Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Massachusetts, Part 3

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918; American Historical Society (New York)
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Boston : American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 626


USA > Massachusetts > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Massachusetts > Part 3


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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


The mere titles of these works suggest the extent and variety of the lit- erary attainments of Professor Bowne. His work in each of the fields of his- tory, of political economy, and of philosophy, were more than sufficient to merit


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Professor Francis Bowne, LL.D.


a lasting reputation. But the breadth and diversity of his views are perhaps more fully exhibited in his contributions to the "North American Review." These papers number more than a hundred, and treat of most, if not all, of the leading questions which in the course of a decade engaged the thoughts of men. They are written with a thoroughness now somewhat unusual in maga- zine articles and in a style remarkable for clearness and force. During the years of his editorship the "North American Review" was the mirror of Pro- fessor Bowne's opinions, and was the best Review on this side of the Atlantic.


To most graduates of the College, however, Professor Bowne was best known not as an author, but as a teacher of philosophy. His method of instruc- tion was expository, and his purpose was not to force his own ideas and theories into acceptance, but to explain the principal systems of metaphysics. In exposi- tion his chief characteristic was clearness, united with enthusiasm. The lectures of Professor Bowne were written and delivered with an enthusiasm more fre- quent in the pleading of an advocate at the bar than in the cool analysis of philosophy. To his methods of teaching metaphysics are due the popularity of the department of philosophy in the College, a department which in many col- leges is regarded with small favor by the students. But although Professor Bowne was an expounder of philosophy, he was also a critic, and in his criti- cisms appear his own philosophical system. He was a believer in the truths of Christianity, and his influence in the recitation-room, though not theological, was strongly in favor of the Christian religion, and of a type which would sat- isfy many orthodox believers. Professor Bowne served on the United States Silver Commission in 1876, his colleagues including several senators and rep- resentatives. He resigned his Professorship in Harvard University in 1889, and was made Professor Emeritus.


On November 1, 1848, Professor Bowne was united in marriage with Arabella Stuart, of Lancaster, New Hampshire, a daughter of Charles and Eliza Stuart. Professor and Mrs. Bowne were the parents of three children: Charles Stuart, the only son, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 18, 1850, and graduated from Harvard University with the class of 1871 ; Maria, who resides in the Bowne homestead; Helen Elizabeth, who died in 1902.


Happily gifted in manner, disposition, and taste, enterprising and original in ideas, personally liked most by those who knew him best, and as frank in de- claring his principles as he was in maintaining them, Professor Bowne's career was rounded with success and marked by the appreciation of men whose good opinion was worth having. He was devoted to the ties of family and friend- ship, ever regarding them as a sacred obligation. Such a man leaves a mem- ory that is cherished for many years after he has passed from earth.


Alfred Dwight Gleason


A MONG the business men of the State of Massachusetts, there are not many who fill the space in the community and command the attention of the chronicler of passing events as did the late Alfred Dwight Gleason, a man of more than ordinary merit, and one who possessed in a special manner the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men. High up on the honor roll his name will always stand. For many years Mr. Gleason was closely identified with the leading manufacturing interests of Gleasondale, Massachu- setts, and represented the highest ideals of citizenship. Commercial integrity meant a great deal to him, and his influence for good was felt either directly or indirectly by all his fellow-men, while his life has left a lasting impress upon the town of his adoption. It is a known fact that at the foundation of the pros- perity of every locality is found the work of the manufacturer, for it is he who in seeking a market for his products attracts commerce to his community, causes factories and business houses to arise, and gives employment to many. Every town or city owes much to its business men, especially to those whose sound judgment and far-sighted sagacity control the future in dealing with the present and who, perceiving in advance the approach of emergencies, are never found unprepared to meet them. In this class of men belonged Mr. Gleason, whose death occurred at his home in Gleasondale, Massachusetts, De- cember 26, 1914, and closed a career of great usefulness to mankind. He left the imprint of his fine and winning personality upon the most varied de- partments of the life of the community in which he had lived for so many years. His passing away was a profound loss to the whole of that region, with the affairs of which he was so closely and progressively identified. The town, almost as a single man, expressed its regret and the respect it felt for the distinguished member who had departed.


