USA > Massachusetts > Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts > Part 58
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GEO. IVISON ROSS.
he held until his removal to C'anton in May, 1885. In 1888 he delivered the address before the Alumni Association of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, of which he had become an alumnus by the merging of the medi- cal department of Washington University into it in 1877. The same year (1888) he was made president of the Alumni Association. In politics Dr. Ross is a Republican, and was chairman of the Republican town committee for a number of years. He has never desired public office, and in 1883, when he was proposed for State senator, declined : and, being asked to name the candi- date, named his nearest neighbor, Thomas G.
Clarke, who was promptly nominated and elected. In Canton he served several terms on the Board of Health. He is a Freemason, an Odd Fellow, a member of the Bunker Hill Monument Associa- tion, and a member of the Republican Club of Massachusetts. He enjoys a large and lucrative practice, keeps step with the times, continues to visit the hospitals and dispensaries weekly, and is in every way a progressive man. He was married first in 1872 to Miss Marion Etta Underwood, daughter of Albert Underwood, of Danielsonville, Conn. She died in May, 1884, leaving two chil- dren, Margaret and Marion Etta, the latter an infant born three weeks before her death. He married second, in the autumn of 1885, Miss Ella E. Baker, daughter of Eustis Baker, of West Dedham. He lives in a beautiful home, which he has christened " Bonnie Doon."
RUGGLES, HENRY ELLIS, of Franklin, mem- ber of the bar, was born in Boston, July 25, 1858, and became the adopted son of Calvin H. and Maria C. (Streeter) Ruggles. He was educated in the common and High schools of Upton, at Phillips (Exeter) Academy, and at Williston Sem- inary, Easthampton. Ile began the study of law with Judge 1. A. Putnam of Uxbridge, but was obliged, for financial reasons, temporarily to suspend it, and to go to work in a straw shop. After he had become an overseer, he resigned, and resumed his studies with the Hon. George W. Wiggin, of Franklin, meanwhile teaching school, his wife also assisting in the family support by working in the straw shop. He was admitted to the bar on the 16th of January, 1888, and began practice in Franklin, where he has since been established. He has been active in local and State politics, as a Democrat, for a number of years, and has served on numerous special com- mittees in town affairs. For three years (1890- 91-92) he was town clerk of Franklin. lle was elected to the lower house of the Legislature of 1892, and has been twice since a candidate, each time leading his ticket, the only Democrat elected from his district since 1857. During his term he served acceptably on the committees on water- supply, on probate and insolvency, and on revision of the judicial system of the Commonwealth (joint special committee), which sat through the recess. He is prominent in both the Masonic and Odd Fel- lows orders, a thirty-second degree Mason, and
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
grand master of the Massachusetts Odd Fellows, having been deputy grand master in 1894, grand warden in 1892. and grand guardian in 1889. Hle
H. E. RUGGLES.
belongs to the Excelsior Lodge, Freemasons of Franklin, and to King David Lodge, No. 71, Odd Fellows, the King Mountain Encampment, No. 71. and Lady Franklin Lodge, No. 66, Daughters of Rebecca. Other organizations of which he is a member are the Franklin Grange, Patrons of Hus- bandry, and the Young Men's Democratic Club of Massachusetts, which he was among the earliest to join ; and he is a trustee of the Wildy Savings Bank of Boston. He was married September 8. 1882. to Miss Carrie E. Donglass. She died March 11. 1894. He has no children.
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RUSSELL, FREDERICK WILLIAM, M.D., of Winchendon, was born in Winchendon, January 27. 1845, son of Ira and Roannah (Greenwood) Russell. He belongs to the Lexington branch of the Russell family, being descended from William Russell, an English emigrant, who is known to have been living in Cambridge, with his wife, in 1645. His great-grandfather, Nathaniel Russell, was one of the first settlers of Rindge, N.H.,
about 1762. His father. Dr. Ira Russell. born in Rindge in 1814, served with distinction in the Civil War, as surgeon of the Eleventh Massachu- setts Regiment, brigade surgeon of Hooker's Brigade, surgeon of United States Volunteers, and medical director, retiring at the close of the war as brevet lieutenant colonel. His maternal great- grandfather was Colonel Jacob Brown Woodbury, who attained distinction in the War of the Revolu- tion as a man of great courage and endurance. His common school education was obtained in the High School at Natick : and his collegiate train- ing was at Harvard, which he entered after a few months at Yale. graduating with the class of 1869. Before entering college, he had nearly a year's experience in the army as hospital steward (1862- 63); and the autumn following his graduation he entered the Medical School of Dartmouth College. In June, 1870, he was graduated from the medical department of the University of New York City. and immediately entered general practice in com- pany with his father in Winchendon. The sum- mer of 1873 was spent at the Exposition and in the Medical School at Vienna. In 1882 he be-
FREDERICK W. RUSSELL.
