Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 109

Author: Herndon, Richard; Bacon, Edwin M. (Edwin Monroe), 1844-1916
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Boston : New England Magazine
Number of Pages: 1036

USA > Massachusetts > Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts > Part 109

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where he graduated in the spring of 1890. Soon after entering the college he changed his residence from Fryeburg to Portland, and in September fol- lowing his graduation left Maine, and settled in the regular practice of his profession in East Bridgewater. Taking the practice of Dr. Asa Millet (retired), he has been actively engaged there to the present time. He has been chairman of the Board of Health for two years, and has served on the board at other times ; and he be- longs to the Village Improvement Club. In poli- tics Dr. Shirley is a Republican. He has never married.

SMALL, JOSIAH BAKER, of Boston, merchant and inventor, was born in Maine, in the town of Windham, Cumberland County, March 9, 1845. son of Gilbert and Abigail ( Baker) Small, natives of Gray and Windham respectively. His grand- parents were, on the paternal side, Jeremiah and Jane (Frank) Small, and on the maternal side Benjamin and Mary (Allen) Baker. He was edu- cated in the common schools of his native town. Brought up on a farm, he was engaged in all kinds of farm work from early boyhood till the age of seventeen. Then he went to New Hampshire, and learned the trade of heating iron for forging car axles and other machinery. In March, 1866, he came to Boston, and went to work in the agricult- ural implements store of Whittemore, Belcher, & Co., where he remained two years, learning the ways of selling farmers' tools and machinery. In 1868, entering into partnership with Frank F. Holbrook (son of ex-Governor Holbrook of Ver- mont), under the firm name of F. F. Holbrook & Small, he engaged in the manufacture and sale of Holbrook's swivel ploughs, Holbrook's horse hoes, garden hand seed drills, and other specialties in farm tools. The firm continued for about two years, when another partner was admitted, and the name was changed to F. F. Holbrook & Co. The new firm added several other lines to the manu- facture and sale of the specialties which the old firm had put on the market, and continued the business until the autumn of 1873. Then it was wound up and sold out, Mr. Small purchasing the patterns and fixtures ; and the firm was dissolved. Mr. Small restarted the business alone ; but, find- ing that more capital was required to develop it to his satisfaction, he associated himself with Thomas B. Everett, under the firm name of Everett & Small. This partnership continued till

1883, when Mr. Small withdrew, and formed a new partnership with A. H. Matthews, under the name of Small & Matthews, for the continued manufacture of seed drills, ploughs, and also the celebrated Small's calf-feeders, of which he is the inventor and patentee. He is now engaged almost exclusively in the manufacture and sale of his calf-feeder, of which upward of twenty-two thousand have been made and sold since the patent was secured in 1884, and which is now in use in every State and Territory of the Union and in several foreign countries. This feeder, which is the only successful invention of its kind in the

JOSIAH B. SMALL.

world, is a marvel of simplicity, and has been carried to such a degree of perfection that it has called forth thousands of unsolicited testimonials from all over the country. Many of those who use it write Mr. Small to thank him for inventing so perfect and useful an article and to wish him a long life of business prosperity. The present firm name is J. B. Small & Co., that of Small & Matthews having been dropped in 1887. In politics Mr. Small has always been a Republican. He was married first, October 19, 1870, to Miss Helen A. Smith, who died March 28, 1874, leav- ing one daughter: Hila H. Small. His second marriage was on December 24, 1879, to Miss Ada

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R. Smith. She died April 10, 1892, leaving one daughter : Grace A. Small. The eldest daughter is now (1895) a student at the Boston University College of Liberal Arts. in her junior year; and the youngest daughter is in a Somerville grammar school. Mr. Small resides in East Somerville.

SMITH, FRANCIS HILL, of Boston. artist, is a native of Boston, born October 15, 1842, son of Jeremiah and Martha ( Hill) Smith. He is de- scended on the paternal side from one of three brothers, who came from England, and settled in New Hampshire about the year 1740. On the maternal side he is connected with the Hill family members of which were early merchants in Boston in the eighteenth century. His father Jeremiah Smith came to Boston in early youth. The latter was a master builder, and belonged to the old school of mechanics. He was of the best class of master builders, who in his time possessed a thorough knowledge of building in all its many parts, and understood not only construction, but

FRANK HILL SMITH.

