Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 119

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 119

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KELLOUGH, THOMAS, of Boston, superintend- ent of ferries, is a native of Nova Scotia, born in the town of Gay's River, September 6, 1833. son of Thomas and Jennie (Henderson) Kellough. He was educated in the common schools. He came to Boston in 1856, and learned the trade of a shipwright in East Boston. Later he took con- tracts to build ships, which led to his connection with the steamship business. He was for eighteen years concerned in shipping live stock, cattle,

sheep, grain, and other commodities for the European trade. He was appointed to his present position of superintendent of ferries by Mayor Curtis May 1. 1895. Mr. Kellough is prominent in the Masonic order, being a past master of Balbee Lodge; past high priest of St. John's Royal Arch Chapter ; past thrice illustrious mas- ter of East Boston Council of Royal and Select Masters; past commander of William Parkman Commandery, Knights Templar; past district deputy grand high priest and past grand king of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Massachu- setts ; past most equitable sovereign prince grand master of Giles F. Yates Council of Princes of Jerusalem : has received the degrees and is now a member of the Royal Order of Scotland and Knight of R. S. V. C. S., elected in 1895 ; sec- ond lieutenant commander of the council of de- liberation Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic jurisdiction, and elected Sep- tember 19, 1895, to receive the thirty-third degree. He became a citizen of the United States in the year 1859, and in politics has since been a stead- fast Republican, always voting the party ticket.

THOMAS KELLOUGH.

He was married in Boston. May 25, 1859. to Miss Mary West Tyler, daughter of Jobe and Lucy Tyler, of South Danvers. She died Febru-

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ary 19, 1870, leaving three children, Arthur F., Horace G., and Jennie H. Kellough (now Mrs. Graves). He was married second, June 15, 1874, to Annie M. Kenney, of Boston. The children by this marriage are : Eva T., Charles T., Hattie W., Bertha M., Lester A., and Willard P. Kellough.

KNAPP, IRA OSCAR. of Boston, Christian Scientist, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Lyman, Grafton County, son of Jehiel and Daphne ( Bartlett) Knapp, with two other children, Salome S. and Arial P. Knapp. His ancestors were of the sturdy yeomanry, with marked moral and re- ligious characteristics. On the father's side the descent is traced to Puritans through Aaron Knapp, who, it is said, came in one of the P'lym- outh colonies which settled Taunton, Mass., about the year 1639. His will is recorded in Plymouth, and proved 1674. Some of his descendants were settlers of Norton. From this place came Mr. Knapp's great-grandfather, Abial Knapp, who was a Revolutionary soldier. At the close of that ser- vice, he with his son Elijah, then twelve years old,

IRA O. KNAPP.

emigrated to New Hampshire, in the year 1781, and was among the first settlers of the town of Lyman, with fifteen miles of unbroken wilderness

around them. Here father and son cleared a farm and made a home for themselves, which was owned and occupied by some of the family rela- tives for one hundred and three years. The sol- dier and pioneer lived to see his one hundredth year. His brother Jonathan, who also came from Norton to live with him, reached the age of more than one hundred years. The grandfather and grandmother of Ira O. Knapp - Elijah and Sally (Elliott) Knapp-reared twelve children on this homestead, and lived to the age of ninety-two years each. On the mother's side the grand- mother, Mindwell (Hoskins) Bartlett, was of Spanish descent on the maternal side, in whose family line were titled names. Her life of active usefulness spanned a century of years, lacking nine months. The details of the exemplary life of his mother and father and other family kindred would fill volumes worthy of notice. Of the scores of relatives, not a dissipated nor immoral person is known among them. Mr. Knapp's early educa- tion was limited to the common schools of his town and four academic terms in other places. He taught in the district schools of his own and adjoining towns, and was for several years super- intendent of schools; and at different times held several other town offices. He was also for some time a justice of the peace. In politics he is a Republican. He has been a successful farmer ; and, although several opportunities offered, he was not induced to leave his home among the granite hills of his nativity until 1888, when he moved to Boston in the interests of Christian Science, which he had for four years previous studied and prac- tised under the teachings of the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, discoverer and founder of Christian Science. author of its text book " Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures," and president of the Mas- sachusetts Metaphysical College, chartered in 1881. He is a normal graduate of this college, receiving the degree of C.S.D. He is one of the original members of the " Christian Science Board of Directors," in accordance with the gift and deed of Church Lot by Mrs. Eddy, September 1, 1892, and the first president of that organization, during which time has been erected from the granite rock of New Hampshire the beautiful and costly fire-proof church edifice on the corner of Falmouth and Norway Streets, Boston. He is one of the original members of the Christian Science Bible Committee for the compilation of explanatory references of the International Series

