USA > Massachusetts > Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts > Part 53
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
1
WILLIAM HILL.
which he kept for a year. In 1886 he leased the Plympton Hotel property at Watch Hill, R. L., and remodelled the three houses there, the Plympton, Bay View, and Dickens, into one large establish- ment, which, as the Plympton Hotel and Annexes, he is now conducting in connection with the Hill Mansion House at Easthampton, to which he re- turned in October, 1893. Mr. Hill has success- fully solved the problem of how to run a country hotel without a bar. and prosper. From 1870 to 1886 he had in his Hill's Mansion House more than one thousand Williston Seminary students; and he has probably furnished more class suppers than any other hotel man in New England, but
never with a drop of wine on the table. He has never used tobacco, or been before or behind any bar to drink a glass of intoxicating liquor. He has been a pronounced Prohibitionist from Dr. Jewett's day, and has lost some trade and suffered some persecution on account of his principles. At one time, while landlord of the Mansion House at Northampton, upwards of a hundred trees on his estate were girdled and ruined by some person or persons incited to this wanton act by his efforts to break up the illegal sale of liquor in the town. But in the long run he has prospered, and made his hotels popular. At Easthampton one of his most interesting experiences was the entertain- ment of Henry Ward Beecher and the latter's large party of supporting friends on the occasion of his notable vacation trip after the close of his great trial in 1875. In politics Mr. Hill has always been a Republican. He was married in 1845 to Miss Clarissa M. Richards, of Springfield. They have had six children : William R., Charles H., Clara M., Charles E., Thomas R., and Willie Hill, of whom only Thomas R. is now living.
HILTON, GEORGE WHITEFIELD, M. D., of Low- ell, is a native of Maine, born in South Parsons- field, Vork County, August 9. 1839, son of George and Abigail ( Ricker) Hilton. He is of English ancestry on both sides. He was reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools and local academy. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, in August, 1861, he enlisted in the Eighth Maine Regiment of infantry for the term of three years. For two years he was on detached service as acting hospital steward in the United States general hospital at Beaufort, S.C .; also on the United States hospital boat, the steamer " Ma- tilda," stationed at Bermuda Hundred on the James River, receiving the sick and wounded from the front and transferring them to Fort Mon- roe. His duties here were to prepare the medi- cines prescribed by the surgeon in charge, assist in surgical operations, and to see that the sick and wounded were properly cared for. He was mus- tered out, September, 1864, at the close of his term. Soon after he received from the Secretary of War the appointment of hospital steward in the United States regular army, but declined to serve. It was while in the army hospital service that he laid the foundation for his medical edu- cation ; and after his return to civil life he further
397
MEN OF PROGRESS.
pursued his studies, but was obliged to defer entering college by lack of means. In October. 1869, he moved with his family to Chicago, Ill .. and in 1875 was enabled to enter the Hahnemann Medical College. Graduating in February. 1877. he immediately began the practice of his profes- sion in Chicago, where he remained till November. 1881, when he returned East, and established himself in Lowell. In January, 1891, while en- gaged in practice there, he first announced to the public his discovery of the remedy widely known as Dr. Hilton's Specific, No. 3, which has made him famous. Ile is a member of Ladd and Whit-
G. W. HILTON.
ney Post, No. 185, Grand Army of the Republic ; of the Oberlin Lodge, Order of Odd Fellows. No. 28 ; and of the Country and Highland clubs of Lowell. He was married December 3. 1865. to Miss Mary E. McC'ammon, daughter of David and Winnefred (Smith) MeCammon, of Plymouth. They have three children : Jennie (now Mrs. C. F. Hamblett. of Lowell), Grace, and Maud Hilton.
