Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 26

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 26

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

of Reading, Penna., and then began his profes- sional studies, entering the Yale Law School in 1882. Here he received his degree of LL.B.

SHERMAN L. WHIPPLE.

in 1884, and on Commencement day was one of the Townsend orators. In the autumn of 1884 he was admitted to the New Hampshire bar, and, after a brief stay in the office of Train & Teele in Boston, began professional work associated with Judge David Cross at Manchester, N.H. While a student in the law school, he taught for two terms special branches in the old Colby Academy, where he had been a pupil. Returning to Boston in May, 1886, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and immediately began practice here, taking a desk in Messrs. Train & Teele's office. In the autumn of 1887 he moved into his present offices at No. 5 Tremont Street. He has built up a large jury and equity practice within a few years, and has handled especially insolvency cases involving large sums. In 1891 he was appointed receiver of the Mutual one-year Benefit Association. He is a trustee of the County Savings Bank of Chel- sea, and a director of the lona Manufacturing Company. In politics he is a Democrat, of the progressive wing of his party : but he has never held office or taken an active part in political work, devoting himself entirely to the practice of

19I

MEN OF PROGRESS.

his profession. He is a member of the Historic Genealogical Society, of the University and Whist clubs of Boston, of the Country Club, of the Longwood and the Longwood Cricket clubs, and the Thursday Club of Brookline. He also belongs to the First Corps of Cadets. In 1892 he was elected a trustee of Colby Academy. He was married December 27, 1893, to Miss Louise Clough, daughter of Judge L. B. Clough, of Man- chester, N.H. He resides in Brookline, occupy- ing the estate of the late George M. Towle, which he purchased in the autumn of 1893.

WILLIAMS, HENRY WEBB, member of the Massachusetts and United States bars and solici- tor of patents, was born in Taunton, June 6, 1847, son of Benjamin Webb Williams (son of Rev. Na- thaniel W. Williams and Priscilla Webb Will- iams) and Clarissa W. (Reed) Williams (daughter of Hodges Reed). His paternal ancestors are of the Roger Williams stock on the grandfather's side, and the Webb family of Salem on the grand- mother's side ; and his maternal ancestry is of the Reed family of Bristol County, said to be de- scendants of the Huguenots. When he was at the age of about four years, his father and mother re- moved to Boston ; and he has resided in Boston and its suburbs ever since that time. He was educated in Boston public schools, graduating from the Dwight Grammar School under Master Page, and then entering the Boston Latin School. As a scholar, he was quick and intelligent ; and it was the intention of his parents to send him to Har- vard College. Much against their desires, how- ever, he left the Latin School before graduation, and determined to earn his own livelihood. At the age of about seventeen, therefore, he entered a large wholesale dry- goods establishment to "learn the trade," at the salary of seventy-five dollars a year. He remained there a little over a year, and then connected himself with a pub- lishing house, where his salary quickly rose from $350 a year to $800, and was, at the age of twenty, sent out "on the road" as a drummer. He-made an extensive trip through the Middle States and the West, and succeeded in taking the largest amount of orders in the history of the house. Upon his return he found that he was in the future expected to travel six months in the year, and seriously considered whether he desired to devote himself to such an occupation or not.

On concluding that the life of a " drummer " was not to his taste, he accepted a position in another publishing house where " drumming on the road " was not expected of him. Seeing no prospect of increasing remuneration here, he entered, at the age of twenty-one, into a copartnership with his father, who was then engaged in promoting some business schemes founded on patents for inven- tions, his own part of the business relating more particularly to the securing of letters patents from the Patent Office. This was in January, 1869. He studied the law and practice relating to pat- ents with great interest, and in January, 1870, separated from his father, and devoted himself exclusively to patent practice. Feeling the need of a thorough legal education, he afterward en- gaged a tutor, and without giving up his regular business, by dint of hard night work and much perseverance, prepared himself for admission to the bar, and was admitted successively to the Massachusetts and United States bars. Mr. Will- iams's specialty has always been patent practice. although corporation practice has naturally fol- lowed, as his clients have numbered many manu-

HENRY W. WILLIAMS.

facturing corporations whose business is based largely on patent property. His practice, accord- ingly, is largely an office practice, except so far

192

MEN OF PROGRESS.

