USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 67
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
In contrast with the spirit displayed at that early day, it is interesting to note that since the passage of the local option law not a single license for the sale of liquors has been granted in the town. In 1649 Malden was separated from Charlestown, but the latter town retained, until 1726, the southern part, comprising more than half of what is now Everett, and still retains a narrow strip near Malden Bridge, on which is located the Charlestown (Boston) almshouse. Everett has become noted for its springs of remarkably pure water, and enormous quantities are annually supplied to neighboring cities.
The manufactures of Everett include acids and chemicals, bicycles, furniture, worsted goods, iron foundings and roofing materials. Woodlawn, one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Massachusetts, is located in Everett.
529
EVERETT.
A MOS STONE has for half a century been one of the prominent financiers in Middlesex County, and to-day, at the age of seventy-six, holds more respon- sible positions than any man of his years in the county. He is president of the Charlestown Savings Bank, which was organized in 1854, with his brother as president and himself as treasurer and trustee, and he continued as such till the death of his brother in 1891, when he succeeded to the presidency. The bank has deposits exceeding $5,000,- 000. He is presi- dent of the Monu- ment National Bank, with which he has been connected twenty years. He is president, and was one of the incorpo- rators in 1861, of the Mutual Protection Fire Insurance Com- pany, and for more than twenty years he was clerk and treas- urer of the Mystic River Company, a large landed corpo- ration. Shortly after Everett became in- corporated as a town Mr. Stone moved there, where he con- tinues to reside. A few years ago, when the town was agitat- ing the important question of a system of sewerage, Mr. Stone was appointed on the committee and made its chairman, to investigate the matter. The committee's report was prepared by him, submitted to the town, adopted, and of the commission appointed to carry out the committee's recommendations, he was made chairman. Mr. Stone was elected on the first road commission in 1889, the first and only elective office he ever held in the town. He was married in 1866 to Miss Sarah E. Mills. He became a Freemason in early life, and now is treasurer of two Masonic lodges.
AMOS STONE.
Mr. Stone was born in Weare, N. H., Aug. 16, 1816, and is a lineal descendant of Rev. Samuel Stone, who came to this country from England in 1633. When eight years of age he removed with his parents to Charles- town, Mass., and there attended the public schools till the age of fifteen, when he entered his father's grocery store. On attaining his majority he engaged in the real estate business, in which he is still interested. In 1847, when Charlestown became a city, Mr. Stone was elected
its first treasurer and collector, holding the positions eight years. In 1855 he was elected treasurer of Middlesex County, and for the long period of thirty years continued in that capacity, doing the enormous work of the office without any assistance. When his thirty years of service were completed he de - clined a re-election, and the convention which nominated his successor adopted resolutions com- mending his faithful- ness, courtesy and financial ability. When the Civil War broke out Mr. Stone became one of the stanchest supporters of the government, and his time and means were used in his country's behalf. Being debarred from active mili- tary duty on account of age, he sent two recruits to the front, and was one of twenty-one citizens who bore the expenses of sending to the seat of war the first three companies from Charlestown. All his life he has been a hard worker, for years putting in sixteen hours a day in his office duties. His capacity for work is still ap- parently undiminished, and at the age of nearly four- score he is vigorous as ever.
530
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
G EORGE EDWIN SMITH is one of the most prominent men in the new city of Everett, where he has resided for the last fifteen years. He was born in New Hampton, Belknap County, N. H., on April 5, 1849, being the son of David H. and Esther ( Perkins) Smith. His early education was gained in the common schools of his native town, and he was fitted for college in Nichol's Latin School, at Lewiston, Me., and in the New Hampton Literary Institute. He then entered Bates College at Lewiston, Me., from which he was gradu- ated with high honors in the class of 1873. His tastes were for the legal profession, and he at once commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. William P. Frye, now a United States Senator from Maine, of the legal firm of Frye, Cotton & White, in Lewis- ton, Me. Mr. Smith was admitted to the Suffolk County bar in Boston, in May, 1875, and was asso- ciated in business with the late Horace R. Cheney, Esq. In December of 1876 Mr. Cheney died, and Mr. Smith as- sumed the business of the firm and still carries it on, stand- ing very high in his profession. Early in his legal career he developed a marked aptitude for the calling, and has made himself thorough master of its details. Mr. Smith has taken only a small part in politics, though in 1883, by his constituents of the Eighth Middlesex District, which comprised Malden and Everett, he was sent to the lower branch of the Legislature. He was re-elected in 1884 by an increased majority. In 1892 he was a candidate for mayor of Everett, the town hav-
GEORGE E. SMITH.
