USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 25
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ALFRED D. CHANDLER.
199
BOSTON.
W TILLIAM MCKINLEY OSBORNE, member of the Board of Police for the city of Boston, is identified with the attempt, on the part of the Massachu- setts Legislature, to make the police of the capital of the State independent of partisan municipal politics, and thereby to increase its general efficiency. The theory of the law creating this board was to make a thoroughly non-partisan organization. The members of the com- mission -three in number-are appointed by the gov- ernor, with the consent of his Coun- cil, from the two great political par- ties. It was argued that the board, thus appointed and re- sponsible to the executive depart - ment of the State, would not be ham- pered by questions of local policy, and also that a better class of men would be likely to be chosen. In so far as this change has tended to take the police out of the local politics, it has perhaps met the expectations of its projectors, and along the lines of general police work the change was for the better govern- ment of the force, for the officers can do their duty with- out fear or favor. In other respects, however, the value of the change is a de- batable party question. Mr. Osborne has been a member of the board ever since its organization, and has filled his position with singular ability. He was born in Gir- ard, Trumbull County, Ohio, April 26, 1842. His early education was obtained at the academy at Poland, Ohio, and at the Allegheny College, Meadville, Penn. He enlisted, at the breaking out of the war, in the Twenty- third Regiment, Ohio Volunteers, the first three years'
WILLIAM M. OSBORNE.
regiment formed in the State. He did not serve out his term, being discharged because of injuries received. In the fall of 1862 he entered the law office of Sutliff, Tuttle & Stull, at Warren, Ohio, where he studied for a year. He then took a course at the law school of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 1869 he began the practice of law at Youngstown, Ohio, and was held in such esteem by his fellow-citizens that he was twice elected mayor, 1874-75. In 1880 he took up his resi- dence in Boston, and a little later entered politics. He was quickly successful, and in 1884-85 rep- resented Ward 21 in the Boston Common Council. In 1885 Governor Robinson, recognizing his fine executive ability, ap- pointed him a mem- ber of the new Board of Police for the city of Boston, just cre- ated by act of Legis- Jature. He was re- appointed by Gov- ernor Ames in 1888. His term will expire in May, 1893. Mr. Osborne is a cousin of William McKin- ley, father of the fa- mous tariff law, and present governor of Ohio. His boyhood days were passed in close intimacy with his now distinguished cousin, and the friendship then formed has continued. When Mr. Mc- Kinley visits Boston, he always makes Mr. Osborne's handsome residence in Roxbury his headquarters. Commissioner Osborne is very fond of travel, and has varied and enlarged his experience by a sojourn in Europe of several years. Mr. Osborne was married in Boston, April 24, 1878, to Frances Clara, adopted daugh- ter of Walter Hastings. Of this union five children were born, four girls and a boy.
200
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
IN Oliver M. Wentworth, president of the Massachusetts 1
Charitable Mechanic Association, is found another instance where energy and brains have won for a poor country lad, who came to the city, an enviable position in the business and social world. He has scaled the heights of fortune unaided by aught save his own sturdy courage and native ability, which, supplemented by a wonderful capacity for work, has enabled him to main- tain a steady advance, where others have faltered and many have failed. Mr. Wentworth is very active, and, as president of the Me- chanic Association, he is an indefatigable worker. His honors have come to him unsought, for he has been too busy a man to seek them. He was born in Kenne- bunk, Me., June 25, 1833, and the early years of his life were spent on the farm. It was here, probably, that he formed those habits of industry and prudence which were prime factors in his subsequent success. His educa- tion was such as could be obtained in a country town, but having a studious and inquiring mind, he was enabled to make good use of his lim- ited scholastic oppor- tunities ; better, in fact, than many who have had greater advantages. At the age of seventeen, he came to Bos- ton and took up the marble trade with a firm in Haver- hill Street. Three years later, when but twenty years old, he began business on his own account at No. 81 Haverhill Street. His start was an extremely modest one. In fact, Mr. Wentworth has confided to his friends that it was made without a dollar of capital. But hard work and perseverance triumphed, and his business
OLIVER M. WENTWORTH.
