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 22
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CHARLES H. BOND.
public schools and in Spear & Sawyer's Com- mercial College. He began business for himself when but seventeen years of age, and is now of the firm of Waitt & Bond, in this city, cigar manu- facturers. He has been a member of the Saugus Saugus Library, and president of the Cliftondale Library Association. He has been twice married ; his first wife was Martha A. Morrison, and his present wife Bella Bacon. "His children are : Sarah A., Edith L., and Mildred M.
Water Board since its organization, is trustee of the, he was elected mayor of the city of Chelsea, and
BOOTHY, ALONZO, M.D., son of the late Nathaniel Boothy, of Athens, Me., was born in that town March 5, 1840. He was educated in the Athens public and high schools, at Kent's Hill, Me., and in Bowdoin College, where he attended two courses of lectures. Then he went to New York and studied his profession there under Dr. David Conant. He en- tered the army in 1862 as surgical dresser, and while in the service he graduated from the Georgetown, D.C., Medical College. Afterwards he became acting surgeon in the United States army, and later on was commissioned surgeon to the Second United States Colored Troops, where he remained a year and was detailed to take charge of that regiment. Return-
BOSSON, ALBERT D., son of George C. and Jennie H. Bosson, was born in Chelsea Nov. 8, 1853. He acquired his early education in the schools of Chelsea, preparing for college at Phillips ( Exeter) Academy, and entering Brown University. Gradu- ating in 1875, he read law for a while in the office of Messrs. Brooks, Ball, & Story, and then took the course of the Law School of the Boston University. In March, 1878, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and has been in active practice ever since, being associated for the past three years with H. L. Whittlesey, with offices in the new Ames Building. Mr. Bosson was one of the committee of one hundred in the campaign of 1884, and is' now a Democrat of the Cleveland type. In 1890
he declined a renomination, the duties of the office interfering too much with his business interests. While mayor he recommended and secured the adoption of various measures by which the financial standing of the city was materially improved. Mr. Bosson has travelled quite extensively, having crossed the ocean five times. He is president of the Review Club of Chelsea, and a member of other clubs in that city and in Boston. He is president of the County Savings Bank of Chelsea, vice-presi- dent of the Winnisimmet National Bank, treasurer
of the Gloucester Street Railway Company, a direc- tor in the Merrimac Valley Railroad Company, and is connected with other business enterprises. He is also trustee and manager of several large estates. He is associated with the Baptist de- nomination. His father was for many years a prominent business man and manufacturer, is still living, and is a member of the firm of Reed & Brother, Boston.
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BOSWORTH, NATHANIEL, of the firm of Bosworth & French, was born in Arlington, Mass., in 1835. He was educated in the public schools. At an early age he was apprenticed to the steam-fitting and plumber trade. After a few years he engaged in business for himself. In 1879 he formed a part- nership with J. W. French. The firm is now estab- lished at No. 7 Appleton street, where they conduct a large and successful business in plumbing, steam and gas fitting.
BOUVÉ, WALTER L., son of Thomas T. Bouvé, of Boston, was born in this city Oct. 28, 1849. He was fitted for college and studied civil engineering in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and followed that profession some eight years. Later he entered the Harvard Law School, and graduated in 1879. He was admitted to the bar in 1880, and has been in general practice ever since. His office is now at No. 113 Devonshire street. Mr. Bouve is a Republican in politics. He resides in Hingham, Mass. He is special justice of the Second District Court of Plymouth, and was assistant district attor- ney of the South-eastern District during 1890. He is a member of the Boston Bar Association and of the Boston Athletic Association. He is treasurer of the Rockland Hotel Company. Mr. Bouve mar- ried Charlotte B. Harden, of "Hingham.
BOWEN, HENRY J., elder son of Hosea B. and Mary D. Bowen, was born in Boston Sept. 11, 1853. His maternal ancestor came to this country on the " Mayflower," in 1620, and shortly afterwards became the mother of Peregrine White, the first white child born in the Plymouth Colony. His paternal ancestor came from Wales, landing at Rehoboth in 1640 and becoming one of the set- tlers of the town of Swansea, Mass., naming it from their place of nativity in Wales. He is the grand- son of Henry Bowen, the publisher of the first Universalist magazine ever issued, and the grand- nephew of Abel Bowen, the well-known engraver and publisher of Bowen's "Picture of Boston" in 1829. His family have resided in Boston since the beginning of the present century. Mr. Bowen graduated at the Lincoln Grammar School, and entered the English High School. While there, at the head of the graduating class, at the age of fifteen, he received the offer of a position in a wholesale lumber-house on State street, which he accepted. He remained in the lumber business for ten years, filling various responsible positions, and then took charge of the books of a wholesale flour and grain commission-house. He was admit -. and the Boston Society for Medical Science.
