Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 1

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Boston, Graves & Steinbarger
Number of Pages: 924

USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 1

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.

Gc 974.4 B522 pt.1 1762729

M. L.

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 6431

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

MASSACHUSETTS EDITION

THIS VOLUME CONTAINS

Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens

OF THE

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS pt. 1

" Who among men art thou, and thy years how many, good friend ?"-Xenophanes

BOSTON GRAVES & STEINBARGER, PUBLISHERS 15 COURT SQUARE 1901

563

EN8-4. 36

1.62729

NOTE

All the biographical sketches published in this volume were submitted to their respective subjects or to the sub- scribers, from whom the facts were primarily obtained, for their approval or correction before going to press, and a reasonable time was allowed in each case for the return of the typewritten copies. Most of them were returned to us within the time allotted, or before the work was printed, after being corrected or revised; and these, therefore, may be regarded as reasonably accurate.

A few, however, were not returned to us; and, as we have no means of knowing whether they contain errors or not, we cannot vouch for their accuracy. In justice to our readers. and to render this work more valuable for reference purposes, we have indicated these uncorrected sketches by a small asterisk (*), placed at the beginning of the sketch, immediately after the name of the subject.

GRAVES & STEINBARGER

HARSLI

94592

PREFACE

HE completion of the present volume fulfils a task begun in doubt, and after some hesitancy, two years or more ago, but since carried forward to a successful issue under circumstances of ever-increasing encouragement. It is scarcely needful to apologize for the publication of a work issued finally in response to a care- fully ascertained demand, yet a word as to its practical use may not be out of place. If, as was said by the poet, " the proper study of mankind is Man," works of biog- raphy, either general or particular, serve an educational purpose. No human being lives so much to himself and . ithin himself as not to exercise some influence for good or evil upon those with whom he comes into contact. What, then, of the men and women whose names appear as respective subjects of the sketches contained in this volume - men and women of character, purpose, and achievement, thinking and acting in the living present, with the advantage of present-day educational opportu- nities, and with all the lessons of success and failure of past ages to serve as guide or warning in the striving after and attainment of twentieth century ideals of progress, law, justice, and equality of human rights ? Surely the lives of such, with their potent influence upon the coming generation, are worthy of record, and can scarcely fail to convey a useful lesson to posterity.

In the compilation and preparation of the within sketches, taking heed to the growing taste for genealogical research, we have endeavored, whenever practicable, to trace the direct line of the subject of each to his immigrant ancestor, and in many cases have traced the descent from " Mayflower" Pilgrims by several different lines. Where it has not been possible to trace the full ancestral line, we have, in most cases, found and recorded data that may prove a useful clew in future investigations. The foreign-born citizens and those of foreign parentage herein represented, if they cannot

PREFACE

point with pride to early Colonial or Revolutionary ancestry, may reflect that they are preserving for their descendants a knowledge of the beginning of a line that may present as illustrious examples of public and private virtue, exalted patriotism, and high achievement in noble fields of human activity, as any recorded on these pages.

In conclusion, we desire to express our hearty thanks to all those who have aided or encouraged us in the prosecution of this enterprise, and trust that they may find in the results of our labor an adequate compensation for whatever trouble or expense they may have been put to on its account.

Respectfully, GRAVES & STEINBARGER

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES.

EDWARD EVERETT HALE. BY MRS. BERNARD WHITMAN.

"HE traits of a patriotic, pro- gressive, and intellectual an- cestry may be found in the character of Edward Everett Hale. The older residents of the city of Boston remember with gratitude the public- spirited services of his father, Hon. Nathan Ilale, to whom, indeed, the whole community is indebted for services in surveyir ; and plan- ning the earlier railroads and in ' nancial mat- ters of the utmost importance 'ntrusted to his carc.

Captain Nathan Hale, his great-uncle, suf- fered death, with every indignity heaped upon him, in return for the most perfect unselfish- ness and devotion to his country. Even his grave is unknown, though posterity has erected a monument to his honor. It is an easy study to trace the same patriotism and self-forgetful- ness in the subject of our sketch.

