USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1913 > Part 30
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neers, life member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Insti- tution of Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain. In 1884 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, of Hoboken, N.J. He is a member of the Union and Com- mercial Clubs of Boston, and the Colonial Club of Cambridge.
Mr. Leavitt was married, June 5, 1867, to Annie Elizabeth, daughter of William Pettit, of Philadelphia, who was the pioneer in loco- motive building in the United States, and long connected with the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Mrs. Leavitt died December 28, 1889. Their children were Mary Alford, Hart Hooker, Margaret Almira, Harriet Sherman and Annie Louise. Of these, three are living: Mary A., Margaret A. and Annie L.
Mr. Leavitt's life has been one of close appli- cation to his chosen profession, and today he occupies a leading position among the most eminent engineers of this country and of Europe, his ability being recognized by all his contem- poraries. During his several trips abroad he has received marked attention from engineers, and from the various engineering societies. He was a warm personal friend of the late Herr Krupp, of Essen, who frequently consulted him concerning engineering matters.
WILLIAM L. LOCKHART
LOCKHART, WILLIAM L., a prominent mortu- ary supply manufacturer of Boston for over fifty years, was born at Horton, N.S., July 20, 1827, and died at his home in Belmont, Mass., February 21, 1902. He came to Boston at the age of fifteen years, from his native place, and being unable to pay for his passage he worked his way as cook on board a vessel- an experience which he would often mention when sailing out of the harbor on the steam yacht which he afterward owned, and on which he spent much of his time. After walking the streets endeavoring to find employment, he started to walk to the city of Salem, to answer an advertisement for an apprentice, in order to save what little money he had, he
Um L. Lockhart
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paid his fare over the toll-bridge with a lead pencil; he failed to secure the position he wanted, but fell in with a sea captain, an old friend, who took him to Nova Scotia. For the next two years he went to sea, and then came to Boston again, being full of pluck and determination to succeed this time. After a hard struggle he apprenticed himself to a stair builder, receiving for his first year's service, fifty dollars, of which he saved twenty- five (at the present time there are not many boys that possess the same pluck and energy). He then visited Nova Scotia and returned to Boston to finish his apprenticeship of three years at stair-building, proving himself so competent and skilful that he was rapidly pushed ahead. A few years later he went to work for John Peak, casket manufacturer of Boston. He remained there six years, at first doing piece work, and later as a contractor hiring his own help. At the end of six years he went into business for himself in the manu- facture of caskets and robes, building a small wooden factory on Cambridge Street, East Cambridge. As he only had three hundred dollars, he obtained the lumber on credit for his factory from a lumber merchant who had faith enough in his business ability to tell him he could have all the lumber he wanted. Not long afterward his factory was burned, with only an insurance of one thousand four hundred dollars, although the property was worth five thousand dollars. It was characteristic of him, that on hearing through a friend that the insurance agent said to a friend he expected to save a couple of hundred dollars by settling the loss immediately, at less than its actual value, he refused to accept as much as one cent less than the full amount, which he finally received, though he was obliged to wait six months for it. He subsequently bought a brick factory on Bridge Street, East Cambridge, being backed financially by the same lumber merchant who helped him before. He after- ward bought considerable more land adjoining his factory and put up a number of wooden buildings, including a stable for thirty horses. By his energy and perseverance he succeeded in increasing his business, and in 1887, bought the lot of land at the corner of Staniford and Causeway Streets, Boston, and erected a large
brick building, containing offices and ware- rooms. A few years later, his two brothers, Albert E. and C. H. Lockhart, and George H. Howard, who had been with him for twenty- six years, were taken into partnership. At the time of his death, the concern employed over one hundred hands. Always fond of the sea it was one of his earliest ambitions to own a boat. When his circumstances enabled him to realize this ambition, his first venture was the sloop yacht Tartar; next came the Nautilus, also a sloop; later on he bought the Alice, a schooner, and still later the Troubador of the same rig, but larger. His latest purchase was the steam yacht Starling, a one hundred and twenty-five foot over all, which he owned at the time of his death. With the Troubador he once defeated the America in a cup race against Ben Butler. He also won a number of races with the Alice. He was a member of the Massachusetts, Hull and Boston Yacht Clubs, and of the St. Augustine Yacht Club of Florida; and was a familiar figure in yachting circles. He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and a former member of the Lancers, having been four days in the saddle doing escort duty at the time of the visit of the Prince of Wales to Boston. About the year 1880, he bought the house in Belmont, surrounded by considerable land, where he resided up to the time of his death. He was quite largely interested in real estate in Cambridge. An injury to his skull, caused by being thrown from his carriage some time in 1887, brought on an illness from which he never fully recovered, being troubled at inter- vals for the remainder of his life; his death, in fact, being traceable to this cause. During the last four years of his life he relinquished the more active oversight of his business to others, though taking a keen interest in it up to the time of his death. He passed most of the winter in travel, either in this country or Europe, having spent twenty consecutive winters in Florida, with the exception of one, which he spent in California.
