USA > Massachusetts > Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts > Part 46
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SALISBURY. STEPHEN, 3d, of Worcester, member of the bar, and officially connected with numerous financial and business corporations, was born in Worcester, March 31, 1835, only son of Stephen, 2d, and Rebekah Scott (Dean) Salis- bury (born in Charlestown, N. H., 1812, and died in Worcester 1843). His father, Stephen Salis- bury, 2d (born in Worcester 1798, and died there in 1884), was the son of Stephen Salisbury, ist (born in Boston 1746, and died in Worcester 1829), and of Elizabeth Tuckerman (born in Bos- ton 1768, and died there in 1851). He was edu- cated in Worcester public and private schools, at Harvard, graduating in the class of 1856, and abroad, at the Frederick William University in Berlin, where he spent two years. While in Eu-
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rope at this time, he also attended lectures at the Ecole de Droit in Paris during the spring of 1857, and later travelled extensively in Turkey, Asia Minor, and Greece, making a month's horseback tour in the latter country, and in Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Upon his return to Worcester in December, 1858, he took a course of book-keeping, and then studied law in the office of Messrs. Dewey & Williams as a student, and a year later passed two years at the Harvard Law School. Receiving his degree of LL. B. in 1861. he was admitted to the bar in October of that
STEPHEN SALISBURY.
year. The following winter and spring he spent in Yucatan, visiting one of his college classmates ; and during his stay he made a critical study of many of the Maya Indian ruins and monuments, some results of which are embodied in valuable contri- butions of historical relics which he subsequently made to the American Antiquarian Society. His connection with financial and other corporations began soon after his return from Yucatan, when, in 1863, he became a director of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company, a position he still holds. Two years later he was made a director of the Worcester National Bank, subsequently becoming its president on the death of his father (in 1884), who had occupied that position for thirty-nine
years and that of director for fifty-two years. In 1877 he became a member of the board of invest- ment of the Worcester County Institution for Savings, of which his father had been president from 1845 to 1871, and upon the death of the Hon. Alexander 11. Bullock (in 1882), who had succeeded his father as president, was elected to that office, which he still occupies; and in the eighties he became a director of the Worcester, Nashua, & Rochester and of the Boston, Barre, & Gardner railroads, holding those positions till the absorption of these roads by the Boston & Maine and the Fitchburg Railroad companies, respec- tively. He has also long been interested in and connected officially with numerous local institu- tions, -- the City Hospital, of which he was a trus- tee from its incorporation, and secretary of the board of trustees for seventeen years ; the Wash- burn Memorial Hospital, of which he was also a trustee from its incorporation, and secretary of the board for ten years; the Worcester Poly- technic Institute (of which his father was the first president), a trustee since 1884; Clark Univer- sity, a trustee since 1887, and its treasurer for one year ; and the Worcester Music Hall, a direc- tor, and for ten years treasurer of the association. He has been a member of the American Anti- quarian Society since 1863, member of the council since 1874, and president since 1887 ; and has contributed to its Transactions numerous papers, among them papers on the early in- habitants of Vucatan and their arts, as illus- trated by discoveries inspected there during other visits in 1885 and 1890 (when he extended his journeyings into other parts of Mexico and to Cuba), translations from the German from a number of papers by Dr. Philipp J. J. Valentini on Mexican antiquities and kindred subjects, and a paper on " Books and Libraries." He is president of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge, and is a mem- ber also of the American Geographical Society, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Con- servatorio Yucateco, and the Sociedad Mexicana de Geografia y Estadistica. He has contributed in various ways to the prosperity and welfare of Worcester, meeting the expense of an addition to the City Hospital and of the laboratory of the Polytechnic Institute, giving to the city for use as a public park the tract of eighteen acres border- ing on Salisbury Pond, now known as Institute
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Park, and aiding generously local charitable and educational institutions. Mr. Salisbury's public career has been confined to service three terms as a member of the Worcester Common Council, 1863-65-66, the last term president of the board ; and three terms 1893-94-95. in the State Senate, for the First Worcester District, serving as chair- man of the committee on education, and also on the committee on treasury, expenditures and en- grossed bills, and as chairman of the committee on banks and banking. In politics he is Repub- lican. In 1888 he revisited Europe, spending much time in France, Belgium, Holland. Spain, and Portugal. Mr. Salisbury is not married.
WM. P. SEARLS.
