Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 7

He had experienced many difficulties and hindrances in his business on account of not having had instruction in the fundamental principles of mechanics and chemistry. He thought a school might be established in connection with the Mechanics' Association for giving such instruction, and that funds for the purpose could be easily procured among the prosperous mechanics and manufacturers of Worcester. At his request I drew up a plan for such a school, which was submitted to President Sears of Brown University, formerly secretary of the Board of Education of this state and, I believe, to some other gentlemen. The subject was proposed to individuals in the city, who looked upon it favorably. But before anything effectual was done, a financial crisis occurred that rendered the procuring of money for the undertaking hopeless, and the project was suspended.

Ichabod Washburn was not only the leading industrialist of the community, but one of its greatest benefactors. He was a deeply religious man, who practiced the Golden Rule as few wealthy men have learned to practice it. He was descended from a long line of sturdy and distinguished ancestors, but the early death of his mariner father left his family penniless. At nine, he was doing chores and learning to stitch harness, attending school in the winter term. Five years later he was working in a cotton mill. From the age of sixteen until he was twenty he was a blacksmith's apprentice, receiving twelve weeks of schooling a year.

Mr. Washburn came to Worcester in 1819, and during the succeeding fifteen years built a reputation as a manufacturer, concentrating eventually on wire. By 1865 the I. Washburn & Moen Iron Works (Philip L. Moen was his son-in-law) had become one of the great industries of the country, later to become the nucleus of the American Steel & Wire Company.

Although the normal opportunities for an education had been denied him, Ichabod Washburn was an educated and a cultured gentleman. He worked overtime at the blacksmith's anvil to earn money for pew rent and for studies at Leicester Academy. He also read and studied patiently in the hours that others used for rest and recreation. In his more prosperous years he gave freely to any enterprise designed to promote education, relieve suffering, or improve public welfare.

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Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999