Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 36

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 36

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the firm of Byron Truell & Co., which still con- tinues. His success in business has been marked. In 1867 he remodelled and enlarged his store, and added the carpet department. In 188r he made an extensive tour in Europe, inspecting thoroughly the foreign market, and making connections that have proved very luera- tive. In 1883 he again enlarged his quarters by taking down the old store and rebuilding in the most modern style of business architecture, and his present establishment is in extent and richness one of the finest in his section of the State. He is a director of the Pacific National Bank, and president of the Lawrence Board of Trade. His public life began in the Lawrence city government as member of the Common Coun- eil of 1865. In 1875 and 1876 he represented his eity in the lower house of the Legislature, where he served on the important committees on labor statistics (chairman) and on mercantile affairs. In 1877 and 1878 he was a State senator, serving both terms as chairman of the joint committee on prisons, and in 1878 as chairman of the committee on mercantile affairs. In ISSS he was alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago. In 1890 and 1891 he was a member of the Executive Council, elected from the Sixth Councillor District. He is prominently connected with the Masonic order, a member of the Grecian Lodge, Lawrence, of Mount Sinai Royal Arch Chapter, and of Bethany Commandery of Knights Templar; and he also belongs to the Royal Ar- canum. The only club with which he is con- nected is the Home Club of Lawrence. Mr. Truell was married September 5, 1859, to Miss Mary E. Armstrong, daughter of William H. and Mary (Hannaford) Armstrong, of Lawrence. They have two daughters : Gertrude E. (now Mrs. Albert E. Butler) and Grace L. (now Mrs. George H. Eaton).

VOSE, JAMES WHITING, of Boston, founder and president of the Vose & Sons Pianoforte Com- pany, is a native of Milton, suburb of Boston, the birthplace and working-place of Benjamin Crehore, the builder of the first American piano, in 1798. He was born October 21, 1818, son of Whiting and Mary (Gooch) Vose. His ancestors came from England, and settled originally in Milton. He was educated in the public schools and the Milton Academy, from which he gradu- ated with honors in the spring of 1834. Immedi-

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ately after leaving school, on the 7th of April, he was apprenticed to learn the cabinet-maker's trade. He worked at this trade till the autumn of 1839, when on his twenty-first birthday he entered a piano factory as a workman. He soon acquired skill in various departments, and in 1846 began making piano and organ keys on his own account. In this branch of the manufacture he was remarkably successful, and his work was sought by the best manufacturers. But his am- bition was to make the finished piano; and in 1851 he started in a small way, completing his first instrument before the close of that year. In

JAS. W. VOSE.

1855, in order to devote his attention exclusively to his piano interests, he sold out his key busi- ness, and since that time has been engaged wholly in the development and manufacture of the Vose piano. From the first he has followed closely every detail of the work, overseeing each process, constantly experimenting, carefully studying each

new principle as it has appeared, and, if satisfied of its worth, promptly adopting it. Under his conduct the manufacture has grown from an out- put of two pianos a week in 1855, from a small factory, to an average of eighty per week in 1892, from one of the largest establishments of its kind in the country, comprising four great buildings,

on Waltham and Washington Streets at the South End, Boston, two of five stories each, one of seven, and one of four stories, with a total floor- age of 129,000 square feet, and an aggregate area under plant of 138,000 square feet. Mr. Vose is a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, of the Ancient and Honor- able Artillery Company, and of the Bostonian Society. In politics he is a Republican, a mem- ber of the Republican Club of Massachusetts, of the Brookline Republican Club, and of the Boston Marketmen's Republican Club ; and in religion he is a Baptist, connected with the Brook- line Baptist Society, and a member of the Baptist Social Union. He was married September 16, 1847, to Miss Almira Howe. They have had five children : Francis Childs (deceased), Irving Bond, Willard Atherton, Julien Wallenstein, and Frances Howe Vose. His three sons, Irving, Willard, and Julien, are associated with him in his piano business, the former first entering the factory in 1869, and now in charge of the factory warerooms ; Willard, after serving his apprentice- ship, becoming general superintendent of the fac- tory, and since 1874 the treasurer of the company ; and Julien entering the factory in 1882, and be- coming superintendent of the works in 1889, the year of the incorporation of the company.

