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 53
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JAMES H. PAYNE.
the Old World, travelling in France, Italy, and through Egypt and Syria. In 1855 he was married to Miss Harriet M. Whittier, of Boston; they have had two children.
PAYNE,- JAMES HENRY, JR., M.D., was born in Boston. His early education was attained in the Boston Latin School, from which he graduated 1882. He received the degree of A.B.
in from Harvard College in 1886, and the degree of M.D. from the Harvard Medical School in 1889. He pursued his medical studies abroad for over a year, spending most of his time in the hospitals of Paris and London. He is a member of the British Medical Association, the Harvard Medical Association, and the Massachu- setts Medical Society. He is at present practising in Boston.
PEABODY, FRANCIS, JR., was born in Salem Sept. 1, 1854. His father moved to London in 1871, with his family. The son, although prepared for Harvard College before going to England, went for two years to Cheltenham College, one of the big English public schools. He then entered Trinity College, Cambridge, and took his degree of. B.I .. in the law Tripos in 1876. Having passed a year
FRANCIS PEABODY, JR.
large corporations. He is also trustee of several large estates.
PEARSON, LINUS E., was born in Charlestown Jan. 7, 1836. He was educated in the public schools there, and after completing his education engaged in the railroad business. In 1864 he was elected treasurer of the city of Charlestown, and served in that capacity until it was annexed to Boston. In 1874 he was appointed registrar of voters, and has held this office for over fifteen years.
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In 1885 he was chosen chairman of the board, Odd Fellow, treasurer of the Adelphi Club, and a which position he still holds.
PEIRCE, HENRY, son of William and Phoebe (Manning) Peirce, was born in Waltham, Mass., Oct. 2, 1807. His first ancestor in America was John Peirce, who came from Norwich, Eng., and was admitted as a freeman of Watertown in 1637. His father was a private and corporal for three years in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Peirce was educated in the common school, but his greater education has been gained in the business world. He began work with George Murdock, a grocer of his native town, with whom he remained for seven years. In 1828 he went to Lowell and engaged in the baking busi- ness. There for nearly nine years he was partner in a successful firm. In 1837 he moved to Boston, and, entering into partnership with Elbridge Wason, began business as wholesale grocer at No. 61 Chat- ham street, where he has remained to the present time. The house of Wason, Peirce, & Co. have prosecuted a widely extended business, and have always met their engagements. In the vicissitudes of business affairs in the last half-century this fact stands out very noticeably. Henry Peirce is a good type of the straightforward and honorable Boston merchant. On the 21st of January, 1833, he was married to Louisa Adeline Bayley, who died in Brookline, Mass., March 22, 1879. They had four children : Henry (deceased), Henry Edgar (de- ceased), William Olliver, and Helen Louisa Peirce (deceased).
PEIRCE, WARREN A., a descendant of Solomon Peirce, of Lexington, who was wounded in the Lexington fight of 1775, and of Benjamin Locke, captain of a company of minute men at the battle of Bunker Hill; was born in West Cambridge (now Arlington), Mass., June 5, 1849. He was educated in the public schools of the town and the Cotting Academy there. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-two years old, and then went to work for his brother in the coal and wood business. Subsequently he bought out his brother's interest, and now carries on the business in Arlington, Arling- ton Heights, and Lexington. He was a member of the lower house of the Legislature in 1886 and 1887, serving on the committees on water supply and on State House ; and in Arlington, where he resides, he was selectman three years and president of the water board three years. In politics he is Republican ; he has been chairman of the Republi- can town committee, and is a member of the State central committee. He is a prominent Mason and
director of the Arlington Boat Club. He was mar- ried Dec. 5, 1882, in East Boston, to Miss Jessie C. Bacon, of Arlington; they have one child, Warren A. Peirce, jr.
