History of Grafton, (Worcester County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Biographies:

William Draper Andrews, inventor, was born at Grafton, Mass., May 23, 1818. In 1840 he obtained employment with a wrecking company in New York. Familiarity with pumping apparatus led him to make experiments looking to its improvement; and in 1844 he invented a centrifugal pump, for which in 1846 he received a patent. Later he developed an anti-friction centrifugal pump, which came into universal use. The "Cataract" is considered the best of the several other centrifugal pumps patented by him. He obtained patents also for siphon gang-wells, balanced valves, safety elevators, boilers, oscillating steam-engines, friction and differential power gearing, to the number of twenty-five in the United States, and nine foreign patents. His pumps were applied with great success to the U. S. monitors in the civil war, as a means of submerging the ships in action or lightening them when retreat was necessary, water being pumped at the rate of thirty tons a minute into or out of the water compartments. His pumps were also of very great service in dredging channels through the sand bars at the mouth of the St. Johns river, Fla., in the improvements effected in the deepening of the Mississippi river, and in fixing the foundations for the piers of suspension bridges. In 1885 the water supply of Brooklyn was augmented by means of his gang-wells, which supplied daily an average of twenty-five million gallons of water. Various medals and diplomas were awarded Mr. Andrews in the United States and Europe.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Frederick Slocum, educator, was born at Grafton, Mass., July 29, 1851; son of William Frederick and Margaret Tinker Slocum; grandson of Oliver E. and Polly Slocum, and of Edward and Laura Tinker, and a descendant of Governor Bradford of Massachusetts. He was graduated from Amherst, A.B. in 1874 and from Andover Theological seminary, B.D. in 1878. He studied in Germany, 1874?75; was ordained Aug. 27, 1878; was married, July 29, 1880, to Mary Goodale Montgomery, daughter of William and Sarah (Temple) Montgomery of Wakefield, Mass., and was pastor of the Congregational churches in Amesbury, Mass., 1878?83, and of the 1st church in Baltimore, Md., 1883?88. He was president and professor of psychology and historical philosophy in Colorado college, 1888. He received the degree LL.D. from Amherst college, 1893, and from the Nebraska university, 1894. He is the author of numerous articles on sociological and philosophical subjects.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Titus Hutchinson, jurist, was born in Graf-ton, Mass., April 29, 1771; the youngest son of the Rev. Aaron and Marjory (Carter) Hutchinson. He was fitted for college by his father and applied for admission to the junior class at Dartmouth in 1792. The trustees refused to receive him unless he would pay the full four years' tuition. This he could not do, and mounting his horse, with his clothes still in his saddle-bags, he continued the journey to the College of New Jersey, Princeton, where he was received and was graduated second in his class in 1794, receiving his A.M. degree in 1797. He studied law with his brother, Aaron J. Hutchinson, in Lebanon, N.H., and was admitted to the Orange county bar in 1798. He was a practising lawyer in Woodstock, Vt., 1798-1813; state's attorney; representative in the state legislature ten years; U.S. attorney for the district of Vermont, 1813-23; judge of the supreme court of the state, 1826-30, and chief justice, 1830-33. He was a member of the corporation of the University of Vermont, 1810-25, and received the honorary degree of A.M. from that institution in 1811. He was married, Feb. 16, 1800, to Clarissa Sage, and they had five sons: Edwin, born Feb. 28, 1803, University of Vermont, A.B., 1823, lawyer, Windsor, Vt., died Aug. 23, 1861; Oramel, University of Vermont, 1824, lawyer, Chester, Vt., died there; Henry, University of Vermont, 1825, lawyer, died, 1885; Titus, and Alexander. Judge Hutchinson is the author of: Fourth of July Orations (1806-09); Jurisdiction of Courts (1855). He died in Woodstock, Vt., Aug. 24, 1857.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor