History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 21

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 21

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Though the business office of Mr. Hamilton has been located in Boston, his practice has extended largely over Middlesex County, and his form and voice are well known to court and jury in Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, Malden and Wakefield. His office practice is also large, and he has obtained a special distinction for legal knowlege and acumen in respect to the organization and management of corporations. Mr. Hamilton has been in demand as a platform speaker in many hot political campaigns, and by his abounding good nature and ready wit is popular even among his opponents. He still resides in Wakefield, and is one of the foremost in all local movements for public improvements.

Mr. Hamilton was married in Newfield, Maine, February 13, 1867, to Annie E., daughter of Joseph B. and Harriet N. Davis. They have no children.

WILLIAM H. ANDERSON's' earliest American an- cestor was James Anderson, one of the sixteen origi- nal proprietors of the town of Londonderry, N. H., a class of sturdy, uncompromising Presbyterians, who, seeking greater religious freedom, emigrated from Ireland to New England in the year 1719.

Their aucestors, many years before, had fled from the persecutions which the Presbyterian Church suf- fered in Scotland, and, crossing the narrow channel, had settled in the fertile fields of the North of Ireland.

James Anderson settled in that part of London- derry now called Derry, and his oldest son received his father's "second division," or "amendment land," which comprised a large tract lying on Beaver Brook, in the southern part of the town. A portion of this tract has been handed down from father to son for five generations, to the subject of this sketch. Such instances are now quite rare even in New England, and it is not strange that, combining so many natu- ral attractions and historic associations, Mr. Ander- son has delighted to improve it and make it a place of his frequent resort.

On this farm Mr. Anderson was born Jan. 12, 1836. His father, Francis D. Anderson, was a well-known resident of the town, and was frequently placed by lis fellow-townsmen in offices of trust and honor. His mother, Jane Davidson, of the adjoining town of Wiudbam, N. H., although a life-long invalid, is well remembered for her superior qualities of mind and heart and her Christian fortitude and patience under great suffering.

Mr. Anderson, after passing his boyhood on his father's farm, pursued his preparatory course of liber- al study at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., and at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. He entered Yale College in 1855, at the age of nineteen years, and graduated in 1859. After graduation he went to Mississippi, and was a tutor in a private fam- ily in Natchez, in that State, and in New Orleans until the autumn of 1860, when ill health compelled him to return North.

He commenced the study of law in the office of Morse (Isaac S.) and Stevens (George) in Lowell, and continued in their office till his admission to the bar in December, 1862. The firm of Morse & Stev- ens being then dissolved, he became a partner with Mr. George Stevens on the 1st of January, 1863. This business relation continued until April, 1875, a period of nearly thirteen years, and only ceased because of the election of Mr. Stevens as district attorney for Middlesex County.

Messrs. Stevens and Anderson were the first tenants of the building known as Barristers' Hall, at the cor- ner of Central and Merrimack Streets, after its change from religious to secular uses, and Mr. Ander- son has now (1890) occupied the same office for more than twenty-five years.

1 Contributed.

lxxxii

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1868 and 1869 Mr. Anderson was a member of the Common Council of Lowell, and in the latter year he was president of that hody. For several years he was a member of the School Committee. In 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Since the latter date he has held no public office, hut has devoted himself closely to the practice of his profession, having found by experience that the law is indeed a jealous mistress and that she cannot be too assiduously wooed.

Mr. Anderson possesses qualities which admirably adapt him to the practice of his profession. Cool and deliberate in judgment, thoughtful and dignified in manner, patient and thorough in investigation, he readily impresses upon his clients the conviction that their interests are safe in his hands. He enjoys an extensive practice and holds a high position at the bar of Middlesex County.

The elegant residence of Mr. Anderson, on the heights of Belvidere, overlooking the Merrimack, is not surpassed in attractiveness and beauty by that ofany cit- izen of Lowell. The broad and well-shorn lawn in front, the wood-crowned heights of Centralville across the stream, the charming views both up and down the river combine to form a scene of no ordinary loveliness.

