USA > Massachusetts > Biographical history of Massachussetts; biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, 1911, vol 1 > Part 14
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In 1904 he completed the organization of the Rio de Janeiro Tramway Light and Power Company with a capitalization of $50,- 000,000, and as its vice-president has had charge of the develop- ment of this great enterprise. This company controls the larger part of the street railway systems of Rio de Janiero as well as of the entire electric lighting and power business and the gas and telephone companies of that great and flourishing city, and has constructed an hydro-electric power-station of 50,000 H. P. capacity, fifty-one miles from the city of Rio, to which the power is delivered by means of high tension transmission lines.
Probably no other American has had a creative hand in so many immense industrial enterprises. His ability was recognized by Tufts College, which followed his career with justifiable pride, and granted him in 1900 the degree of Doctor of Science and five years
FRED STARK PEARSON
later that of Doctor of Laws. President Capen in conferring upon the distinguished graduate the highest honor of his alma mater characterized him as "scholar among engineers."
He married, in 1887, Miss Mabel Ward, daughter of William H. Ward, Esq., of Lowell, Massachusetts. Doctor and Mrs. Pearson have three children - two sons and a daughter. He has recently purchased an estate of about ten thousand acres among the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts where he has abundant opportunity to carry out his ideas of scientific farming and the breeding of high- grade farm animals. There he has a fine herd of beautiful Guernsey cattle and Shropshire and Dorset sheep. He takes great delight in country life. He has devoted much time and thought to restock- ing the wilder regions of western Massachusetts with such small game as hares, squirrels and partridges as well as English pheasants, a large number of which he has imported and turned loose to breed and multiply.
His professional attainments have secured for him membership in the Institute of Civil Engineers, of London; the American Society of Civil Engineers; the American Society of Electrical Engineers; the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the Society of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineers; also life-membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is socially affiliated with the Engineer's Club, of New York City; the New York Yacht Club; the Larchmont Yacht Club and the University Club. His financial investments have made him a director in the Sao Paulo Tramway Light and Power Company; in the Rio de Janiero Tram- way Light and Power Company, of which he is president; the Do- minion Iron and Steel Company, Limited; the Mexican Light and Power Company, Limited, of which he is vice-president; the Mexico Tramway Company of which he is president and many other corporations with which he has been professionally connected.
JAMES JOSEPH PHELAN
R ARELY has a man of his age attained, through his own efforts and perseverance, the prestige in the business world which James Joseph Phelan, member of the firm of Hornblower and Weeks, bankers and brokers, of Boston and New York, now holds. He was born in Toronto, Canada, October 14, 1871, the son of James W. Phelan, of Kilkenny, Ireland, and Catherine (Colbert) Phelan, also of Ireland. His ancestors were Patrick Elliot Phelan, James Colbert, Catherine Forbes, Ellen Hayes, prominent in their times, and from them he probably inherits his capacity for financial affairs. His father's reputation as an accountant was widely known. James Joseph Phelan attended the public schools until he reached the age of fifteen. Then through his own inclination he entered the business world. In 1887 he became a messenger on the floor of the Boston Stock Exchange which marked the beginning of his successful career. After leaving school he was still an earnest student and, adding to the moral and intellectual influence which his parents exercised over him, continuous reading and research, he became fitted for his chosen occupation. Evincing at once energy and direct- ness of purpose, Mr. Phelan soon became installed in the offices of E. T. Hornblower & Son, where, through his untiring efforts and close application to duty, he won the confidence of all with whom he was connected. Recognizing his opportunities, he worked faithfully and well, giving his best efforts to whatever he undertook. He made many valuable business friends, and profited greatly by his contact with men in active life. In January, 1900, after continuous advancement, he entered the firm of Hornblower & Weeks, which in 1888 had succeeded that of E. T. Hornblower & Son. He is also a member of the Boston Stock Exchange, Boston Chamber of Com- merce, serving as one of the managers gratuity fund and Chicago Board of Trade. He helped to organize the Federal Trust Com- pany, of Boston, and is its vice-president, and member of the board of directors, serving on the executive committee. To this
JAMES JOSEPH PHELAN
organization he has always rendered invaluable service. He is a director in the Peoples National Bank of Roxbury; trustee of the Union Institution for Savings, Boston; director in Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company; director of the Big Ivy Timber Company, of North Carolina; member Advisory Committee of busi- ness men, Boston High School of Commerce. Mr. Phelan is a loyal Democrat and has never failed to exert his influence for the cause of his party whenever occasion demanded. He belongs to the Roman Catholic Church and has been president of the Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown. He is also a member of the following clubs and societies: Economic Club of Boston; Roxbury Historical Soci- ety; Catholic Club of New York; Point Shirley Club; Boston Athletic Association; Clover Club; Exchange Club; City Club; member of Finance Committee; Catholic Literary Union of Charles- town, and a life member of the Bostonian Society, as well as being interested in numerous charitable institutions. Mr. Phelan's advice to the young is: "Add to the standard virtues the word hustle, and never be afraid of hard work. My belief is more men die from too little work, rather than overwork." All out-door sports appeal to him, and for nearly three years he was a member of the Massa- chusetts Naval Brigade.
