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 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
BURDETT, JOSEPH O., son of Joseph and Sally (Mansfield) Burdett, was born in South Reading (now Wakefield), Mass., Oct. 30, 1848. He was educated in the local schools and at Tufts College, graduating, in 1871, second in his class, notwith- standing the fact that he was absent nearly one-half of his senior year earning money to meet his college expenses. Immediately after graduation he began the study of law in the office of Judge Hammond, then city solicitor of Cambridge, and the same year entered the Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the Middlesex bar in April, 1873, and began practice with Mr. Hammond. The following year he removed to Hingham, where he has since resided, and subsequently opened his law office in Boston. In Hingham he has been for many years a member
of the school board, the past dozen years its chair- man. In 1884 and 1885 he represented the town in the lower house of the Legislature, serving both years as House chairman of the committee on pub- lic service, which in 1884 reported the civil-service bill now in the statutes. In the session of 1885 he was also a member of the committee on the judi- ciary. In 1886 he was made a member of the Republican State central committee, and in 1889 was its chairman. Mr. Burdett, while enjoying a lucrative practice, is also prominent in local business interests. He is interested in the electric-lighting company of Hingham, and is president of the Rock- land Hotel Company, which owns the hotels Nantas- ket and Rockland on Nantasket beach. In 1874 Mr. Burdett was married to Miss Ella, daughter of John K. Corthell, of Hingham; they have three children : Harold Corthell, Edith Mansfield, and Helen Ripley Burdett.
BURKE, JOHN H., was born in Chelsea Sept. 6, 1856. When an infant his parents removed to Ohio, but two years after they returned and made their home in South Boston. There he received his early education in the public schools. In 1872 he entered Boston College, employing his spare time in the law office of his half-brother, Gen. P. A. Collins. In 1875 he became a regular student in General Collins's office, and also entered the Boston Univer- sity Law School. He graduated in 1877. The same year he was made chief clerk to the licensing board of Boston, which position he held until the autumn of 1878, when he resigned. In October, that year, he was admitted to the bar. In 1883 he became a partner in the law firm of Collins, Burke, & Griffin. In 1888 he was president of the Chari- table Irish Society. Early in 1891 he was appointed to his present position as associate justice of the municipal court, by Governor Russell. In politics Judge Burke has always been a Democrat. In 1882 he was married and established his home in the Dor- chester district. His family consists of his wife and three children.
BURNHAM, LAMONT G., son of Washington and Mary (Giddings) Burnham, was born in Essex, Mass., on Aug. 5, 1844. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and at the Putnam High School in Newburyport. At the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted at the early age of eighteen in Company E of the Forty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry, U.S.V. Col. Eben F. Stone, of Newbury- port, was in command, and young Burnham served under him until the regiment was mustered out of
---- -----
164
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
service. He enlisted a second time, in Company F, Third Massachusetts Infantry, of which Col. Charles R. Codman was the commander. He was afterwards appointed captain on the staff of Gen. Isaac S. Bur-
--
LAMONT G. BURNHAM.
rell, M.V.M., serving here until the resignation of his leader, after which he was given a similar posi- tion on the staff of Brig .- Gen. Hobart Moore. He was also made a provost-marshal. After this he was elected captain of Troop D), First Battalion of Cavalry - a position which he resigned two years later. Upon being mustered out of the service, Mr. Burnham began business as a clerk with Batchelder Brothers in the coal trade." He devoted himself to his work with energy, and in 1868 he entered into partnership with Charles F. Newell under the firm name of Newell & Burnham, succeeding to the business of William Wood & Co. on Charles street. Everything went well with the new firm. Three years later, in 1871, Mr. Newell retired, and the business has since been continued under the name of L. G. Burnham & Co., Mr. Burnham being, as ever, its moving and inspiring genius. Where William Wood & Co. sold four thousand five hun- dred tons yearly, L. G. Burnham & Co. now sell nearly two hundred thousand tons. They do nearly all their own transportation, and own two ocean- steamers and four ocean-barges. They handle both anthracite and bituminous coal. With a main office at No. 75 State street, they have branch offices and
wharves at No. 144 Charles street and Swett street, Mount Washington avenue and Granite street, South Boston, and No. 221 Bridge street, East Cambridge. He is Republican in politics. He has held numerous positions of trust and honor. He is vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, treasurer of the Bos- ton Executive Business Association, and a director in the Mechanics National Bank of Boston. He is a member of Washington Lodge Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Burnham married Miss May A. Wood, daughter of Rufus Merrill, of Lowell, on the 30th of June, 1881. They have no children.