On Oct. 1, 1868, Mr. Anderson married Mary A., daughter of Joseph Hine, of Springfield, Mass. His only child, Francis W, was born Dec. 20, 1877.

MARCELLUS COGGAN.1-The subject of this sketch belongs distinctly to the class of self-made men. He was born in Bristol, Lincoln County, Maine, the second of four children of Leonard C. and Betsey M. Coggan. He obtained his early education in the district school of his native town, and later followed the sea in the coasting trade between Maine and the southern ports and the West Indies. Not satisfied to follow a seafaring life, when a young man he entered Lincoln Academy, New Ca-tle, Me., and there pre- pared for Bowdoin College, which he entered in 1868, and through which he made his way by hard work, teaching in public schools and academies during the winters, and graduating with honor in 1872, at the age of twenty-five.

Immediately afterwards he was engaged as princi- pal of Nichols Academy, in Dudley, Worcester County, Mass, and remained there until 1879. Nich- ols Academy is an old institution of learning, well- known in Worcester County, and at times in its his- tory had enjoyed great prosperity, but when Mr. Cog- gan took charge it was undergoing a period of de- pression. With the management of the new princi- pal it took on new life and energy, and entered upon a new period of prosperity, which it has since main- tained. While in Dudley Mr. Coggan took an active part in town affairs, and was a member of the School Committee for four years.

1 Contributed.

During all this time, and ever since leaving college, Mr. Coggan had the legal profession in view, and read law steadily while engaged in teaching. In 1879 he gave up his position as principal, and removed his residence to Malden, entering at the same time the law-office of Child & Powers, in Boston. In 1881 he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and his success in practice was immediate and steady. In 1886 he formed a partnership with William Schofield, at that time instructor in the Law of Torts at the Harvard Law School, and the firm have since done business under the name of Coggan & Schofield in Malden and Boston, and have risen steadily in business and in the estimation of the public.

Upon taking up his residence in Malden Mr. Cog- gan at once became active in public affairs, joining various local organizations. In 1880 he was elected a member of the School Committee, and was an active and efficient member of the hoard for three years. During that time questions of great importance to the educational interests of the city were agitated, and Mr. Coggan impressed himself upon the citizens as a man of decided opinions, and of the courage to maintain them. In 1884, by the persuasion of friends, he ran as an independent candidate for the office of mayor, against the regular nominee of the city convention, and was defeated; but his friends were so encouraged by the resul s of his canvass that he was induced to run again as an independent can- didate in 1885, and was elected over the regular nominee, Hon. Joseph F. Wiggin.

Mr. Coggan assumed the office of mayor of Maldeu in January, 1886, and was the fourth in succession in that office since the incorporation of the city-a sig- nal tribute to his character and ability, since he had been a resident of the city only since 1879. His ad- ministration as mayor was successful, and in 1886 he was re-elected, without opposition, by an almost unan mous vote, for the ensuing year. Perhaps the strongest feature of Mr. Coggan's administration was his enforcement of the prohibitory law. The city, in 1885, had voted "No License," and during the first year of Mr. Coggan's mayoralty this vote of the people was thoroughly enforced, in a manner which attracted wide attention, and with results which were very gratifying to the friends of temperance. In the second year of his office Mr. Coggan continued in all departments the vigorous policy which had marked his first year. He refused a nomination for a third term, and retired from office at the end of 1887. Since that time he has taken no active part in poli- tics, but has devoted himself exclusively to his pro- fession. In his political principles Mr. Coggan has been a consistent and life-long Republican.

In 1872 Mr. Coggan married Luella B. Robbins, daughter of C. C. Robbins and Lucinda Robbins, of Bristol, Me., and three children have been born to them of that marriage.