PERKINS, EDWARD AUGUSTUS, M.D., son of Benjamin and Rebecca Hill (Ashby) Perkins, whose father was a soldier of the Revolution, was born in Topsfield, Mass., Feb. 23, 1827. His earlier education was obtained in the common district school. After- wards he was a student for some years in the ancient academy of his native town, where he began the study of Latin and Greek. Subsequently he en- tered Pembroke Academy, Pembroke, N.H., remain- ing two years. In 1848 he entered Dartmouth, in the class which graduated in 1851. Among his classmates were Judge Ross, now of the Supreme Court of Vermont, and Senator Proctor. Then he studied in the Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1854. In July of the same year he began his professional career in Lowell, associated with Dr. Charles A. Savony. At this time he became a mem- ber of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and dur- ing the succeeding eight years held various offices in the Middlesex district of the organization. In October, 1856, being in poor health, he concluded to try a country life, and removed to Tyngsborough, seven miles distant from Lowell. It was his inten- tion to remain here not more than two years, but finding his health improved and business good, he continued to practise there nearly eight years. Then he relinquished business and spent a year in travel and study. Returning to practice, in September, 1865, he established himself in Boston, where he has since remained. He was one of the earliest members of the Boston Gynæcological So- ciety. Some fifteen years ago, mainly through the reading of French and German medical literature, he was led to a thorough study and the gradual and cautious practice of electricity ; and each year this has absorbed more and more of his time and attention. And when, several years ago, Apostoli of Paris published his new and scientific methods of treatment of certain tumors and other diseases of women, Dr. Perkins' previous studies and practice had prepared him to give them a fair trial, and the results have been such that he asserts that the greatest delights of his life-work have been in this field. His practice is large and lucrative, and his reputation extends beyond the limits of his native State. Dr. Perkins was married Feb. 5, 1857, to Miss Sophronia M., daughter of the late Dr. Daniel Little, of Goffstown Centre, N.H.
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PERRY, BAXTER E., son of Rev. Baxter E. and he was on the United States steamer "Alabama," Lydia G. (Gray) Perry, both natives of Worcester,
BAXTER E. PERRY.
in Commodore Wilkes' " Flying Squadron." This vessel before the end of her cruise became known as the " death ship," a name singularly appropriate, for a large proportion of her officers and crew died from yellow fever, the scourge running riot aboard of her for nearly two months. When the " Ala- bama " was condemned and sent North, he returned home and again took up his studies. It was not long, however, before he reentered the navy and joined the blockading squadron off Charleston, S.C., where he remained until the city was evacu- ated by the Confederates. After leaving the ser- vice he began the study of medicine under private instruction. In 1870 he entered the Harvard Medical School, in the same class with the now well-known surgeon E. H. Bradford, Dr. F. C. Shattuck, and a number of other men who have taken high places in the profession. He continued at Harvard nearly two years, when he was ap- pointed medical house-officer in the Boston City Hospital, which position he filled for about one year. On leaving the hospital Dr. Perry at once entered practice in Roxbury, and continued there until 1875. ; He then became a " special writer " on the staff of the "Boston Herald." At first he wrote over the nom de plume "Dr. Frank," but of
Mass., was born in Lyme, N.H., April 26, 1826. His early education was attained in the country schools and at Thetford, Vt., Academy, and he finished at Middlebury College, Vt. He began pro- fessional life in 1849 as a teacher in Canada, and for several years after he taught in the Chester Academy, Vt. Meanwhile he studied law, and, ad- mitted to the bar after finishing his studies in the office of Ranney & Morse, Boston, he began prac- tice in May, 1855. Establishing himself in Boston, he has practised successfully here since that time. He is a trustee of Middlebury College. In politics he is a Republican, and has represented his district in the lower house of the Legislature. He is a member of the Masonic order. Mr. Perry was mar- ried in August, 1851, to Miss Charlotte H. Hough ; they have had four children : Edward Baxter (a musician in Boston), Cora G. (now the wife of Charles A. Hamilton, of New York), George H. (now partner in the firm with his father), and Edith C. Perry.
