My Genealogy Hound

LUCIEN BENNETT WILLIAMS, for many years an important factor in the manufacturing interests of Northampton, Mass., and one of its foremost citizens, was born in Becket, Berkshire County, on February 3, 1825. He died at his residence in this city on July 23 of the present year, 1895. Mr. Williams was the representative of an early settler of Hampshire County, his great-grandfather, Ebenezer Williams, who was born and reared in Canterbury, Conn., having removed from there to Worthington, Mass., in old Colonial times. This part of the country was then in its primeval wildness; and the journey hither was made by himself and family on horseback, following a path marked by blazed trees.

Leonard Williams, son of Ebenezer, was a widely known physician of this county at an early period, being actively engaged in the duties of his profession fifty years. He began practice in Worthington, but in 1804 removed to Chester, which was later known as Huntington. Dr. Williams married Olive Wadsworth, of Becket, who bore him three children: Jabin B., James Holland, and Arvilla A. The daughter was twice married, her first husband being Jonathan W. Bartlett, and her second Elias Ballou. She lived past middle age, and at her death left three children, of whom only one is now living.

Jabin B. Williams was born January 5, 1800, in Worthington, and was but four years old when his parents settled in Huntington, where he was reared, receiving a liberal schooling. On attaining his majority he removed to Becket, and there lived a short time, but soon returned to Huntington and established himself in mercantile business, opening a store of general merchandise, and carrying a varied assortment of goods. He was very successful, beginning with a small cash capital and gradually increasing his trade until he had one of the largest stores in the county, his straight-forward business methods winning him friends and customers. He remained in business until his decease in 1859.

He married Lydia Wilson, of Huntington, a native of Woodstock, Conn., and they became the parents of six children, namely: Leonard Wilson, who died in Lenox, aged eighteen years; Lucien B., of whom we write; Cynthia A., widow of Israel D. Clark, who resides in Northampton; Ermina L., who died in infancy; Henry F., deceased, who was in business with his brother Lucien for some years, and at the time of his death was President of the First National Bank of Northampton; and Charles Edgar, a resident of Northampton. The father was very prominent in the administration of local public affairs, and one of the influential members of the Democratic party. Though averse to office-seeking or office-holding, he served as Magistrate for many years, being recognized as an authority on legal questions, and was a wise and friendly counsellor to his neighbors, who had great faith in his integrity and good judgment. He was also the pension agent for the Berkshire County Revolutionary soldiers, about forty in number, who used to meet at his store twice a year, March 4 and September 4, to receive their hard-earned bounty and rehearse the thrilling stories of their army experiences.

Lucien B. Williams completed his school life at the Wilbraham Academy, and, when a youth of seventeen years, became a salesman in his father’s store. He was quick to learn, paying close attention to his duties, in time becoming a partner in the business, and at the death of his father succeeding to its ownership. Mr. Williams began the manufacture of baskets in Huntington, buying out the plant of an established firm and continuing there until 1862. In that year he came to Northampton, where he increased his business to large proportions. He manufactured baskets of splint and rattan, of all sizes, including clothes baskets, peach baskets, and market baskets, the mill capacity being very large, turning out in good times as many as ten thousand baskets per day. The factory is a large building, two hundred by forty feet, with an L one hundred by thirty feet, and an engine-room in which is manufactured the steam that propels the machinery. Besides this the plant includes four storehouses, each two hundred by fifty feet; and employment is furnished in prosperous times to two hundred hands.

Here Mr. Williams was as successful as in his mercantile business in Huntington, which he closed out in 1861, just prior to his removal to Northampton. This manufactory is now governed by an incorporated company, which was organized some twenty-five years ago. Mr. Williams was the first President; his son, Vice-President; Frank E. Clark, his sister’s son, Treasurer; and Robert G. Williams, a nephew, Secretary. Mr. Williams’s exacting business interests necessarily absorbed much of his attention; but he was always identified with all philanthropic measures looking to the material and moral betterment of his town, county, State, and country. He was an ardent, working patriot in the Civil War, having up to the opening of that war been a Democrat in political convictions, but thereafter was a Republican in sentiment and service. Mr. Williams was a Director in the Northampton Bank for many years, including the time of the famous robbery, and was prominently useful in aiding the adjustment of the serious difficulties which followed that calamity. A few years ago his failing health compelled him to resign the responsible trust, his son Harry being selected as his successor. Mr. Williams was also Treasurer of the Florence Machine Company in its prosperous days, and was for many years a prominent Director of the Northampton Emery Wheel Company, whose treasurer, the late General Otis, was one of his very warm friends.

On September 1, 1847, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Harriet Copeland, of Huntington, a daughter of Melvin and Lucinda (Blake) Copeland. Mrs. Williams’s parents died in the spring of 1866, her father in March and her mother in April. Mr.Copeland was a native of Sturbridge, Mass., but moved from there to Hartford, Conn., where he was married, and there engaged in the manufacture of carpenter’s tools. Later he moved to Huntington and carried on the same business until his decease. Mrs. Williams was born and reared in Hartford, finishing her education in the Hartford Seminary, a noted institution of learning. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Williams was blessed by the birth of four children, three of whom have passed to the higher life: Mary, who died in infancy; Frederick at the age of five years; and Helen at the age of seventeen years. Henry L., the only child living, was graduated from Yale College in the class of 1882. He married Isabella Dewey, a daughter of Edward Dewey, of Boston, Mass.

The Williams residence, a spacious mansion standing on a beautiful lawn and shaded by towering elms with graceful branches, is one of the most charming places in this vicinity. This property, containing about five acres of land, Mr. Williams purchased in 1867; and the house, which was built seventy-five years ago and is three stories high and sixty feet square, has been entirely remodelled. It is furnished in a cosey, homelike, tasteful way, and pervaded with an air of comfort, the handsome library with its three thousand volumes being especially attractive.

We take pleasure in quoting from an appreciative tribute to the memory of Mr. Williams, elsewhere in print, evidently from the pen of one who knew him well: —

“He was an example of the gentleman in business, and has been a power in directing business affairs in the Meadow City even outside of those concerns with which he was directly engaged. He had a wonderful magnetism, which asserted itself in various ways, not only in his affairs of business: but in his social and home life. He was a man of large heart, philanthropic and at the same time thoroughly democratic; and these qualities, together with a genial disposition, made him a host of loyal and loving friends and acquaintances. He was the same to rich and poor alike, and this accounts in large measure for the influence he had with his employees and for the devotion the workingmen had for him. He was ever their friend and sympathizer.”