Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 21

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

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position he still holds. In 1880 he again estab- lished an office in Boston. He has been a lead- ing member of the Norfolk County Bar Asso- ciation for a number of years, from 1886 to 1892 holding the position of secretary. In Stoughton he was for seven years ( 1886-89, 92-94) a mem- ber of the School Committee, and he has been president of the Stoughton Grenadier Association since 18So. He is prominent in the order of Odd Fellows ; was grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment of Massachusetts in 1893, and president of the Encampment Deputies Associa- tion in 1894. He belongs to but one club, the Pine Tree State. composed of natives of Maine resident in Boston and vicinity. In politics he is a Democrat. Mr. Marden was married October 19, 1882, at Stoughton, to Miss May Theresa Ball, daughter of Francis M. and Rosetta A. Ball. She died April 4, 1890, leaving two chil- dren, one of whom, Edgar Avery Marden, only survives her.

MARSHALL, WYZEMAN, of Boston, player of the " old school," manager, dramatic reader, and teacher, is a native of New Hampshire, born in the town of Hudson, September 26, 1816. When he was eight years old, his parents came to Boston ; and this city has since been his home. The family being poor, his schooling was meagre, consisting of a few years in public schools; but what he lacked in regular training he more than made up by self-teaching and extensive reading, becoming a man of much culture. In his early youth he embarked in various pursuits, but his inclination was decidedly for the stage; and in February, 1836, when but nineteen years of age, he succeeded in making a first appearance on the boards. This was at the Lion Theatre, Boston, then where Keith's Theatre now stands, and under the management of William Barrymore, in the small part of Vibulanus in "Virginius." For the remainder of that season he was a regular member of the company, playing in a variety of small parts. During the following summer he was with a company performing in Providence and in Newport, R.l., taking more ambitious parts, such as Piszaro, Angerstoff in " The Floating Beacon," and Duke of Buckingham in Richard III .; and in the autumn he became attached to the stock company of the old National Theatre, Boston, then under the management of William

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Pelby. Here he remained through a number of seasons, steadily advancing in his profession. On the 27th of February. 1838, he was given his first benefit, appearing on this occasion as Pissaro to the Elvira of Mrs. Pelby and the Cora of Mrs. Anderson (Ophelia Pelby) ; and also as Lubin in the ballet . L'Amour," displaying his talent as a dancer. During the next regular season, 1838-1839. he had two benefits, at the latter, given June 27, 1839, playing Damon with Miss Eaton, afterward the popular Mrs. Woodward, as Calanthe, her first appearance. On this occasion, also, Mr. Marshall's brother Otis made his first appearance on the stage. In the summer of 1839 Mr. Marshall had his first experience as a man- ager, taking a small company through country towns, and doing a fair business. Again at the National for the season 1839-1840, he played numerous important parts ; and at his benefit that season, when he gave " Virginius," Henry Wallack, the eldest of the Wallack family, acted Dentatus. The next summer he opened a theatre of his own in Boston, the " Vaudeville Saloon."

WYZEMAN MARSHALL.

in the old Boylston Hall over Boylston Market, which then occupied the south corner of Washing- ton and Boylston Streets. This also was a suc- cessful venture. Back to the National for 1840-

1841, that season was marked by his introduc- tion to the stage (on the 18th of June) of the tragedian James H. Stark, who afterward be- came celebrated, and a great favorite in San Francisco. The following summer he took an- other company on the road, and as before met with success. The next regular season. 1841- 1842, he was at the National, cast in the leading " heavies," and also the ballet-master. At the close of that season he brought his connection with this theatre to an end, and on the 27th of June following opened the Amphitheatre. on the corner of Haverhill and Travers Streets, which had been used largely for circus performances, and which he had reconstructed as " Marshall's Eagle Theatre." lle brought together here a strong company, with William H. Sedley Smith as stage manager, and gave such excellent performances at popular prices that the house soon became a serious rival to its near neighbor. the National. Mr. Pelby of the latter thereupon conceived a plan to crush it. Purchasing a quarter interest in the property, he proceeded, under cover of im- proving his portion of the building. to render the whole useless. On the night of March 22, 1843. immediately after the close of the performance. he gained the roof with a number of his car- penters, and cut out that part of it directly over the stage, removing the lumber. This high- handed proceeding was effectual, and the Eagle's career abruptly closed. But Mr. Marshall. un- daunted, took his company to the Providence Theatre, which he had leased earlier in the season, and opened there on the night of the 3d of April. At the close of the Providence season he went to New York, where he played a short engagement at the Chatham Theatre, then under the manage- ment of Charles R. Thorne, the elder. Returning to Boston, he became a member of the company which supported Macready during his short sea- son here in the autumn of 1844. This ended. he made a starring tour in Maine and the provinces. covering a few months, and then returned to the Chatham, New York, where he became a pro- nounced favorite, and remained till the close of the season of 1847. The summer of that year he played " Damon on Horseback," a spectacular drama, at the Chestnut Street. Philadelphia, then a great amphitheatre : and star engagements in Utica, Syracuse, and Albany. For the regular season of 1847-48 he was at the Bowery Theatre, New York ; and later in 1848 back in Boston. at