PERRY, J. FRANK, M.D., was born in Biddeford, Me., July 9, 1846. When the Civil War broke out he was preparing for college at Williston Seminary, J. FRANK PERRY. Easthampton, Mass. In August, 1862, he left his late years his communications have been unsigned. studies and entered the navy. For nearly a year Dr. Perry has done much to popularize medicine,
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and in his writings he has shown rare dis- ecutive committee, which position he has held for crimination, his endeavors to teach non-profes- several years. He was one of the first advocates of sionals being eminently rational and characterized by a studied avoidance of all subjects, such as the use of drugs, the discussion of which might en- courage self-treatment, and so do harm. Besides his regular communications to the "Herald " he has written a household guide, entitled " A Friend in Need," and two smaller books, one on home sanitation and the other on nursery hygiene. Having a fondness for animals, and especially dogs, he wrote a book, some eight years ago, on their management in health and in disease. In all English-speaking countries this book is now recognized as the authority on the subjects of which it treats, and there are but few lovers of the dog who have not heard of "Ashmont." To many, however, his identity is unknown, as his work simply bears this modest nom de plume. For several years Dr. Perry has been the editor of a monthly publication called the " Boston Journal of Health." In 1889 he devoted it to the purpose of securing a law in this State limiting the practice of medicine and surgery to those only who had been duly qualified to assume such important duties. Almost alone and at his own expense he succeeded in having such a law passed by the house of repre- JAMES T. PHELPS. sentatives ; but it was defeated in the senate. Dr. Perry is now supreme medical director in a large insurance society, and to this office and his many other duties he wholly devotes himself. Although he has not engaged in practice for a long time, but few of his professional associates have contributed more to the interests of humanity. than he; for by his writings he must inevitably have dispelled many popular delusions which have shadowed medicine, and done much to prevent disease by encouraging a right manner of living.
the principle of cash-surrender values in life insur- ance. Mr. Phelps has served four years in the Chelsea city government : two years in the common council, and two in the board of aldermen. He was married Oct. 19, 1869, at Fairhaven, Vt., to Miss Julia A. Hamilton, daughter of Otis Hamilton of that place ; they have two daughters, Altha and Elizabeth Phelps. His residence is now in Boston.
PHELPS, JAMES T., son of James T. and Lucy Jane (Mitchell) Phelps, was born in Chittenden, Vt., May 24, 1845. His education was begun in a Bur- lington, Vt., school and continued in the public schools of Chelsea, Mass. He began work when a lad of thirteen, and continued his studies while acting as office boy. His first work was in the office of Azro D. Lamson, in State street (now of Philadelphia), but very soon he went into the en :- ploy of the National Life Insurance Company, and has been in the insurance business ever since. He is now State agent of the National Life Insurance Company of Vermont, and a member of the board of directors; past president of the Boston Life Underwriters' Association, and chairman of its ex- Society, and the Boston Homeopathic Medical
PHILLIPS, LESLIE ALMOND, M.D., son of the late Almond Phillips, of Marlborough, Mass., was born in Fitzwilliam, N.H., Aug. 19, 1847. The education afforded by the public schools of his native town was supplemented by private instruction and study during the years in which he was teaching in public schools and in a "Boys' English and Classical School" in Illinois. Entering the Boston Univer- sity School of Medicine, he graduated therefrom M.D. in 1877. After a few months' practice in Watertown, he came to Boston to assist Prof. J. H. Woodbury, M.D. Succeeding to his practice the following year, and like his predecessor devoting special attention to diseases of women, Dr. Phillips has won a wide reputation in this field of practice. He is a member of the American Institute of Home- opathy, the Massachusetts Homeopathic Medical
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Society, and he has for years served as secretary of the Massachusetts Surgical and Gynecological So-
LESLIE A. PHILLIPS.
ciety. To all of these he has contributed largely, his papers relating chiefly to women's diseases. One of his papers, entitled " Public School Educa- tion as a Cause of Ill-health in Girls," was widely reprinted in the newspapers, and excited much comment, as did also a series of papers in the " Public Health Journal " upon "The Ills of Women : their Causes and Means of Prevention." In 1891 he conceived the plan of and erected the attractive building, of offices and apartments, on the corner of Boylston and Berkeley streets. This he named the " Woodbury Building," and under his personal management it affords a handsome income. He has also a farm in Sharon, Mass., called Bloom- dale Farm, where he keeps and breeds some fine horses. Dr. Phillips was married in 1879, to Mrs. Ella A. Hastings, daughter of O. R. Fisher, of South Framingham, Mass.
PIERCE, JOHN, son of James and Mary Francis (Payson) Pierce, was born in Dorchester, Nov. 16, 1834. He was educated in the Dorchester public schools and at Chauncy Hall. His first business connection was with Lawrence, Wilde, & Hull, furniture manufacturers on Cornhill. For the greater portion of the time from 1872 to 1888 he was first or second assistant assessor for the city of
Boston, and he is now principal assessor. He was a member of the lower house of the Legislature 1884-5, for Ward 24, where he still resides. Mr. Pierce was married April 24, 1861, to Miss Angelina M. Batterman; and they have one son, William . Payson Pierce.
