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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW



VOLUME XXX



CONTAINING LIFE SKETCHES OF LEADING CITIZENS OF



WORCESTER COUNTY



MASSACHUSETTS



Who among men art thou, and thy years how many, good friend ? — Xenophanes.



BOSTON

Biographical Review Publishing Company

1899



ATLANTIC



UNIVERSITY OF
MA SSACHUSEn S

AMHERST, MASS.

GTATK SCRI CS



RAPHICAL REVIEWS.



The volumes issued in this series up to date are the following:



I. OrsEf.o County, New York.

II. Madison County, New Vokk..

III. Kroome County, New York.

IV. ("oLU.MiiiA County, Nkw York.
\. C"ayuc;a County, New York.

VI. Delaware County, New York.

^'ll. LiviNCSTON and Wyoming Counties,
New ^â– ()RK.

VIII. Clinton and Essex Counties, New
York.

I.\. Hampden County, Massachusetts.

X. Franklin County, Massachusetts.

-XI. Ha.mpshire County, Massachusetts.

.Xll. Litchfield County, Connecticut.

XIII. York County, Maine.

.\l\'. Cumberland County. Maine.

-W. OxKORD A.Mi Franklin Counties,

Maine.

.Wl. Cumberland Countn', New Jersey.

Wll. Rockin(;ham County, New Hampshire.



X^'IIi. I'LVMoirTH County. Massachusetts.
XIX. Ca.mden and Buri.incton Coi'nties,
New Jersey.

XX. S,\ciADAHOc, Lincoln, Knox, and
\Yaldo Counties, Maine.

XXI. SiRAFFORD and Kelknap Coumies,
New Ha.mi'shirk.

XXII. .Sullivan and Merrimack Counties,
New Hampshire.

XXIII. Hillsboro and Cheshire Cou.nties,
New Hampshire.

XXI\'. PiTTSBi'RG, Pennsylvania.
XXV. Norfolk County, Mas.sachusetts.
XXVI. New London County, Connecticut.
XXVII. Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
XXVIII. Essex County, Massachusetts.
XXIX. Somerset, Piscataijuis, Hancock,
Washington. and Aroostook
Counties, Maine.
\X.\. Worcester County, Massachusetts.



NoTK. — All the biographical sketches published in ihis volume were subinitted to their respective subjects or to the sub-
•scriliers, from whom the facts were primarily obtained, for their approval or correction before going to press, and a reasonable
time was allowed in each case for the return of the typewritten copies. Most of them were returned to us within the time allotted,
•ir before the work was printed, after being corrected or revised ; and these may therefore be regarded as reasonably accurate.

.\ few, however, were not returned to us; and, as we have no means of knowing whether they contain errors or not, we
.innot vouch for their accuracy. In justice to our readers, and to render this work more valuable for reference purposes, we have
indicated all uncorrected sketches by a small asterisk (•), placed imnuclialely after the name of the subject. They will be found
jitini.-il c.ii ilic last pages of the book.

li. k. I'Vn. CO.



PREFACE.



AFTF;R many months of unremitting toil we take pleasure in presenting to our
patrons the long-promised Biographical Review of Worcester County, Massa-
chusetts, the thirtieth in our Atlantic States Series of biographical works. In so
doing we desire to render hearty thanks to all those who have in any way co-operated
with us in our labors, realizing the full value of their sympathetic interest and ready
assistance in the result obtained. We need at this day make no apology for the
publication of such a volume, the success of previous works of a similar nature pub-
lished by us having justified in advance the present issue. The real history of a State
is the combined history of all its citizens. Popular biography is history intimately
written, the dry bones of material facts being clothed with the living tissues of per-
sonality and individuality, beneath which beats the pulse of human sympathy. It
comprises the lives, not only of those whom genius, talent, or opportunity have
brought conspicuously before the eye of the world, but of those also whose modest
achievements have won a more local and restricted fame, each one, however, forming
an integral portion of the great sum of human endeavor, and worthy of its due meed
of praise, encouragement, or remembrance. To the question asked on the title-page
of this volume, as it applies to the citizens of Worcester County herein represented,
we have endeavored in each case to furnish an adequate reply. In many we have
gone beyond the strict scope of personal biography in gathering and presenting gene-
alogical data, compiled from hitherto unpublished family records ; and, where possible,
we have verified other and similar data by comparison with records previously pub-
lished, or accessible in manuscript form in the genealogical libraries of this city
(Boston). The propriety and utility of preserving such material and giving it a wider
publicity will be generally apparent, and our efforts in doing so, we trust, as generally
appreciated. In conclusion, we venture to borrow in part the familiar and oft-quoted
words of President Lincoln, and assert that the present volume is emphatically a book
*'of the people, by the people, and for the people." In the belief that it will be so
accepted, we commit it finally to the judgment of our patrons.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY.