SEARLS, WILLIAM PHINEHAS, of Worcester, president of the North End Street Railway Com- pany, is a native of New York, born in Brooklyn. June 3, 1851, son of William and Catharine ( Bachus) Searls. He is of English ancestry. His education was attained in private schools. He began his business career in Wall Street in the office of his father, long a member of the New York Stock Exchange, and its president in 1868-69. In June, 1890, he came to Worcester, intending temporarily to reside here, but has since remained, having become identified with a street
railway enterprise for the development of the northern suburbs of the city, which necessitated a strenuous fight with a strongly intrenched foe, the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Cor- poration. After defeating all opposition, the North End Street Railway Company was put in operation over five miles of Worcester's best streets, and has proved a great public conven- ience. In politics Mr. Searls is a Republican, and was honored by the voters of his ward with an election to the Massachusetts House of Repre- sentatives of 1894. in which body he served on the committee on election laws. He was married September 12, 1882, to Kate Robinson, daughter of the late John R. Robinson, of New York City. They have one child: Florence Searls, born No- vember 3. 1888.
SIBLEY, WILLIS EMORY, of Worcester, men- ber of the bar, is a native of New Salem, Frank- lin County, born December 10. 1857, son of Syl- vanus and Abigail Elizabeth ( Briggs) Sibley. His paternal grandfather, Tarrant Sibley, and his
WILLIS E. SIBLEY.
maternal grandfather, John Briggs, were both na- tives of Massachusetts. His father was a type of the enterprising New England farmer ; and his
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earlier life, when not in school, was occupied on his father's farm, in which he, as a boy, took a lively interest. He was educated in the public schools of New Salem and at New Salem Acad- emy, after which he engaged in teaching for a period of five years. He gave up teaching in the spring of 1885, and, establishing himself in Worcester, began the study of law in the office of Burton W. Potter. He was admitted to the Worcester County bar February 24, ISSS, and im- mediately opened a law office in Worcester. Since then he has been successful in building up a large practice in his profession. He has held many responsible positions of trust, involving the handling of large estates, and has gained a rep- utation for ability, integrity, and fair dealing. Though his practice is general, embracing both criminal and civil business, he much prefers the civil side of the law. He has always been a Re- publican, but never sought political honors. He is a member of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Worcester, with which he united in July, 1889. Mr. Sibley was married December 21, 1892, to Miss Marion Elizabeth Chapin, of Worcester.
SMITH, JOHN MACKENZIE, of Springfield, senior partner of the dry-goods house of Smith & Murray, is a native of Scotland, born in Dumfries. His education was acquired in the Wallace Hall School of that place. He began business life as an apprentice in a local dry-goods store. Four years were spent there, after which he took a position with a dry-goods firm in Glasgow; and the apprenticeship served in the latter establish- ment stood him in good stead when he came to this country in 1860. His first four years here were spent in the employ of George Trumbull & Co., who in those days conducted one of the leading dry-goods houses of Boston, established on the corner of Winter and Washington streets. In 1865 Mr. Smith went to Springfield, where in partnership with A. B. Forbes, under the firm name of Forbes & Smith, he conducted success- fully for nine years the dry-goods business they had bought of John J. Rockwood. During part of this period he was also interested in the busi- ness which was conducted in Pittsfield by A. B. Wallace and himself, under the firm name of Smith & Wallace. In 1874 the Pittsfield partner- ship was dissolved. Mr. Wallace joined A. B. Forbes in Springfield ; while Mr. Smith again
turned to Boston, having received the call, which was no slight honor for so young a man, to be- come one of the firm of Churchill, Gilchrist, & Smith. He continued in this association three years. Then followed his return to Springfield. where he had left his family ; and in April, 1876, the dry-goods house was established which still bears the name of Smith & Murray. At that time it was not the large and important establish- ment it is now ; for it has grown with the city, until to-day it fills a wide block from the basement to the fifth story. Mr. Smith's employees are also his friends, and many of the men who to-day are
