USA > Massachusetts > Biographical history of Massachussetts; biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, 1911, vol 7 > Part 4
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cis Blake .
FRANCIS BLAKE
W ILLIAM and Agnes Blake were the pioneer ancestors of Francis Blake. They settled in Dorchester, Massachu- setts, in 1630, having emigrated from Somersetshire, Eng- land. Francis Blake was of the eighth generation of the American Blakes. His grandfather, Francis Blake of Worcester, was one of the most prominent members of the Worcester County Bar, and for a time was a State Senator. His father, also Francis Blake, was a business man, and from 1862 to 1874 was United States Appraiser in Boston. His mother, Caroline Burling, was a daugh- ter of George Augustus Trumbull of Worcester, a kinsman of General Jonathan Trumbull, the "Brother Jonathan" who was private secretary to George Washington.
Francis Blake was born December 25, 1850, in the town of Needham, Massachusetts. He died at his home in Weston, Massa- chusetts, January 19, 1913. He was educated in the public schools, and for a while in the Brookline High School, until 1866, when his uncle, Commodore George Smith Blake, U. S. N., secured his appointment to the United States Coast Survey, in which service he acquired the scientific education which led to his later successes in civil life. Mr. Blake's twelve years of service in the Coast Sur- vey have connected his name with many of the most important scientific achievements of the corps.
In 1867 he was ordered to astronomical duty at Harvard Uni- versity Observatory, and later in the same year to the same kind of work in Louisiana and Texas. In 1868 he returned to Harvard Observatory and was engaged in making the trans-continental longi- tude determinations between the Observatory and San Francisco. The interesting fact was established during his investigations here, that a signal sent from Cambridge to San Francisco was received back, over a metallic circuit of 7000 miles, in eight-tenths of a sec- ond of time.
In 1869 he was stationed in New Jersey, for astronomical and geodetic investigations ; he also made observations of the total solar eclipse, at Shelbyville, Kentucky, the same year, and calculated the astronomical latitude and longitude of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and of St. Louis, Missouri. He was then sent to Europe to determine the astronomical difference of longitude between Brest, France, and Harvard Observatory by means of time signals sent through the French Atlantic cable. In 1870 he was stationed for a time at Harper's Ferry, and in November was detached from Coast Survey Service and appointed astronomer to the Darien Exploring Expe-
FRANCIS BLAKE
dition under Commander Selfridge, U. S. N., whose task it was to find a river route for a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien. Mr. Blake's work for this expedition was warmly appreciated by Commander Selfridge, who wrote to the Superintendent, "Upon the close of Mr. Blake's connection with the expedition, it gives me much pleasure to bear witness to the zeal, ability and ingenuity with which he has labored." The Superintendent in recommend- ing his advancement wrote thus: "His observations have invari- ably borne the severest tests in regard to accuracy." In 1871 Mr. Blake did astronomical duty in the Shenandoah Valley, Va., and assistant C. O. Boutelle, in charge of the work, wrote, "The sym- metrical precision of the latitude observations made by you at Maryland Heights, Clark and Bull Run stations has never been excelled in the Coast Survey. The results do you great credit and I shall take very great pleasure in reporting upon them to the Superintendent."
In 1872 he was again ordered to Europe for duty in connection with the third and final determination of the difference of longitude between Greenwich, Paris and Cambridge. Mr. Blake was engaged for more than a year in this great work which was carried on under the general direction of Professor J. E. Hilgard, then assistant in charge of the Coast Survey office, and later Superintendent of the Coast Survey. Mr. Blake made all the European observations, being stationed successively at Brest, France; the Imperial Observ- atory, Paris; and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. During these years he had risen ten grades and in 1873 was promoted to the rank of Assistant, the highest rank under the Superintendent. After short terms of astronomical service in Madison and La- crosse, Wisconsin, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in Savannah, Georgia, and after he had reluctantly declined the charge of the Transit of Venus Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere, on ac- count of domestic affairs, he was given the duty of preparing for publication the results of transatlantic longitude determinations in 1866 and 1870, and of presenting an original discussion of the final determination of 1872. This work occupied him for two years and the results of his labors are embodied in Appendix 18, United States Coast Survey Report, 1874.
