USA > Massachusetts > Biographical history of Massachussetts; biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, 1911, vol 7 > Part 13
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Though connected with no religious sect, Professor Johnson is in sympathy with the Unitarians.
Politically he is adherent to the old Massachusetts traditions as expressed in the Bill of Rights of the Commonwealth and is an active worker for their realization. He is consequently a funda- mental democrat and independent of party affiliations.
Professor Johnson is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Soicety of Civil Engineers, and various other engineering societies; is a member of the Harvard Club of Boston, the Anti-Imperialist League, the American Free Trade League, the Men's League for Woman Suffrage, the Massachusetts Direct Legislation League, and the Massachusetts Single Tax League, of which he has been president since 1913.
His work for the solution of far reaching civic and economic problems, he regards primarily as part of his effort to discharge the responsibility resting upon him as an American citizen; but an additional incentive is his conviction that the methods of applied science which underlie his profession have undeveloped possibili- ties of great promise in connection with the chief problems of do-
LEWIS JEROME JOHNSON
mestic and international statesmanship. He finds, for instance, in the persistence of widespread vice, poverty, industrial unrest and war, an unmistakable indication that there is something wrong with the school of statesmanship under which these evils have de- veloped, under which they thrive, under which they show a la- mentable likelihood of continuing to thrive, and in which they are in large measure entrenched. He believes that better methods can be developed by consistently conforming to what is already known of the fundamental and inexorable laws of human nature and of economic and political science. Observing that consistent respect for natural law has repeatedly overcome seemingly insuperable ob- stacles in the domain of physical science, he believes that equally gratifying results may reasonably be expected from similar meth- ods in the largest affairs of business and government. Finding such possibilities as yet little realized, even in quarters whence it would seem that the public has the best right to expect such sug- gestions, he considers himself under peculiar responsibility to pro- mote a popular understanding of these principles and to assist in putting them into effect.
He takes satisfaction in the progress already made in public acceptance of the views he shares in advocating, and in seeing as a result an encouraging measure of the expected benefits. Progress in these directions he considers to be as fast as can reasonably be expected, in view of the far reaching character of fundamental proposals for democracy and freedom, and the physical strength of the forces of privilege against which they are compelled to make their advance.
In 1893, he married in Evanston, Illinois, Grace Allen Fitch, a descendant of Governor Winslow of Plymouth Colony, and they have two sons, Jerome Allen and Chandler Willard Johnson. Professor Johnson and his wife cooperate cordially in their efforts to establish institutional and social justice. Mrs. Johnson has been President of the Cambridge Political Equality Association for sev- eral years, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Massachu- setts Single Tax League. In 1912 she served as a delegate from Massachusetts to the National Convention of the Progressive party. In 1914-1915 she was Chairman of the Middlesex County Cam- paign Committee in the Woman Suffrage Campaign. In 1916, she became Chairman of the Massachusetts Congressional Committee of the National Woman Suffrage Association. She is a writer and speaker on woman suffrage and other aspects of democracy.
Jarmunay May
JAMES MURRAY KAY
J AMES MURRAY KAY was born at Glasgow, Scotland, March 30, 1842. His father, Robert Kay (1810-1873), was a dealer and worker i marble and stone; a man of rare capacity, coupled with gentleness and sweetness. His mother, Marian Mur- ray, was a woman of strong will power, and her influence upon him, especially upon his spiritual development, was very marked. As a boy he was interested in music and what so often goes with music, mathematics. In his early days he was a member of Henry Leslie's famous London Choir in which he sang tenor. He was also fond of reading. He attended the Glasgow public schools and after he went to work, at the age of fourteen, in the counting-room of Craig Brothers in Glasgow, he attended evening classes quite assiduously until he was twenty.
At the age of twenty-one the real work of his life began. He went to London and after trying various positions became man- ager of the banking-house of Denniston and Cross and of Petrie's Banking-house. In 1869, he married Maria Macarthur of Glas- gow. After her death in 1878 he came to Nova Scotia to admin- ister, for the benefit of the stockholders, the affairs of the St. John and Maine Railroad, which was in difficulty. In this respon- sible work he showed remarkable capacity. Under his manage- ment the great cantilever bridge was built across the St. John River, forming the final link in the railway system of the Maritime Prov- inces and preparing the way for the amalgamation of the line with the Canadian Pacific System. His activities were rewarded with material success and he won golden opinions for his ability as an engineer and manager.