Mr. Lockhart was married in 1851, to Miss Lucy O. Smith, of Kennebunk, Me. Mrs. Lockhart died December 6, 1912, being survived by an adopted daughter, wife of Dr. Joseph S. Lockhart of Cambridge.
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Among business men he was known as a man of the highest credit and of strict business in- tegrity, while his genial and affable manner and generous heart made for him a host of friends, among whom he was most deservedly popular. His funeral was attended by his old patrons and business associates. The manufacturers were represented by the Miller Bros., Geo. E. Holbrook, The National Casket Co .; by P. B. Heintz and Edward J. Parmelee, Dorntee Co .; by H. A. Stone, Hollings & Co., Samuel Silver, and newspaper representatives of Boston and Cambridge; the Ancient and Honorable Artil- lery Company, and employees at the factory. The floral offerings were many and of various appropriate designs, being given by the family, relatives and business associates, and The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
LONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTH, was born in Portland, Me., February 27, 1807. He attended Bowdoin College, and graduated there in 1825. His father, Hon. Stephen Longfellow, was a lawyer, and it was in his office that young Longfellow began to study law. Upon receiv- ing, a little later, the appointment of professor of modern languages at Bowdoin, he gave up the study of law, and devoted himself to teach- ing and literature. To prepare himself better for this career, he spent three years traveling in Europe. The studies that he pursued while abroad were such as to increase his qualifica- tions for educational work. Having returned to America, he gave a course of lectures at the college, the subjects being modern languages and literature. At the same time he occasion- ally contributed to the North American Review, and other periodicals. In 1833 he issued his first volume-"An Essay on the Moral and Devotional Poetry of Spain;" it now forms part of "Outre-Mer," and is no longer published as an independent work. When George Ticknor retired from the position of professor of modern languages and literature at Harvard College, Longfellow was asked to succeed him. He accepted the offer, and, as before, went to Europe for the purpose of additional study. This time he included Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries in his itinerary. His connection with Harvard College lasted till 1854, and he resided
in Cambridge not only during that period, but for the remaining years of his life. The house he lived in is variously known as the Craigie House, Washington's headquarters, and the home of Everett, Sparks and Worcester, the lexicographer. Most of Longfellow's works were written there, and there he died on March 24, 1882.
In addition to "Outre-Mer," which has al- ready been mentioned, and which contained the results of the poet's delving into the riches of Old World life, there appeared in 1839 another work of the same character, but in form more narrative-"Hyperion, a Romance." A small book entitled "Voices of the Night," a collection of poems and translations printed at divers times in periodicals, came from the press the same year; "The Psalm of Life," "The Be- leaguered City," and "Footsteps of Angels," were in this volume. "Ballads, and other Poems," and "Poems on Slavery," were pub- lished in 1842; "The Spanish Student," a play, in 1843; "The Belfry of Bruges and other Poems," in 1846; "Evangeline," in 1847, and "Kavanagh, a Tale," in prose, in 1849. Among the best known works of Longfellow, may be mentioned "The Golden Legend," "The Song of Hiawatha," "The Courtship of Miles Stand- ish," "Tales of a Wayside Inn," "The New England Tragedies," and the translation of Dante's "Divine Comedy."
Longfellow is considered the leading minor poet. That England, as well as America, appre- ciates his services to literature is evident from the fact that his bust occupies a prominent place in Westminster Abbey.
