USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 59
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During the second period of her history, which ended with her incorporation as a town in 1842, six events stand out as having a direct influence on her maturer life. The first is the completion, in 1808, of the Middlesex Canal between Boston and Concord, N. H., the first one of any considerable length in the country, which passed through the town's northern boundaries, where its course may still be traced. The second event was the estab- lishment of the McLean Asylum for the Insane, in 1818, by the Massachusetts General Hospital Corporation. It still exists. It took its name in 1826 from John McLean, who gave to it nearly $100,000. June 25, 1835, saw the opening of the Lowell Railroad. After many years two stations were designated within the town limits. The fourth event in this period was the founding of the cemetery on Somerville Avenue in 1808. Within its unlovely fence rest the ashes of some of Somerville's brave sons who died on Southern battlefields. The one blot on the fair record of the State which Somerville might wish to efface, is the burning, in 1834, of the Ursuline Convent on Mt. Benedict by an angry mob. It had been established by the Order of St. Ursula seven years before.
In 1828 the people living in the northern part of Charlestown, "outside the Neck," made the first step towards separation, by petitioning for an act of incorporation as the town of Warren. The given reasons were dissatisfaction with the expenditure of taxes for improvements which did not benefit them, and distant school- houses. They were given leave to withdraw.
In 1842 the town of Somerville was formally incorporated, the result of a petition having one hundred and fifty-two signers. Active in the passage of the bill was Charles E. Gilman, for forty-six years town and city clerk, a man whose name is to-day one of Somerville's proudest and tenderest memories. The public property of the new-fledged town was worth altogether $6,655, and its population was 1, 103. Under its town charter the little village grew symmetrically, blossoming out into greater intelligence and deeper religious life. In the " time that tried men's souls " she gave of her money and her men, and liberally of both. All the improvements that mark a town's growth to the stature of a city were added as needed. In 1871 she found that her sons numbered sufficient to make her a city, and Jan. 1, 1872, she became the city of Somerville.
The city is essentially a residential one, though not without its business life. Its schools have ever been its chiefest pride, known the Commonwealth over, both for their work and for their many distinguished teachers. The several departments of the city are models of their kind, and a new hospital has just been completed which the people are proud of. The population shown by the last census was 40, 152, a gain of 15,119 in ten years. Building is going on continually, and edifices rise almost in a night. Somerville is still growing; but it is in the lives of her citizens that she finds her best and fullest life. The list of those to whom she owes her prosperity is a long and honored one, through which she reaches into the "large places " of state and national life.
468
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
G EORGE ANSON BRUCE, an eminent lawyer of great ability, has been mayor of Someville and president of the Massachusetts Senate. He is the son of Nathaniel and Lucy (Butterfield) Bruce. He was born in Mount Vernon, Hillsborough County, N. H., Nov. 19, 1839. His early education and his prepara- tion for college were obtained at the Appleton Academy, Mount Vernon, and he was graduated from Dartmouth College in the class of 1861. The law engaged his attention and he immediately began its study. But the cause of the Union ṛ was a greater cause, and in 1862 he en- tered the service of the Union Army as first lieutenant of the Thirteenth New Hampshire Volun- teers. His promo- tion was rapid. He served as aid, judge- advocate, inspector and assistant adju- tant-general on staff duty. His service extended throughout the war, and July 3, 1865, he was mus- tered out of service. He was honored by three distinct brevet promotions. The first was for service at Petersburg, in 1864; the second, that of major, for gallant service at the capture of Fort Har- rison the same year ; and the third, that of lieutenant- colonel, for distinguished services in connection with the capture of Richmond, April 3, 1865. When Mr. Bruce returned to civil life, he again entered into the study of his chosen profession in Lowell, but still kept his residence at Mount Vernon. In 1866 he was elected as representative to the New Hampshire Legis- lature. This was peculiarly creditable to his standing in the community, as he was the first and only Republi-
GEORGE A. BRUCE.
