Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 12

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 12

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

England agencies. In 1879 he formed the part- nership with I. A. Whitcomb, of Somerville, now so widely known under the firm name of Raymond & Whitcomb; and their first vacation excursion, organized that year, was from Manchester, N. H., to Montreal. Their system was rapidly devel- oped, and within a few years covered a wide terri- tory. They were the first railroad men to send a vestibuled train to California, to establish the system of transcontinental dining cars, and to despatch dining cars to Mexico. Within a single year (1892) Mr. Raymond, as manager, personally planned and managed one hundred trips through the New England and Middle States, to California, Mexico, Alaska, the Sandwich Islands, and to various points in Europe. He owns or leases a number of hotels in various parts of the country, among them The Raymond, at East Pasadena, Cal., and The Colorado, Glenwood Springs, Col. ; and he has held the position of postmaster at East Pasadena (the post-office of the Raymond Hotel) since 1887, appointed by President Cleve- land. He is much interested in music, and from 1870 to 1878 was leader of the Cambridge Ama-

WALTER RAYMOND.

teur Orchestra, a band of twelve members. In politics he is a Democrat, and in religion a Uni- tarian, attending the First Parish Church of Cam-

bridge. Mr. Raymond was married April 5, 1893. to Miss Hattie Sisson Lewis, of Denver, C'ol.

S. H. RHODES.

RHODES, STEPHEN HOLBROOK, president of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, is a native of Franklin, born November 7. 1825, son of Stephen and Betsey (Bird) Rhodes. He was educated in the public schools and in the Bristol Academy, Taunton. He began business life in Taunton in manufacturing and mercantile branches, and subsequently engaged in life in- surance. He was deputy insurance commissioner of the State from 1872 to 1874, and for five years thereafter, first by appointment of acting Governor Talbot, was chief of the department as insurance commissioner. This position he resigned in the spring of 1879 to accept the presidency of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company (chartered in 1861), at the head of which he has remained since. During the latter part of his residence in Taunton he was identified with nu- merous local interests, and for two and a half years (1867-68-69) was mayor of the city. Previous to his election to the mayoralty he served half a term on the Board of Aldermen (1867). In 1870- 71 he was a member of the State Senate, repre- senting the First Bristol District, where he served

MEN OF PROGRESS.

on important committees and was instrumental in shaping legislation bearing on insurance matters. Since 1873 he has resided in Boston. He is a member of the Exchange Club. of the Boston Society of Natural History, and of the Roxbury Charitable Society. He was married in Taunton, November 27, 1847, to Miss Elizabeth M. God- frey, daughter of Charles and Hannah (Shaw) Godfrey. They have had two children : Henry Holbrook, born November 6. 1848, died Septem- ber 20, 1854; and Annie Elizabeth, born April 30. 1851. now wife of Lieutenant James M. Grimes, of the United States Navy.

RICE, ALEXANDER HAMILTON, mayor of Bos- ton 1856-57, Congressman 1859-67, and gover- nor of the Commonwealth 1876-78, is a native of Newton, born August 30, 1818, son of Thomas and Lydia (Smith) Rice. His father was a paper manufacturer, having mills at Newton Lower Falls. He was educated in public and private schools in and near Newton, finishing at Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., then under the presi- dency of the celebrated Dr. Nott, where he grad- uated in 1844, commencement orator of his class. Three years later he received from his alma mater the degree of .A.M. ; and in 1876, the first year of his service in the governorship, Harvard College conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. He began business life the year of his graduation, entering the Boston house of Wilkins & Carter, paper dealers and manufacturers ; and he has con- tinued in the paper trade ever since. Joining with him some years later Mr. Charles S. Kendall, he established the house of Rice, Kendall & Co., paper dealers and manufacturers, with warehouse in Boston and mills in Newton and elsewhere, which firm early took rank among the foremost con- cerns in the business. In 1889, after a prosperous career of nearly half a century, this firm was suc- ceeded by the present corporation under the style of the Rice-Kendall Company, with Mr. Rice as president. He is also president of the Keith Paper Company at Turner's Falls, Mass. He has been a director of the American Loan & Trust Company since its organization; since about 1870 a director of the Massachusetts National Bank ; and since 1871 a trustee of the Mutual Life Insur- ance Company of New York, the largest financial institution in the world. His public life began as a member of the Boston School Committee early in

the fifties, and as a member of the Board of Public Institutions, and afterwards of the Common Coun- cil, becoming president of the latter body in 1854. During his first term in the mayoralty (1856), to which he was elected as a " Citizens " candidate, defeating the " Know Nothing party," the " tripar-

