Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 27

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 27

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

to the Suffolk bar in January, 1887. He has practised since that date in connection with the firm of Bangs & Wells, a member of the firm since

E. A. BANGS.

the first of January, 1893, devoting himself largely to the care of property of others. He is a mem- ber of the Puritan Club of Boston, of the Eastern, Massachusetts, and Beverly Yacht clubs, and of the Nuttall Ornithological Club of Cambridge. In politics he is a Democrat. He is unmarried.

BARTLETT, NATHANIEL CILLEY, of Haver- hill, member of the bar, is a native of New Hamp- shire, born in Nottingham, June 22, 1858, son of Thomas Bradbury and Victoria E. W. (Cilley) Bartlett. He is a grandson of the late Hon. Joseph Cilley, United States senator and officer in the war of 1812, also a descendant of Gen- eral Joseph Cilley, an officer in the war of the Revolution ; grandson of the late Judge Brad- bury Bartlett of the New Hampshire courts, and great-grandson of General Thomas Bartlett, an officer in the Revolution and an eminent civil- ian. His early education was acquired in the primary, grammar, and high schools of Haverhill; and he was graduated from Harvard in the class of 1880. During school life his vacations were spent on a New Hampshire farm under the inspi-

ration of the old family traditions, and the re- peated recital of the achievements of a long line of noted ancestors. He read law in the offices of G. C. Bartlett, of Derry, N.H., and of Moody & Bartlett, of Haverhill, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1882. He has practised in Haverhill ever since. He began practice at a time when the field there seemed to be fully oc- cupied; but by his zeal and talent he has built up a lucrative business by the side of men older in the profession. In 1890 and 1891 he was a member of the Haverhill City Council, and in 1893 represented his city in the State legislature, where he served on the committees on roads and bridges and on election laws. In politics always a Republican, he has for a number of years been an active worker for his party. For about a dozen years he has served as a member of the Republican city committee of Haverhill, its secre- tary for two years. He has been a frequent dele- gate to State and county conventions, and in 1892 was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention at Minneapolis. He is a member of the Wachusett Club of Haverhill, and

NATHANIEL C. BARTLETT.

is connected with numerous secret orders : mem- ber of the Odd Fellows, past chancellor of Pales- tine Lodge, Knights of Pythias, past sachem of

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

Passaquoi Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men, past chief of Winnikenni Castle of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and member of the Haverhill Lodge of the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. While a law student at Derry, N.H., he founded the Derry News, a weekly paper still flourishing, and successfully conducted it for a year. Of late years he has given some atten- tion to real estate in Haverhill as an investment. Mr. Bartlett is unmarried.

BEAL, COLONEL, MELVIN, of Lawrence, chief engineer of the fire department, was born in Maine, in the town of Guilford, October 31, 1832, son of Samuel and Esther (Herring) Beal. He is of early New England ancestry. He was educated in the common schools of his native town. When he was thirteen years old, his father died, and he was obliged early to get to work. Until he reached eighteen, he worked on a farm. Then he went to J'elham, N.H., and learned carding and spinning in a woollen mill. Two years later, in 1852, he came to Lawrence, and was employed in the Bay State Mills as a jack-spinner. He was soon promoted to second hand in the same department, which place he held till 1857, when the mills closed, and he was thrown out of employment. Then he took up the trade of a painter, and followed this till 1861, when, upon the Presi- dent's call for troops, he went to Washington with the famous Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers,- the regiment which was attacked in Baltimore. He had enlisted as a private of Company F of this regiment in 1853, and at the time of the call was second lieutenant of his company. In May he was chosen captain of the company. At the close of this service, covering one hundred days, he returned to Lawrence, and was put in charge of the painting department of the Atlantic Mills. In May, 1862, he was made lieutenant colonel of the Sixth Regiment, and in September following re-entered the United States service for nine months. At the expiration of this term he came home, and returned to his old occupation ; but very soon after, in August, 1863, he was again in the army, this time for one hundred days. This service completed, he came back as before, and resumed his regular work. Subsequently he was in the Pennsylvania oil region for a while as superintendent of oil wells. In June, 1866, he was appointed a member of the

Massachusetts State constabulary force, and in this capacity served till March, 1875, when the law was repealed. Then he worked two years for the Boston & Lowell Railroad, and for the next nine years was again in charge of the painting

MELVIN BEAL.

