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

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Biographies:

Jonas Fay, patriot, was born at Hardwick, Mass., Jan. 28, 1737; son of Stephen and Ruth (Child) Fay; grandson of John and Elizabeth (Wellington) Fay, and great-grandson of John and Mary (Brigham) Fay, who came from Wales to Boston, arriving on the Speedwell, June 27, 1656. The Fays were of French origin, having fled to Wales during the Huguenot persecution. Jonas served in 1756 in the French war as clerk in Capt. Samuel Robinson's company of Massachusetts troops at Fort Edward and Lake George. He afterward studied medicine and in 1766 was among the early settlers of Bennington, Vt., where he practised his profession. In 1772 he was appointed a delegate from Bannington and neighboring towns to appear before Gov. William Tryon of New York and urge him to discontinue his violent proceedings against the Vermont settlers. In March, 1774, he was clerk of the convention of settlers which drew up resolutions to defend their cause and their leaders by force, Allen, Warner and others having been threatened by the New York assembly with outlawry and death. In 1775 he accompanied Ethan Allen's expedition to Ticonderoga as surgeon. In January, 1776, He was clerk to the convention at Dorset and drew up the petition to congress to be allowed to serve the patriot cause independent of New York. He was secretary of the convention of July, 1777, that framed the constitution of Vermont and during the summer of that year was a member of the council of safety. Between 1777 and 1782 he was four times an agent of the state to the continental congress. He was a member of the governor's council, 1778-85; judge of the supreme court in 1782, and judge of probate, 1782-87. He then returned to the practice of medicine at Bennington, removing to Charlotte in 1800, to Pawlet a few years later and finally returning to Bennington. He was twice married: first, May 1, 1760, to Sarah, daughter of Capt. John Fassett, and secondly, Nov. 20, 1777, to Mrs. Lydia Safford. He was joint author with Ethan Allen of A Concise Refutation of the Claims of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York to the Territory of Vermont (1780). He died at Bennington, Vt., March 6, 1818.

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

Samuel Taylor Maynard, botanist, was born in Hardwick, Mass., Dec. 6, 1844; son of William and Sarah (Nourse) Maynard; grandson of Taylor and Betsey Maynard, and a descendant of Samuel Nourse. He was graduated from the Massachusetts Agricultural college in 1872 and was chosen professor of botany and horticulture at that institution in 1879. He was botanist and homologist of the Massachusetts state board of agriculture; a director of the horticultural division of the state experimental station, and secretary of the Massachusetts Fruit Growers' association. He is the author of: The Practical Fruit Grower (1884), which reached a sale of over 100,000 copies, and Landscape Gardening as Applied to Home Decoration (1899), besides numerous contributions on botanical and horticultural subjects to the leading magazines.

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

Joseph French Johnson, financier, was born at Hardwick, Mass., Aug. 24, 1853; son of Gardner Nye and Eliza (French) Johnson, and grandson of Silas Nye and Susan (Whipple) Johnson. His ancestor, John Johnson, immigrated from England in 1635 and settled at Millbury, Mass., where he was a selectman. Joseph attended the public schools and Jennings seminary, Aurora, Ill., Northwestern university, Evanston, Ill., 1873-74; Harvard college, 1874-75; University of Halle, Germany, 1875-76, and was graduated from Harvard, A.B., 1878. He was a teacher of classics at Harvard school, Chicago, Ill., 1878-81; and was engaged on the staffs of the Springfield, Mass., Republican, 1881-84; the Chicago Tribune, 1884-90; the Spokane, Wash., Spokesman, 1890-93. He was married, Aug. 4, 1884, to Caroline Temperance Stolp, a descendant of Hannah Duston. He was associate professor of business practice at the University of Pennsylvania, 1893-94; was appointed professor of journalism in the University of Pennsylvania in 1894, and lecturer on finance in the Columbian university, Washington, D.C., in 1899. He was appointed, in 1899, expert for the industrial commission, and made a report upon railroad financiering in May, 1900. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science in 1893 and of the American Economic association in 1896. He is the author of: Principles of Money, Applied to Current Problems (1896); Proposed Reforms of the Monetary System (1898); Money and Credit (1900); A Discussion of the Interrogatories of the Monetary Commission, and contributions to periodicals on the subject of finance.

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

Lucius James Knowles, inventor, was born in Hardwick, Mass., July 2, 1819. In 1840 he invented a safety steam-boiler regulator. He also experimented in the use of electricity as a motive power and manufactured cameras and material for photographers. In 1843 he invented a machine for spooling thread and manufactured the machines at New Worcester, 1843-45. This led to his invention of spinning machines for manufacturing four-and six-cord thread, and he manufactured cotton thread and warps at Spencer and Warren, Mass., 1847-53, and woollen goods, 1853-59. He manufactured steam pumps under his own patents till 1860. His tape loom also proved popular and remunerative. He was a representative in the Massachusetts legislature in 1862 and 1865 aud a state senator in 1869. He died in Washington. D.C., Feb. 25, 1884.

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