In 1879 he married Miss Mary F. Prentiss of Bangor, Maine, daughter of Henry Prentiss and Abigail Rawson, granddaughter of Henry and Mary (Hart) Prentiss and of Samuel and Polly (Free- land) Rawson, and a descendant of Edward Rawson, who came to Newburyport in 1637.
JAMES MURRAY KAY
Mr. Kay continued to live in St. John until 1888, when he came to Boston and became a member of the publishing house of Hough- ton-Mifflin and Company. When the firm was incorporated in 1908 he was made its treasurer, and held that position until his sudden death from cerebral hemorrhage at his summer home at Eastern Point, Gloucester, August 19, 1915.
When James Murray Kay became an American citizen he en- listed himself in the ranks of the Republican party. He took a deep interest in the school affairs of Brookline where he made his residence and he established a fund for providing the High School with yearly prizes for English composition and declamation.
He was brought up a Presbyterian, but his mature thought brought him into sympathy with the Unitarian denomination and he took pleasure in his relations with the First Parish Church in Brookline. He was a member of the Union Club of Boston, serv- ing as one of the House Committee, and of the Century Associa- tion of New York. He was president of the Agricultural Club of Boston and he belonged to the Cecelia Society. He was devoted to all beautiful things, especially flowers, and he never lost his youthful passion for music. Song and books and Nature divided his leisure interests. He liked to go to the Canadian Wilds in quest of salmon. In his social duties he was most genial and com- panionable. He had a particularly sunshiny disposition and it was always remarked that those who went to see him on business affairs always came away smiling, so contagious was his overflow- ing good-will. He was a man of the highest character. His word was as good as his bond. He was generous and sympathetic, and people were proud to call him friend. He lived out a successful, well-rounded life and the manner of his death, painless and with- out long preliminary illness, was in consonance with what would have been his own wishes.
He is survived by his widow and seven children: two, Robert Oliver Kay of California and Mrs. John W. Prentiss of New York, by his first wife; J. Murray Kay, Jr., of Brookline and four daughters by his second marriage: Mrs. Rutherford Shepard of New York, Mrs. Herbert Burgess of Cleveland, Mrs. A. V. Baird of Delaplane, Va., and Miss Mary Murray Kay. He left behind him a memory which it will always be a joy to recall.
George Eldow Keith
GEORGE ELDON KEITH
G EORGE ELDON KEITH, shoe manufacturer, was born in Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, February 8, 1850. His father, Franklin Keith, was a son of Zeba. and Betsey (Bailey) Keith and a descendant from Rev. James Keith, who came from Aberdeen, Scotland, to Plymouth Colony, in 1644, and located in Bridgewater, where he was ordained to the Presby- terian ministry, when twenty years of age, and became the first pastor of the Bridgewaters. He married Susannah, daughter of Samuel Edson.
Franklin Keith was a shoe manufacturer and selectman of North Bridgewater, which became the city of Brockton. He mar- ried Betsey, daughter of Paul and Sally (Cary) Bailey of Sidney, Maine.
George Eldon Keith was a healthy lad, always making some- thing. He worked in his father's shoeshop when not at school, and assisted in the support of the family. His mother was a su- perior woman and inculcated in his life the principles of right living. Her influence largely dominated his moral and spiritual life. He left the Brockton High School with the first class gradu- ated, when sixteen years of age, and having already learned the trade of manufacturing shoes he naturally took up that occupa- tion. When twenty-four years old he had accumulated $1000, with which he began business for himself in partnership with William S. Green. In the first six months his sales amounted to $7000 and the entire cutting was done by his own hands. In 1880 he sold out his interest to Mr. Green and built a large factory on Perkins Avenue, Campello, for his own occupancy. His sales now amount to millions of dollars annually and he employs thousands in his ex- tensive factories.
