Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 73

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 73

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

graduating from the fligh School in the class of ISS2, and at Harvard where he spent three years. Then, leaving college, he entered the Harvard Medical School, and graduated there in 1888. For three months of the same year he was assist- ant in the out-patient surgical department of the Boston City Hospital, and after graduation from the medical school took special courses of in- struction at the Children's Hospital in diseases of children and at the Massachusetts General Hospital in gynecology. Meanwhile he began practice in Woburn in August, ISSS, and has been actively engaged there since. During the summer of 1894 he studied special cases at the Boston Dispensary. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and has served twice as censor of the East Middlesex division of the society. He is a director of the Mishawam Club, the leading social club of Woburn. Dr. Blake was married. February 9, 1890, to Miss Lizzie Batchelder Dodge. They have two chil- dren : Dorothy (born April 4, 1891) and Mar- gery Blake (born January 1, 1893).

BRECK, CHARLES II. B., of Boston, head of the house of Joseph Breck & Sons, seeds and agricultural implements, the oldest in its line in the country, was born in Pepperell, August 23. 1820. He is son of Joseph Breck, the founder of the house (in 1836) and Sarah (Bullard) Breck. His education was acquired in the Lancaster Academy. When yet a boy, he began assisting his father, and, entering the store, early dis- played exceptional aptitude for the business. His progress was steady and substantial; and in 1850 he became a partner, taking the place of Edward Chamberlin, of the original firm of Joseph Breck & Co., whose interest he purchased, the firm name then becoming Joseph Breck & Son. This firm name was retained for twenty-two years, when the slight change was made to the present style of Joseph Breck & Sons upon the admission, in 1872, of his son Charles H. to the partnership. In 1885 his second son, Joseph F., was admitted, the firm name, however, remaining unchanged. Mr. Breck has been the senior member and head of the house since June, 1873, when Joseph Breck died, full of years. During his long connection with the business it has developed and expanded to large proportions, and he has become widely known throughout the country as a representative

man in the trade. He has also done much in various practical ways to encourage agriculture in New England. In the Brighton District of Bos- ton, where he resides, he held numerous positions of trust before its annexation to the city, among them those of selectman for three years and member of the School Committee for six years ; and, after annexation, he was four terms, 1876- 78-79-So, a member of the Boston Board of Al- dermen, and six years, 1878-84, member of the Board of Directors of the East Boston ferries. Ile has been long a prominent member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, having held

CHAS. H. B. BRECK.

the position of chairman of the committee of arrangements for seventeen years, and being now a vice-president of the institution. His only out- side business interest is the Metropolitan National Bank of Boston, of which he is a director. Mr. Breck was married in 1848. Ile has three chil- dren : Charles Henry, Joseph F., and Fannie E., who married Willard G. Brackett, of the firm of Lilly, Brackett, & Co.

BRIGHAM, HUBBARD HAMMOND, M.D., of Fitchburg, was born in Shutesbury, October 31, 1819, son of Lyscomb B. and Betsy (Hammond)

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

Brigham. His father was a native of Westbor- ough, and his mother of Dana. His mother had two brothers, both of whom carly went South, one

H. H. BRIGHAM.

going to South Carolina, where he afterward be- came governor, and the other to Mississippi, subsequently becoming there a celebrated physi- cian. Dr. Brigham was educated in the common and select schools of his native and adjoining towns. He began his medical studies with Hor- ace and Sumner Jacobs, of Chicopee, and gradu- ated from the Worcester Eclectic Medical College, and joined the Eclectic Medical Society of Hart- ford, Conn. He settled in Fitchburg in the spring of 1845, and after the first year, which was a sea- son of struggle, had an abundance of business with good success. In December, 1885, he suf- fered a severe accident, being struck by a locomo- tive and thrown sixty-five feet against a telegraph pole, breaking several ribs and injuring his hip and back, which confined him to his bed and house for four months ; but, making a good recovery, he has enjoyed good health ever since. He is a member of the local, State, and national eclectic medical associations. In religious faith Dr. Brigham was brought up a Baptist, but subsequently he embraced Spiritualism and Naturalism ; and in politics he began as an abolitionist, casting his first vote for

the first abolition presidential candidate. then be- came a Free Soiler, and afterward a Republican. He has been an active member of the Sons of Temperance and a Good Templar. He was married first, July 21, 1840, to Miss Deborah Thomas, of Shutesbury, by whom he had three children : George (born October 9. 1841), Lco- nella (born August 22, 1844), and Howard Brig- ham (born March 10, 1846) ; and married second, March 21, 1851, Miss Sarah C. Reed, of Brattle- boro, Vt., who is still living. He has many friends. not only in the city, but in all the adjoin- ing towns, and is an especial favorite among the children, who delight to call him " Santa Claus."

