USA > Massachusetts > Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts > Part 64
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
476
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ciation of Boston College, of Division 1, Ancient Order of Hibernians, of Fitzpatrick Court, Order of Foresters, of the Knights of Columbus, of the
JOHN F. FITZGERALD.
Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the Young Men's Democratic and the Bay State clubs. He has been some time on the Demo- cratic Ward Committee of Ward Six, Boston, in which he resides; and is now vice-president of the Democratic city committee, and member at large of the Democratic State Committee.
FLAGG, HIRAM PEABODY, of Boston, artist, was born in Somerville, March 7, 1858, son of Hiram B. and Laura T. (Peabody) Flagg, His education was acquired in the public schools of Charlestown and of Wakefield. At the age of eighteen he entered the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston, where he remained two years. In 1881 he went abroad, and there fur- ther pursued his art studies for three years, study- ing in Paris at Julien's, under Boulanger and Lefebvre the first year, and the succeeding two years under Carolus Duran. Returning to Bos- ton in 1884, he at once opened his studio, and has since been engaged there, painting in oil and
water colors, and exhibiting in the principal exhi- bitions throughout the country. Among his most important pictures are three painted in Brittany, entitled " La Plage at Concarneau," " A Rainy Day at Quimperlé," and " Market Day at Con- carneau," and one called "Old Fish Houses at Port Lorne." Nova Scotia. He has been most successful with street scenes. Of his work in general a well-known Boston critic has written : " Mr. Flagg's street scenes possess a fine local feeling. They are more than memoranda, yet retain the graphic first impressions coupled with the studied phases. This same fidelity is notice- able in his landscape water colors. He never fails to give us the surface of the broad fields in true perspective and coloring, and one cannot but appreciate his artistic compositions. Besides all these features, so essential in good art, his paint- ing qualities are ever evident, so that, all told, we have worthy results, -good pictures, poetic and valuable transcripts from nature." In 1892, a fire occurring in the building in which he had his studio, Mr. Flagg suffered the loss of all his pict- ures there, studio effects, and valuable sketches,
H. PEABODY FLAGG.
which represented years of hard work. He has been a member of the Boston Art Club since 1884, and was some time a member of the Paint and
477
MEN OF PROGRESS.
Clay Club. He was married August 13. 1887, to Miss Julia L. Horther, of Boston. They have no children.
FLETCHER, HERBERT HERVEY, of Boston. manager of the New England Associated Press, was born in Granby, Hampshire County, Au- gust 10, 1855, son of Erastus and Elmira ( Hervey) Fletcher. He is of English ancestry, and a de- scendant in the eighth generation of Robert Fletcher, founder of the American branch of the family, who settled in Concord, Mass., in 1630. His early life was spent on a farm ; and he acquired a liberal education through difficulties and not a little privation. Starting in district schools, at the age of fifteen he managed to secure one term at the town grammar school, and at sixteen two terms at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham. For the next two years he was assistant teacher in Betts Mili- tary Academy at Stamford, Conn., receiving for his services his support and instruction in the class preparing for Yale. At the close of this work he tried successfully the examination at Wesleyan University. Unable, however, to enter, being without resources. he returned to Betts Academy as a regular teacher for another year. Then, having accumulated a small fund, he entered Williams College in the autumn of 1875. and worked his way through, engaging in various business ventures, and serving as correspondent for various newspapers. He received numerous class honors .- was " Jackson supper orator " in his freshman year, president of his class in the senior year, and ivy orator on class day .- and won a number of prizes, the list embracing second declamation, second Greek, honorable mention his- tory, in the sophomore year ; first history, second German, and Warren scholarship, in the junior year; and Graves essay, prize for prizes, and the Van Vechten prize, senior year, - the latter prize a cash award made at the end of the senior year, by vote of the Faculty and students of the college, to that member of the class who. in their opinion, had attained the greatest efficiency in the art of extemporaneous speaking. He was also president of the Atheneum editorial board during his senior year. Upon leaving college his pur- pose was to return to teaching; but, not finding at once a satisfactory position, he engaged in newspaper work, taking a small place in the office of the Springfield Union. After about two years' service on the Union he came to Boston
(in the winter of 1882), and took a hand in organ- izing the United Press. at first the rival of. and later the successor of. the New York Associated Press. The succeeding five years were devoted to the laborious task of developing the news service of the United Press in New England, in which the older organization was strongly intrenched ; and in 1887 this work had become so successful that a consolidation of the United Press and the New England Associated Press was effected. Two years later. February 1, 1889, Mr. Fletcher was appointed manager of the New England Associa- tion. which position he has since held. Of the