came actively associated with his father in the care of the Highlands, a private hospital for the treatment of mental and nervous diseases ; and so
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continued until 1889, when he became sole owner of the institution. He has been president of the Worcester North District Medical Society, and is a member of the American Medical Association, and of the New England Psychological Associa- tion. In addition to his professional work, Dr. Russell is interested in business enterprises, being the founder and a director of the Winchendon Electric Light and Power Company, and founder and president of the Winchendon Co-operative Bank; and he has long been an active advocate of all public improvements in his community. He is chairman of the town Board of Health in Win- chendon, and has served on the School Committee. In politics he has always been a zealous working Republican, but has held no elective office. He is a member of the Boston Society of Natural His- tory, is connected with the Improved Order of Red Men, and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, the Loyal Legion, and the Sons of Vet- erans. Dr. Russell was married June 11, 1872. at Lancaster, to Miss Caroline Emily Marvin. They have had three children: Rowena Mary, Dorothea Marvin, and Walter Marvin Russell.
SAUNDERS, DANIEL, of Lawrence, member of the bar for above half a century, was born in Andover, October 6, 1822, son of Daniel and Phoebe Foxcroft (Abbott) Saunders. His father was a woollen manufacturer in Andover, and was the founder of the city of Lawrence. On his mother's side he is a descendant of George Abbott, one of the first settlers of Andover in
1643.
His grandfather, Caleb Abbott, served
with distinction in the Revolutionary army from the commencement to the end of the war, beginning at the battle of Bunker Hill and ending at the surrender of Burgoyne. Mr. Saunders's education was acquired at the old Franklin Academy of North Andover and at Phillips (Andover) Academy, and he read law in the office of his brother-in-law, the late Judge Jo- siah G. Abbott, and at the Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar on the first day of January, 1845, and in January, 1849, to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. Very early after his admission he took a leading position, and was employed by his clients to con- test their cases against N. J. and Otis P. Lord, Asahel Huntington, and Judge Perkins, the then leading lawyers of his time, and subsequently in
an extensive practice with Abbott, Endicott, Perry, Ives, Northend, and Thompson. He was a for- midable antagonist in a trial, and prepared his cases with much care, and tried them with great ability and skill, and was regarded by his contem- poraries as one of the ablest advocates in the county. His practice was not confined to his own county ; but he tried many cases in other counties and outside of the State. He has repre- sented his district in both branches of the General Court, a member of the Senate in 1851, and of the House of Representatives in 1859. He was mayor of Lawrence in 1860, at the time of the fall
1
DANIEL SAUNDERS.
