USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 2 > Part 22
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James Meade spent his youthful days in Stoughton, where he at- tended the public and parochial schools and thus acquired the edu- cation which fitted him for life's practical and responsible duties. When his textbooks were put aside he sought employment in rubber factories and has continued in the same line of work to the present
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time. One element of his success is the fact that he has always re- mained in the field of activity in which he embarked as a young tradesman. He has mastered every phase of the business and for a long period he was superintendent of the Plymouth Rubber Com- pany at Canton. When he resigned his position there to return to Stoughton and establish his present business, the employes of the plant, numbering two hundred, met to offer their kindest felicita- tions and show their respect to him. They were joined by many of the leading citizens of the town, who made the event one of unusual interest. On that occasion the factory employes who had long known Mr. Meade as their boss and overseer, presented him with a hand- some gold watch suitably engraved, and this possession he prizes most highly. In The Sentinel Observations, published at Canton, appeared the following editorial concerning the occasion and indi- cating the spirit in which it was held : "That was a wonderfully in- teresting and peculiarly satisfactory affair on Saturday evening when the workers of the Plymouth Rubber Company of Canton paid their tribute to their retiring superintendent, James Meade, in Foresters Hall. Nothing just like it has ever been held in this town. Here were some two hundred men of all nationalities, working men gath- ered to pay tribute to one who had been for fifteen years their boss and overseer. In that time it is reasonable to presume that Mr. Meade, had he been a good superintendent as there is no doubt that he was, had been obliged to be strong and strict in his application of efficiency and business principles to the work that he was called to do. Such efforts are usually conducive to the inculcation of jealousies and hard feeling that are constantly the result of misunder- standing of attitudes in an establishment and the lack of appreciation of the requirements of the place which such a position requires. It is a position that often leads to hard feeling and grudges for honest decisions made and for admonitions that may be and usually are just and warranted. When therefore one sees in place of bitterness and ill-feeling such a unanimous and hearty expression of goodwill, yes, even loving respect and hearty commendation given without the expectation of favor in return, then we may well say that the occa- sion is rare and unusual. To attain such an end one must be a rare man and well equipped with those kindlier and unusual attributes of good-heartedness that deserve mention and attention. The man him- self must be a man of broad sympathy and real good-heartedness to have won all these men and these tributes. Such a man we know Mr. James Meade to be and the personal friends of Mr. Meade, leading citizens of the town, who were privileged to be present in large
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numbers on this evening, were unanimous in their appreciation of the splendid meaning of this recognition of him on the part of the men of whom such fine sentiments were hardly to be expected. In these days of the harsh snapping of the line that is apt to be drawn between the employer and the employe it is indeed refreshing to see so fine a showing of respect and regard between the front office and the work bench and machine. It was only made possible by the fact that here we find a man who is broad minded, generous in his sympathies and helpful in his attitude. It is given to few men to be endowed with those virtues in a degree such as is vouchsafed to Mr. Meade and we are glad that Stoughton is able to boast such a man as its home product, that we are to have him as one of our leading employers of labor in the future and that he has definitely decided against other influences to settle his future in the town. His decision I believe bodes well for Stoughton as a growing town. That he will succeed we have no doubt and also that in his success he will give to the community a large share not only of increased business pros- perity, but also the benefits that such a man of kindly attributes can add to the community welfare. Not much danger of labor troubles when such a man goes out to do business."
With his return to Stoughton, Mr. Meade established The Meade Rubber Company and began the manufacture of rubber heels and soles and also the putting of a rubber surface upon fabrics and hos- pital sheetings. He has a well equipped plant supplied with the latest improved machinery for doing work of this character, and already his business has grown to substantial proportions.