BROOKS, WALTER CURTIS, of Boston, mer- chant, was born in Hanover, November 3, 1854. son of Levi Curtis and Angeline Stetson (Curtis) Brooks. He is descended from William Brooks, who came from England to New England in 1635 in the ship " Blessing," and on the maternal side from William Curtis, who came in 1632 in the ship " Lion." He was educated in the dis-

WALTER C. BROOKS.

trict school of his native town and in the English High School, Boston. His business career was begun in 1871, at the age of sixteen, in the

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employ of John Curtis, clothier, at No. 6 North Street. Six years later he entered into partner- ship with Mr. Curtis, their store being then at No. S Union Street; and in 1884 he became sole proprietor of the business. In 1891 he removed to his present quarters, at No. 15 Milk Street (the old Boston Post Building), and here devel- oped one of the largest and best known clothing establishments in the city. He is a member of the Art, Appalachian Mountain, and Athletic clubs of Boston, and of the Newton club of Newton. He was married October 13, ISSo, to Miss Alice M. Harris, daughter of the Hon. William G. Harris, of Boston. They have three children : Walter C., Jr., Amy, and Phyllis Brooks. Mr. Brooks resides in Newton Centre; and his summer place is "The Overlook," at Pocasset, embracing fifty acres of high land, commanding one of the most delightful and extensive views on the upper part of Buzzard's Bay.

W. A. BROOKS. Jr.

BROOKS, WILLIAM ALLEN, JR., M.D., of Boston, was born in Haverhill, August 15, 1864, son of William Allen and Nancy (Connor) Brooks. His great-great-grandfather, Robert Brooks, held a commission under King George in the French and Indian wars. His great-grandfather, also

Robert, served in the war of the Revolution ; and his grandfather, Aaron Brooks, served in the War of 1812. His early education was acquired in the Haverhill public schools. He was fitted for college at Phillips (Exeter) Academy, graduating in 1883, and entering Harvard, graduated there in the class of ISS7. His medical studies were pursued at the Harvard Medical School, where he took the degrees of A. M. and M.D. in 1891. From the first of August, 1890, until the first of Feb- ruary, 1892, he was connected with the Massa- chusetts General Hospital as house pupil. Then he opened an office in Boston, and has since been engaged in general practice. He is now out- patient surgeon to the Massachusetts General Hospital, having been appointed in June, 1894. Since 1893 he has been an assistant in anatomy in the Harvard Medical School. He was some time a member of the Puritan Club, and now belongs to the Country, the Boston Athletic, and the Union Boat clubs. He is a member also of the Sons of the Revolution. Dr. Brooks was married November 9, 1892, to Miss Helen Win- chell, of New Haven, Conn.

BURR, REV. EVERETT DOUGHTY, of Boston, pastor of the Ruggles Street Baptist Church, was born at Nyack-on-the-Hudson, N. Y., January 15. 1861, son of Stephen Henry and Sarah Eliza (Doughty) Burr. His mother was the daughter of Anna Maria Randell, who was the daughter of John Randell, who owned and tilled " Randell's Island " in the East River, near New York City, and was one of the early makers of upper New York. His mother's father, Isaac Doughty, was squire for many years in the settlement of Harlem, a sagacious, judicious man, of broad horizon. He attended the public schools of New York City, beginning at five years of age, and prepared for college under Dr. John F. Pingry, of Elizabeth, N.J. First entering Yale, in September, 1879, he was obliged partly to suspend his studies on account of illness one year. Then he entered Brown University in the sophomore class in September, 1881, and graduated there in June, 1884. His theological studies were pursued at the Crozer Theological Seminary, Chester, l'enna., from which he was graduated in June, 1887. He was first settled as pastor of the Memorial Baptist Church in Chicago, Ill., in January, ISS8; and he came to Boston as pastor of the Ruggles Street

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

Baptist Church in January, 1892. His work here is on broad lines, and he is engaged in many activities. He defines his business as humanity.