The birth of Alfred Dwight Gleason occurred at North Andover, Massa- chusetts, February 7, 1846, the son of the Hon. Benjamin Whitney Gleason and Louisa (Fessenden) Gleason. Thomas Gleason, the immigrant ancestor of this branch of the family, settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, as early as 1652. He is thought to have been the son of Richard or Joseph Gleason, who was a proprietor of Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1640. The name is variously spelled in early records, Gleason, Gleison, Glezen and Glesing. In 1662 Thomas Gleason was in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and in possession of Squaw-Sa- chem's lands.


Joseph Gleason, the sixth in descent from Thomas Gleason, the progeni- tor of the family, was born in Petersham, Massachusetts, in 1781, and died there in 1808, at the age of twenty-seven years. He was buried in Peter-


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Air. Hanson


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Alfred Dwight Gleason


sham, and his burial place is marked by a headstone. He was a farmer by occupation.


Benjamin Whitney Gleason, the son of Joseph Gleason, and the seventh descendant of Thomas Gleason, was born in Petersham, Massachusetts, Oc- tober 12, 1806, and died in Gleasondale, Massachusetts, January 19, 1884. He was educated in the public schools, leaving at the age of fourteen years to begin his apprenticeship to learn the trade of a cabinet maker. After he came of age he followed this trade at Grafton, Massachusetts, in the wood-working department of the cotton mill there. In 1833 he went to Worcester, Massachu- setts, and during the following four years was a journeyman in a machine shop. He left Worcester and entered the employ of Gilbert & Richardson, of North Andover, Massachusetts, manufacturers of cotton and woolen machin- ery. This firm was dissolved in 1842, and George H. Gilbert removed to Ware and engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods. On July 13, 1842, Mr. Gleason formed a co-partnership with George L. Davis, who had been a fellow workman with him in the employ of Gilbert & Richardson, under the name of Gleason & Davis, and began manufacturing machinery at North An- dover, Massachusetts. In 1848 Charles Furber, an old employee, was admitted to partnership and the name was changed to that of Gleason, Davis & Furber. Mr. Gleason retired from the firm in 1849. During that same year the credi- tors of the Rock Bottom Company, which had failed, prevailed upon Mr. Gleason to reorganize that company and take charge of the business. Mr. Gleason then moved to Rock Bottom and took into partnership Mr. Samuel J. Dale. In 1875, Mr. Gleason suffered a slight stroke of paralysis, but he re- covered and continued in active business until 1880, when he practically retired. He was a leader in his line of business, successful, upright and enterprising. He was a Republican in politics, and in 1859 and 1872 represented his district in the General Court, and in 1860 and 1861 was State Senator. Mr. Gleason was a very influential man in this and other sections of New England, having inter- ests at various places, and most completely established his claim to an honor- able place among the textile manufacturers of the United States. He was united in marriage, August 31, 1831, with Louisa Fessenden, of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, who was born in Rutland, Massachusetts, in 1809, and died in 1858. They were the parents of five children, namely: Ellen A., Benjamin F., Charles Whitney, Stillman A. and Alfred Dwight.


It was with deep regret that the people of Gleasondale, Massachusetts, learned of their loss, when its foremost citizen, Alfred Dwight Gleason, passed away, and his removal from earthly environment was also keenly felt in the towns of Stow and Hudson, Massachusetts, where he was very prominent and influential. He was the youngest son of Benjamin Whitney Gleason, and when three years of age removed with his parents to Rock Bottom, which is now Gleasondale, Massachusetts, in the town of Stow. He attended the various private schools, the Concord Academy, and the Highland Military Academy, at Worcester, Massachusetts. When eighteen years old, Mr. Glea-