In July, 1891, Mr. Meade was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Mahoney, a daughter of John and Barbara (Crawford) Ma- honey, who are natives of Ireland and of England respectively. The father, born on the Emerald isle, was brought to America during his infancy by his parents. He became a leather heel manufacturer in Stoughton, devoting many years to that business, but for the past seven years he has been retired. His wife also became a resident of the new world during her infancy and she, too, is yet living. Mr. and Mrs. Meade have become the parents of four children, namely : B. Evangeline, now twenty-four years of age; Mary Elizabeth, aged twenty-two; Evelyn, eighteen years of age; and J. Miles, a youth of sixteen years. The family are communicants of the Catholic church and they reside at 53 Sumner street, where they have a pleasant home. They have gained many friends during the period of their residence in Stoughton and the hospitality of the best homes is freely accorded them. Mr. Meade is a democrat in his political
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views and has served for twenty years on the democratic town central committee. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Colum- bus and with the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He is a man of kindly spirit and genial disposition who wins friends wherever he goes. In his business, justice and consideration for others are evenly balanced qualities and both in business and private life he is continually extending a helping hand to those who need assistance. All who know James Meade speak of him in terms of the highest regard and are proud to count him as a friend.
ISAAC NEWTON LEWIS, A. M., LL. B.
Isaac Newton Lewis, teacher, author, lawyer, traveler and patriot, of Walpole, Massachusetts, was there born on Christmas day of 1848, a son of Sergeant William and Judith M. (Whittemore) Lewis, the former a native of Walpole and the latter of Boston, Massachusetts. The father was an officer of the old Walpole Light Infantry and an able musician, being the first bass violinist and organist of the Second Congregational Church and Society of Walpole, of which he was one of the founders. His wife was a physician of unusual worth and ability. They were the parents of nine healthy and robust children, the eldest being John W. Lewis, of Norwich, Connecticut, a music teacher and composer of wide reputation, and the youngest being Miss Mary F. Lewis, regent of the Nelly Custis Lewis Chapter, D. A. R., and vice president of the Wednesday Club. Another mem- ber of the family is James A. Lewis, bugler and band musician of the Forty-fourth Regiment, M. V. M., in the Civil war, and three of his grandsons are now serving their country under the same flag in the present grave struggle for freedom, thus making an unbroken patriotic service to the country by this old New England family from its very foundation to the present time.
The first of the family to permanently settle in America were William Lewis and his wife, Amy, who came to Roxbury in 1635 from southern Wales and England, where their three elder children had been born. A former generation is said to have crossed the chan- nel from eastern France as William and Marie Lewis in the latter part of the sixteenth century to escape religious persecution. Colonel Fielding Lewis, who married General Washington's sister Betty. Major Lawrence Lewis, who married Nelly Parke Custis, and
ISAAC NEWTON LEWIS
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Francis Lewis, the noted son of liberty and signer of the Declaration of Independence, are all said to be of the same family. After some years in Roxbury, where he was admitted a freeman and started the church of Rev. John Eliot, William Lewis left to found the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts, where he was third in point of wealth and where he died four years before the town was burned by the Indians in King Philip's war. His son, John Lewis, who was also one of the founders of the town and also one of the first cloth manufacturers in America, upon the destruction of the town sought in 1678 a safer and more peaceful home near the old Whiting mill in East Dedham, Massachusetts, where in 1680 he died and where his name is still per- petuated in the old street called Lewis Lane. Two of his sons, John and Lieutenant Barachiah Lewis, in their youth had the rare fortune of being the pupils of Rev. Joseph Rowlandson, the sole graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1652, as well as thorough training in military discipline in Indian warfare, so that during the King Wil- liam and Queen Anne wars they saw constant service, being often the sole dependence of the helpless governor of the province in the several campaigns from 1706 to 1710, when in the last Old Port Royal (Nova Scotia) campaign Lieutenant Barachiah finally fell, a sore and widely lamented sacrifice to personal heroism, when only forty-seven years old. He left a large family, but many of his numerous and dis- tinguished descendants, like the Rev. Rufus Ellis of the First Church of Boston and the Rev. George Ellis of the Charlestown Harvard church, have to their credit since then notably served their country in other callings. The prompt and unselfish patriotism, the strong and noble part taken by Lieutenant Barachiah Lewis in protecting at his own loss and sacrifice the homes and lives of the distressed first settlers here led Isaac Newton Lewis of this review some years ago to design and erect to his memory on Lewis square in Walpole, a spot dedicated to liberty and given years before by the Revolutionary war patriot, Isaac Lewis, a bronze equestrian statue. This public-spirited act was at once warmly commended and the spot has ever since been visited and respected by military and naval officers as a notably precious and sacred shrine of true soldierly devotion to humanity and heroic deeds.
