One of a thousand, a series of biographical sketches of one thousand representative men resident in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, A.D. 1888-'89;, Part 1

Author: Rand, John C. (John Clark), b. 1842 ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Boston, First national publishing company
Number of Pages: 724


USA > Massachusetts > One of a thousand, a series of biographical sketches of one thousand representative men resident in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, A.D. 1888-'89; > Part 1


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GEN


ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01101 0680


GENEALOGY 974.4 R150


ONE OF A THOUSAND


A SERIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF


ONE THOUSAND REPRESENTATIVE MEN


RESIDENT IN THE


COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS


A. D. 1888-'89


COMPILED UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF JOHN C. RAND


BOSTON FIRST NATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY


1890


COPYRIGHT BY JOHN C. RAND, 1 890.


MANUFACTURED


FINE . PEOPLE'S


ART-PRINTING WORKS


AT THE


PRES


OF


MATTHEWS, NORTHRUP & CO


BUFFALO, N. Y.


Preface.


1183001


The History and art of Book- Making


have ordained a Preface, - no well-regulated Book appearing now without the proper porte=cochère preceding the literary structive beyond . It would appear to be "the correct thing " and yet one is disposed In many cases to Enquire, " Cui Bono?" For the present volume there appears to be no absolute necessity for an Introduction, and yet to conifers the truth, to strong a hold has custom upon the Eye, that were this feature lacking, there would be wanting, where the face of the nitures, an important factor in the tout Ensemble of But as Daniel Webster anticipated us the work.


in Saying. "I shall enter upon no Encomium on Massachusetts ;- She needs nine. There she is .- What's her aut judge for yourselves . There is her history, - the world knows in by heart . The past , at least, is secure."


Those who have patiently home with the diligent wody of the Compiler will remember our aim was to present biographical sketches of one thousand of the representative citizens of the


Commonwealth, who in different parts ofthe State an Engaged in Professional, Political, Mucantile, Apricultural and Industrial pursuits. These have been selected from those, who, from Pres. Pulpit, Field, Bar and the Exchange control the desti- nies of finance and trade, and give Massachusetts her proud prominence in Philanthropy, Literature, Sciences and Commercial Prosperity. The old Bay= State stands to-Day among her sister states of the nation seventh in population, fourth in wealth, third in manufactures, first in Education, and formost in the formation of that intelligent and patristic public conscience to Keenly alive to the welfare of the whole country.


It was intended in "One of a Thousand" to briefly portray the principal Events in the lives of those who have contributed to this End. How faithfully the task has been performed is for you to say. Few realize the amount of labor and where of Correspondence requisite to Perfect so Exhaustive an Enterprise. Multifly the Pains taken to secure so full and accurate a record of your own life by one thousand and Even then there remains a large margin of. patient research and necessary verifications, not


at first apprehended . However , Finis coronat Chus. "


Let this humble Irface, then, act the Part of the Value" Engraved upon the Entrance to the owl Roman houses. With a hearty Trasp of the hand. I bid you Enter, and become my guest, trusting you will derive ( hunch Enjoyment in the Partaking. as I have Taken satisfaction in the preparation of the feast to which you are now Cordially in= rited by your host and friend.


1


To my Subscribers.


L'ENVOI.


Book lovers may be interested to know that after dili- gent search by the Publisher, all the different processes involved in making this book -type-setting, electrotyping, printing, engraving portraits, cutting dies, and binding - were found in one establishment, all under one roof, in the City of Buffalo, N. Y.


He believes that this cannot be said of any book of a similar magnitude ever before published.


He would also add that the superior quality of work shown in this production is largely due to the personal and intelligent co-operation of the members of the firm under whose generous auspices " One of a Thousand " has been manufactured.


IN THE BELIEF THAT


THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS HIRE, AND ALSO THAT


PROPER CREDIT IS TOO INFREQUENTLY GIVEN WHERE JUSTLY DUE,


THE AUTHOR


TAKES GREAT PLEASURE IN


DEDICATING THIS VOLUME TO ALL


WHO HAVE BEEN IN ANY WAY


ASSOCIATED IN ITS COMPILATION, OR CONNECTED WITH ITS MECHANICAL EXECUTION.


ENSE PETIT P


QUIETEM


PLACIDAM


LIBERTATE


SUB


BIOGRAPHIES


OF


ONE THOUSAND REPRESENTATIVE MEN


OF


MASSACHUSETTS.


ABBOT, FRANCIS ELLINGWOOD, son of Joseph Hale and Fanny ( Larcom) Abbot, was born in Boston, November 6, 1836.


