USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 7
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MOSES T. STEVENS.
halge, yet Mr. Stevens was elected. He served on the Ways and Means Committee in the Fifty-second Con- gress, and introduced the bill to provide for the placing of wool on the free list. He is the most prominent of the American woollen manufacturers who are in favor of free wool, and his influence has been powerful in developing the sentiment for free raw materials in New England. In 1892 Mr. Stevens was re-elected to Con- gress by an increased majority. He has numerous important business interests, being a director of the An- dover National Bank ; a trustee of the An- dover Savings Bank ; a director of the Merrimac Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, and president of the Stevens Linen Works, Webster, Mass. Mr. Stevens was married in North Andover, May 5, 1853, to Charlotte Emeline, daughter of Isaac and Char- lotte (Adam) Os- good. Six children are the issue of this marriage : Mary O., Nathaniel, Samuel D., Virginia, Helen, and Moses T. Stevens, Jr. Mr. Stevens's home is in his native town, North Andover. In charitable work of all kinds he has always taken an active in- terest, having established several years ago, on the shores of Cochickewick Lake in North Andover, a free summer resort for poor people. In religious belief, Mr. Stevens is a Unitarian, being treasurer and one of the chief supporters of the North Parish Church of North Andover, -one of the oldest church organizations in New England, - and a prominent member of the Uni- tarian Club, in the striking and ornate home of which on Beacon Street he is often seen.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
T THERE is little doubt that the Bland Silver Bill would have passed the House of Representatives of the Fifty-second Congress had it not been for the determined opposition of the minority of the coinage committee, led by the representative from the ninth Massachusetts district, George Fred Williams. He was born in Dedham, Mass., July 10, 1852, the son of George W. and Henrietta (Rice) Williams. On his father's side he is of German and French descent, while his mother belonged to an old New England family. His early education was obtained in pri- vate schools and at the Dedham High School, where he prepared for college. He entered Dart- mouth in 1868, but at the end of his freshman year he went to Germany, studying in Hamburg for six months and spending a year at the universities of Heidelberg and Ber- lin. He made up the college studies of the sophomore and junior years, re- entered Dartmouth and graduated with his class in 1872. The following winter he taught school in West Brewster, Mass., and in the spring and summer of 1873 was a reporter on the staff of the Boston Globe. Having taken a course at the Boston University Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1875. His practice has grown to be large and remunerative. He edited "Massachusetts Citations," and volimes ten to seventeen of the "Annual United States Digest " for Little, Brown & Co. Mr. Williams's active political life began in 1882, and in the following year he organized the Norfolk Republican Club, one of the largest political clubs in the State. Joining the
Independent movement upon the nomination of Mr. Blaine in 1884, he was one of the Committee on Resolu- tions at the Independent convention held at New York, and was an active member of the Massachusetts Com- mittee of One Hundred, and chairman of its Executive Committee. On account of his activity in that campaign, Mr. Williams has often been called "the original mug- wump." In 1886, he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a Democrat, and was one of the ablest mem- bers of that body. After a spirited cam- paign, he was elected to Congress, in 1890, from the ninth dis- trict, succeeding a Republican. His valuable services on the coinage com- mittee of the House and his courageous fight against the free coinage of silver brought him into national prominence. The Massachusetts Reform Club, of which he has been a member for several years, honored him with a banquet in April, 1892, in recog- nition of his congres- sional labors. He has been secretary of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of Boston and is president of the Dartmouth Club of Boston. In 1886, he delivered the Fourth of July ora- tion in Boston by invitation of the city, and in 1889 he delivered an address before the faculty and students of Dartmouth College on the centenary anniversary of the inauguration of Washington. Mr. Williams was renom- nated for Congress, in 1892, but the State having been redistricted, he found himself in an overwhelmingly Republican district, and was defeated. He is unmar- ried, and lives in Dedham.
GEORGE FRED WILLIAMS.
