Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 57

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 57

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DeWITT C. PACKARD.

for the New England trade, until 1879. Then this business was gradually abandoned for the mortgage, brokerage, and real estate business, in

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which he was engaged, until his election as city clerk. Mr. Packard has been prominent in town and city affairs for a number of years. and has held numerous local positions. From 1877 to 1888 he was a trustee and a member of the board for the management of the Public Library. From 1879 to 1883 he was a member of the School Committee. In 1880 he was a member of the committee of citizens chosen to prepare and obtain a city charter, in 1881 was chosen town clerk, and in 1882 elected city clerk, which posi- tion he has held continuously to the present time. Since 1875 he has held a commission as justice of the peace; in 1880 he was a United States census enumerator : in 1884 he was appointed by the governor a commissioner to qualify civil offi- cers, and he has been an examiner under the Massachusetts Civil Service Rules since their adoption. In his youth he had some connection with the newspaper press, serving as a reporter on the North Bridgewater Gasette, and also oc- casionally contributing to the Boston Post, Travel- ler, Saturday Evening Gazette, the New England Farmer, and later to the Rural New Yorker. Mr. Packard was married January 5, 1865, to Miss Clarissa J. Leach, daughter of Oliver and Susannah (Howland) Leach. They have had two children : Clinton Francis and Clara Washburn Packard.

PAINE, AMASA ELLIOT, M.D., of Brockton. was born in Truro. November 19, 1843. son of Amasa and Susannah (Freeman) Paine. On his father's side he is connected with the families of Paines and Smalls, and on his mother's side with the Freemans and Atwoods, who were among the first settlers of Cape Cod. He was educated in public school and academy, and prepared for his profession at the Harvard Medical School, which he entered in the spring of 1862. Enlisting in August, 1862, in Company E, Forty-third Massa- chusetts Regiment, he was detailed for service in the regimental hospital, in which he was engaged until mustered out in the autumn of 1863. Re- turning to Harvard in October following, he remained there until June, 1864. when he re- ceived the appointment of medical cadet in the regular army. First stationed at Mt. Pleasant Hospital, Washington, D.C., he was some time in charge of the erysipelas ward. Meanwhile he attended the Georgetown College, Georgetown,

D.C., and was graduated there in 1865. In August. 1865. he was promoted to the position of assistant surgeon, and was ordered on duty to

A. ELLIOT PAINE.

the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, colored troops, stationed in South Carolina. His army service closed in February, 1866. Then he en- gaged in general practice, first in Wellfleet and Taunton, finally settling in North Bridgewater (now Brockton) in September, 1867. In Brock- ton he has served on the Board of Health two years ; and he has been medical examiner for the First Plymouth District since 1877. He was president of the Plymouth District Massachusetts Medical Society for 1891 and 1892, and is at present (1895) treasurer of the Massachusetts Medico-legal Society. He has been identified with the order of Odd Fellows since 1871, and has passed through the chairs of both lodge and encampment. He is also a member of Canton Nemasket. Patriarchs Militant, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic, of the Loyal Legion, and of the Commercial Club of Brockton. In politics he is a Republican. Dr. Paine was married May 1. 1867, to Miss Lucie W. Ritter, of Washington. D.C. They have two daughters : Georgina L. and Charlotte H. Paine.

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

PIERCE, JOHN C., of Gloucester, member of the Essex bar, was born in Rockport, October S, 1856, son of Sylvester and Annie E. (Sanborn) Pierce. His father was a native of Maine, born in Lebanon, son of John Pierce of the same place. Both were farmers. Being left fatherless at the age of eight years, and obliged early to earn his own living, his schooling was confined to that which the common schools of his native place afforded. He, however, acquired knowledge in other ways, and through his own exertions ob- tained a liberal education. After leaving school, he was engaged for five years in sloop-freighting

JOHN C. PIERCE.