ALEXANDER H. RICE.

tite agreement " between the city, the Common- wealth, and the Boston Water Power Company, was consummated, under which the development of the territory now known as the Back Bay Dis- trict was begun; and in his second term the ex- tension of Devonshire Street from Milk Street to Franklin Street, through the narrow foot-path called Theatre Alley, and the opening of Win- throp Square from Franklin Street to Summer Street were begun. This improvement first brought Franklin Street, Hawley, Arch, Summer, and neighboring streets into business localities, they having been previously purely residential quarters. During the same term the movement for the establishment of the City Hospital was started, and the Public Library Building on Boyl- ston Street was finished. On the occasion of the dedication of the latter, January 1, 1858, Mr. Rice delivered a dedicatory address, the other addresses being delivered by Robert C. Winthrop and Edward Everett, respectively. In Congress

MEN OF PROGRESS.

he was a leading member on the Republican side from the beginning of his long service, and for the greater part of the war period he was chair- man of the committee on naval affairs. As gov- ernor, he represented the State on numerous pub- lic occasions beyond its borders : and his admin- istrations were marked by the enactment and administration of liquor laws which greatly abated drunkenness and assuaged the bitterness of dis- cussion. Also during his gubernatorial terms the settlement of the controversy about the State administration of the Hoosac Tunnel was ad- vanced, the militia was reorganized and invig- orated, and an efficient and aspiring tone was given to all departments of the government, es- pecially to the schools and the humane institu- tions. Among his many formal addresses, besides those above mentioned, a few only of which have been preserved in pamphlet form, are: an address at the opening of the great Peace Jubilee in 1869; address as chancellor of Union Univer- sity in 1881; address on the occasion of the un- veiling of the equestrian statue of Washington in the Boston Public Garden, July 3, 1869 ; at the unveiling of the Sumner statue, Public Garden, December 23, 1878; one of the course of the Butterfield lectures at Union College in 1892; and the address at the inauguration of the Farra- gut statue, Marine Park, South Boston, June 28, 1893. He has several times been abroad, and in England enjoyed an intimate friendship with the late Dean Stanley and with other eminent men there and on the continent. Mr. Rice is a mem- ber of the American Archaological Society; a fellow of the American Geographical Society (New York); member of the American Historical Asso- ciation ; of the Webster Historical Association (vice-president) ; of the Bunker Hill Monument Association (a director) ; and of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Loyal Legion ; honorary life member of the Farragut Naval Veteran Associa- tion ; a trustee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and of the Episcopal Theological School at Cam- bridge ; president of the National Soldiers' Home; and past honorary chancellor of Union Univer- sity. He also belongs to the St. Botolph, the Algonquin, the Art (president of the latter in 1880), the Commercial, and the Thursday clubs of Boston. He was first married in 1844 to Miss Augusta E. McKim, a sister of Judge MeKim, of the Suffolk County Probate Court ;

and a second marriage was to Mrs. Angie Erick- son Powell, of Rochester, N. Y.

RICKER, JAMES WILLIAM, collector of the city of Boston, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Portsmouth, January 31, 1829, son of Charles and Eliza B. (Perkins) Ricker. On the paternal side he is a direct descendant of George Ricker, who came from England in 1760, and settled in Somersworth, then a part of Dover, N.H. He was educated in the Portsmouth public schools, and began active life when yet a lad, as an apprentice in a printing-office in Great Falls, N.H., where he learned the printer's trade. Then, coming to Boston, he was for several years engaged in newspaper work, and in 1859 was one of the publishers of the Boston Ledger, an even- ing paper published that year. In 1862 he entered the service of the city, and has remained in it without break ever since. For the first thir-

JAMES W. RICKER.

teen years he was in the office of the city treas- urer, from the second year a deputy collector, the collection of taxes then being one of the duties of the treasurer. When in 1875 the separate office of collector was established, he was a candidate for the new position ; and being defeated by his

MEN OF PROGRESS.

competitor, General Thomas Sherwin, he was im- mediately appointed by the latter chief clerk. This position he held until 1883, when, General Sherwin resigning, he was placed at the head of the department, where he has been retained since by repeated reappointments, through both Dem- ocratic and Republican administrations. Mr Ricker was married December 28, 1852, in Chel- sea, to Miss Sarah F. Fenno, daughter of Henry W. and Rebecca H. Fenno. They have two children : Julia Marland (now Mrs. Frederick M. Stearns) and Everett Wilder Ricker.

