Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 112

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 112

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EDWIN M. BACON.

for five years conducted that paper as an inde- pendent journal, resigning in 1878 upon a change of policy. He then again returned to the Daily Advertiser, and assumed the duties of managing editor. In the winter of 1883, upon the retire- ment of Edward Stanwood, then chief editor, he came into full editorial charge of the Advertiser, making it an independent journal, and in the sum- mer of 1884 was made associate editor with Pro- fessor Charles F. Dunbar, of Harvard College. who had previously held the position of chief edi- tor of the paper, succeeding Charles Hale. In the early autumn of 1884 he perfected the plan and organized the staff of the Evening Record,

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begun in September of that year, by the Daily Advertiser corporation, and may be classed with George 11. Ellis, at that time the publisher of the Advertiser, and Professor Dunbar, as a founder of that publication, which made a most spirited start. In January, 1886, when the Advertiser passed into control of new hands, and its policy was changed, Mr. Bacon retired, and in May. that year, was made chief editor of the Boston l'ost, when that paper was purchased by a num- ber of gentlemen known in politics as Indepen- dents. Under his editorship the Post addressed itself to the best citizens in the community as a journal of the first class, - independent in politics, and fair and candid in its discussion of public questions. In the autumn of 1891, when the control of the property was sold, Mr. Bacon retired ; and he has since been engaged in general journalistic and literary work. For many years he was the writer of the Boston letter to the Springfield Republican, and earlier in his career a special correspondent for several West- ern journals and for the New York Evening Post. As a chief editor he has always been identified with independent journalism. Mr. Bacon has compiled several books on Boston, edited numer- ous publications, and written more or less for the press upon local historical topics. He is the author of " Bacon's Dictionary of Boston " ( Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., 1886), the editor of "Boston Illustrated " ( Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.). and has in press two books on the neighborhood of Boston and historic New England. Mr. Bacon was married on October 24, 1867, at Somerville, to Miss Gusta E. Hill, daughter of Ira and Han- nah Hill. They have one daughter : Madeleine L. Bacon.

BAKER, HERBERT LESLIE, of Boston, member of the Suffolk bar, was born in Falmouth. August 9. 1859, son of Gideon Howe and Olive Elizabeth (Crowell) Baker. He was educated in the public schools and at Boston University, where he grad- uated in June, 1884. He was admitted to the bar immediately after graduation from college, and has been in active practice since, giving especial attention to mercantile and corporation interests. Hle is now president and director of the Plym- outh Foundry Company, director of the Plymouth Stove Company, and a director of several other corporations. In politics he is a Republican, and has served on the Ward Twenty-two Republican

Committee for several years and as treasurer for 1889-91. He was a member of the State Senate for the Eighth Suffolk District in 1893, when he served on the committee on the judiciary, and was chairman of the committee on bills in the third reading. He drew the bill providing for the pay- ment by the county of counsel for defending per- sons charged with murder, and secured its pas- sage. Mr. Baker is a Freemason, a member of the Revere Lodge, and of St. Andrew's Chapter, and De Molay Commandery, Knights Templar, a Knight of Pythias, and a member of the society of Royal Good Fellows ; and he belongs to the

HERBERT L. BAKER.

Highland Club and the Winthrop Yacht Club. He was married October 22, 1885. to Miss Mary Alice Handy. They have three boys: Edward Leslie. Herbert Allison, and Arnold Brooks Baker.

BAKER, JOHN 1., of Beverly, was born August 16, 1812, in the old town (now city) of Beverly, with whose interests he has been closely identified during all of his long life, and of which he is now its first mayor, chosen by the unanimous vote of its citizens. He is the son of Joseph and Lucy (Bisson) Baker. The immigrant ancestor of his father was John Baker, who came from Norwich.