H. H. FLETCHER.
value of his work in the interest of the United Press, Walter P. Phillips, general manager of that organization, has written in high praise. In an article in the Journalist of March 16, 1889, Mr. Phillips says that, when as manager he came to " size up " the United Press, he found among its possessions " a pair of modern Napoleons in the persons of H. H. Fletcher, representing the New England States, and Henry M. Hunt. ... who was supposed to stand guard on the watch towers of Chicago. These men furnished four-fifths of all the news that the United Press handled. Where they got it was always a mystery to me. It is no exaggeration to say that between
478
MEN OF PROGRESS.
them they covered the country, and often beat the Associated Press papers on news which originated with that comprehensive news organization. .. . But it is as a writer of original matter that Mr. Fletcher excels. Given a few general facts and half a dozen details, a picture is at once presented to his ingenious imagination." Under Mr. Fletcher's management the news service of the New England Associated Press has been placed upon a high plane of efficiency. It has been extended to cover every phase of the varied interests of the New England press and New England people, has been put in intimate touch with the moving forces of society ; while the leaders in politics, education, science, religion, and reform have learned to co- operate with it as an indispensable adjunct to the proper dissemination of intelligence of their doings. Mr. Fletcher is a member of the New England Free Trade League, of the Massachu- setts Reform Club, of the Boston Art Club, and of the Boston Press Club. He was married De- cember 25, ISSo, to Miss Alice S. Kellogg, at Granby. They have one child : Harold Hervey Fletcher.
FROTHINGHAM, REV. OCTAVIUS BROOKS, of Boston, is a native of Boston, born November 26, 1822, son of the Rev. Nathaniel Langdon Froth- ingham, minister of the First Church from 1815 to 1850, and Ann Gorham (Brooks) Frothingham. His father was son of Ebenezer Frothingham, a crockery merchant and appraiser of taxes in Marshall's Lane near "Boston Stone," a direct descendant from William Frothingham, who came over in 1630 and settled in Charlestown as a general carpenter, and was made a selectman in 1634. Beyond him the line is obscure. Mr. Frothingham was educated in private schools, in the Public Latin School under Master Charles K. Dillaway, where he was fitted for college, and at Harvard, graduating in the class of 1843 with honors. From college he entered the Divinity School, pursuing his studies there under George R. Noyes and Convers Francis, and graduating in the class of 1846. He was first settled as minister of the North Church in Salem from 1847 to 1855. Called the latter year to Jersey City, N.J., he remained there four years, after which he was settled in New York for twenty years, from 1859 to 1879. Then, resigning on account of ill health, he travelled in Europe; and the
church organization was dissolved. Upon his re- turn from abroad in 188t he settled in Boston, and devoted himself exclusively to literary pur-
O. B. FROTHINGHAM.
suits, in which he had been much engaged while occupying the pulpit. He has been a copious writer. Besides the numerous sermons and lectures he has printed, and many articles in prominent magazines, he is the author of "Stories from the Lips of the Teacher " ( 1862), "Stories of the Patriarchs" (1864), " Religious History and Criticism " (translations from essays by Renan, 1864), "Religion of Humanity " (1872), "Life of Theodore Parker" (1874), "('hild's Book of Religion " (1876), "Transcen- dentalism in New England " (1876), " Cradle of the Christ " ( 1877), "Life of Gerrit Smith " ( 1877), "Life of George Ripley " (1882), " Life of W. II. Channing " ( 1886), " Memoir of D. . 1. Wasson " (1888), " Boston Unitarianism " ( 1890), and " Recollections and Impressions " (1891). The last mentioned is the latest essay he has published. Of late years his life has been one of seclusion. Mr. Frothingham is associated with rational as distinct from ecclesiastical and dog- matic religion, and is in full sympathy with the largest interpretation of religious ideas. He is not "Jew" or "Christian " or " Buddhist," or
479
MEN OF PROGRESS.
disciple of any special creed, but a believer in ing at the age of eighteen, and commissioned human, universal, ideal faith, spiritual and for- ward-looking. From 1867 to 1878. during its most active period. he was president of the Free Religious Association. He is a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of the St. Bo- tolph Club, and of the Thursday Evening Club of Boston. In politics he is a liberal Republican. He was married in Boston in 1847 to Miss Caro- line Elizabeth Curtis, daughter of Caleb Curtis. Elizabeth, wife of William L. Parker of Boston, is his only child.