HODGES, WILLIAM ALLEN. of Quincy, mayor of the city 1894, is a native of Petersham. born May 15. 1834. son of Jerry and Mary Simpkins (Tucker) Hodges. On both sides he descends
from old Plymouth County families. His paternal ancestor. William Hodges, settled in what is now Taunton about the year 1640, and died there April 2, 1654. He was a land proprietor, and prominent in local affairs. His two sons, John and Henry, were also identified with Taunton, and are mentioned as proprietors of land there in 1675. John married Elizabeth Macy in 1672 ; and of their numerous children John, the eldest. born in 1673, became a resident of Norton. His son Edmund had thirteen children, and lived all his life in Norton. Edmund's son, Tisdale, born in 1753, was a captain of troopers. He married Naomi Hodges. daughter of Captain Joseph Hodges, of Norton, who was killed in an Indian fight near Fort Schuyler in the French War. During his latter years he moved to Petersham. He had seven sons, all of whom were given an education above the average of those days, several of them being sent to college. His son Jerry, the father of William A. Hodges, was born in Norton in 1787. received an excellent education, and was fitted for the medical profession. He held a com- mission some time as surgeon's mate in the United States army, and was recognized as a man of marked ability. He died in 1858. William A. Hodges' paternal great-grandfather, Samuel Tucker, was one of the first settlers of Milton. Mr. Hodges was the tenth in a family of eleven children. He was educated in the common schools of Petersham and at Milton Academy. At the age of fourteen he started out for himself, and, after some time spent at work in Boston, be- came an apprentice in Milton, serving three years at the trade of a baker. Thereafter he worked as journeyman in Milton, Roxbury, and other places until 1858, when he went to California. He re- mained two years on the Pacific coast, engaged in mining and also working at his trade, and then returned to Massachusetts and to the shop of one of his former employers in Roxbury. Two years later he journeyed West in search of a promising place in which to locate. After spending five months in McGregor, lowa, however, he returned East. and again engaged with his former em- ployers in Roxbury. In May. 1866, he moved to Quincy, and purchased an interest in the baking business established in the shop which he still occupies. In the autumn of 1867 he became sole proprietor of the establishment, and in course of time considerably enlarged his premises and greatly increased the business. During his resi-
398
MEN OF PROGRESS.
dence in Quincy he has been a public-spirited citizen and prominent in its affairs. In 1872 he was first elected a selectman of the town, and the next year was made chairman of the board. In 1874 he was returned without opposition. A few weeks after this election he resigned the office, in- tending to devote himself exclusively to his pri- vate business, but in the autumn following he was nominated by the Democrats for representa- tive in the Legislature, and was elected to that position. The next spring (1875) he was again elected a selectman of Quincy. In 1876 he was an alternate delegate to the National Democratic
WM. A. HODGES.
Convention at St. Louis, and the autumn of that year was nominated for State senator by the Democrats of the First Norfolk District. The district, however, was so strongly Republican that there was no hope of election, although he made a good run. In 1877 he was returned to the Board of Selectmen by a large majority, and be- came its chairman. In April, 1878, in a by-elec- tion for senator, occasioned by the death of Mr. Barker, senator-elect, he was again the Democratic candidate, and this time was successful. In 1879 he was not a candidate for selectman ; but in the autumn of that year he was given the compliment- ary nomination for executive councillor by the
Democrats of the Second Councillor District, over- whelmingly Republican. In 188o-Si he again served as selectman and chairman of the board, in ISSo also receiving the complimentary nomina- tion for county commissioner from his party, and in ISS1 nominated for treasurer and receiver-gen- eral on the Democratic State ticket. In 1882 he was renominated for State treasurer. In 1883 he was again put in the field as the Democratic candidate for senator from his district, and was elected after a spirited canvas. In 1886-87-88, the last three years of town government in Quincy, he served as selectman, assessor, and overseer of the poor. He was elected mayor of the city in the elections of 1893 and 1894. He is a prominent Mason, member of the Rural Lodge of Quincy, of St. Stephen's Lodge of Royal Arch Masons, and of the Boston Commandery. He was married September 15, 1868, to Miss Annie M. Wilson, daughter of George F. and Maria (Stetson) Wil- son, of Quincy. They have three sons and a daughter now living : Francis Mason, Mabel Stet- son, Edward Tisdale Quincy, and Willard Allan lodges.
HOLBROOK, WILLIAM EDWARD, M. D., of Lynn, was born in Palmer, Hampden County, July 24, 1852, son of Dr. William and Clara ( Belknap) Holbrook. His first ancestor in this country was Thomas Holbrook, who came from Brantry, England, in 1635. His great-great- grandfather, first of Bellingham, and afterward of Sturbridge, served as lieutenant in the Revolution. His grandfather was Major-General Erasmus Holbrook of the State Militia; and his father, William Holbrook, M.D., born in Sturbridge June 23, 1823, was surgeon of the Eighteenth Massa- chusetts Regiment in the Civil War, has held the position of medical examiner ever since the es- tablishment of that office, and has been in prac- tice forty-eight years. His mother and both of his maternal grandparents, Captain Peter and Anna (Marsh) Belknap, were also all natives of Sturbridge. William E. attended Monson Acad- emy, where he was fitted for college, graduating in 1872, entered Amherst and graduated in the class of 1876. and completed his study for his profes- sion at the Harvard Medical School, graduating therefrom in 1879. He began practice in his native town in 1879, soon after finishing his col- lege course. He built up a good practice there, but, wishing a larger field, came to Lynn in Octo-
399
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ber, 1885. In his practice he has always ad- hered to the regular school. While doing a general practice, his tastes are surgical. When he
W. E. HOLBROOK.
came to Lynn, he knew only one family, and at first it was a hard struggle ; but he has succeeded in establishing an extensive and lucrative practice. Dr. Holbrook is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the Harvard Alumni As- sociation. In politics he is a Republican. He is unmarried.