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England, to Ipswich, Mass., in 1635. .And the original Bisson immigrant was Joshua, from Trin- ity Parish, in the Isle of Jersey, coming to Beverly some time before 1680. John I. Baker left school at twelve and a half years of age, first served in storekeeping, but soon learned a shoemaker's trade, and worked at that and in manufacturing for several years. He was also engaged in rubber manufacturing. and did much as surveyor and arbitrator, and in the settlement of estates. He was early and always interested in public affairs. He was town clerk when twenty-three years old, and for nearly twenty years thereafter, serving half of that time also as selectman. He was chosen county commissioner in 1847-50-53 ; was representative in the General Court in 1840, and between that year and 1884 served eighteen years, in eight of which he, as senior member, called the house to order and presided during its organization : and was in the Senate in 1863 and 1864; in the Council with Governor Banks in 1860, and with Governor Andrew in the stirring times of 1861. He was in close relation with the former in helping settle the Rhode Island boundary question and other important matters under his administration, and was in intimate and active co-operation with the latter, fitting out all the Massachusetts troops during the first year of the war: and in all its subsequent years, through all of Governor Andrew's administrations, continued in close fellowship with him. Mr. Baker has for more than a half-century served with most of the public men of Massachusetts, and enjoyed much of their confidence and good will. He has also received kindly consideration from the governors of the Commonwealth. He was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Everett in 1838, and has been continuously reappointed. Governor Briggs made him a special railroad commissioner in 1845, under a law professedly designed to re- lieve the legislature from the numerous applica- tions for railroad charters, the effort being to compel all such applications to be made to these railroad commissioners ; but, this being considered too restrictive of popular rights, compromise was effected, and the bill made merely permissive, in which shapes it was practically inoperative, and was soon repealed. Governor Banks appointed him inspector of Rainsford Island Hospital in 1860. Governor Andrew made him inspector- general of fish in 1865, in which office he was suc- ceeded by General Cogswell, when, at the urgent

request of Governor Bullock, he accepted the posi- tion of State liquor commissioner in 1866, which he held without criticism so long as the law con- tinued. In 1883 Governor Butler appointed him to his present position as harbor and land com- missioner. He was reappointed in 1886 by Gov- ernor Robinson, in 1889 by Governor Ames, in 1892 by Governor Russell, and in 1895 by Gov- ernor Greenhalge. In his legislative life Mr. Baker has served on about all the important com- mittees, and has held pronounced opinions on the important questions of the day. He partici- pated in the early movement for the development

JOHN 1. BAKER.

of the Back Bay in Boston and also of the South Boston Flats, and has often aided in legislation designed to promote those interests ; and he now serves on a board which has had each of those enterprises in charge. He was identified with the legislation for railroads very early, and helped promote their progress, serving often on the rail- road committees ; and, while chairman of the com- mittee on the part of the house in 1869, he succeeded in getting passed the act establishing a board of railroad commissioners, substantially as the board now existing. From the start to the finish, he was a believer in and supporter of what Governor Andrew well called "the grand enter-

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prise of tunnelling the Hoosac Mountain." His interest in the cause of education and in all humanitarian causes has been constant and con- tinuous. At home he is connected with many brotherhood organizations. He is president of Liberty Masonic Association, which has recently increased the size of its valuable block. He was president of the Bass River Association, which built the well-planned and roomy Odd Fellows' Block. He was chairman of the committee which built the spacious and elegant First Baptist Church. And, as to the public works of his city, he has been prominent in them all. Early in life Mr. Baker was active in promoting the twin re- forms of temperance and anti-slavery, and for more than half a century he has been a pro- nounced tectotaler prohibitionist and abolitionist. Ile was secretary of the convention at Worcester in 1854. called to organize the first Republican party in Massachusetts, and was associated with Charles Sumner, John A. Andrew, Francis W. Bird, the brothers Pierce, and other pioneer anti- slavery politicians, in maintaining a Republican organization in the memorable Know Nothing Campaign of 1854. And in the Rockwell and Fremont campaigns he was also active, and was one of those that helped on the union which made N. P. Banks governor in 1857, and earnestly aided in the nomination and election of John A. Andrew as governor in 1860. And so he con- tinued in close alliance with the Republican organization until 1870. While still devoted to the fundamental principles of that party, of equal rights, burdens, and power. yet dissatisfied with the tendency in this State as to more liberal Jegis- lation upon the liquor question, he then joined in an independent organization in protest against such tendency : and again in 1875, running that year as nominee for governor upon a similar issue, receiving more than 9,000 votes, and in 1876 over 12,000. He still believes the questions of tecto- talism and prohibition to be of paramount impor- tance, and has faith in their ultimate triumph. When General Butler at the earliest outbreak of the Civil War promptly and earnestly offered his services to the State and country in whatever posi- tion he might be placed. Mr. Baker was warmly interested in him, and was ever after his firm friend. He was one of General Butler's most earnest supporters for Congress in the Essex Dis- trict, and afterward endeavored to help nominate him for governor in the Republican State con-