J. M. SMITH.
the heads of the various departments were among his clerks when he first started. Although far from clannish,-for his clerks are of various nationalities,- he is always anxious to advance his own countrymen ; and he has had hundreds of Scotchmen in his employ. To friendless lads, just across, he proves a kindly guide, looking after their interests and comforts, and making easier the sudden transportation to a strange land. In sickness and trouble he is always ready to help, not only with sympathy, but with aid that is sub- stantial. He is wholly unsectarian in his charities, which have been broadcast, although always done in an unostentatious manner. He is one of the
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directors of the Commonwealth Mutual Fire In- surance Company of Boston ; president of the Agawam Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of knit underwear; a director of the First Na- tional Bank of Springfield ; and a member of the Springfield Board of Trade. Mr. Smith was mar- ried November 13, 1868, to Miss Adelaide G. Phelps, daughter of the late Charles P'helps. of Springfield ; and his family now consists of two daughters, Josephine A. and Adelaide P. Smith. His home is a quaint, old-fashioned, generously proportioned house, with wide piazzas. standing in the middle of a large lawn and finely kept gardens, on Bowdoin Street in the Hill region of Springfield. Mr. Smith is an excellent judge and a real lover of a fine horse, and half a dozen beautiful steeds find their comforts happily catered to in the stable on his estate. He gave a year's study to the design of this stable; and it compares favorably with the housing provided for a Vander- bilt's stud. The ventilation is perfectly arranged, while electricity and hot and cold water are pro- vided in a variety of places to make work casier for the grooms and life more comfortable for the horses. The interior is finished in polished wood, with which the coloring of beautifully stained glass windows harmonizes well. The coachman and groom's chambers are comfortably furnished, and fitted with bath appurtenances and electric light; while their sitting-room downstairs is a place where spare time may be spent pleasantly if the magazine-laden tables are a criterion.
SPAULDING, TIMOTHY GRIDLEY, of North- ampton, member of the bar, was born in Ware. Hampshire County, July 30. 1851, son of Samuel T. and Maria (Gridley) Spaulding. His paternal grandmother was Tirza Hoar, a daughter of Cap- tain Joseph Hoar, of Brimfield. Joseph was a grandson of Captain Leonard Hoar, who came from Concord to Brimfield about 1720. Leonard was a son of Daniel and grandson of John Hoar. the first of the name who settled in Concord. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Timothy J. Gridley, of Amherst, who married Dorothy Smith Mattoon, a daughter of General Ebenezer Mat- toon, of Amherst. General Mattoon was under Arnold in the Quebec expedition, and at the bat- tle of Saratoga ; was a member of the first Con- gress, adjutant-general of Massachusetts, and for many years high sheriff of Hampshire County, also
commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artil- lery Company of Boston. Timothy G. Spaulding received his early education at the public schools in Northampton. at Williston Seminary, Easthamp- ton, and at the Classical School on Round Hill, Northampton. From the High School in North- ampton he entered AAmherst College, where he was graduated in the class of 1872. In college his specialties were writing and debating. The year following his graduation he taught a private school for boys at Westchester, N.Y. Among his pupils here was John B. Mason, the actor. Then he studied law in the office of his father, and was
T. G. SPAULDING.
admitted to the bar at Greenfield in August. 1877. Since that time he has been established in North- ampton, engaged in general practice, civil and criminal. He was the first city solicitor of North- ampton, serving from 1883 to 1887; and he has been counsel for the city in numerous important special cases. For many years he has been gen- erally the spokesman before committees of the Legislature on matters which concerned North- ampton or its citizens, and he has been active in all matters of public interest. He was a member of the House of Representatives from Northamp- ton in 1878, and declined a re-election ; was a mem- ber of the Northampton School Committee from
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1878 to 1892 ; for sixteen years has been secre- tary of the Northampton Institution for Savings : is one of the trustees of the Academy of Music, a gift to the city; was one of the founders and or- ganizers of the Northampton Club in 1881, and its president in 1887-88, and is a member of the Connecticut Valley Historical Society. In poli- tics he is Republican, prominent and active in his party, managing State, county, and district cam- paigns. He has been offered the mayoralty of Northampton several times, but each time de- clined it. In 1890 he was nominated for Con- gress in the old Eleventh District. He is unmar- ried.
