic and Odd Fellow organizations, is a charter member of Tully Lodge, Mount

Pleasant Encampment and Canton Athol, and is Past Commandant of Canton Athol. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was married June 20, 1889, to Miss Mary E. Stowell, of North Orange.

No sketch of the newspaper enterprises of the town would be complete that overlooked the unique and successful undertakings of the Cottager Company and W. H. Brock & Co. These are "The Cottager," The Healthy Home," "Progress" and "Our Church Eecord." The "Cottager" was established in 1881, and is an eight-page family monthly devoted to "good literature and a concise record of current events." It has gained a phenomenal circulation, and was long ago ranked by Pettingill's agency as having the largest subscription circulation of any paper in the state outside of Boston, with but one exception. "The Healthy Home" is a hygienic publication, also a monthly. It is published by W. H. Brock & Co., and the mechanical work is done by the Cottager Company. It was founded in 1890, and is known all over the country as the leading paper of its class. The "Progress" is the weekly edition of the "Cottager," and contains numerous local features. "Our Church Record" is a successful and unique weekly, devoted to the interests of the local churches. All these papers, except "The Healthy Home," are published by the Cottager Company, an organization incorporated in 1896, under Massachusetts law, to carry on the printing and publishing business previously owned by W. H. Brock & Co. It has a paid-up capital of fifteen thousand dollars.

WiNFiELD H. Brock is well known as the stirring and successful moving and managing spirit in this large printing and publishing house. He was born Oct. 24, 1861, and is a descendant of one of the oldest families in town, and lives in the ancestral homestead on Pleasant Street. He graduated from the Athol High School in 1878, and after teaching school and pursuing further studies in other institutions, began newspaper work as local man for the "Springfield Republican." He bought an interest in "The Cottager" in 1885, and has since been at the head of the business department of that paper, and its associated undertakings. No small part of their growth and success has been due to his tact and enterprise. In 1893, he bought a half interest in the "Athol Transcript," though never taking an active part in its management. He was married September 22, 1889, to Angela B. Ford, of Hanover, Mass. They have one son, Roland Humphrey.

Will K. Briggs has been associated in the ownership and management of the Cottager Company's various undertakings since 1890, having sole charge of the mechanical part, and is now president of the corporation. He was born in Athol, Feb. 9, 1856, and has been connected with the printing business since early boyhood. He is one of the stewards of the Methodist church, and has been connected with the choir for many years. He is a member of TuUy lodge of Odd Fellows. He was married March 30, 1878, to Miss Jennie L. Gage, and has one son, Merton L., a graduate of the Athol High School, and now a student at Boston University.