of granite from Rockport to Boston. Then he began the study of law, in January, 1879 entering the law office of William W. French, afterwards mayor of Gloucester; and after three years of study here he was admitted to the bar at the June term, 1882, of the Superior Court in Salem. Since that time he has been in active practice in Gloucester and Rockport, devoting himself espe- cially to the settlement of estates and to United States pensions business. He has served his native town as a member of the School Committee through five terms, 1882-83-84-86-89, acting a part of the time as secretary of the board, and for three years. 1882-83-84, as auditor of ac-

counts. In 1885 he was a candidate for the Leg- islature for the First Essex representative District, but was defeated after a close contest by only three votes. He is an ardent Republican, and has served as secretary of the Republican town committee of Rockport (from 1885 to 1890) and one year ( 1887) on the Republican State Commit- tee for the Third Essex senatorial District. He is a member of the Tyrian Lodge of Freemasons and of the Columbia Club of Gloucester; and in the Ashler Lodge of Masons, Rockport, he has held the positions of senior deacon, junior and senior warden. Mr. Pierce was married February 22, 1886, to Miss Emma E. Saunders, daughter of William E. Saunders, of Rockport. They have three children : Zillah F., John C., Jr., and Sylves- ter Pierce.

PORTER, EDWARD FRANCIS, of Watertown, was born in Scituate, July 21, 1820, son of Ed- ward J., soldier of the war of 1812, and Ruth (Gardner) Porter. He was the oldest of nine children, five boys and four girls, all of whom lived to adult age, and were present at the golden wed- ding of their parents in 1869 at his house in East Boston. His paternal grandfather, William Porter, of Marshfield, was in the sixth generation from Richard Porter, who came from England in 1635, and settled in Weymouth ; and his maternal grand- father, Perez Gardner, of Hingham, a soldier of the Revolution, serving during the whole term of the war, with Arnold in his march through Maine to Canada, and finally discharged at New York by General Washington, was of Hingham ancestry for several generations. He was educated in the common schools, and after leaving school served an apprenticeship with his father as a sail-maker. In due course of time he became a master at the work, and in 1844 succeeded his father in the business, then established in Scituate. Three years later, in 1847, he moved to Boston, and there continued the sail-making business till 1860, making most of the sails for the large clipper ships built by Donald McKay and Samuel Hall. In the year 1855 he began dye-wood manufact- uring, which he continued successfully till 1873, when he retired from active business. He was the founder of the Boston Dye-wood & Chemical Company in 1868. Mr. Porter has been elected or appointed to numerous positions, and has per- formed much public service. He was a member of the Boston Common Council in 1855 and 1856,

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

a member of the lower house of the Legislature in 1857 and 1859. a senator in 1858, State com- missioner for the sale of liquor from 1859 to 1866.

E. F PORTER.

also commissioner for New Hampshire in 1862- 63-64-65. and authorized to sell to Maine town agents during 1860-61 62 -63 : and a member of the Boston Board of Aldermen in 1865 and 1866. In Watertown he has been a selectman four terms, 1887-88 89-93; a member of the Board of Health, 1892-93; member of the commit- tee on the construction of sewers in the town in 1890 91 92, when the work was finished ; and chairman of the committee on building the new brick school-house in 1894 95. He has belonged to the Methodist Church since 1839. serving as trustee most of the time since, first in Scituate. afterward in East Boston. and now in Watertown. He has been a member of the Wesleyan Associa- tion since 1852 ; was a trustee of Wesleyan Acad- emy, Wilbraham, for ten years till 1882, when he resigned from ill-health : a trustee of Lasell Semi- nary about the same time : and member of the Mas- sachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association since 1862, trustee in 1895 for three years. In politics he was originally a Free Soiler and afterward a Republican. Mr. Porter was married May 8, 1842, to Miss Phebe Damon, of Scituate. They

have had six sons and one daughter: Francis E. (now a physician), Damon C. (deceased by acci- dent 1874, a clergyman), Henry S .. W. L .. L. B., and W. D., deceased 1889 (in commercial busi- ness), and Annie P. Porter.

RAY. EDGAR KNAPP, of Franklin, concerned in railroad, manufacturing, and financial interests, is a native of Franklin, born July 17. 1844, son of James Paine and Susan (Knapp) Ray. His father was the son of Joseph and Lydia (Paine) Ray, and was born in South Mendon, now East Blackstone; and his mother was daughter of C'ap- tain Alfred and Eleanor ( Hawes) Knapp. The father of Alfred Knapp was a major in the War of the Revolution, and the father of Eleanor Hawes Knapp a private. Mr. Ray was educated in the public schools of his native town, at the Woodstock Academy, Woodstock, Vt., and at a commercial college in Boston. He was brought up to habits of business by his father, who knew the worth of practical education ; and his whole life from boyhood to manhood was filled with

EDGAR K. RAY.

home training and few idle moments. Beginning business life in manufacturing interests, he early became concerned in railroad and other affairs :