In 1877 he represented the Coast Survey on the commission to fix the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania, and did geodetic work in connection with a re-survey of Boston Harbor, under the Board of Harbor Commissioners. This was the last field work performed by Mr. Blake, whose active career in the Coast Survey closed in April, 1878, when by reason of the pressure of private interests he wrote to the Superintendent of the Coast Sur-
FRANCIS BLAKE
vey, "It is impossible for me to express in official language the regret with which I thus close the twelfth year of my service." The high esteem in which he was held by the Superintendent was also shown by the fact that Mr. Blake was asked to allow his name to be retained on the list of the Survey as an "extra observer." Under this title the distinguished names of Professor Benjamin Peirce, Professor Lovering, Dr. Gould and Professor Winlock were classed for several years.
Mr. Blake's residence in the town of Weston began in 1873, the date of his marriage to Elizabeth L., daughter of Charles T. Hub- bard. Mrs. Blake received as a gift from her father six acres of land which became the site of a fine mansion given to her by her grandfather, Benjamin Sewall, and planned by the eminent archi- tect, Charles Follen McKim. By gradual accretions the area of the estate was increased by purchase until it included about one hundred and thirty acres. The grounds about the home were made beautiful by the art of the landscape architect and the gardener, and there were spacious out-buildings, stables, a laboratory, a photograph room, a bowling alley, and a theatre seating a hundred persons.
It was in this quiet country home that Mr. Blake used his periods of leisure while still engaged with the Coast Survey, by making investigations in experimental physics. By degrees the increase of his laboratory enabled him to extend the range of his experiments. Within a short time after his resignation his elec- trical experiments led to one of the most important inventions of the age, which was made known to the world, in 1878, through the Bell Telephone Company, as the "Blake Transmitter." The supe- riority of this mechanism was immediately acknowledged and by the tests of opposing litigation was established as a permanent feature of telephone equipment. The transmitter was of such per- fect construction that for many years there was no substantial change made in its parts. Mr. Blake's interest in electrical science did not cease with this invention; for as many as twenty different patents were taken out by him in the course of a dozen years; among these may be mentioned the electrical switchboard and the Minot-Blake microtome. He was made a Director in the Bell Tele- phone Company when his invention was accepted in 1878.
Mr. Blake was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1874, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was made a member of the National Confer- ence of Electricians in 1884 and of the American Institute of Elec- trical Engineers in 1889. The same year he was elected to mem- bership in the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
FRANCIS BLAKE
nology. He was a member of the American Geographical Society, the Bostonian Society, and the Boston Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. He was for many years appointed by the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, a member of the Commit- tee to visit the Jefferson Physical Laboratory. He was a member of the Somerset, Union, St. Botolph, and Country clubs, and a member of the Boston Athletic Association, and his active interest in photography led to his election for many years as Vice-president of the Boston Camera Club which awarded him a medal in 1892.
Indicative of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow townsmen he served as Selectman of the town of Weston for twenty years, ten of which he was Chairman of the Board. He was elected an honorary member of the Telephone Pioneers of America in 1912. He was a Trustee for many years of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, serving on the Executive Committee, to which he was elected in 1899. From 1897 to 1909 when he resigned, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and served faithfully on several of its important com- mittees. Dr. Mixter wrote these words appreciative of his services at the hospital: "A friendly but keen critic, a lover of all good scientific work, his presence in the hospital gave added enthusiasm to the advancement of medical science, and the sympathy and kindly personal interest and aid that he gave freely to the unfor- tunate and suffering whose welfare he had so much at heart made his visits to the wards happy events in the lives of the patients."
He was Chairman of the Building Committee of the Massachu- setts General Hospital from 1899, and gave time and thought with- out limit to the work.
Resigning from the Board of Trustees in 1909, the Board passed the following resolution: "That the resignation of Mr. Francis Blake as a Trustee of the Massachusetts General Hospital is ac- cepted with great regret, and that the Secretary be requested to convey to Mr. Blake this sentiment, and also the high appreciation of his fellow Trustees of the many and valued services rendered to the Hospital by him during the many years that he has been a member of the Board."
Mr. Blake's favorite recreation was rowing, his average mileage being twelve miles a day every day in the year that the Charles River was open. He was also very fond of and indulged much in mountain climbing.