the details of architecture. It was at that period a requirement that master builders should be able to lay out a building architecturally; and they

were, in fact. the architects of their day. Mr. Smith was educated in the Boston public schools and at Baker's Preparatory School, now extinct. He began active life as a clerk in a wholesale dry- goods store at the age of sixteen. But he had no liking or disposition for that business, and accord- ingly left soon after, and entered the office of John Thorndike, where he began the study of architecture, under the guidance of Hammatt Billings, who was at that time associated with Mr. Thorndike, and was building the Charitable Mechanic Building on Chauney Street. Soon after Mr. Smith, together with Alfred Bicknell and William Mark Fisher, persistently, and with ulti- mate success, pressed the trustees of the Lowell Institute to establish a life class in their art school. They then also drew from the antique in the gal- lery of the Boston Athenaum, the only opportunity at that time offered a student of artistic inclinations in Boston. Mr. Smith steadily pursued art, studied in Boston until the year 1867. when he went to Paris, and there took up painting with architect- ure. He entered the Atelier Swiss and that of Léon Bonnat, being one of the first American pupils of the latter. To Bonnat he attributes much of the disposition which he then acquired of a thoroughness in study, which is so essential in the pursuit of art. While in Europe, Mr. Smith made many studies of exterior and interior from the many fine examples of architecture in France, Holland, and Italy, spending much time in Venice and in Northern Italy. He thus kept up a serious study of both architecture and painting, acquiring a knowledge of each which stood him in good turn in his after career, and enabled him to under- take a great variety of work. During the last twenty-five years he has built and remodelled many houses, and done much and remarkable work in the special line of interior decoration, not only in dwelling-houses, but in churches, theatres, clubs, stores, hotels, yachts, and steamboats. In artistic decoration of the latter class he has been a pioneer: and the notable work in the large steamboats of the Fall River Line, the " Puritan," " Plymouth," and " Priscilla," especially bear wit- ness to the perfection of his art. When intrusted with the designs for the interior of these steamers, he availed himself of the opportunity to institute an entire revolution in steamboat decoration by avoiding the prevailing errors with resulting vulgar display, and introducing instead a more lawful and correct style in the composition. Of

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yachts which he has decorated. one, showing the most elaborate work, is the schooner " Lasca," considered both on this side and in European waters one of the most complete and thoroughly appointed yachts afloat. Among his decorations in public buildings, that of the new hall of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the State House Extension is most remarked. the latter he has endeavored, and successfully, to treat the subject on a level with the reputation of the State. In his practice Mr. Smith has de- voted much of his time to decoration in its best sense, striving always to avoid the tendency which he has seen prevailing in temporary fashions and in the vulgar pretence of so-called art. He has done his best to shape and control, by a lawful taste built upon the sound principles of the classic in art, all work intrusted to his care. Mr. Smith was for several years a member of the Union, Papyrus, Athletic, and the old Allston Club, the first artists' club in Boston, and was one of the original members and organizers of the St. Botolph Club, that being the third of like character in the establishment of which he has been interested, the second being the Atheman Club, which had a brief existence. He was an original member of the School of Design con- nected with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and a member later of its directing committee. In 1876 he was by appointment of Governor Rice art commissioner to the Centennial Exhibition in Phil- adelphia, and elected secretary of that group of judges. In polities he classes himself as a Repub- lican, believing strongly in the principles of the Republican party. He is an American through and through. He is a firm believer in work, per- sistent and serious, and wastes no time in the pur- suit of the fads of the hour. Mr. Smith has been twice married. He married first, July 25, 1874. Miss Clara Montfort Fay, of New York. She died February 16, 1881, leaving four children : Rosamond, Montfort, Francis, and Clarence Hill. He married second, April 8, 1891, Mrs. Charlotte E. Robertson, widow of James H. Robertson, of New York. They have a daughter: Mabel Hill Smith.

SOMERS. FRANK DOREMUS, of Boston, mer- chant tailor, is a native of Connecticut, born in the town of Derby, near New Haven, July 10, 1853, son of Henry and Emma ( Drew) Somers. Ilis father's family trace their history back to

England. and are probably connected with the Somers, of Somersetshire ; and his mother's family are distantly connected with the late Daniel Drew

FRANK D. SOMERS.