Mn ALFRED HEMENWAY, one of the leading law-

Marceles boggan

BENCH AND BAR.

lxxxiii

yers of the Massachusetts bar, was born in Hopkin- ton, Mass., August 17, 1839. He fitted for college in his native town and graduated at Yale University in the class of 1861. He studied law at the Harvard University Law School, and was admitted to the bar in Suffolk County July 13, 1863. He has since then resided and practiced in Boston, and has steadily risen in his profession, alike in the extent of his prac- tice and in reputation as a lawyer. He has delivered law lectures at the Lasell Seminary, is one of the ex- aminers for admission to the Suffolk bar, and has been president of the Yale Alumni Association in Boston. But he has mainly confined his attention to the immediate duties of his profession, in which he is a close student, and in which he is recognized as one of the most successful members. His familarity with the reports and the readiness with which he cites the cases bearing on any mooted point have especially won him reputation. Very few lawyers are better grounded in the principles of the law or so familiar with its authorities. He is much in court, tries cases with ability, is now largely engaged as senior counsel, and before a jury or the court has a ready speech, an agreeable manner, and an earnest, convincing and logical power of statement and argument. He is a member of the law-firm of Allen, Long & Hemenway, his partners being Stillman B. Allen, Esq. and ex- Governor John D. Long. Mr. Hemenway was ten- dered an appointment upon the bench of the Superior Court by Governor Ames, but he declined the honor.

It cannot be expected that in this narrative sketches would be given of all the prominent members of the Middlesex bar. Already the space assigned to this chapter has been exceeded, and the writer must ex- clude from his list the names of many lawyers who deserve a place in this record. There are General James Dana, of Charlestown, recently deceased, the son of Samuel Dana, already referred to; Marshal Preston, of Billerica ; Constantine C. Estey, of Fra- mingham ; Theodore C. Hurd, clerk of the courts ; B. B. Johnson, of Waltham, who has been mayor of that city, and is active and prominent in the prohib- itory cause ; Henry F. Durant, son of William Smith, who changed his name, and who, after a short prac- tice in Lowell, became a successful member of the Suffolk bar; Richard G. Colby, city solicitor of Low- ell in 1842; Isaac S. Morse, city solicitor of Lowell from 1850 to 1852, and afterwards district attorney ; Alpheus A. Brown, city solicitor of Lowell in 1858 and 1862 and 1863; William B. Stevens, of Stone- ham, district attorney for the Northern District ; J. H. Tyler, register of Probate and Insolvency; Arthur W. Austin ; Thomas Wright, of Lawrence, son of Na- thaniel Wright, of Lowell ; J. Q. A. Griffin, the bril- liant lawyer and legislator, cut off in the full prom- ise of an eminent career ; Sherman Hoar, of Walt- ham, and Josiah Rutter, of Waltham-but all these must only be referred to by name, while many more, worthy of mention, must be omitted altogether.

The chapter will close with a list, as complete as the writer has been able to make it, of the lawyers now practicing in the county.

The following were, in 1889, engaged in practice in the towns set against their names :

Acton-F. C. Nash, A. A. Wyman.

Arlington-John H. Handy, Wm. Parmenter, W. H. H. Tuttle.

Ashby-S. J. Bradlee.

Ashland-George T. Higley.

Ayer-Warren H. Atwood, C. A. Batchelder, George J. Burns, James Gerrish, Levi Wallace, C. F. Worcester.

Bedford-George R. Blinn, Elihu G. Loomis, George Skilton.

Belmont-Frederick Dodge.

Cambridge-Augustine J. Daly.

Cambridgeport-George C. Bent, John Cabill, H. C. Holt, Edwin H. Jose, J. E. Kelley, G. A. A. Pevey, Charles G. Pope, I. F. Sawyer, Henry H. Wioslow.

East Cambridge --- Felix Coulon, Freeman Hunt, Edward B. Malley, Charles J. McIntire, Lorenzo Marrett.

Concord-G. M. Brooks, George Heywood, Eben Rockwood Hoar, Samuel Hoar, John S. Keyes, Prescott Keys, George A. King, Charles Thompson. C. H. Walcott.

