USA > Massachusetts > Biographical history of Massachussetts; biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, 1911, vol 7 > Part 2
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On the death of his grandfather, in 1863, when he was twenty- eight years old he was admitted as a member of the firm. In 1876, when the firm was incorporated as the Oliver Ames and Sons Corpor- ation, he was made Treasurer and he held that office until his death.
For some years before he assumed the official duties of Treasurer he had been interested in railway development. He had become impressed with the possibilities of the great areas of national domain awaiting the hand of civilization to bring forth hidden wealth. While quite a young man his foresight and abilities as a railroad
FREDERICK LOTHROP AMES
man had been recognized. Gradually, while continuing in his posi- tion of Treasurer of the Ames Company, he gave more attention to railroads and he was soon acknowledged to be one of the best judges of such properties, of their future prospects, and of the value of the region in which they were to operate. His opinions were fortified by extensive investments which resulted in the acquisition of a for- tune before he reached the period of middle life. His probity and integrity were unquestioned. His investments were made from no mere speculative idea but from his belief in the intrinsic value of the properties and his confidence in the future of the country.
While he was principally interested in western railroad proper- ties he was also interested in some nearer home. He was Vice- President of the Old Colony Company, but he was especially in- terested in the Union Pacific. It was a kind of heirloom, and but for the inception and courageous action of his father and uncle the road might not have been built for some years. He devoted much time and attention to its interests as well as to its important branches like the Oregon Short Line. He would hold no office in any corporations without acquainting himself with the details of their business and acquiring the information which would enable him to answer reasonable inquiries in regard to them.
At the time of his death he was Director in some seventy-five corporations : among them were the General Electric Company ; the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company; the Atchison, Colo- rado, and Pacific Railroad Company ; the Atchison, Jewell County, and Western Railroad Company; the Boulder Valley and Central City Wagon Road Company ; the Bozeman Coal Company ; the Car- bon Cut-off Railway Company; the Colorado Western Railroad Company ; the Denver, Leadville, and Gunnison Railway Company; the Denver Union Railway and Terminal Company; the Echo and Park City Railway Company; the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company; the Green River Water Works Company; the Fitchburg Railroad; the Fall River Line; the Morrison Stone Line and Tour Company ; the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company ; the Oregon Railway Extension Company; the Rattlesnake Creek Water Company; the South Park Coal Company; the Union Coal Company ; the Union Elevator Company of Omaha; the Union Land Company; the American Loan and Trust Company ; the Bay State Trust Company ; the New England Trust Company ; the Old Colony
FREDERICK LOTHROP AMES
Trust Company ; the Security Safe Deposit and Trust Company ; and the Mercantile Trust Company of New York. He was Presi- dent of the First National Bank of North Easton, of the North Eastern Savings Bank, and of the Hoosac Tunnel Dock and Eleva- tor Company.
Mr. Ames was a large owner of real estate in Boston and took a keen interest in the architectural design of his buildings. He was a friend of Richardson, the well-known architect, and consulted him in the erection of buildings. The Ames Building at the corner of Court and Washington Streets, a building whose height and fine artistic proportions make it one of the notable buildings of the city, was designed by Richardson's successors for Mr. Ames. The Ames Free Library at North Easton, Mr. Ames' Gate-Lodge and the railroad station at North Easton, a gift of Mr. Ames to the Old Colony R. R., were designed by Richardson. The library was built and endowed in accordance with a bequest of Mr. Ames' father.
Mr. Ames was a liberal patron of art and literature. He was an excellent judge of paintings and possessed many pictures by dis- tinguished artists. In his home he had two portraits by Rembrandt bearing the date of 1632, and paintings of Millet, Troyon, Corot, Daubigny, Rousseau, Diaz, and others. He exhibited these at the Museum of Fine Arts that the public might have the pleasure of en- joying the pictures. He had, too, a rich collection of tapestries, jades, and crystals. It was a gratification of a refined taste to select on his own judgment these beautiful art treasures and hold them not for vain display, but for the enjoyment of his family and friends and the satisfaction of a cultivated mind.
