Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 122

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 122

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Boston School of Gymnastics, and became its di- rector. The following year he was director of gymnastics in the public schools of Waltham, and also through the summer season of that year and of 1891 and 1892 professor in the Martha's Vine- yard Summer Institute. In February, 1 890, he be- came director of the Posse Gymnasium in Boston, in which position he has since continued. From September. 1893. to the present time he has also been an assistant in the Boston Dispensary. Baron Posse has introduced Swedish gymnastics, personally or by his own pupils, in the following places and institutions : Boston, Brockton, Wal-

BARON NILS POSSE.

tham, Lynn, Newburyport, Haverhill, Marblehead, Ayer, Bridgewater, Springfield, Mass .; Ports- mouth and Littleton, N.H .; Providence, R.I .; Buffalo, N.Y .; East Orange, N.J. ; Washington, D.C .: Grand Rapids, Mich. ; Sandusky and Toledo, Ohio ; Indianapolis, Ind .; Denver, Col. ; Portland, Ore. : Halifax, N.S. : Sao Paulo, Brazil ; in the Syracuse University, New York ; the Dean, Tabor, and West Bridgewater academies, Massa- chusetts ; the Providence (R.l.) High School ; the State Normal School, Mansfield, Penna. ; the Bal- timore Normal School; and the Westfield and Bridgewater Normal schools, Massachusetts. He is also author of numerous popular and practical

handbooks, the list of his publications embracing the following titles : " Special Kinesiology of Edu- cational Gymnastics " (now in its third edition) ; " The Scientific Aspect of Swedish Gymnastics " ; "Columbian Collection of Essays on Swedish Gym- nastics "; "Medical Gymnastics "; "Hypnotism." translated into English from Dr. Björnstiom's Swedish work; "Massage," translated into Swedish from Dr. Graham's American work ; " Handbook of Fancy Skating" (published in Sweden in Swedish : "Handbok i figurakning a skridskor "); and many short articles in the peri- odical press. He is a constant writer also for the Posse Gymnastium Journal, established by him in 1893. He is a member of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Physical Education, and of a number of societies and clubs in Sweden, among them the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, the Swedish Tourist Club, the Swedish Snow Shoe Club, the Stockholm Gymnastic Association, the Stockholm Gymnastic and Fencing Club, and the Stockholm General Skating Club. These clubs he represented at the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893, at which he was a special Swedish commis- sioner. He was also an honorary vice-president of the World's Congress of Physical Education at the fair. He was the founder of the Swedish Gymnastic Club of Boston, and has been its presi- dent from the beginning. He was the champion fancy skater of Sweden in 1884. He has re- ceived medals for method of gymnastic instruction in Boston in 1892; in Chicago, 1893; and Antwerp, 1894. In 1895 the king of Sweden created him a Knight of Gustavus Vasa in recog- nition of his professional attainments. He was married June 29, 1887, to Miss Rose Moore Smith, of Newburyport. They have no children.

POTTER, HENRY STAPLES, of Boston, mer- chant, was born in Boston, son of Henry and Abby Leland (Giles) Potter. His maternal great-grand- father, Elisha Williams, was in the Revolution, an aide of Washington, and crossed the Delaware in the same boat with the general. Trumbull, who painted the famous picture of "Washing- ton crossing the Delaware," was his personal friend. He is represented in the painting as standing just back of Washington. All of Mr. Potter's ancestors were of New England stock ; and several of them were in the professions,- lawyers, ministers, and physicians. He was edu-

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cated in the common and High schools of Cam- bridge, which became his home in early boyhood ; and there also his business career began. In

H. STAPLES POTTER.

course of time he was associated with a number of the principal business features of the city, among them street railways, in which he was a pioneer, being one of the originators of the old Cambridge Street Railway; and he was president and director of several of the Cambridge corpo- rations. Subsequently he became identified with the house of l'otter & Wrightington, wholesalers of canned goods, fish, and cereals, his present business. He is also a director of the manufact- urers' National Bank, and is well known on the street. In politics he is Republican. He is a member of the Algonquin, Art, and Boston Ath- letic clubs, and of the Beacon Society; and is connected with the Masonic order. Mr. Potter was married to Miss Sophia Grace Robbins, daughter of Captain Robbins, of South Boston. Their children are: Henry Staples, Jr., Alexander Carlton, and Grace Florence Potter.