ing become a city in that year. Since taking up his residence in Everett, Mr. Smith has taken a deep inter- est in its welfare, and being well informed in municipal and State affairs, has done much to promote the good of the town and city, and of its citizens. For ten years he served on the Board of Trustees of the Public Library and was chairman of the committee appointed by the town last January to procure a city charter. He has also served on the School Board. He was prominent in the committee of the town to secure a system of sewerage, and aside from his private business he 1 has always been ready to assist in every public under- taking. In 1879 Mr. Smith was elected, by the alum- ni, a member of the Board of Overseers of Bates College, and in 1884 he was chosen, by the cor- poration, a member of the Board of President and Fel-
lows of the same institution. He is a member of Palestine Lodge of Masons, of Everett, and is president of the Glendon Club, the leading social organ- ization of that city. Mr. Smith was mar- ried at West Buxton,
Me., on Oct. 31, 1876, to Sarah F., daughter of Hon. Charles E. and Eliza (Allen) Weld. They have one child, Theo- dosia Weld Smith. In all the various capacities in which Mr. Smith has served the town of Everett, his work has been most valuable and fruitful on account of the conscientious care and attention to detail which he gives to every undertaking. In the social, as well as the business life of the young city, he is one of the most prominent figures.
531
EVERETT.
JOHN C. SPOFFORD is best known throughout the J
country as a member of the firm of architects that planned the additions to the capitol buildings of Maine and Massachusetts. Mr. Spofford was born in Webster, Androscoggin County, Me., Nov. 25, 1854. He was educated in the public and private schools of his native town and at Monmouth (Me.) Academy, the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, and at the Lewiston Business College, of which he was for some time prin- cipal. Naturally of a mechanical turn of mind, he spent con- siderable time at the carpenter's and ma- son's trades, and the knowledge and ex - perience there gained have been of great service to him in his profession. In 1879 he entered the office of Henry J. Preston, architect, of Boston, spending some fifteen months in the study of the rudiments of architecture. In Feb- ruary, 1881, he en- tered the office of Sturgis & Brigham, one of Boston's lead- ing architectural firms. While in the employ of this firm Mr. Spofford had charge of the con- struction of several important public buildings and private residences, among which were the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company's building, 50 State Street, Boston, and the resi- dence of H. H. Rogers in New York, one of the Standard Oil kings. In 1886 the firm of Sturgis & Brigham was dissolved, and in the following year Mr. Spofford formed a partnership with Willard M. Bacon, the firm taking the name of Spofford & Bacon. A year later Mr. Spof- ford united with Charles Brigham, who had been the junior member of the firm of Sturgis & Brigham.
JOHN C. SPOFFORD.
Messrs. Brigham & Spofford became widely and favor- ably known through the high class of buildings of which they were the architects. Some examples of their architecture are the additions to the Maine and Massa- chusetts capitol buildings, the City Hall at Lewiston, and the Memorial Hall at Belfast, Me. ; the Massachusetts Hospital for Inebriates and Dipsomaniacs at Foxboro' ; the Roxbury Presbyterian Church ; the Town Hall and the Public Library building at Fair Haven, Mass. The firm of Brigham & Spofford dissolved in February, 1892, Mr. Spofford selling out to his partner, and starting anew in the John Hancock Build- ing on Devonshire Street, Boston, where he is rapidly acquir- ing a large amount of business. Mr. Spofford is a direct descendant of John Spofford who settled in Rowley, now Georgetown, in 1638. Hs is also a direct descendant of John Wentworth, who held the lieutenant-gov- ernorship of New Hampshire from 1717 to 1730 by ap- pointment of Queen Anne. Captain John Wentworth, the great- grandfather of Mr. Spofford's grand- father fought on the Plains of Abraham at the battle of Quebec, and was one of the soldiers who carried Wolfe to the rock beside which he died. In July, 1881, Mr. Spofford married Miss Ella M. Fuller, of Turner, Me., and to them has been born one child, Mabel Fuller Spofford. Mr. Spofford is a prominent figure in the social and political circles of the town, and is a member of numerous social, political and secret societies and clubs. He has never aspired to political office.
