Henry Proctor Barrett - Cattle Dealer, Public Servant, Nonagenarian

   Henry Proctor Barrett was born June 29, 1812, son of Benjamin Proctor Barrett and his wife Ruth (Brigham).  The family lived in a section of Brookfield known as Brookfield Settlement which later came to be known as West Brookfield.  Henry's father died sometime between 1813 and 1815 of Yellow Fever contracted while serving in the southern campaign of the War of 1812, according to family lore.   Capt. Benjamin Barrett, a Revolutionary War Pensioner,  became largely responsible for raising his grandson, Henry P., who lived and worked on the family farm while attending Birch Hill Seminary.
   Brookfield Vital Records show an intention of marriage between Henry P. Barrett and Celuria W. Tuttle of Winchester, NH, on August 26, 1836.  The marriage took place on Sept. 26, 1836, according to Henry's obituary, and seven children followed.
  While working on the family farm Mr. Barrett became interested in buying and selling cattle and other farm stock.  He acquired a cattle broker's license in 1847, and built a reputation as a shrewd and successful trader; as well as, a successful farmer. He was active in town and Congregational church affairs, and held a number of responsible positions in both, including, selectman, tax collector, overseer of the poor, and highway commissioner.   He loved to share recollections of his early life in West Brookfield which included meeting General Lafayette at the local tavern, and seeing Daniel Webster in Barre. Henry was the oldest man, the largest land owner, and largest tax payer in town at the time of his death in his home on Ragged Hill, on Jan. 31, 1904, at age 91.



Sources:
Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 4 (Google eBook) p. 215

Massachusetts Vital Records, americanancestors.org [Vital records of both Brookfield, and West Brookfield.]


"Death of Henry P. Barrett : Oldest Resident of West Brookfield - Celebrated 67th Wedding Anniversary." Springfield Daily Republican, Tuesday, February 2, 1904, pg. 3.  Genealogybank.com



　

From WBVC.com - Shayna Seymour's visits West Brookfield

  .A Visit to West Brookfield, MA with Shayna Seymour See Shayna's interviews with Martha Salem, and Chef Robert Thackaberry of Salem Cross Inn,  Roger Slobody, and minature horse trainer, Clinton of Sawmill River Farm, artist Kara Bigda and her husband Dan, a model train enthusiast, and Lauren Kostantin, proprietor of Troubadour, a local gift shop.

West Brookfied By-Laws 1877- Images now available

The images of the content pages of the By-Laws of West Brookfield booklet mentioned in the last post have been placed on the West Brookfield Genealogy site.  The sight may be searched without a User Account or Log In.

By-Laws of the Town of West Brookfield - 1877

Last October, while in Massachusetts visiting family, an old friend gave me an eleven page booklet, entitled By-Laws of the Town of West Brookfield: Approved June 16, 1877. The booklet was published by the town of West Brookfield, and printed by Thomas Morey in 1877.  It contains four articles.  The first deals with rules governing the Town Meeting.  The second article lists the town offices and the duties of the office holders.  Article three is "Concerning truant children and absentees from school." Penal laws and penalties are the subject of the fourth and last article.  The by-laws were approved June 16, 1877, by the Worcester County Superior Court, held at Fitchburg. 

The names of West Brookfield residents L. Fullam, Geo. H. Brown, George A. Parratt, Enos Gilbert, and Horace W. Bush are listed as the Commitee.




Cover of Booklet



Last page of booklet
Thanks to Pete Hastings of West Warren who gave me this document.

West Brookfield Town Website has links to Annual Town Reports 2007 - 2024 updated 8 July 2025

West Brookfield Massachusetts: A Town for All Seasons has links to Annual Town Reports including Warrants from 2007 - 2024.  These town reports include the report of the Burial Ground Commissioners, which lists each person buried in Pine Grove Cemetery that year, and where each was from.

Links to all the various town departments and boards, and email addresses are also available on the site, along with meeting and event schedules.  This is a great resource for anyone interested in West Brookfield.