GARGAN, THOMAS J .. of Boston, member of the Suffolk bar, was born in Boston, October 27. 1844, son of Patrick and Rose (Garland) Gargan. Ilis paternal grandfather, Patrick Gargan, took part in the rebellion of 1798 in Ireland. He was educated in the Boston public schools and through private instruction from the Rev. Peter Kroze, S.J., who trained him in literature and the classics and fitted him for college. His active life was begun in mercantile pursuits, starting in the dry-goods store of Wilkinson. Stetson & Co .:
THOMAS J. GARGAN.
and at the age of twenty he was Boston agent for the A. & W. Sprague Manufacturing Company. Meantime he had served in the Civil War, enlist-
as second lieutenant of infantry. Having deter- mined to enter the legal profession, he retired from mercantile business in the early seventies. and devoted himself to preparation therefor. His studies were pursued in the law office of Henry W. Paine and at the Boston University Law School, from which he graduated LL. B. in 1875. The same year he was admitted to the bar, and at once actively engaged in practice. He had already been prominent in local and State politics, and had served two terms (1868 and 1870) as a Boston member of the lower house of the Legis- lature. In 1875 he was made a member of the Boston Board of Overseers of the Poor, and the next year again returned to the House of Repre- sentatives. In 1877 and 1878 he was chairman of the Boston license commissioners, and in 1880 and iSS1 member of the Boston Board of l'olice. In 1893 he was appointed to the Boston Subway Commission, that year created and placed in charge of the work of constructing the subway along Tremont Street for street-car traffic. Mr. Gargan is a brilliant and eloquent speaker, and has been frequently heard on the stump and in more formal addresses. He was the Fourth of July orator for the city by invitation of the city council in 1885; the Following year delivered the oration at the centennial celebration of the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax, N.S .; and in June. 1894. by invitation of the city government of Boston, delivered the eulogy at the commemora- tive services in honor of the late ex-Governor Gaston. In politics he has always been a Demo- crat. of late years acting with the progressive wing of his party. He is a member of the Uni- versity Club, of the Massachusetts Charitable Irish Society (of which he was president in 1873 and 1874), and of the Catholic Union. He was married in 1867 to Miss Catherine L. McGrath. She died in 1892. leaving no children.
GAMMONS, ISAAC WENDELL, of Boston, manager of the Boston department of the Boots and Shoes Weekly, of New York, was born in Wareham, February 28, 1864, son of Stephen and Lydia ( Dunham) Gammons. He is descended on the maternal side from the Dunhams, who came from England to New England in the seventeenth century. His education was acquired in the pub- lic schools of his native town, and also of Somer-
480
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ville, to which place his family removed during his boyhood. He began his business career as a grocer, and was with one firm for thirteen years.
1. WENDELL GAMMONS.
doing newspaper work at leisure moments. Then he became more directly interested in journalism, and after experience in various capacities was in 1893 made New England correspondent and man- ager of the Boots and Shoes Weekly, the position he still holds. He is considerably noted as a specialist in advertisement writing. Mr. Gam- mons is a member of numerous fraternal organiza- tions, including the Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias, and the Knights of the Golden Eagle. He is unmarried.
GOODELL, REV. CHARLES LE ROY, of Bos- ton, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, Temple Street, was born in Dudley, July 31, 1854, son of Warren and Clarinda ( Healy) Goodell. His ancestry is Puritan in both lines. On the paternal side he is descended from Robert Goodell, who came to Salem from Yarmouth, Eng- land, in 1636. On his mother's side his great- great-grandfather had the distinction of being the first white child born in Dudley. Another note- worthy fact is that Mr. Goodell's mother, who
died in Dudley a few years ago, was born, mar- ried, and spent her entire life in the same house. This homestead is now a cherished possession of the subject of this sketch. Frequent pilgrimages are made to this sacred shrine, and in summer he spends within its portals most of the usual vaca- tion. A pleasing expression of his regard for his mother's memory is his dainty volume, entitled " My Mother's Bible," the central thought of which is "Christianity and the Home," a book which, besides being a tribute to the noble woman who nurtured him, has served a useful function in the guidance of youth. His early education was acquired in the common schools of his native town, at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, and at the Nichols Academy, Dudley. His collegiate training was at Boston University, where he was graduated in the class of 1877. His successful career as a preacher began in the town of Acush- net, but he was soon in demand for city work. Providence claimed him ; and for three successive pastoral terms, each of the full length, that city enjoyed his gifted ministrations. He was ad- mitted to the Providence Conference (afterward
CHAS. L. GOODELL.