WALLACE, RODNEY, of Fitchburg, manufact- urer, was born in New Hampshire, in the town of New Ipswich, December 21, 1823, son of David and Roxanna (Gowen) Wallace. He is a lineal descendant of Benoni Wallis, who lived in Lunenberg, Mass., in 1755. He was educated in the common schools, and began business life at the age of sixteen, driving freight teams be- tween Rindge, N.H., and Boston. He continued in this occupation till he was twenty years old, and for the succeeding ten years had the entire charge of selling the then celebrated medicines of Dr. Stephen Jewett throughout New England. Then in 1853 he came to Fitchburg, and entering into partnership with the late Stephen Shepley, under the firm name of Shepley & Wallace, en- gaged in dealing at wholesale in books and stationery, and in paper and cotton waste. This was the beginning of a business which grew to large proportions, and made the firm one of the best known in its trade in New England. In 1865 the firm was dissolved, and the business

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divided, Mr. Wallace taking the cotton waste department, which he speedily greatly developed. The same year, 1865, with three associates, he founded the Fitchburg Paper Company. Four years later he became the sole owner of the busi- ness, and so remained until 1879, when he ad- mitted his sons, Herbert 1. and George R. Wal- lace, to partnership. Since that time new mills have been built, large additions made to the original plant, and comfortable dwellings erected near by for the operatives. Mr. Wallace has also for many years been interested in other corpora- tions. Since 1864, with the exception of one

RODNEY WALLACE.

year, he has been a director of the Putnam Machine Company ; he has been president and director of the Fitchburg Gas Company for thirty years ; one of the proprietors of the Fitchburg Woollen Mills for seventeen years ; and for a long period a director of the Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of the Fitchburg Railroad Company, of the Parkhill Manufacturing Com- pany, of the Fitchburg National Bank, and a trustee of the Fitchburg Savings Bank. He has held numerous public offices, but in each case the office has sought the man. In 1864, 1865, and 1867 he was a selectman of his town ; in 1873 he represented Fitchburg in the General Court, and,

although unanimously renominated, declined a re- election on account of ill-health ; in 1880-81-82 he was a member of the governor's council ; in 1884 a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago; and in 1889-90 a rep- resentative in Congress of his Congressional district. He has liberally aided numerous under- takings for the benefit of the city; and a monu- ment to his munificence and public spirit is the Wallace Library and Art Building, which was erected by him in 1885, at a cost of $84,000, and presented to the city of Fitchburg for a free pub- lic library, reading-room, and art gallery. Since 1878 he has been a trustee of Smith College, Northampton. Mr. Wallace was married Decem- ber 1, 1853, to Miss Sophia Ingalls, of Rindge, N.H. She died June 20, 1871, leaving two sons : Herbert 1. and George R. Wallace. He married second, December 28, 1876, Mrs. Sophia F. (Billings) Bailey, of Woodstock, Vt.

WARDWELL, JACOB Oris, member of the Suffolk bar, is a native of Lowell, born March 14, 1857, son of Zenas C. and Adriana S. (Pillsbury) Wardwell. When he was four years old, his par- ents moved to Groveland, and there his boyhood was passed. He was educated in the local schools, the Georgetown High School, and the New London Academy. He studied law in the offices of J. P. & B. B. Jones, of Haverhill, and Samuel J. Elder, of Boston, and in the Boston University, from which he graduated in the class of 1879. That year he was admitted to the Essex bar, and, taking up his residence in Haverhill, began practice there, forming a partnership with Henry N. Merrill, under the firm name of Merrill & Wardwell. This relation continued till the first of December, 1891, when Mr. Wardwell withdrew, and established his office in Boston, where he has since practised. His specialty is corporation law. He is general counsel for the Edison Electric Illu- minating Company of Boston, and other large corporations, mostly in the electrical business. Early taking an active interest in politics on the Republican side, he became prominent among the younger leaders of his party soon after his estab- lishment in Haverhill. His first service was in the Haverhill Common Council, to which he was elected in 1882. In 1887 he was elected to the lower house of the Legislature, and through re- elections served five consecutive terms. In his

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first year he was conspicuous in committee work and prominent in debates ; and at the beginning of his second term he was recognized as the Re- publican leader on the floor, which position he maintained through the remainder of his legisla- tive work. He was twice a candidate for speaker of the House and in the second contest, one of the hardest in the history of the Commonwealth, he was defeated by only two votes. Among the committees on which he served during his several terms were those on elections (chairman), pro- bate and insolvency, mercantile affairs (chairman), the judiciary, and rules (chairman). He was also

