Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 29

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 29

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

English department in Chauncy Hall School, Bos- ton, where he remained nine years, at the same time reading law. He was admitted to the Suf- Tolk bar September 8, 1859, and to practice in the United States Circuit Court October 17, fol- lowing. He retired permanently from school- teaching early in 1860, and opened a law office in Boston. In September, 1868, he was ap- pointed by President Johnson collector of internal revenue for the Fifth District, Massachusetts, and held this position continuously through the ad- ministrations of Presidents Grant, Hayes, Gar-

CHARLES C. DAME.

field, and Arthur, till August, 1883. That year he opened a law office in Newburyport, and has since practised there. In March, 1876, he was admitted to practice in the United States Su- preme Court at Washington. He has lived in Newburyport since the late thirties, maintaining his residence there while teaching in Lynn and in Boston and practising law in the latter city, and has held numerous local positions, besides repre- senting his district in the State Senate (1868). In 1856 he was a member of the School Board, in 1859-60 member of the Common Council, in 1862 an alderman, and in 1886 mayor of the city. He has been a director of the Merchants' Na- tional Bank of Newburyport since January, 1886,

and a trustee of the Institution for Savings in Newburyport and its Vicinity since January, 1884. He is a prominent Mason, and has held numerous high offices in the order. He was for three years (1866-67-68) grand master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, A. F. & A. M. He was wor- shipful master of Revere Lodge, Boston ; high priest of St. Andrews R. A. Chapter, Boston ; eminent commander of Hugh de Payen Com- mandery, Melrose, and of Boston Commandery, Boston ; and is an honorary member of the Su- preme Council, A. A. S. R. of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, for the thirty-third, or last, degree. He has been a member of the Masonic Education and Charity Trust in Massachusetts from its commencement, in 1884, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts since 1881. Mr. Dame was for many years an active member of the Veteran Artillery Company of Newburyport and of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, commander of the former in 1870 and judge advocate in later years. In politics he was originally a Whig, and upon the dissolution of that party became a Republican. He was mar- ried September 1, 1842, to Miss Frances Amelia Little, of Newbury. They have had four chil- dren : Frances Chase (deceased), Charles Little (deceased), Frances Maria, and Charles Wallis Dame.

DANIELS, JOHN HERBERT, of Fitchburg. dealer in real estate, was born in Worcester, January 27, 1845, son of Thomas E. and Lucy (Sherwin) Daniels. His grandfather, Verin Dan- iels, was a pioneer builder and contractor of Fitchburg; and his father was an inventor of note, originator of the Daniels planer, a machine which has been in constant use since its invention in 1 834. He was educated in the public schools of Fitchburg, and graduated from a business college. His active career was begun at nineteen years of age as clerk in the provost marshal's office in Greenfield. Here he was employed in 1864 -65. For the next twenty years, from 1865 to 1885, he was connected with the Fitchburg Rail- road, first as clerk in the freight office, then freight cashier, and the latter part of this period as ticket and freight agent. In 1884 a fine tract of high land, embracing one hundred and fifty acres, and including what had been known as the Daniels farm, lying by the side of the Fitchburg

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Railroad, between Fitchburg and West Fitchburg, came into his possession ; and he proceeded to develop it as a manufacturing centre, subse-

----

JOHN H. DANIELS.

quently devoting much of his time to this enter- prise. He induced manufacturers to build upon it by giving them suitable land, opened streets through and across it, encouraged the building of dwellings, schools, and stores; and, as a result of his efforts and public spirit, within a few years a thriving community was here established. Where there was not a single dwelling in 1885, there are now (1894) four extensive manufactories, employing a large number of hands, many dwell- ing-houses, a public and a parochial school, a French Catholic church, and a dozen stores. Mr. Daniels is especially concerned in the growth and welfare of Fitchburg, and in educational and re- ligious interests. He has been secretary of the Board of Trade from its reorganization in 1891, a trustee of the Fitchburg Savings Bank, vice- president of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, and treasurer of the First Baptist Church of Fitchburg. He served in the Common Council in 1884-85, and has been a member of the School Board since 1888. He is a director of the Fidelity Co-operative Bank, the Brown Bag- filling Machine Company, and of the Wachusett

Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Mr. Daniels was married first, in 1872, to Miss Abby F. Lane. She died in 1879, leaving two children : Herbert L. and Ernest T. Daniels. He married secondly, in 1892, Miss Florence R. Dwinnell. They have a daughter, Ellen S. Daniels.