department of the Atlantic Cotton Mills. On May 1, 1875, he was first made chief engineer of the fire department, and served till 1877. He became permanent chief on June 22, 1891, appointed for the term of three years ; and at its close, in 1894, he was reappointed for another three years. His service in the department has covered thirty-seven years, and he has held nearly every position from hoseman to chief. He has been foreman of three different companies. Colonel Beal has also served in the municipal government,-a member of the Common Council for 1866,-and has represented Lawrence in the Legislature, a member of the lower house in 1878. His military service was continued for nearly twenty years after the close of the war. He was elected colonel of the Sixth in June, 1866, and held a colonel's commission in the same regiment until January, 1882. He is a member of the Gre- cian Lodge of Masons, Royal Arch Chapter, Law- rence Council, and of Bethany Commandery, Knights Templar. He is also president of the Lawrence Mutual Relief Association of Masons;

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

president of the Mutual Relief Association of the Lawrence Fire Department; vice-commander of Star Council, American Legion of Honor; member of the United Order of American Mechanics; and member of the Lawrence Rifle Club. In politics he is a Republican. He was married November 9, 1853, to Miss Emily M. Goodhue of Salem, N.H. They have had two children : Emeretta A. (deceased) and Forrest E. Beal.

J. C. BENNETT.

BENNETT, JOSIAH CHASE, of Lynn, shoe man- ufacturer, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Sandwich, May 6, 1835, son of Simon and Mary Fogg (Chase) Bennett. He comes of an early Lynn family, members of which moved to New Hampshire at an early period. It is believed that he is a descendant of Samuel Bennett, who came to Lynn in 1636, was a substantial and pub- lic-spirited citizen, and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. His great- grandfather, Stephen Bennett, served as drum- major throughout the Revolutionary War. On the maternal side he is of the New Hampshire Chase family, of which were two bishops of the Episcopal church, Philander Chase, bishop of Ohio, and Carlton Chase, bishop of New Hamp- shire, who discharged the episcopal duties of the

diocese of New York after the fall of Bishop On- derdonk, and Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. His parents were poor, and when yet a boy he was thrown upon his own resources for support. At the age of sixteen he left the farm, and, coming to Massachusetts, went to work at a shoemaker's bench in Danvers. From Danvers he made his way to Boston, where he engaged in the manufact- ure of silk hats. This business and that of pho- tography occupied him till 1865, when he became connected with the American Shoe Tip Company of Boston. This connection continued about five years, during which period he travelled in differ- ent parts of the country, making wide acquaint- ance with the shoe trade. Largely by his efforts the business of the company, which was in an embarrassed condition when he entered it, was brought to a prosperous stage. In 1870 he took up his residence permanently in Lynn, having for some years made it his summer home, and form- ing a partnership with George F. Barnard, under the firm name of J. C. Bennett & Co., began the manufacture of shoes of the first grade. Two years later the business was moved to a new building in Central Square, where it was contin- ued under the firm name of J. C. Bennett & Bar- nard till the disastrous fire of November, 1889, when this structure, with many others, was burned to the ground. He continued in the shoe busi- ness for some time after under the firm name of J. C. Bennett. At the present time (1894), how- ever, he is not manufacturing but is confining himself more particularly to his real estate. He was a member of the State Senate for one term (1884-85), giving his salary for this service to the Lynn Hospital. In politics he is a Republi- can, and in religion an Episcopalian, parish ves- tryman of St. Stephen's Church, Lynn. Mr. Bennett was married in February, 1865, to Miss Nancy Louisa Richardson, of Rochester, N.H.

BLANCHARD, SAMUEL STILLMAN, of Boston, merchant and manufacturer, is a native of Cam- bridge, born June 23, 1835, son of Simon Tenney and Roxanna (Armsby) Blanchard. He is of Huguenot ancestry ; and his grandfather Samuel Blanchard's farm was at Oxford, Mass., near the Huguenot settlement of two hundred years ago. Thomas Blanchard, the inventor of the eccentric lathe applied to gun-stocks, gun-barrels, lasts, etc., was his father's brother. He was educated

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

in the public schools of Boston, notably the May- hew and Phillips schools. His training for busi- ness life was as a merchant's clerk ; and he early became a partner in the boot and shoe manufact- uring firm of Chase, Merritt, & Blanchard. Dur- ing the year 1882 he opened a wheat farm at Blanchard, No. Dak., a town named for him by the Great Northern Railroad, situated in the Red River valley, the great wheat belt of the North- west. Among his other interests is the Mercan-

