By Chad Sirois, Communications Manager “Industry, punctuality and Christianity” was the motto of the man who would make Worcester the heart of the American valentine-making industry. While many would credit this to Esther Howland, the mother of the American valentine, it was actually the work and perseverance of George C. Whitney that would bring about Worcester’s prominence. Born in 1842, George Clarkson Whitney was the youngest of the three Whitney boys, his older brothers being Edward Whitney (1834-1897) and Sumner Allen Whitney (1824-1861). His parents died while he was still a boy and it is most likely that Sumner, already
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By Holly Izard, Curator This two-piece dress was made by Matilda “Thilda” Ahlstrom (1847-1925) who, according to family tradition, wore it when she crossed the Atlantic from Sweden to America to marry John Jeppson Sr. (1844-1920). He came to Worcester in 1869 with several other Swedish potters, and found work at F.B. Norton Company. In family memory, “within a few years” he had saved enough money to send for his fiancé. In fact, Thilda also came to Worcester in 1869 with some of her relatives. They arrived at the very beginning of a huge wave of Swedish immigration to Worcester,
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The story of the abduction of Sidney Francis and an attempt to sell him into slavery.
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The 15th Massachusetts Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg and the story of Lt. Col. George Ward and his family.
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