of Wall Street fame. It was on this side a long- lived race, his maternal great-grandmother living to the age of ninety-four and his grandfather to about ninety-three. Ancestors on both sides served in the Revolution, in Connecticut. Frank D. was educated in the public schools, and at Phil- lips (Andover) Academy, where he graduated in 1869, with an oration, and also taking one of the " Means " prizes. He was fitted for Yale College, but did not enter, preferring at once to engage in active business life. He began with his father, who was a merchant tailor, in 1870 ; and two years later took a salaried position as a cutter in a New Haven tailor's establishment. In 1875 he came to Boston, and entered the employ of Charles A. Smith & Co. on School Street, where he remained for five years. Then in 1880 he engaged in busi- ness of fine tailoring on his own account at No. 414 Washington Street, in partnership with Curtis Brown, who was connected for many years with the musical clubs of Boston, and was largely in- strumental in bringing out Annie Cary as a singer. Within a year after this partnership was formed Mr. Brown died, and thereafter Mr. Somers con-

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tinued the business alone. He removed to Park Street in 1883, and has since been established there. His business has steadily increased from year to year, until now it averages $100,000 2 year. Having no tastes for clubs or society life, Mr. Somers belongs to no social organization. He is in politics an Independent Republican. He was married November 19, 1874, to Miss Harriet Parker Hervey, of Andover. They have three children : Marion (seventeen years, just en- tering Smith College), Lawrence Drew (fifteen years), and Constance Somers (thirteen years).

STEVENS, GEORGE HENRY, of Newburyport, city clerk, was born in Needham, April 15, 1829, son of George Gay and Harriet (Russell) Stevens. His father was a native of Needham, and a farmer; and his mother was born in a log cabin in Vermont. On both sides he is of English an- cestry. He was educated in the common schools, and at the Bridgewater State Normal School. where he spent one year, 1847, fitting for a school-

GEORGE H. STEVENS ..

teacher. His boyhood was spent on the farm where he learned farming from his father. After leaving the normal school, he engaged in school-

teaching, which occupation he followed for about two years. He came to Newburyport in 1849, and was there first employed as a clerk in a millinery store. Afterward be carried on a straw bleachery for a number of years. In 1870 he was elected city clerk ; and he has filled that position to the present time, serving for twenty-five consecutive years,- now in the twenty-sixth year. In May, 1864, he enlisted in the Third Unattached Com- pany, Massachusetts Infantry. as corporal, and served until August following, meanwhile having become a sergeant. After the war he was for some time attached to the Eighth Regiment, serv- ing in the several grades to first lieutenant. He is connected with the Masonic fraternity, a mem- ber of St. Mark's Lodge, King Cyrus Chapter, and the Newburyport Commandery, Knights Templar ; with the Odd Fellows, member of Quascacunquen Lodge, No. 39 ; and with the Grand Army of the Republic, member of Post 49. In the Masonic order he has been master of the lodge, high priest of the chapter. and recorder of the commandery from 1870 to the present time. In politics he is a Republican. He was married May 5, 1863, to Miss Abigail Bartlett Sumner, of Newburyport. They have one daughter : Jennie Sumner Stevens.

STRAIN, DANIEL JOSIAH, of Boston, artist, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Littleton, November 17, 1847, son of Daniel and Sally (Goddard) Strain. He was educated in the public schools. His inclination toward art was early dis- played. He began with crayon work. He first opened his studio in Boston about the year 1870, and was doing good work in crayon heads of chil- dren, which in photographic reproductions were becoming widely popular, when he concluded to go abroad, and perfect himself in all branches of art. He studied in Paris under J. Lefebvre and G. Boulanger from 1877 to 1884, spending his sum- mers in sketching trips in Holland, Belgium, and Spain, and exhibited his later work while there in the Salon of 1881, 1882, and 1883. His first Salon picture, " Les Deux Amis," was subsequently published in an etching by him. Upon his return to this country he reopened his studio in Boston, and has since done much notable work in por- traits and genre. Among his notable portraits are: General N. P. Banks, which now hangs in the City Hall at Waltham; Governor John B. Smith, the Hon. E. H. Rollins, and Captain George

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II. Perkins, U.S.N., all of which hang in the State Capitol at Concord, N.H. ; and John G. Whittier, now in Danvers, Mass. Mr. Strain is a member

DANIEL J. STRAIN.

of the Boston Art, and Paint and Clay clubs. He married July 13, 1869. Miss Dora L. Adams, of Wilbraham.