S. S. BLANCHARD.

tile Loan and Trust Company of Boston, of which he is a director. He has served in both branches of the Massachusetts Legislature. a member of the House in 1891 and 1892, and a senator in 1894. For these three terms he was a member of the committee on public charitable institutions, House chairman of the committee in 1892, for which he was exceptionally fitted by experience in the administration of charities, having been for some years a director of the Boston Industrial Home and auditor of the Children's Friend Soci- ety. In 1894, his first term in the Senate, he was also chairman of the famous and important joint special committee on transit, and chairman of the committee on State House. He formulated and reported the State House Park bill, providing for the taking of land on the east side of the State

House ; was the author of the bill regulating the height of buildings, making the extreme height one hundred and twenty-five feet, which has been adopted by many other cities in the country ; and in the beginning he had much to do with the new State Medfield Asylum for Chronic Insane, and received the thanks of Governor Russell for his useful work in connection therewith. He also had charge of the bill to prevent "baby farming," conferring upon the State Board of Lunacy and Charity the sole authority to grant licenses to board infants, and was instrumental in securing the passage of this important measure. He is a life member of the veteran organization of the First Corps of Cadets, believing firmly in the citi- zen soldiery, and as an active member of the corps served under Governor Andrew, during the busy days of the Civil War, in the so-called gov- ernor's body-guard. Other organizations to which he belongs are the Bostonian Society (a life mem- ber), the Mercantile Library Association (a trustee and ex-president), the Old Boston School Boys' Association, the Columbian Lodge, the Massachu- setts Republican Club, the Massachusetts Club, and the Middlesex Club. Mr. Blanchard was married New Year's Eve, 1863, to Miss Susie E. Crockett, daughter of the late Colonel Seldon Crockett, of the old Bromfield House. Boston. They have had three children : one son, Judson, who died in 1873 ; one daughter, Grace, died in 1868 ; and a second daughter, Mabel Blanchard, now living.

BOGAN, COLONEL FREDERICK BENEDICT, superintendent of public buildings, Boston, is a native of Boston, born February 10, 1851, son of Frederick and Anne (De Voy) Bogan. He was educated in the public schools, graduating from the old Winthrop School in Charlestown. After leaving school, he entered the employ of Miller Brothers, general builders, where he remained, serving the greater part of the time as foreman, till 1878, when he entered the city architect's office. During his service here he superintended the construction of several school-houses, the hos- pital on Long Island, the pumping station at Chestnut Hill Reservoir, the gate-house at Fisher Hill, and other structures. In 1885 he became assistant superintendent of public buildings, and in 1894 was promoted to the head of the depart- ment as superintendent by appointment of Mayor Matthews. His military career began in 1868

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

with his enlistment, on July 7, in Company D, Fifth Infantry, as a private. He was commis- sioned second lieutenant on the 30th of March,

FRED. B. BOGAN.

1871, and captain on the 4th of March, 1872. Ten years later, on January 19, 1882, he was com- missioned major in the Ninth Regiment, which position he held till his appointment on the staff of Governor Russell, in January, 1892, as an assistant inspector-general with the rank of colo- nel. After a service on the staff for about two years he resigned upon the death of Colonel Strachan to accept the colonelcy of his old regi- ment. During the reconstruction period in the militia Colonel Bogan, as senior captain in the Fifth Infantry, was for a time in command of that regiment. Later he was on two different oc- casions elected major of the regiment, but de- clined to accept ; and he was twice elected major of the Ninth before he accepted that commission. During his long and faithful service he has been recognized as an excellent tactician, and held in high esteem by his brother officers. He has fre- quently officiated as chief marshal of large pro- cessions in Boston, and for several years has been selected to act as judge at the competitive drills of the school regiment and of military organiza- tions in Massachusetts and other States. He is

an active member of the Irish Charitable Society, of the Montgomery Light Guards Veteran Asso- ciation, of the Franklin Literary Association. Colonel Bogan was married May 7, 1878, to Miss M. E. Carney. They have two sons: Charles F. and Frederick L. Bogan.