of the Pemberton Mills, which caused the death of a hundred persons. His executive ability on that occasion was so marked that it received recognition, and was favorably commented upon by the press generally. Politics, however, was not to his taste ; and his election in 1859 to the Gen- eral Court was without his consent and against his express wishes. As stated above, his father was the founder of Lawrence, a portrait of whom now hangs in the aldermanic chamber of the city, suit- ably inscribed " Founder of the City of Law- rence." This portrait was presented by Daniel and his two brothers, Charles W. and Caleb Saun- ders, the latter of whom has also been mayor of the
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city. AAccompanying the gift of the portrait was a letter from the givers, narrating in detail the dis- covery by their father of the water power of the Merrimac at this point, his labors in demonstrat- ing its utility before any capitalist or manufacturer dreamed of its existence, and his successful efforts in establishing the new manufacturing centre. which letter was filed with the archives of the city. It relates that the elder Saunders's attention was called to the possibilities of a water power which might develop a great manufacturing town, by a profile plan of a survey of the river from Lowell to tide-water, made prior to 1830,- of which he had become possessed in 1832 or 1833,- provided the measurements of the various rapids as shown on the plan were correct. The object of this sur- vey was to ascertain the cost of building locks and canals around the several falls, so that boats with merchandise might pass up and down the river ; and, the expense being found larger than the then business of transportation would warrant, the mat- ter was dropped. To verify the plan of the survey, the elder Saunders himself, from time to time, made measurements of the several falls ; and, upon ascertaining that it was substantially correct, he set about purchasing lands along the river until he held the key to an enterprise which might be started for the development of this power. Having determined in his own mind what might be done, he sold out his woollen mills at North Andover and at Concord, N. H., and di- rected his whole energies in securing other lands which might be essential in controlling the water power. The letter continues: " This done, he dis- cussed with me (who was then a law student in the office of his nephew, the Hon. Josiah G. Abbott, of Lowell) the best mode of starting his long-cherished object of establishing a new manu- facturing town on the Merrimac. Long prior to this time Mr. Abbott had been the confidential and legal adviser of my father in this matter ; and, outside of our own family, he was the only one cognizant of the extent of his plans. In 1837 Mr. Abbott, then a member of the Legislature, pro- cured for my father an act incorporating the Shawmut Mills, so called, for the purpose of manufacturing cotton and woollen goods and ma- chinery at Andover. The charter of the company was purposely very brief and indefinite, not even naming the Merrimac River as a base of operation. My father desired this charter to pro- tect his interest in case any other person should
discover the extent of the river power before he had completed his arrangements for its use. For good and obvious reasons his name was not men- tioned in the charter, the only persons named as grantees being Caleb AAbbott, father of Judge Abbott, and a brother-in-law of my father, Arthur Livermore, a connection by marriage with Mr. Abbott, and John Nesmith, a friend and client of his, who allowed the use of their names without being then aware of the real intent and scope of my father's plans or of the purpose for which the company was chartered." As there was no occa- sion for the use of this charter, nothing was done under it. The next move, by advice of Mr. Abbott, was to bring the matter to the attention of some of the manufacturers and capitalists of Lowell. Accordingly, the real object of the char- ter of the Shawmut Mills was then disclosed to Mr. Nesmith, one of the grantors; and Samuel Lawrence, of Lowell, was consulted. It was hard to convince either of these gentlemen that there was such a power as Mr. Saunders described ; but when, after many protracted interviews, he demonstrated the fact to them by showing the fall of the different rapids, the aggregate of which disclosed a power equal to that of Lowell, their doubts gave way to surprise. Inquiry was then made as to whether there was any good place for building a dam below Deer Jump Falls. These falls were a few miles below Lowell. Mr. Saun- ders pointed out two places suitable for locating a dam and building a town,-one at Peters' Falls, a few miles above the present dam, the other at Bodwell's Falls, the place where the dam is now located. Subsequently, a few other gen- tlemen were consulted; and it was soon decided to utilize the power which Mr. Saunders had dis- covered. For this purpose the Merrimac River Water Power Association was formed, Mr. Saun- ders at the head as manager, with Mr. Hopkinson (afterward Judge Hopkinson), Samuel Lawrence, John Nesmith, Daniel Saunders, Nathaniel Stevens, Jonathan Tyler, and Judge Abbott. As there were two places at which the new town might be located, Mr. Saunders advised the taking of bonds from the land-owners in both places by which they should agree to sell at a price about double the then value of their farms. In this way, he said, there would naturally spring up a rivalry between the places, and. when one had bonded his lands, he would be anxious that his neighbor should do likewise, and would use his
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
influence to induce him to do so. This course was adopted ; and its wisdom was demonstrated by the fact that, with the exception of one or two small pieces, all the lands needed were secured in both places. The present site was finally selected. and the lands here bonded were purchased, in which purchase were included the lands formerly purchased by Mr. Saunders on his own account years before the company was formed. For these lands he only asked the price he had paid with simple interest added. The letter concludes : "We are grateful that Providence so prolonged his days that he saw accomplished the purpose and labors of many years of his busy life, and to know that the seed which he had sown with anxious care had grown and ripened in a harvest equal to his expectations. He merits and well has the most prominent place in the early history of Lawrence." In national politics Mr. Saunders is a Democrat : in State politics, an Independent, not always supporting Democratic candidates ; and in municipal politics a supporter of the best men for office without regard to parties. He was married October 7, 1846, to Mary Jane Liver- more, daughter of Judge Edward St. Loe Liver- more. They have had two sons and three daugh- ters : Charles G., Mary L., Frederick A., Anne G., and Edith St. Loe Saunders.
