USA > Massachusetts > Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts > Part 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137
BARNES, LEWIS EDGAR, of Methuen, super- intendent of the Methuen Company, was born in Lawrence, March 7, 1860, son of William and Juliette A. (Waldo) Barnes. He is of old New England stock. He was educated in the Methuen public schools, graduating from the grammar school. He began work at the age of fifteen, entering the employ of the Methuen Company as "runner" in the office, and received a thorough business training through the kindness of F. E. Clarke, agent of the Methuen Company and Pemberton Company, of Lawrence, by whom he was given every chance of advancement. In March, IS88, he was placed in charge, as superin- tendent, of the Nevins Bagging Mill in Salem, owned by the proprietors of the Methuen Com- pany, where he remained a year. Then, in March, 1889, he became superintendent of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Law- rence, but a little more than a year later - in
366
MEN OF PROGRESS.
June. 1890 -- returned to the Methuen Company, taking the position of superintendent, which he has since held. Mr. Barnes has served his town
LEWIS E. BARNES.
as a member of the School Committee for five years ( 1885-1890), and he has been a trustee of the Nevins Memorial for two years. He is a Knight Templar, member of the Lawrence Com- mandery ; a member of the Aleppo Temple, of the John Hancock Lodge. Freemasons, Methuen : of the Royal Arcanum ; and of the Methuen Club. He was married January 26, 1890, to Miss Carrie E. Richardson, of Methuen. They have no chil- dren.
BARNEY, EDWIN LUTHER, of New Bedford. member of the bar, was born in Swansey, April 1, 1827. son of Edwin and Abby (Luther) Barney. He was reared on a well-regulated New England farm, and acquired a good education in the country schools and at Brown University, where he spent one year in the class of 1850. He studied for his profession in the Vale Law School, and in the office of the late Timothy G. Coffin, of New Bedford, and was admitted to the bar at Taunton in October, 1850, at the age of twenty-three years. From that time he has been in active practice, engaged in all branches of
his profession, and is now the oldest practising lawyer in Bristol County. He has tried more causes than any other attorney in the county, and is still in full practice. He has had several law students, the most notable one perhaps being the present attorney-general of Massachusetts, Mr. Knowlton. In the sixties he was for two terms a senator in the Legislature (1866-1867). He was judge advocate on General Butler's staff from 1869 to 1875. He is a Mason of more than forty years' standing, and has taken all the degrees up to the thirty-second. In politics he has always been a Democrat. In 1860 he was a Douglas Democrat, and all through the Civil War he was a stanch War Democrat. He was married April 15. 1856, to Miss Mary Hillman. They have
E. L. BARNEY.
four sons The two oldest, Benjamin Butler and Edwin L. Barney, Jr., are lawyers practising law with their father.
BENT, WILLIAM HENRY, of Taunton, manu- facturer, is a native of Cambridge, born January 2, 1839, son of Nathaniel T. and Catharine E. 1). (Metcalf) Bent. His father, born in Milton in ISto, graduated at Harvard College in 1831, a minister of high standing in the Episcopal Church,
367
MEN OF PROGRESS.
was a descendant of John Bent, who came from England to Massachusetts in 1638. His mother was born in Cambridge in 18ti, daughter of
-
-
WM. H. BENT.
