Men of progress one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 92

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 92

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

he began the study of medicine. His studies were pursued with E. R. Sission, M.D., at the time a prominent physician of New Bedford, and

CHAS. N. THAYER.

in Boston, where he attended a course of medical lectures. He entered upon the practice of his profession in January, 1869, opening an office in Falmouth, and within a comparatively short time had established an extensive lucrative business. In 1875 he started a drug and fancy-goods store in Falmouth, which became one of the largest in the county. When living in Pembroke, he was a representative for the town in the Massachu- setts House of Representatives, serving through the winter of 1855. In politics he has always been a Republican, and before the war he was an officer of the " underground railroad " for the aid of slaves seeking freedom. He was an active member of the Sons of Temperance for several years, serving some time as worthy patriarch and as deputy grand worthy patriarch. He joined the Masonic fraternity in 1877, and acted for nine years as secretary of Marine Lodge, the charter of which dates back to 1798. He was a charter member of B. F. Jones Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and commander of the post for years. He is a member also of the Republican Club of Falmouth and of the Succanasset Social

Club. Dr. Thayer has inherited many of the traits of his Puritan ancestors, among them per- severance, energy, and indomitable will, which have enabled him to overcome obstacles and achieve success. As a physician, he has been more than ordinarily successful, holding a large practice for many years, until his health failed. He is a self-made, self-educated man, fond of study and of scientific research, enjoying debate, social and genial in his nature, keeping in touch with the age. During the winter of 1894-95 he attended a course of lectures at Boston Univer- sity, where his son is a student. Dr. Thayer was married January 12, 1873, to Miss Zibbie S. Hew- ins. They have one son : William H. Thayer.

THOMPSON, JOHN JOSEPH, M.D., of Web- ster, is a native of Webster, born February 9, 1859, son of Richard and Bridget (Farrell) Thompson. His father settled in Webster in 1849. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native place, and he was fitted for college at Nichols Academy, in Dudley.

J. J. THOMPSON.

Entering Holy Cross College, Worcester, he grad- uated there in 1882. He began the study of medicine two years later at the Jefferson Medical

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

College in Philadelphia, and graduated with the class of 1887. He has been engaged in active practice since his graduation, established in Web- ster. He holds the position of town physician. entering in 1895 on his fourth term; and he is medical examiner for the Ben Franklin Council, Royal Arcanum, and the Metropolitan Life In- surance Company. He is a member of Ben Franklin Council, Royal Arcanum, and of the An- cient Order of Hibernians. He is unmarried.

TOBEY, EDWARD SILAS, of Boston, insurance broker, is a native of Boston, born September 24, 1855. second son of the late Hon. Edward S. Tobey and Hannah Brown (Sprague) Tobey. He is descended from Rev. Samuel Tobey, Judge Tobey, and Silas Tobey, all of Berkeley. His paternal ancestry also is traced back directly to Dr. Samuel Fuller and John and Priscilla Alden, of the " Mayflower." On the maternal side he descends through the lon. Phineas Sprague and the Hon. Seth Sprague from Francis Sprague. who came from England in the ship " Anne " in 1623. He received a private-school education in Boston, and an early mercantile training in the Boston wholesale house of A. T. Stewart & Co., of New York. In April, 1876, he was appointed private secretary to his father, who was then post- master of Boston, and was in 1883 promoted to the assistant postmastership, which office he filled to the highest satisfaction of both the government and the public, originating and establishing nu- merous new features in the department, and so systematizing the work as greatly to facilitate the service. One distinctly novel feature, especially beneficial to the public, which he introduced was that of forwarding to their destination, at his own personal expense, letters which had been held for postage instead of sending them to the "dead letter office" at Washington. Such letters aver- aged about one hundred and fifty a day. Upon the retirement of the postmaster in 1887, by President Cleveland, Mr. Tobey, after eleven years in the postal service under five Presidents and nine postmaster-generals, resigned, and took up the sale of Western investment securities and commercial paper, in which he was largely suc- cessful. In 1892 he associated himself with the New York Life Insurance Company, and a year and a half later formed a partnership with Mark Hollingsworth, under the firm name of Tobey &

Hollingsworth. the firm being appointed manager for the Middlesex County and Seaboard depart- ment of Massachusetts of the Home Life Insur-

E. S. TOBEY.

ance Company of New York, in which business it is still successfully engaged. Mr. Tobey is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Sons of the Revolution, of the Republican Club of Massa- chusetts, of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, its secretary for six years, and of the Boston Club. He has never taken an especially active interest in politics, but has always been a staunch Republican. He is un- married, and resides with his mother in Brookline.

