USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > Harvard College class of ninety-seven : fiftieth anniversary report, 1897 > Part 7
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"During the war period, I served for a time as a senior adviser in the Salary Stabilization Unit in Boston and later in a private capacity as consultant in wage and salary matters for various banks
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and business houses in Massachusetts and Maine. This brought me into immediate contact with wage problems and the adjust- ment of them through the National War Labor Board and its successor, the National Wage Stabilization Board. Result: I am not in favor of bureaucratic government although the heads of the units in Boston were quite capable and as efficient as possible in view of the limited discretion permitted by the overlordship of the Washington authorities.
"Durable satisfactions? First, my work in locating the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology along the river front in Cam- bridge. I am always reminded of it when walking up and down the Esplanade or gazing at a sunset caressing the dome of its central building.
"Secondly, the assistance I was able to give to make possible the erection of the Charles Hayden Memorial for the Business School of Boston University.
"Philosophical opinions? I can do no better than to quote a portion of Dr. Santayana's letter from Rome to his Class Secretary on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of his graduation. His letter is in part as follows:
" 'Senex ad senem de senectute scribo: yet we are much older than Cicero ever was and also much more recent, so that we have a double chance of being wiser, having more experience of life, individual and collective. And the charm I find in old age - for I was never happier than I am now - comes of having learned to live in the moment, and thereby in eternity; and this means re- covering a perpetual youth, since nothing can be fresher than each day as it dawns and changes.'"
Beal was born February 25, 1875, at Danvers, Massachusetts, the son of Abram Snow and Margaret Elizabeth (Hay) Beal. He prepared for Harvard at Phillips Academy, Andover, and received his A.B. summa cum laude with our Class. As an undergraduate he was a member of Theta Delta Chi and won second-year hon- ors. He married Betsey Hilton Roper, June 12, 1902, at Cambridge. Their son, Bruce Hilton, a member of the Harvard Class of '29, was born November 7, 1907. There are two grandchildren.
During World War II, Bruce Beal served for over three years in
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the Air Force, and saw duty in North Africa, India, China, and the Pacific Theatre.
Beal has been a member of the Harvard Club of Boston since its formation, and was formerly a member of the Brae Burn Club, Belmont Spring Country Club, and Algonquin Club.
ARTHUR MESSINGER BEALE
TI HE Twenty-fifth Report left me practising law," writes Arthur Beale, "associated with Mr. Sherman L. Whipple in a large and busy office in Boston. I spent two years shortly thereafter- wards attempting to defend directors of crookedly-run closed banks. These honest dupes of criminally inclined bank officers had to pay up, but we settled before the Supreme Court decided that bank directors have the responsibility of trustees of direct trusts. We saved large sums of money by settlement. The moral is, don't be a bank director unless you can investigate every loan per- sonally.
"The office was much surprised when I got the largest verdict to date for a personal injury. This caused excitement among the office spellbinders and the jurors to be interviewed about my qualifications. As instructions direct, I can 'modestly' state that the jurors said that I was not a wonder as a trial lawyer, but they thought I was on the level.
"I kept my office running when I was engaged in war work and retained a client or two. Mr. Whipple died in 1930, and I have since been associated with Charles M. Cram as an office mate. He is a Stanford man.
"As for religious and philosophical opinions, I am convinced that mankind is at the beginning of his development and is dumb and ignorant on all subjects on which he does not spend a lot of thought. He can, however, reach the heights if he keeps along one line, long enough.
"I believe in God of the unlimited universe of which the world is an infinitesimal part; that one of His greatest miracles was His creation of all life; that after others failed, human beings were considered by Him as possible world leaders, and God provided
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Christ to show them the way to live together and survive; that our original American democracy and equality, constituting all neigh- bors, is the only way that civilizations may survive, but that we have muffed and lost our chance to make it work unless we quickly reform.
"I have had great satisfaction in my family. We were pals with our young children and had many family cruises. It was part of their education. I am convinced that it is better for parents to be pals with their children than to be officious. My satisfaction is extending to the next generation.
"My legal residence is Barnstable, Massachusetts, and I have the added satisfaction that John Lothrop, an ancestor, founded it. His 1643 house still stands."
Beale, the son of Joseph Henry and Frances Elizabeth (Mes- singer ) Beale, was born April 29, 1874, at Dorchester, Massachu- setts. He prepared for college at the Public Latin School in Boston. After four years with our Class, he received his A.B. in 1897, and entered the Law School after graduation. He received his LL.B. in 1900.