J OTIS WARDWELL.

a member of the special committee to investigate charges of corrupt use of money in the passage of the bill to incorporate the town of Beverly Farms, and chairman of the committee to investigate sim- ilar charges as to the bill for granting franchises for elevated railroads in Boston. He has been a member of the Republican State Committee since 1885, and served as secretary of the com- mittee in 1889, 1890, and 1891, having formerly been assistant secretary for two years. He is president of the Essex Club, president of the Pen- tucket Club of Haverhill, and member of the Wachusett Club ; and he belongs to the Masonic order, past master of the Saggahaw Lodge and

Knight Templar of Haverhill Commandery. Mr. Wardwell was married on the 25th of Decem- ber, 1877, to Miss Ella M. Eaton, of Bristol, Vt. They have two children : Sheldon E. and Chester Alan Wardwell.

WETHERBEE, ISAAC JOSIAH, D.D.S., presi- dent of the Boston Dental College, is a native of Vermont, born in South Reading, March 9, 1817, son of the Rev. Josiah and Abigail (Jones) Weth- erbee. His father served with distinction in the War of 1812. He was a leading clergyman in the Free Baptist denomination, and died in his ninety- third year, having lived to see the abolition of slavery, for which he labored for fifty years. When a boy, Isaac J. Wetherbee gave marked evi- dence of a genius for mechanical pursuits, in sev- eral feats displaying a large intelligence in the methods of execution. At the age of fifteen he made a verge to a bull's-eye watch from a darning- needle with two common files as tools, and re- ceived a dollar and fifty cents for the job. Then he constructed a cylinder escapement for a Lepine watch without the aid of a watchmaker's lathe, for which he was paid four dollars. He was also suc- cessful in making pistols, and in altering over old flint-locks into percussion-locks. He obtained a fair education in the country schools, and, arriving at manhood, studied for the ministry under his father. He was set apart by ordination to the gospel ministry at North Hampton, N.H., June 2, 1844, and at once began preaching. He held pastorates first at North Hampton, N.H., Kittery, Me., and afterwards in Charlestown, Mass., where he resided in 1845. In 1846 he was obliged by ill-health to relinquish this profession; and he turned his attention wholly to dentistry, which he had for some years studied and practised among his friends in a private way. He further pursued his studies with the limited text-books then extant, and in 1850 graduated from the Baltimore Dental College, the first and the then only dental college in the world, receiving his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in February. Establishing him- self in Boston, he early became prominent in the profession. In 1865 the Boston Dental Insti- tute was organized with seventy members, and he was elected its president. This society held meetings monthly, and gave lectures on dental science and allied subjects, till it was superseded by a charter for the Boston Dental College,

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granted June 3, 1868, when upon the formal or- ganization of the institution in July following he was made president, with B. B. Perry as secre- tary. This position he has since held, with the exception of four years, from 1869 to 1873 inclu- sive, the first fifteen years also occupying the chair of dental science and operative dentistry. He is now professor of operative dentistry, emeritus. The college was founded for the purpose of giving students a thorough education in dental science, art, and mechanism, which could not be obtained in dental offices, and for the general elevation of dentistry to the rank of a recognized profession.

ISAAC J. WETHERBEE.

During its existence of over a quarter of a century, twenty-three years of this long period under Dr. Wetherbee's administration, it has graduated four hundred and ninety-three students with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Its faculty now (1894) numbers eight professors, and there are fifteen additional instructors. It requires the faithful attendance of students for nine months of the year. Dr. Wetherbee was the first in his pro- fession in Boston to require his office students to remain with him for three years, and to promise to attend subsequently a dental college and grad- uate therefrom. He is an honorary member of the Massachusetts Dental Society, for the organ-

ization of which he opened the way, and a mem- ber of kindred associations. He was president of the New England Dental Society for one year : treasurer of the American Dental Association for two years ; and president of the American Dental Convention one year. He has been long con- nected with the Washingtonian Home, an incor- porated institution in Boston for the care and cure of inebriates, and is now first vice-president of the corporation. Dr. Wetherbee was married at Pitts- ford, Vt., January 3, 1837, to Miss Sarah Abigail Sheldon, the second daughter of Jacob Sheldon, by whom he had one son, who died in infancy. After the demise of his wife in 1870, who was a graduate in medicine, he married again February 1, 1872, Miss Myra Woods, of Nashua, N.H., by whom he has had two children : Helen Frances and Irving Josiah Wetherbee, who are now living.