HOLMES, ALEXANDER REED, M.D., of Can- ton, was born in New Bedford, July 16, 1826, son of the Rev. Sylvester and Esther Holmes : died in C'anton, November 11, 1894. His paternal grand- mother was a descendant of "Silver-headed " Thomas Clark, of Plymouth, one of the " May- Hower " company, so called from the silver plate which covered his head after he had been scalped by the Indians. Dr. Holmes was educated in public schools and academy, and was fitted for his profession at the Pennsylvania Medical University. where he was graduated in 1849. He first prac- tised in his native place, where he remained until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he was among the first to enlist for service. Joining the Third Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, he
went with the troops to Fortress Monroe, and there served until he was detailed by General But- ler to a post in New York City as medical exam- iner of applicants for enlistment. Subsequently he was transferred to the navy, and served some time on the United States steamer . Nipsic." then in charge of the hospital at New Orleans. After the close of hostilities he remained in the service by special request of his superior officers, and cruised for two years in Southern waters. When his term expired. he was holding the post of assist- ant port physician. He established himself in Canton in May, 1868, and was from that time en- gaged in an extensive general practice. as physi- cian and surgeon, till his death. He held the position of medical examiner for the Fifth Nor- folk District for eighteen years, being in his third term when he died ; and was pension examiner for three years. under appointment of President Har- rison. In town affairs he was active and influen- tial. and was called to numerous positions of responsibility, among them that of member of the Board of Commissioners originally appointed to secure a supply of pure water for the town. He
L
A. R. HOLMES.
was connected with the Masonic order, a member of Adoniram Chapter of New Bedford and of Sut- ton Commandery Knights Templar ; was an early
400
MEN OF PROGRESS.
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, com- mander of Post 94 for five years; a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the Norfolk Medical Society: and of the Norfolk Club. In politics he was an active Republican. He was regarded as a surgeon of marked ability and a skilful physician ; and in his practice, it has been said, "he was more than the physician : he was the kind friend, the genial and hearty presence." Dr. Holmes married December 14, 1858, Mrs. Harriet F. Newhall, born Lindsey, of Prescott. They had three children, one only of whom is now living : Grace Lindsey Holmes.
HORTON, EVERETT SOUTHWORTH, of Attle- borough, manufacturer, is a native of Attle- borough, born June 15, 1836, son of Gideon M. and Mary S. (Smith) Horton. His great-grand- father, Lieutenant James Horton, born 1741, died 1833, was a soldier of the Revolution. He was educated in the common schools and at the old Attleborough Academy. His youth was spent on his father's farm and in the latter's store, of which he subsequently became the owner. When the Civil War broke out, he was here engaged ; and, early enlisting, he made a brilliant record, cover- ing the entire period of hostilities. He went out as second lieutenant of Company C, Forty-seventh Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, having en- listed September 12, 1862, for the term of nine months. His regiment was assigned to the Gulf Department under General Banks, and, reaching New Orleans in December. was detailed to the First Brigade, Second Division, Nineteenth Army Corps. On February 2, 1863, he was commis- sioned captain ; and this rank he held until the regiment was mustered out. Four weeks after his return home he re-enlisted (November 14, 1863) for the term of three years in the Fifty-eighth Regiment. He was again commissioned second lieutenant, and also recruiting officer for the regi- ment. In February following (1864) he was com- missioned captain of Company C, same regiment. He was in the thickest of the battles of the Wil- derness, Spottsylvania, Tolopamoy Creek, Gaines's Mills, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring, Church, and White Plains. On the 8th of August he was promoted to be major, and mustered in on the 25th, and six days later was commissioned lieutenant colonel ; but before he was mustered into this office he was taken
prisoner (September 30), and sent to Libby Prison. After five days' retention here he was removed to Salisbury, N.C., thence to Danville, and thence to Libby Prison again, as hostage, January 15. February 22, 1865, he was paroled, and declared exchanged by order of the War Department in March. After a month's leave of absence he re- turned to active service, joining his regiment at Petersburg, Va. Reaching Alexandria June 10, he served from that time until he was mustered out, as inspector of the Second Division, Ninth Army Corps. Returning to business, he became connected with the large wholesale house of Dan-