DILLON, DAVID MARTIN, of Fitchburg, man- ufacturer, was born in St. John, N.B., April 15, 1843, son of William and Isabella (Dillon) Dillon. He was educated in the public schools of his native place. He came to the United States when about seventeen years of age; and soon after, the Civil War breaking out, he en- listed in the government service, and for two years was a most trusted workman in it. At the close of the war he settled in Worcester, and there started a steam-boiler business. After five prosperous years in Worcester he moved his busi- ness to Fitchburg, where he has since built up one of the most flourishing boiler manufacturing con- cerns in New England. To him belongs the credit for making the first steel boilers, which

DAVID M. DILLON.

placed him among the foremost of those who have revolutionized mechanical processes. His shops are models of convenience, being amply

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equipped with the most improved tools ; and his manufactured goods find market in all parts of the United States, in South and Central America, Mexico, Japan, and other countries. Besides his extensive boiler business, he is connected with various other enterprises, and is concerned as a leader in every movement for the growth, im- provement, and general well-being of his city. He is president of the Fitchburg Real Estate As- sociation, which has done much to advance and develop suburban property ; is a director of the Parkhill Manufacturing Company, a director of the Fitchburg Co-operative Bank ; and was presi- dent of the Board of Trade during the year 1893. In fraternal societies he is prominent as a mem- ber of Mount Rollstone Lodge and King David Encampment, Order of Odd Fellows, and of Al- pine Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He is an hon- orary member of the Fitchburg Athletic Club. In politics he is a Republican, and is frequently selected to attend conventions. He has served two terms in the Fitchburg Board of Aldermen, where he was known, as in private life, as an un- flinching supporter of measures which he con- ceived to be right. Mr. Dillon was married June 17, 1869, to Miss Margaret Grace Kavener. They have seven children : Benjamin H., Freder- ick N., 1). Frank, Katherine Louise, Isabella Mary, Walter Sidney, and Herbert L. Dillon.

DOWD, JAMES JOSEPH, of Brockton, member of the bar, is a native of Worcester, born July +, 1857, son of Charles and Mary (Reynolds) Dowd. His parents were born in Ireland. He attended the Worcester public schools, and after graduat- ing from the High School, class of 1877, took a thorough collegiate course, studying some time at the St. Charles College, Elicott City, Md., then at Holy Cross, Worcester, and finishing at St. Michael's College, Toronto, Can., where he grad- uated in the class of 18So. He studied law in Worcester, and was admitted to the bar there September 20, 1882. While engaged in practice, he had a brief experience as an editor of a weekly paper, the Saturday Democrat of Worcester, which flourished for a few short months, from February to May, 1884. He remained in Worces- ter until September 25, 1886, when he moved his law business to Brockton, where he has since been established. He early took an interest in affairs in Brockton, and in 1893 was made an

alderman. In 1894 he represented the city in the lower house of the Legislature, serving there on the committees on bills in the third reading

JAMES J. DOWD.

and on revision of corporation laws. In politics he has always been a Democrat. He was chair- man of the Brockton Democratic city committee in 1889, and member of the Democratic State central committee in 1890 and 1891. He was married October 14, 1885, to Miss Nellie F. Degan. They have one child : Agnes Dowd.

DRAKE, LUTHER J., member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Maine, born in the town of Union, October 27, 1847, son of Luther H. and Abigail (Davis) Drake. He is of English ances- try, and his great-great-grandparents were among the early settlers of the colonies. He was pre- pared for college at the Maine Wesleyan Semi- nary, and graduated from Bowdoin College in the class of 1871. After leaving college, he engaged in teaching, in which he spent about two years, first in the Warren (Me.) Academy, and after- ward in the Bridgewater (Mass.) High School, meantime reading law. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar at New Bedford, January 12, 1874. and began the practice of his profession in

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Fall River, where he continued till 1880, when he came to Boston. Since that date he has been engaged in general practice at the Suffolk bar.

L. J. DRAKE.

During the closing period of the Civil War Mr. Drake was first lieutenant Company F, Twelfth Maine Volunteers, and served from February, 1865, to March, 1866, commanding his company the last ten months of that time till the mustering out of the regiment. He is a Royal Arch Mason. In politics he is a Republican. He was married in October, 1876, at Fall River to Miss Ellen Hibbard. They have no children.