ROBINSON, ALBERT ALONZO, of Boston, pres- ident of the Mexican Central Railway, is a native of Vermont, born in South Reading, Windsor

A. A. ROBINSON.

County, October 21, 1844, son of Ebenezer, Jr., and Adaline (Williams) Robinson. He is a lineal descendant of Jonathan Robinson, born in Cam- bridge, Mass., in 1682, a son of William Rob- inson, one of the carly settlers there. His grandfather, Ebenezer Robinson, Sr., born in Lexington in February, 1765, and died October 31, 1857, at the ripe age of ninety-two, served in the Revolutionary War for two years, part of the time in the navy as privateer and part as a soldier

in the land forces, and for about six months was a prisoner on the prison ship " Old Jersey." His father, Ebenezer, Jr., was also a native of South Reading, Vt., born September 30, 1809, died July 5, 1848. Albert A. was educated in the public schools, in Milton (Wis.) Academy, and in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., where he graduated in 1869, taking the degree of C.E. and B.S., and in 1871 M.S. From childhood until he reached his majority he was engaged at farm labor out of school hours, excepting during the years 1856-59, when he worked as a clerk in dry- goods or grocery stores. From 1866 to 1868 he was employed for about five months each year as assistant on the United States lake surveys in astronomical field work and on triangulation of the great lakes. His work on railroads began in 1869, when on May 27 he entered the service of the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad as axeman in the engineering corps, and thereafter served successively as chain-man, level-man, tran- sit-man, office engineer, locating engineer, and as- sistant engineer until the first of April, 1871. Then he became assistant engineer of the Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, in charge of location and construction, and two years later, on the first of April, 1873, was made chief engi- neer, which position he held till August, 1890. From June 1, 1883, to September 1, 1883, he also served as assistant general superintendent of the Santa Fé system; from September 1, 1883, to March 1, 1884, he was general superintendent ; from March 1, 1884, to February 1, 1886, he was general manager ; from February 1, 1886, to May, 1888, second vice-president ; and second vice- president and general manager from May, 1888, till April 3, 1893, when he left this system to ac- cept the presidency of the Mexican Central Rail- way Company. During his engineering expe- rience he has had direct charge of the construction of over forty-five hundred miles of railroad, in- cluding the building of the Pueblo and Denver line, one hundred and sixteen miles in seven months, and the extending of the company's line from Kansas City to Chicago, four hundred and fifty-eight miles, from April to December 31 of the same year. As president of the Mexican Central, he is in charge of the general business and affairs of the road, with headquarters in Boston. Mr. Robinson is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In politics he is Republican. He was married December 9, 1869, to Miss Julia

MEN OF PROGRESS.

Caroline Burdick, of Edgerton, Wis. She died August 3, 1881, leaving a daughter, Metta Burdick Robinson, born July 17, 1876. He married sec- ond, September 3, 1885, Mrs. Ellen Francis Williams, a sister of his first wife.

ROCHE, JAMES JEFFREY, editor of the l'ilot, Boston, is a native of Queen's County, Ireland, born at Mountmellick, May 31, 1847. That same

J. J ROCHE.

year his parents emigrated to Prince Edward Isl- and, and there he spent his boyhood and youth. His education was acquired from his father, Ed- ward Roche, an accomplished scholar, and at St. Dunstan's College, Charlottetown. Among his college classmates were the present Chief Justice Sullivan, of Prince Edward Island, and Arch- bishop ()'Brien, of Halifax. N.S. In May, 1866, soon after leaving college, he came to the United States, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. These he followed for seventeen years, at the same time dipping into literature, contributing to various newspapers and magazines, notably the l'ilot, when under the editorial direction of his brilliant friend, the late John Boyle O'Reilly. In June, 1883, he joined the regular staff of the l'ilot, Mr. ('Reilly offering him the position of assistant

