USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Boston of to-day; a glance at its history and characteristics: with biographical sketches and portraits of many of its professional and business men, 1892 > Part 17
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carried it through. He was accorded the leader- the present time holds, he has gained a wide reputa- ship of the minority of that commission, and tion. When he first entered the Newburyport post- office, stamps had not been introduced, and route agents and the free-delivery system were unknown. During his career in the service he has seen all of the many improvements that have been made in the post-office system. When he came to the Boston post-office the entire force consisted of 14 carriers and 53 clerks. Some idea of the magnitude of the business done at the present time may be gained when it is stated that there are now required the services of 577 clerks and 518 carriers successfully to carry out the work of this department. While taking an interest in politics he has studiously avoided active participation in political affairs. There are but five officials in the Boston post-office who now outrank Mr. Adams in term of continuous service. Mr. Adams was married Aug. 19, 1853, to Miss Hannah M. Little. opposed the decisions of the majority in the four contested States, - Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina. The proposed address of the minority to the people of the United States, pub- lished in the " Magazine of American History," February, 1892, was prepared by him at their re- quest, and submitted to and approved by them ; but, in consequence of doubts being started as to the publication of any address at that time, it was never signed. Judge Abbott was a delegate to seven national Democratic conventions, and in six of them was chairman of the Massachusetts delega- tion. Outside of the law and of politics he participated in many large enterprises, and was president or director of various manufacturing, railroad, water-power, and other companies. He died July 2, 1891. His wife's death occurred in 1887 ; but six of his children survive him, two of whom -Samuel A. B. Abbott and Franklin P. ADAMS, MELVIN O., son of Joseph and Dolly (Whitney) Adams, both natives of Ashburnham and members of old Massachusetts families, was born in Ashburnham Nov. 7, 1850. He pre- Abbott - continue in the practice of law in Boston. The former of these is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Public Library.
ADAMS, CHARLES DAY, son of George and Ange- lina (Day) Adams, was born in Worcester, Mass., July 28, 1850. His ancestry on both sides were from Uxbridge and Mendon. His great grand- father was Benjamin Adams, a prominent lawyer of Worcester county, and member of Congress for sev- eral terms. Benjamin, grandson of Josiah of Brain- tree, who settled in Mendon in 1735, was sixth in descent from Henry Adams, who came from Eng- land in 1634. On the maternal side the Days were woollen manufacturers in Uxbridge, and among the earliest in the country. Charles D. graduated from Harvard in 1873. He studied law with the late Oren S. Knapp, and was associated with him in practice until his death. He is Republican in poli- tics. He resides in Woburn, Mass., where he has served on the school committee, is special justice of the district court, and the present city solicitor.
ADAMS, HENRY S., son of Sewall and Sarah (Ilsley) Adams, was born in Derry, N.H. His education was obtained in the public schools. At an early age he entered the post-office in Newbury- port, Mass., and there began his long and success- ful career in this branch of public service. He remained. in Newburyport until 1853, when he was appointed to a position in the Boston post-office, with which he has since been connected. As cashier of the Boston post-office, the position which he at
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MELVIN O. ADAMS.
pared for college in the public schools and at Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, N.H. He entered Dartmouth College, and graduated in the class of 1871. Then he taught school at Fitchburg, where he also studied law with the Hon. Amasa
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Norcross, ex-Congressman from that district. He and Honorable Artillery Company. Mr. Adams came to Boston in 1874, and continued his law was married on June 2, 1857, to Miss Isabella H. studies in the Law School of Boston University, Burnham, daughter of the late Walter Burnham, from which he graduated in the class of 1875. . M.D., of Lowell, Mass., who survives him. The same year he was admitted to practice. He was assistant district attorney for ten years, until ALDRICH, HENRY O., the senior surviving partner of the extensive grocery house of Cobb, Aldrich, & Co., son of Lyman and Dorothy (Baker) Aldrich, was born in Guilford, Vt., in the year 1832. 1886, since which time he has been associated with Augustus Russ in the practice of his profession, at No. 20 Pemberton square. He is Republican in politics, and was on the staff of Governor Brackett, with the rank of colonel. He is a member of the Union and Unitarian clubs.