EVERETT D. BURR.

and his life task the problem of the modern city. He is a student of social science, a friend of the working people, and an advocate of applied and practical Christianity, as evidenced in the educa- tional, philanthropic, and benevolent work of his church. In college Mr. Burr was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. He was married February 9, 1888, at Rochester, N.Y., to Miss Frances Austine Cole, of that city. They have three children : Dorothy, Frances, and Carle- ton Maurice Burr.

BUSH, JOHN STANDISH FOSTER, M.D., of Boston, is a native of Vermont, born in Burling- ton, June, 1850, son of Solon Wanton and Theoda Davis (Foster) Bush. He is descended on the paternal side from Governor Wanton, the first governor of Rhode Island, and on the maternal side from Myles Standish. His early education was acquired in the Roxbury Latin School, and after graduating therefrom he took a chemical course at the Institute of Technology. Then he entered Cornell University, and, taking a course of

natural science, received a licentiate certificate. Subsequently entering the Harvard Medical School, he received his degree of M.D. in 1874. Before leaving the medical school, he was house surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1876 he was appointed district physician to the Boston Dispensary, and for a number of years was surgeon to that institution. He has also been physician to the Children's Mission, and one of the directors of that institution for a number of years. He is a councillor of the Massachusetts Medical Society and a member of the Boston Society of Medical Observation and of the Boston Medical Improvement Society. He is much in- terested in fraternal society matters, and has for some time occupied the position of medical ex- aminer-in-chief of the American Legion of Honor. He is an active Mason, being a member of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He has published a number of articles in various medical journals which have attracted attention and been quoted by authori- ties, and has compiled valuable statistics and

J. FOSTER BUSH.

reports in relation to fraternal insurance, upon which subject he is regarded as an authority. Besides his active membership in medical socie-

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ties, he is an interested member of the Bostonian Society ; and his club associations are with the St. Botolph, University, Country, and Athletic clubs. Dr. Bush was married June 2, 1875, to Miss Josephine M. Nason, of Coventry, R.I. They have two children : Ella Agnes and Theoda Foster Bush.

CARPENTER, WILLIAM HENRY, M.I., of Boston, was born in Uxbridge, February 21, 1837, son of Joseph and Bernace ( Miller) Carpenter. He is on both sides of sturdy old English stock, from which have descended eminent physicians,

WILLIAM H. CARPENTER.

physiologists, and lawyers. His great-grand- father Carpenter fought in the Revolutionary War on the English side, and his great-grandfather Miller deserted from the British army and fought in the same war for American independence. His education was acquired in the public schools and at the academy in Uxbridge, and later at a private school for fitting students for teachers and col- leges, conducted by the Rev. Henry Rawson, at Thompson, Conn. Subsequently he taught dis- trict schools in Rhode Island and Connecticut for some time to obtain funds for acquiring a medical education, and then entered the University of Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1864. A

dangerous malady affecting ears, nose, and throat, resulting from scarlet fever in childhood, brought him in contact with many medical men, which, while developing his taste for medicine, demon- strated the need of more and abler specialists ; and, after taking his degree, he decided to fit him- self for successful treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose, throat, and chest. He began prac- tice in the State of Maine, remaining there until 1869, and then removed to Boston, where he has since been established. After ten years' practice he decided to devote a few more years to study and practice in colleges, hospitals, and infirm- aries, to perfect his knowledge as far as possible in the chosen branches of his profession. He spent a year in Bellevue Hospital Medical Col- lege of New York; a spring term at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York; took a diploma from Dartmouth Medical College, a post-graduate diploma from the Ophthalmic and Aural Institute of New York, and another from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary; meanwhile attending clinies at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital and lectures at the Homeopathic Medi- cal College and Hospital. His instructors during this period embraced the following eminent list, names widely known to medical and scientific men : Professors Herman Knapp, M.D., Austin Flint, M.D., Sr., E. R. Peasley, M. D., LL. D., A. B. Crosby, A.M., M.D., William A. Hammond, M. D., William H. Van Buren, M.D., Austin Flint, Jr., Lewis A. Sayre, M.D., James R. Wood, M.D., LL.D., R. Ogden Doremus, M.D., Henry D. Noyes, M.D., Alexander B. Mott, M.D., E. Grenening, M.D., and others. With the admira- ble equipment thus acquired he returned to his practice in Boston, and has since been promi- nently engaged in his special field, with office at No. 212 Boylston Street and residence in Brook- line. He is a member of the New England Medi- cal Society of Specialists, and its present presi- dent.