On June 19, 1899, he was married to Miss Mary E. Meade, daughter of John and Caroline I. (Green) Meade, of Boston. Their three children are James J., Jr. (six), Katharine (five), and Caroline J. (three).
Jamil LaPowers.
SAMUEL LELAND POWERS
S AMUEL LELAND POWERS, lawyer, and formerly a member of Congress from the State of Massachusetts, was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, October 26, 1848. He is of the best and most sturdy of the old New England stock, a descendant of Walter Powers who arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in 1634, landed at Salem and settled at Littleton in Middle- sex County. That Walter Powers, who married Trial Shepard, was the forefather of a large and distinguished body of descendants. Hiram Powers, the great sculptor, was one of these; so was Abigail Powers, wife of President Fillmore; so was Horace Henry Powers, Representative to the Fifty-sixth Congress from the first district of Vermont; Llewellyn Powers, governor of the State of Maine and Representative in Congress from the same state; Orlando Woodworth Powers, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah, besides others who have done honor to the name in many walks of life.
The father of Samuel Leland Powers was Larned, a son of Colonel Samuel Powers and Chloe (Cooper) Powers, and grandson of Lemuel Powers and Thankful Leland Powers. Larned Powers was a success- ful farmer in the town of Cornish, New Hampshire, a man of sterling worth, highly respected and prominent in the administering of the local affairs of his town. His wife was Ruby, daughter of John A. Barton and Achsah Lovering Barton, both of whom were of English descent, the father of John A. Barton having immigrated to New Hampshire from Worcester County, Massachusetts.
Samuel Leland Powers grew up as a boy on his father's farm, until at the age of sixteen the call for a better education than could be furnished in his home town came strongly to him and he was sent away to fit for college. He first attended the at that time celebrated Kimball Union Academy, remaining there for three years. He entered Phillips Exeter Academy in the Senior class, but found it possible to leave during that year and enter Dartmouth College. His career there was one of distinction in the famous class of 1874.
SAMUEL LELAND POWERS
Among those who graduated with him are Chief Justice Frank N. Parsons, of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, Attorney General Edwin G. Eastman, of the same State, General Frank S. Streeter, one of the leaders of the New Hampshire bar, Chief Justice John A. Aiken, of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, and Honorable Samuel W. McCall, a member of Congress from Massachusetts. Among other honors obtained by young Powers while in college was the winning of the Lockwood prizes for oratory and composition.
Mr. Powers commenced the study of law in September, 1874, with the Honorable William W. Bailey, of Nashua, New Hampshire. There he remained only a short time, for he soon entered the Law School of the University of New York. He studied there until June of the following year, when he entered the law office of Verry & Gaskill, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar of Worcester County in November, 1875, only a little over one year from the time he took up the study of the subject. He began the practice of law in partnership with the Honorable Samuel W. McCall, a long time and prominent member of Congress from Massachusetts. Later Mr. Powers was for four years associated with Colonel J. H. Benton, Jr., and again was a partner with his brother, Erastus B. Powers.
In 1888 he became counsel for the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company and for many years devoted himself almost exclusively to representing corporations engaged in electrical busi- ness. In causes of this sort he almost immediately obtained a very high reputation and the knowledge gained by his career at that time is still sought and highly prized. In 1897 he formed a law partner- ship with Edward K. Hall and Matt B. Jones, which continued until 1904, when Mr. Jones retired to become the attorney of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, and a new partner- ship was formed under the name of Powers & Hall. This is one of the active law concerns of Boston, and is located at 101 Milk Street.