ADAMS, WALDO, son of Alvin Adams, the founder of the Adams Express Company, was born in Boston May 23, 1836, and died in this city March 9, 1892. He was a descendant of Henry Adams, the ancestor of the presidents John and John Quincy Adams, who settled in Braintree about the year 1641. His mother was a lineal descendant of John Bridge, who came to Cambridge in 1632. Mr. Adams was edu- cated in Boston public and private schools, leaving school at an early age. Between that time and his majority he travelled extensively in foreign countries. On his return he took a position in his father's office, with his elder brother, Alvin Adams, jr. Here he learned the business, and after the death of his brother he became agent, and subsequently superintendent, of the business in Boston. Upon the death of his father he had general charge of the business. A few years later he was elected a member of the board of managers of the company, and was assigned to the charge of the New England division, with the title of general manager, which position he filled to the time of his death. During the Civil War Mr. Adams rendered most efficient service, doing hard, honest work for his country, After the second bat- tie of Bull Run he made up a special train on the old Boston & Albany, and accepted all the freight for the soldiers in the field, going out himself in charge of the train. On the staff of Governor An- drew he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel. With William P. Lee and Charles H. Dalton, he was appointed assistant quartermaster-general, serving gratuitously in that position. He made it his busi- ness to see that the stores and materials which he carried South reached the hands for which they were intended. One of his chief characteristics was his benevolence. He did much good, and strove to help the poor in unostentatious ways. The an- nul Thanksgiving dinners in Faneuil Hall were given in large part through his generosity. He was a member of the Algonquin and Country clubs, of the Boston Athletic Association, and of the Ancient
H. O. ALDRICH.
His parents were both honored residents of that town. When he was a little more than six years of age his father died, leaving his mother with a family of young children, the farm, and other property to look after. With that independent spirit so charac- teristic of him, he resolved that he would take care of himself, and to that extent relieve his mother's burdens. He spent his boyhood in his native town, and was a diligent student in the local schools, in which he gained his education. When about twenty years of age he left the high school where he was then studying, and, coming to Boston, entered the employ of C. D. Cobb & Bros. Here he remained for about five years, when he left to engage in busi- ness for himself. Eight or nine years after he sold. out, and, returning to Boston, entered into an equal partnership with his former employers, being associ- ated directly with the late Henry E. Cobb in two stores in the city. At the end of three years, at the
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request of C. D. Cobb, Mr. Aldrich, with H. E. Cobb, came to the Washington-street store, and took an equal interest in that and all its branches. He has remained with the house ever since, and has been a most important factor in bringing the busi- ness to its present proportions. Mr. Aldrich is a valued member of the Boston Chamber of Com- merce. He is connected with the Masonic order, the Knights of Honor, and other societies. He is a man of strictly temperate habits, of keen business foresight, tireless energy and perseverance. In 1855 Mr. Aldrich was married to Miss Betsey A. Phelps ; they have had four sons, of whom three are now living and occupying positions of honor and trust.
ALDRICH, SAMUEL NELSON, son of Sylvanus Bucklin and Lucy Jone (Stoddard) Aldrich, was born in Upton, Mass., Feb. 3, 1838. He was educated in the Worcester and Southington, Conn., academics, and at Brown University. After graduation he taught school for a while in Upton, Holliston, and Worcester, and then began the study of law with Isaac Davis and E. B. Stoddard, of Worcester, fin- ishing in the Harvard Law School. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1863, and opened his first office in Marlborough. In 1874 he moved his business to Boston, retaining his residence in Marlborough, however, living in the city during the winter months. In Marlborough he was for nine years a member of the school committee, and four years chairman of the board of selectmen ; he has been a chitector of the People's National Bank, president of the Marlborough board of trade, and president of the old Framingham & Lowell Railroad ; and he is now president of the Massachusetts Central Rail- road. He was a member of the State senate of 1579 and ISSo, serving-the first term on the com- mittees on taxation (chairman), on constitutional amendments, and on bills in the third reading ; and second term on the committee on the judiciary ; and in 1883 he was a member of the House, serving again on the committee on the judiciary. In 1880 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress 'in the old Seventh District. In March, 1887, he was appointed by President Cleveland assistant treasurer of the United States in Boston, which position he held until Jan. 15, 1891, when he was succeeded by M. P. Kennard, appointed by President Harri- son. On Dec. 15, 1890, he was elected president of the State National Bank. Mr. Aldrich was married in 1865, at Upton, to Miss Mary J., daughter of J. T. Macfarland. They have one son : Harry M. Aldrich.