E. S. HORTON.
iels, Cornell, & Co., of Providence, R.I. The next fourteen years were spent here; and then he embarked in the manufacture of jewelry in Attle- borough, under the firm name of Horton, Angell, & Co., in which he has since been engaged. He is also president of the Attleborough Savings and Loan Association and vice-president of the Attle- borough Gas Light Company. He has held nu- merous local offices, - selectman, assessor, member of the Board of Health,- is now (1895) chairman of the Board of Selectmen, a commissioner of the sinking fund, president of the trustees of the Richardson School Fund, and president of the Attleborough Free Public Library; and he has
rot
MEN OF PROGRESS.
represented the town and the district in both branches of the Legislature. When a member of the House in his first term. 1891, he served on the committee on public charitable institutions. and during his second term, 1892, was a member of the committee on railroads. In the Senate, 1893. he was chairman of the committee on roads and bridges, and member of those on parishes and religious societies, and on rapid transit. He is prominent in the Grand Army of the Republic, a charter member of William A. Streeter Post, No. 145, its commander for four terms, 1872-73, 1881, and 1892, and a delegate to the national encampment at San Francisco, Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., Washington, D.C., and Pittsburg, Penna. He is also a member of the Massachusetts Commandery, Military Order Loyal Legion of the United States, and president of the Rhode Island United States Veteran Association. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Order of United Workmen. In politics he has been always a Re- publican, on town committees for a long period. and president of the local Republican Club for ten years. He is also a member of the Pomham Club of Providence, R.J. Major Horton was first married June 12. 1861, to Miss Mary Ann Car- penter. She died in 1871, leaving one child : Mary Edith Horton (born July 22. 1862). He married second, in 1873. Miss Eliza D. Freemont. They have one child : Gertie E. Horton (born May 29, 1876).
IVERS, SAMUEL, of New Bedford, treasurer of the Southern Massachusetts Telephone Company, and of other corporations, was born in Dedham, June 14, 1828, son of Samuel and Caroline (Ful- ler) Ivers. He was the fourth of a family of six children, one girl and five boys, all of whom reached adult age, and became active in affairs. He was educated in the public schools of his na- tive town, and also in the Washington Grammar School of Roxbury, to which place his parents moved during his boyhood. Upon leaving the Washington School at about the age of sixteen. when the family again moved, this time to Cam- bridge, he entered the dry-goods store of his eldest brother, of the firm of Ivers & Campbell. then on Hanover Street, Boston, to learn that business. After remaining here about a year, when the firm sold out, he came to New Bedford.
and was for another year a clerk in the dry-goods store of a Mr. Shaw. Then he engaged as clerk with Nehemiah Leonard, in the sperm and whale oil commission and candle manufacturing busi- ness. A few years later he was taken into part- nership, the firm name becoming N. Leonard & Co. ; and this association held till the death of Mr. Leonard in 1869. For some time previous to Mr. Leonard's death Mr. Ivers had practically the sole charge of the business on account of the feeble health of the former; and he continued it alone for several years after. He was also exec- utor and trustee of the estate of Mr. Leonard,
SAMUEL IVERS.
which was valued at upwards of a hundred thou- sand dollars. In 1880 Mr. Ivers, with three others, took up the Southern Massachusetts terri- tory, and organized the Southern Massachusetts Telephone Company. with a capital of thirty thousand, increased with the increase of the busi- ness from time to time until it reached six hun- dred thousand dollars, of which he was made treasurer and clerk. About the same time he was one of the organizers of the Williams Manufactur- ing Company, with a capital of two hundred thou- sand dollars, and one of a number who organized the New Bedford Opera House Company, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, and built the
402
MEN OF PROGRESS.