His mother, Sarah Preston Everett, herself a daughter of a. clergyman, was a woman of much more than ordinary talent. The same "publie spirit," to use one of Dr. Hale's fa- vorite expressions, characterized her and her son alike. Edward Everett, our statesman, orator, and man of letters, was the uncle of Edward Everett Hale, for whom he was named.

Edward E. Hale was born in Boston, April 3, 1822. He is pre-eminently a Boston boy. There is not a nook or corner of old Boston that is not his. Its legends, its traditions, are clear to him from the very foundation. In the younger days of his ministry in Boston it was

his delight to guide a group of boys fem tos parish in long tramps to places ci bisteis in. terest, and no one can transform the t. ston of to-day to the Boston of a hundred years ago so readily and so clearly as can he in a balt- hour's talk.

From his earliest years a strong sense of justice and protection of the weak character- ized his daily life. The family stories : the nursery and the growing brothers af : = fter- touch and rest upon this: and it must have followed him in his school life, of which he himself gives us but brief records.

In his childhood Dr. Hale had the altan- tages of association with brothers ani s. - ter- older than himself, the teachings of His father. who had had great success in preparing boys for college, and of his mother, who was in- tensely interested in every phase of education. As soon as he could walk, he bergel to go to school with the big brothers and sisters, and was allowed to do so. He was lever __ study, but that to "behave well " was .: im- portance. But he must have learned His letter- and to read early. When he was six feiss .Il he held a Latin primer, and studies aire or less of it until he was transferred to the Latin School, to take the course there which should prepare him to enter Harvard College The course was then a course of five years: -: at thirteen he graduated, and entered Ha-und. having accomplished in four years the work of five.

Ile did not go to school in summer. but read at home a few hours each day, making arte rapid progress than when in his clas -. There was a swimming-school in Boston thes. a. : Fs attended that. He took lony was; though he joined in the active came.

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

companions, he did not care for them as he did for country walks or the companionship of older people. Ilis father published a news- paper, and often gave to the children bits of writing or translation to be done for it. Ile was also at that time president of the Boston & Worcester Railroad, and was much occupied in making the preliminary surveys. We see, then, this boy, ten or eleven years old, riding often back and forth to Newton on the first engine imported from England, and gaining what information he could from the engine drivers. He says, "At that time there were few details of railroad construction in which I was not personally interested."

Dr. Hale has always said that a thorough knowledge of vulgar fractions was sure to cre- ate a love for mathematics. His father was a distinguished mathematician. His elder brother, afterward distinguished in the same branch, was of the utmost use in clearing away the perplexities of figures. So, armed by a_ thorough knowledge of mathematics, a love for languages, and a good groundwork of Greek and Latin, he entered college when thirteen years old, with a most excellent preparation for its course. As a scholar he stood high always, with very little effort, and took the second honor in the class.

The old home, first in Franklin Street and afterward in Hamilton Place, now given over to business purposes, was always open to the boys and girls and their friends. Not a night passed that some of the brightest young men and women, college students, and girls fresh from lessons and lectures in the city of Bos- ton, did not meet in the ever-hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Hale. It was to such a school as this, directed by parents whose interests were never separated from their children, that Dr. Hale is indebted, as much as to Harvard College, for the education of that period.

At seventeen years of age Edward Hale graduated from Harvard, the second in his class, and had one of the parts at Commence- ment. Says a classmate, in speaking of him : "He never seemed to care for honors. He never attempted to become what was called a 'popular man,' but won easily the love and respect of his classmates, and at the end of our

college life was chosen class poet without opposition.

"Since he graduated he has always taken a cordial interest in class affairs and in the welfare of individual classmates; while they. in turn, have watched his career with an honest pride in his well-deserved success.

From college Dr. Hale went back to the Latin School as "usher," where he passed two years teaching and preparing for the ministry. After leaving the Latin School he attended lectures and did a good deal of literary work. But he never attended any theological school regularly. He was always more or less in the office of the Advertiser, his father's newspaper ; and from the setting of type to the writing of the leading editorial he was at home.

The young divinity student was licensed to preach a year after leaving the Latin School, and did so, supplying vacant pulpits and preaching in Washington the whole of one winter. His training was such as to give him intelligent knowledge of the whole country and people.