"I'll confess how I made the varsity football team in our fresh- man year," he writes. "Harvard's development was two years behind Yale and football was in its early development. I was full- back on the second team. Arthur Foster, quarterback on the var- sity, was out with pneumonia. I was assigned to quarterback on the scrubs. Through the Twomblys of Yale the Latin School had been provided with a sub-caliber revolving wedge then unknown to Harvard. Backs and ends bunched around the man with the ball and hugged him and each other. This mass would move slowly and spin away from any tackler. It was almost impossible to stop as long as it held together. I taught it to the scrubs, and in practice we pushed the varsity all over the field. It was a (mis- taken) axiom that quarterbacks made the team gain ground. I was transferred to the varsity shortly before the Yale game, and practised every morning taking the passes from Lewis, our center. If the coaches had taken the play instead of me, we might have won."
Beale married Louise Darwin Miller, April 28, 1908, at Dorches-
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ter, Massachusetts. Their children are: Polly Nichols (Mrs. Bak- er ), born May 7, 1909; and Benjamin, born July 1, 1912. There are five grandchildren. Beale writes that he held this report until after the birth of his newest granddaughter. Benjamin Beale was grad- uated from Harvard with the Class of 1934. Beale's brother, the late Joseph Henry Beale, Jr., received his A.B. in 1882 and an A.M. and LL.B. in 1887.
During the first World War, Beale was counsel for the first dis- trict, east section of the coast from Canada to Groton, Connecticut, of the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corpora- tion. In World War II he was in the Legal Branch of the Boston Ordnance District to take the place of young lawyers who were drafted into the services. He adds that he qualified by his bald head and that practising by Army regulations is something else from law work. His son, Benjamin, was a major in the Field Artil- lery of the Army of the United States. Polly Beale was a captain in the Women's Defense Corps.
Beale has served as consul of Siam in Boston, junior warden of St. Mary's Church in Barnstable, and has been on the Board of two homes for aged women, the Massachusetts Home and Frederika Home, and has served as their counsel. He has had published several articles on football and was instrumental in getting the rules revised in 1927. He adds that the coaches rebelled and frightened the Rules Committee into revoking the change in 1928. His club memberships include only local summer clubs at present.
* WILLIAM EARLE BEGGS
W ILLIAM EARLE BEGGS died July 15, 1928, at East Harwich, Massachusetts. He was born February 27, 1874, at Woburn, Massachusetts, the son of William and Mary Louise ( Richardson ) Beggs. He prepared for college at Woburn High School and was with the Class for three years. He then entered his father's leather manufacturing business, Beggs & Cobb, Incorporated. He re- mained in this company throughout the rest of his life. He made his home in Winchester, Massachusetts, where he was for three years a Selectman and a member of the Winchester Unitarian So-
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ciety. He was a 32d degree Mason, a member of the Knights Templar and Mystic Shrine, and had served as exalted ruler of the Woburn Lodge of Elks.
He was always very much interested in Harvard affairs, espe- cially in the introduction and development of newer methods of instruction in the College and Engineering School. His contribu- tions to the Class and Endowment Funds were generous, and he was an enthusiastic follower of Harvard's gridiron events. In Class affairs he was an active participant. His genial and optimistic character, his tolerant and well-informed mind, made him the best of companions.
He married Flora Augusta Nichols on June 2, 1898, at Woburn. She and their son, William Nichols, '26, born August 17, 1903, survived him.
+ RALPH NORMAN BEGIEN
R ALPH NORMAN BEGIEN died on February 27, 1944, at Richmond, Virginia. He was born at Charlestown, Massachusetts, on March 15, 1875, the son of Henry Martin and Louisa Florence (Thayer) Begien. He attended the Medford High School and entered Harvard in '93 with our Class. He remained only until the end of our sophomore year.
Soon after leaving college, he engaged in engineering and rail- road work which carried him to Central and South America. He was for many years associated with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and as early as 1922 became general manager of the company, with headquarters in Cincinnati. Later he retired from the Balti- more & Ohio to take an executive post with the Chesapeake & Ohio, where he remained for many years. At the time of his death this company published a biographical sketch of Begien indicating the esteem and respect in which he was held by his associates.
Begien was married in 1900 to Ida Davenport Rozzelle, at Washington, D. C. She and their three children - Ralph Norman, Jr., born May 10, 1903; John Thayer, born March 29, 1909; and Jeanne, born October 21, 1913 - survived him.