steadily developed, necessitating periodical enlargements of quarters and resulting, in 1869, in the purchase of the property, corner of Haverhill, Travers and Beverly streets, where he erected a fine five-story building, one hundred forty feet in length, and forty-eight feet in width, and the first floor of which he himself occupies. In recent years, Mr. Wentworth has confined his marble and granite business to monumental and tablet work. Since 1869, Mr. Wentworth has engaged in many outside enterprises, the prin- cipal of which has been building. He has erected many fine structures, among them being apartment houses, notably the “ Went- worth," "Lemburg," " Marburg," "Stras- burg," "Heidelburg" and the " Luxem- burg." He has also erected buildings in Medford, Cambridge and other of Boston's suburbs. Although immersed in the busy activity of commer- cial life, Mr. Went- worth has yet found time to interest him- self to a considerable extent in religious and charitable work. He has been presi- cent of many charita- ble and religious so- cieties, and for the past fourteen years has officiated as su- perintendent of the Warren Avenue Baptist Sabbath School. He was at one time assistant superintendent at Tremont Temple. Mr. Wentworth has been a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association for twelve years, on the Executive Committee, was vice- president three years, and has been president two years. Mr. Wentworth's busy and successful life is a shining illustration of what can be accomplished by steady, resistless effort and untiring industry.
201
BOSTON.
JOHN SHEPARD, one of the most enterprising of Boston's business men, and head of the dry goods firm of Shepard, Norwell & Co., was born at Canton, Mass., March 20, 1834. Educated in the public schools of Pawtucket, R. I., and at evening schools in Boston, Mr. Shepard showed business ability at an early age, which became more apparent as he gained experience, and opportunities presented themselves. His life has been one of great achievement, of success where others failed, and the many organizations and companies with which he has been connected from time to time have all prof- ited by his ability. In 1845 he was a clerk in the drug store of J. W. Snow, Boston, and two years later entered the dry goods estab- lishment of J. A. Jones. He soon mastered all the de- tails of the business, and in 1853 opened a store of his own, under the name of John Shepard & Co. A keen business man, he was successful from the start, and in 1861 bought out Bell, Thing & Co., of Tremont Row, which he continued until 1865, under the name of Farley & Shepard. When the first store was opened on Winter Street, Mr. Shepard saw that that was soon to become one of the principal business thoroughfares, and he decided to make a change. He chose as his associates, Henry Norwell, at one time in the service of Hogg, Brown & Taylor, and T. C. Brown, salesman for Jordan, Marsh & Co., and in January, 1865, they opened the store on Winter Street under the name of Shepard, Norwell & Co. Mr. Brown retired from the firm soon after, and
Robert Ferguson, of A. T. Stewart & Co., of New York, took his place. Mr. Shepard is a director of the Lin- coln Bank, and was one of the original projectors of the Connecticut River Paper Company, and president of the Bernstein Electric Company. Mr. Shepard is an ardent lover of fast horses, and has owned a number that have become record breakers all over the world. In the sixties, his physician having recommended driv- ing as a recreation, he first became interested in horses. He bought the best that money could buy, and his Old Trot was well known to horsemen. He sold Aldine to W. H. Vanderbilt for fifteen thousand dol- lars, when as a mate to Maud S. the team made a mile in 2.153, He also owned Dick Swiveller, which he sold to Frank Worth for twelve thousand dollars. His Mill Boy and Blondine became famous in 1881, by making a mile in 2.22, at that time the fastest team record in the world. In January, 1856, Mr. Shepard married Susan A., daughter of Perkins H. and Charlotte Bagley. They had two chil- dren, John Shepard. Jr., and Jessie Wat- son (now Mrs. Wil- liam G. Titcomb). Mr. Shepard resides on Beacon Street and has a beautiful summer residence, "Edge- water," at Phillips Beach, Swampscott. His present wife is Mary J., daughter of H. A. and Mary I. (Titcomb) Ingraham, of Newburyport. Mr. Shepard is a member of the Boston Merchants' Association, and for many years has been active and prominent in various other organizations of business men. He is also interested in numerous enterprises besides the great one of which he is the head.
JOHN SHEPARD.