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of Bible Lessons. These references are taken from the Bible and from " Science and Health," and are designed to elucidate the Scriptures from a Christian Science basis ; and they form the Christian Science Quarterly, used in all the Chris- tian Science churches. Mr. Knapp and his wife are of the original twelve " first members " which formed " The First Church of Christ, Scientist," in Boston, September 23, 1892, under the new form without legal organization, and which now numbers over five thousand members. Mr. Knapp was married May 1, 1866, to Miss Flavia F. Stickney. They have four children : Sprague A., Daphne S., Ralph H., and Bliss Knapp.

KNIGHT, CLARENCE HOWARD, of Boston, mer- chant, is a native of Boston, born September 1, 1848, son of Francis and Sarah (Gay) Knight, originally of West Dedham. He is a descendant of the Colburn family of arithmetical fame, and of a race which has been quick at figures. His father was for fifty-three years in active business at one place, No. 34 Cornhill, head of the firm of F. Knight & Son, teamsters and forwarders. Hc was educated in Boston public schools. At the age of fifteen he began work in the store of Chase, Nichols, & Co., general book and stationery job- bing business, Boston. After three years there he entered the employ of Snow, Boyden, & Knight in the same business as a travelling salesman. He next became general manager for Noyes, Holmes, & Co., afterward Lockwood, Brooks, & Co., with whom he remained for a number of years. Then in 1878, associating himself with Frederic Mills, he established a job printing-office on Congress Street (afterward removing to No. 60 l'earl Street), and, conceiving a unique medium for advertisements, which would itself be serviceable, became a pioneer in the manufacture of leather removable memorandum books for advertising purposes. Since he began work as a boy in the store of Chase, Nichols, & Co., he has not lost a day's pay. Mr. Knight is a member of the Dor- chester Lodge, Knights of Honor; of Dorchester Council, Royal Arcanum ; of Everett Lodge, An- cient Order of United Workmen ; is a member of Union Lodge Freemasons and a Knight Tem- plar; and has been chairman of the Board of Finance of the New England Order of Protection for seven years. lle is also a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association,

of the Master Printers' C'lub of Boston, and of the Merchants' Club of Boston. In politics he is a Republican. He was married June 11, 1872, to

CLARENCE H. KNIGHT.

Julia Holden, of Dorchester. They have one son : Henry F. Knight, now (1895) a senior at Harvard College. Mr. Knight's residence is in the Dor- chester District of Boston.

LANE, WILLIAM COOLIDGE, of Boston, libra- rian of the Boston Atheneum, was born in New- tonville, July 29, 1859, son of William H., Jr., and Caroline M. (Coolidge) Lane. On the maternal side he is from the Coolidge. Dawes, Curtis, Bass, Alden, and Loring families, early New England settlers. He was educated in the public schools of Newton and at Harvard College, graduating A.B. in the class of 1881. He entered the Har- vard College Library immediately after gradua- tion, as assistant under Mr. Winsor, and so con- tinued till 1887, when he was appointed assistant librarian ; and that position he held till his ap- pointment to the librarianship of the Boston Athenaum, in April, 1893. He has been inter- ested in library affairs or library science since the beginning of his connection with the college library, He has been secretary and treasurer of the American Library Association, Publishing

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Section, since its formation in 1886 ; president of the Massachusetts Library Club in 1891 ; and has been librarian of the Dante Society since

W. C. LANE.

888. He has also been corresponding secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College since 1889, and a director of the Cambridge Social Union since 1894. He has resided in Cambridge since 1877. Mr. Lane is unmarried.