Mr. Powers became a citizen of Newton, Massachusetts, in 1882. There he has since resided and has become prominent and influential in social, educational and public affairs. He was a member of the Newton Common Council for three years, for two years of which he was its president, a member of the board of aldermen for one year and a member of the school board for three years. In 1900, in response to an imperative demand from his constituency, he ran for Congress
SAMUEL LELAND POWERS
as a Republican and was nominated almost unanimously. For his first term he represented the Eleventh Massachusetts District in the Fifty-seventh Congress and for his second, the Twelfth Massachu- setts District in the Fifty-eighth Congress, there having been a re- districting during his term, which made a change in the district from which he originally came. He retired voluntarily from Con- gress against the earnest protest of his district, on March 4, 1905, to devote himself exclusively to the practice of law. While in the National House of Representatives, Mr. Powers achieved promi- nence as a hard worker and a keen and able legislator. He was one of the sub-committee of five appointed from the judiciary com- mittee of the Fifty-seventh Congress to frame the bill for the regula- tion of trusts, and was one of the managers appointed by the Speaker to conduct the impeachment trial of Judge Swayne, before the Senate, in the Fifty-eighth Congress.
Mr. Powers has always been prominent in social life, for which he is naturally well equipped. He was one of the founders and first president of the famous Tantalus Club of Washington, an organiza- tion composed of new and sometimes necessarily unheard members of Congress, and he is at the present time the head of that organi- zation. He is president of the Middlesex Club, a strong political body of eastern Massachusetts; vice-president of the Massachusetts Republican Club and Massachusetts vice-president of the Merchant Marine League. He is a member of many of the leading social clubs in and about Boston. He is a trustee of Dartmouth College.
Mr. Powers was married in 1878 to Eva C. Crowell, daughter of Captain Prince S. Crowell, of Dennis, Massachusetts. They have one son, Leland Powers, born July 1, 1890.
ABBOTT LAWRENCE ROTCH
A BBOTT LAWRENCE ROTCH, founder of the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory and investigator in meteorology, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 6, 1861. His father, Benjamin Smith Rotch (1817-1882), was the eldest son of Joseph, of New Bedford, and Ann (Smith) Rotch, grandson of William and Elizabeth (Rodman) Rotch, great-grandson of William and Elizabeth (Barney) Rotch, and a descendant from Joseph Rotch who came from Salisbury, England, to Nantucket, and married Love Macy, daughter of Thomas and Deborah (Coffin) Macy. Joseph Rotch settled at Dartmouth in 1765 and suggested that it be named New Bedford. Benjamin Smith Rotch was graduated at Harvard, 1838; a merchant in Boston, and a founder of New Bedford Cor- dage Company in 1842; overseer of Harvard University, 1864-70; trustee of the Boston Atheneum and Museum of Fine Arts; represent- ative in the General Court of Massachusetts, 1843-44; aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Briggs, 1845; accompanied his father-in-law, Hon. Abbott Lawrence, to London, when Mr. Lawrence assumed the duties of Minister to Great Britain in September, 1849. His son in speaking of his characteristics says: "He was reserved and sen- sitive, with artistic ability and love of nature, kind, generous and religious." He married Annie Bigelow, eldest daughter of Abbott and Katharine (Bigelow) Lawrence, granddaughter of Major Samuel and Susanna (Parker) Lawrence, of Groton and of Hon. Timothy and Lucy (Prescott) Bigelow, of Groton.
Abbott Lawrence Rotch of the fifth generation from Joseph Rotch and the youngest son of Benjamin Smith and Annie (Bigelow) Rotch, was as a child fond of scientific study and mechanics. He was brought up in town and country and in Europe; and gained in- spiration in the direction of intellectual, moral and spiritual growth and development from the example and precepts of both parents. He pursued his studies abroad and at Chauncy Hall School, Boston, preparatory to entering the department of mechanical engineering
Y. Laurence aurence Hotel
ABBOTT LAWRENCE ROTCH
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was gradu- ated with the degree of S.B. in 1884.