TRAIN. CHARLES RUSSELL, of Boston, mem- ber of the bar, Congressman. and attorney-general of the Commonwealth, for forty years taking a prominent part in political affairs, both local and national, was born in Framingham, October 18. 1817 ; died in North Conway, N.H., July 29. 1885. He was a son of the Rev. Charles and Hepzibah (Harrington) Train. His father was a native of Weston, born January 7, 1783. son of Deacon Samuel and Deborah (Savage) Train, and became a Baptist clergyman in 1804. He died September 17, 1847. Charles R. Train re-

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

ceived his early education in the common schools of his native place, and was fitted for college at the Framingham Academy, meanwhile working on his father's farm until he reached the age of fifteen. He entered Brown University in his six- teenth year, and graduated in 1837. He taught school until 1840, when he began his law studies, entering the Dane (now the Harvard) Law School. He was admitted to the Suffolk bar in August. 1841, and, returning to Framingham, there en- gaged actively in the practice of his profession. Subsequently he received at the hands of his fellow-citizens all the offices of the town that from

CHARLES R. TRAIN.

time to time he could accept. In 1847 and 1848 he represented Framingham in the Legislature ; and in the summer of the latter year he was ap- pointed by Governor George N. Briggs attorney for the Northern District, a position which he held until 1851. In 1852 he was appointed by President Fillmore an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in Oregon. but declined the appointment. He was again attorney for the Northern District during 1853- 55. He was a delegate to the State Constitu- tional Convention in 1853, and member of the Executive Council in 1857 and 1858, a member of Congress from 1857 to 1863. In September,

1862, immediately after the second battle of Bull Run, he volunteered upon the staff of his friend, Brigadier-General George H. Gordon, then com- manding a division in Banks's Corps, and served as assistant adjutant-general, taking part in the battle of Antietam ; and he resigned in season to resume his seat in the second session of the Thirty-seventh Congress. In 1864 he was a del- egate to the National Republican Convention. He removed to Boston not long after his retire- ment from Congress, and in the years 1867 and 1868 served in the Common Council of the city and as a member of the Water Board. In 1870 and 1871 he was a representative for Boston in the Legislature, serving as chairman of the com- mittee on the judiciary. In the mean time Mr. Train had devoted himself to his profession, and had acquired a large and lucrative practice. In the annual election of 1871 he was chosen attor- ney-general of the Commonwealth, and thereafter was elected every year until 1879, when he de- clined further service, and resumed practice. During his incumbency of the attorney-general- ship he conducted the trial of several capital cases, the Piper case. the Alley case, and the Costley case being among those which are best known. As a criminal lawyer he unquestionably stood at the head of his profession, while as an attorney in civil cases he ranked among the most eminent lawyers in the State. Ilis principal con- tribution to legal literature was " Precedents of Indictments, Special Pleas, etc., Adapted to American Practice," which he published in 1855. jointly with Franklin F. Head. He held numer- ous offices of trust other than political. He was junior grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Freemasons and a member of the De Molay Encampment. In religions faith he was an Episcopalian, and for many years was a member of the vestry of St. Paul's Church, Bos- ton. His club affiliations were with the Union and St. Botolph clubs. Mr. Train was twice married, first, October 27, 1841, to Miss Mar- tha A. Jackson, of Ashland ; and second, June 14. 1869. to Miss Sarah M. Cheney, of Boston. Ile had six children : four sons and two daughters.

TREWORGY, WILLIAM HARRIS, of Boston, lumber merchant, is a native of Maine, born in the town of Surry, October 17, 1851, son of Will- iam G. and Nancy (Jarvis) Treworgy. The Tre-