editor. This he held until the death of his chief, in August, 1890, when he was advanced to the first place. Early in his professional career he made a reputation as a poet, and as a writer of picturesque and virile prose. His published works are the "Life of John Boyle O'Reilly," pub- lished in 1891: "The Story of the Filibusters," published in London the same year; and a vol- ume of poems, "Songs and Satires," issued in Boston in 1886. He was the poet of the occasion when the " high-water mark monument" was un- veiled at the national dedication on the field of Gettysburg, June 2, 1892, and also at the celebra- tion of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the town of Woburn. October 6, the same year. That year the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL .. D. In 1893 he was ap- pointed by Governor Russell a member of the Metropolitan Park Commission, that year created, but soon after resigned on account of the pressure of editorial and literary work. He is a member of the St. Botolph and Papyrus clubs, and of other organizations. For five consecutive years (from 1884) he was secretary of the Papyrus, and its president in 1890. He is a brother of the late John Roche, pay-clerk in the United States Navy, who perished heroically in the Samoan disaster of March, 1889.

RUSSELL, WILLIAM EUSTIS, governor of Mas- sachusetts three terms, 1891-92-93, and the youngest candidate but one ever elected to the office, is a native of Cambridge, of sterling stock. He was born January 6, 1857, youngest son of Charles Theodore and Sarah Elizabeth ( Ballister) Russell. Of his ancestors, those on the paternal side were among the Puritan immigrants to Bos- ton about the year 1640, and one of them, a Will- iam Russell, was living in Cambridge in 1645; and his paternal grandmother, a Hastings, de- scended through both her parents from the earliest settlers in Princeton. His mother's father was Joseph Ballister, an old-time Boston merchant. His early education was attained in the public schools of Cambridge, and there he was prepared for college. At sixteen he entered Harvard, where he made a good record as a student, and displayed a hearty interest in athletics. Graduat- ing in 1877, he entered the Boston University Law School with three ambitions, -- to graduate at the head of his class, to win the William Beach

MEN OF PROGRESS.

Lawrence prize for the best essay, and to deliver the class oration at commencement. All three he attained, and he received the first summa cum laude ever given by this school. His successful essay for the Lawrence prize was on " Foreign Judgments : Their Extra-territorial Force and Effect." After a year's additional study under the direction of his father, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar (1880), and began practice in Boston in his father's law firm, - that of C. T. and T. H. Russell. The following year he was elected to the Cambridge city council on an independent ticket by a majority of two votes, one of which

WM. E. RUSSELL. (F'rom a copyrighted photograph by Elmer Chickering.)

was lost in a recount ; and, with his work in this body, his remarkable career in the public service began. The next year he was sent to the Cam- bridge Board of Aldermen, nominated by both the regular parties, with a practically united constit- uency behind him. Here, as in the council, he took a leading part, displaying ability as a ready and skilful debater, and boldness in the advocacy of local reforms. After two terms in this board he was nominated to the mayoralty at the head of a municipal reform ticket, and in the hot cam- paign following he spoke on the stump in every section of the city. His ticket was elected by an emphatic majority, and he entered the office the

youngest man ever chosen to it. This was in 1884, when he was but twenty-seven. He was mayor of Cambridge, through repeated elections, for four successive terms ; and his administration was marked by important financial and other re- forms, and the successful accomplishment of a number of great public improvements. Early in this service his fame was spread beyond the limits of his city, and he was frequently "mentioned " for higher offices. During his first term as mayor he was seriously considered for the second place on the Democratic State ticket, and the next year for the first place. He, however, withdrew in favor of John F. Andrew, and in the convention made the nominating speech, which was followed by the nomination of the war governor's son by acclama- tion. The same year he was pressed to stand for Congress in his district, but he declined. In 1888, when closing his fourth term as mayor, he was again named for the head of the Democratic State ticket, and in the convention of that year was nominated by acclamation. Soon after his nomination he began a stumping tour of the State, and spoke night after night for seven weeks, dis- cussing tariff reform and other questions involved in the presidential campaign, with State issues. Although failing of election, he polled a greatly increased Democratic vote. In October, 1889, he was renominated, and, as before, made a tour of the State, discussing on the stump State issues, with tariff reform as the leading national one. The result of this canvass was a decrease in the Republican plurality to a narrow margin. Again, in 1890, renominated, and making a third tour of the State, this time he carried the election by a strong plurality, although the Republican can- didates for the other offices were, with one ex- ception (that of auditor), elected. In the two succeeding elections he was re-elected, with Re- publicans on the remainder of the ticket, each year, after a spirited canvass, in which his speeches on the stump were among the most notable features. Then, declining to stand for a fourth term, he retired at the close of his third with a brilliant record and a national reputation. Returning to the practice of his profession, he be- came a member of the law firm of Russell & Rus- sell, in association with Charles Theodore Russell, Jr., and Arthur H. Russell, the senior partners of the old firm of C. T. and T. H. Russell occupying adjoining offices, giving their attention especially to consultation and advice. He has