In the spring of 1846 he was ordained as minister of a new church in Worcester, Mass., then a town of about six thousand inhabitants. His views of the ministerial profession were practically then what they are now. While he recognized the necessity of the study of books, the responsibility of a society as its pastor in its manifold duties, yet the idea of the Chris- tian ministry was to him something broader and more extended. "Active work for the improvement of the people around him" - this was his definition of his duties; and no man has held more steadfastly to this doctrine than has he. He is not a man to be confined to a church, a society, a town ; and this is why people thousands of miles away, strangers to him, look to him for the religious guidance and help that belong to a pastor and rarely to so public a character. The reader will see by this that Dr. Hale has always considered what- ever work he has done in helping the world to be a part of his work as a Christian minister.

It was the habit in Worcester and all our New England towns to place the clergyman in the school committee, and he had not long been settled there before he was approached on

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

the subject. He refused, and said very frankly that he would much prefer to be an overscer of the poor. The nominating committee took him at his word, and he was elected. Massa- chusetts was not quite clear as to her position with regard to foreign paupers. In the winter of 1851-52 he wrote and published letters on "Irish Emigration." These papers suggested the foundation of the State legislation. The present system of State almshouses was also based on these suggestions. On very much the same ground he refused to ally himself with the abolitionists, but in the Kansas emi- gration movement he was greatly interested and active in its behalf. Hle was active in the formation of the Natural History Society and the Public Library. He was also one of the founders of the Antiquarian Society of Worces- ter. His interest in history has led him to write historical works of value, the last of which, "Franklin in France, " deserves special mention.

Mr. Eli Thayer, of Worcester, made wise plans for emigration to Kansas which saved Kansas as a free State. Mr. Hale was close at his side and of vast assistance. Mr. Hale travelled almost every' nere in New England, addressing audiences on Kansas and the way to it. He was one of the executive commit- tee of the Emigrant Aid Company, which for a long time was in close connection with the new State. In 1861 Kansas was admitted as a free State.

The pastorate in Worcester continued for ten years. During his residence there he mar- ried Miss Perkins, of Hartford, who is still living. From this life of broad activity he was called to Boston by the South Congrega- tional Church of that city. Bishop Hunting- ton, the former pastor, had organized the society into a strong working force. The regular church work in education, in charity, in hospitality, and in worship was quite as much as one man could venture to oversee. Mr. Hale tried faithfully for four years the experiment of keeping within the usual cir- cumscribed lines of work of a pastor, with the one exception of the Kansas Emigration Com- paany, which still required more or less of his attention. But Fort Sumter was fired on; and

the man who had bound himself for four years broke his fetters and escaped, never to be the minister of one set of people alone again. From that time on the whole country aas claimed him, and with right. What was the church, if there was no nation? And > ==.. indeed was the man who could not take a broader outlook. In 1860 he joined Salignac - drill corps, the first military organizat: a ir Massachusetts (outside the old militia; ci man preparing for active service. Before :we're months had passed he became an officer in the organization, and men now major-generals are indebted to him for their carly drill. His church, full of enthusiasm like its pastor. never stopped to question the lines of its .. .. With the minister, it heard the call and obeved. Soldiers from Missouri who first fell at Sh :: h wore shirts made by the women of his church. The young men offered their services. and were sent to the front; and the first teachers cm- ployed by the United States to teach the ineed negroes were teachers from his Sunday-sc . i. He was afterward chosen a member Loyal Legion of Massachusetts, in rec __:: of his services during the war, a rec .__:::: which gave him great satisfaction.

Dr. Hale's vocation is the ministry. and literature is his avocation. He likes to say it would be hard to find a story or an essay cf his which has not the purpose of a sermon. s.) completely do the two work together. Betal always written for his father's paper. Hetil been a regular contributor to the Vor !! .... .:- can Review and sub-editor of the Christ :: Examiner under Dr. Hedge. So in the sum- mer of 1862 he wrote the story of "A Man without a Country " for the Atlantic Mors. Possibly it did more than any other written article to rouse and stimulate the patriotism ci the reading men, and particularly the yaz men, of the time. The story has been trans- lated into several languages, and numberless editions have been issued.

With remarkable rapidity he has sent ( :: stories, magazine articles, and sermons. Double, and How he Undid Me, " has a de: : 5 of humor which shows a new side in every perusal.