can ever elected from that district. In October, 1866, he was admitted to the bar in Lowell, and the next year he began the practice of his profession in Boston. He has there attained an honorable place among the leaders of the legal fraternity, securing a large clientele and a lucrative practice. He went to Somerville in 1874, and the same year he was appointed associate justice of the police court. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen in 1876, and was mayor of the city during the years 1877, 1880 and 1881. In 1882, 1883 and 1884, he repre- sented his city in the State Senate, being chairman of the Hoosac Tunnel Com- mittee and a mem- ber of the commit- tees on Military Af- fairs and Constitu- tional Amendments. The latter year he was president of the Senate. He was one of the most widely known and most pop- ular of the members of the Legislature during his service there, as he was one of the most able. Since his retirement from active political life, he has given his time and talents to many of the impor- tant cases coming before the Legisla- ture from year to year. His long experience as a member of the General Court and his wide acquaintance with public men make him a dreaded antagonist and a very successful advo- cate, and he has the reputation of rarely losing a case. During his administration of the municipal affairs of Somerville, which gave unbounded satisfaction to the citizens, many important public improvements were inaugurated and carried ont. In 1870 Mr. Bruce was married in Groton to Clara M. Hall.
469
SOMERVILLE.
THE Boston & Maine Railroad, with its various divisions and the .connections which it controls, is one of the great railway systems not alone of New England but of the country, and the story of its growth would be the story of the growth of a great part of New England north of Boston. Daniel W. Sanborn is the general superintendent of the Boston & Maine Railroad system, and as he has been in the railroad business for more than thirty-three years, he has a wide acquaint- ance among railroad and business men throughout New England, and is one of the prominent fig- ures in the Massa- chusetts of to-day. He was born at Wakefield, N. H., was educated in the public schools of his native town and at the Wakefield Acad- emy, learned ship carpentry and worked at the trade until May, 1859, when he entered the railroad service at Portsmouth, N. H., and was employed at the Eastern Railroad station there until August, 1863. The next two years he was a brakeman on a passenger train running between Portsmouth and Portland. From 1864 until 1871 he was conductor of a passenger train on the same route ; in 1871 and 1872 his "run" was from Portland to Bos- ton ; and from 1872 until 1879, between Boston and Bangor. In the latter year he was appointed master of transportation of the Eastern Railroad. This position he filled with great credit to himself, and to the perfect satisfaction of the company, until the Eastern was leased to the Boston & Maine, when he was made superintend- ent of the Eastern Division of the Boston & Maine,
DANIEL W. SANBORN.
holding this office until July 1, 1890. He was then appointed superintendent of the Southern Division (the old Boston & Lowell, which had been leased by the Boston & Maine) of this great system. After the death of James T. Furber, general manager of the Boston & Maine, the position of general superintendent of the system was created, and Mr. Sanborn, in February, 1892, was invited by the directors to accept it. Mr. Sanborn has been highly successful in all the responsible positions he has
held, and enjoys a . great personal popu- larity among railroad men in general. He was at one time president of the American Railroad Superintendents' As- sociation. His brother, John W., who was formerly su- perintendent of the Northern Division of the Boston & Maine, has been, since the death of Mr. Furber, acting general man- ager of the system. Mr. Sanborn is a member of Soley Lodge, F. and A. M., of Somerville, and Strawberry Bank Encampment, I. O. O. F., of Ports- mouth, N. H. In 1856 he was married to Miss Lucy M. Lydston, of Eliot, Me. Two children have been added to the family, - a daughter and a son. The latter, Fred E., is a passenger conductor on the Maine Central Railroad, and runs between Portland and Bar Harbor. Mr. Sanborn's daughter is the wife of James M. French, ticket agent of the Boston & Maine in Boston. Every one of the thousands of employees on the Boston & Maine system feels that, as long as he does his duty, he has a warm friend in the general superintendent. Mr. Sanborn's home is in Somerville.