DUDLEY, SANFORD HARRISON, member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Maine, born in China, January 14, 1842, son of Harrison and Elizabeth (Prentiss) Dudley. He is a lineal de- scendant of Thomas Dudley, second governor of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, through his eldest son Samuel, who settled at Exeter, N.H. He lived with his parents at St. Albans, Auburn, and Richmond, Me., and finally came with them to Massachusetts at the age of fifteen. He began his studies preparatory for college in the High School of Fairhaven, and afterward completed them under the direction of a well-known classical

teacher in New Bedford, meanwhile teaching school in the country. He graduated from Har- vard in 1867, and from the Harvard Law School in 1871, taking the several degrees of A.B., A.M., and LL.B. For three years after graduation from college he taught the classics and mathematics in the New Bedford High School, meanwhile read- ing law in the office of Eliot & Stetson, of New Bedford. He was admitted to the bar immedi- ately after receiving his degree from the law school, and opened an office in Boston, also an office in Cambridge, where he has always resided. After a few years, however, he confined himself wholly to his Boston office, where he has been engaged in general practice ever since. He has never sought political office or preferment, though serving a single year in the city government where he resides, preferring to give his whole attention to his chosen profession. In politics he was originally a Republican, and is preferably such still, and was for many years a member of the local party committees, but lately has acted independently. In religion Mr. Dudley is a Uni- versalist, a member of the Universalist church at

SANFORD H. DUDLEY.

North Cambridge, and active in religious matters, both in church and Sunday-school. He has been president of the Universalist Club, the representa-

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tive lay organization in the State. He is also a member of the Cambridge Club, the principal social organization of his city; is or has been president of the Universalist Sunday School Union, an organization representing all the Sun- day-schools of his denomination in and around Boston and vicinity ; has been president of the Sons of Maine Association in Cambridge, a social organization composed of natives of Maine in his city; is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and president of the Gover- nor Thomas Dudley Family Association, a cor- poration established not only for social purposes, but also as one of its objects for the elucidation of carly New England history, especially as af- fected by the life and career of Governor Dudley and the lives and careers of his descendants. Mr. Dudley has written occasionally for the press, and also from time to time has made addresses upon historical and other topics. He was married April 2, 1869, at Fairhaven, to Miss Laura Nye Howland, daughter of John M. Howland, of Fair- haven. They have three children : Laura How- land, Howland, and Elizabeth Prentiss Dudley. The son, Howland, is destined for his father's pro- fession.

DUNCKLEE, JOSHUA SEARS, of Boston, chair- man of the Board of Assessors, is a native of Brighton, born September 4, 1840, son of John and Harriet (Gilmore) Duncklee. He was edu- cated in the Brighton public schools. At the age of seventeen he entered the employ of Otis Nor- cross & Co., Boston, to learn the crockery ware business, and was engaged here till September, 1861, when he enlisted in the United States naval service as paymaster's clerk on board the United States ship " Ino," with which he served during her first cruise. On retiring from the navy, he returned to Boston, and engaged in the wholesale grocery business, which he pursued for several years. He first became an assessor of taxes in Brighton, serving the last two years of its existence as an independent town (1872-73). After its annexation to Boston (1874) he was made an assistant assessor of Boston, in which capacity he served two years (1874-75). He was appointed a principal assessor in 1877, and has served continuously from that time, chairman of the board since 1893. Mr. Duncklee is a Free- mason, a member of the Bethesda Lodge, of which he was worshipful master in 1887 and

1888. In politics he is a Democrat. He was married June 8, 1864, to Miss Kate R. Adams, of Brighton, daughter of Joel (. and Lucinda O).

JOSHUA S. DUNCKLEE.

(Fuller) Adams. They have three children : Kate A., Helen L., and Howard S. Duncklec.