55
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
C ONGRESSMAN JOSEPH HENRY WALKER was born in Boston, Dec. 21, 1829, the son of Joseph and Hannah Chapin Walker. The family moved to Hopkinton in 1830, and in 1843 to Worcester. Mr. Walker was educated in the public schools of Hopkin- ton and Worcester, but left the Worcester High School at the age of sixteen. His father was then engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and Joseph worked in the factory. In 1851 he was admitted to the firm and until 1887 con- tinued in the busi- ness, though not associated with his father after 1862. In 1862 Mr. Walker began manufacturing on his own account, and in 1864 took his brother, G. M. Walker, into partner- ship. Their specialty was the "Walker boot," which had a wide reputation. The firm name, J. H. and G. M. Walker, was retained until the dissolution in 1888, though G. M. Walker retired in 1870. Mr. Walker still retains his in- terest in the large leather house of the Walker, Oakley Com- pany, of Chicago. While his education did not extend be- yond the public schools, Mr. Walker has always been a close student of books and of men ; is a ready and eloquent speaker, and writes in a clear and forcible style. He has spoken and written exten- sively on questions of trade, banking, and coinage, and published, through Houghton, Mifflin & Co., a mono- graph on "Money, Trade, and Banking," which attained a wide circulation. He served in the Common Council of Worcester twice, being president of the board in 1869. In 1879 and 1880 he was a member of the Mas-
sachusetts State Legislature. He served on the famous Retrenchment Committee in 1879, was chairman of the Public Service Committee in 1880, and in the same year was a strong candidate for the speakership. He has been president of the Worcester Board of Trade, chair- man of the Committee on Foreign Trade and Exports of the National Hide and Leather Association, and vice-president of the New England Shoe and Leather Association. Mr. Walker was elected to the Fifty-first Congress from the tenth Massachusetts district in 1888, and was re-elected in 1890, and again in 1892, - the last time from the third dis- trict, which contains the old tenth dis- trict. In the Fifty- first Congress he made a reputation for himself by his attitude on the silver question, and by a firm advocacy of sound business prin- ciples in financial legislation. He is a vigorous and logical debater. Worcester Academy owes much of its present pres- tige to the generosity of J. H. Walker. He not only gave liberally and induced others to do so, but he gave the insti- tution the benefit of his own business sagacity, and so aided to bring it to a prosperous con- dition. As president of its board of trustees he has devoted much of his time to its welfare. Mr. Walker married, in 1852, Sarah Ellen, daughter of Jubal Har- rington, of Worcester. She died in 1859, leaving one daughter. In 1862 Mr. Walker married Hannah Kelley Spear, of New Hampton, N. H. They have two sons, Joseph and George, and one daughter, Agnes, wife of Adam D. Claflin, of Newton
JOSEPH H. WALKER.
56
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
F REDERICK SPAULDING COOLIDGE, of Ash- burnham, who represents the eleventh district in Congress, has played a most honorable and success- ful part in the political and in the business life of the Commonwealth. He was born in Westminster, Mass., Dec. 7, 1841. His parents were Charles and Nancy Spaulding Coolidge, names prominent in the history of Massachusetts for many generations. Like the majority of men who have pushed their way to an honored place in life, he was reared in a little country town, receiving his education in the common schools. The liberal education he so desired has been gained through his own untiring in- dustry. He possesses an unusually active mind and a remark- ably retentive mem- ory and a large share of genuine New Eng- land common-sense. He has a clear in- sight into the ques- tions of the day, and presents his views in an able, businesslike manner which carries conviction. Like his father, Mr. Coolidge early engaged in the manufacture of chairs. He remained in Westminster until his factory was burned in 1876. He is now manager of the Boston Chair Company, whose works are at Ashburnham, and of the Leominster Rattan Works. Mr. Coolidge has always been a leader in public affairs, and has held many offices in his native town and in the State. He was selectman of Westminster for three years, and for the same length of time was a member of the Demo- cratie State Central Committee. Mr. Coolidge, was elected to the lower branch of the Massachusetts Legis- lature in 1875, and in 1888 was a candidate for presi-
FREDERICK S. COOLIDGE.