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the Federal Street Theatre. At the close of the latter engagement he starred in the British provinces ; played a brief engagement at the Beach Street, Boston, then under the manage- ment of Joseph Proctor; was for the next two regular seasons at the Arch Street, Philadelphia. as acting and stage manager as well as player, performing in Baltimore and Providence during the summer months : after the close of his Phila- delphia engagement starred in Baltimore, Wash- ington, Albany, and New York, meeting with great success ; then took the Portland (Me.) Theatre as manager for a short season ; subsequently went South for a few months; and in the autumn of 1851 returned to Boston, and assumed the man- agement of the Howard Athenaeum for the season of 1851-52. During this season he introduced to the Boston public Mme. Anna Thillon, the singer ; Mrs. Anna Cora Mowatt, who became a great favorite here and all over the country (her first appearance as Parthenia to Mr. Marshall's Ingomar); Laura Addison, who had been brought to this country from England by Charlotte Cush- man : the Famous English actress, Mrs. Warner, with whom he played such parts as Macbeth, Cardinal Wolsey, Lcontes : and Lola Montez. This season closed, he starred throughout the country, and played in various theatres in Bos- ton, up to 1857, when in February he opened the new theatre in Worcester, which he managed successfully through to October 2, closing brill- iantly with a performance of "Macbeth." The year before, while playing at the Boston Theatre, he added to his fame by his successful produc- tion of "Zafari," an adaptation of " Ruy Blas" by Dr. Joseph H. Jones, of Boston, which was the forerunner of Fechter's appearance years after as " Ruy Blas," Mr. Marshall himself playing the hero, Zafari. After the close of the Worcester season Mr. Marshall made another starring tour, and in the spring of 1862 again assumed the man- agement of the Howard Athenaeum in Boston, con- tinuing here through the remainder of that and the regular season of 1862-63. In February, 1863, while still conducting the Howard, he took the Boston Theatre, then in a bad way financially, and carried it through the remainder of that season, playing Max Maretzek's Italian Opera, with other attractions. His losses were heavy, but, feeling sure of ultimate success, he went on with the next regular season, devoting himself to this house ex- clusively ; and the result fully justified his con-

fidence. Opening with " Henry IV.," with James H. Hackett as the Sir John Falstaff and himself as Harry Hotspur, he followed this with a run of brilliant attractions,-among them the great Spanish dancer, Isabella Cubas, Edwin Booth, Maretzek's Italian Opera, Edwin Forrest, Maggie Mitchell, Mrs. D. P. Bowers, playing Lady Audley for the first time here, the Hernandez troupe, and the Barrow combination,- and at the end of the season found his losses of the pre- liminary season covered, and a handsome balance of several thousand dollars in hand. The season closed on the 13th of June, 1864, with a compli- mentary benefit to Mr. Marshall. Then he re- tired from the theatre, and his notable career as a manager terminated. Since that time he has been engaged mainly in teaching elocution and fitting pupils for the stage. For several years, in conjunction with Miss Lucette Webster, he also gave dramatic readings and recitations before lyceums of New England. Mr. Marshall is prominent in the Masonic fraternity, having been connected with it since 1853, a large part of the time holding offices of trust and responsi- bility. He has been master of his lodge (St. John's), high priest of St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter, and eminent commander of Boston Com- mandery, grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, deputy high priest of the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts, and grand generalis- simo of the Grand Encampment of Massachusetts and Rhode Island ; and he is a thirty-third degree in the ancient and accepted Scottish rite. In politics he is a Democrat. On two occasions he was nominated for alderman, but failed of elec- tion, in one contest lacking but four votes of a plurality. At this time he received the distinction of a unanimous vote of the ward in which he re- sides. He lives on Beacon Hill, in Pinckney Street, one of the older ways of the old West End of Boston.