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Alfred Dwight Gleason


son was filled with the same high ideals which he carried all through life. In response to the call for volunteers from President Lincoln, he enlisted as first sergeant in Company 1, Fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, July 15, 1864. The regiment was ordered south and assigned to garrison duty when Mr. Gleason became ill and was sent home. He was honorably discharged at the termination of his period of enlistment, and upon his return to Gleasondale took charge of the store and conducted it for a number of years. He then be- came a clerk in the counting room of his father's large and well established mill, and on June 1, 1872, he and his two brothers were taken into partner- ship by their father, under the firm name of B. W. Gleason & Sons. The three brothers, Stillman Augustus, Charles Whitney and Alfred Dwight Gleason, con- tinued the business under the same name after the father's death in 1884, un- til November, 1887, when Stillman Augustus Gleason retired from the firm. The name then became C. W. and A. D. Gleason and continued thus until July, 1899, when Alfred Dwight Gleason bought out his brother, Charles W. Gleason, who was obliged to retire on account of ill health. From that time on Alfred Dwight Gleason remained the sole proprietor of this extensive business, making additions in 1901 and 1902 by which the capacity of the mill was greatly increased. Under his ownership, the mills at Gleasondale had a larger product than ever before, the business flourished, and the reputation of the concern became widely extended. Mr. Gleason ranked high among the suc- cessful manufacturers of the State of Massachusetts. He always managed to keep his employees at work when other mills lay idle for want of orders. He and his brothers fittingly sustained the business established by their father. In addition to his own business, Mr. Gleason, in 1902, formed a partnership with M. T. Stevens Company of New York and Boston, commission merchants, under the firm name of J. P. Stevens Company, which to-day ranks as one of the foremost commission houses in the country.


Mr. Gleason was also prominent in financial circles of that section of the country. He had been a director of the Hudson National Bank since its or- ganization, having been one of the committee of nine chosen in 1881 to procure the charter. He became the vice-president, July 13, 1897, and president, Octo- ber 23, 1906, a position he held until the time of his death. He was also a trustee of the Hudson Savings Bank, and a director in Stevens Linen Works at Webster, Massachusetts.


Mr. Gleason was active in public affairs, and contributed most freely of his time and money to further every movement tending to the welfare of the town of Stow and the village of Gleasondale. He was selectman for two years and chairman of the board. He served on the building committee of the public library and was one of the trustees. In his political thought he became a member of the Republican party, and his services were always sought by his fellow-townsmen for the various funds entrusted to their care. Mr. Gleason was well known in Masonic circles, being a member of Doric Lodge of Free Masons; Houghton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Trinity Commandery,


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Alfred Dwight Gleason


No. 32, Knights Templar. He was a member of Reno Post, No. 9, Grand Army of the Republic. He was a man of unimpeachable character, and many a recipient of his generosity and kindness will testify to the noble qualities of his heart. With his brother, Charles W. Gleason, in 1898, Mr. Gleason pre- sented to the village of Gleasondale the handsome church as a memorial to their father, Benjamin Whitney Gleason. Alfred Dwight Gleason was a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was deeply interested in that institution.


On May 12, 1871, Alfred Dwight Gleason was united in marriage with Blanche A. Pratt, a native of Sterling, Massachusetts, and a daughter of Hor- ace V. and Relief E. (Holman) Pratt, of Boston. Horace V. Pratt was a na- tive of Burham, Vermont, and was a manufacturer of chairs. His wife was born in Princeton, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Gleason became the parents of one child, Alfreda B., who is the wife of Clifford Justus Fuller, who is now in the service of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller are the parents of two children, Jean Justus and Alfred Dwight Gleason Fuller. Mrs. Alfred Dwight Gleason is an attendant of the Methodist church in Gleasondale, Massachu- setts.


The funeral services of Mr. Gleason were held from the Methodist church in Gleasondale, which was crowded with the people who had learned to love, honor and respect this good man. The services were conducted by the Rev. Frank W. Collier, of Washington, D. C., assisted by the Rev. Albert L. Ol- son. The organist was Mr. Nash, of Boston, while the Pilgrim Quartette of Boston rendered many beautiful selections. During the services a member of the Quartette sang a solo, entitled, "The Bright Beyond," a song composed for and dedicated to Mr. Gleason some forty-five years prior to his death by his music teacher, Professor Thomas A. Howe, of Boston, who sought to show his appreciation of the fine character of his pupil. The floral contributions were profuse, special designs being sent by the employees of Gleason Woolen Mills, from the various lodges with which Mr. Gleason was affiliated and from his many friends. The flag which draped his casket was from his comrades of Reno Post, No. 9, Grand Army of the Republic. To such a noble specimen of manhood should go forth our sincerest praise.


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Henry Cutler Baldwin, M.D.