That Mr. Keith has the interests and welfare of his employees at heart is evidenced by his statement: "I believe most men of affairs to-day are trying to look at their employees as men and women worthy of consideration and that they have a real desire to improve their condition both mentally and physically." The remark he made at the dedication of the G. E. Keith Clubhouse and Field on July 1, 1914, when this magnificent gift from Mr. Keith and his partners was turned over to representatives of his employees in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the day on which Mr. George E. Keith began the manufacture of
GEORGE ELDON KEITH
shoes. At this dedication there were present over 100 men who had been in Mr. Keith's employ for over twenty-five years, some of them for over thirty and thirty-five years. This fact speaks louder than any words can of the cordial relationiship between Mr. Keith and his employees.
About 1888 Mr. Keith commenced to export shoes to Australia. In 1899 he established the first American shoestore in London, England; in 1902 he also established the first in Paris, France; the same year the first one in Brussels, Belgium. In 1910 he started the first exclusive American shoestore in Buenos Aires, Ar- gentine; in 1912 the first one in St. Petersburg, Russia; in 1914 the first one in Shanghai, China, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He was married October 23, 1877, to Anna G., daughter of William D. and Deborah (Chesman) Reed, and the two children born of this marriage are Eldon Bradford and Harold Chesman.
Mr. Keith's second marriage was to Miss Elizabeth Archibald of Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, on July 8, 1908. One child has been born of this marriage, a daughter.
Mr. Keith is President and Director of the George E. Keith Company of Brockton; President of the Brockton National Bank; Director of the Old Colony Trust Company of Boston; Director of the United Shoe Machinery Company; Vice-President of the New England Shoe Leather Association; Director of the New England Casualty Company ; and President of the Katahdin Pulp and Paper Co., Lincoln, Maine.
He has always been a Republican in politics. He declined to accept the candidacy for Mayor of Brockton, but did serve as Alder- man of Ward Four the first year that Brockton was a city. He was the first President of the Young Men's Christian Association of Brockton and his energy and hard work helped largely in placing it on a firm financial basis. His church affiliation is with the South Congregational Church of Brockton. He has enjoyed all kinds of outdoor sports from his youth up and has kept in touch with young men even as he advanced in life. His favorite exercise is golf.
Mr. Keith wrote for the readers of this work these words which he believes will assist young people to attain true success in life : "Hard work and close attention to business for nearly forty years has brought better success than I ever expected; correct living and faith in God have aided me. I would advise young men to spend less than they earn, to seek Divine help to live, and with hard work and honesty I believe they may be sure of success."
Viculy Jours 0 Sherman M ad
SHERMAN WILLIAM LADD
S HERMAN WILLIAM LADD was born in Holderness, New Hampshire, on the 27th of September in the year 1855. His father was a genial, honest woodworker and builder of an inventive turn of mind, by the name of Hale Moul- ton Ladd, son of William and Mary (Sturtevant) Ladd, descended from that Samuel Ladd who came from England to Plymouth Colony in 1643. Two of his ancestors, Jesse and Herman Ladd, were known in their day as inventors. Hale Ladd married Betsy, daughter of Joseph Willoughby, and their son Sherman was born a few days after his father's thirtieth birthday. He was always a handy lad with tools, and used to earn some spending money whittling out toys for his companions. He was devotedly attached to his mother, who was the strongest influence for good in his early life.
School days were sooner over for Sherman Ladd than for many boys, and as soon as he was old enough he turned his attention to making and improving machinery, especially that for use in shoe factories. He worked for a while with Mr. Louis Goddu of Winchester in making different kinds of machines, par- ticularly one for attaching the outsoles of boots and shoes by means of a screw-threaded wire. He and his employer worked for some time over this machine, bringing it to perfection, since when it has been widely in use among all shoemakers. For several years Sherman Ladd had charge of the factory which turned out these machines. Then another call came to give his attention to de- signing instead of producing machines. This time his employer was Andrew Eppler, of the Eppler Sewing Machine Co., and the work was designing and making the patterns for a welt sewing ma- chine for boots and shoes.