POWERS, SAMUEL LELAND, of Boston, mem- ber of the Suffolk bar, is a native of New Hamp- shire. born in Cornish, October 26, 1848, son of

Larned and Ruby (Barton) Powers. Both his parents were also natives of New Hampshire, and were of English descent. His ancestors were among the early settlers of New England, coming to Salem in 1650. He was fitted for college at Kimball Union Academy and Phillips (Exeter) Academy, and entered Dartmouth in 1870, gradu- ating in the class of 1874. In college he won the Lockwood prizes both in rhetoric and elocution. His law studies were begun in the office of W. W. Bailey, of Nashua, N.H. Subsequently he at- tended the law school of the University of the City of New York, and later read in the office of Very & Gaskill, Worcester. He was admitted to the bar in Worcester, November 17, 1875, and began practice in Boston the following January, forming a partnership with his college classmate, Samuel W. McCall, now a member of Congress. In 1887, after having devoted himself for some time to the study of electrical science, he decided to make a specialty of law in its application to electrical matters; and he was one of the first at- torneys in the country to take up this branch of the profession. From that time he has been

SAMUEL L. POWERS.

largely employed in representing the interests of corporations and individuals engaged in electrical operations. He has been general counsel for the

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New England Telephone and Telegraph Company since 1889 ; also counsel for the Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Company, and of other large corporations connected with electrical business. lle is a director of the Newton and Boston Street Railway Company, and counsel for several street railway companies. He has resided in Newton since 1882, served several terms in the Common Council, being presiding officer of that body dur- ing two years, and one term in the Board of Al- dermen. He was one of the founders of the Newton Club, and is now president of that organi- zation. He is also a member of the University Club of Boston. In politics he is a Republican, and in religion a Unitarian. Mr. Powers was married June, 1878, to Miss Eva Crowell, daugh- ter of the Hon. Prince S. Crowell, of Dennis. They have one son, Leland Powers (born July 1. 1890).

REDFORD, ROBERT, of Lawrence, agent of the AArlington Mills, is a native of England, born in Bolton, Lancashire, May 19, 1846, son of James and Rachael (C'urless) Redford. He was edu-

ROBT. REDFORD.

cated in the common schools. At the age of twelve he left school, and went to work in a cotton mill. His progress in the business was steady :

and in the course of time he became manager of the Reddish Spinning Company near Manchester, England, which position he held for eleven years. He came to this country in January. 1881, as superintendent of the Arlington Mills, and five years later was appointed to his present important position of agent. Mr. Redford is a Freemason, a Knight Templar of the Bethany Commandery. In politics he has always been a Republican. He was married to Augusta M. Cloom, and has three children : Joseph, Alice, and May Redford.

J. B. REYNOLDS.

REYNOLDS, JAMES BURTON, of Boston, jour- nalist, is a native of New York, born in Saratoga. February 17, 1870, son of Dr. John H. and Sarah (. ( Morgan) Reynolds. His grandfather, James Morgan, was one of the pioneer lumbermen of North New York, and founder of the well-known Morgan Lumber Company of that section. His early education was acquired in the Glens Falls Academy, Glens Falls. N.Y .; and he graduated with honors from Dartmouth, A. B. in 1890. receiv- ing the degree of A. M. in 1893. His professional career was begun as a reporter on the Boston . Id- vertiser and Record in the summer of 1890. The following year he was legislative reporter for those papers during the session of the Massachusetts

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Legislature, and also political and editorial writer. At the opening of the Fifty-second Congress he was sent to Washington as special correspondent for the same papers, and continued there in that capacity until September, 1894, when he went to New York as an editorial writer on the New York Press. He remained with the Press until March, 1895, and then returned to Boston to take the place of executive clerk of the Republican State Committee, which position he at present holds. He continued his editorial work, however, doing editorial writing for several papers in connection with the State Committee. In 1892 he reported the national convention for the Advertiser and Record. Mr. Reynolds is author of a volume of sketches under the title of " The Show at Wash- ington," and has contributed stories and articles to various magazines. While in college, he was editor-in-chief of the Dartmouth, the weekly col- lege paper. At Washington he was the youngest of the special correspondents. He is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi college fraternity and Sphinx (corresponding to Skull and Bones at Vale), senior society of Dartmouth College; of the University, Athletic, Press, and Middlesex clubs of Boston; and the University Club of Washington.

