USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 53
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ELISHA S. CONVERSE.
he has held to the present time, and the direction and control of all operations, both of the factories and stores of this immense concern, have been unreservedly in- trusted to his care. Mr. Converse is also actively in- terested in very many other enterprises, which have the benefit of his business sagacity and experience. He is president of the First National Bank of Malden, of the Rubber Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company, of the Malden Hospital and of the Standard Stave and Cooperage Company, director of the Ex- change National Bank of Boston, trus- tee of the Five Cent Savings Bank, of the Malden Public Li- brary, of the Soldiers' Home, and a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees of Wellesley College. He has served the Common- wealth two years (1878-79) in the House of Repre- sentatives and two years (1880-81) in the Senate. In 1882, when Malden had been incor- porated as a city, he was, by universal acclaim, awarded the honor of serving as its first mayor. His administration gave general satisfaction to the citizens, re- gardless of party. Mr. Converse is a successful business man, active in thought, untiring in work and conservative in method. He was, on the 4th of September, 1845, married to Mary D. Edmunds, daughter of Captain Hosea and Ursula Edmunds, of Thompson. Their children are: Frank Eugene (de- ceased), Mary Ida (wife of Costello C. Converse), Harry Elisha and Frances Eugenia. The church con- nections of Mr. Converse are with the First Baptist Society of Malden.
420
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
J OSEPH FURNALD WIGGIN, son of Joshua and Dorothy (Furnald) Wiggin, has served four years as mayor of Malden. He was born in Exeter, Rock- ingham County, N. H., March 30, 1838. His element- ary education was received in the common schools of Exeter. He then spent three years in Phillips Exeter Academy and fitted there to enter college one year in advance of the regular course. Instead of going to college he entered the Harvard Law School and remained there one year. He then studied law in the office of Hon. Wil- liam W. Stickney, of Exeter, N. H., and was admitted to the bar in Rockingham County, N. H., in 1862. He practised law in Epping, N. H., one year, when he removed to Exeter, and practised there until 1880. He then moved to Malden, where he now resides. He is at the head of the law firm of Wig- gin & Fernald, with an office on State Street, Boston. He was married in Mil- ton, July 6, 1868, to Ruth Hurd, (laughter of Thomas and Deborah C. (Allen) Hollis. Of this union were ten chiklren, of whom nine are now living : Ruth H., Joseph, Thomas H., Deborah A., Walter, Margaret E., Harry, J. Hollis and Helen Wiggin. From 1871 to 1876 Mr. Wiggin was judge of probate for Rockingham County, and in 1877 he was appointed one of the commissioners to compile and revise the public statutes of the State of New Hampshire. Soon after coming to Malden, Judge Wiggin began to take an active interest in the welfare and progress of the city, and although he sought no pub- lic or political office, his services were soon in demand,
JOSEPH F. WIGGIN.
and in 1885 he was elected a member of the School Board. As member of this board he took a most active interest in, and exerted a strong influence upon, the edu- cational affairs of the city. He was re-elected to the School Board the following year and in 1887 was chair- man of the board. While holding this important post- tion he was nominated at the Citizens' Convention for the highest office in the gift of the city, and he was elected mayor by an almost unanimous vote. As mayor of the city he man- aged its affairs with such prudence as to win the respect and confidence of all classes of the city, and more especially of the taxpayers, be- cause of his financial ability and his con- servatism in the ex- penditure of the ap- propriations. His administration was warmly endorsed by the leading citi- zens, and he was re- nominated and re- elected the three following years with- out opposition, mak- ing four years that he served the city as chief magistrate, which is two terms more than any of the previous mayors had served. Under his prudent administra- tion the city has in- creased rapidly in population and wealth, the population having increased from eighteen thousand to nearly thirty thousand. Judge Wiggin, soon after retiring from the office of mayor was elected city solicitor, and the city is still enjoying the benefit of his valuable experience and conservative judgment. There is not a more popular man in Malden than he, and his services are always at the disposal of his fellow-citizens in connection with any movement that affects the interests of the city.
421
MALDEN.