Colonel Eliab W. Metcalf, a descendant of Michael Metcalf, who came from England to Massachu- setts in 1637. He was educated in private and public schools, and fitted for a civil engineer. When he was seventeen years old (in 1856), he entered the extensive machinery works of William Mason in Taunton ; and he has been connected with them ever since, except for a short time after the panic of 1857, when that business was tem- porarily suspended. Returning in 1859, he gradu- ually worked up to the position of chief executive officer of the works at the death of Mr. Mason in May, 1883. In 1873, when the business was incorporated under the name of the Mason Ma- chine Works, he became treasurer of the corpora- tion, which office he has held uninterruptedly until the present time. The corporation employs in good times about one thousand men, chiefly in building cotton machinery. Mr. Bent is also connected with numerous other large interests. He is a director of the Corliss Steam Engine Company of Providence, R.I .; director of the Nemasket Mills, Taunton ; director of the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company :
president of the Liberty Square Warehouse Com- pany of Boston ; and director of the Machinists' National Bank of Taunton. He has served as an alderman of Taunton two terms (1877 and 1878), and has been chairman of the Board of Commis- sioners of the Sinking Funds of the city ever since it was created in 1878. Although repeatedly sought, he has declined political offices and ap- pointments other than municipal, among them that of member of the special commission on the unemployed, created by the Legislature of 1894. to which he was appointed by Governor Green- halge. In politics he is a Republican. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1888. He is an earnest and influential advo- cate and defender of protection, a frequent con- tributor to the press in its interest, and since November. 1892, has been president of the Home Market Club. He is also a member of the tariff committee of the Arkwright Club of Boston. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian, and is a prominent lay member of the church organization. He is a delegate to the Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Church of Massachusetts; is a member of the committee of fifteen appointed by Bishop Lawrence in 1894 to report a plan for the division of the diocese : a member of the Episcopalian Club of Massachusetts ; and senior warden of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Taun- ton. His club associations are with the Union Club of Boston. Mr. Bent was married June 14, 1865, to Miss Harriet F. Hendee, daughter of Charles J. Hendlee, of Boston. They have had three sons : Arthur Cleveland, Frederick Hendee, and Charles (died in infancy). The two sons living graduated from Harvard College in 1889. Mrs. Bent died in 1873. He married second Miss Sarah E. Chesbrough, daughter of Lewis R. Chesbrough, of New York, January 29, 1885.
BIXBY. FRED MORTON, of Brockton, special justice of the police court, was born in Brockton (then North Bridgewater), December 1, 1863, son of Charles C. and Alice (Crocker) Bixby. He was educated in the common and high schools of his native town. He studied for his profession in the Boston University Law School, youngest member in his class, from which he graduated in 1884, appointed by the faculty class orator for scholarship, and was admitted to the bar that year. He has since been engaged in general
368
MEN OF PROGRESS.
practice in Brockton, civil and criminal, having a large business in the latter class. In 1889 and 1890 he was assistant district attorney for the
F. M. BIXBY.
South-eastern District ; and in 1890 was appointed special justice of the Brockton police court, the position he still holds. With the exception of a term in the Common Council of his city (1886), he has held no political position, confining himself exclusively to the practice of his profession. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and promi- nent in the order of Elks, an exalted ruler, and president of the Elks Club of Brockton. He is a member also of the Commercial, the New Eng- land, and the Winthrop Yacht clubs. He was married November 25, 1887, to Miss Lillie Hal- lett, of Cambridge. They have one child: Alice Parker Bixby (born September, 1889).
BORDEN, ALANSON, of New Bedford, judge of the Third Bristol District Court, was born in the town of Tiverton, R. I., near the Massachusetts State line (now in Massachusetts), January 7. 1823. His father was Isaac Borden, a farmer, as were also his grandfather and earlier ancestors, who were of English descent ; and his mother was Abby Borden, a member of a different family, not related. When he was a lad of nine, his father
and grandfather removed with the family to Venice, Cayuga County, N.Y., where they lived many years. The father and mother, however, subsequently returned to Massachusetts ; and both died in New Bedford. Alanson Borden first at- tended school near his first home, and after the removal to New York he was a regular pupil at the district school until he reached seventeen years of age. Then he entered the academy at Groton, N.V., and a few months later changed to Aurora (Cayuga County) Academy, which he at- tended about two years. It had been his cher- ished intention to go through college, and during a period of teaching after leaving Aurora Acad- emy he began preparation for a college course ; but a combination of circumstances rendered it impracticable to carry out his plans, and his fur- ther educational advantages were restricted to one year in an academy at Ithaca, N.Y. He had ac- quired, however, in these several institutions an excellent academic education ; and this was much enhanced by subsequent private study. Follow- ing his term at Ithaca, he taught in district and private schools, closing this kind of labor with one
ALANSON BORDEN.
year at Fall River, Mass. In 1846 he went to live in New Bedford, resolved to enter the legal profession. He began his studies in the office of
369
MEN OF PROGRESS.