RICH, ISAAC BAKER, of Boston, proprietor and manager of the Hollis Street Theatre, and senior member of the firm of Rich & Harris and Charles Frohman, proprietors and managers of the Co- lumbia Theatre, is a native of Maine, born in North Bucksport, February 23. 1827, son of Isaac B. and Margaret (Lewis) Rich. He was educated in the public schools of North Bucksport. At the age of nineteen he came up to Boston, and entered the employment of Joseph Buckingham, of the Bos- ton Daily Courier, and was later in the employ of William Pelby, the then veteran manager of the National Theatre, which long stood on Portland Street, near the corner of Travers. From that time he has been constantly connected with local play- houses, early in his career reaching the position of manager and proprietor. In 1852 he went as treasurer to the Howard Athenaum, then a lead- ing theatre devoted to the "legitimate " drama, supporting a fine company, and patronized by the " best people " of the town. Several years later he became its manager. In 1867 he formed a partnership with Joseph Trowbridge, under the firm name of Rich & Trowbridge, and opened the

Howard as a variety theatre. \ succession of prosperous seasons followed the new departure. During the season of 1869-70 Joseph Hart be- came a partner in the enterprise, when the firm name was changed to Rich, Hart, & Trowbridge. Later, in 1870, John Stetson purchased Mr. Hart's interest, and the firm name became Rich, Stetson, & Trowbridge. In 1871, Messrs. Rich and Stetson acquired the interest of Mr. Trow- bridge, and their partnership, under the name of Rich & Stetson, continued until 1878, when Mr. Stetson took the management of the Globe Theatre. Mr. Rich continued the management

ISAAC B. RICH.

of the Howard Athenaum until the building of the Hollis Street Theatre, in 1885, which he has since conducted as a high grade playhouse. It was opened on the evening of November 9, that year, with the first performance in Boston of Gilbert and Sullivan's " Mikado" by an excellent com- pany of players, and before a brilliant audience, and it has been steadfastly maintained at the standard then established. Mr. Rich's connection with the Columbia Theatre (first opened October 5, 1891) began with the opening night. In addi- tion to bis theatrical interests he has been for many years interested in the Banner of Light, the well-known weekly spiritualistic journal, originally

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as a member of the firm of William White & Co. Since 1873 the firm has been Colby & Rich, and it has carried on an extensive business in the pub- lication of works relating to Spiritualism. Mr. Rich is a member of the Boston Club and of the Boston Yacht Club. He has had six children : Clara E., Abbie M., Charles J., George P., Maud L., and Ralph E. Rich, all of whom are living ex- cept George l'.

RICHARDS, WILLIAM REUBEN, of Boston, member of the Suffolk bar, was born in Dedham, July 3, 1853, son of William Bordman and Cor- nelia (Walter) Richards. On the paternal side he is in direct line from Edward Richards, who came from England, probably in the "Lyon " in 1632, settled first in New Towne (Cambridge). and subsequently was received as one of the pro- prietors of Dedham, becoming the 62d signer of her social compact. For five or six generations his ancestors from Edward down to his grand- father, Reuben Richards, were all responsible citizens of Dedham, established on the original homestead there. His grandfather, Reuben, was a successful Boston merchant in the importation of tin and Russia iron; and his father, William B., was also a Boston merchant, succeeding to the business. His paternal grandmother, Eliza Bord- man. was in descent from Thomas Bordman, of London, who came to Plymouth in 1634. On the maternal side he is a descendant of the Apostle Eliot, of Increase Mather, and of the two chief justices Lynde of the province of Massachusetts. His great-great-great-great-grandfather on this side. Thomas Walter, attorney-at-law, came from Lan- caster, England, to Boston, in 1680; his great- great-great-grandfather, the Rev. Nehemiah Wal- ter, was the colleague of Eliot in the First Church in Roxbury; his great-great-grandfather, the Rev. Nathaniel Walter, was pastor of the Second Con- gregational Church in Roxbury; and his great- grandfather, the Rev. William Walter, was rector of Trinity Church, Boston, 1767-75 (previously assistant minister from 1763), and after the peace rector of Christ Church. His uncle, Lynde M. Walter, was the projector and first editor of the Boston Transcript: and his mother, shortly after the death of Mr. Walter (in 1842). succeeded to the editorship of the paper, her previous writings having commended her for the task. She con- ducted it with marked ability and success for

about five years, or until her marriage, broaden- ing its scope and increasing its circulation. She is believed to be the first lady to have had full editorial charge and management of a daily paper : and her achievement was all the more notable from the fact that in those days women lacked the courage to enter journalistic fields in Boston, or engage in any other public occupation. William R. Richards was educated in Boston and foreign schools, and at Harvard University. After several terms at Chauncy Hall and in the Boston Latin School he studied about five years in Dresden, Germany, passing through the gymna-