His affiliations on the religious side were with the Protestant Episcopal Church, and in politics with the Republican party.
Mrs. Blake and two children, Mrs. Agnes Blake FitzGerald and Benjamin Sewall Blake, together with a great company of citizens, honor the memory of this distinguished man.
Enseis
ELMER JARED BLISS
N EW ENGLAND is proud of the record of her self-made men. The career of Elmer Jared Bliss is typical.
He was born at Wrentham, Massachusetts, August 11, 1867, and was educated at the public schools in Foxboro and Edgartown, Massachusetts. After preparing for college at the Edgartown High School, he decided to go into business immediately and entered the employ of the Brown-Durrell Co. of Boston, and went on the road as a salesman.
While traveling in their interests, he was seriously injured in a railroad wreck, but, contrary to expectations, he recovered. The compensation for his injuries, awarded him by the railroad, netted him $1500 and gave him an opportunity to make a modest start in developing a new selling plan which he had clearly worked out in his own mind during the period of convalescence.
From that $1500 and an idea, grew the Regal Shoe Company. It started with a single store ou Summer Street, Boston, in 1893, and spread throughout the country and the world, until, to-day, there are four Regal factories and more Regal stores and agencies than there were dollars in the original investment.
Mr. Bliss' idea was to have a factory duplicate the styles he purchased of the most exclusive high-grade custom bootmakers in this country and abroad-and get them into the hands and on the feet of the consumer-in the shortest possible time and at the least expense.
He anticipated an evolution in the commercial development of the shoe business, that meant the practical elimination of the in- dependent middleman or jobber-which has since taken place. He recognized that, in addition to a short-cut from maker to wearer, volume production was the only logical means of selling articles of common consumption at a moderate price and giving the con- sumer the greatest value.
Mr. Bliss foresaw that improved facilities in transportation would bring the consumer nearer the maker, and after permanent outlets for distribution were established in the principal cities, the first national publicity campaign in the shoe business was started in the magazines and metropolitan dailies. This gave Mr. Bliss an opportunity to explain directly to the consumer the merit of the new plan and product. The force and originality of this campaign made history in the shoe trade and became familiar to the public as the chain of stores increased.
The origin, growth, and development of the Regal Shoe Com- pany to its present enormous proportions of plant and product is
ELMER JARED BLISS
a monument to the enterprise, ability, and integrity of the man who conceived the idea of selling direct from factory to foot, and dupli- cating styles, at a moderate price, that were formerly considered the exclusive property of the custom bootmakers.
Mr. Bliss, who is the chief executive and Managing Director of the Company, although known as the "Human Dynamo" among his business associates for his tremendous activity and tireless en- ergy, is the most modest and unassuming member of the entire staff. He shrinks from notoriety and dislikes personal publicity, and has repeatedly refused to allow his name to be used for any political office-state or national.
Personally, Mr. Bliss, though extremely quick mentally-in- stinctively so-is deliberate and polished in manner, quiet and affable in speech. He is as magnetic among his numerous friends as he is dynamic among his business associates. His dress is al- ways faultless in detail, though never conspicuous in appearance, and his courtesy and thoughtfulness as a host are keenly appreci- ated by everyone who enjoys his hospitality.
It is not to be supposed, however, that practical business is all that interests Mr. Bliss. As is generally the case with great or- ganizers, versatility is one of the qualities which enables him to understand and put to best use the ability of others. He is equally fond of outdoor exercises and is as vigorous at play as he is strenu- ous at work. He is an enthusiastic horseman and yachtsman, and it is characteristic of the man that he rides his own horses and sails his own yachts, and always heads for the deep sea or the woods, al- most invariably accompanied by Mrs. Bliss and the children.
The Bliss family genealogy is covered in the biographical his- tory of his father, Leonard C. Bliss, who is the subject of a sepa- rate sketch in this volume.
In 1901, Mr. Bliss married Lena Harding, a daughter of Philan- der and Lena (Tinker) Harding, a lineal descendant of Abraham and Elizabeth Harding, who landed at Salem, Massachusetts, on the ship Abigail, in 1635. Two children, Elmer Jared, Jr., and Muriel Harding, with their father and mother, form a family united in the love of outdoor sports-riding, driving, motoring- never forsaking the inherited love of the sea inspired by Captain Jared Fisher in his boyhood days at Edgartown. The entire fam- ily are expert sailors and skillful equestrians.