The æsthetic quality of his mind was especially noticeable in his interest in horticulture and his passionate love of flowers. His country estate at North Easton showed his taste and his great knowl- edge of trees, shrubs, and flowers. It was an infinite pleasure for him to accompany his friends through his extensive greenhouse and grounds, and discourse upon the variety of rare and beautiful treasures there growing in profusion. Hardly a flower that he could not at once designate by its common and its botanical name, and he would speak of them with tender expressions and out of a large acquaintance with their characteristics. There were at least eight thousand plants in his greenhouse and seventeen hundred varieties of exotics, many propagated by himself. His collection of
FREDERICK LOTHROP AMES
orchids was the most rare and extensive of any in the country. He was a liberal benefactor of the Arnold Arboretum and the Botanical Garden.
In politics Mr. Ames was a Republican but he took little active part in political matters, though conscientious in his duties as a citizen at the polls and in the expression of his views. Once during his absence he was nominated for the State Senate and was elected. But he served but one year, declining a reelection. This was in 1872.
He was zealously interested in the affairs of the Unitarian de- nomination, affiliating with the Unitarian Society in its attractive church in North Easton erected by his father, and with the First Church of Boston, where he served as head of the Executive Com- mittee.
June 7, 1860, Mr. Ames was married to Rebecca Caroline, only daughter of James Blair of St. Louis, Missouri. Six children were born to them: Henry Shreve, Helen Angler, wife of Robert C. Hooper of Boston; Oliver, who married Elise A. West of Boston; Mary Shreve who married Louis A. Frothingham of Boston; Frederick Lothrop who married Edith Callender Cryder of New York; and John Stanley Ames, who married Annie Mckinley Filley of Dover, Massachusetts.
The community, the great business interests with which he was associated, his family and friends, the ranks of good citizenship, lost a rare man, a courteous, dignified, Christian gentleman when Mr. Ames passed into the other life. In all the relations of life he was most unostentations. He made no pretense of wealth except to dis- tribute it judiciously for religious, charitable, and public welfare purposes.
Gilbert of Batch
· GILBERT BROWNELL BALCH
G ILBERT BROWNELL BALCH was born at Topsfield, Massachusetts, in 1856. He died there June 24, 1910. He was the son of Humphrey and Hannah (Bradstreet) Balch. His father was for fifty years a noted teacher and edu- cator in Essex County, intellectual, orthodox, a Christian in every sense of the word. His ancestry on the sides of both his parents was illustrious. He was a descendant of John Balch, of Somerset County, England, who, with Roger Conant, settled in Beverly, Massachusetts, on September 23, 1623. John Balch was closely identified with the early life of Salem when it was known as the Naumkeag Colony. He with Roger Conant, John Woodbury and Peter Palfrey were the leaders in that colony and came to be known as "The Old Planters." He was one of the first of five overseers of Salem appointed in 1635-and in 1636 was made one of the Board of Selectmen, the first to be chosen by the town. The name of John Balch and his wife Margery appear in the list of the first members of the first church in Salem. He subsequently built a home for himself in the part of the town which is now Beverly, and the house is now standing on the corner of Balch Street in Beverly.
Mr. Balch's mother was a descendant of Governor Simon Brad- street, who came from England in 1630 and settled in Cambridge. His wife, Ann Bradstreet, is known as New England's earliest poet.
Up to the age of fifteen years, Mr. Balch lived with his parents from whom he received his firm convictions of faith in Christianity, in God, and in man. His mother, like his father, was strictly orthodox, and she taught him the laws of God and the Church as only a mother can, from the time he was old enough to think for himself. She was one of the lovely, cultured, and intellectual women of her century.
When he reached the age of fifteen years, Mr. Balch left his home in which he had led so sheltered a life and entered Phillips Andover to prepare for Dartmouth College. In 1877 he graduated from Dartmouth and entered Boston University to study law. But after due consideration he decided to fit himself for the ministry, and with this aim in view he became a student in Andover Theo- logical Seminary whence he graduated in 1881. He was called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church at Kingston, New Hampshire. His health, however, did not permit him to keep his position long, and after three years' service he was forced to resign. Following his earlier inclinations and literary tastes, he
GILBERT BROWNELL BALCH
entered the book publishing business and removed to Toronto, Ontario, in 1885. In the year 1887 he came to Boston as partner in the firm of Martin Garrison and Company, and in 1889 he organ- ized the Balch Brothers Company of which he was President and Treasurer at the time of his death.