ELDREDGE, CLARENCE FREEMAN, member of the Suffolk bar, was born in Dennisport, Cape Cod, November 14, 1862, son of James F. and Susan (Wixon) Eldredge. His ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides came from Eng- land and settled on Cape Cod, at Yarmouth. Thence the Eldredges went to Chatham, where his father was born. From Chatham his father early moved to Dennisport. He was educated in the public schools at Dennisport and at the Com- mercial College in Providence, R.I., from which he graduated in 1881. He studied law in Boston, beginning about September, 1881, and was ad- mitted to the Suffolk bar January ro, 1885. He began practice with his preceptor, and continued with him till November, 1891, when he opened his own office. He has since practised alone, en- gaged in both civil and criminal business, in State and United States courts, having been ad- mitted to the latter in May 31, 1893. Although

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an ardent Republican, he has held no office other than member of the Republican ward and city committee of Boston (for Ward Twenty-four) for

CLARENCE F. ELDREDGE.

one year. He declined longer to serve, preferring to give his best time and attention to his varied and increasing professional work. He is a mem- ber of the Royal Arcanum, Dorchester Council, and of the Chickatawbut Club. He was married September 13, 1885, to Miss Lucie W. Nickerson. They have one child : Marian Wallace Eldredge, born October 29, 1887.

ENDICOTT, WILLIAM CROWNINSHIELD, of Salem, member of the Essex bar, some time jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth and member of the first cabinet of President Cleveland, was born in Salem, November 19, 1826, son of William Putnam and Mary (Crownin- shield) Endicott. On the paternal side he is a direct descendant of John Endicott, the first gov- ernor of " The Plantation in New England," and on the maternal side is of one of the older Mas- sachusetts families. His maternal grandfather, Jacob Crowninshield, was a merchant of Salem, member of Congress from 1802 to 1808, was ap- pointed and confirmed Secretary of the Navy in

Jefferson's cabinet in 1806, but declined, prefer- ring to remain in Congress, and died suddenly in Washington in 1808. He was educated in the Salem Latin School and at Harvard, where he was graduated in the class of 1847 ; and his law studies were pursued under Nathaniel J. Lord, then the leader of the Essex bar, and at the Har- vard Law School. Admitted to the bar in 1850, he began practice the following year in Salem. In 1852 he entered into partnership with J. W. Perry under the firm name of Perry & Endicott, which association continued till 1873. In 1857 he was made city solicitor of Salem, and served in this office till 1864, when his practice had be- come large and important, and he ranked with the leaders at the bar. In 1870 he was nomi- nated for Congress by the Democrats of the Essex District, and in the State campaigns of 1871, 1872, and 1873 he was candidate for attor- ney-general on the Democratic ticket. In 1873 he was appointed to the Supreme Bench by Governor William B. Washburn in place of Mr. Justice Horace Gray, then elevated to the chief justiceship made vacant by the death of Chief

WM. C. ENDICOTT.

Justice Chapman. His services here covered a period of nearly ten years, and were highly es- teemed. Resigning in 1882, he returned to gen-

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eral practice. In 1884 he was the Democratic candidate for governor of the State, and the fol- lowing year was named for Secretary of War by President Cleveland, in which position he served through the four years of Mr. Cleveland's first administration. Originally a Whig, he has been a Democrat since the dissolution of the Whig party. Judge Endicott has been president of the Peabody Academy of Science in Salem since 1867 ; was president of the Essex Bar Associa- tion from 1869 to 1873, and president of the Salem Bank from 1857 to 1873. In 1852 he was a member of the Salem Common Council and its president. He was the orator on the occasion of the celebration in 1878 of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the landing of John Endi- cott ; and he has delivered numerous other occa- sional addresses, the list including an address on John Hampden and his relation to the Puritan movement here and in England, an address be- fore the Young Men's Union in Salem on patri- otisin as bearing on the duties of a citizen, an address at Sterling, Mass., on the Relation of Agriculture to the Stability and Permanence of the State, and a lecture on Chivalry. Judge Endicott was married December 13, 1859, to Miss Ellen Peabody, daughter of George l'ea- body, of Salem. They have one son and one daughter : William C., Jr., and Mary C. Endicott (now Mrs. Joseph Chamberlain, of Birmingham, England).

EVANS, EDMOND AMOS, of Clinton, special justice of the Second District Court of Eastern Worcester, is a native of Clinton, born March 2, 1865, eldest son of Amos and Lydia G. (Bab- cock) Evans. His paternal grandparents were Amos and Catherine (Richardson) Evans, of Reading; and his maternal grandparents, David and Elizabeth (Walcott) Babcock, of Bolton. Amos Evans, senior, was son of Thomas, son of Jonathan, son of Nathaniel, son of Nathaniel, senior, who, with his father, Henry Evans, settled in Reading, where he married, previous to 1680. The Evans family have been well known in Read- ing and vicinity for over two hundred years. The Babcock family have lived in and have been identified with the history of the old town of Bolton for nearly as long. His education was attained in the public schools of Clinton, from which he graduated in 1882, leader in his class and valedictorian. Shortly after leaving school

he became book-keeper and confidential clerk for large manufacturing corporations in Clinton, and was afterward for five years managing clerk for

EDMOND A. EVANS.