ABBOTT LAWRENCE LOWELL
LOWELL, ABBOTT LAWRENCE, twenty-fourth President of Harvard University, was born in Boston, Mass., December 13, 1856, son of Augustus and Katherine Bigelow (Lawrence) Lowell. He was graduated at Harvard Uni- versity in the class of 1877. He was especially proficient in mathematics, and also distinguished himself in athletics, having won on one occasion both the mile and three-mile race in the same afternoon. After two years at Harvard Law School and one year in the law office of Messrs. Russell and Putnam of Boston, he received the
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degree of LL.B. in 1880. He was immediately admitted to the Bar, and for seventeen years practised law in partnership with his kinsman Francis Cabot Lowell; Frederick Jesup Stimson being a member of the firm during the last six years. Retiring from the bar in 1897, he became lecturer at Harvard University, and two years later was appointed professor of the science of government. He filled this chair so acceptably, and displayed such qualities of business ability, tact and executive force, that, when President Eliot resigned in 1909, he was selected by the
ABBOTT LAWRENCE LOWELL
corporation to succeed him. In his inaugural address on October 6, 1909, President Lowell said: "A discussion of the ideal college training would apparently lead to the conclusion that the best type of liberal education in our complex modern world aims at producing men who know a little of everything and something well." Soon after taking office, he introduced a radical change in Harvard's elective system by aban- doning the plan of unlimited electives, and pro- viding for a considerable amount of work by the student in some one field, and the general distribution of other subjects under the direc- tion and advice of the faculty. His writings
have won him international recognition as one of the few high authorities on the history and science of government in the English-speaking world. They are: "Transfer of Stock in Cor- porations," in collaboration with Judge Francis C. Lowell (1884); "Essays on Government" (1889), "Governments and Parties in Conti- nental Europe" (1896), "Colonial Civil Ser- vice," in collaboration with Prof. H. Morse Stevens (1900); "The Influence of Party upon Legislation in England and America " (1902), and "The Government of England" (1908). From the moment President Lowell began his teaching at Harvard he impressed both students and colleagues with his forceful personality. His elementary course in government was con- sidered the most stimulating line of instruction, as well as the most popular, given to under- graduates. He was at one time a member of the Boston School Committee and of the execu- tive committee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is now a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity. President Lowell has been trustee of the Lowell Institute of Boston since 1900. In that capacity he has the full financial management of the trust, selects the lecturers and in all ways carries on the affairs of the Institute in the service of public education. He was married, June 19, 1879, to Anna Parker, daughter of George G. Lowell of Boston, and a descendant of Judge John Lowell.
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL, son of Rev. Charles Lowell, D.D., and Harriet, daughter of Robert T. Spence of Portsmouth, N.H., was born in Elmwood, Plymouth County, Mass., February 22, 1819. Perhaps no family in the Common- wealth has attained greater distinction in both the republic of letters and beneficent public service. The first American ancestor was Perci- val Lowell, who came from Bristol, England, settling in Newbury, Mass., in 1639.
The greatgrandfather of the poet was Rev. John Lowell, minister of Newburyport, num- bered by historians among the special nota- bilities of the American pulpit. His grandfather, Hon. John Lowell (Chief-Justice of the Court of
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Appeals, and United States District Judge) was a poet of ability, but is chiefly remembered for philanthropic action as a member of the con- vention which framed the constitution of Massa- chusetts, as he introduced the clause which effected the abolition of slavery in the State. John Lowell, LL.D., uncle of James Russell, was a noted writer on politics, theology, eco- nomics, agriculture, etc.
To Francis Cabot Lowell. brother of John Lowell, is to be attributed the introduction of the cotton manufacture into the United States, at Waltham, and the founding of the city of Lowell, which was named for him. To his son, John Lowell, Jr., is due the gratitude of a Com- monwealth for his founding of the Lowell Insti- tute of Boston, where he was born May 11, 1799. Robert Traill Spence Lowell, brother of the poet is remembered as having, with other mem- bers of the family, achieved literary celebrity; but to none of them has come such versatile and vigorous power as to the poet himself- power loyally used for the good of his country, as well as universal man.
