Evening star., 1911-08-27


Fairhaven is across the river from New
shaded streets and
Famous for beautiful homes, that
Tack Factory proud ,ersa., Of tack hAtns fae
tory in the world and of manufacturing
more hooks and eyes than any other
place. These two industries employ sew
eral hundred hands. and their products
are shipped to every corner OF the eartn
Fairhaven was formerly the home OF a
large whaling fleet At one time more
than fifty whalers were registered at TINS
port and a greater part OF the feet tnat
sailed from New Bedford were construct
ed here. John Cooke, boy who came
over on the Mayfiower and was one OF
the youngest of all the passengers on
that famous ship. was the founder or the
town, and at least 10 per cent of the
population are descended from him.
But the chief public interest in Fair
haven lies in its association with the late
Henry Huddlestone Rogers of the Stand
ard Oil Company. who was born poor
boy here. and called 1t home all his life
He rose to be the towns best beloved
son and most public spirited citizen. He
probably did more for Fairhaven than
any other American has ever done fol
his native town. Before he died he was
so rich that he could not compute his
own wealth. An inventory OF the prop.
erty conveyed by his will represented
more than S65 600, 900 He gave Fairhaven
about S3,5OO.pcO worth of public buildings
including memorial church. a town hall
a public library. a Masonic temple. q
hotel, high school. grammar schoo
and contributed generously toward Other
buildings He paved the streets. he sci
out hundreds of trees. he paid the schoo
teachers salaries and did many other
generous things for the welfare of his fel
low citizens.
It Is singular coincidence that the
whaling industry to which the town owed
its early prosperity should have beer
ruined by the petroleum industry, ir
which Mr.. Rogers made his millions
Mr.. Rogers was born in Fairhaven In
1910. He graduated from the Fairhaver
High School in 1855. Dur.
Young ing his school days he
was a newspaper carrier
No6ciS. from the time he was
nine years old. and had an active interest
in a newsstand until he was twenty-onc
During his vacation and before and after
school hours he assisted his father
Roland Rogers. in the management of I
haven Union Association. composed OF
whalers and mechanics. That was a
trust, and quite as much monopoly In
it's way and according to its size as the
Standard Oil Company. In that business
he learned the value of combination ano
cooperation. The individual merchants
in town considered it quite as much a
menace to the public interests as the in
dependent refners have considered the
Standard Oil Company.
Mr.. Rogers first salary was $? week
and he earned II.
When he was twenty-one years OF age
with two of his boyhood companions
named Irish and Ellis. he left FairhaveT
for Titusville, Pa, where, with the lttle
ca pital they were able to command. ano
it was only about $1,000. they started
small refinery Rogers and Irish devoted
| their attention to the mechanical part o.
the business and Ellis looked after the
| finances. Rogers had natural capacity
| for his task, and within the next le"
years had won the reputation or beins
| the most competent rehner IN that snelo
| For this reason Charles Pratt, owner ol
| the Pratt astral oil works, persuaded hin
| to go to Brooklyn as ibis. superintendent
which was very responsible position Ioi
| a Young man of twenty-five years. Win
| in the next fifteen years Rogers gained
| a control of the Pratt company and solo
| il out TO the Standard Oil Company In
| 1882
| Soon after Rogers was made vice
president and was given the control OF the
mechanical part of the
| With the Standards interests. His
| genius brought down ths
oCaHudIu. cost OF refining oil sc
that il could be sold at cents gallon
instead of 80. and even 10 cents gallon
which he had sold it for when he was
clerking.
| Some of the methods and apparatus
| now in use by oil refners throughout the
world were invented by Mr.. Rogers and
| no patent was ever acquired by the
Standard Oil Company after he became
connected with it without his recon-
mendation.
His first gift to his native town. made
| in 1888, was a schoohouse, with accom-
modations for 6,U pupils, that cost Sl75.-
600 1t has since been enlarged at cost
| of half a million At the time II was
| dedicated the donor explained that his
| reason for making the building so large
was that when he went to school the
seats were so close together that he
never had any room to stretch his legs
and used to have cramps He refused te
| place any inscription upon the building
but five years afterward the board of ed
1 ucatiOn ordered the words rogers
| School chiseled in the pediment over the
| entrance and nailed tablet to the wal
of the hallway inside giving the mere
| fact that il was erected by Henry h
| Rogers in 1888.
| In his youth, before he Went to Titus
Vile, Mr. Rogers became engaged to Mis-:
| Abbie H. Clifford. daughter OF captair
of a whaler, and they were married a.
soon as his income justified. Their mar
rieA life was very happy. and when ht
lremoved to Brooklyn, in 1853, he bought
| a summer home at Farhaven, where
| three of his children were born. Latel
| he built a very pretentious and magnin
| cent villa on the edge of the town. com
mand!ng a view of the entrance TO tine
narbor and a conspicuous object to al
who approached Fairhaven by water L
stands at a bend In the old Fort Phoe
nix road" which leads to fortification:
| erected before the revolutionary war
/ The brick and stone walls OF the for
still remain and are very highly prize6
by the people of Fairhaven.
| The Rogers house is built of wood
| with tall columns on three sides ant
/ numerous bay windows ant
Rogers projections and a cupola OF
the top. 1t contains forty o.
/ AAoiio' fifty rooms. elaborately fur
nished and has its own electric and ga!
~1,-