Corcoran & Parker, of Clinton, one of the fore- most law firms of that section. Here he studied law, and shortly after the dissolution, by removal of the firm, was admitted to the bar (May 12, 1892), and succeeded to their office and practice. While with Messrs. Corcoran & Parker, Mr. Evans assisted Judge Corcoran in his very suc- cessful management as receiver of the affairs of the wrecked Lancaster National Bank. Subse- quently, in 1894, he successfully closed up the affairs of the Fraternal Accident Association, Im- proved Order of Red Men, formerly numbering several thousand members, having been appointed receiver by the Supreme Court in 1890. He has held and holds numerous positions of trust, while conducting the usual and varied practice of a busy lawyer. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1888, notary public in 1890, master of chancery in 1892, and resigned the latter office to accept the appointment as special justice of the local district court in 1894. He has found little time to devote to polities, and has uniformly de- clined public office; but he is interested and prominent in various local organizations, and is

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now treasurer of the Prescott Club, the leading social club of his town. Mr. Evans was married August 8, 1888, to Miss May L. Lyons, daughter of Edwin and Anne Lyons, of Ellenburgh, N.Y. They have three children : Mildred L. (born Jan- uary 17, 1890), Ralph A. (born February 16, 1891), and Marjorie A. Evans (born September 28, 1893).

W. D. EWING.

EWING, WILLIAM DAVID, of Boston, general superintendent of the Fitchburg Railroad system, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in the town of Indiana, January 16, 1846, son of John and Eliza- beth (Anthony) Ewing. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was educated in the common school and academy, and at the age of fifteen was a soldier in the Civil War. He enlisted first in the Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserve Corps, served for one year, and subse- quently re-enlisted in other organizations, serving as private and first sergeant in infantry, and also as first lieutenant in cavalry, a total service of almost three years, After the war he went West, soon engaging in railroading in Illinois. He ad- vanced gradually through the lower grades on the Illinois Central and the Ohio and Mississippi Railroads, and to the position of general manager

on the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad. His service with the Fitchburg began in 1891, as as- sistant general superintendent ; and in 1893 he succeeded to the position of general superintend- ent, which he has since held. For several years, and until taking position with the Fitchburg Rail- road, he commanded the First Regiment Infantry, Indiana Legion (State Militia). He is a member of the military orders of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Loyal Legion. Mr. Ewing was married March 11, 1866, to Miss Emma Watt, of Pennsylvania. They have one son : John W. Ewing.

FRENCH, ALFRED JOSEPH, M. D., of Law- rence, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Bedford, January 16, 1823, son of Eben C. and Sally (Holbrook) French. Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers were also of Bedford. The former, Eben C. French, served as selectman of the town ; and the latter, Deacon John Holbrook, was in the Revolutionary War. He was educated in the public schools and at the Hancock Literary Scientific Institution, where he spent two years.

A. J. FRENCH.

His medical studies were pursued in the Vermont Medical College, from which he graduated in 1848. Until eighteen years of age he worked on

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the farm, and from that time till his twenty-ninth year he was engaged in general study. Then he began the practice of his profession, first estab- lished in the town of Methuen, Mass. After seven years there he came to Lawrence, where he has practised continuously for thirty-five years. He has been interested also for a number of years in banking and manufacture. He started the Lawrence National Bank in 1873, and was its president for five years; and subsequently he organized the Wright Manufacturing Company for manufacturing mohair braid, with a capital of sixty thousand dollars, of which he was president eight years, and one of the three owners. In pol- itics he is a Republican. He was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1859, and in 1864 filled the office of mayor of Lawrence. He has been for many years a member of the Massa- chusetts Homeopathic Society, and was its presi- dent in 1890. He is not a member of any secret society. He has been long a trustee of the First Baptist Church of Lawrence, and superintendent of the Sunday-school. He married in November II, 1852, Miss Sarah A. Hardy, of Antrim, N.H. They have had one daughter, who died at the age of eight.

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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 29

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