SEIP, CHARLES LEWIS, M.D., of New Bedford, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Easton, Octo- ber 16, 1842, son of Edward and Margaret Seip. He received a good education in the public schools of his native town, finishing with an aca- demie course in Philadelphia. His inclinations led him early to the study of medicine, in which he persevered ; and, after two years' preparatory work, he entered the Philadelphia School of Anatomy and Surgery, from which he graduated in due course. Later on, his studies were further pursued in the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, where he was graduated with the regular degree of M.D. in March, 1882. He immediately began practice, first settled in the city of Philadelphia, and subsequently coming to Massachusetts has since successfully followed his profession in Middleborough and in New Bedford, becoming established in the latter city in 1886. He is now in the enjoyment of a large and success- ful practice. Dr. Seip is a member of the Homco- pathic Medical Society of the County of Philadel-
phia, of the Massachusetts Homeopathic Society, and of other organizations. He was married in 1861. in Easton, Penna., to Miss Lydia Cobb.
CHAS. L. SEIP.
daughter of Wilson and Mercy Cobb, of Middle- borough. They have no children.
SHAW, OLIVER, of Watertown, manufacturer, was born in Carver, February 5, 1831, son of Joseph and Hannah (Dunham) Shaw; died in Watertown, December 26, 1894. He was a direct descendant of early settlers of Plymouth. He attained his education in the public schools. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to learn the moulder's trade, and worked at that trade for a number of years in Middleborough, East Bos- ton, South Carver, and Watertown. In 1863 he took charge of the Miles Pratt & Co.'s stove works, Watertown, as superintendent, and contin- ued in that capacity to the time of his death, a period of thirty-one years. From 1877. when the Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Company suc- ceeded the firm of Walker, Pratt, & Co. ( succes- sors of Miles Pratt & Co.), he was also a director of the corporation. He was one of the organizers of the Watertown Savings Bank in 1872, and a trustee of the institution from its establishment ; and he was president of the Union Market Na-
437
MEN OF PROGRESS.
tional Bank from 1883. He was long prominent in town affairs, and identified with its interests, serving on the Board of Selectmen for fifteen years
OLIVER SHAW.
( 1870 85), and its chairman for nine consecutive years, finally voluntarily retiring, to the regret of many of the townspeople. He declined urgent solicitations to take office again until 1894, when he consented to stand for State senator for his district, and was elected in the November elec- tion. From 1852 to 1857 he served in the State Militia as a member of Company K. Third Regi- ment : and during the Civil War he displayed his devotion to the Union cause in various practical ways. In politics he was a stanch Republican. He was a member of the Middlesex Club of Bos- ton, and of the Village Club of Watertown. He was an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church during his residence in Watertown. He was married September 16, 1855, to Miss Miranda Atwood, of Carver. Their family con- sisted of four children : Alton Elenore, Bradford Oliver, Bartlett Ellis, and Charles Fletcher Shaw, the only survivor of whom is Charles Fletcher.
SHERWIN, WILLIAM UART, of Ayer, mer- chant and manufacturer, was born in Town-
send, May 9. 1851, son of Levi and Mary Jane ( Fletcher) Sherwin. His father was also a native of Townsend, and his mother was of Chelmsford. He was educated in the public schools of Groton (which became AAyer in 1871) and at Lawrence Academy, Groton, where he spent a year. At the age of fourteen he began work in a grocery store ; and he has been in a store for most of the time since. When he reached his majority, hc entered into partnership with his father in a general merchandise business, which lasted until the death of the latter in 1889 : and since that time he has been in association with his brother. In 1891 he became president of the Union Furni- ture Company of Ayer. He is also president of the trustees of the Ayer Building Association. member of the North Middlesex Savings Bank Association, and a director in several other cor- porations. He has held the principal offices of the town, - member of the Board of Selectmen for several years, and part of the time chairman of the board. assessor, member of the Sinking Fund Commission, member of the Board of Health, and auditor ; and at the present time (1895) is a
WM. U. SHERWIN.
selectman, assessor, on the health board, and one of the permanent incorporated trustees of the AAyer Library Association. In 1893 he repre-
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
sented the town in the lower house of the Legisla- ture, where he served on the committee on federal relations. In politics he is a Republican, and has served as chairman of the Republican town com- mittee of Ayer. He does not use tobacco or liquor in any form, and prides himself on his steady good health, having had no need of a physician for more than twenty years. Mr. Sherwin was married January 7, 1874, to Miss Mary F. Richardson, of Ayer, a native of Rich- mond, Me. They have three children : Charles K. (aged sixteen years), Daisy G. (twelve years), and Bertha L. Sherwin (eight years).
