USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 6
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GEORGE F. HOAR
debate, but acquired a reputation for fairness toward his opponents which has ever since been a trait of his public career. His most distinguished service in Congress was as a member of the Electoral Commis- sion. Mr. Hoar was re-elected in 1870, 1872, and 1874, but declined again to be a candidate. In 1876 he was elected United States senator, to succeed Hon. George S. Boutwell, and has since been twice re-elected. His third election was by the unanimous vote of his party in the Legisla- ture without a cau- cus. In the Senate Mr. Hoar was for many years chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and a member of the Com- mittees on Claims and the Judiciary. He is now chairman of the last-named committee. He is the author or leading advocate of numer- ous important meas- ures, among others of the Lowell Bank- ruptcy Bill, the Pres- idential Succession Bill, and the bill for counting the elec- toral votes for pres- ident and vice-pres- ident. Mr. Hoar has presided over four Republican State Conventions, and in 1 880 was president of the National Repub- lican Convention. He has been a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard, president of the American Antiquarian Society, is a trustee of the Worcester Poly- technic Institute, of Clark University, and was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. He received the degree of LL. D. from William and Mary College, Amherst, Yale, and Harvard. Mr. Hoar married, in 1853, Mary .Louisa Spurr, of Worcester. She died a few years later. In 1862 Mr. Hoar married Ruth Ann Miller, of Worcester.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
C HARLES STURTEVANT RANDALL, the pres- ent representative in Congress of the district in which New Bedford is situated, was born there Feb. 20, 1824. He comes of a staunch old Puritan family, being descended on his father's side from Tristram Coffin, who landed in Nantucket in 1640, and on his mother's side from Samuel Sturtevant, a surveyor, who was in Plymouth as early as 1637, and Richard Bourne, one of the incorporators of Sandwich in 1637. He now owns the farm in Plymouth County (Rochester), settled in 1699 by Charles Sturtevant. His grandfather, also named Charles Stur- tevant, was, in the Battle of Lexington, corporal of a com- pany of militia from Rochester. After leaving school, Mr. Randall prepared for Harvard College un- der private tuition, but, instead of ma- triculating, went to a school in France, and on his return entered business. Soon afterward he became a clerk in the Mer- chants National Bank, of which his uncle, James B. Congdon, was cash- ier. The California gold fever of 1847 carried him from be- hind his desk there to the mines, where he participated in all the rough and exciting experiences of such a life. Returning to New Bedford, after fair success, he married, in 1851, Sarah Spooner, daughter of the late Jirch and Nancy (Nye) Perry. Until 1860 he did a large shipping and commission business ; then organized the New Bedford Copper Company, of which he was treasurer till he resigned in 1867; then again engaged in the whaling business and in the management of the MeKay Manufacturing Company. In 1872 he
retired from active business, and with his family spent the next two years in European travel. In 1882 Mr. Randall's political career commenced with his election to the State Senate, where he served with credit for two years. At the State House he was a member of the committees on mercantile affairs and engrossed bills, and chairman of the former committee in his second year. For three years after this he was a member of the Republican State Central Committee. In 1888 he was elected to the Fifty-first Congress, and was re-elected in 1890 and 1892. As Congressman, Mr. Randall enjoys a large measure of pop- ularity both in Wash- ington and at home. At the Capitol his tact and geniality have won for him a position of great in- fluence in promoting the interests of his constituents, and in his district he is always on the look- out for an opportu- nity to be of service. He is not one of the orators of the House of Representatives, but few of its mem- bers are ahead of him in zealous and perse- vering effort for their constituents. Mr. Randall still has his home in his native city, where he has many ties other than those which come from his polit- ical office, and where he spends most of his time when Congress is not in session. He has two daughters, Harriet (Mrs. Walter Clifford, New Bedford) and Sarah (Mrs. John W. Griswold, Troy, N. Y.). Although Mr. Randall has not recently been engaged in the pursuits of active business, he is a director and stockholder in various companies, where his experience in mercan- tile legislation renders his presence of great value.