T HE carcer of the late Dr. Henry Cutler Baldwin illustrates the possibilities of the typical sturdy New England character. He possessed the inheritance of generations of right living, and besides inherited that which cannot be expressed in definite terms of value, because it is beyond value. It is unnecessary to add that as a physician Dr. Baldwin was held in the high- est estimation by his fellow-men. A man of great sagacity, quick perceptions, and noble impulses, he commanded the respect and confi- dence of all who knew him. Perhaps as a man few knew him intimately, but those who did found in him much to respect and admire. He rose to a proud eminence in his profession, and was deservedly crowned with its choicest re- wards. To attain the success which he reached he never resorted to extrane- ous means or influence, nor any of the arts by which popularity is sometimes purchased at the expense of science and truth. The term friendship was to him no mere idle word, but was a recognition of the good in companionship. The influence of a human life can never be properly and fully estimated, but such men as Dr. Baldwin create and maintain the honor of the profession of medicine. The death of Dr. Baldwin occurred in Boston, February 25, 1915, in his fifty-sixth year. Although he had been in failing health for some years, he had so successfully concealed this fact from his friends, and even from his immediate family, that his passing away was wholly unexpected, and therefore all the more of a shock. A man of rare personal qualities, exceptional profes- sional ability, absolute common sense, forcefulness and tenacity of purpose, he leaves a place in the community which it will be difficult to adequately fill.


Dr. Henry Cutler Baldwin was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, October 27, 1859, of excellent Colonial ancestry. He was a descendant both on his paternal and maternal side from John Alden. Alice Southworth, who was the wife of ex-Governor Bradford, was one of his ancestors, as was also the Rev. John Wilson, who was the first pastor of the first church built in Boston. Dr. Baldwin was the son of Rollin Mallory and Maria Louise (Colton) Baldwin, who came to Massachusetts from Vermont. Their son obtained his early edu- cation in the public schools, graduating from the Somerville High School. He was graduated from Harvard College cum laude with the class of 1880, which numbered Theodore Roosevelt among its members, and was the youngest man in this class. He at once entered the Harvard Medical School, where he was also distinguished as a scholar, and from which he graduated with the degree of M.D., in 1884. Dr. Baldwin served as surgical house pupil at the Massa- chusetts General Hospital in 1883 and 1885, and later, for a time, was an as- sistant physician at the McLean Hospital, which position he held for nearly a


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henry Cutler Baldwin, H. D.


year. Before entering upon his service at the latter institution, he made a trip around the world, as a private physician for a prominent Boston banker, which was broadening in its influence and furnished many pleasant memories in after life. In college and in the professional school he took high rank and gave promise of the success he in later life attained. In his hospital work, both as a pupil and a physician, Dr. Baldwin was faithful, thorough, painstaking, and spared no time nor strength in doing his full duty.


After leaving the McLean Hospital, Dr. Baldwin went abroad and took a course at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, and also made studies and observations in the Salpetriere in Paris, France, and elsewhere on the Con- tinent. Returning to America, he taught for a period at the Harvard Medical School, and soon thereafter became associated with Dr. James J. Putnam, in the neurological department of the Massachusetts General Hospital. From his service in this hospital one might have predicted for him the career of a sur- geon, and to this he was early inclined, but his experience at the McLean Hos- pital and his appointment as assistant in neurology in the out-patient depart- ment of the Massachusetts General Hospital, turned him to the field of neurol- ogy and psychiatry, in which his practice chiefly lay. He was exceedingly suc- cessful in the treatment of difficult cases of long duration that required in- finite patience, persistence and ingenuity in a process of reeducation. He rose through the various ranks until he became one of the neurologists to the hos- pital, a position which he held at the time of his death.


For many years Dr. Baldwin was officially connected with the Free Hospi- tal for Women, but finally resigned to devote all his energy to the work of the Massachusetts General Hospital clinic. Dr. Baldwin was a forceful, self-re- liant man and had great executive ability, which enabled him to manage ex- tremely difficult cases. He was firmly convinced that the physician should be in control and declined the care of those who would not follow directions. He gained the complete confidence of his patients by absolute devotion to them, never hesitating to do anything that promised for their advantage, even though the service might seem to be more within the province of the nurse than the physician. He was always ready by night and by day, and for a long time it seemed that he had the physique to meet all demands made upon him. As an expert witness, in which capacity he frequently served, Dr. Baldwin showed the same thorough and painstaking preparation that was manifested in all his work.