In 1870 Dr. Hale wrote the story of "Tea

1 2

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

times One is Ten," and in this book he intro- duces the now famous Wadsworth mottocs : ---

" Look up and not down : Look forward and not back ; Look out and not in : Lend a hand."

The story is a story of the possible reforma- tion.

One pure, good life influenced ten, the ten one hundred, and so on. In twenty-seven years the whole world had accepted the mot- toes, and the kingdom of God had come. Such is the outline of this story. It created great interest ; and Wadsworth Clubs, Lend a Hand Clubs, and Tens began to form all over the country. Any club that accepts the mottoes is at once a Lend a Hand or Ten Times One Club. There are many branches of this work at the present time, numbering thousands of people, people who have nover seen the author of their mottoes, but who recognize his kin- ship, and bridge the distance that separates them. "In His Name," a story of the Wal- denses, contains the badge and watchword of . all these clubs. This touching little story has passed several editions, and is traslated into many languages.

These various societies are now united by a charter from the State of Massachusetts in the Lend a Hand Society. Of this corpo- ration Dr. Hale has been the president since its formation. It maintains an active office in Boston, and carries on extensive enterprises of education and philanthropy. He is fond of saying that its special business is the training of young people to public spirit. It publishes a monthly journal, called the Record.

Dr. Hale resigned his position as minister of the South Congregational Church in 1899. Since that time he has devoted himself chiefly to editing a standard edition of his more im- portant literary works and to the enterprises of the Lend a Hand Society.

ON. WILLIAM MILO OLIN, of Boston, Secretary of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts, is of Southern birth but of New England parentage, and has been a resident of this

State from early childhood. Born on Septem- ber 18, 1845, in Warrenton, Ga., son of Will- iam Milo, Sr., and Mary Augusta (Bowen) Olin, he comes of good old Colonial stock of Welsh origin.

John Olin, supposed to have been the first of the family in New England, is said to have arrived in Boston Harbor near the close of the seventeenth century, when but a boy, on board a British man-of-war, he having been im- pressed on the coast of Wales and held to serve as powder-monkey. Taking the first opportunity to leave the ship, he made his escape to Rhode Island. The marriage of John Olin and Susanna Spencer is recorded as having taken place on October 4, 1708. at East Greenwich, R. I. John Olin, Jr., born in 1714, married Susanna Peirce, of East Greenwich, December 8, 1734. Their son Gideon, born October 22, 1743, at East Greenwich, was married by Elder Timothy Greene on May 10, 1767, to Patience Dwinels (or Dwinell), of Coventry, R. I., daughter of Stephen.

Gideon Olin in 1776 removed with his fam- ily to Shaftsbury, Vt., where he became a citizen of prominence. He was for fifteen years a Representative in the State Legislat- ure, seven years Associate Judge, twenty years Judge of the Bennington County Court. ten years Chief Justice, and two terms (1793-97) member of Congress. By his first wife, Patience, he had two sons and eight daughters. and by a second wife he had four sons and one daughter. It is said that his children, without exception, "became strong men and women, both physically and men- tally." Gideon Olin held the rank of Major in Colonel Herrick's regiment during the Revolution. IIe fought at the battle of Ben- nington, and his family at home were within hearing of the guns.

John H. Olin, son of Major Gideon and Patience Olin, was born in Rhode Island in 1772, and was four years old when his father settled at Shaftsbury. For two years in the carly part of the present century he was Judge of Probate, and 1817 to 1825 Judge of the County Court. He married Anne Bowen. who was born at Smithfield, R. l., October 15.

1 3

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

1772, daughter of William and Anne Bowen. William M. Olin, first, son of John H., born in 1804, married Mary Augusta Bowen, daughter of Ebenezer Harris Bowen, of Worcester, Mass.

William Milo Olin, second, now Secretary of the Commonwealth, obtained his early edu- cation in the public schools of the city of Worcester, and then went to work in the printing-office of the Worcester Transcript. In the summer of 1862 he enlisted in Com- pany C of the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Vol- unteer Infantry, under Colonel Henry Bow- man, for service in the Civil War, being mustered in on the 14th of August, a month before completing his seventeenth year. He was honorably discharged with his regiment in June, 1865. Among the important en- gagements in which the Thirty-sixth Massa- chusetts took part were: Fredericksburg, Va., December 13, 1862; Jackson, Miss., July, 1863 ; the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, Va., in May, 1864; Bethesda Church and Peters- burg, June, 1864; Petersburg, April, 1865. To the History of the Thirty-sixth Regiment, published in 1884, Mr. Olin contributed chapter twenty six, "The Final Assault on Petersburg."