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+ WILLIAM WARREN BELL
W ILLIAM WARREN BELL died at Piedmont, California, on August 1, 1943. He was born at Worcester, Massachusetts, on July 27, 1875, the son of Clarence Horton and Sarah Elizabeth (Den- niston) Bell, and was prepared for college at the Roxbury Latin School, Roxbury, Massachusetts. Graduating with us in 1897, magna cum laude, he spent the following two years at the Gradu- ate School, acting, at the same time, as assistant to Professor Ed- ward Channing in colonial history, and receiving the added degree of A.M. in 1898.
For our Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, he wrote: "After a brief and disastrous experience in the general contracting field, I entered the employ of Jackson & Curtis in Boston, stock brokers and investment bankers, as a messenger. He became order clerk in the course of a few years, with gradually enlarging duties. In 1917, when it was a case of the older men lapping over the edges to cover the work of younger men entering military service, I came to New York to take charge of the firm's office. In 1919 the firm saw fit to take me into partnership in a very modest way."
As an outside interest, widely divergent from his business ca- reer, Bell became a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club, and spent his every opportunity in exploring out-of-doors New York, New England, and sections of the Rockies, seeking out their beauty spots in order to make them accessible and familiar to the public at large. In 1922 he was made vice-president of that society.
He subsequently retired from business, and moved to Piedmont, California, where he resided for the rest of his life, becoming a loyal Californian. At his home in Piedmont he collected camellias in his garden. He also had a home in the Sierra Mountains where he spent two or three months in the summer. He made a study of California history, which became his great interest, and collected many relics of the early days. He was a member of the California Historical Society.
He was survived by his wife, the former Edna Louise Yates, and a daughter, Diana Mary.
H. T. N.
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+ FRANK TABER BEMENT
F RANK TABER BEMENT was born at Waverly, Iowa, on September 14, 1871, the son of John Porter and Mary Elizabeth (Taber) Bement. Before coming to Harvard he had received a Ph.B. in 1893 and an A.B. in 1896 from Upper Iowa University, where he played on the football team and was captain of the baseball team. During his year at Harvard, 1896-97, he devoted himself to his studies and took an A.B. with the Class. He then went to Shell Rock, Iowa, where he entered the lumber business with the Be- ment Lumber Company and the Denver Lumber Company of Den- ver, Iowa. His later home was in Spokane, Washington, where he was senior member of the Bement-Harold Lumber Company, a member of the Burbank Lumber Company, and a member of the Harold Drug Company.
On January 12, 1899, he married Mabel Estella Newcomb. They had five children: Margaret Josephine, born March 29, 1903; Reed Newcomb and Robert Porter (twins), born August 22, 1906; Mary Elizabeth, born April 28, 1909; and Theodore Kenyon, born April 16, 1911. Robert Porter Bement died March 12, 1909.
Bement died September 2, 1915, at Spokane.
JOHN MILTON BENJAMIN
B ENJAMIN did not return a questionnaire. He was born March 6, 1866, at Patten, Maine, the son of Samuel Eliot and Ellen Marion (Fairfield) Benjamin. He was at Harvard from 1893 to 1897 as a student in the Lawrence Scientific School. He reported for the Twenty-fifth Anniversary that he was in the experimental department of the United Shoe Machinery Company. He had retired at the time of the Fortieth Report, and was unmarried.
+ GEORGE BENSON
G EORGE BENSON was born June 5, 1874, at Salem, Massachusetts. The son of Emery King and Ruth Emery ( Baker ) Benson, he prepared for college at the Browne and Nichols School and St. Mark's School. After leaving Harvard he spent several months in
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FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
business in Japan and then engaged in civil and consulting en- gineering in Alaska, California, and the Pacific Northwest. He settled in Olympia, Washington, where in addition to his own business, he was employed in state departments and was city en- gineer. During the first World War he served as chief engineer in connection with the Spruce Division for airplanes.
On February 12, 1910, at Olympia, he married Lillian Shaw, who died in January, 1926. His own death occurred on March 20 of the same year in Olympia. His many friendships bear eloquent testimony to an attractive personality compounded of a strong sense of humor and an optimistic and affectionate nature.