470
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
E DWARD GLINES has been closely and continually identified with the history of Somerville since it became a city, and has played no small part in State politics. Born in Somerville, Aug. 31, 1849, his father, Jacob T., was a direct descendant of Israel Glines, one of the settlers of Falmouth in 1630. He graduated from the high school in 1869, and was first employed in a fancy grocery store in Charlestown, where he stayed but a few months. His next venture was an express line, which he ran for two years between Bos- ton and Somerville. In 1872, he entered his father's coffee importing and roast- ing establishment in Boston, as clerk. He gradually reached the head of the busi- ness, which he now owns, becoming in 1880, his father's suc- cessor. His politi- cal ability was early apparent, and his first office was the chairmanship of the Republican City Committee. Follow- ing that office, came his election to the Common Council in 1878, and his re-elec- tion, as its president the next year. He re- fused the aldermanic nomination, but was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1882. In this house were Congressmen O'Neil, Andrew, Cogswell, Hayden, and Allen. The next year he was re-elected to the House in the face of vigorous and prolonged opposition. He was a member of the Committee on Street Railroads. Two years as a men- ber of the executive and financial committees of the State Central Committee followed, and in 1886 he was elected to the State Senate. He served on important committees as follows : Railroads, Labor, Public Health,
EDWARD GLINES.
Roads, and Bridges (chairman), Expediting Business (chairman). In this session he made his famous speech on the temperance question, raising a storm about his ears. But he was re-elected to the Senate, serving as chairman of the Railroad Committee, chairman of the Committee on Federal Elections, and chairman of the Committee on Expediting Business. As chairman of the Railroad Committee, he reported and advocated the passage of two important bills-the consolidation of the Old Colony with the Providence, and the roads forming the present Boston and Maine system. He has the remarka- ble record of never having lost a bill reported from his committee. Since his retirement from the Senate in 1888, his only political honors have been as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, in 1892, and presidential elector on the Re- publican ticket in 1892. He has always been connected with all enterprises to benefit the commu- nity, and foremost in charitable works. He was interested in the formation of the Somerville Cen- tral Club, was a for- mer member of the Somerville Webcowit Club, is a life member of the Somerville Improvement Society and is now a member of the Winter Hill Club of Somerville, and the Central, Middlesex, New England, and Taylor clubs of Boston, and the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. He has held offices in the Odd Fellows and Knights of Honor, and is a Mason, Knights Templar degree. He was married in 1872, and has no children.
471
SOMERVILLE.
JOHN HASKELL BUTLER is widely known as a lawyer of great ability, and a man who stands high in the councils of charitable and fraternal organi- zations. He was born in Middleton Aug. 31, 1841, being the son of John and Mary J. (Barker) Butler of that town. He was educated in the schools of Groton and Shirley, fitting for college at the Lawrence Academy in Groton. Yale is his alma mater, and he was gradu- ated with the class of 1863, bearing high honors. After his graduation he served in the United States Navy, and then entered the law - office of John Q. A. Griffin and William S. Stearns of Charles- town, and after two years of reading was admitted to the bar in 1868. That same year he formed a co-partnership with William S. Stearns for the transaction of legal business, and the firm of Stearns & Butler is to-day one of the best known in Bos- ton. He went to Somerville in 1870, and served on the School Committee there for twelve years, from 1876. In 1880 Mr. Butler was elected a mem- ber of the lower branch of the State Legislature, and the following year was re-elected. He was elected a mem- ber of the executive council from the third district in 1884 by the Legislature to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Charles R. McLean. His service in this capacity was such as to re-elect him, and he represented the same district in the council in 1885 and 1886. In all charitable schemes he is an influential worker, and is recognized as such in Somerville and elsewhere. For two years, from 1883 to 1885, he held a position which
JOHN H. BUTLER.