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

and he is now connected in an official capacity with numerous important corporations. He is president of the Citizen's National Bank of Woon- socket, R.I., of the Woonsocket Street Railway, of the Rhode Island & Pascoag Railroad, of the Rhode Island & Massachusetts Railroad, and of the Elm Farm Milk Company; treasurer of the Putnam Manufacturing Company, of Putnam, Conn. ; and director of the Milford & Franklin Railroad, the Franklin National Bank, the Woon- socket Electric Light and Power Company, and the Ray's Woollen Company. All this business he carries comfortably and without friction, being possessed of great powers of concentration. In politics Mr. Ray is a Republican. Although emi- nently fitted for political life, his business interests have crowded so heavily upon him that he has persistently refused public offices, serving only on the Board of Selectmen of Franklin, of which he is now chairman. He is a member of the Squan- tum Club, the Hope Club, and the Athletic Club, all of Providence, R.I. He was married Decem- ber 23, 1874, to Miss Margaret Smith, daughter of Artemas R. and Ardelia ( Fairbank) Smith, of Fitchburg, Mass .; and they have had two chil- dren : Eleanor Knapp, and Joseph Gordon Ray, 2d. Mr. Ray lives in the old Major Knapp homestead in Unionville (a village of Franklin), which has been in the family since its purchase in 1784. Major Knapp, returning home at the close of the Revolution, erected the present house, which is kept in a good state of preservation. In addition to his heavy business cares Mr. Ray takes an active interest in agricultural pursuits, as is disclosed by the appearance of the old home- stead with its ample barns and broad acres. His hospitality is unbounded, and he prides himself in keeping " open house " for all his friends.

REED, WARREN AUGUSTUS, of Brockton, judge of the Police Court, was born in Boston, July 1. 1851, son of Angustus and Laura nn (Leach) Reed. He is in the ninth generation from Will- iam Reade, of Weymouth, who came from Eng- land in 1635. He was educated in Boston gram- mar and English High schools, and at Harvard College in the class of 1875, of which he is secretary. After graduation he spent a year in study in Europe, and in 1876-77 attended the Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1878, and began practice in Boston. Three

years later he moved to Brockton, where he has since been established. He was city solicitor for three years, 1886-89, and became judge of the

WARREN A. REED.

Police Court September 26, 1889. He has a large and varied general practice. He served as a mem- ber of the School Committee of Brockton for six years, from 1884 to 1890 inclusive. He was mar- ried in Boston, December 3, 1878, to Miss Nellie N. C'rocker, of that city. They have had seven children, two of whom are living: Nellie (born March 30, 1880, died April 5, 1880), Laurence B. (born in Boston, February 22, 1881), Robert and Malcomb (born March 2, 1886, died March 4, 1886, in Brockton), Warren A. (born August 20, 1887, died April 21, 1890), Clarence C. (born August 30, 1889), and Mildred Reed (born Sep- tember 2, 1890, died October 1, 1890).

RHODES, MARCUS MORTON, of Taunton, manufacturer, was born in Foxborough, January 22, 1822, son of Stephen and Betsey (Bird) Rhodes. On his father's side he is descended from early settlers of Dedham, and on his mother's side from early settlers of Sharon. On both sides the families were large, and those of the present day are widely scattered throughout the country. He

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

was educated in the common schools of Franklin. Foxborough, and Taunton, and at the High School and Bristol Academy of Taunton. After leaving school, he entered the factory of his father, and learned the trade of making tacks and nails. . \t the age of twenty-one he was taken into partner- ship under the firm name of S. Rhodes & Son. He continued in this business until 1862, when he embarked alone in a special branch of tack- making. In 1870 he admitted his elder sons to partnership, the firm name becoming M. M. Rhodes & Sons, and added to the business the making of papier-mache shoe buttons, from a machine of his own invention, the first practical machine of this kind used in the country. This was the basis of his subsequent prosperity. In 1888 the firm became a corporation under the name of M. M. Rhodes & Sons Company. Mr. Rhodes was a member of the first Common Council of the city of Taunton, in 1865 ; and was a member of the Board of Water Commissioners under whose direction water was introduced into Taunton. In politics he was first connected with the old Whig party, and since its dissolu-

MARCUS M. RHODES.

tion and the formation of the Republican party he has been a member of the latter organization. He was married November 11, 1845. to Miss

Rowena A. Williams, of Taunton. They have had three sons : Charles M., George H., and Albert C. Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes resided in Franklin and Foxborough until 1835, when he re- moved to Taunton, where he has since lived.