James Russell Lowell was graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1838. He read law in the law department of Harvard Uni- versity, was admitted to the bar in 1840, and opened an office in Boston. But love of letters was stronger than ambition for legal rewards. He soon left the profession he had chosen, for the opportunity and leisure of indulging his tastes in realms more congenial.
His first collection of poems, "A Year's Life" (1841) was severely criticised, though the genius slumbering was noticed by Judge Story, who wrote kindly of it at the time. In January, 1843, he with a co-partner issued "The Pioneer, A Literary and Critical Magazine," Boston. This was not a financial success. The years following were spent in giving to the world his inimitable prose sketches, his poems, that one after another took the literary world by storm, his contributions to the leading magazines of the world, his editions of the poems of Keats, Wordsworth, Shelly and Marvell, in the "British Poets" series, and in his extensive foreign travels.
The works of the "poet laureate" are too well known to require scheduled citation. His name is too familiar, and his public record too
thoroughly engrafted into the national life to need other than a brief mention.
In 1844 Mr. Lowell was married to Maria, daughter of Abijah and Anna Maria (Howard) White. Her death, at Cambridge, elicited one of Longfellow's most exquisite compositions: "Two Angels." In 1857 he was married to his second wife, Frances Dunlap, niece of Ex- Governor Dunlap of Portland, Me. She died in England, February, 1885. Of the four chil- dren by the first marriage, only one survives- Mabel, wife of Edward Burnett.
In 1887, Mr. Lowell was appointed by Presi- dent Hayes to represent the national govern- ment at the court of Spain, from which in 1880 he was transferred to the court of St. James. His administration of the delicate and respon- sible duties of his high mission in London was characterized by tact, marked ability, and was a most pronounced diplomatic and social suc- cess. During his residence in England he was chosen rector of the university of St. Andrew. Mr. Lowell died in 1891.
JOHN J. MAHONEY
MAHONEY, JOHN J., assistant superintendent of schools, was born in Lawrence, Mass., Decem-
JOHN J. MAHONEY
BIOGRAPHIES
225
ber 2, 1880. His early education was received in St. Mary's Parochial School. From this school, in 1896, he entered Phillips Andover Academy, where for three years he led his class, graduating in 1899, with several prizes to his credit for special excellence in Latin and Greek.
Mr. Mahoney's course at Harvard (1899- 1903) was a brilliant one. He excelled both in scholarship and as a debater, and graduated, a Phi Beta Kappa man, very near the head of a large class. His first teaching, immediately on leaving college, was in the Lawrence High School, where he served one year. From 1904 to 1912 he was a successful grammar school master. During the same time he directed the evening school system of Lawrence, one of the largest, proportionately, in the country, and did some valuable pioneer work along the lines of the education of the immigrant. In the summer of 1912, he was elected Assistant Super- intendent of Schools in Cambridge.
Mr. Mahoney is known as an educational lecturer and writer. In 1906 he was sent abroad under the auspices of the National Civic Federation, to study the schools of the British Isles.
CHARLES JOHN McINTIRE
McINTIRE, CHARLES JOHN, "First Judge of the Probate Court and the Court of Insolvency for Middlesex County," son of Ebenezer and Amelia Augustine (Landais) McIntire, was born in Cambridge. Through his mother he is seventh in descent from John Talcot, who came over with the Rev. Thomas Hooker's Braintree company in 1632, built his residence upon Brattle Street, was one of the first board of selectmen, a deputy in 1634-1636, and in 1637 accompanied Hooker to Hartford, and became a prominent figure in the Connecticut Colony. Both of Judge McIntire's parents have the distinction of being lineally descended from original settlers of Cambridge; his mother from John Talcot, and his father from Nathaniel Sparhawk, John Cooper and Walter Hastings. On his paternal side Judge McIntire is also the sixth in descent from Philip Mackintire, who came a youth from Scotland about 1650, settled at Reading, Mass., became a freeholder in that town before 1666, and died there in 1720.
