USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 11
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Alvin Evarts Bliss was born in Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, September 16, 1858, a son of John Porter and Ann Eliza (Mecum) Bliss, and is a direct descendant of one of two brothers, Thomas or Evarts Bliss, who came to America from England prior to the Revolution, and settled in Connect- icut. For a number of years John Porter Bliss engaged in the wholesale drygoods busi- ness, and Alvin Evarts Bliss, after he had at- tended the public schools of Brookline and Malden, secured a position with a wholesale drygoods firm, Farley, Harvey & Company, at the age of eighteen years. Five years later he joined in association with H. L. Thompson in the establishment of the firm of Bliss & Thompson, retail dealers in men's furnishings and drygoods. But the firm was dissolved three years after its formation, and for two years thereafter Mr. Bliss directed it alone, under the style of A. E. Bliss. He was in- strumental in establishing the Malden Elec- trict Light Company, of which he became man-
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ager; then, two years after organization of the company, it was purchased by a syndicate, as noted, and Mr. Bliss continued with it, in the capacity of general superintendent. The Malden ยท Electric Company supplies light to Malden, Melrose, Medford, and Everett. Mean- while ,also Mr. Bliss has held office as general superintendent of the Malden & Melrose Gas Light Company, and has for a number of years been with Charles H. Tenney & Com- pany, first as general superintendent and later as safety engineer. Likewise, for a number of years, his sound business judgment has bene- fited the Malden Morris Plan Bank, of which he is a director.
It was in 1887, at the age of twenty-nine years, that Mr. Bliss became active in public affairs, then being elected to the Malden Com- mon Council; he was elected to the council again in 1888. Always a staunch supporter of the Republican party, and firmly convinced of the excellence of its principles, he has been active within it over a long period. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1910, served four years, was again elected in 1915, served five years, until 1919, and in 1920 was elected to the State Senate. Mr. Bliss was floor leader of the House during the 1916, 1917, and 1918 sessions, during which time the Honorable Channing H. Cox was Speaker; and in the Senate has since 1925 held the same distinction during the service of the Honor- able Wellington Wells as its president. In the House Mr. Bliss acted on the committee of cities, municipal finance, water supply, public health, and others equally important. In 1912 he was a member of a specially organized re- cess committee, acting as House chairman of the municipal finance. The result of this was the Municipal Finance Act, which is still on the slated books. In the Senate Mr. Bliss was, in 1926, a member on the committee on cities, as chairman; on public institutions, and on rules. Through his personal efforts the In- ternational Highway from Malden through Revere to Revere Beach was built, and so too with the Malden Highway, known as the
Northern Artery, from Boston through Cam- bridge and Somerville to Middlesex Fells. In 1929 Mr. Bliss was elected by the unanimous Republican vote of the Massachusetts House and Senate as a member of the Governor's Council to fill out the unexpired term of the late Harvey L. Boutwell, in which he is serv- ing as this is written.
Fraternally, Mr. Bliss is indeed active. He a member of Converse Lodge, Free is and Accepted Masons; Melrose Council, Roy- al and Select Masters; Beauseant Command- ery, Knights Templar; Layfayette Lodge of Perfection, of Boston; Mount Olivet Chapter, Rose Croix; G. F. Yates Council, Princes of Jerusalem; Massachusetts Consistory; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; F. E. Converse Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Malden Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Malden Aerie, No. 893, Fraternal Order of Eagles; Middle- sex Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; Resolute Rebekah; Canton Malden, No. 55, Patriarchs Militant, holding office success- ively as major, colonel, major-general and de- partment commander for six years; Malden Lodge, Loyal Order of Moose; Malden Rifle Association; and the Malden Young Men's Christian Association. His clubs include: the Malden, in which he has held the office of president several years; the Kernwood, Mel- rose City, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Nayasset of Springfield; the Middlesex, and Massachu- setts, and the Republican, of Massachusetts; Rotary, of Malden, and the Square and Com- pass, of Boston. A communicant of the First Congregational Church, of Malden, he is gen- erous in contributions to charity and kindred causes of worthy appeal, regardless of race or creed by whom sponsored.