few men have the honor of attaining -Supreme Regent of the Royal Arcanum. He is now chairman of the Committee on Laws of that order. In 1887-1888 he filled the office of supreme representative of the Knights of Honor. At the present time he is advisory counsel of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is also chairman of the Com- mittee on Laws of that body. In the fraternal and social order of the Home Circle he has been a power, holding many offices in the gift of its members, and he is now its supreme treasurer. His abil- ity as a financier is indicated by his appointment as re- ceiver of the Suffolk Trust Company. For two years he was president of the Na- tional Fraternal Con- gress, being also the executive officer of the Eastern Associ- ates for three years. He holds member- ship in the following organizations : Soley Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons ; Boston Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows : Bay State Council, A. L. H .; Webcowit Club, Excelsior Council, Royal Arcanum ; Mt. Benedict Lodge, Knights of Honor ; Bacon Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen ; University Club of Boston ; Somerville Council, Home Circle, and New England Commercial Travellers' Asso- ciation, of which latter he is general counsel. Jan. I, 1870, Mr. Butler married Laura L., daughter of Jabez B. and Mary Bull, in Pottstown, Penn. They have one son, John Lawton Butler. There are few men whose activities cover a wider range than is shown in the career of Mr. Butler.
472
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
JOHN HAIGH is one of Somerville's best-known business men. He is part owner of the Middle- sex Bleachery and Dye Works, which is one of the largest industries in Somerville, and a high degree Mason. He was born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, England, Dec. 31, 1832, and is the son of George and Hannah (Parkinfield) Haigh. He obtained his early knowl- edge of books in the grammar schools of his native town. When he was seventeen years of age he was apprenticed to the trade of calico printer, which trade is to-day the founda- tion of his success. He left the land of his birth and came to America in 1855, and in the early part of the next year, 1856, he became en- gaged with the Pacific Mills at Law- rence. After eigh- teen years of service with that firm, he severed his connec- tion with them in 1873. This was to enable him to take charge of the print- ing department of the Middlesex Bleachery and Dye Works, of which he has since become half owner. April 12, 1859, Mr. Haigh was married in Per- kins, Me., to Lucy Janc, daughter of Captain Redford D. and Jane Bowker Tallman. Mr. Haigh has always been associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, not as a communicant but as a thorough believer in its governmental policy. Liberal always, and charitable towards others of different denominational views, he has been a strong supporter of his special choice, and generous in church contribu- tions, whether for local or missionary interests, and this liberality has kept full pace with his increasing means.
JOHN HAIGH.
He has long been an enthusiastic member and worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, which he joined in Lawrence in 1859. He has been master of two lodges, and by regular election has been at the head of chap- ter, council and commandery. In the Grand Chapter he has held the office of district deputy, grand high priest and deputy grand high priest. He held the latter position in 1878. For several years he was grand recorder of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters, and from this he was elected most illustrious grand master, which position he filled for three years, consec- utively. In 1883 he was elected grand conductor of the General Grand Council, Royal and Select Masters of the United States, for three years. He is the representative of grand bodies in chapter, council and commandery organi- zations, and is an active member of the Supreme Coun- cil of the United States in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is also past most puissant sovereign grand commander of that body. Mr. Haigh has recently com- pleted, at Somerville, one of the most beautiful residences in the city. There he has a private library which is, perhaps, the richest in choice masonic literature of any in New England. He has acquired no small fame as a collector, and his cab- inets contain many rare coins, medals and articles of vertn of all sorts that are characteristic of the intelli- gent study of the collector. He is a connoisseur in numismatics, and has rare artistic taste, which his means fortunately enable him to gratify.
473
SOMERVILLE.
JOHN MEDINA is a native of the Azores Islands, where he was born Oct. 23, 1837, being the son of John and Marianne (Silva) Medina. He came to the United States in 1851, and here it was that he finished his education, entering the public schools of the city of Lawrence, Mass., where he took up his residence. Although his attendance at school in this country was very limited, he rapidly acquired a knowledge of the English language, and when he left the presence of teachers he began his career, which stands to-day as that of a self-made man in the strict interpre- tation of that phrase. In his youth he took up and thoroughly learned the trade of a hair - dresser and manufacturer of hair goods, and being a natural artist he early showed marked evi- dences of future suc- cess in this calling. At the age of seven- teen he bought out the then well-known house of Monsieur Chebasoll, of Law- rence, who was a French wigmaker and manufacturer of artifi- cial hair goods. Mr. Medina carried on that business success- fully for several years, but he was ambitious and not satisfied with a small undertaking. Going to Worcester, he opened a hair dressing and hair manufacturing store and carried on the business with much success. At the same time he came to Boston and established himself on Washington Street, where he has now been located over twenty years, extending and enlarging his business until his house has become the leading one in its line, being known throughout the country, to all parts of which his goods are sent. For several years Mr. Medina was the senior member of the 1
JOHN MEDINA.