M ARCELLUS COGGAN, son of Leonard C. and Betsey M. Coggan, was born in Bristol, Lincoln County, Me., in 1847. He followed the sea at an early age, attending a district school during the winter terms. When sufficiently advanced he became a student in Lincoln Academy, New Castle, Me., where, by teaching in the winter and going to sea in the summer, he was enabled to prepare himself for entering Bowdoin Col- lege, where he was graduated with honor in 1872. He distinguished himself as a student, and graduated as class orator. The same energy and persever- ance which enabled him, in spite of diffi- culties, to procure a collegiate education, have characterized all his subsequent career. After graduation he filled the position of principal of Nichols Academy, Dudley, Mass., and at the same time served as a member of the School Board for three years in that town. He studied law in the office of Child & Powers, Bos- ton, was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1881, and entered upon the practice of law in the office of the firm with whom he had studied, re- maining with them until 1886, when he formed a partnership with William Schofield, under the name of Coggan & Schofield. Prosperity attended the new firm, and Mr. Coggan built up a lucrative practice, which has steadily increased from year to year. Mr. Coggan became a resident of Malden in 1879, and at once took an active part in the local benevolent and social organizations of the city. For four years he was a member of the School Com- mittee, one year acting as chairman. In 1884 he was 1
an independent candidate for mayor of Malden, and was defeated only by a small majority. The following year, however, he was elected mayor of that city on an independent ticket, and his official career was indorsed by a unanimous re-election the following year. He was held in high esteem as mayor of the city, and his official acts were independent of partisanship, his sole aim being to give the city a clean and efficient administra- tion which should be and was beneficial to all the citi- zens of Malden. Since his retirement from the office of mayor, Mr. Coggan has devoted himself exclusively to his ex- tensive law practice, but he still takes an active interest in mu- nicipal affairs, in 1892 ably advocating the election of the inde- pendent ticket as against the present administration. Mr. Coggan has won con- siderable renown as a lawyer in connec- tion with the famous Trefethen murder case, in which Ex- Governor Long is as- sociated with him. Trefethen was found guilty of murder in the first degree, al- though his counsel 1 made an admirable defence. Mr. Cog- gan has been untiring in his efforts to se- cure a new trial, and has recently finally succeeded, and the case will come up for trial again, when Mr. Coggan will present new evidence going to show his client's innocence. Mr. Coggan was married in 1872 to Luella B., daughter of C. C. Robins, of Bristol, Me. They have three children, Sumner, Linus Child and Florence Lambert Coggan. As an able advocate, and as a public- spirited citizen, Mr. Coggan enjoys the esteem of the community in which he lives.
MARCELLUS COGGAN.
422
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
W ILLIAM B. DE LAS CASAS is one of the young men who have put new blood into the Democratic party of Massachusetts. Both from his father and his mother he inherits his patriotic interest in public affairs. His father was exiled from Spain for taking part in a revolution to secure constitutional liberty in 1820, and his mother was descended from one of the sons of the Earl of Essex. His paternal grandfather was a brother of Judge Story's grandfather. Mr. de las Casas was born March 3, 1857, in Malden, in the house in which he still lives. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of Malden and at Harvard Col- lege, from which he graduated in 1879. He taught mathe- matics two years at Trinity School, Tivoli-on-the- Hud - son, and then took a course at the Har- vard Law School, graduating in 1884. After one year in the law office of R. D. Smith, in Boston, he opened his present office at No. 40 Water Street. While in the law school he began to develop and build up one of the most beautiful por- tions of Malden in a way which at once won him a reputa- tion for energy, taste and judgment. At the same time he displayed deep interest in civil service reform as secretary of the Malden Association, and soon after as a member of the executive committee of the Massachu- setts League and of the general committee of the National League, which positions he still holds. Until 1884 he was a Republican, but in that year, as secre- tary of the Malden Republican and Independent Club, and on the stump, he worked for Mr. Cleveland's elec-
tion. In 1890 he was chairman of the executive com- mittee of the Malden Democratic City Committee, which secured the election of a Democratic representa- tive in the Legislature for the first time in eighteen years. At the same time he was chairman of the Sixth Congressional District Committee, which managed Dr. William Everett's brilliant campaign against Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, and reduced the latter's plurality of 5,295, in 1888, to 1,040, - less than a majority. The next year he was nominated for the Governor's Council, and won great praise for his plucky though unsuc- cessful campaign in a strongly Repub- lican district. He is frequently a delegate to Democratic con- ventions, and in many other ways is at the front of Demo- cratic party move- ments. Mr. de las Casas has occupied many positions of trust, and has given largely of his time to the public as warden of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, as trustee and member of the Building Com- mittee of the Malden Hospital, and in other ways. He is also a member of the Union Club in Boston, the First Corps of Cadets, the Young Men's Democratic Club, the Reform Club, the Executive Council of the Episcopalian Chib of Massa- chusetts, and of the New York Reform Club. In 1892 Governor Russell appointed him to the Metropolitan Park Commission, charged with the important work of reporting on the opportunity and means of preserving for the people open spaces of unusual natural beauty or usefulness in the neighborhood of Boston. He has trav- elled widely, and is very fond of Spanish literature.