LAWLEY, GEORGE FREDERICK, of Boston, yacht builder, was born in London, England, December 4, 1848, son of George and Martha (Ainge) Lawley. His parents came to America in 1851, when he was a child of three, and estab- lished their home in East Boston. He was edu- cated in the Boston publie schools, mostly in the Chapman School, and afterward took a business course in the Boston Commercial College. . It the age of fourteen he began work as a boy and clerk in a grocery store in East Boston, and there remained for four years. In 1866, the family removing to the town of Scituate, he engaged with his father in boat-building, constructing mostly fishing-boats, though occasionally building larger vessels. They continued in Scituate till 1874. when their works were removed to South Boston

Point by invitation of members of the Boston Yacht Club, of which the elder Lawley was a member. Here they have since been established, steadily increasing their business and fame. In the autumn of 1890 the firm was transformed into a corporation, under the title of the George Law- ley & Son Corporation, with George F. as presi- dent, his father then retiring. Among the famous craft which the Lawleys built prior to their incorporation were the sloop yacht " Puri- tan," defender of the America cup against the "Genesta " in 1885 : the famous " Mayflower," which defeated the "Galatea" in 1886; the schooner yacht " Merlin "; and they finished the " Volunteer," which was successful in defeat- ing the " Thistle " in 1887. Since the foundation of the corporation they have built the " Jubilee," the steam yacht " Alcedo," the "Alcea," the " Aquilo," and numerous other well-known yachts. Mr. Lawley is a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, of the United Order of Pilgrim Fathers, of the Adelphi Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the Boston Yacht

GEO. F. LAWLEY.

Club. He was married February 14, 1872, to Miss Hannah A. Damon, of Scituate. They have one son : Frederick D. Lawley.

MEN OF PROGRESS.

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LEACH, JAMES EDWARD, of Boston, member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Bridgewater, born December 1, 1850, son of Philander and

JAMES E. LEACH.

Sarah T. (Cushman) Leach. He is a descendant on the paternal side of Giles Leach, who came to New England from England in 1656, and settled in Weymouth; and, on the maternal side, of Robert Cushman, a member of the Pilgrim church at Leyden, and his son Thomas, who came over at the age of fourteen in the ship " Fortune " in 1621, and subsequently became the successor of William Brewster as elder of the Plymouth church. He is also descended through his mother from John Alden, Miles Standish. and Isaac Allerton of the " Mayflower " passengers. Mr. Leach was educated at Bridgewater Academy and Brown University, graduating from the latter in 1874. His law studies were pursued in the Boston University Law School, from which he graduated in 1876. and also in the law office of Hosea Kingman in Bridgewater. He was ad- mitted to the Suffolk bar in 1876. and has since practised in Boston. In 1894 he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member and was one of the organizers of the University Club of Boston, and member of Revere Lodge of Masons. Mr.

Leach was married July 16, 1889, to Miss Alice M. Frye, daughter of James N. and Sabina (Bach- eler) Frye, of Boston.

LESH, JOHN HENRY, of Boston. merchant. is a native of Pennsylvania, born in the town of Durham, Bucks County, May 30, 1846, son of Henry and Margaret (Uhler) Lesh. He was educated in the public schools and by private in- struction from an old Presbyterian preacher, the Rev. J. L. Grant, to whom he is indebted for a careful training for active life. Intending to follow a profession, he took up the study of medicine, and, entering the medical department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, graduated therefrom in the spring of 1866. After practising a number of years, however, and having married the daughter of a tanner, upon the death of his father-in-law he entered one of the tanneries in which the latter had been concerned. and gave his attention to business. When he had spent about three years here, his brother-in-law, Wilson Kistler, senior member of the present firm of Kistler, Lesh. &

JOHN H. LESH.

Co., offered him a position in the hide and leather commission house in New York, then composed of the brothers Kistler; and he has been actively

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connected with this house from that time, a period of upward of twelve years. He became a member of the firm in 1883, when the present firm name was adopted, and the house was established in Boston. Mr. Lesh has been connected with the Masonic order ever since he reached his majority. In politics he is a Republican and a Protectionist. He was married January 12, 1869, to Miss Mary E. Kistler, daughter of Stephen Kistler. They have three children : Harriett M. (now wife of W. F. Camp, Morganton. N.C.), Henry Fred, and Maud Lesh.