firm of Medina Brothers, sending vessels between Bos- ton, New Bedford and the Azores Islands, laden with grain, lumber, etc., and carrying passengers ; three ves- sels made up the fleet. He has also been quite largely interested in sperm whaling in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1880 Mr. Medina removed his residence to Somerville, where he purchased a portion of the Russell estate, Clarendon Hill, West Somerville, and modernized the building for his present home. In 1887 he erected a handsome brick block in Davis Square, which bears his name, with mod- ern apartments and stores, and he was really the pioneer in the improvements of that locality, which followed in the rapid growth of building, population and bus- iness generally. Mr. Medina cast his first vote in this country for Abraham Lincoln, and has always voted the Republican ticket with the ex- ception of once vot- ing for the late Gen- eral B. F. Butler, when Democratic candidate for gover- nor. He has often been asked to accept offices of public trust but has declined these requests, feel- ing that he could not give them proper attention on account of his business. He is a member of several orders, among them the Odd Fellows, Royal Arcanum, American Legion of Honor and Pilgrim Fathers. In October, 1878, at Boston, Mr. Medina married Anne Fish, daughter of Elias and Sarah Fish, of Newcastle, Me. They have one child, - John Medina, Jr. Mr. Medina is identified with every move- ment that has for its object the improvement of the pleasant city wherein he resides.
474
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
W ARREN E. LOCKE, although one of the youngest of the business men of Somerville, has done more than many who boast of twice his years to advance the interests of the city. Although not a native of the place, he has the interests of the city at heart, and has, in the few years that he has resided in the place, worked with an earnestness that has marked him as a man of progressive ideas and of great executive · ability. He was born in Exeter, N. H., April 3, 1863, and is the son of Morris and Mary E. (Dow) Locke of that town. While he was quite young his parents removed to the town of Northampton, and it was here that he received his early education in the public schools. He graduated from the schools of North - ampton with high honors, and then entered the New Hampton Literary Institution. He took a three years' course of study in this insti- tution, and then his business instincts manifested them - selves. He left the school at the comple- I tion of the three years, and his early business was that of L the manufacture of wooden ware at Bristol, N. H. In this he was very successful and built up a large and profitable business, which he disposed of in 1885. Then he came to Boston in order to enlarge his field of operations and have a greater scope for his rare busi- ness and executive ability. At first he acted as the manufacturer's agent for the goods which he had for- merly manufactured and secured a permanent market for the goods. This business, which was established by Mr. Locke, is the most prosperous in its line in the
city of Boston. In 1889 he entered the real estate business and took an office in the Globe Building. In this new field he had greater opportunities to display his accuracy of judgment and his untiring zeal for the work in which he engages. During the time that he has been in the real estate business he has handled a great amount of property, and his judgment has never been at fault. The result has been that the business has steadily prospered and he has been entrusted with the care of many large estates. Early in this business he saw that there was a big field for real estate operations in Somer- ville and he did not hesitate to seize the opportunity. West Somerville has been the particular section of the city to which he has devoted his attention, and the result has been not only of advantage to his customers and himself but also to the city. What was only a few years ago a stretch of barren fields is now laid out with excellent streets, and the lots are cov- ered with pretty and comfortable cottages. One of his latest ventures in building is a large apartment house at the corner of Highland Street and Vinal Avenue on Central Hill. This house is a model of its kind. He is a member of the Caleb Rand Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; Wonohaquaham Tribe, I. O. R. M. ; Elm Council, R. A. ; the Mystic Valley and the Massa- chusetts Republican clubs ; is treasurer of the West Som- erville Associates and secretary of the West Somerville Republican Club. He married Miss Lilla M., daughter of Hiram and Dorcas ( Whittemore) Heath, of Bristol, N. H.
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