ted to the Boston Chamber of Commerce, of which he is still a member. Upon the death of his father in 1882 he succeeded to the latter's real-estate and
HENRY J. BOWEN.
insurance business in South Boston, and greatly in- creased it. He is a large owner of real estate in that section, and has charge of many properties for clients. He is trustee for a number of large estates, and is regarded as authority on all matters pertaining to South Boston real estate. He is a director in the Mattapan Deposit and Trust Company, and in the Boston Real Estate and Auction Board. Mr. Bowen was married in Boston, in May, 1880, to Miss Sarah E. Dean, daughter of Henry A. Dean, of the Taun- ton family of that name.
BRACKETT, ELLIOTT GRAY, M.D., was born April 6. 1860, in Newton, Mass. He was educated in the public schools of Newton, and graduated from Hat- vard M.D. in 1886. After one and a half years at the City Hospital, he was interne in the Boston Lying- in Hospital one term. He is now (1892) connected with the Boston Dispensary as physician to the de- partment of nervous diseases. He is also City Hos pital assistant to the same department, and assistant surgeon to the out-patients department of the Chil dren's Hospital. Dr. Brackett is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, the Psychological Society.
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BRACKETT, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, son of Ambrose S. and Nancy B. Brackett, is a native of the Granite State, born in Bradford, N.H., June 8, 1842. He attended the Colby Academy, New London, N.H., graduating therefrom in 1861. Declining an appointment to West Point, he entered Harvard, finishing his course, with honors, in the class of 1865. He then entered the Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1868. Admitted to the Suffolk bar that year, he has since carried on a lucrative practice, first in connection with the late Levi C. Wade, and later with Walter H. Roberts. Mr. Brackett was early associated with public affairs, and has occupied several prominent positions, besides that of chief executive of the Commonwealth. In 1871 he was president of the Mercantile Library Association, and again in 1882. In 1874 he was chosen judge-advocate on the staff of Gen. I. S. Burrell, First Brigade, Massachusetts militia, and held the office for two years. He was one of the promoters of the Young Men's Republican movement, and presided at its first pub- lic meeting in Faneuil Hall in 1877. From 1873 to 1876 he was a member of the Boston common council, president of that body the latter year ; and in 1876 he was elected to the lower house of the Legislature. He was reelected for the four succeeding years, serving on several important com- mittees, among them those or. labor and taxation, and the special committee on the revision of the statutes. In 1884 he was again elected to the House, and the year following was chosen speaker by a large majority. It was in this year that he presided over the stormy debate on the Metropoli- tan Police Bill, and by his firm yet judicious action won praise and commendation from both sides. In 1886 he was reelected speaker, and at the State election the same year was elected lieutenant- governor. This position he held for three years, and in July and August of 1888, during the illness of Governor Ames, was acting governor. In this capacity he visited Columbus, O., with a special legislative committee, on the occasion of the cen- tennial of the settlement of Ohio. A year later he represented the Commonwealth at the dedication of the Pilgrim Monument at Plymouth. In the fall of 1889 he was elected governor, and served one term. Governor Brackett was married, June 20, 1878, to Miss Angie M., daughter of Abel G. Peck, of Arlington, and he resides in that town.
early education was obtained in the public school and the Stetson High School. He entered the medical department of Harvard University, from which he graduated in the class of 1875, receiving his degree of M.D., since which time he has been in the practice of his profession. He is an in- structor in the post-graduate course of the Harvard Medical School, surgeon in the Massachusetts Chari- table Eye and Ear Infirmary, and was formerly assistant ophthalmological surgeon in Carney Hos- pital. Dr. Bradford invented the electro-magnet for ophthalmological purposes, and introduced and used cocaine for the first time in the New England States. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and of the American and the New England Ophthalmological Societies.