ALGER, ALPHEUS B., son of Edwin A. and Amanda (Buswell) Alger, was born in Lowell, Mass., Oct. 8, 1854. He was educated in the Lowell public schools and at Harvard, from which he graduated in the class of 1875. The same year he entered the Harvard Law School, and a year later, continued his law studies in the Boston office of Judge Josiah G. Abbott. In 1877 he was ad- mitted to the bar, and began practice with his father's firm, Brown & Alger, in Boston, making his residence in Cambridge. He early became promi- nent in politics, and has held the positions of chair- man and secretary of the Democratic city commit- tee, serving also on the congressional committee. In 1884 he was a member of the Cambridge board of aldermen ; in 1886 and 1887 a member of the State senate, serving on the committees on mer- cantile affairs (chairman), public service, the judi- ciary, liquor law, rules, expediting legislative business, and bills in the third reading ; and he is now (1892) mayor of Cambridge, serving his second term. He is secretary and treasurer of the Bay State Club (Democratic dining-club), a mem- ber of the Middlesex County Democratic Club, and of the Newtowne and Central Clubs of Cambridge. He is also a prominent Mason, a member of the Amicable Lodge, Cambridge Chapter, and of the Boston Commandery, and he has held offices in the St. Omer Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and Pone- mah Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men.
ALGER, EDWIN ALDEN, son of David Alger, of Milton, Vt., and Sarah (Morse) Alger, of Methuen, Mass., was born in Cornish, N.H., June 20, 1820. He traces his ancestry on the paternal side to Thomas Alger, who settled in Bridgewater, Mass., in 1665, to which common ancestor Cyrus Alger, the noted iron-founder of South Boston, the Rev. Wm. R. Alger and Horatio Alger, literary men of note, trace their descent ; and on the maternal side to Anthony Morse, who settled in Newbury, Mass., in 1632, one of seven brothers of that name. His education was pursued in the public schools at Can- ton, Mass., and the Dracut, Mass., academy. For several years he was connected with the " Vox Pop- uli," of Lowell. He studied law in the office of Alpheus R. Brown at Lowell, and was admitted to the bar in 1845. Shortly after he formed a part- nership with Mr. Brown, under the firm name of Brown & Alger. The firm continued to practise law in Lowell and Boston until 1872, when theye discontinued their Lowell office, and confined their business to their Boston office. The firm of Brown & Alger existed for more than forty years, one of
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the best-known in Boston, continuing until the re- tirement from active practice of the senior mem- ber, Mr. Brown, two years prior to his death, which occurred in November, 1889. Mr. Alger is now
E. A. ALGER.
engaged in the practice of his profession at No. 23 Court street, Boston. During his residence in Lowell he served for three years as an alderman of the city. He removed from Lowell with his family in the spring of 1872, to Cambridge, Mass., where he now resides. He has been an active and life- long Democrat, and has been interested in advanc- ing the interests of the Universalist denomination, to which religious faith he -has been strongly at- tached. He is a member of the Boston Bar Asso- ciation and of the Law Library. Mr. Alger was married to Miss Amanda M. Buswell, at Hartland, Vt., in 1844. Of their nine children, eight are now living.
ALLEN, FRANK DEWEY, son of Charles Francis and Olive Ely (Dewey) Allen, was born in Wor- cester, Mass., Aug. 16. 1850. He was educated in the Worcester schools and at Yale College, from which he graduated in 1873. Then he studied in the Boston University Law School, graduating in 1875, and in the law offices of Hillard, Hyde, & Dickinson. There he was managing clerk until 18;8, when he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and, opening an office for himself in Boston, began
practice. In April, 1890, he was appointed United States district attorney, which position he still holds. Becoming a resident of Lynn when in the office of Hillard, Hyde, & Dickinson, he was elected from that city to the lower house of the Legislature in 1881 and 1882, in which he took a leading position, serving on the committees on the judiciary, banks and banking, and congressional redistricting, and on the special committee on the removal of Judge Day. In 1884, 1885, and 1886 he was a member of the Republican State com- mittee from the First Essex Senatorial District, serv- ing on its executive committee ; and in 1886, 1887, and 1888 he was a member of the governor's council. He organized the Lynn Electric-lighting Company and is one of its directors. Mr. Allen
FRANK D. ALLEN.
was married in Lynn, on Jan. 9, 1878, to Miss Lucy, daughter of Trevett M. Rhodes.