MASON, EDWARD PALMER, of Boston, presi- dent of the Mason & Hamlin Organ and Piano Company, was born in Cambridge, June 13, 1859, son of Henry and Helen Augusta (Palmer) Mason. His father built the first American cabi- net or parlor organ, in 1854 founded the widely famed house of Mason & Hamlin which intro- duced the cabinet organ in its present general form in 1861, and was the first president of the

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Organ and Piano Company, which succeeded the firm in 1868. His grandfather, the eminent Dr. Lowell Mason, distinguished as the "father of American church music," introduced musical edu- cation into the Boston public schools, was one of the original members and one of the early presi- dlents of the Handel and Haydn Society of Bos- ton (founded in 1815). and compiled its first col- lection of anthems, masses, and choruses ; and his uncle, Dr. William Mason, is a well-known musician and composer of New York. On the maternal side he is descended from Asher l'al- mer, whose father was Judge Thomas Palmer, of

EDW. P. MASON.

Rhode Island. Edward P. was educated in the Brookline public and Chauncy Hall (Boston) pri- vate schools, and at Harvard College, graduating in the class of 1881, with honorable mention in music and philosophy and the degree of "cum laude." Among other men of note in his college class were the Rev. Dr. George A. Gordon, now pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, and Charles MacVeagh, son of Wayne MacVeagh. After graduating from college, he entered the em- ploy of the Mason & Hamlin Organ and Piano Company, beginning as errand boy and clerk in the Boston house, and, working his way through the various departments, obtained a thorough ac-

quaintance with all the details of the great busi- ness. In September, 1884, he was placed in a responsible position in the New York branch, and in 1885 became its manager, which position he held till January, 1890. when he was elected treasurer of the company, and returned to the Boston house. In May following his father died ; and he was then elected president, and placed at the head of the business. About the time that he entered the establishment, in the early eighties. Mason & Hamlin invented and patented a new mode of stringing pianofortes, recognized as a great improvement in piano construction, and began to manufacture these instruments in addi- tion to their extensive organ business ; and under his management the yearly sales of the Mason & Hamlin pianoforte have steadily increased. Mr. Mason is also a director of the Central National Bank, and trustee of the Home Savings Bank of Boston. He is a member of the Union Club. Boston. He was married April 26, 1886, to Miss Mary Lord Taintor, of South Orange, N.J. They have had four children : Henry (died in infancy), Gregory, Lowell, and Ellen Mason.

MILLER, HENRY FRANKLIN, manufacturer, Boston, president of the Henry F. Miller & Sons' Piano Company, was born in Providence. R.J., September 10, 1848, son of Henry F. and Fran- ces V. (Child) Miller. He is descended on both sides from the oldest families of Rhode Island. On the paternal side he is a lineal descendant of Roger Williams; also a descendant of Joseph Jenks, who came from England to this country about 1636, settling in Lynn, Mass., and was the first founder who worked in brass and iron on the Western continent : one of the several sons of Joseph Jenks, who settled in Rhode Island, was one of its colonial governors. On the maternal side his great-grandmother, Margaret Ogden, came from England when quite young. marrying George Beverly, of Providence, R.I., the third of his name in succession, and a descendant of the first Bev- erlys who came to this country from England, and settled in Massachusetts in what is now the town of Beverly. Margaret Ogden, whose mother was an Ingham, was the daughter of James Ogden of England, who, with a Captain Brooks, went to Prosperous, in the county of Kildare, Ireland, and established the first cotton manufactory in the kingdom. It is noteworthy, also, that, on the

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paternal side, Ephraim Miller, as a machinist, with five others, built for Samuel Slater, in Rhode Island, the first cotton mill in this country for spinning cotton yarn. Henry F. came with his parents from Providence to Boston when he was seven years old, and here was educated. Gradu- ating from the Brimmer School, he went to the Boston Latin School; and, urged by Francis Gard- ner, then head - master, he took the advanced course, fitting for college in three years instead of the usual six years' course, it being his intention to enter Harvard. After two years, however,

HENRY F. MILLER.