BRADLEY, WILLIAM L., founder of the Bradley Fertilizer Company, was born in Cheshire, Conn., in 1826. He spent his childhood on a farm, attending the district school in his native town until the age of eleven. He then went to Southington Academy for one year, the subsequent year he spent at Cheshire Academy, and next had the benefit of six months' training at the Lancasterian School in New Haven. Immediately after, at the age of thirteen, he began his mercantile career, as a clerk in a dry-goods store in New Haven. At the age of seventeen he entered the employ of Charles Parker, a large hardware-manu- facturer of Meriden, Conn., as travelling salesman. While here, and with Mr. Parker's consent, he be- came, in his early twenties, partner with one of his friends in another business. Through the misman- agement of his partner, to whom this business was entirely intrusted, he found himself at the end of the first year over twenty thousand dollars worse off than nothing, while the business, according to the books, showed a profit of much more than this amount. This copartnership was immediately dissolved. He consulted his employer only, who advised him to compromise with his creditors. But this he de- clined to do, saying that he was determined to pay dollar for dollar. He had marked out two ways to accomplish this. One was to leave his employer and begin business for himself, knowing that he could buy goods on credit; the other was to ask his employer to raise his salary from three thousand dollars, which he was then receiving, to six thousand dollars per annum, and pay the same for four years in advance. Mr. Parker, realizing the value of his services, granted his request. The money was advanced, all of which went to pay his
BRADFORD, HENRY WITHINGTON, M.D., was born in Randolph Jan. 22, 1852. He is a descendant of Governor Bradford of the Plymouth Colony. His indebtedness. Now came a period of struggle,
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when his energies must be devoted to his em- ployer's business for four years without further compensation, and when he must maintain him- self and his family by his outside endeavors (always, however, with Mr. Parker's consent). He felt that a.clean record was cheap at any cost. Such an experience as this was not all loss. On the contrary, it afforded him a practical knowledge of human nature and the power of making quick and correct estimates of those with whom he dealt. Here, too, he learned never to overesti- mate but rather to underrate his ability, and to undertake only such enterprises as in his judgment he could carry through. His successes have justi- fied his judgments. His early business ventures being not wholly congenial to his tastes, he came to Boston in 1861, about the beginning of the Civil War, with no capital save his untiring energy and keen business sagacity. Having a natural fond- ness for agriculture, he was inclined to seek an occupation in this direction. His knowledge of certain new departures in agriculture abroad, and his quick appreciation of their agricultural and com- mercial importance, made him desirous of becom- ing a pioneer in the manufacture of commercial fertilizers in this country. Knowing the late Hon. Oakes Ames and his reputation as a willing helper of young men, he made him acquainted with his views. The latter, recognizing the young man's character and energy, and grasping as well the feasibility of his project, consented to endorse Mr. Bradley's paper for a small amount, on the simple verbal promise that he should receive one-quarter of the profits of the venture. With money obtained on these notes, Mr. Bradley built a small factory on the margin of the Back Bay, and thus inaugurated an industry which has grown to gigantic proportions. The difficulties in the way were at first almost in- surmountable ; but constant and untiring super- vision, intelligent experiments, and the devotion of eighteen hours out of every twenty-four much of the time, could not fail to bring good results, when united with good business judgment and with one aim in view from which he has never swerved, - to earn a reputation for his goods and ever to main- tain it at any cost. In 1861 Mr. Bradley did a business of about fifteen thousand dollars. Now his company does the largest business of the kind in the world, requiring in all of its branches and connections a capital of over four million dollars, and employing over fifteen hundred men. In two or three years the small plant on the Back Bay was outgrown, and a new factory was built at North Weymouth, Mass., which formed the nucleus of the
present immense works of the company. As the business grew Mr. Ames's accommodations were largely extended from year to year, and out of the profits of the business alone these accommodation- were retired and a working capital accumulated. In 1871 came a grave crisis in Mr. Bradley's career. He was obliged to suspend payment and obtain an extension of six, twelve, eighteen, and twenty-four months, with interest added at seven per cent. These payments were all promptly made at ma- turity, and at the end of two years he had paid in full an indebtedness of five hundred and twenty- three thousand dollars, with interest. He had saved his business and maintained his reputation. In sunshine and storm a strong friendship, based on mutual respect, continued between Mr. Bradley and Mr. Ames, each having implicit confidence in the word of the other, and asking for no better bond. How well that confidence was placed is shown by the fact that after the death of the latter, Mr. Bradley paid in to his estate the sum of about one hundred thousand dollars, for Mr. Ames's interest in the busi- ness, on the strength of the verbal understanding. From 1861 to 1872 the business was done in Mr. Bradley's name, individually. In the latter year it passed into the hands of the corporation previously mentioned, formed under the laws of the Common- wealth, and known as the Bradley Fertilizer Company. Associated with Mr. Bradley in this corporation are his two sons, Peter B. Bradley as vice-president, and Robert S. Bradley as treasurer. Like father, like son; but it is easier to keep a load rolling than to lift the first turn of the wheel.
