Percival Blodgett
Male, #10825, (18 July 1842 - 24 April 1917)
Percival Blodgett|b. 18 Jul 1842\nd. 24 Apr 1917|p10825.htm|Nathaniel F. Blodgett|b. 3 Jan 1816\nd. 1888|p10824.htm|Dolly A. Mayo|b. 31 Jul 1821\nd. 15 Jan 1913|p835.htm|Nathaniel Blodgett|b. a 1777\nd. 19 Feb 1851|p30361.htm|Mary French|d. 20 Sep 1840|p30362.htm|Stephen Mayo|b. 2 Feb 1783\nd. 5 Jan 1871|p526.htm|Mary Cheney|b. 29 Jul 1784\nd. 3 Jun 1870|p156.htm|
Percival Blodgett was born on 18 July 1842 in Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts, Crane (1907) gives the year of his birth as 1841.1,2 He was the son of Nathaniel F. Blodgett and Dolly A. Mayo.1,2 Crane gives the following discripton of his life: "From the public schools of his native town he went to Phillips (Andover) Academy, and after graduating from the latter institution engaged in teaching, which he followed successfully for a period of five years. He then established himself in the grocery trade at Templeton, where he conducted a profitable business for nearly thirty years, or until 1894, when he retired from mercantile pursuits and has ever since devoted his energies chiefly to civic affairs, and to other matters in which the public is more or less interested.
Mr. Blodgett represented his district in the lower branch of the state legislature from 1889 to 1892, during which time he was a conspicuous figure on the Republican side of the house; was a state senator in 1895-96; and for thirty years has been a member of the Templeton Republican town committee. In addition to his labors in behalf of the local party organization, he served as town treasurer for eighteen years; was chosen a selectman successively for the same number of years and for a greater part of that period was chairman of the board; was a member of the school board for more than twenty-one years, in which latter capacity he rendered excellent service in behalf of public education. After a rest of six years from the cares of public business, he was called from his retirement to again become a candidate for the board of selectmen, and was elected without a single dissenting vote, which, considering the fact that such an occurrence is without a parallel in the history of Templeton, is a most eloquent tribute to his personal integrity and honorable political record. In matters of a semi-public nature he is equally prominent, having been a trustee of the Public Library for thirty-two years, and as president of the Templeton Village Improvement Society is ex-officio manager of the Templeton Inn, a magnificent summer hotel owned and operated by that organization.
An illustrated pamphlet giving an unexaggerated description of the Templeton Inn states that it occupies a commanding location at an altitude of twelve hundred feet above the sea in the old hill-town of Templeton, which is situated in "the heart of the Massachusetts highlands," and the invigorating atmosphere is therefore one of its chief attractions. Aside from its picturesque surroundings the hotel itself possesses many attractive and some unique features, which serve to make it one of the finest interior summer resorts in New England. Its arehitecture and exterior surroundings are exceedingly pleasing. Its interior mural decorations were designed and executed by Ketler, whose work in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, is so universally admired, and its furnishings, color scheme and general ornamentation are both sumptuous and harmonizing. Its policy is dignified and exclusive, but its guests find ample opportunity for pleasant social intercourse and attractive amusement. Mr. Blodgett assumed the management of the Inn as a part of his regular duties as president of the Improvement Society, without previous experience in the hotel business, depending solely upon his business ability, good judgment and sound common sense, and through these essential elements alone he has attained success. He has a widely extended acquaintanceship, is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his church affiliations are with the Congregationalists.
Mr. Blodgett married for his first wife Georgia A. Worrick, a member of an old and highly reputable family of Orange. His present wife was before marriage Isabelle Chamberlain, of Templeton. He has one daughter, Grace, who was born April 23, 1870, and is of his first union.2" Percival Blodgett died on Tuesday, 24 April 1917 in Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts, at age 74 years, 9 months and 6 days.3
Mr. Blodgett represented his district in the lower branch of the state legislature from 1889 to 1892, during which time he was a conspicuous figure on the Republican side of the house; was a state senator in 1895-96; and for thirty years has been a member of the Templeton Republican town committee. In addition to his labors in behalf of the local party organization, he served as town treasurer for eighteen years; was chosen a selectman successively for the same number of years and for a greater part of that period was chairman of the board; was a member of the school board for more than twenty-one years, in which latter capacity he rendered excellent service in behalf of public education. After a rest of six years from the cares of public business, he was called from his retirement to again become a candidate for the board of selectmen, and was elected without a single dissenting vote, which, considering the fact that such an occurrence is without a parallel in the history of Templeton, is a most eloquent tribute to his personal integrity and honorable political record. In matters of a semi-public nature he is equally prominent, having been a trustee of the Public Library for thirty-two years, and as president of the Templeton Village Improvement Society is ex-officio manager of the Templeton Inn, a magnificent summer hotel owned and operated by that organization.
An illustrated pamphlet giving an unexaggerated description of the Templeton Inn states that it occupies a commanding location at an altitude of twelve hundred feet above the sea in the old hill-town of Templeton, which is situated in "the heart of the Massachusetts highlands," and the invigorating atmosphere is therefore one of its chief attractions. Aside from its picturesque surroundings the hotel itself possesses many attractive and some unique features, which serve to make it one of the finest interior summer resorts in New England. Its arehitecture and exterior surroundings are exceedingly pleasing. Its interior mural decorations were designed and executed by Ketler, whose work in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, is so universally admired, and its furnishings, color scheme and general ornamentation are both sumptuous and harmonizing. Its policy is dignified and exclusive, but its guests find ample opportunity for pleasant social intercourse and attractive amusement. Mr. Blodgett assumed the management of the Inn as a part of his regular duties as president of the Improvement Society, without previous experience in the hotel business, depending solely upon his business ability, good judgment and sound common sense, and through these essential elements alone he has attained success. He has a widely extended acquaintanceship, is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his church affiliations are with the Congregationalists.
Mr. Blodgett married for his first wife Georgia A. Worrick, a member of an old and highly reputable family of Orange. His present wife was before marriage Isabelle Chamberlain, of Templeton. He has one daughter, Grace, who was born April 23, 1870, and is of his first union.2" Percival Blodgett died on Tuesday, 24 April 1917 in Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts, at age 74 years, 9 months and 6 days.3
Citations
- Mayo, Chester Garst. John Mayo of Roxbury, Massachusetts 1630-1688 A Genealogical and Biographical Record of His Descendants. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1965.
- Crane, Ellery Bicknell. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts. New York: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1907.
- Rich, Laura J., "Notebook of Newpaper Clipings and Vital Records". about 1905; Orange, Massachusetts. Personal Genealogical Collection; RR1, Box 308, Paw Paw, West Virginia.