He founded, in 1885 (at his own initiative and expense) the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts, which became celebrated among scientists as the pioneer experiment station for researches in the upper atmosphere by studies of clouds and by means of kites, to which were attached meteorological instru- ments capable of recording velocity and direction of currents, tem- perature and humidity of the air at different altitudes above the earth's surface. He cooperated with the Harvard College Observa- tory from 1887, in carrying on observations and investigations in meteorology at the Blue Hill Observatory, directed and supported at an average cost of $5,000 per annum solely from his private means. To explain its relation with the Harvard College Observatory, he was named assistant in meteorology in the Faculty of Harvard University in 1888, and in 1906 was appointed professor. Harvard University conferred on him the honorary degree of A.M. in 1891. The Ameri- can Academy of Arts and Sciences, of Boston, of which he is a Fellow, made him its librarian in 1899. The Boston Society of Natural History, of which he is a member, has several times elected him as one of three trustees. He was chosen a member of the corpo- ration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1891, and he has served for many years on the committees to visit the depart- ments of physics and architecture, representing also the Institute as a trustee of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He is likewise a member of the committee appointed by the overseers of Harvard University to visit the Lawrence Scientific School and the Jefferson Physical Laboratory. He was appointed a member of several inter- national scientific committees, and served as associate editor of the American Meteorological Journal, 1886-96. He was created a chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1889 when a member of the international Jury of Awards, at the Paris Exposition of that year; in 1902 the German Emperor conferred on him the Order of the Prussian Crown, in recognition of his efforts to advance knowledge of the high at- mosphere, and in 1905 he received from the same source the Royal Order of the Red Eagle. He has taken part in various scientific expeditions in North and South America, Africa and Europe and, cooperating with a French colleague in 1905-06, an expedition was sent on a steam yacht, equipped with kites and balloons, to explore
ABBOTT LAWRENCE ROTCH
the atmosphere in tropical regions; Professor Rotch having been the first to demonstrate in 1901 that kites might be flown from a steam vessel, independently of the natural wind, and in this way used to explore regions of the atmosphere hitherto inaccessible. During the years 1904-07 he obtained with the so-called "ballons-sondes" the first observations of temperature at heights of eight to ten miles above the American continent. He delivered courses of lectures before the Lowell Institute, of Boston, in 1891 and 1898.
His club membership includes the Somerset and St. Botolph, of Boston; the University and Century Association, of New York City; the Cosmos, of Washington, District of Columbia, and the Royal Societies, of London, England. He is a corresponding member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; and of the German Meteorological and Aeronautical Societies, and is an hon- orary member of the Royal Meteorological Society, of London, and of the French Alpine Club. His religious affiliation is with the Protestant Episcopal Church and he served as junior warden of Emmanuel Church, Boston, 1904-05. He has been a Republican in politics. His recreations are cycling, tennis and mountain climbing. He was a member of the First Corps of Cadets, M. V. M., 1883-92. He was married November 22, 1893, to Margaret Randolph, daughter of Edward Clifford and Jane Margaret (Ran- dolph) Anderson, of Savannah, Georgia. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, born in Boston, June 12, 1895, died June 29, 1895; their surviving children being Margaret Randolph, born June 14, 1896, Arthur, born February 1, 1899, and Katharine Lawrence, born May 26, 1906. Professor Rotch is the author of "Sounding the Ocean of Air," in Romance of Science Series (London, 1900), has edited: "Observations and Investigations at Blue Hill," in Annals of Har- vard College Observatory (1889 et seq.), and has contributed numer- ous articles to scientific periodicals in America and Europe.