Joshua Metcalf Chamberlain - born October 2, 1825

Joshua Chamberlain was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts on October 2, 1825 to Eli and Achsah (Forbes) Chamberlain, according to Brookfield Vital Records.  He was one of a family of ten children which included younger brothers, Daniel Henry and Leander Trowbridge Chamberlain.

Joshua became a Congregational minister who worked in Dubuque, Des Moines, and Eddyville, Iowa.  He did Christian Commission work and served the American Missionary Association as state agent.  He was mostly identified with Iowa College in Grinnell, Iowa where he served for thirty-six years as trustee, nearly twenty years as treasurer and financial agent, and six years as librarian.  He generously donated thousands to the college. A women's dormitory was built on the property where the Chamberlain home once stood.  This land was also a gift to the college.

He was at different times editor of the Grinnell Herald, the Grinnell Independent and Congregational Iowa.  He also contributed to various periodicals.

Joshua died on November 12, 1897 in Grinnell, Iowa, leaving his second wife, Eliza, and daughter Mary, from his first marriage. He was buried in Hazelwood Cemetery in Grinnell.

Sources:The pilgrims of Iowa; by Truman O. Douglass, Pilgrim Press, Boston, MA; Heritage Quest

Annual reports of the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898. Report of the Commissioner of Education. Volume 2. Containing Parts II and III.
Date: 1899-01-01; Publication: Serial Set Vol. No. 3767, Session Vol. No.25; Report: H.Doc. 5 pt. 5.2 & 5.3;  Genealogybank.com

Iowa Cemetery Records;  Ancestry.com

Charles E. Thompson - born Sept. 30, 1843

Charles E. Thompson was born Sept. 30, 1843 in South Hadley Falls, to Francis W. and Mary W. (Gilbert) Thompson. 

Charles lived in West Brookfield from a very young age and attended local schools.  He entered the shoe trade, as a young man.

He saw service during the Civil War enlisting as a Private in Co. D, 34th MA on 27 July 1862, and continuing to serve until his transfer out in Harpers Ferry, VA on Sept. 6. 1864.  That same day, he joined the Co. H of the 22nd VRC (Veterans Reserve Corps) as a Corporal, and continued his service until the end of the war.  He was discharged in Columbus, Ohio. [July 1, 1865]  He suffered from rheumatism and heart disease while serving in Harpers Ferry in 1864 according to records from  the US National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866 - 1938 database found on Ancestry.com.

It is unclear what Charles did immediately after his discharge in 1865, but he eventually returned to West Brookfield and married Emma Jane Bigelow there, on May 3, 1871.   The 1880 census in West Brookfield shows that Charles had returned to the boot trade, and that his wife had given birth to two daughters.  Estella, was born in 1872, and Carrie was born in 1874.

Charles applied for Civil War Pension as an invalid Sept. 5, 1890.  He was admitted to  the U. S. National Home for Volunteer Soldiers in Togus, Maine, in 1892, but was discharged dishonorably "for drunkenness and bringing liquor into the home with intent to distribute," in 1893.  He may have stayed in Maine where he died in Oakland, Kennebec County on December 23, 1906.  He was buried in Oakland, according to Maine records.

Emma Bigelow Thompson lived in West Brookfield until her death in 1937.  Daughter Carrie married William Edward Dixon in 1894 and moved away.  Estella, known to me as "Stella" stayed in town and never married.  She spent the last nine years of her life at Quaboag Nursing Home and died at Mary Lane Hosptial in Ware at the age of 99.

Jerome P. Ducy/Ducey - born Sept. 28, 1862

West Brookfield Vital Records show the birth, Sept. 28, 1862, of Jeremiah Ducy, son of James, Shoemaker, & Mary Martin, both born Ireland.  He was the seventh child in a family of eleven children.  He is called Jerome in the 1870 census in West Brookfield, and also in 1880, when at age 17, he was working in a boot shop.  After the death of his father James in 1890, Jerome, along with his mother and sisters moved to Worcester.  Jerome's mother Mary died in Worcester in 1899, and he continued to live there with his sisters.  The 1900 census taker enunmerated the family on Bancroft St.  Jerome, enumerated as Patrick, was working as a shoe stitcher.  Patrick and his sisters Mary, Martha, and Agnes lived on 20 Stoneland Rd. in 1910.  Patrick was employed in a shop as a machinist.