dential elector on the Democratic ticket. In 1890 he was elected to the Fifty-second Congress, over two strong candidates, having the honor of being the first Democrat to represent the old eleventh district, which had always been overwhelmingly Republican. Mr. Cool- idge was fifty years old the day the Fifty-second Con- gress opened, being the youngest man from his district for many years. In Congress he served on the Com- mittee on Pacific Railroads, and on the select Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands in the United States. His congres- sional career was highly honorable and won for him the re- spect and admiration of his constituents, without regard to party. He received a unanimous renomi. nation, but was de- feated. Mr. Cool- idge has always been a Democrat, but re- spects the opinions of all, and never desires to force his own upon others. Mr. Coolidge was married in 1864 to Ellen D. Allen, of Townshend, Vt. - a woman full of good works, and deeply interested in all phil- anthropic questions of the day. 'They have had three chil- dren, of whom a son and daughter are now living. The son follows his father's business, and shares also his interest in all public questions ; the daugh- ter has just been graduated from Smith College, in the class of '92. Mr. Coolidge has an excellent knowledge of parliamentary law, and has been many times modera- tor of the town meetings of his town. He is a director of the Wachusett Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and is connected with other commercial and financial inter- ests in Ashburnham and Leominster.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
L AWYER and representative, John Crawford Crosby, of the first congressional district, was born in Sheffield, Mass., June 15, 1859 ; was educated in the public schools of Pittsfield ; studied law and graduated from the Boston University Law School ; was admitted to the bar and engaged in the practice of law; in 1885 was elected a member of the School Committee of Pittsfield, and served six consecutive years in that office ; in 1885 was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Represen- tatives, and re- elected in 1886, serv- ing each year on the Committee on Rules 1 and Railroads ; in 1887 was elected a member of the Mas- sachusetts Senate and served on committees on judiciary, probate and insolvency, and constitutional amendment; in 1888 was re-elected and served on com- mittees on probate and insolvency and mercantile affairs, being chairman of both committees; was elected to the Fifty-second Con- gress, receiving 12,106 votes. Con- gressman Crosby's speeches on several occasions received high praise even from the opposition press ; his work on two important committees, of which he was a member, was wisely performed ; and on the floor of the House he gained a reputation for faithful and valuable service. Mr. Crosby's first speech was on the Military Appropri- ation Bill, against the refusal of the committee to appro- priate money for increasing the lighting facilities at West Point. In his next speech, on the Wool and Woollens Bill, he took ground in favor of tariff reform and incidentally against the free coinage of silver. In
a speech on the Post-office Appropriation Bill, Mr. Crosby opposed the attempt to reduce the amounts paid for carrying mail over land grant railroads. He also advocated an appropriation looking towards free delivery in rural districts. He favored reasonable appropriation for carrying on the postal service, and opposed the River and Harbor Bill. Congressman Crosby introduced more bills and petitions than any other member from Massachusetts. He was present at every roll-call. He introduced the Port Hudson Forlorn Hope Medal Bill, providing for govern- ment fulfilment of the promise made by General N. P. Banks ; a bill providing for compensating the Springfield armorers in the matter of back pay, and a bill pro- viding for the con- solidation of third and fourth class mail matter. He intro- duced a bill for put- ting foreign postage stamps on the free list, and a bill pro- viding for the sale of lands in Springfield which had been left to the government by devise, which could not be sold except under special Act of Congress. He introduced sev- eral private pension bills, in cases not covered by the general law. He also introduced a bill providing for military telegraph lines, to connect military posts by underground wires. He was identified with the bills reclassifying and increasing the salaries of letter-carriers and of railway mail clerks. He favored an appropriation for experiments in free delivery of mail in rural districts. Congressman Crosby is a member of the committees on post-offices and post- roads, and on military affairs.
JOHN C. CROSBY.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
FOREMOST among the judges of the Common- wealth, not alone by reason of his high position, but as well because of a long-recognized merit, stands Walbridge Abner Field, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. Fortunate in the outward circumstances of his birth and breeding, he is the product of a sterling New England ancestry, his father's parents coming from Rhode Island and his mother's from Connecticut. He was born in Springfield, Windsor County, Vt., April 26, 1833. That little western Switzerland has bred eminent statesmen, teachers, lawyers, and mer- chants in singular profusion. Reared amid the invigorating influences and stimu- lating charms of such a locality, Mr. Field had the advantages of academic training and collegiate educa- tion. At the age of twenty-two he grad- uated with high honors from Dart- mouth College, and the next two years remained as tutor in that institution. Then, after taking up the study of law for a time, he returned to Dartmouth to teach mathematics a year, after which he came to Boston to pursue his legal studies at the Harvard Law School and in the office of Harvey Jewell. Admitted to the bar in 1860, he began practice immediately in Mr. Jewell's office. Here he remained until 1865. Then he was successively assistant United States district attorney for Massachusetts four years, under Richard H. Dana and George S. Hillard, and assistant attorney-general of the United States, under E. Rockwood Hoar, for about one year. Tiring of public station, he resigned in August, 1870, returned to Boston and formed a law
WALBRIDGE A. FIELD.