CHARLES S. RANDALL.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
T `HERE is scarcely a more interesting figure in con- temporary public life than that of Elijah A. Morse. He combines in his unique personality the qualities that provoke attention, that command respect, that exert a wide influence, and that overcome opposi- tion, of whatever nature. For more than fifteen years he has been a sort of storm centre in Massachusetts politics, and whatever he has said or done has awakened interest in men of all parties. Whether in the State Legislature or in the National Congress, he has never hidden his light under a bushel. On every subject of popular interest he has held decided opinions, and their expression has always been clear and forceful. The architect of his own fortune, - and a most respectable one it is, -Mr. Morse has risen by dint of persevering toil from poverty to affluence. Samuel Smiles has not given a more striking ex- ample of self-help. Mr. Morse is de- scended from one of the oldest New Eng- land families, the founder of which settled at Dedham in 1637. In the next century the family went West, and at South Bend, Ind., in 1841, Mr. Morse was born, the son of a clergyman, who, eleven years later, re- turned to Massachusetts. In the public schools of Sherborn, Holliston, at the Boylston School in Boston, and at Onondaga Academy in New York State, young Elijah was educated. Neither as boy nor as youth was he ever an idler. Alone in a little building at Sharon, Mass., he began, during his school vacations, to experi- ment and manufacture the stove polish which has since
ELIJAH A. MORSE.
made his fortune. In his nineteenth year he enlisted as private in the Fourth Massachusetts Infantry, was three months with General Butler, in Virginia, and with General Banks nine months in Louisiana. Returning from the war, he went into business with his brother and established at Canton what has grown to be a large industry, being now the sole proprietor. He was elected to the lower House of the Massachusetts Legis- lature in 1876, and later served two terms in the State Senate, followed by two years in the Ex- ecutive Council. As senator, Mr. Morse secured radical amendments to the laws for the protec- tion of children and for the punishment of crimes against chastity. He was also the champion of all wise labor leg- islation and an influ- ential friend of the veterans. In 1888 he was elected to Congress, and in 1890, in the face of formidable opposi- tion, was re-elected. and again elected in 1892, as a member of the Fifty - third Congress. His rec- ord at Washington is part of the country's history. Mr. Morse is not only a theoret- ical but a practical philanthropist, and has given large sums to various charities. During the last ten years he has, in addition to his public duties and the conducting of his large business, delivered more than fifteen hundred addresses upon political, educational, religious, and temperance subjects, which have given him a wide introduction to the people of New England as well as other States. He was married in 1868 to the daughter of Samuel Vining, of Holbrook. The family consists of three sons.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
ILLUSTRIOUS sons of illustrious fathers are not rare -
in the history of Massachusetts, as the names of Adams, Quincy, Prince, Everett, Holmes, Russell, Hoar, and others in the contemporary life of the State amply prove. A striking example of the influence of heredity is furnished in the character of John Forrester Andrew, the son of the "War Governor" of the Commonwealth. John F. Andrew has, as his father had, that instinc- tive and controlling impulse which leads him to take the right course, let the consequences be what they may. He was born in Hingham, Mass., Nov. 26, 1850. After pursuing his early studies in the Boston public schools, he entered Harvard and gradu- ated in 1872. Three years later he re- ceived the degree of LL. B. from the Harvard Law School, was admitted to the Suffolk bar the same year, and has since practised in Boston. He served five terms in the Legislature, beginning in 1880, and being one of the youngest mem- bers of the House. In 1884 and 1885 he was in the State Senate. He was offered the Demo- cratic nomination for Congress in his"district in 1884,4.but declined. He was the Democratic candidate for governor in 1886, and came nearer an election than any other defeated candidate for many years. He declined a re-nomination in 1887, but was elected to Congress the following year, and was a candidate in 1892. He has been one of the most active and useful members of the House of Representatives, his efforts in behalf of tariff re- form and against the free coinage of silver having gained
JOHN F ANDREW