About this time, the Hand Method Lasting Machine Company was having trouble with a lasting machine invented by John Mat- zeliger of Lynn. After the third trial to build a machine which could be used, the services of Mr. Charles S. Gooding were en- gaged to design and build a laster which should retain the val- uable features of the Matzeliger machine. It was an important work and Mr. Gooding felt the need of some one having more practical experience in designing and building machinery than himself to assist him. He knew Sherman Ladd and laid the matter
SHERMAN WILLIAM LADD
before him. Inspection of the unsuccessful machine and of Mr. Gooding's drawings kindled the interest of the inventor and soon the two were hard at work. They supplemented each other capitally. Mr. Gooding was an experienced draughtsman and mechanical en- gineer; Mr. Ladd knew more of the practical part of machine in- venting. Together they worked, conquered the difficulties, and in perfecting the lasting machine made a number of new and pat- entable inventions of their own. This was in 1888. As soon as the working drawings were ready, the Hand Method Lasting Ma- chine Company began building the machines and the two inventors made the patent office drawings and applications for patents on the different features of the improved machine.
Mr. Ladd worked for them, improving machinery in use and inventing and building new machines, till the list of his patents numbered twenty-six. Some were taken out in his own name, and some in that of himself and an assistant. The dates run from March, 1890, when the first laster was patented, to October, 1911, which saw the patenting of another lasting machine.
The shop was then on South Street in Boston, but was later removed to Fort Hill, Boston, and finally to Beverly, and the company was reorganized under the name of the Consolidated Hand Method Lasting Machine Company. Through all these changes, Sherman Ladd remained their valued employee, and the last pat- ent was granted a month after his death, which occurred on the 6th of September, 1911.
Mr. Ladd was twice married: first to Lilla H. S. Jackson; and on the 16th of February, 1902, to Mary, daughter of Charles and Margaret Stowell, whose ancestor was William Stowell of Essex County, England. There were no children by either marriage.
Mr. Ladd was identified with the Democratic party. His re- ligious affiliation was with the Unitarian Church.
After the business was moved to Beverly, Mr. Ladd joined the Union Club of that town, and the Beverly Board of Trade. His favorite recreation was golf, and he was a member of the Wenham Golf Club. He was also fond of getting out into the country, either riding or in an automobile.
For several years his work for the company took him to France, England, and Germany, where he was engaged in building and perfecting the plants of the company in those countries. This was between 1903 and 1909. The last two years of his life were spent in Beverly.
Chester Whiten Lasall
CHESTER WHITIN LASELL
C HESTER WHITIN LASELL, president and director of the Whitin Machine Works of Whitinsville, is a strong factor in the upbuilding of industrial Massachusetts. Whitins- ville is one of the noted manufacturing towns of the East, and ranks high among the productive centres which have brought wealth and commercial precedence to the Commonwealth. The uninter- rupted success of one of its foremost enterprises was largely due to the Lasell family. Chester Lasell's father was Josiah Lasell, who was a native of Schoharie, New York. His mother was Jane Whitin, only daughter of John C. Whitin of Whitinsville.
Josiah Lasell was a man conspicuous for his honesty, sobriety, and tireless industry. He was President of the works for many years. His son followed in his footsteps. The family heritage was derived from English ancestors who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony about 1636. The history of the family is bound up with the evolution of the best interests of the Commonwealth. The staunch, practical-minded forebears of the Whitinsville branch were all capable men of affairs. In recent generations this family has produced notable organizers of industrial enterprise, men who have understood the commercial needs of the times, and whose busi- ness invention kept pace with the rapid growth of trade. Josiah Lasell was such a leader.
Chester W. Lasell as a young man was sent to the public schools. Later, private tutors prepared him for Phillips Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts. In this famous old institution he received the systematic mental and physical training which were to fit him for active life. The disciplinary value of Andover was perhaps never more fully exemplified than in the education of Mr. Lasell who, immediately upon leaving the academy, entered his father's business.
For two years he worked in the various departments of the Whitinsville plant, acquainting himself from the bottom up with
CHESTER WHITIN LASELL
every detail of the manufacturing process, and with the administra- tion of the entire concern. He finished his apprenticeship in the counting-room where he became familiar with the bookkeeping, and with the buying and selling. The result was that in 1886 he suc- ceeded his father as President of the corporation, and soon after was also made Director.
Mr. Lasell is a prominent clubman, and is well known socially all over the State. He is a member of the Boston Athletic Associa- tion, the Algonquin Club, the Brookline Country Club, the Grafton Country Club, and the Tatnuck and Worcester Clubs of Worcester. Out-of-door sports are his favorite diversions. His country estates absorb a great deal of his attention, and his stables are his main enthusiasm. The beautiful horses of the Lasell estates are famous. In recent years he has devoted much of his time to the breeding, training, and racing of trotting stock, in which he has achieved a brilliant success. He is the leading Amateur in the country in this respect. He is also fond of hunting and fishing, to which he gives a certain amount of time annually. In his political faith he is an unswerving Republican.