His early education was obtained at home, and in the Boston public Latin school. Fitting for college, he entered Harvard in 1855, and was graduated with the class of 1859. He spent three years in the Harvard divinity school and Mead- ville (Pa.) Theological Seminary. It is a fitting tribute to the mother of the subject of this sketch that he has filially attributed his best education to her early training and blessed influence.


Mr. Abbot was principal of the Mead- ville (Pa.) Female Seminary three years ending in June, 1863, while still studying for his profession He was ordained min- ister of the Unitarian society in Dover, N. H., August 31, 1864, and resigned April 1, 1868, to become minister of the Independent religious society in the same city. He resigned this position at the end of six months, because, in conse- quence of a famous law-suit (set forth at great length in the New Hampshire Re- ports, Vol. 53), the new society voted not to maintain its own independent position. He served as minister of the Independent society of Toledo, Ohio, from July, 1869, to March, 1873, and editor of the Toledo (afterward Boston) "Index" from Janu- ary 1, 1870, to July 1, 1880. He kept a classical school for boys in New York until September, 1881, and has had since that time a "Home for Boys" in Cam- bridge, fitting pupils for Harvard College by private instruction.


Mr. Abbot was married in Nashua, N. H., August 3, 1859, to Katharine Fear-


ing, the daughter of David and Susanna (Sherman) Loring. Of this union are three children living : Everett Vergnies (Har- vard 1886), Edward Stanley (Harvard 1887), and Fanny Larcom Abbot.


Mr Abbot received the degree of Ph. D. from Harvard University in 1881. He has published numerous articles, chiefly philosophical, in the "North American Review," "Christian Examiner," " Jour- nal of Speculative Philosophy," London "Fortnightly Review," London " Mind," etc. He published " Scientific Theism" through Little, Brown & Co., Boston, and Macmillan & Co., London, in 1885 ; three editions of this work have already ap- peared.


ABBOTT, JOSIAH GARDNER, who traces his lineage back to the first settlers of this Commonwealth, was born in Chelms- ford, Middlesex county, November 1, 1815.


He is the second son of Caleb and Mercy ( Fletcher ) Abbott, descendants from the Puritan George Abbott, who came from Yorkshire, England, in 1630, and settled in Andover, and William Fletcher, who came from Devonshire, England, in 1640, and settled first in Concord, and finally, in 165 1, in Chelmsford.


After his foundation studies he was fitted for college under the instruction of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He entered Harvard at the early age of twelve, and was gradu- ated in the class of 1832. After taking his degree, he studied law with Nathaniel Wright, of Lowell, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. In 1840 he formed a part- nership with Samuel Brown, which termi- nated when he was appointed to the bench in 1855.


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ABBOTT.


In 1838 Judge Abbott was married to Caroline, daughter of the Hon. Edward St. Loe and Sarah Crease (Stackpole) Liver- more, of New Hampshire. Mr. Livermore was judge of the supreme court of New Hampshire and afterwards member of Con- gress from Massachusetts. Their children are : Caroline Mercy, Edward Gardner, Henry Livermore, Fletcher Morton, Wil- liam Stackpole, Samuel Appleton Browne, Sarah Livermore, Franklin Pierce, Arthur St. Loe Livermore, Grafton St. Loe, and Holker Welch Abbott. The first, Brevet- Major Edward G. Abbott, a graduate of Harvard of 1860, raised one of the first


JOSIAH G. ABBOTT.


companies sworn into the volunteer service, and joined the 2d Massachusetts regiment. He was killed at the battle of Cedar Mountain. Brevet-Gen. Henry L. Abbott, a graduate of Harvard of 1860, entered the 20th Massachusetts regiment as lieutenant. He was killed in the battle of the Wilder- ness. Capt. Fletcher M. Abbott entered the 2d Massachusetts regiment as second lieutenant, and served through the war. After the war he took a degree of M. D. from Harvard. Of these children six are living : Fletcher Morton, Samuel, a grad- uate of Harvard, Sarah, Franklin, a grad- nate of Harvard law school, Grafton, a graduate of Harvard, and Holker.


ABBOTT.


Judge Abbott had just reached his ma- jority when he was chosen as representative to the Legislature. In 1841 he was elected state senator. During his first term in the Senate he served as member of the rail- road and judiciary committees, and in his second term was chairman of the same.


He is a Democrat, and has always been an acknowledged leader in his party. In 1844 he was a delegate to the national Democratic convention at Baltimore, which nominated James K. Polk , and he has been a delegate, either from his district or the State at large, to all but two of the national Democratic conventions since, and been chosen chairman of the delegation for the seven last conventions. He has several times been chosen the candidate of his party for United States senator.