for him a national reputation. Tariff reformers through- out New England have come to regard Mr. Andrew as their special representative in the House, and his speeches against the Mckinley Bill and in favor of free wool are among the most forcible that have been delivered at Washington in recent years. The cause of civil service reform has also found one of its ablest and most energetic supporters in Mr. Andrew. The labor- ing men have shown their appreciation of him by the big majorities they have rolled up for him whenever he has been a candi- date. His bill to exclude political influence in the em- ployment of laborers was substantially a proclamation of emancipation for workingmen from servility to political bosses. Mr. Andrew has also been a steady friend of the veterans of the Civil War. He has never failed to receive more votes than other candidates on the same ticket, and to receive the votes of men who re- spected his ability and courage, though they were not of his party. He is noted for his activity in all benevolent work, holding the offices of president of the Massachusetts Infant Asylum, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, president of the Home for Aged Colored Women, and trustec of the Asylum for Feeble-Minded Youth. He is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Mr. Andrew was married, in 1883, to Harriet, daughter of Nathaniel and Cornelia (Van Rensselaer) Thayer. She died in 1891, leaving him two children. He lives in Boston.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
J
OSEPH HENRY O'NEIL, one of the Democratic Congressmen from Massachusetts, has the unique experience of having been in public office almost con- tinuously since he reached the age of twenty-one years. He was born in Fall River, Bristol County, Mass., on March 23, 1853, being the son of Patrick Henry and Mary (Harrington) O'Neil. His early education was gained in the public schools of Boston, from which he was graduated in 1866. He then worked as a printer's apprentice, and later learned the carpen- ter's trade with the firm of Jones, Fitch & Co., who did a very large business. In 1870 he assisted in the formation of the St. James Young Men's Catholic Total Abstinence Society of Boston, and he was its president for many years. He was also one of the found- ers of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of Massachu- setts, but he always declined to hold office in that body. In 1874 he was twenty-one years of age, and in that year he was elected a member of the Bos- ton School Board from Ward Seven. He was also a mem- ber of the Demo- cratic City Commit- tee in that year. He has since been a member of the same committee several times. In 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1882 he was elected a member of the lower branch of the Massachusetts Legislature from Ward Sixteen. In 1883 he declined to be a candidate, but he was elected, and again in 1884. He served on the Committee on Liquor Law in 1878, on the Committee on Public Buildings in 1879, and on the Committee on Street Railways in 1880, 1881, and 1882 ; on the special
committee appointed to revise the public statutes in 1881, and on the Committee on Rules and Orders in 1882 ; on the committees on rules and on railroads in 1884. He was also made president of the Democratic organization of the House in 1880. During his service as a legislator, Mr. O'Neil became interested in the Meigs system of elevated railroads. He has been called the father of that system, and he is now presi- dent of the company. He was five years a member of the Board of Direc- tors of Public Insti- tutions of Boston, and its president in 1885 and 1886. In 1887 and 1888 he was clerk of the city of Boston, and in the latter year he was unanimously nomi- nated for Congress in the Democratic Convention of the fourth district, to suc- ceed General P. A. Collins, and was elected by the largest majority ever cast for a Democratic Con- gressional candidate in this State. In 1890 he was re- elected, and again in 1892, serving on the Committee on Ap- propriations in the Fifty-second Con- gress. As a legisla- tor, Mr. O'Neil is an ardent and yet lib- eral Democrat, and he has been a prominent figure in Democratic councils for several years. He is fearless and independent, and follows his convictions with little regard for political bias. On July 1, 1884, Mr. O'Neil married, in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston, Mary Anastasia, daughter of John and Maria (Plunkett) Ingoldsby. They have one child, Joseph H. O'Neil, Jr. Congress- man O'Neil resides in Boston, and the district he repre- sents has long been noted for its political activity. 1
JOSEPH H. O'NEIL.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
family traditions could be relied on to keep a man within the lines of a certain political party, Sherman Hoar would be to-day a Republican of Republicans, for he is the son of Hon. E. R. Hoar (attorney-general of the United States under President Grant) and the nephew of Senator Hoar. He has inherited the family resoluteness of will, untrammelled by slowly formed but firmly welded political ties. In consequence of his opinions on the tariff issue, he entered the Democratic party, and in 1890 was elected to Congress. He has many qual- ities which tended to lead him into pub- lic life. Not only is he possessed of strong personal opinions upon the great ques- tions of the day, but he has an intense de- sire to see his opin- ions prevail. He has the splendid virtues of a strong character. The representatives of his family of the preceding generation were the determined opponents of the slave system, and were ready to make any sacrifice to bring about its abolition. The son and nephew came into active life when the old prob- lem had been solved, but he found other wrongs to be righted. In an address which he delivered before the American Unitarian Association in 1890, on the corrupt practices which are so common in public affairs, he showed a magnificent capacity for dealing with complicated public questions. Mr. Hoar was born in Concord, Mass., July 30, 1860. His parents were Ebenezer Rockwood and Caroline ( Brooks) Hoar. Receiving his early education in the public schools of Concord, he fitted for college at Phillips Exeter Acad- emy. He entered Harvard in 1878, and was graduated