STILES, JAMES ARTHUR, of Gardner, member of the bar, is a native of Fitchburg, born Septem- ber 1, 1855, son of James F. and Ann Maria (Works) Stiles. He is in direct line of descent from Robert Stiles, born in England in 1637, who came to this country in 1637. His ancestors were mostly farmers. Jacob Stiles, the grandson of Robert, held a royal commission in the Ameri- can contingent ; and his son Jacob, born in
JAMES A. STILES.
Lunenburg in 1737, and Jacob 2d's son Lincoln, were soldiers in the Revolution, Lincoln, then a boy, acting as servant to his father. James A.
was educated in the Fitchburg High School and at Harvard, graduating in the class of 1877. He studied law in the office of Torrey & Bailey, Fitch- burg, and was admitted to practice in the courts of the Commonwealth in June, 1880, and in the United States courts in October following. He practised in Fitchburg till April, 1882, and then, entering into partnership with Edward P. Pierce, extended his practice to Gardner. The firm have since had a business of fair proportions in both places. Since 1891 Mr. Stiles has also been a special justice of the First Northern Worcester District Court. He has numerous other interests in Gardner: is connected with the Gardner Co- operative Bank, of which he has been treasurer from its foundation in 1889 ; the Gardner Electric Railway, treasurer since its foundation in 1894: and the Westminster National Bank, at present a director. He has been a director of the Levi Heywood Memorial Library Association since 1889 ; captain of the Gardner Boat Club since 1890, when it was founded ; and some time a mem- ber of the Park Club of Fitchburg, and of the Academic Club of Gardner, an alumni association. In politics he is a Republican. He was for two years chairman of the Republican town committee of Gardner, and is now a member of the Mas- sachusetts Republican Club. Mr. Stiles was married June 9, 1887, to Miss Mary Lizzie Emer- son, of Claremont, N.H., who died May 18, 1888. He has one son : John Emerson Stiles.
STONE, ANDREW COOLIDGE, of Lawrence, judge of the Police Court, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Marlborough, Cheshire County, May 16, 1839, son of Aaron and Mary (Ward) Stone. He was educated in the public schools, at Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, N. H., and at Phillips (Exeter) Academy, gradu- ating from the latter in 1860. He came to Law- rence, and began the study of law with the Hon. Daniel Saunders in 1861, but early in 1862 closed his books, and enlisted for the Civil War as a pri- vate in the Thirty-third Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, with which he served three years. At the close of the war he established himself tempo- rarily in Ashtabula, Ohio, where he resumed his law studies, and in 1867 was admitted to the Ohio bar. Returning to Massachusetts, he was admitted to the Essex bar in March the same year, and began practice in Lawrence. His progress was
439
MEN OF PROGRESS.
steady and substantial, and within a few years he had attained a leading place among Lawrence lawyers. In 1885 he was made city solicitor, and
ANDREW C. STONE.
two years later (in January, 1887) was raised to his present position as justice of the Police Court of Lawrence. An earnest Republican, he early became active in party affairs. During the pres- idential campaign year of 1884 he was chairman of the Republican city committee, member of the Republican State Committee, and delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago. He has served two terms in the Lawrence Common Council (1870-71), president of that body the sec- ond year, and two terms in the State Senate (1880-82). during both terms as senator an influ- ential member of the committees on the judiciary and on railroads. He is prominent in the Ma- sonic order. past master of Phoenician Lodge of Lawrence, member of the Mount Sinai Royal Arch Chapter, member of the Bethany Commandery. past senior grand warden and permanent member of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. In the Grand Army he was commander of Post 39 at Lawrence in 1881, and judge advocate on the staff of the commander of the department of Massachusetts for 1888. He is a member of the Home Club of Lawrence, and its present presi-
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