vention, when, it was asserted, he was unfairly counted out. Continuing his steadfast friendship, he again earnestly supported General Butler, when the latter made his somewhat independent run for governor in 1878 and 1879, again in 1882, when he was elected, and as earnestly in 1883. when. although his vote increased nearly 20,000, the great rally of the Republican organization with its then Mugwump support defeated him by nearly 10.000 majority. And so Mr. Baker stood Gen- eral Butler's tried friend till the latter's death, since which event it has been great consolation to him to hear the many tributes to the ability, gen- erosity, and patriotism of the distinguished dead. And similar consolation has come to Mr. Baker upon finding those who have sharply differed from him on public matters ultimately approving his course. Not only has Mr. Baker shared largely in the acquaintance of the public men of his na- tive Commonwealth, but also of many of those of national renown; and his public life has brought him more or less in contact with foreign celebri- ties, notably with Kossuth during his visit in 1852, and the Prince of Wales in 1860, on both of which occasions Boston was crowded by an enthu- siastic throng. On the latter occasion he partici- pated in a memorable lunch given by the governor and council in their ante-chamber to the prince and his suite, there being also present the Su- preme Court judges, Senators Sumner and Wil- son, ex-Governor Everett. ex-Judge Shaw, Com- modore Hudson, United States Navy, Collector Whitney, President Felton of Harvard, the Hon. Hannibal Hamlin. Governor Dennison of Ohio, Speaker Goodwin, and the Hon. Charles A. Phelps, president of the Senate. The last-men- tioned, with the Hon. Charles F. Swift and Mr. Baker, both of the council, are the only American survivors, unless there are some of the military contingent, consisting of Major-General Andrew and staff, who still survive. The Hon. Samuel O. Upham, who was messenger to the governor and council at that time, is yet active as one of the Middlesex County commissioners. Heredity is sug- gested as having some connection with Mr. Baker's long-continued interest in public affairs ; and a list of a number of his early ancestors gives some evidence of the probabilities in the case. Among these were Samuel Symonds, from near Topsfield, England, to Ipswich in 1637, who became a lead- ing citizen in town and colony, a deputy, an "as- sistant," and finally a deputy governor from 1673

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to his death in 1678 ; Captain Timothy Baker, son of John, the immigrant to Ipswich, a captain of troop, and a deputy for nine years; Thomas Baker, a leading man of affairs in Topsfield ; the Capens, originally from Dorchester, England, to Dorchester, Mass., in 1636,- several of them prominent in affairs; Oliver Purchis, of Dor- chester, 1635, later of Lynn, some time a deputy, and, as Newhall's " History of Lynn " says, " long an active and conspicuous man here " ; Samuel Appleton, in Ipswich in 1635. a deputy in 1637, and prominent in public affairs of town and colony until his death in 1670, at the age of eighty-four ; the Thorndikes, the first immigrant being John Thorndike, among the first thirteen settlers of Ipswich, a leader in the colony, and his son, Captain Paul Thorndike, one of the first selectmen of the town of Beverly, a representa- tive in 1682, and long prominent in both civil and military affairs ; William Hathorne, in Salem in 1636, of whom Upham says: " No man in our annals fills a larger space. As soldier command- ing important and difficult expeditions, as counsel in cases before the courts, as judge on the bench, and in innumerable other positions requiring talent and intelligence, he was constantly called to serve the public ": he was an assistant seven- teen years. and a deputy twenty years : Lawrence Leach, one of the first selectmen of Salem in 1636, and often after, and otherwise prominent ; and John Woodbury, one of the leading char- acters among the old planters, first at Cape Ann and afterward making the first permanent settle- ment in Massachusetts Bay, at Salem in 1626. Mr. Baker married Miss H. Ellen Masury, daugh- ter of Captain Stephen and Mary (Cressy) Ma- sury. They have a son and daughter: John Stevens and Bessie Allen Baker. All the fam- ily take an active interest in whatever seems to make for the good of the city of Beverly, its people, and its institutions. The daughter is an active factor in the Beverly Improvement Society and kindred enterprises, and takes much inter- est in the charities and services of the Episco- pal church. The son is also interested in the work of that church; is of the brotherhood of St. Andrew, and other organizations helping church work. He is connected with the Masonic brotherhood.