BRADY, HUGH E., was born in Boston Dec. 4, 1855. He was educated in the public schools, at- tending the Cooper-street Primary, the Mayhew Grammar, and the Evening High Schools. He learned the trade of a bookbinder and continued in it until 1887. He was a member of the Democratic city committee for several years, its secretary dur- ing 1884, 1885, and 1886. He also served in the common council in 1884, 1885, and 1886. In January, 1887, he was appointed by Mayor O'Brien to fill a vacancy in the board of street commis- sioners, and at the municipal election of that year he was elected to the board for a term of three years. In 1890, having received the nomination of the Democratic and Republican conventions, he was reelected for a further period of three years. Having been appointed by Mayor Matthews a member of the board of survey upon the passage of the act creating that body, he resigned the posi- tion of street commissioner May 17, 1891, entering
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upon his new duties the next day. He is a member of a number of social and fraternal organizations.
BRECHIN, WILLIAM PITT, M.D., son of Perez Martin and Harriet (Harrington) Brechin, was born in Cornwallis, N.S., March 11, 1851. He was educated in his native place and at Acadia Col-
WILLIAM. P. BRECHIN.
lege, from which he graduated in 1869. Coming to the United States, he entered the Harvard Medical School, and graduated in 1872. He was then for two years assistant surgeon of the Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. He is now medical examiner for the Vermont Life Insurance Company, and also for the John Hancock Life In- surance Company, and surgeon to the First Regi- ment Patriarchs Militant (Odd Fellows). Dr. Brechin is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and a contributor to the " West- ern Chronicle" of Kentville, Kings county, N.S., his articles being historical and genealogical sketches of Kings county, N.S., and its early New England in- habitants. He is past high priest of St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter of Boston, a member of De Molay Commandery, Knights Templar, and of the Massa- chusetts Consistory, S.P.R.S. He is a justice of the peace for Suffolk county. Dr. Brechin was married Dec. 25, 1884, to Miss Alice Florence, daughter of
James and Eleanor Augusta ( Harrington) Edmonds, of Newton.
BREED, FRANCIS W., one of the most prominent shoe-manufacturers of Lynn, is a native of that city. His extensive factories, when in full running-order, have a capacity of six or seven thousand pairs of shoes per day, and give employment to large num- bers of workmen. His progress in the business has been steady, and the rapid growth of his enterprises to their present proportions is due to his skilful management and thorough knowledge of the details of the trade and of the market, both for purchase and sale. He has travelled extensively in his own country as well as abroad. In politics he is Repub- lican, and has been prominent in his party, at one time being mentioned for the nomination for lieuten- ant-governor. In 1891 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Russell one of the Massachusetts commissioners to the World's Fair. He is president of the New England Shoe and Leather Association, elected to that position April 6, 1892. His residence on Ocean street in Lynn, having a beautiful outlook over. the bay, is one of the most attractive homes on the North Shore.
BREED, JOSEPH J., born in Lynn, Mass., is a direct
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JOSEPH J. BREED.
descendant of Allen Breed, who settled in Lynn in 1630, and from whom Breed's Hill, now Bunker
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Hill, was named. He received his education in the public schools of Lynn. For some years he was a frequent contributor to the press, and is now editor of the "Ægis Record," the official organ of the order of which he is vice-president. He has been honored with the highest offices in other bodies, and now holds the secretaryship of the Fraternal Beneficial Congress, a national league of the long-term assess- ment endowment fraternities of America. He has always been successful in his business undertakings, and is to-day the owner of an estate with several acres of land on the outskirts of Lynn, where he delights to retire from the cares of city life, and where, like Supreme President Dobson of the same order, he gratifies his taste in keeping a few choice specimens of blooded horses.
BRIDGHAM, PERCY ALBERT, son of Albert and Martha Campbell (Maddocks) Bridgham, was born in East Eddington, Me., Nov. 5, 1850. He was educated in the public schools of Charleston and Bangor, Me., graduating from the high school in the latter city. He was assistant register of deeds of Penob- scot county, Me., from 1869 to 1872, and clerk of the common council of Bangor from 1870 to 1872. Then he came to Boston and studied law in the office
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PERCY A. BRIDGHAM.
of the late Alphonso J. Robinson. Admitted to the bar in 1875, he formed a partnership with Mr. Robin-
son which lasted five years. He has since practised alone in general law and conveyancing. For some years he has edited a legal department in the " Boston Globe," under the nom de plume of " The People's Lawyer," and has published a book under the title of " One Thousand Legal Questions answered by the People's Lawyer." He has foreclosed about seven hundred mortgages, probably the largest num- ber handled by any one man in Boston. Mr. Bridg- ham is a member of a number of orders. He is junior deacon of Mt. Olivet Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Cambridgeport ; junior sagamore, Hobo- mok Tribe, Independent Order of Red Men, Boston ; member of Cambridge Royal Arch Chapter ; Boston Council Royal and Select Masters ; and Cambridge Commandery, Knights Templar. He was married Sept. 12, 1870, to Miss Lydia M. Wentworth ; they have two children : Albert Alphonso and Gladys Ruth Bridgham.