Judge Abbott was on the staff of Gov. Marcus Morton. In 1853 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, which consisted so largely of men of exceptional ability. Upon his retirement from the bench, having won an enviable reputation for judicial fairness and legal acumen, he removed to Boston, where he has since re- sided. In 1874 he was elected member of Congress from the 4th congressional dis- trict. He was chosen by his colleagues member of the Electoral Commission to determine the controverted result of the presidential election in 1876. The honor paid him was fully justified by the courage and ability shown in that trying position.


From his entrance into professional life, Judge Abbott has taken and held a leading position, having probably tried as many cases as any member of the bar now liv- ing. He has great capacity for labor, and immense power of application - most im- portant qualities in the conducting of long and sharply contested jury trials.


ABBOTT, WILLIAM, son of Benjamin and Mary C. (Chase) Abbott, was born in Temple, Franklin county, Maine, Novem- ber 25, 1834.


His early education was obtained in the common schools in Maine till 1851, when his father moved to East Douglas, Worces- ter county, Mass., where he attended the high school.


His first business connection was in the country store of Jones, Abbott & Co., East Douglas. A few years later he formed the new partnership of Metcalf & Abbott, which continued for three years, when he bought out Mr. Metcalf, and for seven years conducted the business alone, the yearly sales increasing from twenty thou- sand to one hundred thousand dollars, At


3


ADAMS.


the end of this time he retired from the store and became a dealer in real estate, manufacturer of lumber, notary public, collector and conveyancer.


On the 3d of July, 1859, Mr. Abbott was married to Hannah M., daughter of Nelson and Hannah (Morse) Potter. Their children are Nellie F. and Hattie G. Abbott.


In 1874 Mr. Abbott served in the House of Representatives, and in 1879 and 1880 was a member of the Senate. For nine years he was chairman of the board of selectmen, assessor and town treasurer. He is now one of the trustees of the Whit- insville Savings Bank, and one of the in- vestment committee. His present resi- dence is East Douglas.


Mr. Abbott is distinctively a self-made man. When he was quite young his father lost his entire property by fire, and at the age of sixteen he was obliged to make his own way in the world and do what he could in the way of support of the family. His energy overcame all obstacles, and he has succeeded in placing himself upon the list of successful men in Massachusetts.


ADAMS, CHARLES FOLLEN, son of Ira and Mary Elizabeth (Senter) Adams, was born in Dorchester, Norfolk county, April 21, 1842. He was the youngest but one of ten children, and has now five sisters and three brothers living.


He received a common school education, and leaving the grammar school in Dor- chester at fifteen years of age, went as a boy into the well-known house of N. D. Whitney & Co., Boston, to learn the busi- ness. He was afterwards salesman in the same house, then went into business for himself with John D. Clapp, under the firm name of J. D. Clapp & Co. In 1872 he became a partner in the firm of Nichol- son & Adams, hair goods for ladies' wear, and later on made a change in business to that of furnishing supplies for the five, ten and twenty-five cent counters that have had such a phenomenal run-the firm name being Newell, Adams & Co. He sold out his interest January 1, 1885, and is now doing a manufacturing and com- mission business, in addition to his journal- istic work.


At the age of twenty, in August, 1862, he enlisted in the 13th regiment Massa- chusetts volunteers, and was in the battles of Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chan- cellorsville and Gettysburg - wounded in the latter and held prisoner for three days, when he was re-captured and taken to the hospitals in New York and Rhode Island. After his recovery he was detailed as ward-


ADAMS.


master in the convalescent hospital at Washington, where he remained until his term of service expired, in August, 1864. He returned home and established the business that has since demanded his at- tention. The literary portion of his life is only his diversion, never interfering with his methodical business habits.


CHARLES F. ADAMS.


Charles Follen Adams, however, is best known from his humorous and dialectic poems, he having sprung into recogni- tion at once upon the production of his "Leedle Yawcob Strauss." His first effort at rhyme was written in 1870, and his first dialectic verse, " The Puzzled Dutchman," appeared in 1872. From that time he was an occasional contributor to Boston papers, "Oliver Optic's Magazine," "Scribner's Monthly," and others, until 1876, when "Leedle Yawcob Strauss " appeared in the "Detroit Free Press," since which time his poems have appeared in that paper, " Harper's Magazine," and other publica- tions. The house of Lee & Shepard published Mr. Adams's first volume of poems, entitled " Leedle Yawcob Strauss, and Other Poems." His second volume, entitled " Dialect Ballads," was published by Harper & Brothers, New York (1887), being a companion to the former volume. Mr. Adams was married in Boston,


6


ADAMS.


at present one of the board of selectmen of Attleborough, and chairman of the board of health. He is also chairman of the prudential committee of the fire district. In 1872 he cast his first vote for U. S. Grant, and has ever since been identified with the Republican party.