Sadly Jerome Patrick Ducy died of Lobar Pneumonia on April 27, 1913.  The record of his death included the following information: Patrick J. Ducey of Worcester, born West Brookfield, son of James and Mary (Gilmartin) both born Ireland, died at 20 Stoneland Rd. on 27 April 1913, of Lobar Pneumonia,, and was buried Apr. 29, 1913 in Sacred Heart Cemetery,  West Brookfield.  He was a stitcher for Warren Leather Goods.

A notice in the Springfield Daily Republican of April 30, 1913 read, "The body of Jerome P. Ducey, a former resident of West Brookfield, was taken there for burial yesterday morning for burial in Sacred Heart cemetery."  The notice also stated that he was born in West Brookfield.  Siblings who survived him were named as Frank [John Francis] Ducey of San Francisco, James Ducey of Brockton, and sisters Mrs. Kate Fitzpatrick, and the misses Mary, Marie, Mattie, and Agnes Ducey, all of Worcester.

[There were two families in West Brookfield with the name of Ducey or Ducy.  These families seem to have been unrelated.  The family of James Ducy, which included Jerome Patrick, most often spelled the name DUCY.  The family of John Ducey, most often spelled the name DUCEY. ]

More information about these and other West Brookfield families may be found at
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wb2006&id=I1626

William Adams - Born Sept. 16, 1824 - Was Civil War Casualty

William Adams was one of three sons of Benjamin Adams and Frances Holmes who fought in the Civil War.  The West Brookfield Historical Commission has more information about the Adams brothers on its website at http://westbrookfield.org/biographies/15th-adams-3/

For more information about the family you can go to http://westbrookfieldgenealogy.org/Genealogy/
No user account or log in is required to use the search function.

More information on this or any West Brookfield family is always welcome.

Howard's Drive -In Memories, Death of Mabel Disney Kendrick

West Brookfield is home to a popular drive-in restaurant which serves the best the area has to offer in fried clams and scallops, onion rings, and rotisserie chicken.  Howard's Drive-In was opened by brothers Howard and Billy Brodeur on Route 9 in 1947.  Howard sold the restaurant in 1973, and today it is still open, to the delight of local residents and visitors.  Friday evenings, especially in hot weather, business is booming as customers stop by for dinner and/or ice cream.

Working there as a teenager, I sliced many, many pounds of onions on the slicer, made lots of frappes, and ate lots of scallops and onion rings.  I make it a point to go there at least once when visiting in town.

June 10 Died
Mabel (Disney) Kendrick, daughter of Frank and Eleanor (Winslow) Disney was born in Worcester, MA on 02 Nov. 1881. She graduated from English High School and Worcester State Normal School and taught school in Westminster Depot, West Brookfield and New Braintree. She married Webster Lawrence Kendrick in Worcester on Sept. 6, 1913 and moved to his home in West Brookfield.

Mabel was a news correspondent for The Springfield Republican and very active in civic and church affairs in West Brookfield. A member of the First Congregational Church, she belonged to the Martha Guild, and taught Sunday School there for many years. Mabel also was a member of the Worcester Chapter of the Red Cross, the West Brookfield Grange, and the Stella Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a
member of the board of Trustees of the Merriam Public Library, and also served a three year term on the town school committee.

Mabel died on June 10, 1937 after a long illness, leaving her husband and one son, Webster Lawrence Kendrick, Jr. She was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.

I do have more information about the Kendrick and Disney families.  Please use the Request for Information tab, fill out the form, and scroll down to click on Submit if you would like to receive copies of family obituaries or other family information.

Quaboag Current
I always make it a point to read the Quaboag Current online edition on Fridays.  This local publication helps me to stay in the know about the interesting people and events in town.