feeling that his services would early be needed in his father's pianoforte business, which was estab- lished about that time (1863), he decided to enter the English High School, and take the course which he deemed more practical for a business life. His class was one of the last under Boston's great teacher, Thomas Sherwin. He graduated in 1867 with high honors, receiving the Franklin medal and three Lawrence prizes. A pleasant episode of his school-boy life was the military drill, he being captain of the company which, at the first prize drill ever given by the Boston School Regiment, won the prize, a small silk flag which is still in his possession. At the celebra- tion of the semi-centennial of the school in 1871

he was marshal of his class, which turned out fifty members in line. Upon leaving school, he en- tered his father's business. The senior Henry F. Miller was not only a musical genius, but also an expert mechanician, having had many years' prac- tical experience in pianoforte manufacturing be- fore establishing the business which has since assumed such large proportions. Henry F., Jr., however, long before leaving school had become more or less interested in the various departments of pianoforte manufacturing, and was thoroughly conversant with the early traditions of this indus- try in Boston and elsewhere. He gradually as- sumed the financial management of the business, together with correspondence and other depart- ments ; and, on the death of his father in 1884, he, with his brothers, organized the present cor- poration, -- the Henry F. Miller & Sons' Piano Company. As president of the company, he has the general management of its wide-spread inter- ests. In the manufacture of the piano he has been instrumental in removing the box-like ap- pearance of piano cases, and in developing their architectural and artistic features. An especially important factor has been his interest in concerts and in artists who have used the Miller pianos, himself managing the different tours of such great pianists as William H. Sherwood, Dr. Louis Maas, Edmund Neupert, Calixa Lavallee, and many others. Always deeply interested in the growth of music in this country, he took an active part in se- curing for the American composers the popular re- cognition which they have had in late years. He was one of the few active members of the Music Teachers' National Association, outside of pro- fessional musicians, and gave his heartiest support to C'alixa Lavallée, with whom he co-operated in the production of the first programme entirely of American composers at the meeting of the Music Teachers' National Association in 1884, at Cleve- land, Ohio. He is interested also in art, and fond of everything that appertains to it, including painting and the drama, as well as music. He is much concerned in philanthropic work, and has held offices connected with such work rather than civil or political positions. For more than twenty years he has been a life member of the Young Men's Christian Union. He is a director of the Boys' Institute of Industry, of which the Rev. Edward Everett Hale is president, and under whose leadership it has done much to awaken a favorable public sentiment in regard to giving

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boys better opportunities for obtaining education in mechanical arts. For some years past he has been a director of the Industrial Vid Society of Boston, and is at present one of its executive committee. He is connected with various other philanthropic and charitable societies, and he has been prominent in the movement for the introduc- tion of manual training into the public school sys- tem. In religious faith he is Unitarian, and is a prominent member and worker in the Church of the Unity, Boston, of which the Rev. Minot J. Sav- age is minister. At present (1894) he is one of the standing committee of the church, chairman of the Board of Charities, and represents the society on several other committees. He is a member of the Minot J. Savage Club, a life mem- ber of the American Unitarian Association, and member of the Channing Club of Boston, estab- lished in 1887, of which he was one of the founders and the first president. In politics he has been a Republican up to within a few years, but is now an Independent. He is a fine mem- ber of the First Corps of Cadets. Mr. Miller was married October 29, 1874, to Miss Mary A. Gavette, of Boston. They have an only daughter : Margaret Ogden Miller.

MILLETT, JOSHUA HOWARD, member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Maine, born in Cherry- field, Washington County, March 17. 1842, son of the Rev. Joshua and Sophronia ( Howard) Millet. His father was a clergyman of the Baptist denom- ination, and author of the " History of the Bap- tists of Maine." He is a lineal descendant on the paternal side of Thomas Millet, who settled in Dorchester, Mass .. in 1630, and on the mater- nal side of john Howard of the Plymouth Colony, afterwards one of the original settlers of Bridge- water in 1645, also of Mary Chilton, Plymouth, 1620. When he was two years old, his parents removed to Wayne, Me. ; and there he attended the public schools. He was fitted for college at Hebron Academy, Hebron, Me., entered Water- ville College, now Colby University, and gradu- ated with the class of 1867. In 1878 he received the degree of A.M. He studied law with the llon. Isaac F. Redfield, late chief justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, and W. A. Herrick, of Boston, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1870. He began practice in partnership with Messrs. Redfield and Herrick, under the firm

name of Redfield, Herrick, & Millett, which rela- tion continued until the death of Judge Redfield in 1876. Thereafter he continued with Mr. Her- rick until the latter's death, in 1885. Then he formed a partnership with Ralph W. Foster, son of Bishop R. S. Foster, of Boston, under the firm name of Millett & Foster, which still exists. He was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1884. For a number of years Mr. Mil- lett has been associated with several business en- terprises outside of his profession, notably as counsel and president of the Crosby Steam Gauge