as it takes him to the Patent Office and into the United States courts. The bulk of it has always been in the Patent Office, and it is an interesting fact that he has made the trip from Boston to Washington for the purpose of arguing difficult and contested cases in the Patent Office some two hundred and fifty times. He has now (1894) been in continuous practice in patent cases for more than a quarter of a century, and stands with the foremost of that portion of the bar making a specialty of patent office practice. He has been an indefatigable worker, has paid much attention to promptness, and probably dislikes nothing more than to let his cases get ahead of him. He was never known to accept a retainer for a case which he did not believe was just, nor to encourage a client to believe more in the ultimate success of his cause than the facts seemed to warrant. In religious matters Mr. Williams was brought up in the strict Trinitarian Congregational belief ; but after the age of twenty-five or so his views be- came liberalized somewhat, although he has never formally renounced his allegiance to the ortho- dox church. He is a gentleman of quiet tastes, has never taken any active part in politics, and is inclined to be tenacious of his opinions, not, however without being able to defend them logically. Although not what is usually termed a club man, he is a member of one or two of the best clubs in Boston and Washington. He is a ready writer, and has a strong poetic vein, which he indulges only occasionally and very rarely in public print. Among his intimates he is known as possessing a keen wit and strong sense of humor. Mr. Williams was married at the age of twenty-two, and three children have been the product of the union, one only, a daughter, now living.

WINSHIP, ALBERT EDWARD, lecturer and author, and editor of the Journal of Education, Boston, is a native of West Bridgewater, born February 24, 1845, son of Isaac and Drusilla (Lothrop) Winship. He is a descendant of Lieutenant Edward Winship, who came from England to Cambridge in 1634. After his pre- liminary education he prepared for teaching at the Bridgewater (Mass.) State Normal School and for the ministry at Andover Theological Semi- nary. The last year of the Civil War he was a private in the Sixtieth Massachusetts Regiment. His professional career began as principal of a

rural school in Maine, from which he became prin- cipal of a grammar school in Newton, Mass., where he remained three years, going from there to the Normal School at Bridgewater where he was a teacher for four years. He was for nine years pastor of the Prospect Hill Church in Somerville, which he left for the secretaryship of the New West Education Commission. His connection with the Journal of Education dates from 1885, since which time he has been both editor and publisher of the paper. In 1890-91 he was also editor-in-chief of the Boston Daily Traveller. He

A. E. WINSHIP.

is most widely known as a lecturer in the Red- path Lyceum Bureau, having lectured in all the States from Maine to California, going to the Pa- cific coast regularly every other year. His suc- cess in this field, and as a general platform cam- paign speaker, has been marked. At the same time he has achieved reputation as a many-sided writer. Among his publications in book form are " Methods and Principles." " Essentials of Psy- chology," and "The Shop." Mr. Winship is a member of many orders, clubs, and associations. In politics he is a Republican, a member of the executive committee of the Republican State Com- mittee. He was married August 24, 1872, to Miss Ella R. Parker, daughter of Stillman F.

193

MEN OF PROGRESS.

and Lavinia Parker, of Reading. They have six children : George Parker, Edith A., Luella P., Edna E., Lawrence L., and Mildred L. Winship. Mr. Winship has resided in Somerville for up- wards of twenty years, where he is closely identi- fied with public affairs.

WOOD, FRANK, printer, Boston, active in the Indian rights movement, is a native of Ireland, born in Cavan, May 3, 1842, son of James and Dorothy (Rountree) Wood. He is of Scotch and

FRANK WOOD.

English ancestry on both sides, descended from Scotch Presbyterians and Puritans who went to Ireland in the time of Cromwell. He came to Boston with his parents when he was four years old, and has lived here ever since. He was edu- cated in the Boston public schools. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Fred Rogers, at that time one of the most skilful printers in the city, to learn the printer's trade, and served till his majority. Then he was foreman of the office for seven years, and at the age of twenty-eight entered business on his own account. For about four years he was a member of the firm of Batch- elder & Wood, and since 1875 he has conducted his large establishment alone. His methods are