BURNS, MARK F., son of Charles A. and Eliza- beth (Hutchinson) Burns, was born in Milford, N.H., May 24, 1841. He comes of good old New England stock, and his parents were among the earliest of the anti-slavery agitators. He spent his early life on his father's farm, and obtained his education in the public schools of his native town and at the Appleton Academy in Mount Vernon, N.H. He taught school for four years, and in 1866 came to Boston. Here he engaged first in the retail milk-business, five years after entering the wholesale trade as a milk contractor, so called. He
MARK F. BURNS.
is now one of the largest retail milk-dealers in the city, and is treasurer of the Boston Dairy Company, one of the largest milk-companies in the country, handling all of the milk on the line of the Fitchburg
-----
165
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
Railroad and its tributaries, taking the milk pro- Carney Hospital. He is a member of the Massa- duced on over eight hundred different farms. Since chusetts Medical Society, of the Warren Club and of the Alumni Association, Woman's Hospital. 1866 Mr. Burns's business headquarters have been in the Charlestown district, and since 1873 he has re- sided in Somerville, now on his own estate at the corner of Pearl and Mt. Vernon streets. He was a member of the Somerville common council in 1880-1, the latter year its president ; of the board of aldermen in 1882-3 ; trustee of the Public Library in 1884 ; and mayor of the city during the years 1885, 1886, 1887, and 1888. He is secretary of the Mayors' Club of Massachusetts, which position he has held, with the exception of one year, since its or- ganization in 1887. He is a director in the Monu- ment National Bank of Charlestown, a trustee in the Charlestown Five Cents Savings Bank, and a direc- tor as well as treasurer in the Boston Dairy Com- pany ; and he was for several years president of the Milk Contractors' Association. On Nov. 17, 1862, Mr. Burns married Miss Elvira Bowers ; their children are Samuel A., Robert, Maud, and Paul S. Burns.
BURR, CHAUNCY REA, M.D., was born in Port- land, Me., Oct. 16, 1862. His early education was acquired in Portland, and then he entered Dart- mouth College. Subsequently, in 1884, he gradu- ated Ph.B. from Vale College, and next from Harvard Medical School in 1888. Afterwards he went abroad, studying his profession at Dublin and London. Returning to Boston in 1889 he has since practised his profession in this city. Dr. Burr has been district physician to the Boston Dispensary since October, 1890. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the Suffolk District Medical Society. He was married July 25, 1889, to Miss Frances, daughter of the late Maj .- Gen. James Brewerton Ricketts, U.S.A., of Wash- ington, D.C.
BURRAGE, WALTER LINCOLN, M.D., was born in Boston Oct. 21, 1860. He was educated in the public schools of this city, and in Mr. Noble's private school. He received the degree of A.B. from Harvard in 1883, and the degrees of A.M. and M.D. in 1888 from the Harvard Medical School. On the completion of his service as house- officer at the Boston City Hospital, he went to New York, where he remained a year and a half, and graduated from the Woman's Hospital there Feb. 1,
890. Then he returned to Boston, where he has since remained in the practice of his profession. Dr. Burrage is now gynecologist to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, electro-therapeutist to the Free Hospital for Women, and gynecologist to out-patients at the
BURRELL, HERBERT LESLIE, M.D., was born in Boston April 27, 1856. He was educated in the public schools. He graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1879, and received his degree of M.D. He was then house surgeon at the Boston City Hospital, and afterwards admitting physician at the same institution. In 1882 he was appointed surgeon to the Carney Hospital, which position he still holds. He is also surgeon to the Children's Hospital, and since 1885 has been connected with the Boston City Hospital as surgeon to out-patients and assistant visiting-surgeon. He has been de- monstrator of surgical appliances and instructor in surgery since 1886, and is now instructor in clinical surgery. Dr. Burrell is a member of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, the Boston Society for Medi- cal Observation, and the American Orthopaedic Society. He is lieutenant-colonel and medical director of the First Brigade Massachusetts Volun- teer Militia, and also president of the board of medical officers at the State House. He is a regular contributor to the "Boston Medical and Surgical Journal," as reporter of surgical progress. He confines his practice to surgery.