Elliott & Kasson, and remained there two and one- half years, when he was admitted to the bar, and at once opened an office. He has ever since practised in New Bedford, though much of his time and talent has been given to the duties of public life. He was appointed in 1856 special justice of the police court, and held this position for three years, when he resigned. Next he was elected to the Legislature, and served acceptably two years (1859 and 1860). Following this ser- vice, he accepted the office of trial justice for juvenile offenders in New Bedford. In 1864 he was appointed judge of the city police court, and held this office till 1874, when all the police courts of the county were abolished and the county divided into three districts. At that time he received the appointment of judge for the third district, including New Bedford and the towns of Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven, Acushnet, and Freetown, which position he has since held. In 1864 he became the law partner of the late Judge Robert C. Pitman, and this connection continued until the appointment of Mr. Pitman to the bench of the Superior Court in 1869. In his various legislative and judicial positions he has demon- strated his fitness for them. In 1877 he was mayor of the city, and gave an excellent adminis- tration. He has been a member of the school board for many years, and chairman for three. His legal practice has been of a general character, mostly office practice ; and the confidence reposed in him has led to his frequent appointment as ad- ministrator of estates, as trustee of private prop- erty, and executor of wills. He has for many years been prominently identified with the tem- perance cause, both by words and deeds render- ing it most efficient service. Judge Borden was married first, January 27, 1852, to Miss May C. Topham, of New Bedford. She died August 22, 1876. He married second. Miss Mary Kent, daughter of George Kent, of Washington. She died January 9, 1885. He married on the 16th of January, 1886, Miss Anna R. Comesford, of New Bedford. His children are : a son by his first wife, William A .. who is now in charge of the Young Men's Library at New Haven, Conn. : and a daughter, Laura E. Borden, now Mrs. Charles H. Lobdell, of New Bedford.
BOUTON, EUGENE, of Pittsfield, superintend- ent of schools, is a native of New York, born in
Jefferson. Schoharie County, December 6, 1850, son of Ira and Emma ( Foote) Bouton. On both sides he is connected with early Connecticut fam- ilies. On the paternal side he is a descendant in direct line of John Bouton. born about 1615, who came to Boston from Gravesend, England, in the ship " Assurance" in 1635, and was one of the first settlers of Norwalk, Conn. The Bouton- Boughton genealogy makes this John Bouton to be one of the twin sons of Nicholas Bouton, Count Chamilly of France, born about 1580 ; says that he was a Huguenot who fled to England during the great persecution, and came to this country as an emigrant from there; that he became an influ- ential citizen, in 167 t and for several years subse- quent was a representative in the general court of the colony of Connecticut, and served his towns- men in many official capacities in Norwalk. On the maternal side Mr. Bouton is a direct descend- ant of Nathaniel Foote, who came from England in 1630, first settled in Watertown, Mass., and in 1635 was one of the company of emigrants who set out to begin settlements on the Connecticut River at Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor, himself settling at Wethersfield and becoming one of the original proprietors of that town. Through this Nathaniel Foote, Henry Ward Beecher wrote. -- in reference to his mother, Roxana Foote, of this family,- the genealogy can be traced back to "James Foote, an officer in the English army, who aided King Charles to conceal himself in the Royal Oak, and was knighted for his loyalty." Eugene Bouton-first attended the district schools of his native town. and at the age of fifteen. in 1865, entered the seminary at Stamford. N. Y .. then under the principalship of the Rev. John Wilde. The following year he attended the Dela- ware Literary Institute at Franklin, N.Y. ; and he finished preparation for college at Cazenovia Sem- inary in 1870, after two years' study there. He entered Vale College in 1871, and graduated from the academic department in 1875, ranking high in scholarship and literary attainments here as at the academy. He won a number of prizes : was for two years editor of the Yale Courant; wrote for the Literary Magazine ; was a speaker at Com- mencement. and class poet. In 1880-81 he pur- sued a course of graduate study at Vale, in Eng- lish poetry, under the direction of Professor H. A. Beers, at the close of the year receiving the degree of A.M. in recognition of this work : and in 1881-82 took a further course in general English
370
MEN OF PROGRESS.
literature under Dr. W. P. Coddington, of Syra- cuse University, receiving from that institution at Commencement in 1882 the degree of Ph. D). Dr. Bouton began teaching when a youth of scarcely sixteen, his first experience being in district schools in various parts of New York State, be- sides for a part of one year in Stamford Seminary. After graduation in 1875 he taught ancient lan- guages and natural science in the academy and union school of Norwich, N.Y., for two years ; was then principal of the union school and acad- emy at Sherburne, N.Y., for three years. In
EUGENE BOUTON.