202
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
H ENRY HARRISON SPRAGUE, son of George and Nancy (Knight) Sprague, was born in Athol, Mass., Aug. 1, 1841. After fitting for college in public and private schools he entered Harvard College, and was graduated in the class of 1864. After private teaching in 1865, he entered the Harvard Law School, at the same time being a proctor of the college. In 1890 he was elected a member of the board of overseers for six years. In 1866 he entered the law office of Henry W. Paine [and Robert D. Smith, in Boston, and in 1868 was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and began the practice of law in Boston, where he has since prac- tised and resided. He served in the Boston Common Council in 1874, 1875, and 1876. Since 1875, with the exception of about a year, he has been a trustee of the City Hospital, and secre- tary of the board since 1878. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1881, 1882, and 1883, and a member of the Senate in 1888, 1889, 1890, and 1891. In both branches he served upon the lead- ing committees. In 1888, as chairman of the committee on election laws, he drafted and intro- duced the new ballot act. In 1890 and 1891 he was president of the Senate. He has been recently ap- pointed chairman of the commission to revise the State election laws. He was in 1884 a member of the execn- tive committee of the Municipal Reform Association, and its senior counsel to secure legislative amendments to the charter of Boston, by which the executive anthor- ity of the city was concentrated in the mayor. In 1867
he was active in're-establishing the Boston Young Men's Christian Union, and has since been a member of the board of government, its secretary from 1867 to 1879, and subsequently vice-president. In 1880 he as- sisted in organizing the Boston Civil Service Reform Association, the first or one of the first organizations effected in this country to advocate that reform, and was on the executive committee until 1889, when he was elected president, which office he still holds. He has been since 1879 one of the trustees of the Boston Lying- in Hospital, and re- cently one of the executive commit - tee ; secretary, since 1883, of the Massa- chusetts Charitable Fire Society ; is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Bostonian Soci- ety, the Bar Associa- tion, the Harvard Law School Association, the general commit- tee of the Citizens' Association of Bos- ton ; and has been a manager of the Gwynne Home, and one of the "Com- mittee of Fifty " of the Museum for Fine Arts. He is a trus- tee and treasurer of the Women's Educa- tional and Industrial Union, and is a mem- ber of various social organizations. In 1884 he pub- lished " Women Under the Law of Massachusetts ; Their Rights, Privileges, and Disabilities"; in 1890, a pamphlet, entitled "City Government in Boston ; Its Rise and Development," and he has recently compiled for its one hundredth anniversary an historical sketch of the Massachusetts Historical Fire Society. On the problems of municipal government, Mr. Sprague is con- sidered one of the leading authorities in Massachusetts.
HENRY H. SPRAGUE.
1
203
BOSTON.
JAMES J. GRACE easily takes a foremost place J
among Boston's progressive business men. To his enterprise the city is indebted for many of her most substantial and beautiful buildings, notably the elegant "Grace Building," which is such an ornament to southern Washington Street, and that splendid specimen of Moorish architecture, the Columbia Theatre, which is not only among the most beautiful but is also one of the best appointed and equipped among American play- houses. In the erec- tion of the Columbia a remarkable feat in building was per- formed. The work was begun March 14, 1891, and in less than seven months the whole building was completed and ready for the first per- formance. This was given Oct. 5, 1891, when the theatre was opened with “ Men and Women." Since then only high-class drama has held the boards. In decora- tions and finish the Columbia is entirely original, among the advantages of its arrangements being the fact that there is not a seat in the house that does not command a view of the whole stage. The balconies are built on Boucicault's principle of "striking a straight line from the top row in each balcony to a point on the stage in front of the foot- lights, and you have a perfect point of vision for every- body." The impression received upon entering the auditorium is that of being in the courtyard of a Moor- ish palace, and looking into the great entrance to the palace, formed by the proscenium arch, the windows being represented by the boxes and loges on either hand. The general effect of the decoration is that of
JAMES J. GRACE.
old ivory. Loges, seating from sixteen to twenty per- sons, and so arranged that every one can see equally well, take the place of the conventional box on the balcony level. Of the two magnificent drop curtains, one representing the "Ruins of Alhambra," and the other the " Surrender of Granada," the former was sug- gested by Mr. Grace's son Pierce. Under the manage- ment of Messrs. Rich, Harris & Frohman the prosperity of this house has been phenomenal. Mr. Grace is one of Boston's heaviest real estate owners. He was born at St. John's, Newfound- land, June 1, 1839. He comes of titled Irish stock, whose home for centuries was at Callan, Kil- kenny, and among his ancestors were the famous Earls of Ormand. Mr. Grace obtained his educa- tion in the schools of St. John's, and at the age of twenty-six he came to Boston, where he entered upon a mercantile career. In 1867 he started in the mil- linery business for himself, in Washing- ton Street, and remained there until his store was burned down. He then opened another mil- linery store on Tem- ple Place, where he was one of the mercantile pioneers. He is a direct importer of the finest millinery goods from the most celebrated houses in London and Paris, and now main- tains two extensive establishments, "La Mode," at No. 26 Temple Place, and "The Bouquet," at No. 134 Tre- mont Street, employing seventy-five skilled assistants. He is a prominent and active member of the Catholic Union, and a life member of the Young Men's Catholic Association of Boston.