BURRELL, ISAAC SANDERSON, son of Benjamin and Lucy (Baird) Burrell, was born in Dorchester Oct. 13, 1820. He was educated in the Roxbury public and Latin schools. He began active life in 1844 as a carriage-builder, and with this busi- ness he was connected for many years. He early became identified with local affairs in Roxbury, and has held important positions there. During Pierce's administration he was appointed postmaster, and served through Buchanan's administration. Sub- sequently he served with distinction in the Civil War, and immediately after his return he was ap- pointed city marshal of Roxbury. In this posi- tion he remained two years, then resigning, again to take the place of postmaster, to which he was reappointed by President Johnson. He continued as postmaster until the annexation of Roxbury to Boston, and the office was made a station. He was three years a representative in the lower house of the Legislature ( 1856, 1857, and 1860), and served two years in the common council, and one in the board of allermen (1861) of Roxbury. Since 1871 he has been a member of the board of street commissioners of Boston. General Burrell
-- ----- -
.
. ...
166
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
joined the Roxbury Artillery in 1840, and he has held all the different military offices, retiring as briga- dier-general of the First Brigade of the Militia. During the Civil War he commanded the Forty- second Massachusetts Regiment as colonel. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Galveston, Tex., and was held in confinement eighteen months and twenty -. two days. He is a member of the G.A.R. (Post 26), the Loyal Legion, and other military organizations. He is also a Free Mason. He was married Jan. 23, 1848, to Miss Maria A. Newell ; they have six chil- dren : Maria L., Emma A., Benjamin H., Sarah S., Gertrude A., and Isaac H. Burrell.
BURT, GEORGE L., was born in Walpole, N.H., Nov. 3, 1829. He was educated in the local
GEORGE L. BURT.
schools. He started business as carpenter and builder in Mattapan in 1850, in partnership with his brother, John H. Burt, and shortly after their older brother, Sumner A. Burt, was admitted, the business being conducted under the firm name of J. H. Burt & Co. Sumner A. Burt died in 1886, and the two younger brothers have since continued the busi- ness under the same style and name, and contract to any extent for all work, masonry as well as carpen- tering. They have done all sorts of building on churches, schools, business blocks, paper-mills, and fine residences, the latter being their great specialty. Many of the finest residences of Milton and Canton,
the Roach Memorial Church and I.iversidge Institute are theirs. Mr. Burt has resided in Mattapan since 1848, is a director of the Dorchester Cooperative Bank, and was a member of the council four years. He served in the House of Representatives in 1880, 1881, and 1882, and was elected to the State senate in 1884 and 1885. He served on the committee ap- pointed by the governor to select a site for the insane asylum, and bought the four-hundred-acre farm at Medfield for $21,000, the allowance being $25,000. As the buildings secured were worth $9,000, the com- mittee obtained the site for about one-half the limit. Mr. Burt is an active member of the Master Builders' Association and of the Charitable Mechanic Asso- ciation. He was married in Walpole, N.H., to Miss Ellen A. Darby, of that town, on Aug. S, 1852.
BURT, JOHN H., son of Holland and Nancy ( Wat- kins) Burt, was born in Walpole, N.H., June 6, 1827. His early education was acquired in the public schools and academy of his native town. He learned the trade of a carpenter and builder, and coming early to Massachusetts, in 1850, established with his brother, George I .. Burt, the contracting and building firm of J. H. Burt & Co., with headquarters in Matta- pan. The next year Sumner A. Burt was admitted to partnership, and the three brothers continued
JOHN H. BURT.
together for thirty-five years, doing notable work. Sumner A. dying in 1886, the business has since been
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
167
conducted by the original partners. [For examples of their work see sketch of George L. Burt.] Mr. Burt has resided in Milton for forty years, and was selectman of the town for nine years. He is a mem- ber of the Master Builders' Association and the Charitable Mechanic Association. He was married in Boston, 1854, to Miss Mary Jane Cushing.
BUSH, JOHN STANDISH FOSTER, M.D., son of Solon W. and Theoda (Foster) Bush, was born in Burling-
J. FOSTER BUSH.
ton, Vt., June 4, 1850. He obtained his early education in the schools there and in the Roxbury Latin School, his parents having moved to Boston when he was fourteen years old. Then he took a special course in chemistry in the Institute of Tech- nology, and after that a course in natural sciences at Cornell University, and entering the Harvard Med- ical School he graduated in 1874 with the degree of M.D. In 1883 he was appointed house surgeon in the Massachusetts General Hospital. For many years he was surgeon to the Boston Dispensary, and he is now physician to the Children's Mission. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and is one of the councillors of the society. Dr. Bush is actively interested in fraternal organizations. He was one of the charter members of the Boston Council, American Legion of Honor, and was elected its first commander. He has been grand treasurer and supreme representative of the Grand Council of
Massachusetts of the Legion of Honor, and he is now medical examiner-in-chief. He is also a past dictator of the Knights of Honor ; past commander in the Order of the Golden Chain; a member of the Grand Lodge of Masons, and of the Grand Com- mandery of Knights Templar for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Dr. Bush was married on June 4, 1875, to Miss Josephine M. Nason ; they have had two children : Ella A. and Theoda F. Bush.