WEYMOUTH, GEORGE WARREN, of Fitchburg. manufacturer, was born in West Amesbury (now Merrimac), Essex County, August 25, 1850, son of Warren and Charity ( Fenno) Weymouth. He is of English ancestry, his ancestors first in America coming from Portsmouth, England. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, graduating from the High School. He began active life in the carriage-making trade. and at the early age of twenty-one engaged in the business on his own account. He moved to Fitchburg in 1882, where he established an ex- tensive carriage repository, which he has since successfully carried on. In 1890 he also became general manager of the Simonds Rolling-machine Company, manufacturing bicycle balls, pedal pins, crank axles, and pins for the Westinghouse and other car brakes on a large scale, in which he had been a stockholder since its formation in 1886, and rapidly developed its work, within two years greatly increasing the output of the mill. and quadrupling its business. Besides these in- terests he is actively concerned in numerous other enterprises of more or less magnitude. He is a director and was one of the founders of the Orswell Mills, and of the Nockege Mills, director of the Worcester Society of the Etna Life Insur- ance Company, director and one of the promoters of the Fitchburg and Leominster Street Railway Company, director of the Fitchburg National Bank, and trustee of the Fitchburg Savings Bank. During his residence in Fitchburg he has been

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devoted to its interests, and forwarded various movements which have quickened its develop- ment, especially as a manufacturing centre. He

G. W. WEYMOUTH.

served one year in the Common Council, and was nominated for alderman, but declined to stand. He has been for some years a leading member of the Fitchburg Board of Trade, and is now (1894) its president, and as such took a prominent part in securing the location of a Normal School in Fitchburg; is a member of the Merchants' Asso- ciation, and of the Park and Athletic clubs of Fitchburg. In politics he is a stanch Republi- can. He was married July 19, 1882, to Miss Emma Josephine Poyen, of Merrimac, Mass. They have no children.

WHITE, JONATHAN, of Brockton, member of the Plymouth bar for nearly half a century, was born in East Randolph (now Holbrook), August 22, 1819, son of Jonathan and Abigail (Holbrook) White. He was educated in the common schools, at several academies, fitting for college at Phillips (Andover) Academy, being the valedictorian of his class, and at Yale, where he graduated in the class of 1844, which numbered over one hundred, as second in rank. His law studies were pursued

at the Harvard Law School, where he spent two years, and in the Boston law office of Richard H. Dana one year. Admitted to the bar in August, 1847, he has practised at Brockton (the town of North Bridgewater till 1874) continuously since 1849. As a lawyer, he has enjoyed a large gen- eral practice, was frequently counsel for the town of North Bridgewater, and later was the first city solicitor of Brockton. In important matters he has been frequently consulted by neighboring towns and by corporations and individuals to obtain his legal opinion, which everywhere is recognized as entitled to great weight; and by both bench and bar he is regarded as a sound and logical thinker and terse and effective writer and speaker. He was a prominent and useful member of the General Court during the sixties and seventies, representing North Bridgewater in the House of Representatives in 1864 and 1866, and a senator for the years 1869, 1877-78-79, and for three years a member of the judiciary committee of the Senate, and for the last year was its chairman. He has an active interest in educational matters; and, as a member of the

JONATHAN WHITE.

School Committee and of the Committee on the Public Library, he has done much to forward intellectual cultivation in the community. His

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integrity in professional and private life is un- questioned. He holds a leading position in the First Congregational Church, of which he is a member. Mr. White married May 4, 1849, Miss Nancy M. Adams, of Holbrook. They have had four daughters : Alice A., Mary, Annie F., and Winnifred H. White.