Isaac Newton Lewis spent his entire childhood in his native town, where he attended its public and private schools, often teaching therein, until 1868, when he entered the Eliot high school of Boston, Massachusetts, to prepare for Harvard College. There also he taught and had among his classmates William Thomas, son of Judge Thomas, with whom he entered Harvard in 1869. He was grad-
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uated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1873. Among his college classmates were Dr. Maurice Richardson, Judge Robert Grant, Charles Theodore Russell, Dudley Pickman, Grant Walker and others of like note. Among his instructors were Professors Pierce, Bowen, Goodwin, Lowell, Shaler, Childs, Trowbridge, Dunbar, Seaver, Peabody, Holmes and their distinguished associates. Imme- diately on graduation from college Mr. Lewis visited England, France and Germany for post-graduate investigation and study. On his return he received from Boston University the degree of LL. B. and was at once admitted to the bar in Boston. In 1877 the same university conferred upon him the first degree of A. M. ever granted by that institution. He at once opened the law office in Boston which he has occupied continuously for over thirty years. In 1876 he was appointed a justice to hear and determine cases and soon after a justice with large civil jurisdiction, a commissioner and a notary public, which offices he has since filled continuously. He has often been town and city counsel and has enjoyed a wide prac- tice and a generous share of such desirable positions as are attainable by honorable and honest lawyers. Among his many trusts was a large Worcester county estate on which Napoleon Bonaparte was to live. He has always labored to originate and stimulate industrial and domestice enterprises in both city and country, early organizing both the Norfolk and the Middlesex Publishing Companies, which beside their other activities owned and published some eight country newspapers, serving four years as their president and director. He also early became clerk and director of the Neponset Reservoir Company and other large water power corporations and the presi- dent of both the Maple Grove and the Walpole Plain cemeteries, both of which he had organized and financially aided; and meantime he had taken some five journeys abroad, one entirely around the globe, in their behalf.
On the 19th of April, 1899, Mr. Lewis was married to his cousin, Miss Etta A. Lewis, the daughter of James and Eveline Lewis, of Newark, New Jersey, and since then they have made their principal home at the Castle in Walpole, an old estate continuously in the family's possession since 1740.
The military experience of Mr. Lewis covers service as drill master, since 1874, in academy and high schools, where Prince Charlie and others of noble blood stood shoulder to shoulder with Yankee boys, and as commandant of the Washington Guards and as captain of the minute men of the present grave struggle for freedom for all nations. In politics he has always been a stalwart republican
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-ever since its first candidate, John C. Fremont, was placed in the field. He has rendered substantial service also as a teacher, school committeeman and as a trustee of the public library and in the last named position is still serving. To the library he has donated from time to time many useful and costly books and appliances, including some from members of the family of Sir Robert Walpole, for whom the town was named, Sir Spencer Walpole and the present Lord Orford Robert Walpole. In religion Mr. Lewis is strictly orthodox, though his financial support embraces all sects. He is also a mem- ber of the Norfolk Bar Association, president of the Francis Lewis Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and of the First Historical Society of Walpole, both of which he early organized and equipped with rare manuscripts, books, charters and collections beginning with the year 1200 A. D. He is also a member of the Authors Club and of the Royal Societies Club of London, England, the Art Club, a life member of the American Historical Associa- tion, of the Society of Colonial Wars and of the New England His- toric-Genealogical Society, of the National Geographic Society, in which he had the pleasure of helping toward the discovery of the North Pole in 1909 by Peary, and of the Military Efficiency Asso- ciation, with present headquarters at Harvard University.