Al-RIL. 1899.




nui:.^ 3. SU/c^.



BIOSRAPHIGAL.




/-^x^^lj »-■ ON. WILLIAM FRANKLIN
W*<rll i ' ^^ DRAPER, of Hopedale, whose
gallant efficiency in the field
during the Civil War won for
him the brevet of Brigadier-
general, now occupies one of
the highest posts in the diplo-
matic service of the country,
that of Ambassador to Italy,
to which he was appointed by
President McKinley in 1897.
General Draper was born in the city of Lowell
on April 9, 1842, eldest son of George and
Hannah (Thwing) Draper. He is a repre-
sentative of the seventh generation of the
family founded by James Draper, a native of
Heptonstall Parish, Yorkshire, England, who
joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony about
1650. A glance at the ancestral record shows
that his patriotism, his military spirit, his in-
ventive genius and business capacity, and the
liberality and kindliness which form the basis
of his pleasing urbanity of manner are in-
herited traits.

James Draper, the immigrant, was the son
of Thomas Draper, a cloth manufacturer of
Heptonstall, England. He settled at Rox-
bury, and engaged in the manufacture of
cloth, owning a number of looms. His son,
James Draper, second, was a soldier in King
Philip's War. James Draper, third, son of
James, second, and his wife, Abigail Whiting,
settled at Dedham. He was a manufacturer
and a farmer, and was captain of a trainband.
He died in 176S. Abijah Draper, the next in
this line of descent, born May 10, 1737, son
of James, third, and Abigail (Child) Draper,
married Alice, daughter of John and Elizabeth
Eaton, of Dedham. Abijah Draper was a



Major of the First Suffolk Militia in the
Revolution.

Ira Draper, General Draper's grandfather,
born December 29, 1764, second son of Major
Draper, lived to be past eighty years of
age. "He was a man of large natural intelli-
gence, mechanical ingenuity, and progressive
thought." His first wife, Lydia, daughter of
Lemuel and Rebecca Richards, died in 181 1 ;
and his second wife, her sister, Abigail Rich-
ards, died in 1847. He reared nine children.

George Draper, second son of Ira and Abi-
gail (Richards) Draper and the father of Am-
bassador Draper, was born in Weston, Mass.,
August 16, 1817. He died June 7, 1887.
Devoting his energies at an early age to the
hereditary occupation of manufacturing, in
1832 Mr. George Draper was superintendent
of a mill at Ware, Mass. In 1842 he became
a resident of Hopedale, joining the commu-
nity under the leadership of the Rev. Adiii
Ballon, of which his brother, P^benezer Dag-
gett Draper, was one of the founders. This
"joint-stock, practical Christian association,
with a united industrial arrangement," was
dissolved by common consent in the spring of
1856, "property and business" returning "to
the customary channels of general society."
(For further particulars see History of Mil-
ford, by Adin Ballon, to which we are in-
debted for much of the foregoing.)

The successor of the Hopedale community,
it may be mentioned, the Hopedale Parish, a
liberal Christian society, in which the com-
munity was virtually merged, was organized
in 1867, the Rev. Adin Ballon of sainted
memory continuing his faithful ministry till
April, 1880, when his resignation was ac-
cepted. A beautiful new church, dedicated



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW



on September 15, 1S98, was presented to the
society by George A. and Eben S. Draper, in
memory of their parents, George and Hannah
T. Draper.

George Draper was happily possessed of
both inventive skill and excellent business
abilities, a rare combination, together with
the spirit of enterprise and the quality of
persistence. Purchasing the water-power at
Hopedale, he entered upon a long and success-
ful business career. He was president of
several extensive manufacturing firms, among
them that of George Draper & Sons, manu-
facturers of various improvements in cotton
and woollen machinery; the Hopedale Ma-
chine Company, manufacturers of patent warp-
ers, twisters, spoolers, etc. ; the Dutcher
Temple Company, sole manufacturers of
Dutcher's patent temples, etc. Many of the
improvements in the line of machinery were
of his own invention. He was interested in
the Shaw Knitting Company, of Lowell; and
he was president of the Milford, Franklin &
I'rovidence Railroad and of the Milford &
Hopkinton Railroad. In politics he was a
strong Republican, deeply interested in public
affairs. He was the founder and the first
])resident of the Home Market Club. He
gave generously of his wealth to public and
private charities.