+ MILTON BETTMANN
M ILTON BETTMANN was born December 13, 1875, at Cincinnati. His parents were Louis and Rebecca (Bloom) Bettmann. He prepared for college at the Hughes High School in Cincinnati and received his A.B. cum laude in 1897 after spending three years in the College. In 1900 he took an M.D. degree at Johns Hopkins Medical School and then interned at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He pursued his medical studies in Berlin and Leipzig and in May, 1902, went to Paris to continue his work. While there he was suddenly taken ill and died on May 29, 1902. He was unmarried.
HORACE BINNEY
A' FTER graduation from college," writes Binney, "I studied medi- cine, receiving my degree of M.D. from Harvard in 1901. Beginning practice in Boston in 1902, I worked in the Surgical Department of the Boston City Hospital from 1907 until my retire- ment in 1936, when my eight-years' professorship of surgery at Tufts also ended. Next to the satisfaction of working in a most interesting profession was the association, especially through mem- bership in the American Surgical Association, with many men of high ideals, fine character, and enviable attainments.
"On September 18, 1915, I was happily married to Harriet Cutler Cunningham at Brookline, Massachusetts - my greatest
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satisfaction. We have two daughters: Christina, born March 7, 1924; and Jane, born September 4, 1925; so I have three great companions. After the first World War, I made several trips to Europe, the last and most enjoyable being a trip with my family and a car. We landed in Holland, drove through Belgium, France, Switzerland, and southern England in the summer of 1939. The scars of war were pretty well healed. Little did we dream of the devastation so soon to follow.
"I am blessed with good health and am able to enjoy being out- of-doors a lot, gardening, and chopping wood, watching the bird migrations in the spring, and playing golf well enough to have fun. Good eyesight enables me to enjoy many hours of reading, and music has always been a source of great enjoyment, but I can't go the ultra-modern brand.
"As to convictions, I am not a pacifist, but I believe that the world's greatest evil will not be overcome until the world becomes truly Christian.
"One regret must be registered - that present conditions do not allow my seeing more of my friends, especially classmates.
"An entirely personal note is the fact that while my great-grand- father, for whom I was named, was graduated in 1797 with Joe Warren's great-grandfather, he saw fit to send his son to Yale. However, my grandfather sent two of his sons to Harvard and none to Yale. My father broke the sequence by sending me to Harvard, which I have never regretted. Another alternation oc- curred in the coincidence of the Warren and Binney professions. Joe's forebear became a physician and mine a lawyer, while Joe studied law and I medicine."
Binney, the son of John and Charlotte Bicknell (Bush) Binney, was born December 5, 1874, at Middletown, Connecticut. He prepared at St. Mark's School in Southboro, Massachusetts. He writes that his only athletic pursuits as an undergraduate were bicycling, and golf in his senior year. He was a member of the Institute of 1770, Hasty Pudding, Signet, and Zeta Psi Clubs.
From 1934 to 1946, he served as a visiting surgeon to the Mattapan Tuberculosis Sanatorium. He is a member of the Amer- ican Medical Association, American Surgical Association, Massa-
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chusetts Medical Society, New England Surgical Society, Boston Surgical Society, and American College of Surgeons. His clubs include the Society of the Cincinnati (Pennsylvania Chapter), Harvard Clubs of Boston and New York, and St. Botolph Club. He is an Episcopalian. In October, 1946, he was appointed for one year a member of the Corporation of Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston, by Bishop Sherrill.
During the first World War, Binney served in the Army Medical Corps and was overseas from May, 1917, to April, 1919, as a mem- ber of the Surgical Staff of Base Hospital No. 5 ( Brigham Hospital Unit) in Dannes-Camiers and later in Boulogne, France. He en- listed with the rank of captain, was promoted to major, and was discharged as a lieutenant colonel. In World War II, he was a Milton member of the Massachusetts Defense Committee and was qualified as a reserve surgeon under the United States Public Health Service. He adds that both activities were negative.
+ LINDSEY EATON BIRD
L' INDSEY EATON BIRD died at his home in Marblehead, Massachu- setts, on July 29, 1943, after a long illness. He was born in Boston on April 25, 1874, the son of Lewis Jones and Sarah Eliza- beth (Eaton) Bird, and prepared for college at the Roxbury Latin School. He remained in college from 1893 to 1898, receiving his degree in the latter year, although he was always associated with the Class of '97.
After graduation he entered the banking business. For a time he was a bond salesman and later he became syndicate manager of New England mill stocks. This in turn led him to the position of vice-president of the American Metal Casket Company, which he held until the company was absorbed by a western company. He then became associated with Bradstreet, later became an editor of the Boston News Bureau, and in 1909 returned to banking. His last ten years were spent in Marblehead where he operated the Cliff Inn.