BRIGGS, FREDERIC MELANCTHON, M.D., was born in Longwood, Mass., Nov. 23, 1857. He was edu- cated in the Brookline schools, and graduated from Harvard College in 1879, and the Harvard Medical School in 1883. For some time he was surgical house-officer at the Massachusetts General Hos- pital, and then went abroad. Returning to Boston in 1886, he has since remained here in private prac- tice. Dr. Briggs is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, of the Boston Society for Medical Observation, and Surgeon to the Boston Dispensary.
BRIGHAM, CHARLES, architect, was born in Water- town, Mass., June 21, 1841. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, graduating from the high school in 1858. The same year he entered, as student, the office of Calvin Ryder, architect, of Boston. In 1860-61 he was draughts- man in the office of Gridley J. F. Bryant. In 1862 he enlisted and served nine months in the field as second sergeant in Company K, Fifth Massachusetts Volunteers. On his return he renewed the study and practice of architecture under Mr. Bryant and in the office of John H. Sturgis, with whom he entered into partnership in 1866 - a relation which continued until 1886, a short time previous to the death of Mr. Sturgis. In 1888 he became associated with John C. Spofford, which partnership terminated in Febru- ary, 1892. Among the principal buildings designed during his association with Mr. Sturgis are the Bureau of Charities on Chardon street, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Boston Young Men's Christian Association Building, the Church of the Advent, and the Massa-
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chusetts Hospital Life Insurance Building on State street. In 1890 and 1891, while associated with Mr. Spofford, the extension of the Maine State Capitol and other important works were built ; and among the recent buildings designed by him and now in progress are the Massachusetts State House exten- sion, begun in 1890, the Public Library and Town Hall at Fairhaven, Mass., and the Inebriates' Hos- pital at Foxborough. He has always resided in Watertown, where he has held various public offices, having served several years on the school committee, and four years, 1884-87, as chairman of the board of selectmen ; has been a member of the board of trustees of the Public Library since 1888, of which he has been chairman for the last three years ; has been president of the Cooperative Bank since its establishment ; and is a director of the Union Market National Bank. He was master of the Pequossette Lodge of Free Masons two years.
BRIGHT, WILLIAM ELLERY, was born in Mobile, - Ala., Sept. 26, 1831 ; died at Waltham, Mass., March 12, 1882. His father was Henry Bright, . born in Waltham Aug. 31, 1793, and his mother, - Abigail (Fiske) Bright, born Nov. 3, 1794. His earliest American ancestor upon his father's side was Henry Bright, born in the county of Suffolk, England, in 1602, and coming to this country in 1630 with the company that settled in Watertown, Mass. William Ellery Bright was of the seventh generation from this founder, and the order of his ancestry was as follows, viz. : Henry, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, John, Henry, Henry. On the maternal side he was also of the seventh American generation. The succession was as follows : John, William, Thomas, Jonathan, Jacob, Abigail, and Henry. Mr. Bright received his early education at private schools in New England. He was for many years a member of the well-known firm of Torrey, Bright, & Capen, one of the leading carpet-houses of WILLIAM H. BRINE ... Boston. In 1861, February 28, he married Miss 23, 1841. He was the second of a family of ten children, all but two of whom are still living ; the parents celebrated their golden wedding in 1888. He was educated in the public schools of Cambridge, and at the age of fourteen began work as a boy in the dry-goods shop of Jonathan Wheeler in East Cambridge. Here he started on a salary of a dollar a week, but, alert and quick to learn, he soon became a salesman. Then he found employment with in- creased salary in the Boston dry-goods house of Hogg, Brown, & Taylor. After remaining there Elizabeth G. Bright, daughter of Jonathan Brown Bright, of Waltham. From this union are three children, - a son, bearing his father's name, and two daughters, who, with their mother, survive. A cor- respondent of the " Boston Transcript," who writes after a long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Bright, says of him : " He was a man of excellent business faculty, with a calm, clear, and capacious head, a soul of the highest rectitude and honor, and a heart framed of generosity and kindness. In 1875 the good people of Waltham elected him to the a while he accepted a responsible position in the General Court, and urged him to be a candidate again the next year ; but the pressure of his business
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