532
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
D UDLEY PERKINS BAILEY is a lawyer, and a member of the first City Council of the new city of Everett. He is a son of Rev. Dudley P. and Hannah B. Bailey, and was born in Cornville, Me., Oct. 24, 1843. His father was a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla, and his mother of Robert Cushman, another of the Pilgrim Fathers. He was educated at Monson Academy and Colby University. While at college he took great interest in the study of political economy, of which he has ever since been an industrious student, so far as the demands of an exact- ing profession would allow. In 1868 he received the prize offered by the Ameri- can Free. Trade League to under- graduates in Ameri- can colleges for the best essay on free trade. He left col- lege at the end of the junior year, but in 1877 received his degree in course as member of the class of 1867. After study- ing law with Hon. William 1. Putnam, now one of the judges of the United States Circuit Court, he was admitted to the bar at Portland, Mc., in 1870. Two years later he located in Everett, and has since that time been closely identified with its varied material, educational and religious interests. For four- teen years he was a member of the School Committee, was chairman five years, and was always an active and progressive member. He was one of the pioneers in the establishment of the Everett Public Library, has always been a trustee and is now its chairman. In 1886-87 he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and was instrumental in securing the
DUDLEY P. BAILEY.
revision and codification of the laws for the collection of taxes. For many years he has been a contributor to magazines, among his articles being "An Historical Sketch of Banking in Massachusetts," "Austrian Paper Money in the Panic of 1873," "The Commerce and Currency of Cuba," "The Credit Institutions of Italy." Some of these articles have been reprinted in pamphlet form and have attracted attention in financial circles in this country and Europe on account of the extent and completeness of their statistical informa- tion. For the past six years he has gen- erally been elected moderator of the town meetings, and was one of the com- mittee to frame a city charter and pro- cure its passage. He is a member of Palestine Lodge of Freemasons and of the Royal Arch Chap- ter of the Tabernacle. He was the first president of the Pine Tree Club of Everett, a life mem- ber of the Massachu- setts Baptist Conven- tion, and has for three years past been a member of the Fi- nance Commitee and the attorney of that corporation. He is a trustee of the Ev- erett Savings Bank. He has been treas- urer of the First Baptist Church in Everett since 1878, and was one of the pioneers in establishing the Glen- dale Baptist Church of Everett. With all these activi- ties and with an office in both Everett and Boston, Mr. Bailey is a very busy man, and the light in his office is usually the last to be put out in Everett Square. Mr. Bailey has invested quite largely in Everett real estate and is a heavy taxpayer. He is still an cager student and has probably the largest private library in town.
533
EVERETT.
JOHN D. HENDERSON is a member of the firm J
of Henderson Brothers, builders, who have in the past ten years built more than seven hundred houses in Everett. In the rapid development of property in the town, Mr. Henderson has taken a prominent and impor- tant part. Mr. Henderson is now (1892) on the Board of Selectmen, was elected its chairman, but having last year served in that position he declined in favor of another. Mr. Henderson was born in the little town of Gatehouse, in the southern part of Scotland, on Oct. 27, 1849. He received his tuition in a pri- vate school, and when about fourteen years of age was apprenticed to learn the trade of a car- penter. After serv- ing an apprenticeship of five years he left Scotland and came to Boston. His abilities as a me- chanic were soon recognized, and in less than a year he was employed as foreman by Henry F. Durant, who built the famous women's col- lege buildings at Wellesley, Mass. While Mr. Hender- son continued with Mr. Durant he super- intended this con- tract as well as several other large buildings. In 1872 Mr. Henderson formed a partner- ship with an older brother, James M. Henderson, as builders. The two young men removed to Everett and began in the line of business they have since followed. They bought a tract of land and began the erection of moderate cost houses to be sold on easy terms. They were among the pioneers in this line of the business. Meanwhile the brothers read diligently the American and foreign architectural, building and other allied trade
JOHN D. HENDERSON.
papers, and seized upon any new ideas which were pre- sented. Their first houses were finished in a manner twenty years ahead of the average modest dwelling of the time, with such conveniences as mark the modern house of to-day. During the past eight years the firm have built an average exceeding fifty houses a year. The firm has its own saw-mills, planing mills, paint shops and lumber yards, complete with facilities for pre- paring all the material used in constructing their houses. With their own em- ployees the firm does every part of the labor required in the erection of a house, from the breaking of the ground for the cellar to the time the house is ready for the occupant. They employ from fifty to eighty men the year through, and have a weekly pay-roll of one thousand dollars. They pay taxes on two hundred and fifty thousand dollars' worth of real estate. In 1891, at the annual town meeting, Mr. Henderson was elected selectman by the largest vote ever given a candidate for that office in the town, and was made chairman of the board. Last spring he received a re- election. He was on the committee which was success- ful in securing a city charter for the town, and in 1892 was elected a member of the first Board of Aldermen of Everett. Mr. Henderson is a member of Palestine Lodge of Masons, past grand of Everett Lodge of Odd Fellows, and a member of Assawomsett Tribe of Red Men. Mr. Henderson was married in 1879 to Miss Emily Thring, of Boston, and to them has been born one child.