ALLEN, GARDNER WELD, M.D., was born in Bangor, Me., Jan. 19, 1856. He was educated in the common schools, and graduated from Harvard in the class of 1877, with the degree of A.B. He entered the Harvard Medical School two years later, receiving the degree of M.D. in ISS2. He was house officer at the Rhode Island Hospital one year, and then went abroad, studying his pro- fession in Germany. In 1884 he returned to
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Oliver Ames
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Boston and began the practice of his profession. He is surgeon in the genito-urinary department of the Boston Dispensary, a member of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, and the Medical Library Association.
ALLEN, STILLMAN BOYD, son of Horace O. and Elizabeth Allen, was born in Waterborough, Me., Sept. 8, 1830 ; died in Boston June 9, 1891. He received his early education in the academies at North Yarmouth, Kennebunk, and Alfred, Me. In September, 1853, he was admitted to the bar, and practised law in Maine until May, 1861, when he removed to Boston, and two years later became associated with John D. Long, who subsequently retired from the firm, upon his election as governor of the State. At the time of his death, Mr. Allen was senior member of the law firm of Allen, Long, & Hemmenway (Governor Long since his retire- ment from congressional life having resumed his former relations). Mr. Allen was largely engaged in jury trials, and had the reputation of winning for his clients the largest verdicts against railroads and other corporations ever rendered in this coun- try. Mr. Allen was married at Kittery, Me., Sept. 7, 1854, to Harriet S., daughter of Joseph and Mary Seaward. Their children are : Willis Boyd Allen, who was a partner in his father's firm for six years and has since been engaged in literary pursuits, and Marion Boyd Allen. In 1876-77 Mr. Allen represented Boston in the House of Representatives, serving the first year upon the committee on the judiciary. The next year he was chairman of the committee on probate and chan- cery. In 1877 he conducted an examination made by the Legislature into alleged abuses existing in the State Reform School, which resulted in an entire change in the management of that institu- tion. During the last year of his life he was a member of the school committee of Boston. For three years he was president of the Mercan- tile Library Association of Boston. He was prom -. inent in Odd Fellowship and Masonry. Up to the date of his last illness he was engaged in a most successful practice of law, where he attained dis- tinction among the foremost men of the profession in the State. The cause of his client he made his own, espousing it with all the energy of his nature ; and it has been said of him that "he swayed the minds of juries by his earnestness, his sincerity, and his power to enlist their sympathies. But in all his strifes and successes he preserved his native simplicity and genuineness of character."
ALLEN, WALTER B., was born in Worcester, Mass., Sept. 8, 1861. He was educated there in the grammar and high schools, and then spent two years in the Worcester Technical School. After this he served two years in an architect's office, and, coming to Boston in 1880, went under the instruction of Arthur Noble in complete house- decorating and frescoing. While with Mr. Noble he learned all manner of designing, glass-work, and the interior finishing of fine residences. He began business for himself in 1886, with his brother. After the death of the latter, in 1888, he formed a partnership with Everett H. Hall, Oct. 1, 18SS, starting with small capital and one boy, at $2.50 per week, as. helper. The business prospered, and in 1891 the firm of Allen, Hall, & Co., had seven show- rooms at No. 88 Boylston street, and three work- rooms outside, and employed forty to sixty expert workmen and artists. The thorough training which Mr. Allen received when with Mr. Noble, in con- nection with Mr. Hall's drapery and furniture work, has so developed the business that the making of contracts for complete interiors is now the specialty of the firm. Much of their work is to be seen in the Back Bay district and throughout New Eng- land - among other notable examples of it, in a fine house completed in 1891 for Manchester Haynes in Augusta, Me., and in Mrs. Ole Bull's house in Cambridge, the decoration of the noted music-room of which is entirely their work. Mr. Allen was married April 30, 1889, to Miss Helen P., daughter of Rev. Theron Brown, of Norwood, and resides in Newtonville.
AMERIGE, C. WARDWELL, son of Francis and Be- linda (Burrill) Amerige, was born in Cliftondale, Mass., May 27, 1855. His early education was obtained in the schools of Sangus. In 1883 he entered the medical college in Buffalo, N.Y., and pursued the four years' course, graduating with honors, taking the degree of Ph.G., M.D., in 1887. He has since steadily practised his pro- fession, the larger part of the time in Boston. His specialty is the treatment of nervous diseases and the cure of the insane, and he was the originator of the " Massasoit Remedies."