He married March 6, 1839, Miss Hannah
Thwing, daughter of Benjamin and Anna
(Mi)wry) Thwing. She died in 1884, and
he married in 1886 Mrs. Blunt, of Milford.
Five children, all born of the first marriage,
arc now living, namely: William Franklin,
the sjiecial subject of this biography; 1-' ranees
li. , wife of Charles H. Colburn, of Milford,
now deceased; Hannah T., wife of Edward
Louis Osgood, of Hopedale; George Albert
antl ICbcn Sumner, both of Hopedale.

William Franklin Draper in his youth ob-
tained an education fitting him for Harvard
College, and made further preparation for the
activities of life by various periods of labor in
the machine shop and cotton-mill, the three
years directly before the breaking out of the
Civil War being devoted to study of the man-
ufacture of cotton machinery, with valuable
l)ractice as a draughtsman. On September 9,



1861, he enlisted in the local volunteer com-
pany that his father was instrumental in rais-
ing. This became Company B of the Twenty-
fifth Massachusetts Infantry, and in October
he was commissioned Second Lieutenant.
Three years of campaigning followed. As
signal officer on the staff of General Burnside
he went through the battles of Roanoke
Island, Newbern, and Fort Macon. In
April, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of
First Lieutenant, and thereupon rejoined his
regiment. In August, 1862, shortly after the
battle of South Mountain, he was commis-
sioned Captain in the Thirty-sixth Regiment.
With this regiment he went through the rest
of the Antietam campaign, and after the battle
of Fredericksburg was sent to Newport News.
Seven months were spent in Kentucky in pur-
suing Morgan's cavalry and sundry guerilla
troops. He then went, in June, 1863, to join
Grant's army at Vicksburg. He was present
at the fall of that city, and later was in some
hard fighting in the vicinity of Jackson.
From June to September, 1863, his regiment
was reduced in numbers from six hundred and
fifty to one hundred and ninety-eight men.
He was now promoted to the rank of Major.
Returning from Kentucky in August, 1863,
he marched through Cumberland Gap into
East Tennessee, where he remained through
the winter, taking part in the siege of Knox-
ville and the battles of Blue Springs, Camp-
bell's Station, and Strawberry Plains. Colo-
nel Goodell having been wounded, subsequent
to the lOth of October Major Draper was in
command of the regiment. In the battle of
the Wilderness, on the 6th of May, he was
shot through the body while leading his regi-
ment, a rifle-pit just being captured by his
men. He was left on the fiekl as hopelessly
wounded, and was captured by the rebels, but
was subsequently retaken and sent to the hos-
pital at Washington. From this date onward
he was Lieutenant Colonel. Upon recovery
he rejoined the army, and was present at the
siege of Petersburg and at the Welilon Rail-
road engagement, where he commanded a bri-
gade. A month later, at Poplar Grove Church
and Pegram's l-'arm, his division was severely
engaged, and was cut off from the others.



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW



His regiment, however, was the only one in
the brigade that came out as an organization,
and they brougiit back the colors of several
other regiments. Having been again wounded
in t^ie shoulder by a nearly spent ball, and his
wounds proving very troublesome, he accepted
a ilischarge on October 12, 1864. He was
brevetted Colonel and Brigadier-general,
United States Volunteers, for gallant and
meritorious services in the field.

Both of his commands during the war were
fighting regiments, the Twenty-fifth losing
seventy per cent, of its number in one engage-
ment (Cold Harbor), a record broken but by
three others in the whole army; while the
Thirt)'-sixth, in the campaign beginning with
the Wilderness, had every field and line officer,
except one, killed or wounded, and three-
quarters of its enlisted men.