LEWIS, ORLANDO ETHELBERT, of Boston, shoe machinery manufacturer, is a native of Ohio, born near Kenton, Hardin County, July 19, 1847, son of Richard Kennedy and Elizabeth (Jackson) Lewis, both also natives of Ohio. His father, a farmer, died in 1848. His boyhood was spent on the farm, with the experience familiar to country boys ; and his early school life was confined to the district school. Before he was fifteen years old, he left school for the army, and saw much hard service during the Civil War. Enlisting in Com- pany D), Fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteers, he served with his regiment in numerous engage- ments, until disabled, through a period of three years. Discharged from Harewood Hospital in Washington, March 9, 1863, he returned a short time to his studies, and then finished in a com- mercial college. His business career was begun at the age of twenty as a commercial traveller. For nearly fifteen years he was an agent on "the road," at first for others, then for himself as a shoe manufacturer. From the practical experi- ence thus gained he, with Professor S. W. Robin- son of the Ohio State University, drifted into in- venting and developing shoe machinery. It is in this field that Mr. Lewis has had his most marked success. Their machines are known and used the world over where shoes are made. Mr. Lewis is now the largest stockholder in, and business man- ager and director of, the Wire Grip Fastening Company, controlling the business in the United States, and a director of the foreign companies of this enterprise. Taking advantage of a great strike among shoemakers in Europe some years ago, he personally introduced his machinery in England and on the Continent. He was a pioneer in this line of business, which has since grown to large proportions. He is also president of the

Grip Machine Company of Malden and the Grip Wire Mills of the same place, president of the Winthrop Steamboat Company, and interested in

O. E. LEWIS.

other business enterprises. In Winthrop, where he resides, he has been chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the past four years; and he is largely interested in real estate there. Mr. Lewis is a member of the John .\. Andrew Post, No. 15. Grand Army of the Republic, of the Art, the Apollo, and the Congregational clubs of Boston. In pol- itics he is a Republican, and in religious faith a Congregationalist, member of the Park Street Church, Boston. He was married in 1869 to Miss Eliza M. Seymour. They have one child : Nellie E. Lewis.

LOVELL, JOHN PRINCE, of Boston, president of the John P'. Lovell Arms Company, was born in East Braintree, July 25, 1820, son of John P'. and Esther (Derby) Lovell. His boyhood was passed between school and work, through which he gained a rugged training for active life. He first attended the village school, then had eighteen months' tuition at the Weymouth Academy, and at the age of eleven was at work in a cotton fac- tory in East Braintree. He was there employed

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for about a year, when his mother moving to Bos- ton, and opening a boarding-house on Court Street, opposite the old Court House, he left. and came with her to the city. Here he had the ben- efit of more schooling, attending the old Hawkins Grammar School for a year or so. Then he re- turned to work, finding a place in the gunsmith shop of Aaron B. Fairbanks, at that time on the corner of Exchange Street and Dock Square. He was there employed for about three months, his principal occupation being the hardening of his muscles by working the blacksmith's bellows. Next he became a clerk in the grocery store of Frederick Smith on Court Square, the site of which is now covered by Young's Hotel. After eight months' experience there he obtained a sit- uation with Mr. Wilson, a tailor, on the corner of State and Devonshire Streets. He had been in the latter place about six months, acquiring a fair knowledge of the rudiments of trade, when he was invited by a Mr. Fuller, then a representative to the General Court from the town of Holland. and boarding at Mrs. Lovell's house, to go with him to Holland. He accepted the invitation, and at the end of the legislative session left the tailor's shop, and accompanied the legislator to his country home. There he entered a cotton factory, and worked diligently for three months; and then, be- coming homesick, he turned his face again toward Boston. Being without money, he obtained per- mission from a drover, who was taking a flock of sheep to Brighton, to accompany him, and walked the entire distance, -- about sixty miles. Back in Boston, he returned to the employ of Mr. Fair- banks, and remained with him for some time. Then he entered the service of Jabez Hatch, the well-known auctioneer, on Congress Street, and continued with the latter's brother, Samuel Hatch, who succeeded to the business, and became one of the best and most popular auctioneers in Boston. Auctioneering not being to his liking, after a few months with MEr. Hatch he went back to Mr. Fair- banks's gunsmith shop, and apprenticed himself to Mr. Fairbanks till his majority, the condition being wages at the rate of two dollars a week and twenty-five dollars for clothing the first year, and

an increase of fifty cents a week per year, with clothing allowance of ten dollars' advance per year for the remainder of the time. When he reached the age of nineteen, he was in charge of the shop : and a year later, one year before the date of the expiration of his apprenticeship, he was offered a