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worgys came to this country from Cornwall, Eng- Jand, in 1636. ITis mother is a descendant of the Head family of Boston on her mother's side. When he was but a boy, his father, a sea captain, was wrecked, and perished during a heavy gale. His early education was acquired at the Surry town school, which he attended until he reached the age of thirteen, after which he was a pupil in the Bucksport ( Me.) Seminary, and later at the Hebron (Me.) Academy. Early in life he set about earning his own living, beginning active work in a general country store at Orland, Me. This occupation, however, was too narrow for his ambition ; and he soon started out into the broader world, his stock in trade being good health and pluck. Coming to Massachusetts at the age of eighteen, he found employment in an extensive furniture factory in Haverhill. After three years spent there, during which time he developed marked ability as a salesman, he came to Boston, and shortly after engaged in the whole- sale lumber business. He was then but twenty- two years of age, and without capital, though well equipped in other respects, having experience, energy, and capacity. With this business he has ever since been identified, and he has been in his present location for twenty-one years. At first he formed a partnership with Henry M. Clark. a practical lumber man, and engaged in selling in the East on commission white pine cut in Michi- gan. In less than a year Mr. Treworgy had so grasped the details of the business that he be- came not only a successful seller of lumber, but a shrewd buyer. The partnership of Clark & Treworgy continued for two years, during which time a large amount of lumber was handled by the firm, and its trade was most prosperous. In the autumn of 1876 Mr. Treworgy formed a sec- ond partnership with A. C. Putnam, then of Day- enport, under the firm name of Putnam & Tre- worgy, which had a prosperous career of five years, during each year of which period the sales and profits showed a steady increase, the last year amounting to over $800,000. In 1881 this firm was dissolved by the failure of Mr. Putnam's health, Mr. Treworgy purchasing his partner's interest, since which time he has conducted the business alone. His average yearly sales since his assumption of the entire control of the busi- ness have exceeded $500,000. Until 1889 or 1890 his specialty was hard woods from Indiana. Thereafter his operations included high grade

lumber grown in Kentucky and Tennessee. His operations in white pine have been mostly con- fined to the purchase of entire cuts of leading manufacturers in Michigan and Wisconsin. He has built up his trade through correspondence and without the employment of salesmen in the mar- ket, retaining his patrons through the reputation he has earned of not shipping anything but the best qualities of lumber. Of late years he has invested much of his surplus in valuable real estate, and now owns a number of pieces of property yielding a good annual income and steadily increasing in value. Mr. Treworgy mar-

W. H. TREWORGY.

ried Miss Emma Croft, of the Roxbury District, Boston, a native of Boston. They have three daughters : Bessie Warren (sixteen years), Marion Croft (thirteen years), and Helen Howard Tre- worgy (ten years.)

USHER, SAMUEL, of Boston, printer, was born in New Brunswick, July 9, 1855, son of Daniel and Jane (Simon) Usher. He was educated in the public schools of St. John. In 1871 he came to Boston, and entered the printing business, with which he has ever since been identified. In ISSI he formed a partnership with Edward O. Stanley,

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

under the firm name of Stanley & Usher, for the prosecution of the book and job printing business at No. 299 Washington Street. Mr. Usher was

SAMUEL USHER.

the practical man of the concern, and under his excellent management the firm very soon gained prominence for the quality of its work. Owing to the rapid increase of its business, it was in a short time found necessary to seek larger quarters ; and in 1883 the office was moved to No. 171 Devon- shire Street, its present location. In 1888 Mr. Stanley withdrew, and the business has since been conducted by Mr. Usher alone, in his own name. As a result of his wise conduct and his thorough knowledge of details, the business has enjoyed uninterrupted growth until it now ranks among the largest in the city. Mr. Usher is a member of the Master Printers' Club of Boston, and was its treasurer for several years; is a member of the Boston Congregational and Cam- bridge Congregational clubs (vice-president of the latter in 1894), and of the Colonial Club of Cambridge. For eight years he was treasurer of the Congregational Sunday School Superintend- ents' Union of Boston and vicinity, and is at present its president ; and he is a director of the Cambridge Young Men's Christian Association and of the Boston Seaman's Friend Society. He

is also a trustee of the North Avenue Savings Bank. In politics he is a Republican, but has never held nor sought public office. He was mar- ried October 21, 1880, to Miss Ella J. Shaw, daugh- ter of the late Dan. Shaw, of Cambridge. They have one son : Kenneth Shaw Usher. Mr. Usher resides in Cambridge, and is prominent in the North Avenue Congregational Church, having been the chairman of its prudential committee for several years.

VAUGHAN, FRANCIS WALES, of Boston, libra- rian of the Social Law Library, was born in Hal- lowell, Me., June 5, 1833, son of Charles and Mary Susan (Abbot) Vaughan. His great-grand- father, Samuel Vaughan, was a London merchant and West India planter, whose son Charles, born in England, came to this country in 1786, was for some years a merchant in Boston, and after- ward removed to Hallowell. His mother was a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Abiel Abbot, of Beverly, a descendant of George Abbot, of Andover, who came to this country from England about 1640. He was fitted for college partly at the Hallowell

FRANCIS W. VAUGHAN.