The diversity of character and tastes of the modern business man is well illustrated in a comparison of the home and the office of Mr. Bliss. His home is replete with curios and rare works of art, collected by Mr. and Mrs. Bliss in their travels through this coun- try and Europe. His office is as bare of ornamentation as a field
ELMER JARED BLISS
general's tent. Charts and maps on the walls and rows of shoes on the tables are the only decoration.
An interesting sidelight that reveals the character of the man occurred at the time of the earthquake in San Francisco. Mr. Bliss was en route to the Pacific Coast when he first heard that the fire had destroyed the city. His first thought was for the help- less, homeless little ones. He stopped off at Los Angeles, bought all the available supplies, organized an expedition which he headed, and took them with him in automobiles over the road to San Francisco.
Mr. Bliss started the first movement to provide food and cloth- ing for the babies in the stricken districts, served with the local committees, and took prompt action in telegraphing every Regal store in all the large cities to gather and forward food and supplies for the babies.
Mr. Bliss has been president of the Massachusetts Society of Industrial Education and director of several large banking insti- tutions. His genius for organization made his administration as President of the Boston Chamber of Commerce notable.
A prominent member of the Eastern Yacht Club, he won his laurels as a sailor when he sailed his yacht Venona to victory, in the notable race from Marblehead to Bermuda in 1908-lashed to the wheel.
He is a member of the Country Club of Brookline, Massachu- setts; the Norfolk Hunt Club; the Algonquin Club; the Lotus and Mid-day Clubs of New York.
Mr. Bliss is a man of broad views, and widely read, and al- though starting in business after he had fitted for college, he has distinguished himself as a leader in educative and civic affairs, and was one of the few prominent business men who have been asked to lecture in the Harvard School of Business Administra- tion. Active in public life, though never a candidate for public office, he gives without stint his practical co-operation in public affairs, proving the real virtue of broad and patriotic citizenship in making government more efficient for the welfare of all.
A glimpse of the other side of his character was shown in an swering this direct question put by the interviewer:
"What has given you the most personal gratification of any- thing in your successful career?"
Though the question was unexpected, the answer was prompt :
"To live to see my father and mother enjoy the sunset of their lives, traveling over the world in ease and comfort."
Even the realization of his dream in creating a great business of international scope was incidental to the greater and deeper satis- faction in this fulfillment of filial devotion.
LEONARD CARPENTER BLISS
L EONARD CARPENTER BLISS was born on July 10, 1834, in the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, a town that dates back to early colonial times. He died at Deland, Florida, February 3, 1913. He came from good New England stock, for a paternal ancestor of his, Thomas Bliss of Belstone, England, came to Boston in 1636, lived in Braintree, Massachu- setts, and Hartford, Connecticut, and in 1643 settled at Rehoboth. This town was founded by Rev. William Blackstone, who was dis- tinguished by being the first settler of Boston, from which place he went to Seconet (the Indian name) and settled. In 1844, Rev. Samuel Newman came hither from Weymouth with part of his church, and in the following year, June 4, 1645, the town was incor- porated under the Hebrew name of Rehoboth, given to it by Mr. Newman because, he said, "the Lord hath made room for us." A maternal ancestor, Joseph Peck, came from Hingham, England, in 1636, and settled in Hingham, New England.
Leonard Carpenter Bliss's father, James Bliss (born November 7, 1787, died July 31, 1861), was a farmer, the son of Captain James Bliss (born January 18, 1762, died March 5, 1842) and of Mary Carpenter. Leonard C. Bliss's mother was Peddy Peck, the daughter of Cromwell Peck (born July 18, 1763) and grand- daughter of Peddy Cushman. The parents of Leonard C. Bliss were plain, honest farmer-folk. Their characters may be correctly inferred from the testimony that the father was marked by kind- ness, strict integrity, and high ideals, while the mother exerted a strong and wholesome influence on the intellectual, moral, and spir- itual life of her son.
Such primary education as he attained was obtained in the Rehoboth and Wrentham schools. There were economic difficulties in the way of his acquiring a liberal education, nevertheless he made good use of the limited means afforded him and developed a strong intelligence. In his youth light literature was not abundant and libraries were neither common nor easily accessible, hence his main reading was supplied by the Bible and the works of classic English writers.