BUTLER, JOHN HASKELL, son of John and Mary J. (Barker) Butler, was born in Middleton, Essex county, Aug. 31, 1841. His early training was in the district schools of Groton and Shirley, the high school in Shirley, and the Lawrence Academy, Gro- ton, where he fitted for Yale. He was graduated from that college in the class of 1863. Then he studied law in the office of John Q. A. Griffin and William S. Stearns, Charlestown, and in October, 1868, was admitted to the bar at Cambridge. His first business connection was with Griffin & Stearns, and in the autumn of 1868 he formed a copartner- ship with William S. Stearns, under the firm name of Stearns & Butler. This copartnership has con- tinued uninterrupted to the present time. Mr.
JOHN HASKELL BUTLER.
Butler was a member of the House of Representa- tives in 1880 and 1881 ; was elected by the Legisla- ture of 1884 as member of executive council for the Third Councillor District, to fill a vacancy caused by
168
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
the death of the Hon. Charles R. McLean ; and was profession in Cambridge, where he has since re- reelected by the same district in 1885 and 1886. mained. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, of the Cambridge Medical Im- provement Society, and of the Somerville Medical Society. He has served twelve years on the Somerville school board ; as president of the Eastern Associates three years ; supreme regent of the Royal Arcanum, 1883 to 1885 ; supreme representative of the Knights of Honor, 1887, 1888; president of the National Fraternal Congress two years ; is chair- man of the committee on laws and advisory counsel of the Grand Lodge, United Workmen, of Massa- chusetts ; chairman of the committee on laws of Supreme Council Royal Arcanum; and supreme treasurer of the Home,Circle and the Royal Society of Good Fellows. He is a member of the New England Commercial Travellers' Association, Order of Free Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, American Legion of Honor, and Knights of Pythias. He is a director also of the Suffolk Trust Company. His residence is in Somerville. Mr. Butler was married in Pittston, Pa., Jan. 1, 1870, to Miss Laura L., daughter of Jabez B. and Mary (Ford) Bull ; they have one child, John Lawton Butler.
BUTLER, JOHN HENRY, son of William and Hannah (Paine) Butler, both natives of Maine, was born in Thomaston, Me., Oct. 11, 1819 ; died November, 1891. He was fitted for college at Sandwich, N.H., and at Fryeburg, Me., and entering Dartmouth, graduated in 1846. He came to Boston the same year, and was elected usher in the Brimmer School. After teaching three years in this capacity, he was elected master for three years. While there he read law with Lyman Mason, and afterwards with Ranney & Morse, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. With the exception of a few years in the '60's, when he was associated with Aaron Kingsbury, he practised alone. For years his office was at No. 34 School street. He was an active Republican. He was married in 1849 to Charlotte P. Libbey, a native of Portland, Me., and she survives him, with one son, Elliot I .. , a successful merchant in New York city, and one daughter, Emma R. Butler. Mr. Butler was a vestryman in Trinity Church for sixteen years, and for six years the superintendent of its Sunday-school.
C AHILL, CHARLES S., M.D., son of John and Mary Cahill, was born in Cambridge, Mass., . April 11, 1864. He was educated in public schools and at Harvard, where he took a special course. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1886, and then continued his studies with Dr. Durrell, of Som- erville. He was for a time connected with Carney Hospital, after which he began the practice of his
CAMPBELL, CHARLES A., son of Jeremiah and Nancy (Hawes) Campbell, was born in Boston Nov. 6, 1837. He was educated in the public schools of Chelsea, and there began business life. He has since been extensively engaged in the coal business in that city and in Boston. He has served in the Chelsea common council (four years), the board of aldermen (two years), as water commis- sioner, and as trustee of the Chelsea Public Library ; and has represented the First Suffolk District in the State senate (1884). He is in politics a Republi- can. He served in the Civil War, enlisting on July 2, 1862, in Company G, Fortieth Regiment Massa- chusetts Volunteers ; was nine months regimental quartermaster sergeant, and was commissioned lieu- tenant by Governor Andrew, and captain March 21, 1865. He is now a prominent member of the G.A.R. Mr. Campbell was married in Boston Jan. I, 1861, to Miss Lavinia Hutchinson ; they have one daughter and one son : Alice L. and Jeremiah Campbell.