BRIDGHAM, ROBERT C'HOATE, of Boston, manager for the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company of Portland, Me., was born in Dor- chester, December 4, 1850, son of Prescott C. and Lucy A. (Foster) Bridgham. The family re- moved two years later to Newton, where they still reside. He was educated in the public schools, the Mayhew Grammar of Boston, and the Newton Grammar and High Schools, finish- ing in Allen's Classical and English High School of West Newton. He then started in business, at the age of seventeen, as a boy with Ewing, Wise, & Fuller, of Boston, importers of linens and white goods. The following year he took a position in the Boston office of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, under Henry H. Hyde,

ROBT. C. BRIDGHAM.

general agent, subsequently of Hyde & Smith (Amos D). Smith, 3d, of Providence, R.I.). He remained here till 1872, when, owing to the ill-

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

health of his father, he resigned his position to be- come a member of the firm of Bridgham, Jones & Co., jobbers of foreign and domestic woollens. Soon afterward, upon the death of Mr. Jones, the name was changed to Bridgham & Co., the firm composed of his father and himself. This asso- ciation continued till 1882. For the succeeding three years he was a partner in the firm of Burt, Bridgham, & Snow, of Providence, R.I., impor- ters of woollens. In 1885, this partnership having been dissolved, he returned to the firm of Bridg- ham & Co., remaining four years. From ISS9 to IS91 he represented the firm of Hitchcock, Biggs, & Willett, of London, England, woollen ware- housemen ; and in March, 1891, he accepted the position of manager for the Eastern Massachusetts department of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company of Portland, Me., with offices at No. 4 l'ost-office Square, Boston, which position he still holds. He is a member of Dalhousie Lodge of Freemasons, of Newton Royal Arch Chapter and Gethsemane Commandery, Knights Templar; a member of Newton Lodge No. 92, Order of Odd Fellows, and present regent of Mount Ida Coun- cil No. 1247, Royal Arcanum, of Newtonville. He is also a member of the Boston Life Under- writers' Association, of the New England Com- mercial Travellers' Association, and of the Massa- chusetts Poultry Association. He has been prominent for many years in the social and politi- cal life of Newton. As an active member of the Newton Club (serving for three years on the ex- ecutive committee), he has been a leading factor in connection with the success of this organiza- tion ; and his genial disposition and integrity have won for him a large circle of friends. He has taken an active part in the organization and suc- cess of the Republican party in his section, serv- ing as chairman of the executive committee of the Republican Club of Ward 2, and for several years a member of the Republican ward and city com- mittee of Newton. He is a member also of the Republican Club of Massachusetts. Mr. Bridg- ham was married January 18, 1872, to Miss Ade- laide Luella Swallow, of Boston, by the Rev. Henry M. Parsons, of Union Church, Columbus Avenue.

BROWNE, ANDREW JACKSON, of Boston, first assistant assessor, is a native of New Hampshire, born in the town of Brentwood, March 25, 1831, son of Colonel Josiah and Anna (Tuck) Browne.

His mother was a daughter of Deacon Edward Tuck, of Brentwood, long identified with the inter- ests of the town. He was educated in the public

A. J. BROWNE.

schools, and at the age of eighteen came to Boston to begin business life. For fourteen years, from I854 to 1868, he was engaged in the hack and boarding stable business ; and since 1870 he has been in the real estate business, handling city and suburban property. He has occupied the posi- tion of first assistant assessor since 1871, with the exception of the year 1885. He has served two terms in the lower house of the Legislature (1882- 83) as a representative from the Roxbury District, where he has resided since 1849, when he started in business. He is a member of the Knights of Honor and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Browne was married in February, 1855, to Miss Miranda J. Shaw, daughter of Abram and Fannie Shaw, of Kensington, N.H.

BURNHAM, ALBERT STANWOOD, of Revere, superintendent of the Revere Water Company, was born in East Boston, September 25, 1850, son of Andrew and Anna B. (Duncan) Burnham. He is of American ancestry on the paternal side, from

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

about 1700, and Scotch on the maternal side. The family moved to Revere in 1853, where his father was long active and influential in town affairs, for many years a selectman, moderator of town meetings, and prominent in the work of es- tablishing the water service which the town now enjoys. He was educated in the public schools of Revere, which he attended until he reached the age of seventeen years. Then he learned the house carpenter's trade, and followed this occupa- tion till 1874, when he engaged in the retail drug business on Broadway. In 1882 he became one

ALBERT S. BURNHAM.