It is unnecessary here to mention the public-spirited labors and the many public gifts of Mr. Lewis or of his public-spirited celebra- tion held in honor of Shakespeare, Martin Luther and Sir Robert Walpole, earl of Orford, a life-size oil portrait of whom he gave to his native town ; his gift of a granite receiving tomb for Sir Spencer Walpole and the gift of two fully equipped cemetery lots for fifty- six neglected Revolutionary war patriots. In regard to his literary
works, the following certainly deserve mention here: In Me- moriam; Pleasant Hours in Sunny Lands; History of Walpole, Massachusetts; Addresses on Sir Robert Walpole and Rev. Phillips Payson; The Influence of Harvard College in Our Early English Settlements; Minute Men and Other Patriots of Walpole, Massa- chusetts, 1775-1783; Undaunted; Her Triumph; The Brazen Per- jurer; An Ungrateful Public; and The Patriot's Call.
As a man of fine feeling and scholarly attainments, with whom association means inspiration, expansion and elevation, Mr. Lewis has done much to arouse and promote public-spirited citizenship and manly worth and has always been among the foremost against ignorance, mendacity, lawlessness and crime. In him the loftier spirit and principles of our rugged forefathers have never weakened. Life is as sweet, heaven as bright, God as good whatever comes.
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Cheerfulness, courage and hope have in him crowned a useful and worthy life. "The first of all the virtues of this world," says Plato, "is loyalty in need and danger." That has ever been this man's life. "Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for a friend" is the vital record of scripture-the unfailing test of all human worth and effort.
PATRICK HENRY MAHONEY.
Patrick Henry Mahoney, a prominent and well known business man of Wrentham, where he is conducting a real estate and insurance office was born in Walpole, Massachusetts, September 3, 1878, and is a son of William and Margaret (Landres) Mahoney, who were na- tives of Ireland. The father came to America when thirteen years of age and located in Walpole, Massachusetts, where he attended the public schools. He later established a mattress factory in Walpole and successfully conducted the business for many years or until his death, which occurred on the 24th of October, 1903.
Spending his youthful days in his father's home, Patrick H. Mahoney attended the public schools of Walpole until he has passed through consecutive grades to the high school .: He afterward pur- sued a course of study in the Bryant & Stratton. Commercial College at Boston and he entered upon his business career in the capacity of a private secretary. He has been identified with the real estate and insurance business since 1909, in which year he established an office at Boston and also at Walpole. He conducted his interests in the two cities until 1915, when he removed to Wrentham, where he has since remained. He has built up a large clientage in both depart- ments and the extent of his business makes his one of the important interests of the kind in Norfolk county.
On the 29th of June, 1915, in Arlington, Massachusetts, Mr. Mahoney was united in marriage to Miss Anna J. Moakley, a daughter of James and Mary Moakley, of Lexington, Massachusetts. Mr. Mahoney is a member of the Catholic church and is identified with Walpole Council of the Knights of Columbus. He is also a member of the Norwood Lodge of Elks and is president of the Wrentham Board of Trade. In politics he maintains an independent course. His military career covers service with the Wrentham Home Guard. He has done important work in public connections, having become a member of the Walpole school committee in 1906
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PATRICK H. MAHONEY
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PUELA LILLARY
... . FOUNDATIONS
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and serving in that capacity until 1915, acting as clerk of the school board for five years. From 1910 until 1914 he was a member of the Walpole board of assessors and also acted as clerk of that board. In 1917 he was secretary of the Wrentham Public Safety Committee.
In a word, he is deeply interested in all that pertains to general improvement and his progressiveness has been manifest in substantial and beneficial results. At the same time he manifests unfaltering enterprise in business affairs and there is no phase of insurance with which he is not familiar, while his knowledge of the real estate market is most comprehensive. His diligence and perseverance have been salient features in his growing success and he is today one of the leading business men of his section of Norfolk county.
FRANK SMITH.
Frank Smith, of Dedham, Massachusetts, widely known as the former president of the Bay State Historical League, was born in Dover on the 11th of June, 1854, a son of Albert Leland and Sarah Elizabeth (Howe) Smith. He is a descendant in the eighth gen- eration of Robert Smith, who was one of the founders in 1639 of Exeter, New Hampshire, and who was several times commissioned by the general court for "the settling of small affairs." His son, Asahel Smith, the direct ancestor of Frank Smith of this review, settled in Dedham in 1671 and became a prominent man of the town, was representative to the general court and chairman of the select- men, as well as the first town treasurer. Frank Smith has written biographical sketches of his forbears which include more than two hundred and fifty Puritan ancestors, most of whom came to America before 1640. Through these lines he is connected with the leading events in the history of the country. He has kinship with prominent authors, statesmen, inventors, financiers and philanthropists. He has sixteen ancestors who served in the Revolutionary war. The town of Dedham organized in 1644 the first free public school in the world to be supported by general taxation and six of Mr. Smith's ancestors voted to organize the school.