New England Southern) of the Methodist Episco- pal Church in 1879. The year following he was stationed at Broadway Church. His term expir-
481
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ing in 1883, he was then called by the Chestnut Street Church, his next assignment, in 1886. being for a three years' term at Trinity Church in the same city. At all these churches he drew large and ever-growing audiences during the entire nine years; and it was his distinction, while at Trinity, to have under his care a Sunday-school numbering twelve hundred members, the largest in New England. In April, 1889, requisition was laid upon him by the Methodism of Boston. This necessitated his transfer to the New England Conference : and at the urgent request of the Winthrop Street Church he was appointed pastor of that charge, remaining in this position, with the most successful results, for the full and now extended term of five years. In Boston Mr. Goodell has grown rapidly in publie estimation. When he left Winthrop Street. the membership of that charge was the largest of any Methodist church in the city. In April, 1894, he was called to the First Methodist Episcopal Church on Tem- ple Street, where his success has equalled, per- haps exceeded, that won in former pastorates. Mr. Goodell's elements of strength are marked and varied, and are summarized by one who best knows him as follows: " His physical presence, suggestive of fine health and good-nature, could not fail to make a favorable impression ; and this is naturally heightened by the magnetism of his superb sociability. It is not hard for him to be amiable and helpful. It seems, indeed, to be only natural for him to exhibit these qualities. In his relations to his ministerial brethren in and around Boston he has shown himself to be a royal soul. who seems always to think of himself last : and it is this characteristic, no doubt, which, more per- haps than his unusual ability, has caused them to confer upon him several positions of honor. He is a preacher of rare effectiveness, fine pres- ence, wholesome thought, polished diction, rich feeling. sympathetic voice, and a general style in the delivery of his sermons which is seldom sur- passed. These gifts cause him to be in frequent demand as a lecturer. yet his one great work is that of a minister of the gospel." Mr. Goodell has been for several years an officer of the Bos- ton Methodist Preachers' Meeting, was president of the Roxbury Evangelical Alliance in 1893-94. and is now vice-president of the Methodist Social Union of Boston. He is also a member of the Twentieth Century Club. He has one son, Le Roy Lucius Goodell.
HALSALL, WILLIAM FORMBY. of Boston, ma- rine painter, is a native of England. born in Kirk- dale, March 20, 1841, son of John P. and Mary
WILLIAM F. HALSALL.
(Formby) Halsall. Between the ages of ten and twelve he went to sea, and followed the life of a sailor for about seven years. Coming to Boston when a youth, he learned the trade of a fresco painter, and was some time with William E. Nor- ton, then painting also marine views. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the United States Navy, and served during 1862 and 1863 as master's mate. Returning to Boston after the expiration of his term of enlistment, he again took up fresco painting, but finally abandoned it. and devoted himself entirely to marine painting. He studied for several years at the Lowell In- stitute, and was a special student at the Institute of Technology. Beginning with painting of yachts, he soon applied himself to larger studies: and in 1878 he produced his first important work, the " Arrival of the Winthrop Colony." This was shortly followed by " The Mayflower." now the property of the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth. Sub- sequently he painted the spirited " Fight between the Monitor and Merrimac," now hanging in the Senate wing of the Capitol at Washington ; the historical picture of General Paine's yacht. " The
482
MEN OF PROGRESS.
Volunteer "; "To the Rescue," now owned by the Boston Art Club ; and " Niagara Falls," in the pos- session of B. W. Kilburn. He has also done a great deal of black and white work, illustration for books and magazines. His studio is on Atlantic Avenue, close by the harbor; and he takes fre- quent trips in pilot boats and other craft in search of material for his brush. He is a member of the Boston Art, of the Paint and Clay, and of the Boston Yacht clubs, and honorary member of the Massachusetts Yacht Club. He was married November 28, 1866, to Miss Josephine A. Nicker- son, of Roxbury. They have no children.