of the incorporators of the Revere Water Com- pany, and entered its employ in 1884 as superin- tendent and registrar, and clerk of the corporation, which positions he still holds. The system which he directs is now about forty-five miles in length, and supplies the towns of Revere and Winthrop. Following in the footsteps of his father, he has held the principal executive positions in the town government,-auditor from 1878 to 1887 ; col- lector of taxes in 1881 ; member of the board of health, 1881 ; selectman, chairman of the board and clerk, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892; trustee of the Public Library, 1884, 1885, 1886; member of the School Committee, chairman and clerk, 1886, 1887, 1888; justice of the peace, 1884 to 1891;

and bail commissioner from 1881 to the present time. Like his father, also, he has been fre- quently moderator of the annual town meetings, and of very many special meetings. In 1884 and 1885 he represented the Twenty-sixth Suffolk Dis- trict in the lower branch of the Legislature; and in 1893 and 1894 he was a member of the Senate from the First Suffolk Senatorial District, which district embraces Ward One, East Boston (his birthplace), the city of Chelsea, and the towns of Revere and Winthrop. In the House of 1884 he was a member of the committee on federal re- lations; and in 1885 house chairman of the com- mittee on library, and member of the committee on water supply. In the Senate of 1893 he was chairman of the committee on drainage, and was also on the committees on insurance and labor ; and in 1894 chairman of the committee on manu- factures, and on the committees on drainage and on constitutional amendments. He advocated and voted for municipal suffrage for women, and for the so-called "Norwegian system " of selling intoxicating liquors. In the matter of the " Meigs Elevated Railway Bill," before the Legislature of 1894, he secured amendments to the measure, providing for a route to Revere, with a terminus at or near the proposed " Metropolitan Park " in the Crescent Beach District, and an im- portant provision requiring the payment by the railroad corporation of an annual franchise tax on its gross earnings, the same to be divided be- tween the cities and towns wherein its tracks may be laid. This legislation is in the nature of an innovation in respect to Massachusetts railroads. He also successfully opposed the repeal of the present law compelling cities and towns to pur- chase existing " gas or electric light plants " be- fore engaging in the business of "municipal or commercial lighting." He was the first resident of the town of North Chelsea (now Revere) ever honored by an election to the Senate, and he was the youngest member of the Senate of 1893 and 1894. In his legislative service he has earned a reputation for conservatism and a strict loyalty to the Republican party, to which he has been at- tached from youth up, always giving unswerving support to its platforms and candidates. He has been prominent in the party organization for a long period, and has held the position of chair- man of the Republican town committee of Revere for eighteen years. He was also on the State He is a member of the New

committee in 1891.

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

England Water Works Association, of the Massa- chusetts Republican Club, of the United Order of the Golden Cross, and of the New England Order of Protection. He was married April 29, 1874, to Miss Eudora M. Phelps. They have five chil- dren : Clara Estelle (aged eighteen years), Flor- ence Edwina (twelve years), Helen Louise (nine years), Marion Augusta (six years), and Dora Burnham (born in 1894).

CAPEN, SAMUEL BILLINGS, of Boston, mer- chant, is a native of Boston, born December 12, 1842, son of Samuel Childs and Ann (Billings) Capen. He is in the eighth generation from Ber- nard and Jane Capen, the progenitors of all the Capens in New England, who came to Dorchester in the ship " Mary and John," May 30, 1630. The oldest gravestone in New England bears the name of Bernard Capen, died in 1638. He is in the eighth generation also from John Alden of the l'lymouth Colony and of Roger Billings, who came to Dorchester in 1640. His grandfather, Samuel Capen, of Dorchester, served in seven campaigns in the war of the American Revolu- tion ; and his only brother, Joseph Henry Capen, was in the Forty-fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, Company F, in the war of the Re- bellion. He was educated in the old Quincy Grammar and the English High Schools, both of Boston, graduating from the latter in 1858. After leaving school, he entered the carpet store of Wentworth & Bright, and in 1864 became a part- ner in the business, with which he has been con- nected ever since under the firm names succes- sively of William E. Bright & Co., William E. Bright & Capen, and Torrey, Bright, & Capen. He has been a director of the Howard National Bank for a number of years, and is at present vice-president of the institution. He has for many years been identified with the public school system of Boston, having as a member of the School Committee, during a long period (1889- 93), served on important committees,- chairman of the committees on school-houses, on manual training schools, on legislative matters, and on annual report, and member of that on accounts. The last year of his service, 1893, he was president of the board. He has also been prominent in va- rious reform movements, national and local, and in associations of the Congregational denomination. He has been a member of the Boston Indian

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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 27

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