RICHMOND, GEORGE BARSTOW, of New Bed- ford, register of deeds, was born in New Bedford, November 9. 1821, son of Gideon and Rebecca ( Barstow) Richmond. His father was of Dighton, and his mother of Scituate. He was educated at the Friends' Academy, New Bedford, Pierce AAcademy. Middleborough, and Brown University, where he remained two years. He was early identified with the local interests of his native city, and has always taken an active part in municipal and political matters. In fact, no citizen of New Bedford has been more prominently identified with its public affairs during the past forty years than he. His influence became noticeable in the contest of the people against the New Bedford Bridge Corporation, which lasted from 1845 to the summer of 1855, and terminated in securing what had become an imperative necessity,- the widen- ing of the draw of the bridge from thirty-two feet to sixty feet, and the deepening of the channel through the draw, to accommodate the increasing commerce of New Bedford, whose large whaling Heets were then sailing upon every ocean. This result is said to have been largely due to Mr. Richmond's energy and perseverance, which finally prevailed against the powerful Bridge Cor- poration, the question having been pressed by him to an issue, through State and national courts and through the General Court of Massachusetts, not- withstanding a variety of hindrances and the dis- couragements of the law's delay. In 1851 he was elected on the Whig ticket as a representative in the State Legislature of 1852. On the first of May, 1861, he was appointed inspector, weigher, gauger, and measurer in the New Bedford Custom House, and held this office until January 5. 1874. when he resigned. During his service in the Custom House the temperance question became prominent in local politics, and he was at once foremost on the side of the temperance men. An ardent Republican, he was also an ardent advo- cate of prohibitory measures for the suppression of the liquor traffic. In 1870. 1871, 1872, 1874. and 1878 he was mayor of New Bedford, each time being chosen as the representative of the

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distinctly temperance element : and to this day his administration is cited by prohibitory advocates as proof of the soundness of their views. Aside from this, Mr. Richmond's conduct of the mayor- alty was highly successful. His administration was signalized by a notable extension of streets, and in the rebuilding of the New Bedford Bridge in 1870, his enterprise in this and other public improvements contributing in a marked degree to the prosperity of the city. On December 31, 1873, he was appointed by Governor Washburn a member of the Board of Police Commissioners, and remained on the board until it was abolished, in July, 1874. In ISSo and i8Si he was a mem- ber of the State Senate, representing the Third Bristol District. During his second term in the Senate he was chairman of the committees on public charitable institutions and on the liquor law. He was first appointed to the office of regis- ter of deeds for the Southern Bristol District in March, 1883, a vacancy then occurring; and he has since been repeatedly elected by the people. the last time November 5, 1894. unanimously. .As register, he has been an efficient and popular

GEO. B. RICHMOND.

official. Since the spring of 1886 Mr. Richmond has been a trustee of the Westborough Insane Hospital, - first appointed by Governor Robinson,

reappointed in February. 1887, by Governor Ames, and in 1892 reappointed by Governor Russell for five years. He was a member of the Republican State central committee for 1888 ; chairman of the Republican county committee for several years; chairman of the first Congressional district Republican committee three years ; and for some time chairman of the third Bristol district senatorial committee. In iSSS he declined a re- election on all these committees, desiring to de- vote his time to the duties of his office. For a long period he has been closely identified with movements for promoting the moral and material welfare of the city. He has been for years one of the board of the New Bedford Port Society : for seven years was president of the Young Men's Christian Association; is now chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Society, and was for five years superintendent of the Sunday-school ; and is a trustee of the New Bed- ford Five Cents Savings Bank. Mr. Richmond was married at Middleborough, November 5, 1844, to Miss Rebecca R. C. Nelson, daughter of the Rev. Ebenezer and Rebecca C. (Childs) Nel- son, of Middleborough, by whom he had seven children, five of whom are living. Mrs. Rich- mond died July 31, 1863. His second marriage was at New Bedford, December 15, 1864, to Miss Abby S. Nelson, daughter of Deacon Nathaniel and Hannah (Smith) Nelson. of New Bedford, who died July 30, 1868. His third marriage was at New Bedford, November 2, 1871, to Miss Elizabeth E. Swift, daughter of Charles D. and Mary H. (Crane) Swift of New Bedford.