Everett-Dudley P. Bailey, C. C. Nichols, George A. Saltmarsh, G E. Smith.

Framingham (South)-Walter Adams, John W. Allard, Constantine C. Esty, Charles S. Forbes, Ira B. Forbes, W. A. Kingshury, Sidney A. Phillips.

Holliston-W. A. Kingsbury.

Hudson-James T. Joslio, Ralph E. Joslin.

Lexington-Robert P. Clapp, George H. Reed, J. Russell Reed, Augus- tue E. Scottt.

Littleton-George A. Sanderson.

Lowell .- Julian Abbott, James C. Abbott, W. H. Anderson, Wm. P. Barry, George W. Batchelder, C. R. Blaisdell, A. P. Blaisdell, Harvey A. Brown, C. E. Burnham, George A. Byam, James H. Carmichael, G. W. Clement, Ch. H. Conaut, Wm. F. Courtney, Charles Cowley, Jeremiah Crowley, John Davis, Dan Donahne, Thos. F. Enright, Philip J. Farley, Peter A. Fay, Fred. A. Fisher, John F. Frye, F. T. Guillet, Jos. H. Guil- let, Ch. S. Hadley, S. P. Hadley, John J. Harvey, J. T. Haskell, P. J. Hoar, J. J. Hogon, Joho L. Hunt, Louis H. Kileski, J. C. Kimball, Jove. Ladd, Alfred G. Lamson, G. F. Lawton, F. Lawton, Ch. S. Lilley, Fred P. Marble, John Marren, J. N. Marshall, Martin L. Hamblet, John T. Mas- terson, John W. McEvoy, Ed. D. McVey, Albert M. Moore, JDo. H. Mor- rison, Isaac S. Moore, Wm. F. Courtney, James Stuart Murphy, Bernard D. O'Connell, Myron Penn, J. J. Pickman, George W. Poore, Irving S. Porter, Nathan D. Pratt, Ed. B. Quiou, Francis W. Quay, John W. Reed, Dan M. Richardson, George F. Richardson, George R. Richardson, J. F. Savage, C. W. Savage, A. P. Sawyer, Luther E. Shepard, George H. Stevens, Solon W. Stevens, L. T. Trull, A. C. Varnum, George M. Ward, Herbert R. White, S. B. Wyman.

Malden-Charles E. Abbott, George D. Ayers, Harry H. Barrett, Har- vey L. Boutwell, C. M. Bruce, Orren H. Carpenter, Marcellus Coggan, W. B. de Las Casas, E. E. Eaton, Charles R. Elder, George H. Fall, J. E. Faroham, P. J. McGuire, Edwin G. Mclones, J. II. Millett, J. W. Pettingill, M. F. Stevens, Arthur H. Wellman.

Marlboro'-Samuel N. Aldrich, W. N. Davenport, Heman S. Fay, Gale I. McDonald, Edward F. Johnson, J. W. McDonald, J. F. J. Otter- BOD.

Mayoard-Thomas Hillis, J. W. Reed.

Medford -- Thomas S. Harlow, Benjamin F. Hayes, F. H. Kidder, W. P. Martin, C. F. Paige, B. E. Perry, C. G. Plunkett, D. A. Gleason (West), George J. Tufts (West).

Melrose-E. C. Morgan, W. H. Roberts.

Natick-P. H. Cooney, F. M. Forbush, James McManus, H. C. Mulli- gao, H. G. Sleeper, Charles Q. Tirrell, G. D). Tower, L. H. Wakefield.

Newton-J. C. Ivy, J. C. Kennedy, George A. P. Codwire (Lower Falls).

Reading-Solon Bancroft, Chauncey P. Judd, E. T. Swift.

Somerville-Selwyn Z. Bowman, Brown & Alger, John Haskell But- ler, John E. Casey, Herbert A. Chapin, D. F. Crane, Joseph Cummings, Sammel C. Darliog Michael F. Farrell, Oren S. Knapp, Charles S. Lio- coln, Thomas F. Maguire, A. A. Perry, Charles G. Pope, Isaac Story, Francis Tufts, L. R. Wentworth.