WILLIAM B. DE LAS CASAS.
423
MALDEN.
H OLLIS RANDALL GRAY was born in the town of Westbrook, Me. (now called Deering), Dec. 6, 1836. His father removing to Boston soon after, he was educated in the public schools there. On leaving school in 1853, he entered the employ of W. P. B. Brooks, furniture dealer, Boston, where he remained until 1861. He then accepted a position as inspector in the Boston Custom House. Inheriting an inclination for public life, he early entered the arena of politics as a stanch Republican. At the age of twenty- one he was elected clerk of Ward Twelve, Boston, in which capacity he served during the years 1858, 1859 and 1860. In the latter year he was elected a member of the Common Council, in which body he served his ward and the city with energy and faithfulness, and would have been re- elected, but he de- clined a re-nomina- tion to accept an appointment in the Boston Custom House. In 1867 Mr. Gray resigned his position in the Custom House to establish himself in the furniture busi- ness, which he still carries on at Nos. 38 and 40 Washing- ton Street, Boston. He was again elected a member of the Common Council of Boston, and served during the years 1868, 1869 and 1870. He was a candidate for alderman in 1870, and for the Legislature in 1876 and 1878. In 1870 he was elected a member of the Water Board, and did valuable service in that capacity for the city. He became a resident of Malden in 1880, and immediately identified himself with the interests of the town. His experience in the Common Council of
Boston served him to good effect when he was elected to the Common Council of Malden from Ward Four, in 1885. After serving in that body one year, his abil- ity and deep interest in the welfare of the city were recognized, and he was elected by a large majority to represent Ward Four in the Board of Aldermen, and he was re-elected the two following years. While alderman he was a member of the commission on the increased supply of water from Eaton's Wells, which source is now supplying nearly the entire city. Al- though a strong Re- publican in politics, he has always worked hard for the best in- terests of the public without regard to party, and thereby earned a reputation for courage, fidelity and independence. Socially, Mr. Gray is held in high esteem, and has hosts of friends all over the State. He is a prominent Freema- son, being a past master of St. Paul's Lodge of South Bos- ton, where he took his degrees in 1859. He still retains his membership in this lodge. He is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter of the Tabernacle, and of Beauseant Com- mandery of Malden. Mr. Gray has been frequently mentioned as a good man for mayor of Malden, and his friends claim that if he desires such an honor that he can have it within a few years. Though the demands of his business are such as to require nearly all his time and energies, Mr. Gray nevertheless continues to take a deep interest in all the municipal affairs of Malden, and belongs to that class of useful, public-spirited citizens who are the backbone of the State.
HOLLIS R. GRAY.