in 1882, being the orator of his class at graduation. After studying law for two years at the Harvard Law School, and another year in his father's office, he was admitted to the Middlesex County bar in 1885. He practised in Waltham about one year, and in 1887 was admitted to the Boston law firm of Storey, Thorn- dike & Hoar, of which Moorfield Storey, Esq., is the senior partner. In 1890 Mr. Hoar was nominated for Congress by the Democrats of the fifth district, - a district strongly Re- publican,-and, after a most enlivening campaign, he was elected. He is a most effective and persuasive stump speaker, his words having that clear ring of sentiment and sin- cerity which makes the dullest ear atten- tive. In Congress, where he served one term, declining to be a candidate for re- nomination, he was one of the ablest of the younger mem- bers. Mr. Hoar has been a member of the Unitarian Club of Boston, a director in the American Uni- tarian Association, and a member of the board of trustees of Phillips Exeter Acad- emy, being the youngest man who ever served in that office. He was married in 1886 to Miss Caroline Prescott Wood, of Concord, who died in 1891. He has two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. Hoar is now devoting himself to the practice of his profession for which he is most thoroughly equipped both by nature and training. He is regarded as one of the most con- scientions of the younger generation of lawyers, and it is also the belief of his friends that his political career is only temporarily closed.
SHERMAN HOAR.
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5 I
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
H ENRY CABOT LODGE, who has acquired na- tional fame as author and as statesman, was born in Boston, May 12, 1850, the son of John Ellerton and Anna Cabot Lodge. Graduating from Harvard Univer- sity in 1871 and from the Law School in 1874, he was admitted to the bar in 1875. He had previously, when but twenty-four years old, accepted the editorship of the "North American Review," retaining this position two years. From 1879 to 1881, he was editor of the " International Re- view." For his the- sis on "The Land Law of the Anglo- Saxons " he received from Harvard, in 1875, the degree of Ph. D. In 1880, he delivered, at the Lowell Institute, a course of lectures on the " English Colo- nies of America," which were subse- quently published by Harper Brothers. Among Mr. Lodge's other well-known productions are : " Life and Letters of George Cabot" (Boston, 1877); " Lives of Alexander Hamilton, Daniel Webster, and George Washington," in the American Statesman Series ; "Studies in History " (Boston, 1884); History of Boston, in " Historic Cities" (Longmans, London and New York, 1890) ; " Speeches " (Boston, 1891) ; and "Historical and Political Essays" (Boston, 1892). He has edited two series of "Popular Tales " and one volume of selected " Ballads and Lyrics" (Boston, 1881). He has also edited the works of Alexander Hamilton (nine volumes, New York, 1885). As a historian Mr. Lodge is remark- able for his impartiality. He has also been a frequent contributor to periodical literature upon a great variety
of subjects. In politics his career has been as brilliant as in letters. His political experience began in 1879, when he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was re-elected the following year. In 1880 he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention, and was an energetic supporter of Garfield. He was chosen as member of the Republican State Committee in the same year, and was its chairman in 1883, during the famous campaign in which Butler was defeated. Mr. Lodge threw himself into the work and ob- tained for the Repub- licans a victory over the most adroit and successful politician in this country. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1884, and was one of the leaders of that body. Though not advocat- ing the nomination of Mr. Blaine, he worked strenuously for the election of the Republican can- didates. He was nominated for Con- gress in 1884, but, failing of election, was re-nominated and elected in 1886, and has since been re-elected three times in succession. His work in Con- gress is familiar to all. In his first ses- sion he became a power on the floor of the House, and by his familiarity with the subjects under discussion, his earnestness of purpose and irrefutable logic, he digni- fied and most worthily illustrated the title, at first intended as a slur, -"the scholar in politics." He is, perhaps, best known as the author of the Federal Elec- tions Bill. He was married, in 1871, to Miss Anna Cabot Davis, daughter of Rear Admiral Charles H. Davis, and has two sons and one daughter.