The ancestors of Mrs. Baker in- clude several of those of her husband. Her father, Captain Stephen Masury, was a ship- master of that " Island of Jersey" stock which

has furnished many skilful navigators. He was connected with the families of Masury. Archer, Townsend, and others in Salem ; and, in Beverly, with the Woodbury, Dodge, Gage, Stone, Patch, and other families, Captain John Dodge, son of Farmer William, an early representative and town officer, being one of his ancestors, as was also Captain Moses Gage, master mariner, whose wife was Sarah, daughter of Captain Dodge. Captain Masury died in 1874, aged seventy-four, having spent a large part of his life as officer and com- mander on shipboard. He commanded for many years the brig " Nereus," which sailed for Homer & Sprague, from India Wharf in Boston to Man- sanilla, with almost the regularity of a packet. He also made many voyages to the East Indies, the Mediterranean, and to England, and was alike a successful navigator and an enterprising citizen. Mrs. Baker's mother was a daughter of Maxwell and Joanna (Green) Cressy, among whose ancestors were John Cressy, John Green, and John Batchelder, large landholders at Rial Side in Beverly, and John Lovett, Thomas Tuck, and other early settlers and landholders in other sections of the city, one of whom was Andrew Eliot, the first town clerk of Beverly, representa- tive, etc., and also ancestor of President Eliot of Harvard University.

BARBOUR, WILLIAM, of Boston, manufacturer, was born in Reading, now Wakefield, Septem- ber 10, 1853, son of Joseph and Isabella (Man- ning) Barbour. His father came to this country about the year 1845 from Melbourne, Derbyshire, England; and his mother was of Boston. He was left fatherless at the age of three. His edu- cation was acquired in the public schools of Reading, which he attended until he was sixteen years old, when he was obliged to go to work. In his early boyhood he showed a great interest in mechanics. He was first engaged in the furni- ture business, which he followed until he reached his majority, when he was in charge of a factory employing forty men. At about this time he, with others, formed a company for the manufact- ure of hair brushes. and continued in this busi- ness for ten years. Then he entered his present business, forming a copartnership with F. L. Skinner, under the name of the Boston Paper Box Company ; and two and a half years later he succeeded to the entire business. He confines

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himself to the manufacture of the finest grade of boxes, and has carried the trade to a high state of perfection. Mr. Barbour was married Janu-

WILLIAM BARBOUR.

ary 1, 1877, to Miss Anna Maria Eaton, of Read- ing. They have one child : Marion Lucy Bar- bour.

BARTLETT, CLARENCE SAMUEL, M.D., of Gardner, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Pittsfield, July 14, 1868, son of Jonathan W. and Sarah F. ( Emerson) Bartlett. He is of the Bart- lett family which came from England to Plymouth in the " Mayflower." From farmers they have risen to prominent place in the different profes- sions. Among the prominent descendants are Dr. S. A. Bartlett, of South Bend, Ind., Joseph Bartlett and James Johnson, lawyers, uncle and cousin, respectively. of Clarence S. John Young, his great-uncle, fought in the War of 1812, and was promoted from private to lieutenant : and others served the country in the Civil War, as members of Company C, Eighteenth New Hamp- shire Regiment, and of Company F. Twelfth New Hampshire. Clarence S. was educated in the pub- lic schools of his native town, at the Pittsfield Academy and the High School, from both of which he graduated. He then studied medicine

for five years with Solomon Young. M.D., of Pittsfield, and at the Dartmouth Medical College, where he graduated June 20, 1892. On the third of July following he was appointed interne at the Massachusetts State Almshouse in Tewksbury, and served in that capacity and as house officer until September 19, 1893, when he was appointed house physician at the New Hampshire Insane Asylum. In February, 1895, he began the gen- eral practice of medicine and surgery in Gard- ner. Ile is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and of the New Hampshire Medical Society, and of the Dartmouth Alumni Association. He was lieutenant and captain of the Pittsfield company of the Sons of Veterans in 1885-86, and chief templar of the order of Grand Templars in 1881-84. He is much interested in

CLARENCE S. BARTLETT.

boating, and is a member of the Gardner Boat Club, whose boat-house is on the shore of Crystal Lake. Dr. Bartlett is unmarried.