534
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
N ATHANIEL J. MEAD was for more than thirty years a member of a firm of builders and con- tractors which became one of the largest in New Eng- land, the firm of Mead, Mason & Co. To-day every State in New England bears evidences of the high class of work done by this firm. Churches, town halls and other public buildings are scattered all over the eastern part of the country as memorials of their success. In 1854 Mr. Mead started in business with two brothers in Concord, N. H., the firm name being Mead Brothers. They made a small beginning, doing general jobbing and contracting. Two years later Mr. Wil- liam G. Mason was admitted to partner- ship. In 1862 the the company pur- chased a large tract of timber land and a saw-mill in Warren, N. H., and a wood- working steam mill in Concord, N. H., thereby greatly en- larging their business acilities. Subse - quently the firm name was changed to Mead, Mason & Co. From the start the firm prospered, and in a few years had established a 1 successful and grow- ing business. In 1875 the extensive mills of the Sturtevant Manufacturing Company in Leba- non, N. H., were purchased by the firm. The mills were among the best equipped in the country for the manu- facture of furniture, doors, sashes, blinds and honse trimmings. At this time the firm employed five hun- dred men, and had offices in Lebanon, Concord and Manchester, in New Hampshire, and in Boston and New York. Among their many contracts was the re- building of the New Hampshire State capitol. In 1885,
NATHANIEL J. MEAD.
on account of ill health, Mr. Mead retired from the building firm, but continued his interest in the manu- facturing department. Mr. Mead was born in New Hampton, N. H., Jan. 4, 1833, and was educated at the public schools and at the New Hampton Institution. In 1856 he married Miss Cynthia A., daughter of Hon. David B. Plumer, of Meredith, N. H. They have two children, a son, Dr. George N. P. Mead, one of the most successful physicians in Everett, and a daughter, the wife of Mr. F. S. Snyder, of Everett. After leav- ing school, Mr. Mead moved to Concord, where he lived nineteen years, serving two terms in the city government. In 1871 he made his home in Everett, locating there as he had the management of the rapidly in- creasing business of Boston and vicinity. He served the town as selectman in 1880 and was chairman of the board. The fol- lowing year he de- clined a re-election. Before and since that time he has served on many im- portant town com- mittees, especially on building matters, where his advice was much songht. He is intimately identified with the social, political and religions interests of the town, and is now a trustee of the Everett Sav- ings Bank. During his whole life he has been a con- sistent Christian, and for nearly twenty years has been a deacon in the First Baptist Church in Everett. He is one of the recognized leaders in all movements that have for their object the moral and intellectual welfare of the town, and his name is a synonym for perfect integrity.
535
REVERE.
J NATHAN STONE, of Revere, is the best repre- sentative citizen of that town, and takes a deep interest in its affairs, believing the proper management of the town's business, and the election of proper town officers to be of more importance to the people residing in the town than the election of a president or a gov- ernor. In the past sixteen years in which he has lived in Revere, which is one of the many charming suburbs of Boston, he has attended every town meeting, with but one exception, on that single occa- sion having been detained at home on account of sickness, - a devotion to pub- lic duty such as is seldom seen. His whole aim is to pro- mote the best inter- ests of Revere. He has served one year on the Board of Se- lectmen, three years on the Board of Health, and also on very many important town committees. At present he is a member of the Com- mittee on Sewers, which, in the year 1892, laid about twelve miles of sew- ers in the town. Since Mr. Stone has lived in Revere he has seen the town grow in population from sixteen hundred to six thousand, and with a summer population exceeding ten thousand. The town embraces within its limits a beach as fine as there is in the Bay State, and on a fair Sunday in sum- mer attracts to its shores nearly fifty thousand people. Mr. Stone was born in Weare, N. H., April 29, 1823, being the seventh and youngest of a family remarkable for longevity. His father died at the age of seventy- six ; his mother was over eighty-four when she died ; the eldest son died at the age of eighty-one ; the only
JONATHAN STONE.