WM. R. RICHARDS.

sium course of the institute of Dr. Krause. Re- turning to America, he entered Harvard in the class of 1874. and after graduating from the col- lege took a three years' course in the Harvard Law School. receiving there the degree of LL. B. and A.M. Afterward his legal studies were further pursued in the Boston office of Shattuck. Holmes, & Munroe ; and in November, 1878, he was admitted to practice in the courts of the Com- monwealth and in the Circuit Court of the United States. Subsequently he formed a law partner- ship with John (). Shaw, Jr., grandson of Chief Justice Shaw, and George Lemist Clark, under the firm name of Richards, Shaw, & Clarke. Mr.

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Richards early interested himself in municipal affairs and reforms, and first entered public ser- vice as a member of the Boston Common Council, to which he was elected, from Ward Eleven, in the municipal election of 1885. Here he served three terms (1886, 1887, and 1888), the last year recognized as the leader on the Republican side, and the candidate of his party for president of the body. In January, 1889. he was appointed by Mayor Hart a trustee of the Public Library, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of William H. Whitmore, and in 1891 was reappointed for the full term of five years. He was intimately connected with the building of the new Public Library on Copley Square, the most important and richest public edifice in Boston, constructed throughout under the supervision of the trustees ; and, before the work was begun, he was instru- mental in securing the legislative act empowering the trustees to prosecute it, and to select their own architect. In the Common Council, also, he championed the acceptance of the act, and af- fected the transfer of the appropriation to carry on the work in accordance with the plans of McKim, Mead, & White, the architects selected. By his order offered and advocated in the Com- mon Council, some years before, Bates Hall was opened to the public evenings; and later, as a trustee, he secured the opening of the library on Sundays. Among other acts in which he took a leading hand when a councilman was that of mak- ing the kindergarten a part of the public school

system of Boston. As a public-spirited citizen also, Mr. Richards has been instrumental in ad- vancing numerous projects for the benefit of the city and the good of the community. In 1887 he led in the successful movement for the preserva- tion of Boston Common; in 1890 in that for the establishment by statute of the Art Commission, which passes upon all statues and monuments proposed to be set up under the authority and control of the city of Boston, and without whose approval none can be placed; in 1893 in the movement for the legislative act. and its accept- ance by the city council, authorizing the building of the subway under Tremont Street for street- car tracks. In the struggle for the preservation of the Common in 1887 he so aroused and di- rected public sentiment that he was able to get through the Common Council a vote against any open cut for street railway purposes which should touch the roots of any trees, thus checking a proj-

ect which threatened the destruction of some of the finest elms in the enclosure. Later he brought the same sentiment to bear upon the committee of the Legislature on rapid transit ; and subsequently he employed engineers to dem- onstrate the feasibility of cutting a tunnel under Mount Vernon Street for street-car tracks, en- tering at Charles Street and coming out at either Scollay Square or on Tremont Street by the old Tremont House or at a point opposite the Bos- ton Museum. This demonstration convinced the committee that to secure rapid transit and the relief of the crowded thoroughfares, it was not necessary to go into, under, or over the Common, and it prepared the way for the subway project, which was the outcome of a plan for a Tremont Street subway conceived and largely developed by him, and the bill for which he drafted. Among other movements in which he was active and in- fluential was that led by Edwin L. Sprague for the law to prevent stock-watering by quasi-public corporations. In politics Mr. Richards is Inde- pendent. He is a member of the Boston Bar .Association : of the Union, University, St. Bo- tolph, and Union Boat clubs of Boston ; and of the corporation of the Boston Athenaum (re- cently secretary), of which his great-uncle, Arthur M. Walter, was a founder, having been first sec- retary and one of the original members of the Anthology Club (established in 1804), from which the Athenaeum was the outgrowth. Mr. Richards is unmarried.