After completing a public school education in his native town Frank Smith was for many years a member of the firm of Thomp- son, Brown & Company, educational publishers of Boston. In this connection he was instrumental in bringing out some of the popular textbooks of the day, especially those having to do with mathematics.
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He is the author of the History of Dover, the first volume of which is narrative and the second geneaological. He is likewise the author of "Dover Farms," "The Founders of the First Parish," and many historical pamphlets.
On the 17th of October, 1888, Mr. Smith was married to Jennie G., a daughter of Samuel F. and Hannah (Ellis) Allen. She died November 21, 1893, and on the 9th of June, 1897, Mr. Smith was married to Lillian Ellis, a daughter of John Leonard and Lucy (Ellis) Fisher, of Westwood. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the first couple married in the town. Mrs. Smith's ancestors, both paternal and maternal, were prominently connected with Dedham from the first settlement of the town in 1636. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two children : Ellis, a student in the College of Business Administration of Boston University; and Sarah, a pupil in the Dedham high school.
Fraternally Mr. Smith is connected with Constellation Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Dedham and is most prominently known in con- nection with his work as a representative of historical societies. He is the president of the Dover Historical Society, was the former president of the Bay State Historical League and vice president of the Dedham Historical Society. In politics he represents a long line of democrats. His great-grandfather voted for Thomas Jefferson, his grandfather supported Jackson and his father was also an ardent democrat, while Mr. Smith of this review cast his maiden vote for Samuel J. Tilden. He was a member of the Massachusetts general court in 1888 and for ten years he served as superintendent of schools in Dover. He has also served on many important committees since becoming a resident of Dedham. He is a member of the standing committee of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, represent- ing Captain John Williams, who fought at the Lexington Alarm, Bunker Hill and in fact throughout the entire Revolutionary struggle.
EZRA H. STETSON.
The name of Stetson has become known throughout the world in connection with shoe manufacturing and an immense volume of business has been built up under the style of the Stetson Shoe Com- pany, with Ezra H. Stetson as its president. This constitutes one of the most important features in the manufacturing interests of South Weymouth, while the offices of the company are maintained at 183
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Essex street, Boston. Mr. Stetson was born in Sumner, Maine, November 23, 1850, and is a son of Josiah T. and Cynthia A. (Cobb) Stetson, who were natives of Maine. The grandmother in the ma- ternal line was a member of the Hersey family and had twelve chil- dren. Josiah T. Stetson devoted his life to the occupation of farm- ing in Maine and was reared upon the old homestead property which he operated after attaining his majority. His entire life was passed upon that farm, where he was born in January, 1821, and where his death occurred in November, 1910. For a decade he had survived his wife, who died in 1900.
Ezra H. Stetson was reared and educated in Sumner, Maine, at- tending the graded schools of that place, while later he became a pupil in the high school at Buckfield, Maine. He resided upon the home farm with his parents until he had attained his majority and he is still the owner of that property. After reaching adult age, however, he removed to South Weymouth, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, where he took up his abode in 1871 and entered the employ of Lysander Heald, the father of his present partner. Later he became connected with the firm of H. B. Reed & Company, manufacturers of shoes, and occupied the responsible position of superintendent of their factory for five years. In 1885 he entered into partnership with A. C. Heald for the manufacture of shoes. They opened a small factory and began operations on a limited scale but developed their interests until they have built up the now famous business which has made the Stetson shoe known all over the world. Their plant is today extensive and stands as a monument to the progressive- ness, business enterprise and executive force of Mr. Stetson and his associates in the undertaking. Mr. Stetson has traveled for the house much of the time through all these years and has visited every state in the Union and many foreign countries.
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