CARVILL, ALPHONSO HOLLAND, M.D., of Somerville, is a native of Maine, born in Lewis- ton, February 4, 1843, son of Sewall and Tamar (Higgins) Carvill. He is of English and Scotch clescent. His paternal great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary War, and his father in the War of 1812. He was reared on a farm, and remained there until he reached the age of eighteen, doing farm work during the farming

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seasons, attending the district school during the winter months, and sometimes a private school in the autumn and spring months. From 1858 to

A. H. CARVILL.

1861 he spent several terms at the Maine State Seminary ; and in 1861 entered the Edward Little Institute at Auburn, Me., where he was fitted for college. Entering Tufts College, he was gradu- atell there in the class of 1866 with the regular degree, and in 1869 received the degree of A.M. His medical studies were pursued in the Harvard Medical School, and after graduation therefrom in 1869 continued in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. He began practice in 1869 as a physi- cian and surgeon in Minnesota, where he re- mained until March, 1873. Then, returning to the East, he settled in Somerville in May, 1873, and has since been engaged there in general prac- tice. He served as city physician of Somerville for two years, and was instrumental in the estab- lishment of the Somerville Hospital. He was on the building committee of that institution ; and from the beginning has been a member of the Board of Trustees, the executive committee, the medical board, and the hospital staff. He is a member of the American Institute of Homeop- athy, of the Massachusetts Homeopathic Med- ical Society, of the Boston Homeopathic Med-

ical Society, and of the Massachusetts Surgical and Gynacological Society. He has always taken an active interest in politics and in tem- perance movements, seeking to secure the nom- ination and election of good and trustworthy men to office. For twelve years he has served on the School Board, and has been much interested in educational matters. Dr. Carvill was married in Cambridge, August 18, 1869, to Miss Minna S. Gray, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Swan- son) Gray. They have two children : Sewall Al- bert (born July 31, 1870) and Lizzie Maud Car- vill (born April 27, 1873).

CHOATE, CHARLES FRANCIS, of Boston, mem- ber of the Suffolk bar, and long president of the Old Colony Railroad, was born in Salem, May 16, 1828, son of George and Margaret Manning (Hodges) Choate. He is descended from one of the oldest and best known families of Essex County, a dircet descendant of John Choate, the first of the name in the country, who settled at Chebacco, now Essex, in 1645, and died there

CHARLES F. CHOATE.

December 4, 1695, the line running as follows : Thomas, son of John, called governor, died April 1745 ; Francis, son of Thomas, ruling elder of the

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church, died October 13, 1777 ; William, son of Francis, born September 5, 1730, died April 23, 1785, grandfather of the Hon. Rufus Choate ; George, son of William, born July 24, 1762, died 1826 ; George, son of George, born November, 1796, died 18So, a prominent physician of Salem ; Charles F. Choate, his son. Mr. Joseph H. Choate, of New York, is a younger brother. Mr. Choate's education was begun in the Salem public schools, and he fitted for college at the Salem Latin School. He entered Harvard, and gradu- ated in the class of 1849, then, taking the course of the Harvard Law School, was graduated there- from in 1852. From 1850 to 1853 he was tutor in mathematics in the college. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1854, and at once began the practice of law in Boston. From that time until 1877 he was actively engaged in professional work, largely as counsel for railroad corporations, among them the Boston & Maine and the Old Colony. He became the regular counsel for the Old Colony in 1864, and his connection with that corporation has continued unbroken from that time to the present. He was first elected a di- rector of the company in 1872, and president in 1877, remaining in the latter position since through annual elections. He was also president of the Old Colony Steamboat Company from 1877 to 1894. During his presidency of the Old Col- ony Railroad Company the policy of consolidating under one control the railroads of South-eastern Massachusetts was successfully carried out ; and the consolidated property was leased, May 1, 1893, to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company. Mr. Choate has since be- come a director of that corporation. During his presidency of the Old Colony Steamboat Com- pany, which in connection with the Old Colony Railroad Company forms the Fall River Line between Boston and New York, the company built the fleet of steamboats which are unequalled for beauty and convenience, and which have given to the Fall River Line a world-wide fame, Mr. Choate is also a director and vice-president of the New England Trust Company. He was chosen actuary of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company on June 15, 1893, and now holds that office. He has served in the General Court. a member from Cambridge in 1863 ; and was a member of the Cambridge City government in 1864-65. He married, November 7, 1855, Miss Elizabeth W. Carlile, of Providence,

R.I. They have had five children : Edward C .. Sarah C. (wife of J. M. Sears), Margaret M. (wife of N. I. Bowditch), Helen T. (deceased), and Charles F. Choate, Jr., a member of the Suffolk bar.