SWIFT, MARCUS GEORGE BARKER, of Fall River, member of the bar, is a native of Michi- gan, born in Raisin township, "Quaker Valley," Lenawee County, March 12, 1848, son of the Rev. Orson Ross Swift. M. D., and Mary Elizabeth (Barker) Swift. At the age of six years he was bereft, by death, of a mother's care; and his father survived her decease only two years. He and a younger sister (now Mrs. James A. Dubuar, wife of a lumber manufacturer in Northville, Mich.) were then taken in charge by his grandfather, the Rev. Marcus Swift, and his uncle, John Marcus Swift, M.D., in whose households the orphaned children received the tenderest care and most ex- cellent training. He is of good New England Revolutionary stock. One of his great-grand- fathers, John Swift, first of Connecticut, and then of New York, was a private in the Continental army, and a brigadier-general of New York troops in the War of 1812, killed at Fort George ;

and another great-grandfather, Weaver Osborn. first of Rhode Island and then of New York, was also a Revolutionary soldier. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Wayne County, Michigan ; and he received a collegiate training at Adrian College (preparatory), and at the University of Michigan. from the law depart- ment of which he was graduated in March, 1872. Much of his early youth was spent in hard work on the farm, until he was sixteen. During the latter part of the Civil War he joined the Union army, enlisting in September, 1864, as a private in Company E, Fourth Michigan Infantry; and he served until June, 1866. Upon his return home he resumed his studies, and soon began reading law in the city of Detroit. He read first in the office of Newberry. Pond, & Brown, and then with F. H. Canfield, and, entering the law school of the University of Michigan, was duly graduated as above stated. During a part of the time he was studying he. as many others have done, taught school, and engaged in other work, as a means of self-support. He was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of Michigan in 1872. and began practice in the office of Hoyt Post, Detroit, who was at that time the official reporter of Supreme Court decisions. There he remained for about a year, when he removed to Gratiot County, Saginaw Valley. In December, 1874, he came to Massachusetts, and established himself in Fall River, where he has since been en- gaged in active practice. He was admitted to the Massachusetts-bar in January. 1875. In 1876 he became associated in business with Judge H. K. Braley, forming the firm of Braley & Swift, which was one of the leading law firms of Bristol County for many years and until the appointment of Judge Braley to the bench of the Superior Court in February. 1891. After the dissolution of the old firm Mr. Swift associated with himself. under the firm name Swift & Grime. the present city solicitor of Fall River, George Grime. In politics Mr. Swift is a Republican, but not a seeker after office. While in Michigan, he was town clerk of Plymouth township during the first year after at- taining his majority. In Fall River he has been a member of the School Committee six years. He is connected with the Masonie fraternity. the Odd Fellows, and the Grand Army of the Republic. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist, a member of the First Congregationalist Church of Fall River. Mr. Swift was married December 25,

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1872, to Miss Mary Duncan Milne, youngest daughter of the Rev. Alexander and Eliza Ann (Osborn) Milne. Six children were born to them :

MARCUS G. B. SWIFT.

James Marcus (now a senior in the University of Michigan), Orson Alexander (killed in a railroad collision January 31, 1894), John Tuttle, Milne Barker, Mabel Antoinette, and Anna Osborn Swift (the last four in school in Fall River).

THAYER, CHARLES PAINE, M.D., of Boston, is a native of Vermont, born in West Randolph, January 22, 1843, son of Samuel White and Sarah Linn (Pratt) Thayer. His ancestors were from Massachusetts ; and he is a lineal descendant of John Alden of " Mayflower " fame, whose Bible, which the Puritan brought from England, printed in London in 1599, is in his possession. His early education was acquired in the common school, academy, and High School. He entered the University of Vermont at Burlington in Sep- tember, 18Go, and remained a year, when he enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Civil War. Upon the completion of this service he took up the study of medicine, first at the College of

Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. After attending one course of lectures there, he returned to Vermont, and finished in the medical department of the University of Vermont, taking three courses, and receiving his degree of M.D. in 1865. From 1871 to 1874 he was surgeon on the Northern Pacific Railroad ; from 1875 to 1877 health officer of the city of Burlington, Vt .; in 1877 medical director of the Grand Army of the Republic, department of Vermont; and from 1875 to 1878 assistant surgeon of the Vermont Volunteer Militia. In October, 1878, he moved from Burlington to Boston, and has since been actively engaged in professional work in the latter city. From 1882 to 1885, he was adjunct professor of anatomy in the medical department of Ver- mont University. He is now professor of anat- omy and secretary of the Tufts College Medical School. He is also medical examiner in chief of the New England Commercial Travellers' Asso- ciation, and medical examiner for Boston of the Commercial Travellers' Mutual Accident Associa- tion of America. Dr. Thayer has been a frequent writer on medical topics, and is at present as-