ADAMS, GEORGE ZACCHEUS, son of Charles and Nancy (Robbins) Adams, was born at Chelmsford, Middlesex county, April 23, 1833.


Previous to the age of fourteen he was educated in the public schools of his native town, when he went for one year to the academy at Westford. At the age of six- teen he went to Phillips Academy, An- dover, where he remained three years, and at which institution he was prepared for college. Graduating from Phillips Acad- emy in 1852, he entered Harvard, where he graduated in 1856, and then came to Boston and entered the office of Mr. Oliver Stevens, the present district attorney. After remaining there one year he entered the Harvard law school, where he re- mained one year, and then returned to Mr. Stevens's office for three years, and then opened an office of his own in Boston, where he has practiced ever since.


He was married September 16, 1861, to Joanna F., daughter of Charles and Joan F. ( Hagar ) Davenport. They have three children : Georgie F., Walter D. and Charles Z. Adams.


In July, 1882, Mr. Adams was appointed by Governor Long special justice of the municipal court of the city of Boston, and has since been tendered a permanent seat upon the bench of said court, which he declined.


Mr. Adams has refused all offices of a political nature, preferring to devote the whole of his time and energy to his pro- fession.


ADAMS, JOHN GREGORY BISHOP, son of Isaac and Margaret Adams, was born in Groveland, Essex county, Octo- ber 6, 1841.


He obtained a common school educa- tion, and spent the greater part of his boy- hood and youth in that locality. In the early summer of 1861 he enlisted in Major Ben: Perley Poore's rifle battalion, which later became the nucleus of the 19th Massachusetts regiment. He served through the war, rising to the rank of captain. He participated in every march, and was engaged in every battle of the army of the Potomac in which his regiment took part. At Fredericksburg


ADAMS.


he saved the colors of his regiment from capture, after eight color bearers had been killed. He was twice severely wounded in the second day's fight at Gettysburg, and while in the advanced lines before Petersburg, on the 22d of June, 1864, he was captured with his regiment, and for nine months suffered the miseries of a southern prison pen.


After the war he was for some years foreman in the factory of B. F. Doak & Co., but on account of failing health re- signed that position to enter the inspec- tor's office in the Boston Custom House. He remained there fifteen months, when


JOHN G. B. ADAMS.


he was appointed postmaster at Lynn, which office he held eight years. On the establishment of the reformatory prison at Concord, he was appointed deputy superintendent, and in 1885 was made sergeant-at-arms for the Commonwealth, which important position he now holds.


Captain Adams was the first recruit mustered into Post 5, G. A. R. He was three times chosen commander, and was one year department commander of Mas- sachusetts. He has been for eleven years president of the Association of Survivors of Rebel Prisons, and is president of the board of trustees of the Soldiers' Home. He has been connected with numerous


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AGASSIZ.


ADAMS.


local enterprises, having been one of the incorporators of the Lynn Hospital, Lynn Electric Light Company, and of the Thomson-Houston Electric Light Com- pany.


Captain Adams was married in Boston, April 5, 1866, to Mary E., daughter of Benjamin E. and Almira Dodge. Of this union were two children, both deceased.


ADAMS, MARSHALL L., son of John and Abigail ( Sampson ) Adams, was born in Provincetown, Barnstable county, De- cember 4, 1842.


His early educational work was done in the Provincetown schools until 1856. He attended Paul Wing's Academy, Sandwich, and subsequently Frost Academy, Fram- ingham, and was graduated from the Cot- ting Academy, Arlington.


Mr. Adams was first connected in busi- ness with Fairbanks, Adams & Co., Boston, ship brokers. Later on he was with O. D. Witherell, coal dealer, Boston, and with John P. Squire & Co., pork dealers, Boston. From 1865 to 1879 he was a grocer and ice dealer in Provincetown. He is at the present time engaged in town business, having always been active in all public matters that pertained to the growth and development of his native place. He was elected selectman, assessor, overseer of the poor, 1880, and has held the office up to date. He was elected county treas- urer November, 1886, and was appointed immigrant agent for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1885.


He is disbursing agent for Shaw Asylum for Mariners' Children, and regent of the Mayflower Council, Royal Arcanum.


He was chairman of the building com- mittee of the new town hall, which was dedicated August 25, 1886, and in 1889 was appointed chairman of the committee on water supply for Provincetown.


January 23, 1863, at Boston, Mr. Adams was married to Mary A., daughter of Wil- liam and Elizabeth Moore. He has one son : John Adams.