Opera House, becoming treasurer and clerk of both of these corporations. Subsequently he was elected treasurer and clerk of the Clark's Cove Guano Company, capital between seven and eight hundred thousand dollars. After four or five years' service in these several positions he re- signed the treasurership of the Guano Company, and soon after that of the Williams Manufacturing Company, the business of the Telephone Com- pany having increased to such an extent that he could not comfortably attend to the duties of all of them. He is still treasurer and clerk of the Telephone and of the Opera House companies, treasurer of several smaller enterprises, director of the several companies of which he is and has been treasurer, trustee of several estates, and trustee of the Five Cents Savings Bank, of which he was one of the original incorporators. In pol- itics he is and always has been a Republican, at times more interested in political movements than at others, especially when local matters of impor- tance are issues. He has been a member of the Republican city committee at different times. and its chairman or treasurer a number of terms. He has held a few local offices ; and at one time, during his absence from home, and without his knowledge, he was nominated for representative in the Legislature. That he was not elected gave him much gratification, as he has always preferred business to public station. He has been asked repeatedly to be a candidate for Common Coun- cil, the Board of Aldermen, and for the mayoralty but has in all cases positively declined. He has been long prominent in the North Congregational Church, and was treasurer of the Sunday-school for about fifteen years. He is a member of the Wamsutta Club, one of the few who started and or- ganized it, and its treasurer for ten or fifteen years ; and he is a member of the New Bedford Board of Trade. He was married first in 1851 to Miss Jane Frances Tobey, daughter of Jonathan Tobey, who died early in 1853 ; and second, late in 1855, to Miss Elizabeth Perkins, daughter of John Per- kins. She died in 1885. By his first wife he had a daughter, Ella Frances Ivers, who is still living ; and, by his second wife, a daughter, Lizzie Per- kins Ivers, who died October, 1883.
JAQUES, ALDEN POTTER, of Haverhill, a large holder of Haverhill real estate, was born in Maine, in the town of Bowdoin, March 4, 1835.
eldest son of Stafford and Harriet ( Potter) Jaques. He is descended from Captain J. Jaques, one of three brothers who came from France to this
ALDEN P. JAQUES.
country in the early colonial days, and settled in Newbury, Mass. Subsequently Captain J. was one of the first settlers of Harpswell, Me., becom- ing a large holder of land there. For several years he was master of a merchant ship, and was finally lost at sea. Isaac Jaques, the grandfather of AAlden P., removed from Harpswell to Bowdoin, and became a prominent citizen. AAlden P. was the oldest of a family of three sons and one daughter. He spent his boyhood on the farm, attending the public schools during the three winter months of each year. His father was a contractor and builder ; and, being away from home much of the time, the farm was in the son's hands from the time he was old enough to con- duct it until he reached the age of eighteen. Then he struck out for himself, and, obtaining a situation in Richmond, Me., as a ship-joiner, he followed that trade until the financial panic and depression of 1857, when, ship-building becoming inactive, he turned his attention to house carpen- tering. In 1858 he purchased a farm in Bowdoin, Me., and engaged in general farming. He re- mained there, however, but about a year, in 1859
403
MEN OF PROGRESS.
removing to Haverhill, and returning to his old trade of carpentering. Being a skilful workman, he found steady employment in the finer grades of finishing, and continued in this occupation for three years, his last work at the trade being on the City Hall. Then he took up shoe manufactur- ing. He formed a partnership with his brother-in- law, Randall A. Potter, under the firm name of Potter & Jaques, and engaged actively in the in- dustry. In 1870, in company with John B. Nichols, he purchased the large wooden building then standing on Washington Street, known as the Coffin Block, and the Whipple House adjoin- ing, and three years later began here an enter- prise which soon revolutionized the shoe industry in Haverhill,- the application of steam power in shoemaking. He was also the first to succeed in making shoes in what is known as a "string shop "; and in this, as in the adoption of steam to shoe manufacture, he was followed by others until it became the prevailing method. Mr. Jaques continued in the shoe manufacturing busi- ness until the disastrous fire of February, 1882, which destroyed his factory and other buildings. Then he became more extensively interested in real estate, erecting, in place of the property swept away by the fire, more substantial structures, and turned his attention to other enterprises. Since about 1890 he has been extensively and very profitably engaged in gold-mining in Colorado. He has always taken a warm interest in Haver- hill affairs, and has served the city in various positions. He was for two terms a member of the School Board; in 1885 and 1886 an alder- man ; in 1887 and ISSS a member of the lower house of the Legislature for Haverhill, serving in that body on important committees, in his first term a member also of the special committee ap- pointed to represent the Commonwealth at the centennial celebration of the signing of the Na- tional Constitution at Philadelphia ; and in 1890 a member of the State Senate, serving that term as chairman of the State House committee, chair- man of the committee on woman suffrage, and member of the committees on county affairs and criminal costs, and on libraries. In politics he is an earnest Republican, and has contributed generously, in personal work and in contribution, to campaign funds for the advancement of his party. He has been long a member of the Haverhill Commandery of Knights Templar, of the Saggahen Lodge, Freemasons, and 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.