424
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
L ORIN LOVEJOY FULLER, son of David C. and Maria (Lovejoy) Fuller, was born in Readfield, Me., Jan. 25, 1826 ; he obtained his early education in the public schools of his native State. In the spring of 1839 he came to Boston, and in 1845 began business on his own account as carpenter and builder. For forty-five years he has been a builder in and around Boston and to some extent a dealer in real estate. For a number of years he resided in Melrose, Mass., which town he represented in the Legislature of 1859. In 1860 he moved to Malden, where he now re- sides ; he served as alderman during the first year of the or- ganization of the Malden city govern- ment and was mayor of the city in 1884 and 1885 and again alderman in 1887. His administrations of the municipal government were thoroughly business- like and able, and added no little to his popularity. He was one of the first members of the Water Commis- sioners and contin- ued on the board for ten years. He has been a member of the Industrial Aid Society from its or- ganization to the present time and is also an active member of the Malden Improvement Association. At the time of the separation of Everett from Malden he was chairman of the committee for the adjustment and dividing of the township property, and his able and satisfactory negotia- tions gained for him the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens. He was one of the starters and pro- moters of the Masonic institutions at Melrose, and has to the present time taken a continued and active inter-
est in all that pertained to the order. He was one of the charter members of Wyoming Lodge, Waverly Royal Arch Chapter, Melrose Council and Hugh De Payen Commandery, and was the first commander of the above commandery. In politics he is a conservative Democrat, always taking a deep interest in all that pertained to the welfare and prosperity of the country, but never acting the partisan, or being influenced by any mere party considerations. During the war of the Rebellion, Mr. Fuller took an earnest and active part in aiding and providing for the soldiers, and was chairman of the committee to pro- vide for and look after Company K of Malden, and on the departure of this company for the South he presented the officers with side- arms and revolvers. Mr. Fuller was mar- ried in Sebec, Me., Nov. 8, 1852, to Lucy P., daughter of John J. and Lydia Brown Lovejoy ; they have four chil- dren, - Henry L., M. Louise, Everett L. and L. Alma Fuller, all now living. Mrs. Fuller died April 11, 1886. Mr. Fullerwasagain married at Malden, June 26, 1889, to Mrs. Annie W. Hornsby, daughter of Thomas and Lydia Stewart, of Hartland, Me. Mr. Fuller still takes an active interest in the progress and welfare of the city, and was chairman of the building committee of the Malden Hospital, and his knowledge and experience as a builder were of great benefit to the city in this con- nection. He is still hale and vigorous and may reason- ably expect many years more of active usefulness in public and private life.
LORIN L. FULLER.
425
MALDEN.
C LARENCE O. WALKER, chairman of the Mal- den Board of Aldermen, was born in Portsmouth, N. H., Oct. 30, 1848, and was educated in the public schools of that place. He became a resident of Malden in 1877, and since then he has taken a great interest in the welfare and prosperity of the city. His substantial home is in Ward Three, the wealthiest ward in the city, and ever since his residence in Malden he has been known as an energetic man of business, honorable and upright in all his dealings. In the business and political, as well as in the social and relig- ious life of Malden, Mr. Walker wields a healthy influence, and is very popular among his wide circle of friends and acquaint- ances. His immense business absorbed his attention the first ten years of his residence in Malden, so that he had but little time to devote to public office. In 1889, however, the citizens of his ward elected him to represent them in the Common Coun- cil. His faithful and efficient service was appreciated, and he was re-elected the following year. His two years as council- man gave him a valu- able experience in the affairs of the city. The citizens of his ward wanted him to serve them in the upper branch of the city government, and he was elected alderman without opposition. He was again elected alderman, and his fellow-members of the board, recog- nizing his worth, elected him chairman, in which capac- ity he always presides with dignity and ability. He is chairman of five important committees of the city gov- ernment. He is a member of the committees on Police, Fuel, Fire Department, Printing and Accounts. Within
the past year Mr. Walker has been frequently mentioned as the right kind of a man for mayor, and the prominent citizens of the city agree that he would make a first- class mayor, as he has all the requisites for that honorable position. His friends claim that within a few years, at least, he can have the office if he wants it. Mr. Walker is recognized in social life as a man of worth. He is a past master of the Mt. Vernon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, chaplain of the Tabernacle Chapter, and is a member of the Beau- seant Commandery, Knights Templar. He is also an active member of the Young Men's Christian As- sociation, and a deacon in the First Congregational Church. He is prom- inent in Odd Fellow- ship, being one of the leading members of Middlesex Lodge. Quiet and unostenta- tious, he has won the esteem of his fellow- associates in the va- rious organizations with which he is con- nected, and all re- spect him as a man of integrity and good judgment. In relig- ious circles he is also held in high esteem, and he has ever shown a willingness to promote or help any worthy project. Mr. Walker is a member of the firm of J. Albert Walker & Co., wholesale coal dealers, with wharves in Boston and Portsmouth, and business office at No. 70 Kilby Street. He has a wife and three boys, and one of the most comfortable homes in Malden. Few men in Mal- den are more familiar with all the details of municipal government than Mr. Walker, and few have performed more conscientious and painstaking service in the cause of good city government. His popularity is well merited.