ROBINSON, DAVID FRANKLIN, of Lawrence, manufacturer, was born in New Hampshire, in the town of Fremont, December 10, 1829, son of David and Mary ( Beede) Robinson. He was educated in the district school with six terms of private school, and trained for active life on the farm. He became a manufacturer of machine card clothing in 1857, beginning business on the first of April, and has been successfully engaged in it since. He has always tried to avoid politi- cal office, but his fellow-citizens induced him to serve two terms in the city government, the first in 1875. as a member of the Common Council, and the second in 1887, as an alderman. He was eminent commander of the Bethany Commandery of Knights Templar in 1869 and 1870, and from

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

1884 to 1890 inclusive: and president of the Home Club from 1889 to 1894. He is also a member of the Tuscan Lodge of Freemasons, of

D. FRANK ROBINSON.

the Mt. Sinai Royal Arch Chapter, and of the Lawrence Council. He has been a resident of Lawrence since the ist of May. 1847, and always interested in the welfare of the city and its institu- tions. Mr. Robinson was married in June. 1851. to Miss Eliza Ann Norris. They have had two children : Franklin Newton and Frederick Norris Robinson.

ROSS. GEORGE IVISON, M.D .. of C'anton, was born in the old Custom House, Newport, R. I .. May 25. 1847. son of David and Mary ( Ivison) Ross. His father was a native of Inverness, Scot- land, born in 1812: and his mother was of Car- lisle. England. born the same year. His paternal grandfather. David Ross, was born in the High- lands of Scotland; and his maternal grandfather. George Ivison, for whom he is named, was of the old family of Ivison, of Carlisle. a branch of which, settled in America, was represented in the firm of Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman, & Co., now Ivison, Phinney, & Co., New York City. His maternal grandmother was a Lancaster, which

traces back to aristocratic blood: but, as there is no use for titles in this country. he has never taken the trouble to examine this branch of his genealogical tree. He was educated in the com- mon schools. and at the age of eighteen gradu- ated from the mercantile department of the East Greenwich Academy. East Greenwich, R.I. Then he became cashier for the firm of B. A. Whitcomb & Co., Westminster Street. Providence, R.I .: but. not long after. his health being impaired, he left the city, and went to Danielsonville, Conn., where he entered the grocery store of C. L. Voung. Having a great desire for further study, he soon found his way back to the seminary, becoming a pupil in the academy at Suffield, Con. His studies there completed, he engaged as clerk in the drug store of his brother-in-law. W. W. Wood- ward, in Danielsonville ; and, in this work develop- ing an interest in drugs, he determined to enter the medical profession. Thereupon he went to Wash- ington University for special training, and gradu- ated there in 1876. He first established himself in Canterbury, Conn .: and in five years it was said by his brothers in the profession that he had the greatest drives of any physician in Windham County. In 1879 he performed the most exten- sive operation of skin-grafting on record, which brought him wide fame. The case was that of a boy of ten, who, by falling into a set-kettle of boiling water, had lost the skin of his left leg from the bend of the knee, and a part of the thigh, to the foot : and it was described in the Michigan Medical News. , May 10, 1880, as follows : " Dr. Ross was called, and suggested skin-grafting. .. . The question arose, would the boy be a cripple : for. as time progressed, the leg became flexed, and the raw surfaces of leg and thigh were growing together. The grafts grew firmly, and promised success. The problem to solve was how to straighten the leg .... The doctor made a box after the pattern of an old-fashioned fracture box. with a shaft, cog-wheel, and spring-catch attached. After placing the leg in this, he placed a stuffed pad over the knee, with a cord attached at either side running down around the shaft underneath the box, which projected from the sides. Every day after the operation of grafting was performed the crank was given a few extra turns, bringing the knee down into the box. This procedure was renewed every day for nine long weary months ; but the grafts grew, the leg straightened, and the doctor succeeded. To-day the boy has two good

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legs, is strong and healthy, and a living monument to the doctor's patience, perseverance, and skill." This account was copied into the Scientific Ameri- can and newspapers generally ; and Dr. Ross re- ceived many letters from his professional brethren regarding it. In 1881 he made the discovery that hydrate of chloral was a specific in acute Bright's disease of the kidneys, and published it in the New England Medical Journal. Two years later Thomas Wilson, M. R.C.S., England, made the same discovery, and published it in the New York Medical Gasette. In 1883 Dr. Ross was appointed medical examiner for his district, which position

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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 57

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