As a business man he was very successful. His greatest suc- cess came in the selling of the Century Dictionary, and in the pub- lishing of the well-known Stoddard Lectures. Just before his death he completed a set of books called the Stoddard Library, and if he had lived he would have undertaken the publication of an Encyclo- pedic Dictionary. His business career not only won for him a name and a fortune, but a reputation for many sterling qualities, among which we may mention his integrity, his perseverance, and his uprightness. After he had resigned his pastorate, he remained a member of the Congregational Church, and of the University Club of Boston.
Mr. Balch was married to Sarah Elizabeth Perkins, also from his native town, and a descendant from a line of Revolutionary ancestors. Although Mr. Balch never had any children of his own, he was a father and faithful friend to all boys, big or small, good or bad, and especially if they were in trouble. "There are no bad boys," he said, and he spared nothing in helping every boy who was fortunate enough to fall under his influence. He believed in all Democratic institutions, and he had firm faith in every man. His belief was that nine men out of every ten would rather do the right thing than the wrong. He possessed a tre- mendous will power, a high intelligence, and a wonderful magnetic influence which drew the hearts of all to him, and made everybody love and trust him.
A lover of all that was beautiful, he loved his native town, and himself took part in beautifying his country home "The Knolls," leaving it, as he once remarked, as his poem. Decidedly human, he was very fond of his pipe and a good story, and a game of bridge or billiards. A sportsman he was and as such he loved his dogs, and the woods, the streams, and the green, cool meadows.
When Mr. Balch died, not only those with whom he was most closely associated but the entire community lost in him a friend and an ardent, willing, and able worker for humanity. He was a man who loved the beautiful, the pure, and the true, loyal to himself, to the world, and to his ideals, generous and helpful to all in need, sympathetic and tender to all who suffered, a man whose name will not soon be forgotten. Whatever he undertook, he accomplished, and he threw himself into every struggle and every undertaking with all his mind, with all his heart, and with all his soul.
Roswell Stors / Sarrows
ROSWELL STORRS BARROWS
R OSWELL STORRS BARROWS, recognized as one of the most public-spirited and useful citizens of Jamaica Plain, and a successful business man, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, June 11, 1848, and died at his home in Jamaica Plain, April 17, 1914, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.
He was the son of Experience Storrs (1807-75) and Maria (Briggs) Barrows, and grandson of Robert and Clarissa (Wright) Barrows (1772-1850).
The first American ancestors on the Barrows side were John and Deborah, who landed in Plymouth early in the seventeenth cen- tury. John died in 1672. The staunch and industrious character of these forbears was inherited by their descendant.
Roswell S. Barrows received a public school education, and be- gan his business life as a clerk in his father's store, where he re- mained until 1869, when he entered the employ of the Ætna Life Insurance Company in Boston. After the big Boston fire of 1872 he started in the insurance business for himself, and in 1878 began dealing in real estate, taking over the long-established business of Alden Bartlett in Jamaica Plain; he continued in this line of work through life, one of the best-known real estate men in Boston. He gave special attention to the promotion of the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury districts, and built more than fifty houses.
In 1881 he bought the West Roxbury News which was later called the Jamaica Plain News and published with Roslindale and West Roxbury editions, all of which he published, managed, and edited for nineteen years.
Because of his thorough knowledge of real estate, Mr. Barrows was often called upon to act as an expert appraiser, in which ca- pacity he served the City of Boston, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, and the Boston Elevated Road, as well as a large private clientele, for thirty years. At the time of the ele- vation of the tracks of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad between Roxbury and Forest Hills, Mr. Barrows was chosen by the railroad company to settle all claims in the Jamaica Plain and Forest Hills section. His sterling integrity and his sound business judgment were recognized by all, and his knowl- edge of real estate values was remarkable. Business men trusted him and sought his views, and his judgments were accepted.
As an officer or Director for thirty years of the West Roxbury Co-operative Bank, being Vice-President at the time of his death and the last of the original incorporators, he found further occa-
ROSWELL STORRS BARROWS
sion to practise the profession for which he was so well fitted by nature and experience.