Academy, partly at the Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge, whither his father had removed in I847. He entered Harvard College in 1849, and

MEN OF PROGRESS.

693

graduated in 1853. After spending a year in the Harvard Law School, he entered the office of Henry Vose. of Springfield, afterward a justice of the Superior Court, with whom he remained for fifteen months. Completing his studies in the office of George M. Browne, of Boston, he was ad- mitted to the Suffolk bar in December, 1856, and opened an office in Boston, but practised only a few months. From July, 1857, to the winter of 1861-62, he was employed as eivil assistant and computer by Captain A. A. Humphreys and Lieu- tenant H. L. AAbbot, of the Corps of Topograph- ical Engineers, U.S .. \., in Washington, being engaged upon work connected with the Pacific Railroad Surveys and the so-called Mississippi Delta Survey. On the appointment of Major Humphreys as chief topographical engineer of the Army of the Potomae in 1862, he accom- panied him to the Peninsula as civil assistant, and remained with him and with the officers who succeeded him till 1864. Spending two years in Washington, he returned to Boston in 1866, and in January, 1870, was appointed to the position - which he still holds - of librarian of the Social Law Library, succeeding James Boyle, whose ser- vice of forty years had been terminated by his sudden death. This library, now one of the best law libraries of New England, was founded in 1804 by some of the most eminent lawyers of that day; and its present membership ineludes the leading men at the Suffolk bar. Within the past twenty-five years the number of proprietors and annual subscribers has increased from two hundred and fifty to eight hundred and fifty, and the number of volumes from ten thousand to more than twenty-seven thousand. Mr. Vaughan has never held office other than that of librarian, and has never married. He is a member of the Bar Association of the City of Boston, of the Boston Library Society, the Bostonian Society, the Har- vard Musical Association, the Harvard Law School Association, and the Colonial Club, Cambridge.

WALES, GEORGE OLIVER, of Boston, iron mer- chant, was born in Braintree, April 1, 1848, son of George and Isabella C. (Moulton) Wales. He was educated in the public schools of Braintree. graduating from the High School. Choosing a mercantile carcer, he came to Boston in 1867, and began as entry elerk for the wholesale millinery house of Sleeper, Fisk, & Co. From this modest

position he soon worked his way up to that of book-keeper. After a service of three years here he became book-keeper in the wholesale leather house of Albert Thompson & Co. A year later, in 1871, then twenty-three years of age, he left that occupation, and started in business for him- self, establishing in a small way the house of George O. Wales & Co., which has since grown to large proportions, and become widely known in the iron trade. Beginning with the New England agency of several Pennsylvania iron mills, the house now represents many of the largest and most important of the iron mills of that region.

GEO. O. WALES.

Its specialties are steel and iron plates and sheets, boiler tubes, boiler tank and stack rivets, steam, gas, and water pipe, and corrugated sheet iron. Mr. Wales still resides at Braintree, where he has a beautiful estate, comprising twenty well-cultivated acres. He is a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and of the Boston Art, Algon- quin, and Exchange clubs. He was married No- vember 9, 1870, to Miss A. F. P. Howard, of Braintree. They have five children : George H., Ernest de Wolfe, Mary H., Louise F., and Na- thaniel B. Wales. The elder son is in business with his father, and the second son is a student at Harvard College. Mrs. Wales died in 1886.

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

WASHBURN, NATHAN, of Middleborough, special justice of the Fourth District Court of Plymouth, is a native of Middleborough, born

NATHAN WASHBURN.

April 18, 1862, son of Bradford S. and Elizabeth S. (Harlow) Washburn. His paternal grand- father, Cyrus Washburn, was connected with the celebrated Washburn family, which had its origin eight miles from Middleborough ; and his ma- ternal grandfather, Major Branch Harlow, was once high sheriff of Plymouth County and a major in the Massachusetts State militia. He was educated in the Middleborough public schools, graduating from the High School in 188!, and at Dartmouth College, where he was graduated in 1885. He was admitted to the Plymouth County bar in 1887, and at once en- tered upon the practice of his profession, with offices in Middleborough and Boston, which he has since continued. He was appointed special justice of the Plymouth Fourth District Court, the position he still holds, by Governor Ames, De- cember 21, 1887. Upon the death of Judge Vaughan in February, 1891, he presented a peti- tion from all the towns in the district for appoint- ment to the position of justice of this court, which was the cause of the first disagreement between Governor Russell and the Executive Council.