Stoneham-B. F. Briggs, A. V. Lynde, A. S. Lyude, William B. Stevens.

Ixxxiv

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS

Tewksbury-Charles R Blaisdell.

Wakefield-Dean Dudley, Chester W. Eaton, Freeman Evans, S. K. Hamilton, Winfield C. Jordan, Wm. E. Rogers, George H. Towle, Ed- ward A, Upton.

Waltham-Allen J. Mayberry, Thomas Curley, T. B. Eaton, D. French, John L. Harvey, Sherman Hoar, B B. Johnson, A. J. Lathrop, Dudley Roberts, R. M. Start, Charles F. Stone, F. M. Stone, T. H. Arm- strong.

Watertown-I. V. Bemis, F. E. Crawford, J. J. Sullivan.

Wayland-R. T. Lombard.

Weston-Andrew Fiske, Charles H. Fiske. Wilmington-Chester W. Clark.

Winchester-A B. Coffin, S. J. Elder, S. H. Folsom, George S. Little- field, Engene Tappan, A. C. Vinton, J. T. Wilson.

Woburn-Charles D. Adams, M. T. Allen, B. E. Bond, Parker L. Con- verse, Francis P. Curran, I. W. & E. F. Johnson, John G. Magnite, Wm. N. Titus.

CITIES AND TOWNS.

CHAPTER I.

CAMBRIDGE.

INTRODUCTION.

BY JOHN HOLMES.

WE have been urged on the score of long residence in the county, to write something for this book.

Under so vague a commission, many topics suggest themselves, and we fall back on our native town of Cambridge, where the qualification above mentioned is most available.

We have a few words to say about Revolutionary recollections connected with our town, but rely chiefly on our topographic memory to give pleasure in noting the changes wrought by time. First, how- ever, a loyal word for our county.

It is a fair territory. It has its mounts of vision, whence one beholds spread out beneath him the plenty, prosperity and peaceful content which,.viewed thus largely, belong to the domain of poetry. We have our two, (sufficiently) broad rivers, which pay their daily tribute to Ocean and receive back a briny acknowledgment of their loyalty; others are accessories only to larger streams. We have silvery lakes in which secluded Nature views herself with satisfaction. We have, here and there, pleasant sug- gestions, at least, of forest.

Without prejudice to sister counties, we think we have all the gradations from wild nature, to a comely civilization, in fair proximity to perfection. The his- tory before us, tells of our progress, from the one point to the other.

Middlesex is rich in Revolutionary incident. Cam- bridge was a part of the route by which both detach- ments of the British troops went to Concord on the 19th of April, 1775. The first party of 800 was con- veyed from Boston to Lechmere's Point (now East Cambridge) in boats, and passing over the marshes to what then, and also in our boyhood, was called Milk

Row, in Cambridge, went by that avenue from the | minded one of the Revolutionary epoch. They had Charlestown, to the West Cambridge (now Arlington) road. .

The reinforcement under Lord Percy, coming over Brighton Bridge, must have proceeded straight from

Harvard Square up North Avenue. About 1846 a venerable inhabitant of our town told us that on the 19th of April, being then a boy apprentice to a tailor, he saw from a building just north of our present post- office (which we remember) Lord Percy's detach- ment pass by.

It is well enough to fix the spot whence the young 'prentice gazed unconsciously at the beginning of a Revolution. Such places seem like telegraphic points between the past and the present for the imag- ination.

Somewhere about 1850 a venerable colored man appeared at our doors asking some transient hospi- tality. His extreme age suggested inquiry. It ap- peared that he was living in Lexington in 1775, and, as it seemed, belonged to a Captain Parker of that town. By his own account he lived on very easy terms in the household. Being asked if he remem- bered what is called the Battle of Lexington, he replied that he saw it, and knew all about it. Here, then, was an eye-witness of a memorable event. Unso- phisticated as he appeared, he was the very man to give some simple incident of the day whose pictur- esque effect he might not himself appreciate.