Apart from his hospital work, in which his enthusiasm never flagged, Dr. Baldwin was at one time a member of Mayor Quincy's advisory board of vis- itors to public institutions and chairman of the board of trustees of the Boston Insane Hospital. These public functions he performed in addition to his active private practice, which concerned itself largely, but by no means exclusively, with disorders of the nervous system. He was a member of many medical so- cieties, but took especial interest in the Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology, of which he was secretary from 1898 to 1904, and president in 1909. At a recent anniversary dinner of this Society only a few weeks prior


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Denrp Cutler Baldwin, M. D.


to his death, Dr. Baldwin took charge of the music and sang with his accus- tomed vigor. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, of the American Medical Association, of the American Medico-Psychological Association, of the American Neurological Association, of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, and of the Boston Medical Library.


Besides his professional interests, which always occupied his chief atten- tion, Dr. Baldwin took great pleasure in music and was himself the possessor of an excellent voice. He was a member of the Cecilia Society, which he joined in 1883, singing at the first concert of the Society in that same year. He was several times a director of the Society, and for the three years before his death had been very active in maintaining its integrity. He also belonged to the so- called "Doctors' Chorus" and the Harvard Alumni Chorus. Vocal music was his special delight and relaxation. A further characteristic interest was his love for animals. He always had dogs of recognized lineage, and was an en- thusiastic horseback rider, being one of the few who refused to give up horses in favor of the automobile. Although in certain respects eminently social, he cared little for what is popularly known as society. His work and his home life remained throughout his chief interests.


Undoubtedly his relation to the Massachusetts General Hospital took first place of all his other activities. He was an extremely loyal friend to that in- stitution and worked always for its best interests. He was never neglectful of what he considered as his duty, and up to a few days before his death was see- ing patients and prescribing treatment as he had been doing for nearly three decades. He was a strict disciplinarian and felt very strongly that the welfare of the hospital depended upon the maintenance of this discipline. While he in- sisted that his subordinates should obey the rules strictly, he never shirked his own responsibility nor regarded himself as exempt from the regulations which he imposed upon others. The hospital indeed has lost in Dr. Henry Cutler Baldwin a loyal and devoted friend.


On September 29, 1894, Dr. Baldwin was united in marriage, in London, England, with Mrs. May (Hamelin) Widney, the widow of William Alexander Widney, and a daughter of John Lawrence and Theresa (Brown) Hamelin, late of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This union was blessed with happiness and congeniality.


Dr. Baldwin was not a voluminous writer, and he did not often take part in discussions at medical meetings, but his interest in the progress of medicine re- mained unabated. His strength lay in his power of organization and in his capacity to accomplish work which he set for himself. He was indefatigable in his treatment, especially by mechanical means, of certain stubborn nervous or- ders, and accomplished at times what seemed impossible to overcome. He was no less active during the final years of impaired health than he had been be- fore, and bore his increasing ill health in a most courageous manner.


It is only fitting that we close this memoir to Dr. Henry Cutler Baldwin with the tribute paid him by Harriet Prescott Spoffard, which is as follows:


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henry Cutler Baldwin, H., D.


Those who have been privileged to receive the ministrations of Dr. Henry Cutler Bald- win feel that in his death they have suffered an irreparable loss. He was a wonderful physi- cian. He had an insight that gave him, as it were, a power of divination; he brought to all his immense knowledge and skill, to his observation and experience an imagination that penetrated to the hidden all, controlled by a vigorous judgment. Some of the cures that he wrought were like miracles. His earnestness, his determination, his interest, his will that sometimes seemed as if it would dominate fate, were all factors in his success. Those who have seen him bring the all but dead to useful life, make the dumb speak, find the concealed malignity that no one else suspected, build up sick nerves, control the insane, keep mania in check, could only feel that he was incarnate wisdom. But his personal characteristics were as valuable as his medical knowledge and skill. His gentleness, his willingness, his benignity, his courage, his power of inspiring confidence, were like an atmosphere. When he came in he brought sunshine with him, and care and apprehension vanished. From his youth he was of stainless purity and of lofty ideals. In moments of relaxation there was a charming boyishness about him that was very engaging ; he had a fine and delicate sense of humor ; he enjoyed poetry and a good book ; he was exceedingly fond of music, having a rich and pure tenor voice, and being one of the leading singers of the Cecilia Society. He had been round the world with a patient in the early years of his practice, and had visited Europe and the Pacific Coast many times afterwards. He had seen the best of art in Europe and Asia, and the Islands of the Seas, and was really a connoisseur, although with- out pretensions. He was very fond of animals, devoted to his dogs, and a daring horseman.




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