AMES, OLIVER, son of Oakes and Eveline (Gil- more) Ames, was born in Easton, Mass., Feb. 4, 1831. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and, fitted for college in the acad- emies of North Attleborough and Leicester, took a special course at Brown University. He began business life as an employee in the shovel works of
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Oliver Ames & Sons, and, after a thorough training & Anderson. On May 15, 1889, Mr. Andersen there, went on the road as travelling agent of the concern. Subsequently he became an active mem- ber of the firm. In his town he has served on the school board twelve years; he has served in the State senate two terms (1880 and 1881) ; four
ANDREWS, AUGUSTUS, son of William A. and Marin years he was lieutenant-governor of the Common- , B. (Brown), both natives of New Hampshire, was born in Freedom, N.H., June 19, 1852. Earljy moving to Boston, he was educated in the publi schools here and the Boston College. In 187
wealth (1883-86), and three years governor (1887- 89). He has also served in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, as second lieutenant, adjutant, major, and lieutenant-colonel. For many years he. he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and has been has been president and director of various railroad, engaged in general law-practice ever since. He was a member of the Boston school board in 1875 In politics Mr. Andrews is a Democrat. He is a member of the First Corps of Cadets, the Royal Ar- canum, and the Knights of Honor. He was married in 1878, and has three children. manufacturing, and mining corporations and bank- ing institutions. He is a member of a number of benevolent societies and of the leading Boston clubs. On March 14, 1860, he was married, in Nantucket, to Miss Anna Coffin, daughter of Obed and Anna W. Ray, and adopted daughter of William Hadwen, of the island town. They have six children : William Hadwen, Evelyn, Anna Lee, Susan Evelyn, Lilian, and Oakes Ames. Governor Ames's summer seat is in Easton and his winter residence on Commonwealth avenue.
ANDERSON, ELBRIDGE ROBERTS, son of Galusha and Mary E. (Roberts) Anderson, was born in St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 12, 1864. His father was president of the Chicago University, afterwards senior professor of the Newton (Mass.) Theo- logical Seminary, and is now connected with the theological department of the new university of 'Chicago. Elbridge R. was educated in schools of Newton and Chicago, and the University of the City of Chicago, where he took a course in the law department, graduating from the institution in 1885. At seventeen he left home, and has made his own way since ; and at nineteen tried his first law-case. In 1881, when he started out for him- self, he went to New Mexico and "roughed it " for a while. Then he returned to Chicago, and further pursued his studies. Then he attended the Colorado State School of Mines at Golden City, and received commission as assayer in the State. Then he began the practice of law in Chicago. That was in 1883. Two years later he came East, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. He was first connected with Ives & Brigham in Salem, and then with Stearns & Butler in Boston. Here he remained about sixteen months, after which he practised alone until November, 1889, when he formed a partnership with Charles W. Butler and Clinton Gage. Mr. Gage retired from the firm in January, 1891, and it has since been Butler
married Miss Elizabeth Dodge Harris, daughter 1 of Israel Putnam Harris, of Salem ; they have one child : Mary Frances.
ANDREWS, ROBERT ROBBINS, of Cambridge, wasl born in Boston Aug. 7, 1844, and received his early education in the public schools of this city. He studied dentistry with the late Dr. R. L. Rob- bins, of Boston, and graduated from the Boston Dental College in 1875, receiving the degree of D.D.S. For seven years he was professor of dental histology and microscopy in the Boston Dental Col- lege, and at present is one of its board of directors. During the Civil War he served as private in the Forty-second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, as sergeant in the Forty-seventh Regiment Massa- chusetts Volunteers, later in the Sixtieth Massa- chusetts Volunteers as lieutenant, acting first as quartermaster of the regiment and then as its adjutant. Dr. Andrews is a member of many societies, among them being the Massa- chusetts Dental Society, the New England Dental Society, the Connecticut Valley Dental Society, the American Academy of Dental Science, the Boston Society of Dental Improvement, and the New York First District and the New York Odonto- logical Society. He has been president of the New England and the Connecticut Valley Dental Societies, and is now president of the Massachusetts Dental Society. He is also a member of the Amer- ican Medical Association ; was honorary secretary of his section from America to the Tenth Interna- tional Medical Congress, held at Berlin in 1890; and is corresponding member of many societies in Europe. Dr. Andrews is an eminent microscopist, and has written valuable essays on dental histology, read before the ninth and tenth International Medical Congresses, the American Medical Associa- tion, and before various State dental and other societies.
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