He was a Free Mason, a member of the Royal Arcanum, of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, of the Economic Club of Boston, and of the Eliot and Central Clubs of Jamaica Plain, having organ- ized and been a Charter Member and former President of the Central Club, a Neighborhood Club of three hundred men.
For many years he was an officer in, or chairman of some im- portant committees of the Jamaica Plain Citizens' Association, ren- dering especial service in keeping up the streets of the community and was also a Director of the Washingtonian Home of Boston.
In politics Mr. Barrows was a steadfast Republican, voting the Republican ticket from the time he became of age.
He was a leading member of the Central Congregational So- ciety of Jamaica Plain, although not a member of the church, and for fifteen years he was on the Prudential Committee.
At the funeral service April 19, 1914, before a gathering which filled the Central Congregational Church, a eulogy was pronounced by Rev. Charles F. Dole, D.D., a close personal friend. The burial was at Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island.
Mr. Barrows was married April 30, 1872, to Maria Louise, daughter of Elijah C. and Cynthia A. Baker of Providence. Of this union four daughters were born: Mrs. Louise B. (Robert T.) Coe of Jamaica Plain; Mrs. Alice E. (Robert T.) Fowler of West Roxbury; Miss Cecelia A. Barrows, who made her residence with her parents; and a child who lived but a year. One of Mr. Bar- rows' chief interests was in his four grandchildren.
Roswell Storrs Barrows was a rare man, modest and unassum- ing, but of great strength of character and exceptional ability. His kindness of heart was his chief characteristic. Always thoughtful, considerate, and helpful, he was ready to join in any good enterprise with all the vigor and strength of his op- timistic personality, and could be depended upon to take an ac- tive, energetic interest in any proposed public improvement, to make his home community more attractive and a better place in which to live. His public spirit was recognized by all. Less known were his countless private services to individuals who came to him for counsel and for help, and who never appealed in vain. Kindly, cordial, friendly, sympathetic, he quietly helped in in- numerable cases of need with advice and encouragement and prac- tical aid, and while his loss as a public-spirited citizen is deeply felt, he is also widely mourned as a sympathetic counsellor and friend.
TX Barry
THOMAS DAVID BARRY
P ROMINENT among the names which every American child is taught to revere is that of Barry. The story of the deeds of the gallant Commodore thrilled us at the very beginning of our school life, when we studied the history of those great men who gave life and power to the Republic. Since the days of the Commodore more than one loyal citizen has added lustre to the name, and among these may be justly placed the name of Thomas David Barry of Massachusetts, whose brilliant career was suddenly closed by death in Brockton, April 2, 1911.
This indefatigable worker was born in Randolph, Massachu- setts, January 3, 1861, the son of Robert C. and Mary J. (Mclaughlin) Barry. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native town. Even when a mere boy he was marked by ambition, earnestness, and the determination which gave promise of a successful manhood.
At an early age, the loss of his parents forced young Barry to select a trade for his livelihood. His choice fell upon the shoe industry and he entered one of the Randolph factories. At eight- een years of age he was able to make a shoe in its entirety by hand. At twenty-one years of age he was superintendent of a shoe factory. He was broad minded, and possessed strong tenacity of purpose. He had the faculty to see far ahead in his business. He was self-educated through his strong powers of observation and his study of men.
May 1, 1879, at the age of eighteen, he married Frances M., the accomplished daughter of William and Catherine (McMahon) Hogan, granddaughter of Patrick and Mary (Dunn) McMahon. This union gave renewed vigor to his resolve to make his mark in life. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Barry: Charles L. Barry, Vice-President of the Thomas D. Barry Company; Alice Barry Casey, and Catherine Barry Blanchard.
The keynote of Mr. Barry's success was an unwonted thorough- ness in everything he took in hand. Having decided to become a leader in the shoe industry, he resolved to master every branch in
THOMAS DAVID BARRY
the service. Nothing was too trivial to escape his notice; nothing was too laborious to daunt his energetic spirit. With such gifts and with such tireless application to duty, is it any wonder that he soon became a recognized master in one of the most complicated forms of human activity and inventiveness?