Returning to business life. General Draper
entered the employ of the firm of E. D. & G.
Draper, manufacturers of cotton machinery.
In April, 1868, he purchased the interest of
Mr. E. D. Draper in the business, and en-
tered into partnership with his father, the firm
name being George Draper & Son. General
Draper's reputation as a business man has
steadily increased, and since his father's
death the firm has become widely known as
the leading introducers in this country of cot-
ton machinery improvements. Besides man-
aging his own large transactions, he has been
directly connected with many other large man-
ufacturing concerns. He is now president and
director in more than twenty corporations
covering the manufacture of machinery, cotton
cloth, shoes, and electrical goods, and gas,
water, and insurance companies. He has
strong inventive talent, and has personally
patented over fifty inventions. He is known
as the first expert in the country on spinning
machinery, and he has written standard arti-
cles on this and other mechanical subjects.

General Draper held no elective office ex-
cept that of Town School Committee until his
election to Congress. He was a member of
Governor Long's staff during the three years
of his official term, was a delegate to the con-
vention that nominated President Hayes, and
an elector at large who voted for President



Harrison. In 1S8S he was a candidate for the
Republican nomination for Governor, being
strongly backed by the soldier vote, but was
defeated by Governor Ames. In 1892, when
General Draper was nominated for Congress
in the Eleventh District, his campaign against
George Fred Williams was one of the most
brilliantly successful ever made in Massachu-
setts. He was on the stump nearly every
night, and his speeches won favor for himself
and his party wherever he went, although he
made no pretensions to oratory. While a
member of Congress he was instrumental in
pressing through the House the bill to revise
patent laws and the bill to protect the copy-
right on theatrical and operatic productions.
During both terms he was a member of the
Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of
the Patent Committee. He is known as a
hard student and practical thinker on eco-
nomic subjects. The protective tariff has
been his special line of research, and he has
personally investigated at great length eco-
nomic conditions, both in Europe and in this
country. His pamphlets and magazine arti-
cles on the tariff question have been widely
read and discussed. He succeeded his father
as president of the Home Market Club,
which is the strongest and most influential
protective organization in New England, rank-
ing nationally with the American Protective
Tariff League. He is also a member and an
officer of the Arkwright Club.

Socially, General Draper is well known
among a large circle of acquaintances, both
at home and abroad. He is a member of
the Loyal Legion, of the Grand Army, the
Knights Templars, the Sons of the Revolution,
the Society of the Colonial Wars, the Union
and Algonquin Clubs of Boston, the Hope
Club of Providence, and many other frater-
nities.

In 1862, while home on a four days' leave
of absence from the army, he married Miss
Lydia D. W. Joy, adopted daughter of the
Hon. David Joy. Of this union five children
survive the mother, who died in 1884. In
May, 1890, General Draper married Susan
Preston, daughter of the late General William
Preston, of Kentucky, who was an officer in



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW



the Mexican War, a Major-general in the
Confederate army during the Civil War, and
United States Minister to Spain under Bu-
chanan, also Confederate Envoy to Mexico.
Needless to say, this union between the North
and the South has been a happy one.

General Draper's children are: William
F., Jr., who resides in New York City;
George Otis, a sketch of whom appears on
another page; Edith; Arthur Joy, who re-
cently earned his commission as Second
Lieutenant in the Porto Rico campaign; and
Clare Hill Draper, who is a student in Yale
University. ICdith is the wife of Montgomery
Blair, an attorney in Washington, D.C., and
son of ex-Postmaster General Blair, who
served in Lincoln's cabinet.




"ON. FRANCIS ALFRED HAR-
RINGTON, ex-Mayor of Worcester
and one of the city's most influen-
tial citizens, was born on the farm
where he now resides, on November 17, 1846,
son of Daniel and Clarissa (Gray) Harrington.
The family is one of the oldest in Worcester,
and has produced men of solid worth and in-
tegrity.

The first ancestor in New England of whom
there is record was Francis Harrington, who
was born in Watertown in 1709, and died in
Worcester on this farm in 1793. His son,
Nathaniel, was born here in 1742, and died in
1831. Nathaniel's wife, whose maiden name
was Ruth Stone, was born in 1748, and died
in 18 1 7. The original farm of four hundred
acres was divided after Nathaniel's death be-
tween his two sons, Francis and Jonathan,
each receiving about two hundred acres.
Francis, who was the grandfather of Francis
Alfred Harrington, was born here in 1777,
and died on May 3, 1841. He was married
in 1 80 1 to Lydia Perry, daughter of Josiah
Perry and grand -daughter of Nathan Perry, of
Worcester, who was for twenty-three years,
from 1783 to 1806, Deacon of the Old South
Church. Mrs. Lydia Perry Harrington was
born in 1778, and died in iSoS. She was the
mother of six children, the eldest of whom
was Daniel, above named.