While yet a student in Cambridge, in 1862, Mr. McIntire enlisted as a private in the Forty-fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volun- teers. He took part in all the engagements of his regiment, including the famous defense of the besieged town of Washington, N.C., and returned to his law studies when his term of service had expired. At the age of twenty- three years he was admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Judicial Court, and soon built up a good practice. From 1871 to 1874, he was
CHARLES JOHN MCINTIRE
the Assistant District Attorney of Middlesex; and when Judge Hammond was appointed to the Bench of the Superior Court, in March, 1886, Mr. McIntire was elected by the City Council to fill the position of City Solicitor. He per- formed the work of that office so satisfactorily that he was annually re-elected, always by unanimous votes, until, on October 26, 1893, Governor Russell appointed him to his present position on the Bench, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge George M. Brooks. On September 1, 1894, by legislative enactment, he became "First Judge" of the two courts. Previously, in 1893, he had been appointed by
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in 1840, and began business life as bookkeeper in the house of Hayward & Morse, who were engaged in the Provincial and West India trade. He soon commenced business in that line on his own account, employing a large force of men, and was eminently successful.
Mr. Morse was married July 13, 1845, to Dorcas Louisa, born August 28, 1822 and died February 24, 1864, daughter of Thomas Wise and Elizabeth White Short, and they moved to Cambridgeport, where he resided up to the time of his death, which occurred March 18th, 1906. Shortly after taking up his residence in Cambridge, he became interested in real estate operations, and was for a long time an extensive builder. He was for some time con- nected with the Cambridge Fire Insurance Company, as director; the Cambridge Hospital as trustee, and other charitable institutions, and for about thirty-five years director of the Cambridgeport National Bank, and for a number of years its president; also vice-presi- dent of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank. He was for sixteen years a member of the school board, was alderman in 1866, and a member of the legislature in 1869, and in 1872 he was again elected. He declined re-election. The Republicans of the "Third Middlesex Senato- rial District," in the campaign of 1878, selected Mr. Morse as the candidate for senator, and he was elected by a handsome majority. The bill for the establishment of a reformity for men, which resulted in the establishment of the Concord Reformatory, passed the Senate largely through the efforts of Mr. Morse. He was re-elected to the Senate of 1880 by a large majority. He was again placed at the head of the committee on prisons, and also on the committee on education and expenditures. He was a life member of the "New England Historic Genealogical Society," and also life member of the "Webster Historical Society."
Mr. Morse's children were Mary Louisa, who married Charles Willis Jones, formerly presi- dent of the New England National Bank of Boston, Mass .; Velma Maria and Arthur Porter (deceased).
WILLIAM ADAMS MUNROE
MUNROE, WILLIAM ADAMS, was born in Cam- bridge, November 9, 1843, the son of William
W. and Hannah F. (Adams) Munroe, who were also born in the University town. He was educated in the Cambridge schools and at Harvard, graduating in the Class of 1864. He was in the Law School during 1866 and 1867, and entered the office of Chandler, Shattuck & Thayer, Boston. He was admitted to the Suffolk Bar in 1868, and subsequently became a member of the Bar of the United States
WILLIAM ADAMS MUNROE
Supreme Court. He began practice in 1869, and in February, 1870, formed a partner- ship with George O. Shattuck of the old firm, which had been dissolved. Judge Oliver Wen- dell Holmes was a partner from 1873 until his appointment to the Bench in 1882, the firm name being Shattuck, Holmes & Munroe. Mr. Munroe was never active politically, but always took a keen interest in the educational and social development of the city. He was for several years a prominent member of the School Board; was one of the commission to revise the City Charter in 1890; was president of the Cambridge Club in 1890; and a member and one of the incorporators of the Cambridge Club, and a trustee of the Avon Home. He was an active member of the First Baptist Church, and prominent in the denomination,
ASA P. MORSE
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having been president of the Boston Baptist Social Union in 1882. He was a trustee of the Newton Theological Seminary. Mr. Munroe was married, November 22, 1871, to Sarah D. Whiting, of Salem.
Mr. Munroe died August 26, 1905, being survived by his wife, and his daughter, Helen W. Munroe.
JAMES JEFFERSON MYERS
MYERS, JAMES JEFFERSON, lawyer, was born at Frewsburg, N.Y., November 20, 1842, the son of Robert and Sabra (Tracy) Myers. He prepared for college at Western, N.Y. He graduated from Harvard in 1869, with the degree of A.B., receiving his A.M. later. He studied at the Harvard Law School, and was given his LL.B. in 1872. After a year in Europe he spent another in a New York law office.
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