HENRY CABOT LODGE.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
W ILLIAM COGSWELL, who represents the Seventh Massachusetts District in Congress, has performed conspicuous service in many fields of activity, having won distinction in war and been prom- inent in the Republican politics of State and nation. He was born in Bradford, Essex County, Aug. 23, 1838, the son of George and Abigail (Parker) Cogswell. Receiving his preliminary education in the schools of Bradford, Atkinson Academy, N. H., Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., and Phillips Academy, Andover, he entered Dart- mouth College in 1855. He did not finish his college course, however, but went to sea before the mast and sailed round the world. On his return he took a course in the Har- vard Law School, graduating in 1860. He at once opened a law office in Salem, and in 1866 he opened another office in Boston, and has remained in active practice up to the present time. His military record from April, 1861, to July 25, 1865, is one un- broken series of earned promotion. He was first captain, then lientenant- colonel and colonel of the Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and finally brevet brigadier-general, United States Volunteers, and by special order of the war department he was assigned to the command of the Third Brigade, 'Third Division, Twentieth Army Corps. He had two years of service in the Army of the Potomac, and two more in the Western Army under Generals Thomas and Sherman. He was commandant of Atlanta while it was held by the Union troops in the fall of 1864, and he participated in
WILLIAM COGSWELL.
the famous march from Atlanta to the sea. He was mayor of Salem in 1867, 1868, and 1869, and again in 1873 and 1874 ; member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1870, 1871, 1881, 1882, and 1883 ; and of the State Senate in 1885 and 1886 ; was depart- ment commander of Massachusetts, Grand Army of the Republic, in 1870, and also on the national staff of the Grand Army ; charter member and vice-commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion Commandery of Massachusetts; and member of the board of advisers of the Children's Friend and Seamen's Orphan Society, Salem. In 1886, General Cogs- well was elected to Congress, and served on the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. He was re-elected in 1888, 1890 and 1892. In the Fifty-second Congress he was a member of the Ap- propriations, District of Columbia, and Columbian Exposi- tion committees. As a delegate to the Na- tional Republican Convention in 1892, he was one of the most ardent and in- fluential of the sup- porters of President Harrison's renomina- tion. General Cogs- well has enjoyed the confidence of the President, and has been considered in an especial sense as the representative of the administration in Massachu- setts. He has been twice married. His first wife was Emma Thorndike, daughter of Thorndike and Emma (Silsby) Proctor, of Haverhill. Of this union were three children : William, Emma Silsby, and Sarah Parker Cogswell (deceased). Mrs. Cogswell died April 1, 1877. Mr. Cogswell was married again in Salem, Dec. 12, 1881, to Eva Maria, daughter of Horatio and Lydia Davis.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
M OSES TYLER STEVENS, who represents the fifth Massachusetts district in Congress, is one of the heaviest woollen manufacturers in the United States. He is also the first Democrat who was ever chosen to Congress from his district. He was born in North Andover, Essex County, Oct. 10, 1825, the son of Nathaniel and Harriet (Hale) Stevens. He attended the public schools and fitted for college in the Franklin Academy, North Andover, and in Phillips Academy, Andover, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1842. In the fall of the same year he en- tered Dartmouth College, but at the end of the freshman year he left his col- legiate course to en- gage in business with his father, who had been manufacturing flannels since 1813. In 1850 he became a partner in the business, the firm being Nathaniel Stevens & Son. For twenty-six years the firm continued, being dissolved in 1876. Mr. Stevens then began the manufac- ture of ladies' dress goods, and continued in business alone until 1886, when his sons, Nathaniel and Samuel D., were ad- mitted as partners. The firm name was then changed to M. T. Stevens & Sons, the house operating mills at North Andover, Andover, and Haverhill, Mass., and Franklin, N. H. Mr. Stevens was a member of the lower branch of the Massachusetts Legislature, in 1861, and in 1868 was elected to the State Senate. In 1890 he was nominated for Congress by the Democrats of the old eighth dis- trict, and though the district was strongly Republican and his antagonist was the brilliant Congressman Green-
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