in some respects unusual, and have brought him gratifying success. He is not confined to any special branch of the printer's art, but engages in all kinds, -- book, job, railroad, illustrated and col- ored work. He does a strictly cash business so far as buying is concerned, never having given a note in' his life. He employs no solicitors, yet in twenty years he has not seen a dull week. Mr. Wood is also connected with several manufacturing and business corporations as president, treasurer, and director. He has long been actively inter- ested in public affairs, church affairs, reform move- ments ; and a working member of numerous or- ganizations for the advancement of philanthropic and benevolent undertakings. He has been con- nected with the Boston Indian Citizenship Associa- tion since its foundation, and has for some years been treasurer of the Lake Mohonk Indian Confer- ence which meets annually at Lake Mohonk, N.Y. He is treasurer also of the Delft Haven Memorial Committee; is a trustee of the Northfield Semi- nary ; a trustee of the New England Conservatory of Music ; a director in a number of religious and charitable societies ; was president of the Old Boston Congregational Club in 1893 ; is a mem- ber of the Municipal League, of the Pilgrim Asso- ciation, and of the Boston Art Club. In poli- ties he is Republican, with Independent lean- ings. He was married November 1, 1870, to Miss Annie M. Smith, of Boston. They have no children. Mr. Wood resides in the Dorchester District of Boston, where he is largely inter- ested in real estate. He possesses a fine library and a choice collection of paintings and rare engravings.

WOODS, SOLOMON ADAMS, president of the S. A. Woods Machine Company, Boston, is a native of Maine, born in Farmington, October 7, 1827, son of Colonel Nathaniel and Hannah (Adams) Woods. He descends from Samuel Woods, an original landed proprietor of Groton, Mass., where the family long lived; and on the maternal side is in the sixth generation from Captain Samuel Adams, magistrate and repre- sentative of Chelmsford in the General Court in the first half-century of that town. His paternal grandfather was a pioneer in Farmington, and his father a leading townsman there. Solomon A. was reared on a good farm, and was educated in the district school and at the Farmington Acad-

194

MEN OF PROGRESS.

emy. At the age of twenty he went to work with a local carpenter to learn the use of tools and the trade of house-building. Four years later he de- termined to build a mill in Farmington, and in partnership with his employer engage in the manufacture of doors, sashes, and blinds ; but, after a trip to Boston to purchase machinery for

S. A. WOODS.

this purpose, he concluded to establish himself in that city. Thereupon he entered the employ of Solomon S. Gray, door, sash, and blind manu- facturer, as a journeyman. Within the first year (1851) of this connection he purchased Mr. Gray's plant, and engaged in the manufacture on his own account. This he continued until 1864. In the mean time, 1854, he formed a part- nership with Mr. Gray, under the firm name of Gray & Woods, for the manufacture and sale of a

wood-planing machine of Mr. Gray's invention, but rendered more practical by his own inven- tions. This partnership held for five years, during which period additional improvements were patented. Thereafter the business was con- ducted under Mr. Woods's name alone until 1873, when the S. A. Woods Machine Company was organized, with Mr. Woods as president. In 1865 the business was considerably enlarged by the addition of the manufacture of the Woodbury planer, with the Woodbury patented improve- ments, of which Mr. Woods was the sole licensee ; and extensive works were then erected in South Boston, and branch houses opened in New York and Chicago. Since the establishment of the firm of Gray & Woods, more than fifty patents for de- vices and improvements in machines for planing wood and making mouldings have been issued to the successive firms ; and they have received nearly a hundred gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded at industrial exhibitions. Mr. Woods has been a trustee of the South Boston Savings Bank since 1870, and for many years a member of its board of investment. He has served as a member of the Boston Common Council three terms (1869-70-71), and as a director of the East Boston ferries two years (1870-71). In 1878 a nomination to the Board of Aldermen on the Re- publican and " Citizens " tickets was urged upon him, but he declined to stand. He is a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Asso- ciation, of the Boston Art Club, and of St. Omer Commandery, Knights Templar. Mr. Woods was married in Boston, August 21, 1854, to Miss Sarah E. Weathern, of Vienna, Me. She died in 1862. He married secondly, in 1867, Miss Sarah C. Watts, of Boston. He has two sons and a daughter : Frank Forrest (now vice-president and general manager of the S. A. Woods Machine Company), Florence, and Frederick Adams Woods.

PART III.