CHARLES P. THAYER.

sociate editor of the Atlantic Medical Weekly. While in Vermont, he prepared the Vermont Med- ical Register, published in 1877. He is a member

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of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and is connected with numerous fraternal and other organizations : member of the order of Elks. ITartford (C'onn.) Lodge; of the Burlington Com- mandery, Knights Templar ; of the Grand Army of the Republic, Gettysburg Post, No. 91. Boston ; of the Vermont Associates : the Vermont Veterans' Association : and the White Mountain Commer- cial Travellers' Association, of which he was the second president.

THOMAS, CHARLES HOLT, M.D., of Cam- bridge, was born in New Bedford, August 26. 1850, son of James B. and Araminta D. (Taber) Thomas. llis father was a son of Samuel Thomas, a ship-builder on the Kennebec River. Me .. and brother of Captain Joseph B. Thomas. the Standard Sugar Refinery millionaire ; and his mother was daughter of Captain Reuben Taber. a sea-captain of Fairhaven. He was educated in the public schools of New Bedford and at East- man's Business College of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He went to sea in early life, then served one year in the United States navy on the steamer " Monongahela," and was wrecked at Santa Croix. W.I., in an earthquake in 1867. The same year he was honorably discharged from the service. He was next a train despatcher on the Reading Railroad at Belmont, Penna., later served as telegraph operator on the French cable at Dux- bury for eleven years, and for the succeeding five years was connected with the Associated Press in Boston. While in the latter service, in 1883 he began to prepare for a medical career, studying after "good-night" in the telegraph office. In 1885 he entered the Medical School of Boston University, and graduated with high honors in 1888. in a class of forty-three, of which he was class president. He began practice in Cam- bridge immediately after graduation, and was not slow in building up a large business. He became one of the most successful homeopathie practi- tioners in the eastern part of Massachusetts, and has achieved such a reputation that he is called to neighboring cities and towns as consulting physician in critical cases. In 1895 he was ap- pointed instructor in sanitary science and hygiene in the Boston University Medical School. He is secretary of the Alumni Association of the Boston University Medical School, and business man- ager of the Bulletin of Medical Instruction pub-

lished by this association. In politics he is a Re- publican. He is prominent in the Masonic order, being a member of Mt. Olivet Lodge, of St. . In-

CHAS. H. THOMAS.

drew's Royal Arch Chapter, and Boston Com- mandery. Knights Templar; is a past grand of Dunster Lodge, Charles River Encampment Odd Fellows : and member also of several other secret societies. Dr. Thomas was married November 17. 1877, to Miss J. Leona Winsor, of Duxbury. They have had three children, only one of whom is now living: Will K. S. Thomas.

TILDEN, FRANK ELMER. M.D., of Easton, is a native of Easton. born April 13, 1853, son of Francis and Alvera Morton (White) Tilden. He is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation of Nathaniel Tilden, who came from England to Scit- uate in 1634. The Tildens of England are an an- cient Kentish family, which dates its origin from Sir Richard Tylden, who came over from Nor- mandy after William the Conqueror, and was sub- sequently a crusader with Richard Coeur de Lion. On the maternal side Dr. Tilden is descended from General Richard Gridley, of Bunker Hill fame. He was educated in the common and high schools of Easton, and studied for his profession at

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the Harvard Medical School, where he was gradu- ated in 1876. He began practice in the autumn following, in his native town, where he has since

FRANK E. TILDEN.

been actively engaged. He has written valuable papers on " An Epidemic of Diphtheria in Easton in 1890-91 " and " The Medical Profession in Easton," and has displayed his interest in town matters in many ways. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and is connected with the order of Odd Fellows, member of the Electric Lodge of Brockton. In politics he is a Republican, and has served as secretary of the Easton Republican town committee for several years. Dr. Tilden was married November 12, 1884, to Miss Ellen Louise Leonard. They have had two children : Frank Gridley (deceased) and Annie Frances Tilden.

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Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 109

Author: Herndon, Richard; Bacon, Edwin M. (Edwin Monroe), 1844-1916 Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Boston : New England Magazine Number of Pages: 1036

Author: Herndon, Richard; Bacon, Edwin M. (Edwin Monroe), 1844-1916
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Boston : New England Magazine
Number of Pages: 1036