HAMILTON, SAMUEL KING, of Wakefield and Boston, member of the bar, is a native of Maine, born in Waterborough, July 27. 1837, son of Ben- jamin Ricker and Sarah (Carl) Hamilton. He is of Scotch descent. His ancestors emigrated to America in the early part of the eighteenth cen- tury, and settled in Berwick, Me., then a part of Massachusetts. His preparatory education was acquired in the district schools of his native town,
S. K. HAMILTON.
at the Limerick ( Me.) Academy, and at the Saco High School, and his collegiate training was at Dartmouth, where he graduated from the Chand-
ler Scientific Department in 1859. He immedi- ately began the study of law with the Hon. Ira T. Drew at Alfred, Me., and, with the exception of a portion of the time spent in teaching, pursued it until 1862, when he was admitted to the bar of York County. He then formed a copartner- ship with Mr. Drew, which continued until 1867, when it was dissolved by Mr. Hamilton's removal to Biddeford, where he remained until the latter part of 1872. He then removed to Wakefield, Mass., and opened an office in Boston, where he has since been engaged in the general practice of his profession. While a resident of his native town, he served on the School Committee two years. In 1869 and 1870 he was a member of the Board of Aldermen, Biddeford, and in 1872 represented that city in the Maine Legislature. Early after his settlement in Wakefield he became prominent in municipal affairs, serving ten years on the School Committee (1876 to 1886), nine of which he was chairman, four years as chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and many years as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Beebe Town Library ; and he has been for twenty years counsel for the town. In 1880 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, in 1883 candidate for district attorney for the Northern District of Massachusetts, and in 1894 the Demo- cratic candidate for Congress in the Seventh Con- gressional District. He is president of the Quan- napowitt Club of Wakefield, treasurer of the line Tree State Club of Boston, president of Terminal City Company and of the Wakefield Water Com- pany. Mr. Hamilton was married February 13, 1867, to Miss Annie E. Davis, of Newfield, Me.
HANNUM, LEANDER MOODY, of Cambridge, real estate and mortgage broker, was born in Northampton, December 22, 1837, son of Alexan- der C. and Laura A. (Moody) Hannum. He was educated in the public schools of Northampton and Chicopee, at Williston Seminary, Easthamp- ton, and at the English and Classical Institute, Springfield. After he had finished at Williston, then seventeen years old, he went to California, where he spent two years in the mining fields, and upon his return in 1856 resumed his studies at the Institute at Springfield, remaining there a year. He was employed for the next two years as sales- man in the wholesale grocery house of J. W. Hale & Co., Springfield. Then, going to New York, he
483
MEN OF PROGRESS.
was there employed as cashier and correspondent for Mr. Howe, of the " Howe Sewing Machines," until 1864. Coming at that time to Cambridge, he
LEANDER M. HANNUM.
soon became extensively engaged in the grocery and ice business, and later in the business of real estate, which he has since followed with gratifying success. Mr. Hannum has been in public life for upwards of twenty years, and has served the com- munity in which he lives in various capacities. He was first elected to office in 1873 as a member of the Common Council, where he served one year. In 1874 and 1875 he was a member of the Board of Aldermen. In 1876 and 1877 he represented his city in the House of Representatives, serving as chairman of the committees on public buildings and on street railways. In 1881 and 1882 he was a member of the Senate, and there served as chair- man of the committees on prisons and on State House, and member of that on insurance. He has also served for several years as special com- missioner for Middlesex County, and for twelve years as one of the water commissioners of Cam- bridge. In politics he has been always a Repub- lican, and long active in party affairs. For seven years he was chairman of the Republican city committee. He has been especially prominent in municipal politics, and is a member of the Library
Hall Association and of city as well as of State Republican clubs. His church connections are with the Third Congregational ( Unitarian) Church of Cambridge, where he has served many years as chairman of the parish committee. He is con- nected with the Masonic fraternity, a member and past master of Amicable Lodge, and chairman of its board of trustees, member and past officer of the Cambridge Royal Arch Chapter, and member of the Boston Commandery; is a fine member of several military organizations and Grand Army Posts ; a member of the Cambridge and Colonial clubs of Cambridge, of the Cambridge Citizens Trade Association, and of the Real Estate Asso- ciation. Mr. Hannum was married December 15, 1869, to Miss Anne Howard Demain. Of this union there are no children now living.
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.