After spen ting some time in study to pre- pare himself for the profession of journalism, Mr. Olin became a reporter for the Boston Advertiser, later he was on the editorial staff, and finally Washington correspondent of that paper, his connection with which continued fourteen years. In 1879 he became private secretary, and military secretary with the title of Colonel, to Governor Talbot; and in ISSO, ISSI, and 1882 he held the same posi- tion under Governor Long. In the following years he was successively private secretary to Collector Worthington, Senator Dawes, and Collector Beard; and in November, 1890, he was elected Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Ile served seven years ( 1882-89) as Assist- ant Adjutant-general for the First Massachu- setts Brigade; has been Commander of Thomas G. Stevenson I'ost, No. 26, G. A. R., Boston; Adjutant-general (1882) and In- spector-general (1896). National Encamp- ment, G. A. R. Ilis taste and aptitude for

military matters may be noted as an inheri- tance from his great-grandfather, Maior Gilcon Olin, who fought at Bennington in 1777

Mr. Olin married November 3, 1859. Lizzie Wadsworth, daughter of Edwin and Alaline (Wadsworth) Read, of Boston. Mrs. Olin died in 1887, leaving two children: Elwin Read, born August 12, 1876; and Caroline Lathrop, born March 22, 1878.

EMUEL CLAPP, formerly 3 well- known and respected resident of Dir- chester, a representative of an old Dorchester family, was born on the old Clapp homestead in that town, January 21, 1815, son of William and Elizabeth (Humphreys) Clapp.

His father, William Clapp, was born in Willow Court, Dorchester. March 3. 1,"). He was a tanner, and owned the largest tan- neries in Dorchester. He was also a farmer. He was a prominent man in town affairs. and served at one time for two years as Re ======:- ative to the General Court. He was afs) Captain of the militia company of Dorchester and a prominent official of the church on Meeting House Hill. He and his wife, Eliz- abeth Humphreys Clapp, were the parents of nine children, whose names with dates of sith and death were as follows: Elizabeth, March 2. 1808-October 20, 1809: William. Sep- tember 28, 1809-May 2, 1825; Thatlets. May 11, ISII-July 10, 1861: Frede ::: s. January 6, 1813-May 19, 1875; Lemisel. January 21, 1815-June 15, 1883; Elizabeth Humphreys, September 18, 1.816-December 3, 1845; Rebecca Dexter, December 36. 18 :7 -November 13, 1838; James, December 2:, 1819-November 17, 1838; Alexander. June 16, 1821-November 13, 1838.

Thaddeus Clapp, the third child and secca! son, received his elementary education in the public schools, and fitted for college in the academy of Hiram Manley in Dorchester. Entering Harvard College, he was graduated at that institution in 1834, with the second honors of his class, delivering the Latin cra- tion. He then engaged in teaching sch .: :: Brookline, and was secretary of the Durch .;-

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

ter School Board for several years, and also superintendent of the Sunday-school at Meet- ing House Hill. He was prevented only by ill health from engaging in a profession. In 1838 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard University, and in the same year went to Franklin, La., where for six months he held the position of tutor in a private family. Coming home in the follow- ing year, he turned his attention to farming and fruit culture, in company with his brothers, Frederick and Lemuel, and in course of time became known as one of the leading pomologists of the day. In connection with his brothers he succeeded in raising from seed a new variety of pear, which received the name of Clapp's Favorite. He was a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Nor- folk Agricultural Society, and the American Pomological Society, and received many premiums for specimens of fine fruit that he exhibited. He was also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was married August 11, 1857, to Mary Hodges Dustin in Clare- mont, N.H., who died in 1890. His life after his return from the South was passed on the old homestead, wher he died July 10, 1861, as above recorded.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 1

Author: Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Boston, Graves & Steinbarger Number of Pages: 924

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Boston, Graves & Steinbarger
Number of Pages: 924