AVERS, GEORGE DAVID, member of the Suf- folk bar, was born in Boston, August 26, 1857. son of David and Martha Elizabeth (Huckins) Ayers. He was educated in the public schools of Malden, including the High School, and at Har-

GEORGE D. AYERS.

vard, where he graduated in the class of 1879. He studied law in the Harvard Law School three years, graduating in 1882, and about six months (from October, 1882, to March, 1883) in the office of Gaston & Whitney, Boston ; and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in February, 1883. He began practice alone, but two years later formed an as- sociation with George Clarendon Hodges, and later on with Mr. Hodges and Stanton Day. He is now associated with John Storer Cobb. He is an ardent supporter of the principles laid down by the Nationalist party, and was one of the earliest

members of the Nationalist Club of Boston, serv- ing as its president in 1889-90. He is, outside of his practice, mainly interested in the Theosophical movement, and has been prominent in several or- ganizations for its advancement,- the New Eng- land Theosophical Corporation, of which he has been president since November, 1893; the Mal- den Theosophical Society, its president from April, 1890, to October, 1891 ; and the Boston Theosophical Society, its president from October, 1891 to January, 1894. He is now president again of the Malden Theosophical Society. In politics Mr. Ayers is a Democrat, with "Mug- wump " tendencies. Theoretically, he is a free trader, who believes that it would have been better for the United States if it never had had a " protective " tariff, and yet recognizes that, as a practical matter, a free-trade basis should now be reached by gradual legislation. In Malden he has taken an active interest in local affairs, but has repeatedly declined political preferment. He is a member of the Young Men's Democratic Club of Massachusetts (on its executive committee in 1888-89), the Malden Historical Society, and of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He belongs to the Masonic order, and is a mem- ber of Converse Lodge of Malden. He was married January 7, 1885, to Miss Charlotte Eliza- beth Carder, of Milford, Conn., daughter of the Rev. James Dixon Cardler and Charlotte (Pond) Carder.

BACON, CHARLES NEWCOMB, of Winchester and Arlington, manufacturer, is a native of Med- ford, born December 2, 1838, son of John Hudson and Sarah Ann (Tyrell) Bacon. On the paternal side he is of Cape Cod stock, his ancestors early settled in Barnstable: and his maternal grand- father was of Georgia. He was educated in the public schools of Medford, and at Chauncy Hall, Boston, where he was a silver medal scholar. At the age of eighteen he entered the felting works

196

MEN OF PROGRESS.

of his father in that part of Medford now Win- chester, originally established by his grandfather, Robert Bacon, in 1825, for the manufacture of hat bodies, wadding, and felting. He passed through every grade, becoming thoroughly familiar with all the details of the manufacture, and before many years was at the head of the works. He also early invented new processes, and subsequently improvements in the machinery, by which a greater variety and higher grade of goods were produced.

When he was but nineteen, he brought out the first

heavy feltings manufactured in the country. In 1876 he patented a solid felt buffer for burnishing wheels and for emery wheels, and in 1888, a wood-centred felt polishing wheel. Among his other inventions are blackboard and dry slate erasers, a felt saddle for horses, felt handles for bieyeles, felt base balls, and numerous small articles of utility. In 1875 Mr. Bacon succeeded his father in the factory, and the firm name has since been Charles N. Bacon. The Boston office was for many years on the round corner of Union

CHAS. N. BACON.

and North Streets, a landmark, where Robert Bacon had his hat and cap store in the early twenties before he built his factory in the country ; and near by on North, then Ann, Street, near the present Oak Hall, Edward Q. Tyrell, the father of

Mr. Bacon's mother, was at the same time estab- lished in the shoe and leather business. The office is now on Federal Street. Mr. Bacon is a member of the Charitable Mechanic Association, as was his father, and also his father's father, the latter a life member, joining the association in 1824, and serving some time on its board of gov- ernment. He was married in Winchester, Oeto- ber 10, 1860, to Miss Florence Louise Holbrook, daughter of Ridgeway E. Holbrook, of Dorchester, and grand-daughter of Samuel B. Doane, of Boston, through whom she is connected with the Shaws, Wadsworths, Cunninghams, and other old Boston families. They have had seven children : Flor- ence Allena, born March 12, 1862 (now Mrs. Edward W. Hall) ; Lillian Louise, born January 14, 1864 (now Mrs. Frederick S. Smith) ; Charles Francis, born August 12, 1866; Louis Alfred, born July 27, 1868 ; Cyrus Clark, born September 23, 1870, died July 26, 1871 ; Robert, born March 31, 1873; and Mabel Grace Bacon. The sons, Charles Francis and Louis A., are engaged in the factory at Winchester. Robert graduated from Harvard College in 1894. Mr. Bacon resides in Arlington.