204
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
C HARLES G. FALL, son of Gershom L. and Rowena P. (Moody) Fall, was born in Malden, Mass., June 22, 1845. His early education was received at Hathaway's School, in Medford; he was fitted for col- lege at Phillips (Exeter) Academy ; and was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1868. He early developed a taste for public speaking, and while at school won several medals, and several prizes while in college. He studied law in Boston with Judge William A. Richardson, was admitted to the Suf- folk bar in July, 1869, and practised law in St. Louis, Mo., for a year. Returning to Boston in 1870, he took an office there (meanwhile attend- ing the Harvard Law School and gradu- ating in the class of 1871), and for many years has had a large and lucrative prac- tice. Soon after leaving college he became interested in public matters, and, though never a can- didate for public office, he was, in sev- cral State and presi-
dential elections, an earnest worker and an effective cam- paign speaker. In politics he has always been Republican. During his earlier years at the bar he was also interested in philanthropic measures, and strove to ameliorate the condition of the insane by improving the condition of hospitals and by legislation to prevent their imjust imprisonment. He also sought to better the condition of the working classes by shorter hours of labor, higher wages, greater freedom of contract and better security for life and limb. His efforts in this direction have been untiring, well directed and fruitful. 'To avoid the strikes and lockouts, which for a quarter of
a century had been the method of warfare used by employers and employees, at the request of all the State organizations of labor, he drew and advocated the act creating (in 1886) the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation, which has proved such an effective remedy. For many years he advocated, by writing and speaking, especially before legislative and political committees, measures to make the lives of workmen, particularly railroad employees, more secure ; and in 1883 he wrote, for the Labor Bureau, the report on em- ployers' liability for personal injury to their employees, containing an anal- ysis of the existing law, its injustice, the objections to the legal rule compelling workmen to assume the risks of their employment, and a discussion of the rea- sons for and against its change. He is the father of the Employers' Liability Act of 1887. As an outspoken advocate of the rights of labor, Mr. Fall stands pre- eminent, and his ser- vices have been all the more valuable, inasmuch as his ar- guments, while em- phasizing the duty of employer to em- ployed, were directed towards a mutual recognition of that to which each class was entitled. He has likewise published two volumes of poetry, one entitled " Dreams " (1883), and another called " A Vil- lage Sketch " (1886). Both volumes were favorably received by the critics and by the public. In 1887 he married Emily B. Fabian. They have one son. Mr. Fall's residence is in Boston, and he is a member of the Boston Bar Association, the Algonquin, Exchange and other social clubs.
CHARLES G. FALL.
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205
BOSTON.