SPRAGUE, GENERAL AUGUSTUS BROWN REED, of Worcester, merchant, ex-sheriff of Worcester County, is a native of Ware, born March 7, 1827, son of Lee and Lucia (Snow) Sprague. His ances- tors on both sides were of Puritan stock, his mater- nal grandmother Alice Alden being a lineal descen- dant in the sixth generation from John Alden, of the "Mayflower " company. Of his branch of the Sprague family were Charles Sprague, the " banker poet " of Boston, the Rev. William Buel Sprague, the author of " Annals of the American Pulpit," and the two governors Sprague of Rhode Island; and Colonel Homer B. Sprague, the well-known educator, is his cousin. He was named for the Congregational minister long settled in Ware. He obtained a good general education in public and private schools, and was fitting for college; but home circumstances made it impossible for him to take a college course, and at the age of fifteen he came to Worcester. and entered business. He was first employed in the store of H. B. Claflin, after- wards the famous New York merchant, and next for a while in that of H. H. Chamberlain. Then in 1847 he entered mercantile business for himself, in which he continued until the outbreak of the Civil War. At that time he was major and in- spector of the Fifth Brigade, having been con- nected as a private, non-commissioned and com- missioned officer, with the Worcester City Guards since the age of seventeen. At the call for troops he was unanimously elected captain of the City Guards, then Company A, Third Battalion of Rifles, Major Charles Devens, Jr., commanding, and on the 20th of April left for the seat of war. Reaching Annapolis by transport from New York, his company was sent to re-enforce Fort McHenry ; and while here he won the approbation of his men
by his spirited action in securing the release of Sergeant William Starr, who had been arrested for disrespect to Marshal Kane. Major Devens being called to the command of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment early in July, Captain Sprague, as senior officer, commanded the battal- ion till its muster-out on the 3d of August. Then at once identifying himself with the Twenty-fifth Regiment, on the 9th of September he was com- missioned its lieutenant colonel, several of those who had served with him in the third battalion also being commissioned in the same regiment at his request. Before leaving for the front, he was presented by his former command with a sword and belt, and later with a fine horse and equip- ments, the Hon. Alexander H. Bullock making the presentation on behalf of the donors. The regiment became a part of the Burnside Expedi- tion ; and he served with it until the 11th of No- vember, 1862, participating in all of its battles and skirmishes, and being reported for " bravery and efficiency" in the engagement at Roanoke Island and Newbern. Then on the date above mentioned he was commissioned colonel of the Fifty-first Massachusetts ; and by special request of Gen. John G. Foster, commanding the de- partment, he was returned with his new regiment to North Carolina, where he participated in the engagements of Kinston, Whitehall, and Golds- boro, and these names were ordered to be in- scribed on the regimental colors. At the time of Lee's second invasion, followed by the battle of Gettysburg, his regiment with others left Newbern to re-enforce General Dix at White House on the Pamunkey River, and then returned to Fort Monroe for transportation North, its term of ser- vice having ended. Learning, however, that Lee's army was north of the Potomac, Colonel Sprague at once wired the Secretary of War, offering the regiment for further service. The offer being accepted, it was ordered to Baltimore, and thence to Maryland Heights, joining the army of the Potomac near Williamsport, Lee occupying the hills opposite. Only when Lee was finally in re- treat in Virginia, the regiment returned to Massa- chusetts, and was mustered out July 27, 1863. Shortly after his return Colonel Sprague was asked by Governor AAndrew to raise and command the Fifty-seventh Regiment, but illness in his family prevented. A few months later, however, he offered his services ; and, as no regiments were then being raised, he was given his choice of the
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lieutenant coloneley of the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry or of the Second Artillery, both then in the field. He waived the former in favor of a captain in the First Cavalry deserving promotion, and took the latter on the ist of February, 1864. He served thereafter in Southern Virginia and North Carolina, commanding the regiment in its field service, moving with General Schofield's command to open communication with Sherman at Goldsboro. He was commissioned colonel of the regiment September 18. His service, cover- ing nearly four years, closed with his discharge September 20, 1865, at Galloupe Island ; and he