At the age of sixteen he began working as clerk in a general store in Walpole, Massachusetts. After a time he followed the same occupation in Sharon. His advance in efficiency and in enter- prise finally resulted in making him manager of the Oliver Ames & Sons' Company store in North Easton.
Thus his natural tastes were the determining factor in his choice
Barmer
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LEONARD CARPENTER BLISS
of a vocation. He was now qualified for an independent venture and he established a retail business in North Bridgewater. After engaging many years in the grocery, shoe, and dry goods trade, he became interested in shoe manufacturing.
In politics Mr. Bliss was a life-long Republican. Naturally, in accordance with his descent from colonial ancestors, he was a Con- gregationalist, and having established his home in Brookline, he was affiliated with the Old South Church in Boston. His favorite forms of amusement were walking, driving, in fact all kinds of out- door exercise. In personal appearance he so closely resembled the late President Benjamin Harrison, that in his travels he often was mistaken for the President.
On the twentieth of October, 1863, Mr. Bliss was married to Miss Eliza Crocker Fisher. Mrs. Bliss also traced her descent from the early colonists. She was the daughter of Captain Jared Fisher and Desire Allen (Osborn) Fisher. On the paternal side she was the granddaughter of Jared Fisher and Sarah (Pease) Fisher, and on the maternal side she was the granddaughter of Captain John Osborn and Desire Allen (Coffin) Osborn. Thus she was a de- scendant from John Howland, who came from England to Amer- ica in the Mayflower. To Mr. and Mrs. Bliss have been born six children. Of these only three survive, Mrs. Bertha Leonard Hin- son, Mr. Elmer Jared Bliss, and Mrs. Fannie Agnes Thayer.
Among the influences which shaped his character and promoted his success in life, Mr. Bliss gave the first place to his paternal home; next to this in order came the influence of school, of early companionship, of private study, and, last, of contact with men in active life.
In the winter of 1912-1913, while spending some time in Deland, Florida, Mr. Bliss was taken ill and died quite suddenly, in his seventy-ninth year. The body was brought to his home in Brook- line, where the funeral service was conducted by Rev. George A. Gordon, D. D., pastor of the Old South Church, on Thursday afternoon, February 6th. In respect for his memory all the fac- tories, stores, and offices of the Regal Company, in various parts of the country, were closed. The interment was in Mount Auburn Cemetery. He left to mourn his departure, his wife, the son, and two daughters, already mentioned, and a large number of friends.
The keynote of Leonard Carpenter Bliss's career can be no bet- ter sounded than in quoting the following remark which he made not many weeks before he passed away :
"I attribute my success in life to a strong-minded, strongly religious mother."
JOHN DUNNING WHITNEY BODFISH
J OHN DUNNING WHITNEY BODFISH was born in Fabius, New York, November 6, 1878, son of Benjamin Bodfish, born November 20, 1832, and died May 26, 1912, who mar- ried Abbie Louisa Smith. He is the grandson of Benjamin Bod- fish, who was born in 1800 and died in 1832, who married Asenath C. Jones; and grandson on the maternal side of Irving Smith, born in 1802 and died in 1880, who married Louisa Dunning.
The father of Mr. Bodfish was a farmer and merchant, and possessed remarkably strong characteristics. He was honorable, aggressive, deeply religious, ready to aid anyone at all times, a sound and logical thinker, but willing to grant to others the same liberty which he claimed for himself.
Mr. Bodfish traces his ancestry in this country to John How- land and Elizabeth Tilley, who came in the Mayflower in 1620, also to a Bodfitch who changed his name to Bodfish, who came early from Wales to this country and was a hunter and trapper, and who took possession of land now included in the present farm of Mr. Bodfish in West Barnstable, Massachusetts.
In his youth, Mr. Bodfish was a lover of out-of-door life and fond of study, especially of mathematics, science, history, and gen- eral literature. He was deeply interested in animal life.
As a child, he had regular tasks about the home and farm and was early permitted to own live stock. He soon learned that the amount of money gained from these sources depended upon the thought, care, and attention which was given them. Thus he acquired habits of observation, original thinking, regularity, and industry, forming a solid foundation on which to build future suc- cess.
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