JOSHUA H. MILLETT.

and Valve Company since its organization in 1875. He has resided in Malden since 1869. and has held numerous important offices there. From 1875 to ISSI he was a member of the Malden School Committee, 1878-79 a trustee of the Public Library, in ISSo chairman of the sub- committee for framing the city charter, and in 1892 member of the Board of P'ark Commis- sioners. In 1884 and 1885 he was a member of the lower house of the Legislature, and served on the house committees on mercantile affairs, the judiciary, and metropolitan police. He has been president of the Malden Home for Aged Persons since its organization in 1892. He is a member of the following Masonic societies : Converse

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Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter of the Tabernacle, Melrose Council, and Beauseant Commandery of Knights Templars : is a member of the South Mid- dlesex Unitarian Association, of the Massachu- setts Society of Sons of American Revolution, of the Middlesex (political dining) Club of Bos- ton, and of several Malden organizations. In polities he is Republican. Mr. Millett was mar- ried June 19, 1867, to Miss Rosa Maria Tredick, daughter of Charles and Hannah (Giles) Tredick. They have two children : Charles Howard and Mabel Rosa Millett.

MOODY, WILLIAM H., Boston, boot and shoe manufacturer, head of the house of Moody, Ester- brooke, & Anderson, is a native of New Hamp- shire, born in Claremont. May to, 1842, son of Jonathan and Mary Moody. Ile was educated in the public schools of Claremont, and at the age of sixteen entered the shop of George N. Farewell & Co. in that place, where he learned the trade of manufacturing all classes of boots and shoes,

W. H. MOODY.

and mastered every detail of the business. At nineteen he came to Boston, and first engaged as a salesman in the store of John Wallace, retailer, then on Washington Street. Here he remained

but a short time, however, obtaining a position at a better salary and with larger opportunities in the boot and shoe house of Tenny, Ballerston, & Co. At the end of two years' service with this concern he became buyer for Sewall, Raddin, & Son; and three years later, when the firm of Sewall, Raddin, & Son was succeeded by Sewall, Raddin, & Co., he was admitted to partnership. Soon after the firm was reorganized, taking the name of McGibbon, Moody, & Raddin. When this partnership expired, Mr. Moody formed a co- partnership with Messrs. Crane & Leland, under the firm name of Crane, Leland, & Moody, which subsequently became Crane, Moody, & Rising. Not long after, unremitting labor having impaired his health, he withdrew, and temporarily retired from active business, devoting himself to rest and travel. When fully restored, he organized the present house of Moody, Esterbrooke, & Ander- son. His manufactory is in Nashua, N. H., where he has established the largest shoe industry under one roof in the world. His only outside business connection is with the National Shoe & Leather Bank of Boston, of which he is a director. He is a member of the New England Shoe and Leather Exchange. In politics he is Republican. His winter residence is in Boston, and his country seat in Claremont, his native place. The latter, fittingly named " Highland View," is one of the finest estates in New Hampshire, embracing six hundred acres of broken upland, a beautiful dwelling, and well-appointed barns. Mr. Moody was married in October, 1864, to Miss Mary .1. Maynard. Thay have no children.

MORSE, GEORGE WASHINGTON, member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Ohio, whither his par- ents, Peter and Mary E. ( Randall) Morse, had emigrated from New Hampshire in 1833. He was born in Lodi in the Ohio Valley, August 24. 1845. He is a descendant on the paternal side of Anthony Morse, who came from Marlborough, England, and settled in Newbury Old Town, abont the year 1635,- the site of the old Morse home- stead, adjacent to the farm of Michael Little, still called the " Morse Field." It appears by Coffin's History of Newbury that the Morse family fig- ured somewhat conspicuously in the " witchcraft " trials, particularly William, a brother of Anthony. The Rev. Jedediah Morse, the geographer, and his distinguished son, Professor Samuel Finley

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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 21

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