partnership with Mr. Jewell and William Gaston, under the name of Jewell, Gaston & Field. After Mr. Gaston became governor of Massachusetts, Edward O. Shepard was taken into the partnership, and the firm name be- came Jewell, Field & Shepard, and so remained until Governor Long appointed Mr. Field associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, in February, 1881. In 1890, upon the resignation of Chief Justice Morton, Governor Brackett appointed Judge Field to the chief justiceship. The choice gave uni- versal satisfaction to both bench and bar. Chief Justice Field was a member of the Boston School Board in 1863 and 1864, and of the Boston Common Council from 1865 until 1867. In 1876, he was de- clared elected to Con- gress from the Third Massachusetts Dis- trict, but the election was contested, and after about one year's service he was un- seated. In 1878 he was again a candidate from the same dis- trict, was elected and served his term with- out contest. In 1869 he was married to Eliza E. Mc Loon, who died in March, 1877, and by whom he had two daugh- ters. In October, 1882, he married Frances E., daughter of Hon. Nathan A. Farwell, of Rockland, Me. Chief Justice Field was one of the judges who tried the famous Robinson poisoning case in Middlesex County. He has written many important decisions which have established for him an enviable reputation among the judges of the country. His chief characteristics as a judge are profound learning, keen perception, an unbending integrity, and an unusual degree of fairness.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
W ITHOUT the advantages of a collegiate train- ing, by industry, manly endeavor and faithful stewardship in offices of trust and influence, Chief Justice Albert Mason of the Massachusetts Superior Court, has reached a high position in the profession of his choice. Just in the prime of life, with all its gathered and matured forces under complete control, wanting neither the vigor nor the judgment of age, he has come to the foremost rank. The son of Albert T. and Arlina (Orcutt) Mason, he was born in Middleboro, Mass., Nov. 7, 1836. He received such ed- ucation as could be obtained in the com- mon schools of that day, and in Pierce Academy in Middle- boro. Upon the com- pletion of his school- ing, he studied law in the office of Ed- ward L. Sherman, at Plymouth, and was admitted to the bar in 1860, begin- ning practice in that town. His legal practice was inter- rupted in 1862,; he entered the Thirty- eighth Massachusetts Regiment as second lieutenant, was pro- moted to the rank of first lieutenant, and subsequently com- missioned captain and assistant quarter- master. Returning to Plymouth at the expiration of his term of service, in 1865, he resumed the practice of his profession. He served as chairman of the Plymouth Board of Selectmen from 1866 to 1874, and was a mem- ber of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1873 and 1874, easily taking rank as an influential and most useful member, and serving on some of the more important committees. In 1874 he opened a law office in Boston with Charles H. Drew, and later in the same
ALBERT MASON.
year formed a partnership with Arthur Lord. Subse- quently Benjamin R. Curtis, late judge of the Municipal Court in Boston, was admitted to the firm, which had offices both in Plymouth and in Boston. In July, 1874, Mr. Mason removed his residence to Brookline, where he still lives. In December, 1874, he was appointed on the State Board of Harbor Commissioners, and he con- tinued on the succeeding boards, with various changes of title, till his selection by Governor Long, in February, 1862, as an associate justice of the Supe- rior Court. From that time until his promotion to the chief justiceship by Governor Brackett, in September, 1890, he filled a place on the bench with ever increasing influence and fame, which have been augmented by the manner in which he has per- formed the duties of his higher office. An earnest lover of work, he spares no pains to be thorough in the investigation of any question sub- mitted to him. Con- servative without being narrow; inde- pendent without ar- rogance ; with quali- ties of high judicial merit ; calm in tem- perament ; quiet in manner ; pleasant in speech, he possesses a large measure of force and deter- mination. In his rulings, fair but decisive ; in his instruction to the jury, clear and apt, but never volu- minous, he is capable of a long and honorable career. He is admired and respected by the members of the bar, to whom his appointment was a source of great sat- isfaction. Chief Justice Mason was married in Plymouth in 1857, to Lydia F., daughter of Nathan Whiting. By this union there are six children.