Such a man could not always remain in the service of others. He had not a large capital to fall back upon, no resources save his skill and his indomitable enterprise and perseverance, but he entered business for himself in 1889. The firm name was, Thomas David Barry, President; Charles L. Barry, Vice President ; William A. Hogan (a brother of Mrs. T. D. Barry), Treasurer. From the very beginning, in spite of narrow quarters, primitive machinery, and limited funds, success crowned his efforts and he passed in time from the little factory in Centre Street, Brockton, to the splen- did buildings both at the corner of Pleasant Street and North Warren Avenue and on Court Street, while the mere handful of workers at first in his employ grew into an army of one thousand men. It was the triumph of unfaltering courage and industry. Thomas David Barry was the soul of honor. When once he had pledged his word, his associates knew that that pledge was as sacred to him as the vow uttered at the altar before witnesses and friends. Never was he known to fail, even in a slight matter, when he had once made a promise. It was this fine sense of honor which made him insist that the products of his factories should be always up to the standard and that any attempt to palm off faulty articles upon unwary purchasers was to be regarded as a crime which de- served penal servitude. Honest, painstaking, laborious, of sterling principles and of blameless life-he was a man of whom the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts may always be proud, because of the rich legacy his example leaves to all generations. The esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens is evidenced by the regard with which his judgments were held in all labor disputes.
His unflagging labors weakened his health before he had reached his fiftieth year, and although every effort was made to restore his wonted vigor, the severe strain of his tireless energy had wrought an irreparable injury and he quietly passed from time to eternity in the early morning of Sunday, April 2, 1911. His death, mourned by all classes of citizens, proclaimed eloquently the esteem which he had won by his domestic virtues, his civic upright- ness, and his unstained honor.
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Franci Parthia
FRANCIS BARTLETT
F RANCIS BARTLETT was favored in his ancestry by an honorable lineage that represents the sturdy character which has made and adorned the history of this Commonwealth.
He was born in Boston, September 21, 1836. He died at his summer home at Pride's Crossing, September 23, 1913. His father, Sidney Bartlett, was regarded as without a peer in Boston's legal ranks. His mother was Caroline Louisa Pratt. Her influ- ence was one of the most potent forces that entered into the boy- hood experiences of her son. This was felt not only in giving his mind a bent toward intellectual achievement, but also in his moral and spiritual convictions and tastes, which gave stability to his character and served as foundations for his worthy career. His father also, in his love for books, by his liberality, good humor, and public spirit, was an inspiration to the son in his maturing years, giving him an example of industry, manliness, and good citizenship that made a lasting impression.
It was quite natural that the boy should have a special liking for the fine arts. History, biography, and literature also interested him in his early studies. Francis Bartlett received his prepara- tory education in the city's schools, and entered Harvard in the fall of 1853. One of his fellow graduates in the class of 1857 was Hon. John D. Long.
The year after his graduation Mr. Bartlett entered the law office of his father as a student, and later took a year's course in the Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the Suffolk County Bar a few days before his twenty-fourth birthday, but before begin- ning to practice spent a year in travel abroad.
With an inherent love for the beautiful in art, this foreign journey was spent in visiting all the great galleries of Europe. In the years that followed, while his mind was grappling with the problems of the business world, Mr. Bartlett always found time for thorough inspection of any new art treasure brought to his attention.
Mr. Bartlett's gifts to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts aggre- gated a value of about $2,500,000. He was a trustee of the Museum and in 1912 donated to it business property in Chicago, valued at $1,500,000. In 1905 he gave the Museum a collection of classical
FRANCIS BARTLETT
antiquities worth more than $1,000,000. In this collection were two priceless treasures of art-a head of Aphrodite, and a valuable duplicate of the statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, in Venice, regarded as one of the greatest equestrian statues in the world. The museum bulletin which acknowledged the gift declared it to be the most important collection ever presented. In all it consisted of 303 objects, divided as follows: Marbles, 21; vases, 66; fragments of vases, 70; bronzes, 20; terra-cottas, 39; coins, 62; gems, 13; gold and silver, 8; miscellaneous, 4. Many of these dated from five cen- turies before the Christian era.
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