Daniel Harrington was born at the home-
stead on October 4, 1802, and died here on
September 11, 1863, leaving a wife and eight
children. He was a lifelong farmer and one
of the leading business men of the town. He
commanded a company of the State militia,
and was familiarly known as Captain Daniel
Harrington. Warmly interested in public
affairs and recognized as a man of sound jiulg-
ment and of unimpeachable integrity, he
could have had almost any gift within the
offering of his townsmen; but he was content
to remain in private life, and, with the excep-
tion of serving as a member of the second
Common Council and as Alderman in 1848
and 1849, declined to have his name used as
candidate for public office. He was an active
and devoted member of the Old .South Church
and one of the founders of the Union and
Salem churches, which are now consolidated.
Daniel Harrington built the house in which
his son now resides in 1852 and the fine barn
that is on the premises in 1841. He was
married on March 27, 1828, to Clarissa Gray,
who was born on August 23, 1809, and died
on June 6, 1884. She was a grand-daughter
of John Dickerman, who is said to have been
one of the celebrated "Boston Tea party."
Of the nine children born of this marriage
eight grew to maturity; namely, Joseph A.,
Emily A., Charles A., Delia A., Maria A.,
F"rancis A., George A., and Daniel A.
Henry M. was born on March 20, 1836, and
died at the age of a year. Joseph Harrington
was born on October 6, 1829, and died on
December 4, 1875. Emily, who was born on
October 23, 1831, and died in 1883, was mar-
ried in 1873 to George Sumner Battel le.
Charles, who was born on May 20, 1834, is a
member of the firm of Garfield & Harring-
ton, coal and ice dealers in this city and one
of the old and solid business firms of Worces-
ter. He has served in the Common Council.
Delia A., who was born on March 21, 1841,
was married in 1863 to George B. Andrews,
a livery -keeper of Clinton. Maria A., who
was born on September 2, 1843, is the widow
of Edward W. Wellington, and resides in this
city. George A., who was born on July 8,
1849, died in 1885, unmarried. Daniel Har-



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW



13



riiij;ton, born tin May S, 1851, is the successor
of Harrington Brotiiers in the livery business.
He has served two terms on the Hoard of
Alilermen.

I'rancis Alfred Harrington was educated in
the public schools, and subsequently worked
on the home farm until he was twenty-one
years of age. He then entered the employ of
liis brother Charles, and was with him at the
Bay State Hotel livery stable, which was
opened in 1S69. In 1871 he became a part-
ner, and the company was known as Harring-
ton Brothers. About five years later the
stable was removed to Central Street, where
it is now located, and a carriage shop was
opened in connection with it. On the retire-
ment of his brother Charles in May, 18S3,
Mr. Harrington took into partnership his
brother Daniel, who in October, i8g6, be-
came full proprietor, and has since conducted
the business with excellent success. Mr.
Harrington now gives his attention to farming
on the homestead acres, which are among the
most valuable farming lands in this section of
Massachusetts, having been for many years
highly fertilized and carefully tilled. The
place was formerly a dairy farm, but more
recently the fields have been devoted to grass
crops.

Mr. Harrington is a prominent member of
fraternal organizations in Worcester. He
belongs to all the orders of Masonry; is Past
Master of Athelstone Lodge, F. & A. M. ;
and is Past Commander of Worcester County
Commandery, K. T., which numbers six hun-
dred members, and is the third or fourth
largest in the world. He is a member of the
Odd l-'ellows Society ; Past Master of Strong
Worcester Grange, which consists of over
three hundred members; Past Master of the
county grange and treasurer of the State
grange; also a member of the Royal Arcanum
and Past Patron of the Order of the Eastern
Star. In politics he is a Republican. He
was Alderman from Ward Three from 1887 to
1889, being unanimously re-elected; and dur-
ing the last year he was president of the
board. He served on the Committee on
Sewers when the new and improved disposal
plan was originated, ami during the third year



of his occupancy of the Mayor's chair had the
satisfaction of seeing the plan carried into
effect. He was Mayor of the city in 1890,
1891, and 1892, during which time also the
English High School and the new building
of the public library were constructed. Mr.
Harrington was one of the organizers of the
Ridgely Protective Association in 1894, and
has been its president ever since. He is one
of the directors of the public library.

On November 16, 1871, Mr. Harrington
was united in marriage with Roxana M.
Grout, who was born in Spencer, daughter of