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
H JORACE GRAY, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, has been a striking figure in the judiciary of Massachusetts for nearly thirty years. He was born in Boston, March 24, 1828, his father being William Gray, a man prominent in Massachusetts. After studying with competent teachers in private schools, Mr. Gray entered Harvard, and graduated in 1845. At that time there was little to indicate that he would attain the prominence he now enjoys as a lawyer and a judge, for he was most deeply interested in the study of natural history. When he graduated from Har- vard he was only six- teen years of age, but a splendid specimen of manhood. He then spent some time travelling in Europe, during which he visited Norway, where he created comment among the rustics, who took him for a representative of American people, and received the idea that the people of this country were all of like stature and physical develop- - ment. On his return he entered the Dane Law School, and graduated with the degree of LL. B. He then studied in the law offices of William Sohier and John Lovell, and showed marked ability in his grasp of the law. After being admitted to the bar in 1851, he began practice in Boston, and six years later entered into part- nership with Hon. E. Rockwood Hoar. In 1854, Mr. Gray was appointed reporter of the Massachusetts Judi- cial Supreme Court, which position he hekdl until 1881. Gray's Official Reports are in every law office. The partnership of Gray and Hoar was dissolved in 1860. Mr. Gray was appointed by Governor Andrew a justice
of the Supreme Court in 1864. His knowledge of the law, clear discernment, and great ability, made him a prominent figure among his associates; and when, on the death of Chief Justice Chapman, in 1873, he was appointed to the latter's position by Governor Washburn, the election was received in all quarters with favor. Mr. Gray's advancement in his chosen profession has been steady ; honors have come in regular succession, and in every position he has displayed great ability. When he was appointed to his present position in Dec. 20, 1881, Mr. Gray was fifty-two years of age and un- married. On June 4, 1889, he renounced bachelor life, and was married to Jeanette, daughter of the late Stanley Mathews, who had been one of Mr. Gray's fellow- associates. The wed- ding took place in Washington. As a writer of decisions, Mr. Gray stands pre- eminent among his associates on the same bench, espe- cially as to matters of constitutional law, where general his- torical information is important, and in those which concern chartered rights. One of the most famous cases in which Mr. Gray showed wonderful ability was that in which Boston and Lowell were concerned during the war period. In his early manhood, Mr. Gray attended, as a delegate, the first State convention of the Free-soil party in 1848, and was actively associated with Charles Sumner, Charles Francis Adams, Henry Wilson, and other prominent men in that movement. Justice Gray has by his dignity, wide ex- perience, integrity, and learning, gained a high place on the roll of American jurists.
HORACE GRAY.
LOUGEE
ALICE PARKER
E
SALARYA
IV
JULIA WARD HOWE
MARY
SHAW
AH NORDICA
SUSAN FOR
LYLE DURGI
WOMEN OF MASSACHUSETTS.
WOMEN OF MASSACHUSETTS.
A S the gates of prejudice have been gradually unbarred to the admission of women, they have thronged into nearly every avenue of modern business and professional activity, and the much-derided dream of "woman's rights " is becoming a reality. In Massa- chusetts, at least, they are using their rights with singular success. Among the women through whose efforts this peaceful revolution has been effected are Mrs. Julia Ward Howe and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore.
The first named, who, apart from her other labors, has achieved a personal immortality in American letters by her "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and many of her lyrics, has been identified with the cause of woman suf- frage since 1868. As a member of women's congresses, as lecturer, and as contributor to the best periodical literature, she has been for nearly twenty-five years a leader in the woman's movement. Though over three score and ten (she was born in 1819), her pen and voice are still engaged in the work.
Mrs. Mary A. Livermore is another pioneer in the same reform. Hers has been a long and useful life. Born and bred in Boston, she has given nearly fifty years to public work. She became prominent during the Civil War in connection with sanitary work and hospital administration. She is one of the mainstays of the woman suffrage movement, and for many years was president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Massachusetts. Her best known book is " My Recol- lections of the War."
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