BAILEY, DUDLEY PERKINS, of Everett, mem- ber of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Maine, born in Cornville, October 24, 1843, son of the Rev. Dudley P. and Hannah B. (Cushman) Bailey. On the paternal side he is descended from John Alden, and on the maternal side from Robert Cushman, who came out in the " Fortune," in 1621. He was educated in the district school, the Monson (Me.) Academy, and at Waterville College, now Colby University, in the class of 1867. He left college at the end of the junior year, but subsequently (in 1877) received his de- gree in course as a member of his class. For a year before entering college he taught school in St. Albans, Me. He studied law in Portland, Me., in the office of the Hon. William L. l'utnam, now Justice Putnam of the United States Circuit Court, and on April 28, 1870, was admitted to the bar. Two years later he removed to Massachu- setts, and has practised here since with offices in Boston, and in Everett, where he has resided. He has an extensive real estate, probate, and general practice, and is especially conversant with Everett real estate titles, which he has made a specialty. He has been identified with the de- velopment of Everett, and with its varied inter-

197

MEN OF PROGRESS.

ests, being an earnest advocate of local improve- ments. He was a member of the School Committee for fourteen years, five years (1886- 91) its chairman : was one of the founders of the Everett Public Library, a director or trustee of

DUDLEY P. BAILEY.

that institution from its establishment in 1878, secretary of the board for fourteen years, and in 1892-93 its chairman ; is a trustee of the Everett Savings Bank; during the last six years of the existence of Everett as a town was twelve times elected moderator of its town meetings, pre- siding at the final meeting, November 10, 1892 ; in 1886 and 1887 represented the town in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving in that body on the committees on taxation (house chairman), in 1887 also on the committee on probate and insolvency, and instrumental in se- curing the legislation providing for the revision and codification of the laws for the collection of taxes ; was a member of the committee to frame the city charter, and in 1893 of the first Common Council of the city of Everett (incorporated June 11, 1892); was re-elected a member of the Com- mon Council for 1894, and became its president. Since his college days Mr. Bailey has been a fre- quent contributor to various periodicals, and for many years was a special writer for the Banker's

Magazine. Among his publications in pamphlet form are papers on "The Clearing-house Sys- tem," embracing much valuable statistical infor- mation, " An Historical Sketch of Banking in Massachusetts," " Austrian Paper Money in the Panic of 1873," and "The Credit Institutions of Italy." He is the author of the chapters relating to clearing houses in the work on " Practical Banking " by A. S. Bolles, and of the historical sketch of the Boston Clearing House for the "Commercial History of Boston." He prepared the sketches of the town of Everett in Drake's "History of Middlesex County" (1879), in Lewis's " History of Middlesex County " (1890). and in the illustrated history of Everett, known as the "Everett Souvenir " (1893). While at col- lege, he was especially interested in the study of political economy, and in 1886 won a prize offered by the American Free Trade League to under- graduates in American colleges for the best essay on free trade. He is prominent in the Baptist de- nomination,- a life member of the Massachusetts Baptist Convention, a director since 1887, mem- 'ber of the finance committee since 1889, made chairman in 1892, and attorney for the corpora- tion in 1889 ; has been treasurer of the First Bap- tist Church of Everett upwards of fifteen years, and was one of the founders of the Glendale Bap- tist Church, Everett, in 1890. He was the first president of the Pine Tree State Club of Everett, is a member of the American Statistical Society, and belongs to the Masonic order, a member of the Palestine Lodge of Everett, and of the Royal Arch Chapter of the Tabernacle of Malden. Mr. Bailey is unmarried.

BANGS, EDWARD APPLETON, of Boston, mem- ber of the Suffolk bar, was born in Watertown, June 27, 1860, son of Edward and Anne Outram (Hodgkinson) Bangs. He is a descendant of Edward Bangs, who came from England to Plym- outh in the ship " Ann " in 1623, and on the maternal side of Governor Thomas Hinckley of the Plymouth Colony. He was educated in Bos- ton private schools (Miss Adams's school, some time on Brimmer Street, and George W. C. Noble's school, then on Winter Street) and at Harvard College, graduating in the class of 1884. He read law in the office of Bangs & Wells (composed of his father and Samuel Wells, son of ex-Gov- ernor Samuel Wells of Maine), and was admitted

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 26

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