ADAMS, WILLIAM T., son of Laban and Catharine ( Johnson ) Adams, was born in Medway, Norfolk county, July 30, 1822.


He was educated in the public and pri- vate schools of Boston and vicinity, and when a mere lad displayed a talent for writing, his first article being published in the " Social Monitor."


For three years Mr. Adams was the master of the " Lower Road " school in Dor- chester. In 1846 he resigned his position to assist his father and brother in the man-


agement of the Adams House, Boston. Mr. Adams resumed teaching in 1848, in the Boylston school, Boston, becoming the master in 1860, and on the establishment of the Bowditch school, he was transferred and held the post of master of that school till he resigned in 1865. He then went abroad and traveled throughout Europe, dating his career as an author from this period.


Mr. Adams's nom de plume, "Oliver Optic," originated from his having written a poem in 1851 which was published under the heading of " A Poem delivered before the Mutual Admiration Society, by Oliver Optic, M. D." The name "Optic " was suggested by a character in a drama at the Boston Museum, called "Dr. Optic." To this Mr. Adams prefixed " Oliver," with no thought of ever using it again. But soon after two essays appeared in the "Waverley Magazine," by "Oliver Optic," which were so well received that he con- tinued to write under this pseudonym until it became impracticable to abandon it. His books, numbering over a hundred volumes, are widely and deservedly known.


Mr. Adams was married October 7, 1846, to Sarah, daughter of Edward and Martha ( Reed ) Jenkins. Mrs. Adams died in 1885. Their children are : Alice Marie, wife of Sol. Smith Russell, and Emma Louise, wife of George W. White, a mem- ber of the Suffolk bar. Mrs. White died in 1884.


In 1867, Mr. Adams was unanimously elected a member of the school com- mittee of Dorchester. He served until the town was annexed to Boston, and was elected a member of the Boston school committee and served for ten years. In 1869 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives and served one year, and declined a re-nomination.


In 1870, he went to Europe a second time, and three times recently, traveling through the countries not previously visit- ed, and the books which he has since pub- lished show the result of his observa- tions.


AGASSIZ, ALEXANDER, son of Louis and Cécile (Braun) Agassiz, was born in Neufchâtel, Switzerland, December 17, 1835.


His early educational training was re- ceived in the gymnasium of his native place. He came to this country in 1849, after his father, the celebrated naturalist, and entering Harvard College, was grad- uated therefrom in the class of 1855. He inherited the tastes of his father, and


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AIKEN.


pursued his studies in the Lawrence scien- tific school (Harvard) during the years 1857 to '61 inclusive.


In 1859 he was engaged with the United States Coast Survey ; in 1861 he was made assistant in the Zoological Museum, Cam- bridge, and became director of this insti- tution in 1874. He was superintendent of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Com- pany, 1866 to 1869. He was treasurer till 1871, when he was made its president, which position he still holds.


Professor Agassiz was married at Jamaica Plain, November 13, 1860, to Anna, daugh- ter of George Robert and Sarah P. (Shaw) Russell. Of this union were three chil- dren : George R., Maximilian and Ru- dolph L. Agassiz.


Professor Agassiz has been overseer of Harvard College, and is now fellow of this institution.


AIKEN, DAVID, son of Phinehas and Elisabeth (Patterson) Aiken, was born at Bedford, Hillsborough county, N. H., June 7, 1804. His early education was obtained in a common district school and at Pem- broke Academy, under Mr. John Vose, and at Phillips Academy, Andover, under Mr. John Adams. He entered Dartmouth Col- lege, where he was graduated in 1830. He then studied law with Wells & Alvord at Greenfield, Mass., and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1833 ; was judge of the court of common pleas from 1856 to '59.


He has been the law partner of Henry Chapman. George Grennell, Davis & Al- len, Chester C. Conant, and W. S. B. Hop- kins, afterwards with Charles E. Forbes of Northampton. He is now partner with his son, John A. Aiken, but retired from active practice when the State sold its interest in the Troy & Greenfield and Hoosac Tunnel Railroad-he having acted as legal adviser to its manager up to that time, in behalf of the Commonwealth. He was senator from Franklin county in 1874. From the promotion of Judge Wells in 1844 to the present day, with the excep- tion of the period he himself was on the bench, Judge Aiken has been the acknowl- edged leader of the county bar.


He was married in October, 1844, to Lydia W., daughter of Col. Spencer and Lydia ( Bardwell) Root, who died in Novem- ber, 1846, without issue. His second wife was Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John S. and Mary Hawley Adams, of Amherst, to whom he was married in November, 1848, and who died October 28, 1855. His sur- viving children are : John Adams, Eliza-




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