WIGGIN, GEORGE WINSLOW, of Franklin, member of the Norfolk County bar, was born in Sandwich, N.H., March 10, 1841, son of Richard and Mehitable (Beede), the former of whom was descended from Governor Thomas Wiggin, of Stratham, N.H., and the latter from Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, Mass. His early life was spent upon his father's farm in New Hampshire. His education, obtained almost wholly by his own industry, was begun in the common schools of his native town, and continued in the local academy of the town, the Friends' Boarding School at Providence, R.I., and Phillips (Exeter) Academy, where he completed the four years' course, graduating in 1867. Previous to entering Phillips Academy, he taught school three winters, two in Falmouth and one in Barnstable, Mass. After graduating from that academy, he continued teaching for five years, one as in- structor in mathematics in the Friends' Boarding School, and four as principal of the high school at Wrentham, Mass. He began his law studies while in Wrentham, reading with the Hon. Samuel Warner, and was admitted to the Norfolk bar in 1872. His first office was in Franklin, where he soon entered upon a good practice. Subse- quently he opened a Boston office, and has since conducted a general law practice there. He was county commissioner for Norfolk County from 1879 to 1894, and chairman of the board from 1885 to 1894. He has served as selectman, assessor, and on the School Board of the town of Franklin. He is also vice-president of the Ben- jamin Franklin Savings Bank and of the Dean Co-operative Bank of Franklin ; and a director and clerk of the Milford, Franklin, & Provi- dence, and the Rhode Island & Massachusetts Railroad Companies. He has been president of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association since 1891. He is a prominent member of Masonic fraternities, has been master of his lodge, high priest in the Chapter, and dis- trict deputy in the Grand Lodge. In politics he

has always been a Republican. He was married first, in Exeter, N.H .. July, 1868, to Miss Mary A. Warren. She died in July, 1873. By this mar-

GEORGE W. WIGGIN.

riage were two children, both deceased. He married second, in Stoneham, November, 1878, Miss Mary A. Bryant, formerly preceptress in Goddard Seminary at Barre, Vt., and also of Dean Academy at Franklin. They have one child : Alice Wiggin.

WILBAR, JOSEPH EDWARDS, of Taunton, reg- ister of deeds, was born in Taunton, July 9, 1832, son of Joseph and Fanny M. (Lincoln) Wilbar. He is in the eighth generation from Samuel Wilbore, the line of descent running : (2) Shadrach Wilbor, Sr., (3) Shadrach Wilbor, Jr., (4) Meshach Wil- bor, Sr., (5) George Wilbor, (6) George Wilbar, Jr., (7) Joseph Wilbar, and (8) Joseph E. Wilbar. He was educated in the schools of his native town. At the age of seventeen he entered the office of register of deeds as clerk for his father, for the northern district of Bristol County. He served in that capacity until December, 1861, when he was appointed postmaster of Taunton, which position he held for more than four years. Then he re- turned to the register of deeds office as clerk and assistant register, and continued in that relation

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until January, 1874, when he was elected register of deeds to take his father's place. He has held the position since that time. He has been a trus-

JOSEPH E. WILBAR.

tee of the Bristol County Savings Bank since 1874. and president of the institution since January. 1882. He is also a director of the Bristol County National Bank. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Wilbar was married December 26, 1861, to Miss Emma Barrows, daughter of Albert and Har- riet (Ide) Barrows, of Norton. They have five children : Albert E., Arthur L., Charles B., Helen M., and Louise R. Wilbar.

WILSON, THEODORE PRICE, of Winchester, editor and publisher of the Winchester Star, was born in Boston, August 14, 1851, son of Alexan- der W. and Samulina (Monroe) Wilson. His parents were both natives of Paisley, Scotland. His general education was acquired in the public schools of South Boston, which he attended until he reached the age of fourteen, when he went into the composition-room of the Boston Evening Traveller to learn the printer's trade. Here he worked under the eye of his father, an experienced printer, who had been long connected with the Traveller office (the entire service of the latter in

this office covering forty years) ; and his appren- ticeship was thorough. Subsequently he rose through the various stages to the position of as- sistant foreman which he held for a long period. In 1889, after twenty-five years' continuous ser- vice, he came into possession of the Winchester Star, through purchase, and had the distinction of printing the first newspaper printed in the town. Through perseverance and hard work he has suc- ceeded in placing the Star in the front ranks of suburban journals. He was for twelve years con- nected with the State militia, a member of Com- pany K, First Regiment, first lieutenant for three years (1873-74-75). He is a Freemason, mem- ber of the Royal Arch Chapter, Woburn, and the William Parkman Lodge, Winchester ; an Odd Fellow, belonging to the Waterfield Lodge; a member of the Royal Arcanum, of the Mystic Valley Club, the Suburban Press Association, and the Village Improvement Society of Winchester. In politics he is a Republican, but not active per- sonally in or out of his editorial work. He was married November 29, 1876, to Miss Ella Kath- arine Tupper, of Cambridge, who was among the first of "women reporters " in Boston to report

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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 36

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