JOSEPH BALLISTER RUSSELL
J OSEPH BALLISTER RUSSELL was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, October 24, 1852. He is the son of Hon. Charles Theodore Russell, who was born in 1815, and died in 1896. His grandfather was Hon. Charles Russell, who married Persis Hastings. The mother of Joseph Ballister Russell was Sarah Elizabeth Ballister, daughter of Joseph Ballister, a well-known merchant of Boston, and Sarah Yendell. Mr. Russell is descended on his mother's side from a French Huguenot family. His father's family was English and dates back in an almost unbroken line very many years. Both his father's and mother's ancestors came to America in the very early days of this country and passed through many vicissitudes of the early settlers. On Mr. Russell's paternal grandmother's side, the first ancestor who came to this country was Thomas Hastings, in 1635, the great-grandson of Earl of Huntington. On the paternal grandfather's side, William Russell, who came to Cambridge in 1645. Mr. Russell's father, who was for many years a prominent lawyer and public spirited man, was greatly engrossed in his profession, and alert to the duties of an active life. Mr. Russell's mother, who was a very intellectual and distinctly religious and moral type, exerted a particularly strong influence upon the early life of her son, which no doubt awakened his youthful ambitions. As a boy he enjoyed the quiet and healthful pleasure of assisting about his father's place; taking care of the garden; looking after the live stock; fishing, hunt- ing, etc. The Bible and such books as Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Scott, Dickens, Cooper, Longfellow and English poets were his com- panions, and by them he helped to establish his standard. His education was acquired in the public schools of Cambridge, through the Latin School. He was early interested in politics, and has always been a Democrat, although his better judgment has not always allowed him to vote for party candidates. He was for three years a private in the First Corps of Cadets, Boston. His vocation in life was entirely governed by his own inclinations. He began his busi-
JOSEPH BALLISTER RUSSELL
ness career as junior clerk in the Russia Trade firm of William Ropes & Company, and profited much from business associations. Mr. Russell has been for years a man of manifold business and social interests, some of which are: treasurer and general manager of the Boston Wharf Company, 1885 to the present time; president Cam- bridge Trust Company, for a number of years; vice-president State Street Trust Company, of Boston, for many years; president of the West End Street Railway Company and director in 1906 of the following: the National Shawmut Bank; State Street Trust Company; Boston Wharf Company; Conveyancer's Title Insurance Company; Fitchburg Railroad Company; West End Street Railway Com- pany; Boston Steamship Company; Boston and Philadelphia Steam- ship Company; Boston Consolidated Gas Company; Boston Merchants Association; Real Estate and Auction Board; Trustee of Massa- chusetts Gas Company; Lovejoy's Wharf Trust; New England Gas and Coke Company; New England Coal and Coke Company; Quincy Market Real Estate Trust; Mount Auburn Cemetery; Cambridge Hospital; and acts under many wills and instruments of trust. While Mr. Russell has been interested deeply for many years in nearly all the great undertakings for the development and improve- ment of Boston, such as its street railway systems, its gas business, its banking facilities, its steamship lines and steam railroads, his great work has been the development of the properties of the Boston Wharf Company, some twenty years ago known as the "dump."
These properties under his management have, from large tracts of vacant land and swamp, been formed into a new business section of the city, traversed by wide streets and covered by some of the finest business buildings and blocks that can be found in any city. Under his guidance millions of dollars have been spent in these improvements and, notwithstanding large sales of its real estate made by the company, its rent-roll to-day exceeds without a doubt that of any other single real estate ownership in the city of Boston. He is also a member of the following associations: Chamber of Com- merce; Merchants' Association, of Boston; Bankers' Association, of Boston; Bostonian Society; National Geographical Society. His club affiliations are with the Somerset, Union Exchange, Commercial, Papyrus, New Riding and City Club, of Boston; Strollers, of New York; Country Club, of Brookline and Oakley Club, of Watertown, of which club he is the president. He is a regular attendant of
JOSEPH BALLISTER RUSSELL
the Protestant Episcopal Church, and interested in the charities and activities of the City of Cambridge, where for many years he has resided. In the past having appreciated the joys of hunting, fishing and camping out, he now derives much pleasure from out-door sports, especially riding and golf. On May 20, 1880, he married Lillian Hillyard Tenney, the daughter of Otis Seth and Junia (Warner) Tenney. Her ancesters were important factors in the history of our nation, among them being: John Hillyard, one of William Penn's council in 1682, and William Killen, born in Ire- land, came to Delaware of which state he was Chief Justice and first Chancellor. Mr. Russell's home has been blessed with five children: Charles Theodore Russell, assistant treasurer of the Boston Wharf Company; Joseph Ballister Russell, Jr., Senior at Harvard College; Otis Tenney Russell, Freshman at Harvard College; Sarah Elizabeth Russell and Junia Killen Russell.
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