18So he was invited to the chair of English lan- guage and literature in the Albany AAcademy, which position he filled three and one-half years. During the summer of 1881 he visited Great Brit- ain and France for the purpose of obtaining spe- cial information concerning English history and literature. In January, 1884, he was appointed a member of the Institute Faculty of the State of New York by the State superintendent, of public instruction, and served thereon for two years, until appointed deputy superintendent of public instruction in January, 1886, and shortly after- wards principal of the newly established State Normal School at New Paltz, N.Y. Two and a half years were devoted to organizing the latter
school: and then, having with the local board secured from the Legislature an appropriation for more than doubling its size and capacity to meet the enlarged requirements, he resigned its prin- cipalship, and turned his attention for the next two years to literary work at Sherburne, N.Y. In 1890 he was recalled into service as superintend- ent of schools at Bridgeport, Conn. ; and this po- sition he retained for three years, during which time the course of study was considerably broad- ened, and the educational work of the city mate- rially improved. He was appointed to his present position as superintendent of schools at Pittsfield. early in 1894. While at the Albany Academy, in the spring of 188t he was elected professor of history and Enghsh literature in the College of Charleston, S.C., but declined to accept the offer ; and, while principal at New Paltz, he declined an invitation to the chair of English literature in the University of Kansas. Since that time he has declined to become a candidate for several impor- tant positions apparently within his reach, but likely to interfere with the working out of his edu- cational ideas. Mr. Bouton's contributions to literature have been numerous and varied. He contributed to McClintock and Strong's Cyclo- pædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature in 1877 : in 1884 he published, in con- nection with Professor James Johonnot, a work on elementary physiology and hygiene, entitled " How we live; or, the Human Body, and How to take Care of it" (New York: D. Appleton & C'o.), a revised edition of which was issued five years later under the title of "Lessons in Hygiene ": he has engaged in the preparation of other text-books ; has been a frequent contributor to educational periodicals, and has written a number of occasional poems which have appeared in periodicals. He has always been active in educational associations, and has shared in most of the educational movements in recent years. He was among the first in New York State to agitate the licensing of common-school teachers by State rather than by merely local authority. Besides his reports in various official capacities, in which many of his educational ideas have been set forth, he has presented several papers before the University Convocation of New York State and the State teachers' associations of New York and Connecticut. He has served in various official capacities in teachers' associations; was one of the originators and a director of the New
371
MEN OF PROGRESS.
York State Reading Circle ; and, while at Bridge- port. was a member of the Fairfield County Historical Society, the Bridgeport Scientific Society, and the Seaside Club. In politics he is a Democrat. Dr. Bouton was married June 29. 1887, to Miss Elizabeth Rumrill Gladwin, daugh- ter of Albert R. Gladwin, of Sherburne. N. Y. They have three children : Katharine (born in Sherburne, January 26. 1889). Gladwin (born in Bridgeport, September 16, 1891), and Elizabeth (born in Bridgeport. October 14, 1893).
E. A. BRACKETT.
BRACKETT, EDWARD AUGUSTUS, of Winches- ter, chairman of the Massachusetts Commission on Inland Fisheries and Game, is a native of Maine, born in Vassalboro, October 1, 1819, son of Reuben and Elizabeth (Starkey) Brackett. Ile was educated in the common schools and at the Friends' Academy at Providence, R.I. His early life was devoted to sculpture, and some of his best works were busts of William Henry Harrison, Senator Talmage, Benjamin F. Butler, John Brown, Washington Allston, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, and the group " The Shipwrecked Mother and Child." He served in the early part of the Civil War, appointed by Gov- ernor Andrew first lieutenant and battalion quar-
termaster of the First Massachusetts Cavalry October 25, 1861. and mustered into the service December 4 following In March, 1862, he re- signed in consequence of the reorganization of the cavalry by act of Congress. He was first ap- pointed one of the State Commission on Inland Fisheries in June, 1869, and has held the office ever since, a period of upwards of twenty-five years. In October, 1894, he was reappointed for another term of five years. Since 1873 he has been chairman and executive officer of the board, and has written the annual reports since 1872. lle is the inventor of a fishway which has always been successful even over the highest dams, and of hatching trays that are in universal use. In politics he is a Republican. He has been twice married. first, in 1842 to Miss Folger, of Cincin- nati, Ohio, and second. in 1872, to Miss Belville, of Mt. Washington, Ohio. Ile has two sons and three daughters: Frank D., Walter F., Lena R. (now Mrs. II. E. Wellington), Bessie R. (Mrs. ('harles S. Parker), and Bertha E. Brackett.