CAMPBELL, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, M.D., son of Benjamin W. H. and Isabel (Sutherland) Camp- bell, was born near Halifax Sept. 12, 1834. He attended the local schools until 1853, when he moved to New York, where, in public and private schools, he fitted for college. In 1854 he entered the Harvard Medical School, and graduated in 1857. Subsequently he took a special course in surgery in London, under Christopher Heath, and also visited the various hospitals in London, Edin- burgh, and Paris. Upon his return he established himself in East Boston, and soon acquired an ex- tensive practice, which is now limited only by his endurance. In 1862 he served as surgeon in the general field-hospital on the Pamentry River, Va., and in 1864 as acting assistant-surgeon U.S.A., at the Webster General Hospital in Manchester, N.H. He is now surgeon of Joseph Hooker Post, No. 23, G.A.R. He was a member of the lower house of the Legislature of 1882-3, serving as chairman of the committee on water supply. During his first term he introduced the order which became a law, compelling merchants and manufacturers to provide seats for their female employees when not engaged in the performance of their duties. In 1889-90 he was a member of the senate, serving as chairman of
- .....
-٠ ٠ ------.
169
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
the committee on education. He was an alternate delegate to the national Republican convention at Chicago in 1880 ; and was president of the Garfield Club of East Boston, and also of the Harrison Club of 1888. He is now ( 1892) president of the East Boston Citizens' Trade Association. He was over- seer of the poor for six years. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and one of its councillors. He has frequently given public lect- ures, four of which, on "The Effects of Alcohol upon the Human Organization," "The Dangers of the Republic," "The Abuse of the Tongue," and " Rational Medicine," received wide attention. Dr. Campbell was married on Dec. 20, 1866, to Miss
BENJAMIN F. CAMPBELL.
Albina M. C. Anderson ; they have three children : Frank, Grace, and Blanche Sutherland Campbell.
CAMPBELL, SAMUEL S., son of Benjamin G. and Charity J. (Lunt) Campbell, was born in Bangor, Me., July 23, 1832 ; died April 1, 1891. He ob- tained his early education in the public schools of his native city. He began business with M. Schwartz, saw manufacturer, hardware and mill sup- plies, etc., in Bangor. In 1856 he went to Mon- treal and engaged in the same business, where he remained until 1876, when he returned to the United States and settled in Boston. He was con- nected with several corporations. He assisted in organizing the Harvard, now Boston, Clock Com- from the forecastle to the quarter-deck. In 1850
pany, and was elected its first president. He was married in Bangor, Me., July 3, 1854, to Lucy Jane,
SAMUEL S. CAMPBELL.
daughter of Moses and Phimelia (Saunders) Stevens, who survives him, with one son, Charles M. Camp- bell. He was connected with the Park-street Church. In politics he was a Republican. He never aspired to office, although frequently urged to stand for political positions.
CANDAGE, RUFUS GEORGE FREDERICK, son of Samuel Roundy and Phebe Ware ( Parker) Can- dage, was born in Blue Hill, Me., July 28, 1826. His great-grandfather, James Candage, went from Massachusetts to Blue Hill in 1766, and was one of the earliest settlers of the place, and his grand- father married Hannah Roundy there, in 1775. She died in 1851, at the ripe age of nearly ninety- eight years. Rufus Candage passed his boyhood on his father's farm, and worked at times in the saw- mill near at hand. His education was attained in the country school and at the Blue Hill Academy, where he spent two terms. At the age of eighteen, after some experience in a coaster and fisherman, he became a sailor, beginning his seafaring life on vessels plying between ports in Maine and Boston. Then he extended his voyages to Southern ports, and then to the West Indies and European ports. Early becoming proficient as a seaman, he passed
--------
-- --
٠٠٠
----- ---------------
٠٠
–––
170
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
friends in Blue Hill built him a brig, which was in the lower house of the Legislature in 1882-83, named the "Equator," and in this he made his first voyage as master, from Boston to Valparaiso. Subsequently he commanded the ships "James-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.