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

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Biographies:

Alexander Hamilton Bullock, governor of Massachusetts, was born in Royalston, Mass., March 2, 1816; son of Rufus and Sarah (Davis) Bullock. He was prepared for college at Leicester academy, and was graduated at Amherst in 1836, standing second in his class. He taught school for a time, and then entered Harvard law school, where he was graduated in 1840. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, and began practice in Worcester. In 1842 he served as aide on the staff of Gov. John Davis. In March, 1842, he became editor of the National ?gis, a weekly Whig newspaper. He also edited a campaign paper, called Old Massachusetts, during the presidential canvass of 1844, and a similar paper, called the True Whig, for three months preceding the election of 1848. From 1845 to 1847 he served in the Massachusetts house of representatives; was elected to the state senate in 1849; in 1853 was appointed commissioner of insolvency, and in 1856 was made judge of the court of insolvency, holding the office until 1858, in 1859 being elected mayor of Worcester. In 1861-62-63-64-65 he was chosen a member of the state house of representatives, of which he was speaker in 1862. From 1866 to 1869 he was governor of Massachusetts, declining a re-election in the latter year. He declined the position of minister to Great Britain, offered by President Hayes, on Dec. 8, 1879. He received the degree of LL. D. from Amherst in 1865, and from Harvard in 1866. He was a member of the Massachusetts historical society and a trustee of Amherst college. See Memoir of Alexander H. Bullock (1887), by Charles Devens. He died in Worcester, Mass., Jan. 17, 1882.

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

John F. Lehy, educator, was born in Royalston, Mass., Nov. 7, 1850; son of Geoffrey and Elizabeth (Kelly) Lehy. He attended the public schools of Royalston and Holy Cross college at Worcester, Mass. He entered the Society of Jesus, Sept. 16, 1874; made his novitiate at Frederick, Md., 1874-76: studied philosophy at Woodstock college 1876-79, and theology, 1884-87, and was ordained priest in 1887. He was professor of mathematics at Holy Cross college, 1879-84 and 1887-88; and at Georgetown university, 1888-89; was vice-president of Gonzaga college, 1889-90; professor at Woodstock seminary, 1892-93; vice-president of Holy Cross college, 1893-95; and president of that college, 1895-1901.

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

Asahel Peck, governor of Vermont, was born in Royalston, Mass., in September, 1803; son of Squire and Elizabeth (Goddard) Peck; grandson of John and Mary (Drown) Peck, and a descendant of Joseph and Rebecca (Clark) Peck. Joseph Peck a native of Suffolk county, England, emigrated from Hingham, Norfolk county, to New England in the ship Diligent in 1638, settled in Hingham, Mass., and at Seekonk or Rehoboth, Mass., in 1645. Asahel Peck was taken to Montpelier, Vt., by his parents in 1803, attended the public schools irregularly, 1808-24, and the University of Vermont, 1824-26, but was not graduated. He studied French in the family of the president of a French college in Canada, and law under his brother, Nathan Peck, at Hinesburgh, and subsequently in the office of Bailey & Marsh, Burlington, Vt. He was admitted to the bar in 1832, settled in practice in Montpelier and was at one time associated with Archibald Hyde and later with D.A. Smalley. He was originally a Democrat in politics, but in 1848 became a Free Soiler, and a member of the convention at Buffalo that nominated Van Buren and Adams, and was subsequently active in organizing the Republican party. He was judge of the circuit court of Vermont, 1851-57, judge of the supreme court of the state, 1860-74, and governor of Vermont, 1874-76. He retired to his farm in Jericho Vt., in 1876, where he died, May 18, 1879.

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