PILLSBURY, ALBERT E., son of Josiah W. and Eliza- beth D. Pillsbury, was born in Milford, N.H., Aug. 19, 1849. His father, who was a graduate from Dartmouth in 1840, intended following a profession, but the state of his health required the out-of-door life of a farmer, which vocation he pursued, and his son's early career was passed upon a farm. Mr. Pillsbury began his education at the Milford com- mon and high schools, and prepared for college in the Appleton Academy at Ipswich, N.H., and the Lawrence ActAlemy at Groton, Mass., entering Har- vard in the class of 1871. He did not finish his course in college, but went to Sterling, Ill., where he taught school for a year and also studied law with his uncle, Hon. James Dinsmore. He was ad- mitted to the bar in the State of Illinois, and some time later joined the ranks of the profession in Mas- sachusetts, and has since been engaged in active practice in Boston. Mr. Pillsbury was for several years vice-president, and one year president, of the
ALBERT E. PILLSBURY.
Mercantile Library Association, and is still one of its trustees. He is also a trustee of the Franklin
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Savings Bank, and a director in the United States Trust and Safe Deposit Company. He entered pub- lic life as a member of the lower house of the Legis- lature from Ward 17, Boston, and served three years, from 1876 to 1878 inclusive. He was elected to the senate from the Sixth Suffolk District, for the years 1884, 1885, and 1886. As a member of the House in 1876 he was chairman of the committee on elections and a member of the committee on
member of the judiciary and other committees. While in the senate in 1884 he was chairman of the joint committee on the Hoosac Tunnel Railroad, a member of the committee on the judiciary, and chairman of the special committee on the bribery investigation. In 1885 and 1886 he was unani- mously chosen president of the senate. In 1887 Governor Ames offered him the appointment of judge-advocate-general, and a year later, in 1888, a seat upon the bench of the Superior Court, both of which he declined, as well as the position of corpo- ration counsel for the city of Boston, offered him by Mayor Hart. In 1888 he was chosen president of the National Association of the Pillsbury family, at its first gathering in Newburyport on the old home- stead built by Daniel Pillsbury in Newburyport in 1699-1700, and which had been occupied by de- scendants of the family until 1889, when the ancient building was destroyed by fire. In the fall of 1890 he was nominated attorney-general by the Republi- can State convention, and was elected by a flatter- ing plurality at the ensuing election. In 1891 he was reelected for the term of 1892.
PILSBURY, EDWIN L., son of Horatio N. and Lydia S. (Lake) Pilsbury, was born in Bucksport, Me., April 21, 1850. He was educated in the public schools of Charlestown, Mass. He began business life in the store of Champney Brothers & Co., wholesale small-wares, in Boston, and in 1873 opened a store of his own, retail dry-goods and fur- nishings, in Charlestown. Here he has since con- tinued, enlarging his establishment from time to time as trade has increased. In politics he is Re- publican. In 1882 and 1883 he was a member of the lower house of the Legislature, and in 1887 and 1889 of the senate. He served on the committees on prisons and on water supply, was chairman of the committee on the Hoosac Tunnel, Troy, & Green- field Railroad in 1887, and chairman of that on railroads in 1889. In 1889 he was appointed by Mayor Hart a member of the Boston board of health ; and in February, 1892, by Mayor Matthews, one of the commissioners of public institutions. He
is a member of various literary, political, and social organizations, past grand master Odd Fellows, past dictator Knights of Honor, and member of Henry Price lodge of Masons. On Oct. 22, 1884, Mr. Pilsbury was married, in Bath, Me., to Miss Louise T. Plumer ; they have two children : Mabel Lydia and Edna Louise Pilsbury.
PINKERTON, ALFRED S., son of William C. and federal relations, and in 1877 and 1878 was a Maria W. (Fiske) Pinkerton, was born in Lancas-
ALFRED S. PINKERTON.