In 1886, the same year which saw him succeed his father as President of the Whitin Machine Works, Mr. Lasell married Jessie Keeler, daughter of Julius M. and Julia Lathrop Keeler, of San Francisco. Their two children are Hildegarde Lasell and Mrs. Minturn de S. Verdi of New York City.
a
Edwardtt Sattof
EDWARD HOWARD LATHROP
I 'N his "Magnalia Christi Americana," Cotton Mather gives the names of those clergymen who were in the actual exercise of their ministry when they left England and were the instru- ments of bringing the Gospel into this country and organizing the New England churches. He called them "our first Good Men." Thirty-fifth in the list of seventy-seven is the name of Mr. John Lathrop of Barnstable. He came to this country from England in 1634. In direct descent from the Rev. John Lathrop, Edward Howard Lathrop, son of Belia and Lucinda (Russell) Lathrop, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, December 2, 1837. His educa- tion was secured in the public schools of the city of his birth and later he graduated at Bang's English and Classical Institute. He early developed literary tastes which were fostered by acting as clerk in a book store.
At the age of twenty Mr. Lathrop went to Montpelier, Ver- mont, to reside with his uncle, Marble Russell, and for a year and a half he read law in the office of Merrill & Willard. At the end of that time he returned to Springfield and continued his work in the office of Henry Vose, afterwards Judge of the Superior Court, until he was admitted to the Bar in 1859. He opened a law of- fice at Chester, Massachusetts, in 1860 and remained there five years. He acted in that town as Register of Probate and as assistant to the County Treasurer. In 1865 he removed to Hunt- ington, Massachusetts.
In 1868 Mr. Lathrop began his political life and was elected to the House of Representatives as the candidate of the Republi- can and Democratic parties. After a residence of three years in Chicopee, Massachusetts, he returned to Springfield, and formed a law partnership with Judge A. L. Soule under the firm name of Soule & Lathrop. In 1873 he was elected to the State Senate for one term. In 1875 he was elected District Attorney and the firm of Soule & Lathrop was dissolved. After serving as District At- torney for three years, he opened a law office in Springfield, where he continued to practice law until his death in 1915. He was President of the Hampden County Bar Association from 1906 to 1911.
Mr. Lathrop was long identified with the social and political life of Springfield. In 1891 he was elected alderman ; in 1896 he was appointed City Solicitor and continued in that office for three years under the appointment of three successive Mayors. In 1909 he was elected Mayor of Springfield and was re-elected the fol- lowing year. That year the term of Mayoralty was lengthened to
EDWARD HOWARD LATHROP
two years and Mr. Lathrop was the first Mayor to serve under the lengthened term. As Mayor and as a leading citizen of the city, he was largely instrumental in the erection of the Municipal Group of buildings, one of the finest public structures of New Eng- land. As Mayor of the city he had the pleasure of laying the cor- ner stone.
He was selected by Governor Ames and afterwards by Gov- ernor Robinson as a member of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Commission and served from 1884 to 1894.
Mr. Lathrop was a fine example of sturdy New England char- acter. He came from a humble home and by his own ability and worth climbed to places of large influence and serviceableness. He early mastered the charm of public speech and was greatly sought as a speaker on literary, social, and political matters.
Never robust physically, Mr. Lathrop was yet able to do a prodigious amount of work and bore fatigue with better grace than many who were his superior in physical endowments. His liter- ary tastes were fine and he studied deeply the messages of the great poets. His own poetic productions were often published in news- papers and magazines and they are to be collected for publication in a memorial volume. Next to his love of literature was his love of Nature. From his youth he was a disciple of Izaak Walton. Walton said: "You will find angling to be like the virtue of hu- mility, which has a calmness of spirit and a world of other blessings attending upon it." This was also the testimony of Mr. Lathrop. The poet that was in him reveled in the quiet delights of the angler's life and his heart was bound in tender interest to the horse he rode, the faithful dog which followed him through the woods, and all the animal life about him.
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