IN the long line of brilliant men of Irish birth and American adoption who have enriched our litera- ture and helped to elevate the standard of public life, James Jeffrey Roche, the scholarly poet of Boston, who guides the literary destinies of the Pilot, merits place. To step into the position made vacant by the too early demise of the patriotic and gifted John Boyle O'Reilly, was an undertaking which was modestly assumed by Mr. Roche, but the sequel has shown that though taken with trepidation, there has been no occasion to regret a step that has been gratifying alike to all concerned. Mr. Roche is one of the rising literary men of America. He is a forceful writer, an able speaker, and his sunny tempera- ment makes friends of all who come within range of his magnetic personality. His talents are fre- quently levied upon on public occasions, where his eloquence and resource invaria- bly prove attractive and interesting. James Jeffrey Roche was born at Mount- mellick, Queen's County, Ireland, May 31, 1847. His parents emigrated in the same year to Prince Edward Island, where he was educated, first by his father, Edward Roche, an accomplished scholar, and after- wards at St. Dunstan's College, Charlottetown. Among his classmates at the latter institution werc the present Chief Justice Sullivan, of Prince Edward Island, and Archbishop O'Brien, of Halifax, N. S. After leaving college Mr. Roche came to the United States in May, 1866, and engaged in commercial pursuits for seven- teen years ; at the same time he dabbled in literature,
writing for various newspapers and magazines, notably the Boston Pilot. In June, 1883, he was offered by his friend, John Boyle O'Reilly, the position of assistant editor on the Pilot, which he accepted, and held until the death of his chief, in August, 1890, when he became the principal editor. In 1884 he was elected secretary of the famous Papyrus Club of Boston, holding the office for five consecutive years, and being chosen presi- dent of the club in 1890. His published works are a volume of poems, "Songs and Satires " (Ticknor & Co., 1886); "Life of John Boyle O'Reilly" (Cassell & Co., 1890) ; "Story of the Filibusters" (T. Fisher Unwin, Lon- don, and Macmillan & Co., New York, 1891). The Univer- sity of Notre Dame, Indiana, conferred the degree of LL. D. on him last year. He is a brother of the late John Roche, pay clerk in the United States Navy, who perished heroically in the Samoan dis- aster of March, 1889. Mr. Roche was the poet of the occasion on the unveiling of the "high -water mark monument" at the national dedica- tion on the field of Gettysburg, June 2, 1892, on which occasion his effort was worthy of the high theme that inspired him. In the poetry of patriot- ism and humanity he exhibits his highest development. Mr. Roche was also the poet on the occasion of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Woburn, Mass., on October 6, 1892. His poem in commemoration of this notable event was remarkably fine and vigorous, and takes rank with the best productions, of this character, in American literature.
JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE.
206
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
L EVERETT SALTONSTALL comes of a family which has been identified with the affairs of this country since 1630, and whose members have all been remarkable for the tenacity with which they have held to their opinions, even when in the minority and often in personal danger. Sir Richard Saltonstall, of Hunt- wick, knight, lord of the manor of Leadsham, near Leeds, first-named associate under the Massachusetts charter, came to this country in 1630 in the " Arabella " with Governor Win- throp, and began the settlement of Water- town. He was an original patentee of Connecticut. His son Richard, who came here with him, settled in Ipswich in 1635. Richard Sal- tonstall was a man of great strength of character, and when Winthrop and others proposed to establish an executive council, with hereditary rights, he opposed the idea so strongly that it was given up, al- though, had such a council been estab- lished, Saltonstall would have been one of the men to receive the greatest advan- tages from it. Na- thaniel, son of Rich- ard, appointed one of the judges in 1692 to try the witches, left the court and courageously refused to have anything to do with the business. Mr. Saltonstall was born in Salem, Mass., March 16, 1825. His father, Leverett Saltonstall, was an eminent advocate of Salem, speaker of the House of Representatives, president of the State Senate, and a member of Congress, respected and beloved for his great qualities of mind and heart. Mr. Saltonstall pre- pared for matriculation at the Salem Latin School, then entered Harvard, and graduated in 1844. He studied
LEVERETT SALTONSTALL
at the Harvard Law School, graduated in 1847 with the degrees of A. M. and LL. B., was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and practised until 1862. Mr. Saltonstall is a man of wide culture, and has been many times asked to assume positions of trust, which, although requiring much labor and time, have been mostly of a gratuitous nature. When Mr. Cleveland was elected President in 1884 he appointed Mr. Saltonstall collector of the port of Boston, which position he held until February, 1890. A member of the Board of Overseers of Har- vard College from 1876 to 1888, Mr. Saltonstall was elected to fill another term in 1889. He is an active member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and also of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Bostonian Society. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the old Massachusetts Soci- ety for Promoting Agriculture, and is identified with a num- ber of associations of a like character. Hc was for two years president of the Uni- tarian Club. In 1854 Mr. Saltonstall was appointed to the staff of Governor Emery Washburn, receiving the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and in 1876 he was a commissioner from Massachusetts to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. Mr. Saltonstall was married at Salem to Rose S., daughter of John Clark and Harriet Lce. They had six children : Leverett (died, 1863), Richard Middlecott, Rose Lee (Mrs. Dr. George West, deceased), Philip Leverett, Mary E. (Mrs. Louis A. Shaw) and Endicott Peabody Sal- tonstall.
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