BRADY, JAMES, JR., of Fall River, collector of customs, port and district of Fall River, was born in Cambridge, November 23, 1830, son of James and B. ( Brady) Brady. He was educated in the public schools. At the age of twelve he was em- ployed in a cotton mill, and at twenty had attained the oversight of the spinning department, which occupation he was engaged in at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He joined the army in the first year of the war, commissioned as first lieutenant of Company G., Twenty-sixth Massa- chusetts Regiment, September 18, 1861. He was made captain December 6, 1862, veteranized in January, 1864, and served until the end of the latter year, being discharged from military ser- vice on the 31st of December by reason of wounds received in battle at Winchester, Va., September 19 preceding, while gallantly leading his com- mand,- the loss of the left leg, and gun-shot wound in left side and in right leg. While being taken off the field. a volley was fired at him ; and two of the men carrying him were killed. In July. 1865, he was appointed to the Fall River collectorship by President Johnson ; and he has been retained since by succeeding Presidents,-re- appointed by President Grant, March 2. 1870, and February 24. 1874: by President Hayes, April 12. 1878: by President Arthur. May 2. 1882 : by
372
MEN OF PROGRESS.
President Cleveland, August 5, 1886 : by President Harrison, September 11. 1890 ; and by President Cleveland in 1894. Captain Brady is a member
JAMES BRADY, Jr.
of Post 46, Grand Army of the Republic ; a mem- ber of the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Regiment. of which he was president from October, 1881, to October, 1884, covering three terms ; a Free- mason, member of King Philip Lodge, Fall River, Royal Arch Chapter, Fall River Council, and God- frey de Bouillon Commandery ; and a member of the Home Market Club. Captain Brady was first married, May 19, 1853. to Miss Delila Van Deusen, of Copake. N.Y. They had six children : Clara. James 1)., Carrie B., Viola, Lella, and Delmer Brady. He married second, November 11, 1886. Miss Josephine M. Burnside, of Winchester, Va. They have no children.
BROWN, DANIEL EUGENE, M.D., of Brockton, was born in Maine, in the city of Ellsworth, Feb- ruary 8, 1865, son of Ivory L. and Emma L. (Eppes) Brown. On the paternal side he is a de- scendant of Peter Brown, who came from England in the " Mayflower." and on the maternal side of Colonel David Greene, a brother of General
Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame. llis mother was a daughter of Daniel Eppes, Ist, son of Henry and Emma (Greene) Eppes, the latter daughter of Colonel David Greene's son John and Abigail (Gerry) Greene. His father was on the maternal side a cousin to Chief Justice John A. l'eters, of Maine. His general education was ob- tained in the public schools of Ellsworth; and he studied for his profession in the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, where he was graduated March 31, 1886. During his vaca- tions from school he worked in the stores of his father and his uncle, Daniel H. Eppes, in Ells- worth. He began the practice of medicine on the ust of May, the year of his graduation, well estab- lished in Brockton, where he has since continued. He is a member of the Massachusetts Homco- pathic Medical Society and of the Plymouth County Homeopathic Medical Society. He also belongs to the order of Odd Fellows, the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias ; and is a member of the Com- mercial Club of Brockton. In politics he is a Re- publican. He was married June 9, 1883, to Miss Linnie M. Burnham, daughter of A. F. Burnham,
DANIEL E. BROWN.
a well-known lawyer of Ellsworth, Me. They have one son, Albert Farrington Brown.
373
MEN OF PROGRESS.
BRUCE, ALEXANDER BERN, of Lawrence. man- ufacturer, for two terms mayor of the city, is a native of Scotland, born in Brechin, September
A. B. BRUCE.
17, 1853, son of David and Jemima (Bern ) Bruce. He came to this country at an early age with his parents, who settled in Andover, and was edu- cated there in the public schools. At the age of fifteen he went to Lawrence in search of employ- ment, and, finding a place as workman in the cracker and biscuit factory of the late Jonathan l'. Kent, made rapid progress in the business. Within six years he rose from the foot of the line to the position of foreman. After the death of Mr. Kent he successfully managed the business until 1881, when he purchased an interest in it, and his name appeared in the firm. From that time the firm name was Kent & Bruce till Febru- ary, 1891, when Mr. Bruce became sole proprietor of the plant. It is now with one exception the largest cracker and biscuit bakery in New Eng- land. While developing this business, Mr. Bruce also engaged in other interests, and is now a director of the Merchants' National Bank, director of the Lowell, Lawrence, & Haverhill Railroad, trustee of the Wildey Savings Bank of Boston, and director of the New England North-western Investment Company. He was president of the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.