ter, Pa., March 19, 1856. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and was early obliged to enter business life when, upon the death of his father, his mother returned to Massa- chusetts, her native State. He found employment as book-keeper with a leading manufacturing firm of Worcester, and here he remained for some time. Having, however, no taste for mercantile pursuits, but desiring to enter the legal profession, he applied himself, during his leisure hours, to the study of law under the direction of the late Peter C. Bacon. Finally, in 1881, he was admitted to the bar, and at once began practice. In a few years he had risen to a recognized position in the profession, and at the same time was becoming prominent in public life. In 1886 he was elected to the lower house of the Legislature, serving in his first term ( 1887) as chairman of the committee on towns. Reelected with increased majorities each time, during the ses-
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sion of 1888 he served on the committees on the judiciary and on constitutional amendments, and on the joint special committee to represent the Commonwealth at the centennial celebration of the settlement of Ohio; and in the House of 1889 he was again a member of the committee on the judi- ciary, and House chairman of the committee on water supply. He also took a leading part in many of the debates on the floor. Next he was elected to the Senate, representing the Fourth Wor- cester district. During his first term here (1890) he served on the committees on the judiciary, pro- bate and insolvency, and on constitutional amend- ments (chairman). Reelected in 1891, he was chairman of the committee on the judiciary and of the joint committee on State boards and State com- missions, and a member again of the probate and insolvency committee. Reelected again in 1892, he was made president of the Senate. Mr. Pinker- ton is a prominent Odd Fellow and Mason. He was grand master of the State Lodge of Odd Fellows for a year or more, and in the session of 1889, being relieved from that position, he was elected representative to the Sovereign Lodge. Resigning a few months later, in August, 1890, he was re- elected to fill out the unexpired term, and a year later he was again reelected for the term of two years. Ever since leaving the chair of grand mas- ter he has been chairman of the finance committee of the Grand Lodge. He has served as master of the Blue Lodge, Masonic fraternity,is a member of Eureka Chapter, Worcester Council, and Worces- ter County Commandery, Knights Templar. For several years he has been secretary, and was for some time chairman, of the Worcester county Republican committee.
PIPER, JAMES. RUFUS, was born in Boston June 1, 1864. His early life was passed in the beau- tiful town of Dublin, N.H., where he fitted for the Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, Mass. For a year or more he studied dentistry in Keene, N.H., under Burton C. Russell, one of the ablest dentists in the Granite State, and then entered the Boston Dental College, graduating from that institution in 1886, with the degree of D.D.S. Dr. Piper has a lucrative practice in this city, and is also a demonstrator of operative dentistry in the Dental. College. He spent four years with Nathaniel W. Hawes, M.D. He is a mem- ber of the Massachusetts Dental Society and of the Alumni Association of the Boston Dental College, being on the executive committee of the latter organization.
PLUMMER, RUFUS BURNHAM, JR., son of R. B. and Caroline (Besse) Plummer, was born in Augusta
RUFUS B. PLUMMER, JR.
Me., May 6, 1851. His education was attained in the local academy and a business college. He came to Boston in 1869, and learned the carpenter's trade. From 1874 to 1884 he was superintendent for David Perkins, a well-known builder of business and private buildings in Boston and vicinity. In 1885 he succeeded Mr. Perkins in business as a builder, and three years after became a member of the Master Builders' Association. He has been engaged in the erection of many notable buildings. Prominent among them are the six-story business building on Essex street, corner of Columbia; the buildings at the corner of South and Tufts streets, and Harrison avenue and Exeter place ; those numbered 181-183 and 383-385 Tremont street ; the " Post" building, on Washington street ; the Church of the Messiah, on Falmouth street : three buildings for Harvard College, in Cambridge ; the Children's Convalescent Home, in Wellesley Hills ; the summer residences of William Burnham in Lincoln, Eben S. Draper in Hopedale, and Francis Sargent in Wellesley ; and a large number of resi- dences in the Roxbury district and Brookline. Mr. Plummer was married in Fernandina, Fla., Dec. 24. 1877, to Miss Mary E. Gervin ; they have six chil- dren : Wallace, Caro, Harold, Emma, Bertha, and Martha Plummer. All but the first, who was born
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in Fernandina, were born in Boston. Mr. Plummer resides on Hutchings street, Roxbury district.
POMEROY, HIRAM STERLING, M.D., son of the late Oren Pomeroy, of Somers, Conn., was born Jan. 22, 1848. He was educated by private tutors at .Yale, receiving the degree of A.M. from the latter. Sub- sequently he graduated at Leipsic, receiving the degree of M.D. He is a member of the Massachu- setts Medical Society and of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He has been in active practice in Boston six years, having previously practised in Austria. Dr. Pomeroy was first mar- ried in 1872 to Elizabeth, daughter of John Blake, of New Haven, Conn. His second marriage was in 1882, to Mary Eleanor, daughter of Rev. D. Shepardson, D.D., of Cincinnati, O.
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