partnership in the business, Mr. Fairbanks, being out of health, agreeing to give a half-interest and to furnish the full amount of capital required. He accepted the proposition, and then began the de- velopment of the house with which he has so long been identified. The first year five men were em- ployed, and Mr. Lovell's profits were seven hun- dred dollars. The business prospered under his management, and his prospects were bright when Mr. Fairbanks died. August 27. 1841. \ friend then came forward, and offered him capital ; and with a fellow-workman. Leonard Grover, he ac- quired the entire plant. His partnership with Mr. Grover, as Grover & Lovell, continued till 1844. when he bought out the former's interest, and assumed complete control of affairs, under his name alone. From this humble beginning has grown the present great concern, widely known as the John P'. Lovell Arms Company, of which Mr. Lovell is the president. The house was removed from Dock Square about twenty years ago to No. 147 Washington Street. It now employs forty or more clerks, and the business transacted amounts to several hundred thousand dollars an-

JOHN P. LOVELL.

nually. The company has dealings not only with all parts of the country, but engages in an exten- sive export trade, the goods of the house finding

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their way to all parts of the civilized world. For a number of years previous to the formation of the corporation the firm name was John P. Lovell & Sons, several of Mr. Lovell's sons being ad- mitted to the partnership. Mr. Lovell belongs to a number of prominent societies, and is affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows. He is a charter member of Crescent Lodge, No. 82, and member of Wonpatuck Encampment, No. 18, Odd Fellows ; in the Masonic order is a member of the Orphans' Hope Lodge, the Pentalpha Chapter, and the South Shore Commandery, Knights Tem- plar; and he has been long a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. In East Weymouth, which has been his home for many years, he is identified with local interests. He was the first president of the East Weymouth Savings Bank, holding the position for ten years, and has been a director of the Weymouth National Bank for the past twenty years. In 1864 he rep- resented the town in the lower house of the Legis- lature, and was urged to stand for senator for his district, but declined to do so. He holds the old- est policy in the New England Mutual Life Insur- ance Company, and is one of the oldest members, his policy having run for over half a century. Mr. Lovell was married first, August 17, 1841, to Miss Lydia D. Whiton, of Weymouth. To this union were born five children, all of them sons : John W., Benjamin S., Thomas P., Warren D., and George A. Lovell. His second marriage was to Miss Lucinda W. Rice, of Weymouth, and of this union is one son : Henry L. Lovell.

MANCHESTER, FORREST C., of Winchester, member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Vermont, born in the town of Randolph, September 11, 1859, son of Albert B. and Elizabeth M. (Ses- sions) Manchester. His paternal ancestors came from England, and settled in Rhode Island in 1642. On the maternal side he is also of English descent, and connected with families early settled in New England, - the Hibbards-Burnhams, as well as the Sessions. The pioneer of the former, Robert Hibbard, came to Salem in 1635 with Governor Endicott, and was the first salt manu- facturer in this country, for which he received a grant of a thousand acres of land from the king. The Burnhams settled in Connecticut the same year, and the Sessions branch came soon after. Forrest C. was educated in the common schools

of Vermont, at the Randolph State Normal School and the St. Johnsbury Academy. He studied law in the Boston University Law School, graduating LL.B. in June, 1894, having previously read also in the office of the late ex-Governor William Gas- ton. He was admitted to the bar July 21, 1895, and at once engaged in active practice in Boston. In 1892-93 he was counsel for the town of Win- chester, declining a reappointment. He has been too much absorbed in other matters to join social clubs, but he has found time to give to important interests. He has served as chairman of the Park Commission of Winchester since 1893, in which place his reputation is more than local, the character of that section of the country being greatly changed by improvements conceived by him. In politics he is an active and earnest Re- publican, having served on numerous committees. He is now chairman of the Eighth Congressional District committee, and secretary of the Republi- can Club of Massachusetts. Mr. Manchester was married October 22, 1885, to Miss Minnie L. Beard, the only daughter of Loren Beard, of Vermont. Her mother was Mary (Greenbank)

F. C. MANCHESTER.

Beard, daughter of Thomas Greenbank, late of Lawrence. They have one daughter: Constance Manchester.

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MATTSON, JOHN, of Boston, real estate dealer. is a native of Sweden, born in Bohuslon, April 27, 1859. He was educated partly in Norway and

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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 119

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