daughter died at the age of sixty-four ; and three of the children are now living, over seventy years old. When but one year old Mr. Stone's parents moved to Charles- town, Mass. His father engaged in the grocery and pro- vision business, and continued there for many years, be- coming widely and honorably known. He died in 1852. Jonathan Stone attended the Charlestown public schools, and on graduating from them, in 1838, went to work in his father's store. The virtues of economy, diligence, faithfulness and punctuality were im- pressed on him by his father. All his savings were invested in real estate. He built many stores and houses in Charlestown, and is to-day the owner of much property in that district. He retired from active business in 1872, and has since employed his time in the care of his real estate. In 1872 Mr. Stone was a member of the Common Council of Charlestown, and in the fall of the same year was elected mayor, being the last man to hold that of- fice, as on Jan. 1, I874, the city was annexed to Boston. Mr. Stone moved to Revere in 1876, and built a fine residence on High Street, which he still occupies. He has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Sarah Rebecca Andrews, and by her he had two children. He after- wards married Miss Mary L. Andrews, a sister of his first wife, and to them one child has been born. Dur- ing a long life of consistent usefulness and steadfast integrity Mr. Stone has seen the material prosperity of the State, as well as its art and educational life, steadily progress, and he has assisted in its development.
Medford
M EDFORD is the thirtieth and youngest of Massachusetts cities, and only in the present year has it become an incorporated municipality, but it is one of the oldest towns in the State, and is rich in romantic Revolu- tionary history. Medford was settled in 1630. It is situated five miles from Boston on the Lowell division of the Boston & Maine Railroad. The city is chiefly residential, and contains many beautiful and extensive estates. During the first half of the present century Medford was famous for its shipbuilding. The town was well situated for the business, and this advantage was early recognized. Here, on July 4, 1631, Governor Winthrop launched his bark, "The Blessing of the Bay," a vessel of thirty tons. For a century and a half the business grew in impor- tance ; but not until 1800, however, did the industry receive the impetus which brought fame to the little town.
From 1803 to 1854 there were built at Medford five hundred thirteen vessels, with a total tonnage of two hundred thirty-two thousand two hundred six tons, and a valuation of nearly ten and one-half million dollars. The business has now entirely disappeared. Numerous bridges now cross Mystic River between Medford and the mouth, making a formidable barrier to this kind of business. The famous Middlesex Canal, which connected the Merrimack River with Boston Harbor during the early part of this century, passed directly through Medford, and many of the townspeople were influential in the canal's construction. Another industry that has made Medford famous is that of distilling. Medford rum, known the world over, is still manufactured here and exported in large quantities.
Some of the other manufactured products are brick, carriages, carpets, buttons, crackers, gold leaf, furni- ture, rubber goods, boots and shoes and knit goods. Medford has a fine school system, and uses a large high school building and more than a dozen grammar and primary school buildings. The Congregational, Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Unitarian, Universalist and Catholic denominations are represented, and have commo- dious edifices. Tufts College, the leading Universalist educational institution in the State, is situated on College Hill, near the Somerville line. The buildings are spacious and convenient. In the college museum is the skeleton of the big elephant, Jumbo, which was presented to the college by the late Phineas T. Barnum. The movement for founding the college was begun in 1847. Charles Tufts, of Somerville, gave one hundred acres of land for a college site, and in his honor the college is named. The town has a public library building, the gift of Thatcher Magoun, with over twelve thousand volumes on its shelves. Among the distinguished citizens of Medford have been John Brooks, who was governor of Massachusetts from 1816 to 1823; and Matthew Craddock, the first governor of the Massachusetts Company, in 1841, made Medford his home when in this country, and built the famous house which to this day bears his name. It was through this town that Paul Revere passed on his memorable ride to arouse the farmer minute-men to action on the 18th of April, 1775. Medford has borne its full share in furnishing soldiers for the country's defence. 'There was a company of militia before the Revolution, and of it the adjutant-general said : "This company came out on the 19th of April, 1775, and were in service five days, and were undoubtedly in the battles of Lexington and Concord." In the War of 1812 eighteen Medford men enlisted, three of whom were killed in battle. There were seven hundred and seventy soldiers enlisted from the town for service in the Civil War, and to their honored memory has been erected a suitable monument.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.