History of West Boylston, (Worcester County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Biographies:

Erastus Brigham Bigelow, inventor, was born at West Boylston, Mass., April 2, 1814, the son of a cotton weaver. From his childhood he evinced unusual inventive ability, and several ingenious and practical devices were made by him, while yet a boy, including a hand-loom for suspender-webbing. In his twenty-fourth year he invented an automatic loom which turned out finer counterpanes than had hitherto been produced in this country; and the following year he succeeded in bringing out a highly successful power carpet loom, which did away with the slow process of hand weaving. In 1851 he exhibited at the London exhibition, his power-loom, which could weave as fine Brussels tapestry and velvet tapestry carpets as could be produced in Europe. His factories in Clinton, Mass., comprising the Bigelow carpet company, the Lancaster quilt company, and the Coachlace factory, employed a large number of skilled workmen, and produced goods of high quality. He was much interested in the subject of the tariff, and advocated the stamp system of taxation. He was an active member of the Boston historical society from 1864. His published works consist of "Stenography" (1882); "The Tariff Question Considered in Regard to the Policy of England and the Interests of the United States" (1863), and "Inventions of Erastus Brigham Bigelow, patented in England from 1837 to 1868"; this work was in six large volumes, and contained printed specifications of eighteen patents. He died in Boston. Mass., Dec. 6, 1879.

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

David Lee Child, journalist, was born at West Boylston, Mass., July 8, 1794; son of Zachariah and Lydia (Bigelow) Child. He was graduated at Harvard in 1817, and for a short time held a sub-mastership in the Boston Latin school. In 1819 he was appointed by President Monroe secretary of legation at Lisbon, Spain, under Minister John Forsyth, but he soon resigned, and participated in the insurrection headed by Riego and Quiroga, which resulted in the acceptance of the constitution by Ferdinand VII from 1820 to 1823. In 1824 he returned to the United States, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He introduced the manufacture of beet sugar into the United States, specially visiting Belgium in 1836 to learn the process of its manufacture. He edited the Massachusetts Journal about 1830, was also a member of the state legislature, and in both these capacities condemned the annexation of Texas, which he also denounced in a pamphlet entitled Naboth's Vineyard. He was an abolitionist, and an early member of the antislavery society. He wrote voluminously upon the subjects of slavery and the slave trade, his most notable articles being a series of letters addressed to the English philanthropist, Edward S. Abdy, and a memoir presented on his visit to Paris in 1837 to the Soci?t? pour l'abolition d'esclavage. He was a trustee of the Noyes academy, Canaan, N.H., which opened its doors to colored youth in 1834, giving them equal privileges with the white students. In 1843, in conjunction with his wife, Lydia Maria Child, he edited the AntiSlavery Standard in New York city. He died in Wayland, Mass., Sept. 18, 1874.

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

John Whipple Potter Jenks, naturalist, was born in West Boylston, Mass., May 1, 1819; son of Dr. Nicholas and Betsey (Potter) Jenks; grandson of Nicholas Jenks, of Brook field, Mass., and a descendant of Joseph Jenks, of Buckinghamshire, England, founder of Pawtucket, R.I. He attended school at Southbridge, Mass., 1825-32, and In Charlotte county, Va., where he was fitted for college, and studied natural history, as illustrated in the wild animal life in the Virginia woods, 1832-34. He was graduated from Brown university, A.B., 1838, A.M., 1841, and went to Americus, Ga., where he taught school one year. He then removed to Washington, Ga., and preached there as assistant to Dr. Mercer until 1842, when he became principal of Pierce academy, Middleboro, Mass., where he remained until 1871. He was also zo?logist to the Boston Horticultural society, 1858-60; curator of the museum, Brown university, 1871-72; director of the museum of natural history, Brown university, 1872-94; lecturer on special branches of agriculture, 1872-74; professor of zo?logy and agriculture, 1874-75; of agricultural zo?logy, 1875-94, and professor emeritus in 1894. He was an extensive traveller in the interest of science, and was the first naturalist to explore the Everglades of Florida and the region around Lake Okee-chobee. He spent his winters at "Oak Lodge," on the east coast of Florida, 1886-93. He gave to the Jenks Museum of Zo?logy, Brown university, over 100,000 specimens, and to Pierce academy, in 1871, his collection of birds. He is the author of: Hunting in Florida (1874); Fourteen Weeks in Zo?logy (1876), revised as Popular Zo?logy, a text-book for high schools (1886). He died in the museum of Brown university, Providence, R.I., Sept. 26, 1894.

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