Governor Russell, contending that there should be some Democratic judges in the State, refused to appoint him to that position, he being a Re- publican, and appointed George D). Alden. The Executive Council rejected Alden's nomination eight to one (the council standing eight Republi- cans to one Democrat). Governor Russell there- upon renewed the appointment ; and the council again rejected it, by the same vote. Meanwhile Judge Washburn, as special justice, held court under the vacancy for sixteen months, being sup- ported all that time by the Executive Council. The next year Mr. Alden was confirmed by a new council. Judge Washburn is a member of the Odd Fellows, of lodge and encampment. He was married November 27, 1888, to Miss Etta Florence Mendall. They have one child : Ken- driek 11. Washburn.

WEBBER, GEORGE CLARK, M.D., of Millbury, is a native of Maine, born in Hallowell, Novem- ber 15, 1837, son of the Rev. George Web- ber, 1).D., and Phebe (Clark) Webber. He is

GEO. C. WEBBER.

a direct descendant of Edward Webber, who settled in Portsmouth, N.H., in 1732, in line run- ning as follows : John (his great-grandfather), son

MEN OF PROGRESS.

695

of Edward and Deborah (Percher) Webber, John, 2d (his grandfather), son of John and Alice (Hasty) Webber, and George (his father), son of John and Dorcas ( Elwell) Webber. All are sup- posed to have descended from Thomas Webber, who left England for the Kennebec River region in 1607. Dr. Webber was educated in Maine com- mon schools, at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, at Readfield, there fitting for college, and at Wes- leyan University, Middletown, Conn., graduating in 1860. Seven years later he took the degree of A. M. from the same college. He studied medi- cine at the Harvard Medical School, taking his degree of M.D). in 1863. That year he entered the Civil War, attached to the navy as acting assistant surgeon, and served for nearly three years, being honorably discharged in July, 1865. After the war he was for two years principal of a large school in Portland, Me. Then he returned to the practice of medicine, beginning at Kennebunkport. After practising here one year, he moved to Massachusetts, first establishing himself in Newton, where he remained about a year, and in 1870 removed to Millbury, which has since been his field of work, in which he has attained a leading position. He has served on the Millbury Board of Health, chairman of that body from 1891 to 1894, and was a member of the School Committee of the town from 1875 to 1884 and from 1891 to 1894, being chairman of the board for several years. He was president of the Worcester District Medical Society from 1886 to ISSS ; has been a councillor of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society since 1886, and a fellow of the latter society since 1870, and was a mem- ber of the Maine Medical Society from 1865 to 1869. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, a member of Olive Branch Lodge, of Tyrian Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons, of which he was high priest in 1884-85-86, and of the Worcester Lodge of Perfection ; and is a member of the George A. Custer Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He is much interested in natural history, and has been president of the Millbury Natural History Society since 1883. He has never sought politi- cal honors or been active in public affairs, except in educational matters in the town of his resi- dence. Dr. Webber was married November 25, 1863, to Miss Sarah P. Leavitt, of Portland, Me. They have had four children : Howard Marshall (born January 15, 1868), Alice Carleton (born April 24, 1869, died September 4, 1869), Frank

Hartley (born April 27, 1874, died September 6, 1875), and Carrie Spaulding Webber (born May 29, 1877).

WHITCOMB, JOSEPH, of Provincetown, sher- iff of Barnstable County, was born in Yarmouth, Maine, May 29, 1841, son of Levi and Sarah (Young) Whitcomb. He is grandson of Zadick and Rachel Whitcomb, descended from the Whit- combs who came from England and settled in Scituate in 1640. He was educated in the Var- mouth public schools. He went to Provincetown

JOS. WHITCOMB.

in 1865, and first worked there in a ship-yard for nine years. Then he became assistant to Robert Knowles in the undertaking business, and was so employed for ten years, when upon the death of Mr. Knowles, in 1880, he succeeded to the busi- ness, which he has since continued. He was made a deputy sheriff in 1876, and held that posi- tion until his election to the post of high sheriff in 1889. For the years 1876-77-78 he was chief of police in Provincetown. He is connected with numerous fraternal organizations, being a member of the King Hiram Lodge, Freemasons, of the Joseph Warren Royal Arch Chapter ; of the Marine Lodge, Odd Fellows; the Charity

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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 92

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