BARTLETT, RALPH SYLVESTER, of Boston. member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Maine. born in the town of Ehot, April 29, 1868. son of Sylvester and Clementine ( Raitt) Bartlett. His early education was acquired in the country

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schools of Eliot ; and he fitted for college at Ber- wiek Academy, South Berwick, Me., in the class of 1885. Entering Dartmouth. he graduated there

RALPH S. BARTLETT.

in June, 1889. with the degree of _\.B. Mr. Bart- lett's legal training was obtained at the Boston University Law School, from which he received the degree of LI .. B. in June, 1892. He was ad- mitted to the Suffolk bar July 26, 1892, and has since been engaged in active practice in Boston. He is an enlisted member of the First Corps of Cadets, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia ; also a member of the University and the Dartmouth ('lubs. of Boston. In politics Mr. Bartlett is a Republican. He is unmarried.

BELDEN, F. EUGENE, of Boston, of the F. E. Belden Mica Mining Company, is a native of Rhode Island, born in North Providence, May 31, 1851, son of Stanton and AAntoinette P. (Man- chester) Belden. His father, born in Sandisfield, Mass., January 15. 18os, graduated from Yale College in 1833, and a teacher by profession, set- tled in Rhode Island after his graduation, and opened the Fruit Hill Classical Institute, North Providence, which became a celebrated academy known throughout the country, and was continued

until 1860, when Mr. Belden retired from business. On the paternal side his ancestors came from England to New England in the seventeenth cent- ury. His mother, born in Fall River in May. 1815, was a direct descendant of the Soule fam- ily of the " Mayflower " passengers. He was edu- cated at his father's school and at the University School of Providence, R.I., a well-known private school kept by the Messrs. Lyon. After gradu- ating from the latter in 1870, he entered the employ of the Boston and Providence Railroad Company, where he remained until 1874. Then, removing to Boston, he engaged in the real estate business and the placing of mortgage loans, which he followed until 1891, when he promoted and organized the now famous F. E. Belden Mica Mining Company, the largest mica mining com- pany in the country. He has been treasurer of this company since its organization. Mr. Belden was married first to Miss Nellie A. Pierce, of Boston, who died in August, 1881, leaving a daughter, Marion Pierce Belden. He married second, in 1884, Miss Nettie M. Perkins, of Boston. She died in April, 1887, leaving a son,

F. EUGENE BELDEN.

Stanton Perkins Belden. On June 27, 1895, he married Miss Grace May Emerton, of Rum- ney, N.Il.

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BLANCHARD, SAMUEL EDSON, of Boston, en- graver, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Wilton, October 28, 1869, son of Summer and Jennie Chloe (Boynton) Blanchard. He was educated in the public school of his native place and at the McCollom Institute, Mt. Ver- non, N.H., where he graduated in the class of 1886. Then, coming to Boston, he took a busi- ness course in Comer's Commercial College. He began business life in 1887 as book-keeper for Fuller, Dana, & Fitz, No. 110 North Street, in which position he continued for five years. Then he engaged in the photo-engraving busi- ness on his own account, establishing himself at No. 620 Atlantic Avenue, and subsequently, joining Charles A. Watts, then of the Boston Illustrating Company, formed the Blanchard- Watts Engraving Company, of which he has since been the treasurer. Mr. Blanchard is a Master Workman, member of Norfolk Lodge, No. 178, Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a Democrat, and an active member of the Young Men's Democratic Club of Massa- chusetts. He was married March 8, 1892, to

S. E. BLANCHARD.

Miss Addie Florence Carter. They have two children : Dorothy Boynton, and Samuel Edson Blanchard, Jr.

BRAGDON, HORACE ELWOOD, M.D., of Bos- ton, was born in East Boston, August 15, 1867. son of Byron Francis and Angie (Elwood) Brag-

HORACE E. BRAGDON.

don. He is of early New England ancestry, and ancestors of his were in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was educated in the Chapman Grammar and the High School of East Boston, graduating from the latter in 1886. His medical training was at the Harvard Medical School, where he gradu- ated in 1890, and in the Boston City Hospital. He was house surgeon at the City Hospital in 1890-91. He began practice in 189: in the Le- high Valley, Pennsylvania, but, after about half a year spent there, returned to East Boston, which has since been his professional field. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the Boston City Hospital Club. He is connected with King Philip Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and with the Odd Fellows, a member of the Zenith Lodge. In politics he is a Republican. Dr. Bragdon was married June 13, 1894, to Miss E. Mabel Dillaway, who comes of an old New England family.

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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 112

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