MEN OF PROGRESS.

delivered a number of orations and occasional addresses besides his many campaign speeches within and without the State, the most notable of which were published in a volume issued in 1894 (Speeches and Addresses of William E. Russell, selected and edited by Charles Theodore Russell, Jr., with an introduction by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Boston, Little, Brown & Co.). On the 4th of July, 1888, the year of his first nomina- tion to the governorship, Mr. Russell was the presiding officer at the national Convention of Democratic clubs held in Baltimore. In June, 1884, he was chosen president of the Alumni of the Law School of Boston University, which posi- tion he has since held. In 1891 he received the honorary degree of LL, D). from Williams College. He is a member of the Union Club of Boston and of the Colonial Club of Cambridge. He was married June 3, 1885, to Miss Margaret Manning Swan, daughter of the late Rev. Joshua and Sarah A. (Hodges) Swan, of Cambridge. They have two children : William Eustis and Richard Manning Russell.

RUSSELL, WILLIAM GOODWIN, member of the Suffolk bar for nearly half a century, and the successor of Sidney Bartlett as its leader, is a native of Plymouth, born November 18, 1821, son of Thomas and Mary Ann (Goodwin) Russell. He is of English and Scotch ancestry, a descend- ant of Miles Standish, John Alden, and Richard Warren of the "Mayflower " passengers. His great-grandfather on the paternal side, John Rus- sell, was a merchant of Greenock, Scotland, who came to New England about the year 1745, and settled in Plymouth ; and his great-grandfather, Samuel Jackson, of Plymouth, was the grandfather of Sidney Bartlett. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of Plymouth and at Harvard, for which he was fitted under the tuition of the Hon. John Angier Shaw, of Bridgewater, graduating in the class of 1840. After leaving college, he taught a young ladies' private school in Plymouth for some months, and for a year was preceptor of the academy at Dracut, succeeding General Benjamin F. Butler in that position. His law studies were begun in the office of his brother-in-law, William Whiting, of Boston, and completed at the Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1845. Admitted to the Suffolk bar on the 25th of July that year, he became at once associated with Mr. Whiting under the firm name of Whiting & Rus-

sell. This partnership held until the death of Mr. Whiting in 1873, the firm occupying for a quarter of a century a leading position at the bar. From 1862 to 1865, while Mr. Whiting was serving as solicitor of the War Department at Washington, Mr. Russell conducted the business of the firm alone with brilliant success, and at that early period in his career was classed with the leaders in his profession. After the death of Mr. Whiting he formed a partnership with George Putnam, son of the late Rev. Dr. George Putnam (minister of the First Church of Roxbury for nearly fifty years), under the firm name of Russell

WM. G. RUSSELL.

& Putnam, which association still exists. Al- though repeatedly importuned to accept appoint- ment to the Supreme Bench, he has steadfastly declined ; and he has unhesitatingly refused to stand for any elective office, preferring to devote himself exclusively to the practice of his profes- sion. He has, however, performed all the duties of a public-spirited private citizen, and lent his aid and influence to movements for the public welfare. From 1882 to 1884 he was president of the Bar Association of the city of Boston; and he has been for several years president of the Social Law Library. He is a member of the Pilgrim Society (vice-president), of the Union Club (president

MEN OF PROGRESS.

ISS2-84), of the St. Botolph Club, and of the University Club, Boston ; an overseer of Harvard College, a director of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company and of the Mt. Vernon National Bank of Boston. He received the de- gree of LL.I). from Harvard in 1878. Mr. Rus- sell was married October 6, 1847, to Miss Mary Ellen Hedge, daughter of Thomas and Lydia (Cof- fin) Hedge of Plymouth. They have one son and two daughters : Thomas (H. C. 1879, a member of the Suffolk bar, and at present (1894) a repre- sentative in the Massachusetts Legislature for Ward Two, Boston), Lydia G. Ellen (wife of Roger N. Allen, of Boston), and Marion Russell. Mr. Russell's summer residence is in Plymouth.

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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 12

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