When refreshed he was put on the witness stand. "Now then tell us about the battle." " Well, you see I had Cap'n Parker's horse to take care on that day. Well I come out there and the dust was a flyin' and the guns a firin' and the blood a runnin'. You see, I had taken care of Cap'n Parker's horse." This was the amount of what could be got from him about the Battle of Lexington. He was then asked if he re- membered anything about Bunker's Hill. "Yes, I was there. I remember all about it." " Well, how was that ?" "Well, the British Gen'l he come out and drawed his sword and the 'Merican Gen'l he come out and drawed his sword, an' then they all went at it and fit till the blood run knee deep." So much for our antiquarian discovery.

In our boy days many small story-and-a-half build- ings (so-called) on the present North Avenue re- witnessed the passage of Lord Percy's nine hundred, and had probably added their part, to the number of his assailants.

These memories of the beginning of the war are

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

continued in Cambridge by the occupation of the college buildings by our troops, and by Washington's occupation of the present Longfellow house as head- quarters.

We now turn to Harvard College at its foundation.

Governor Winthrop came to Salem, which was already settled, and thence to Boston, in 1630, bring- ing the charter of the Colony with him. To quote from a note to his journal : "7th mo., 14th day, 1638, John Harvard, Master of Arts in Emanuel College, Cambridge, deceased, and by will gave the half of his estate, amounting to about 700 pounds, for the erecting of the college." The General Court had in 1636 "agreed to give 400 pounds toward a school or college. ... " From Winthrop we find that on the 22d of August, 1642, "Nine bachelors commenced at Cam- bridge ; they were young men of good hope and per- formed their acts so as gave good proof of their pro- ficiency in the tongues and arts."

"The general court had settled a government or superintendency over the college, viz .; all the magistrates and elders over the six nearest churches and the president, or the greatest part of them. Most of them were now present at this first com- mencement, and dined with the college, with the scholars' ordinary commons, which was done of pur- pose for the students' encouragement, etc., and it gave good content to all."

This was such an occasion as one endeavors to re- produce to his fancy by the dim light of the time. The simple procession (for we are sure there must have been one) marched silently, with no incident of pomp, save possibly the square cap; and whether even the president wore that, is a question beyond us to answer. The squirrel crossed its track, and when arrived wild woodland sounds intruded on the Latin disputations. Doubtless a group of cows from the "Great Pasture " gathered not very far from the present new gateway, and watched, ruminating, the unaccustomed gathering. For all the little world around Cambridge that could quit work, came to that commencement and admired the new college, magnificent to eyes now so accustomed to homely surroundings. The college yard, now so called, must, we think, have been in a very rough state in 1642. The trees or their stumps must have occupied a considerable portion of it. The ground where Uni- versity Hall now stands must have been a bog or a swamp.

While our college was being thus peacefully in- augurated, civil war was beginning in England, where the Puritan soon proved the affinity between religious, and civil, liberty. But for political pre- caution we should probably have had our Cromwell and Ireton and Desborough Streets in Boston.

We should like to know how and how far our first commencement was made a holiday. Probably the services of the day were a sufficient excitement to the sober, industrious settlers. Possibly a little

" strong waters" circulated in a serious manner ; that article had so many sauitary aspects that coincided with a festive inclination. It was good to keep out the cold in winter. It coalesced beneficially with the heat in summer. It was good in a general way as an antidote to climatic influences and a hopeful sort of application in almost all exigencies. Although our fathers had not learned to judge it with the severity of our times, they were cautious in its use. They had disused the practice of drinking toasts because of its tendency to excess. Whatever the mode of enjoy- ment after the services were over, it was quiet and decorous, and all broke up in good season for their return by daylight over such paths as might thien be. Our cows were driven home from the Great Pasture at sundown, and all the village was probably asleep by nine.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 21

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034