CHOATE, DAVID, M.D., of Salem, was born in the town of Essex, Essex County, November 27, 1828, son of David and Elizabeth (Wade) Choate. He is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation from John Choate, who came from England about 1645, settled in Ipswich, Chebacco Parish, now Essex, and died in the

DAVID CHOATE.

same place in 1695, the line running as follows : second generation, Thomas Choate, born about 1670, died 1745 ; third generation, Francis, 1701- 77 ; fourth, William, 1730-85; fifth, David, 1757- ISos; and, sixth, David, 1796-1872. He was ed- ucated in the common schools of his native town and at the Phillips (Andover) Academy, and fitted for his profession at the Harvard Medical School, where he was graduated in 1854. Be- ginning practice that year in April, he was estab- lished in Topsfield until June, 1857, when he moved to Salem, where he has since resided. During the Civil War, from 1861 to 1864, he was examining surgeon for volunteers and drafted

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men ; and from 1863 to 1869 examining surgeon for pensions. He was on the staff of the Salem Hospital from 1873 (date of its organization) to 1887. He is a member of the Essex South Distriet Branch of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the Congregational Club of Essex South. Dr. Choate has contributed numerous papers to the societies with which he is connected. Of the latter one on " Ilamaturia" was subse- quently published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. and one on " Some Peculiar C'ases of Cancer" in the Cincinnati Lancet. He also prepared and read before the Essex South Congregational ('lub a paper on the " Faith Cure from a Biblical Point of View," and before the Salem Association of Ministers one on the "Diseases of the Bible." In politics he is reckoned a Republican, but is not active in politi- cal affairs. Ile was married January 1, 1856, to Miss Susan E. Kimball, of Ipswich. They have had two daughters: Helen Stanley and Susan Elizabeth C'hoate.

CHURCH, BENJAMIN TAYLOR, M.D., of Win- chester, was born in Providence, R. I., November 10, 1839, son of Benjamin Taylor and Sarah Chace (Peck) Church. On the paternal side he is a direct descendant of Richard Church who came over with Governor Winthrop in the fleet of 1630, and married Elizabeth Warren, daughter of Richard Warren, one of the " Mayflower " passen- gers landing at Plymouth in 1620; also a blood relation of Colonel Benjamin Church the Indian fighter against King Philip in 1675, and in the French and Indian war of 1689. On the maternal side he is a direct descendant of Philip Peck, who came from Hingham, England, about 1630. His early education was received in the public schools of Providence. He was first engaged in the drug business, beginning as a clerk in the drug store of Henry A. Choate under the Revere House, Bos- ton, in 1857, and afterwards entering into partner- ship with Mr. Choate, under the firm name of Choate & Church, in the conduct of the drug store on the corner of Beacon and Tremont Streets, in the old Albion Building which formerly stood there. (Mr. Choate retired from this firm in 1863.) He sold out this business in 1867, and took up the study of medicine at Bowdoin Col- lege, and subsequently went to Dartmouth College, where he graduated. Upon the completion of his

studies he settled in Boston. but soon after moved to Winchester, and has since been engaged there, with an extensive practice extending into the neighboring towns. He has always taken a deep interest in the health of the town, and has been for some years secretary of the Winchester Board of Health. He is a member of the Massachusetts State Homeopathic Society. of the Boston Home- opathic Society, and of the Calumet Club of Win- chester. His politics are Republican, but he is not active in political affairs. He was married January 27, 1866, to Miss Adaline Barnard, of Boston. They have no children. Mrs. Church is

BENJ. T. CHURCH.

a lady of much prominence, a physician, liberally educated abroad, and now professor of diseases of women in the Boston University School of Medi- cine.

CHURCHILL, WILLIAM WORCESTER, of Bos- ton, artist, is a native of Boston, born August 29. 1858, son of William W. and Caroline (Woodman) Churchill. He is of pure New England stock for many generations, originally English on both sides. He was educated in Boston private schools, and at the age of nineteen went to Paris to study painting. He studied abroad for three and a half years, in October, 1878, entering Bonnat's atelier

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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 73

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