CLARENCE O. WALKER.
.
426
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
A LFRED E. COX is one of the best-known men in Malden, and there is probably no man in that city who has lived there even a year who has not heard of " Al" Cox, as he is familiarly called. This is owing to the fact that Mr. Cox has been actively interested in every project of a public nature in which the interests of the city are involved. He was born in Malden, Aug. 31, 1848, his parents being Charles C. and Lucy (Faulkner) Cox, both of whom are still living in Mal- den. He was edu- cated in the public schools, and even as a boy showed an active interest in the affairs of the town, being a frequent attendant at the lively town meet- ings which were held twenty-five years ago. In 1870 he entered the service of the Atlantic Works, East Boston, and for sev- eral years past he has been the treas- urer of that extensive establishment. He was elected a mem- ber of the Board of Selectmen in 1875, and re-elected the following year. He has served on many important town com- mittees, including the Committee on the Revision of the Town By-laws, the com- mittees on Ceme - teries and Fire-alarm Telegraph. He was elected a member of the School Board in 1880, to fill a vacancy caused by the resigna- tion of a member, and at the next town election was re-elected. For the year 1878 he served the town as auditor. Mr. Cox took a great interest in the city ques- tion, and was, in fact, the first citizen to make any practical move toward securing a charter, and he was the leader of the forces which secured a favorable vote for the change in the form of government, and he was a
member of the committee which prepared the city charter. Since the organization of the city government he has taken an active interest in all the important questions which have come before the City Council, and was elected street commissioner in 1883, which office he filled one year. In December, 1883, he was elected alderman at large, and was re-elected by an almost unanimous vote the following year. Mr. Cox is an ardent Republican, and is a great political organizer. In Malden it has been generally con- ceded that the meas- ures and men in which " Al " Cox be- came interested came pretty near being successful in most instances. Every- body gives him credit for having done a vast amount of work for the progress and welfare of Malden. He is an able and earnest debater, and while serving as al- derman he did some effective work, es- pecially as a member of the Highway Com- mittee and the Com- mittee on Street Lights. He has also been president of the Common Council, and is now one of the street commission- ers, and the good condition of Mal- den's highways is in no small measure due to his efforts. His friends claim that he could have been mayor of Maken at any time within the past few years had he consented to allow his name to be used. It is more than likely, however, that he will consent to serve the city as mayor before many years elapse. He is now spoken of as a probable suc- cessor to Henry Cabot Lodge. Mr. Cox has a beautiful home in Maken, where he lives happily with his wife and nine children, five girls and four boys.
ALFRED E. COX.
427
MALDEN.
E DWARD OTIS HOLMES, son of Rev. Otis Holmes, was born in the old historic town of Dorchester, Mass., Jan. 5, 1830, of an old family who were early identified with its settlement. Both of his grandfathers were engaged in throwing up the fortifica- tions upon Dorchester Heights, the night before the expected attack by the British. His only brother is Rev. H. M. Holmes, a graduate of Amherst, residing in Ayer, who is agent of the Christian Commission. Mr. Holmes attended school in Dorchester, Mass., and at the Franklin School, Bos- ton, until he was ten years of age, when his parents moved to Gilmanton, N. H. where he attended the academy. He fitted for college at Sandwich Academy, N. H., but having a decided mechanical turn of mind, at the age of twenty he turned his attention to mechanics, more particularly to grind- ing mills for cereals, but finally to grind- ing and disinte- grating all kinds of minerals, phosphates, paints, spices, cocoas, and in fact every material which re- quired pulverizing, grinding or redu- cing. After two years' experience as work- man and superintendent of a milling establishment in Boston, he bought it out, and in 1861 started life anew as a manufacturer, and he soon increased the business to twice its former proportions. In 1863 John W. Blanchard became associated with him, and this partner- ship still exists. The business was increased and has, until the present time, been one of the leading manu- factories of paint and grain mills, shafting, gearing, etc., in the country. Mr. Holmes has invented several useful
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