A. B. R SPRAGUE.
received from Congress the rank of brevet briga- dier-general of volunteers to date from March 13, 1865, for "gallant and meritorious service during the war." Returning to civil life, he re- entered business. In 1867 he was made city marshal, but soon resigned this position to take that of collector of internal revenue for the Eighth Massachusetts District. which he held from March 4, 1867. to July 1, 1872. During this period he served one term in the Worcester Board of Aldermen, having previously served in the Common Council two terms before the war. Upon the death of the Hon. J. S. C. Knowlton, sheriff of Worcester County, he was appointed to this position July 5, 1871, and was subsequently
elected for six successive terms of three years each. During his service as sheriff he introduced many reforms in Worcester County prisons, revis- ing the system of accounts, improving the diet of the prisoners, abolishing the custom of shaving heads of prisoners, and uniforming them in parti- colored garb,- a work especially appreciated by the Commissioners of Prisons, who in their yearly reports referred to these institutions as the model prisons of the Commonwealth. During Governor Long's administration he was offered the warden- ship of the State prison, but declined to take it. General Sprague has been for several years asso- ciated in business with Charles V. Putnam, and is now treasurer of the large furniture house of the Putnam and Sprague Company .. He has been a director of the Worcester Electric Light Company from its organization, and for years a vice-presi- dent of the Mechanics' Savings Bank. He is a member of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (junior vice- commander in 1868); a member of George H. Ward Post, No. 10. Grand Army of the Republic (commander of the department of Massachusetts in 1868, and in 1873-74 quartermaster-general of the National Encampment by appointment of General Charles Devens, commander-in-chief) ; and member of the Twenty-fifth, Second Heavy Artillery, and Fifty-first Regiment Associations (president for many years of the last-named organ- ization : presented by his associates in 1889 with a gold diamond-studded G. A. R. badge). Post 24, G. A. R., of Grafton, bears his name. For many years also he has been connected with the Masonic fraternity. He was married in Worces- ter, December 23, 1846, to Miss Elizabeth Janes Rice, daughter of Samuel and Eliza M. Rice. They had five children : Josephine Eliza- beth (who married a son of the late Sheriff Knowl- ton. and, dying, left a son, who is General Sprague's ward), Carrie Lee (died in 1876), Fred Foster (now in business with his father), Samuel Augus- tus, died in infancy, and Willie Lee Sprague in his eighth year. Mrs. Sprague died in February, 1889. He married second, October 3, 1890, Miss M. Jennie Barbour, of Worcester : and they have one child : Alice Alden Sprague.
STONE, WILLMORE BESEXTER, of Springfield, member of the Hampden County bar, was born in East Longmeadow, June 24, 1853. son of
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Ambrose D. and Florette (Grandin) Stone. His father was born in Canada, of French parents and ancestry ; and his mother was also a native of Canada and of French parents, but her ancestors two or three generations back were German. He was educated in the public schools of Springfield and by private tutors. He graduated from the High School (in 1872) among the highest in his class, and prepared for Harvard College; but he was prevented by illness from entering. Subse- quently, however, he spent four years in study with his tutors, going through the whole Harvard course, and taking a wider range of classical
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WILLMORE B. STONE.
studies. He read law with Augustus L. Soule, late justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, until the elevation of the latter to the bench (1877); and then in the office of George M. Stearns and Marcus P. Knowlton, the latter now a justice of that court. While a student at law, he was at the same time engaged in tutoring pupils in the classics, and was principal of the evening school, at Indian Orchard and at Springfield, for a number of years. He also wrote political articles for the press. Admitted to the bar June 24, 1878, he entered upon a successful and lucrative profes- sional business in Springfield, where he has always practised. In ISSI he was retained to assist the
government in working up the case of the Com- monwealth ?. Dwight Kidder, indicted for the murder of his brother, Charles D. Kidder. In 1882 he was assigned with E. B. Maynard (now judge of the Superior Court) by the Supreme Court to defend Turpin Jenckes, indicted for the murder of John Otis. The case against the defendant tried by Attorney-general Marston was very strong : but his counsel obtained a verdict for manslaughter, which was regarded a great victory ; and he was given a sentence of only six years. In 1889 again Mr. Stone was assigned by the court, after being retained for the defence, in Commonwealth 7. John Daly, indicted for the murder of police officer Abbott. In this case the government accepted the plea of guilty in the second degree. He has been counsel also in many important civil cases, among them the famous Massasoit House case, so called. Mr. Stone prepares his cases carefully, and has the reputation of trying them well and of arguing to the jury with eloquence and ability. He is and always has been an early and late worker, and handles a large general practice. Among his clients are many of the best people of the community. In politics he is a Democrat, and active in the party organization, chairman some time of the Democratic city committee, and member of the Democratic State Central Com- mittee. He has frequently presided at conven- tions and caucuses of Democratic voters ; has made addresses in conventions, and nominated candidates for office ; and has spoken acceptably on the stump, having a good reputation as a public speaker here as well as in court. He has been nominated for the lower house of the Legis- lature twice, for the Senate, and for the mayoralty of Springfield, and has in each case received a large vote in excess of the party vote. He is a diligent student of history and of the science of government, and a wide reader on miscellaneous subjects. He is a member of the Winthrop Club of Springfield and of the Young Men's Demo- cratic Club of Massachusetts. He was married December 22, ISSo, to Miss Caroline Bliss Newell. They have had six children : Pauline, Willmore B., Jr., Beatrice, Bradford, John Newell, and Florette Stone (deceased).
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