RILEY, THOMAS, of Boston, member of the Suffolk bar, was born in County Cavan, Ireland, December, 1846, son of Thomas and Rose (Smith) Riley. He is of the O'Reilly family, one of the most noted in Irish history, traced in the annals of Ireland through a long line of powerful chief- tains of Fast Breifny, now County Cavan; and whose ancestor, Duach Galach, king of Con- naught, was converted to Christianity in the fifth century by St. Patrick, and baptized by him on the banks of Lock Scola. During the last two centuries members of the family have performed brilliant military or civic service in Austria, France, and Spain. Thomas Riley came to Boston with his mother when he was a child of four years, and was educated in the Boston public schools and at the Quincy Grammar School, where he finished. Early in his teens he went to work in the office of the Boston Post, then under the direction of

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Beals & Greene, and there developed the taste for learning, which led him ultimately to fit for and adopt a professional career. He began the study of law at the Harvard Law School and in the Boston office of Benjamin F. Butler, and in 1867, at the age of twenty-one, was admitted to the Suf- folk bar. Few men, with the limited advantages for academic study which he had, have been ad- mitted so young ; and this early admission attests his great industry and perseverance. Subse- quently, in 1882, he was admitted to the United States Supreme Court. Skilful and a constant student, his progress in his profession was steady

THOMAS RILEY.

and substantial. From the outset he has been in business alone; and during his entire career he has never been assisted by senior counsel, manag- ing his suits unaided, with no patron to advise him, depending wholly upon his own resources. In the fullest sense of the phrase, he is the archi- tect of his fortunes, having won position in his profession and prosperity in his affairs solely through the exercise of his own ability and judg- ment. His practice has been general, in office work and before the courts; and he has achieved notable success, especially in criminal cases. Dur- ing the last four years of the life of Joseph H. Bradley, at that time the leading criminal lawyer

at the Suffolk bar, Mr. Riley assumed and con- ducted most of his defences. His legal skill and ingenuity were especially demonstrated in his achievement in wresting a verdict of acquittal from a jury before whom, in the trial of Joseph Fowle in 1889, the prisoner was identified as the operator in one of the most remarkable series of frauds ever perpetrated on an intelligent com- munity. Mr. Riley's addresses and pleas are pungent, witty, and eloquent ; and he possesses the respect of the judges before whom he appears. Although he has devoted himself mainly to his professional work, Mr. Riley has exerted consider- able influence in politics. Early in his career he was prominent among the younger leaders in the Democratic party of the State, and in 1871 pre- sided at the Young Men's Democratic State Con- vention held in Springfield. He was the first presi- dent of the Young Men's Democratic Club, and wrote the celebrated address issued by the club that year prior to the State convention. In 1872 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention. Of late years. however. he has largely withdrawn from politics, dividing his time between his busy office and his richly stocked library, which embraces a large and choice collec- tion of standard works. He occasionally appears as a lecturer, and indulges his pen in essay and editorial writing. He is a member and has been president of the Charitable Irish Society, and a member of the Clover Club, of which he was one of the organizers and the first president. Mr. Riley was married in Charlestown some years ago to Miss Margaret McCormick, daughter of the late Lawrence McCormick, an architect of note in County Longford, Ireland. Their home is on Beacon Street, Boston.

ROWLEY, CLARENCE WORTH. of Boston, mem- ber of the Suffolk bar, was born in Edgartown. Martha's Vineyard, May 19, 1871, son of Lafay- ette and Eliza .V. ( Worth ) Rowley. His paternal grandparents were Russell and Harriet ( Bailey) Rowley. The Rowley family dates back two hundred years in this country, and is the same family as that of the English poet Rowley of Shakspere's time. His maternal grandparents were John P. and Hannah K. (Mayhew) Worth ; great-grandparents, Jethro and Velina (Pease) Worth and William and Jane ( Kelly) Mayhew. lle is a lineal descendant of Governor Thomas

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Mayhew, and grand-nephew of General William I. Worth, of the Mexican War. His mother, before her marriage, taught school at Edgartown. An- cestors on both sides were seafaring folk. His uncle, Timothy Rowley, was captain of a ship at twenty-five, and was captured and killed by pirates off the West Indies in 1853. His father, born February 17, 1821, went to sea at the age of twenty-one, and followed the whale fishery. He was a captain at twenty-four. At thirty he was captain of the ship "Junior," the largest ship sailing from New Bedford. In 1863 his ship was chased by the Confederate cruiser " Alabama "

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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 122

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