He left a widow, Mrs. Una Hamilton Bird, whom he married at
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HARVARD CLASS OF 1897
Boston, on August 12, 1903, two daughters, Mrs. Lawrence Coch- rane and Mrs. Charles Stegmaier, and four grandchildren.
His occasional appearances at college reunions always gave pleasure to his classmates, who appreciated his quiet, sincere personality.
R. L. S.
ROBERT CLARK BIRD
A FTER leaving college," writes Robert Bird, "I became asso- ciated with the Broadway Iron Foundry Company, founded by my father in 1866. In 1904 I was made general manager. I held that position until 1928, when the business was consolidated with the Barbour Stockwell Company. I remained with this com- pany until 1935, when I retired from active business.
"Since then I have lived a regular and happy life for a retired man, doing my part in the many charity and war drives. My hobby has been victory gardens and Rotary Clubs."
Bird was born January 9, 1875, at Cambridge, the son of Henry Martin and Sarah Amanda (Clark) Bird. He prepared at the Berkeley School in Boston. His two years at Harvard were spent at the Lawrence Scientific School. His brother, the late George Hiram Bird, was a member of the Harvard Class of 1875.
Bird married Lotta S. Shumway, October 25, 1899, at Somer- ville, Massachusetts. Their son, Richard Henry, was born April 24, 1904. Richard served for four years in the Army of the United States, leaving the service as a captain.
WILLIAM HORTON BLAKE
N o hits, no runs, and a lot of errors concisely sums up the story of my life," reports Blake. "My opinions are that when na- tions and people can understand and practise the Golden Rule, there will be peace on earth.
"In January, '95, Dean Briggs suggested that another environ- ment might be better for the College and myself. In June, '06, I handed my S.B. to my father - that was my accomplishment."
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Blake, the son of Thomas Dawes and Susan Price (Symonds ) Blake, was born March 27, 1876, at Belmont, Massachusetts. He prepared for college at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hamp- shire. After two years at Harvard, he transferred to Stanford Uni- versity in 1902. Two years later he returned to Harvard, to the Lawrence Scientific School. His brother, the late Henry Fordyce Blake, was a member of the Harvard Class of '93 and received his LL.B. in 1896.
Blake's marriage to Maria Teresa Hartnell took place December 20, 1902, at San Francisco, and their children are: Thomas Dawes, 2d, born September 28, 1903; and Susan (Mrs. Harley), born January 20, 1908. He married Gertrude Walsh on September 6, 1924, at Chicago. His son is a member of the Harvard Class of 1925.
During the first World War, Blake served as an enlisted man in the Navy and as a civilian in charge of anti-sabotage in the Chi- cago area, working for the Office of Naval Intelligence. In World War II, he served on the Advisory Board and as chairman of the Disaster Board of the American Red Cross Chapter in Santa Fe. He also worked for other organizations dealing with the care of the underprivileged in Santa Fe. Mrs. Blake was co-chairman and manager of the War Bond Exchange under the auspices of the A.W.V.S.
Of his occupation since 1897, Blake writes that he has been a miner, farmer, in the advertising business, and a stock broker.
ARTHUR WALKER BLAKEMORE
AS s a practising lawyer for over forty-six years," writes Blake- more, "my career has been too dull and uninteresting for historical narrative. As a lawyer I admit that my successes at the Bar have been due to my own talent, genius, and hard work, while my defeats have been due entirely to my clients.
"The accomplishments of which I am most proud are:
"That I have persuaded the same young woman to live with me steadily for over forty years, which is something in these days.
"That I am the champion golf player of the Class and I am
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HARVARD CLASS OF 1897
ready to defend my title at the Fiftieth Anniversary against men hobbling on crutches or not.
"That I am the healthiest man in the Class, having been sick in bed only four days since 1898, and I challenge my aged, anemic classmates to match that record.
"Life's most durable satisfaction to me is the pleasure derived from hard, continuous work, and I know no other that measures up to it."
Blakemore, the son of William Buckler and Mary Caroline (Walker) Blakemore, was born October 7, 1875, at Roslindale, Massachusetts. He prepared at the Roxbury Latin School. After receiving his Bachelor's degree in three years, he entered the Law School, taking his LL.B. in 1900. As an undergraduate he was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He writes that after six years of hard work, he finally made the track team and won his "H."
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