Hon. Alvin E. Bliss was united in marriage with Nellie Sally Holden, a daughter of Dana and Ellen S. Holden, on November 24, 1881, in Malden. To this union was born one child, Harold Holden, December 6, 1884. The fam- ily residence is at No. 92 Maple Street, Mal- den. The son is now engaged in business as
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proprietor of the Bliss Restaurant on Pleas- ant Street, Malden, one of the most modern, attractive, and well-patronized places of its kind in this section of the State.
ROLAND W. BOYDEN was born at Bever- ly, Massachusetts, October 18, 1863, the son of William Cowper and Amy Lydia (Hoag) Boy- den. The education of Mr. Boyden started in the public and private schools and was contin- ued at Harvard. He graduated from the Aca- demic Department in 1885 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, matriculated at the law school of the same institution, and was graduated in 1888 with the degree of Bachelor of laws. In the same year he was admitted to the bar of Massachusetts, where he has contin- ued to follow professional work. He prac- ticed alone for a while, but at times in part- nership, then forming his present connection with the firm now known as Ropes, Gray, Boyden & Perkins, one of the largest and most important law firms in New England, with a large and widely dispersed clientele. Mr. Boy- den was appointed by the President as unofficial member representing the United States on the Reparations Commission at Paris and served for three and one-half years. He served for many years as President of the Beverly Savings Bank, and is now a director in the First National Bank of Boston, and the Quincy Market Cold Storage and Warehouse Company, and similar concerns. He is a member of the Bar Asso- ciation of the city of Boston and the Essex Bar Association. His faith is the Unitarian. The clubs in which he maintains membership in- clude the Harvard Exchange, the Boston City, the New University and the Union. His offices are at No. 50 Federal Street, Boston, while his home is at Beverly.
Mr. Boyden married, July 23, 1895, Kate Foster Whitney, of Beverly, now deceased.
G. ROBERT BARNEY-Since 1895 G. Rob- ert Barney has been associated with the wool trade in New England and in the West. Since 1910 he has been engaged in this line of busi- ness for himself under his own name, as a dealer in territorial wools and as a commission buyer. He has his offices at No. 246 Summer Street, and his business is conducted mostly with the Boston wool dealers and with the New England textile trade.
Mr. Barney is a son of Henry H. Barney, who was born in Washington, New Hampshire, and was engaged in business as a grocer to the time of his death, and of Emily (Marden) Bar- ney, who was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is also now deceased.
G. Robert Barney was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, October 24, 1878, and received his education in the public schools of his birth- place. As soon as he had left school he found employment with the firm of Goodue & Com- pany. That was in 1895, and later when the name of this concern was changed to that of Goodue, Studley & Emery, he continued the connection, serving as Western buyer for the last-mentioned company until 1910. In that year he established a business of his own under the name of G. R. Barney, wool noils and waste, and he has since that time continued successfully in that special line of the wool business. He is a dealer in territorial wools in the grease and he also does commission buy- ing. As has already been stated, the greater bulk of his business is with the Boston wool dealers and with the New England textile trade. He is a member of the Boston Wool Trade As- sociation, and is well known to the trade here in the city. Politically, Mr. Barney is a Repub- lican, giving his unqualified support to the prin- ciples and the candidates of that party; and fraternally, he is identified with Winthrop Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. His relig- ious interest is with the Congregational church. The whole interest and activity of Mr. Barney's life is devoted to his business and to the care of his family, and he has long ago established a reputation as one of the astute and successful
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business men of the wool trade in this city. G. Robert Barney was married, April 18, 1905, to Edith Knight, who was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of one child, Robert.
KENNETH H. ERSKINE-Selecting insur- ance as the road to business success, giving it his undivided attention and operating under the favorable assistance of a sound university edu- cation, Kenneth H. Erskine, of Boston, has risen in ten years to become resident manager in Boston of the office of the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company. His pleasing personality, his affable manners and his ability for making friends have been potent factors in his success, while his intimate knowl- edge of the business gives him a place of equal- ity among those of much longer and wider ex- perience. Among these he holds his own, makes strong friendships and does for his company a thriving business.
Kenneth H. Erskine was born in Mount Ver- non, New York, August 6, 1894. His father is George Elgin Erskine, born in Mexico and now engaged in the wholesale and importing millinery business. His mother was Anna (Cunningham) Erskine, born in New York City, who died in 1910. Kenneth was educated in the graded and high school of Mount Vernon, afterward taking the full course at Syracuse University, from which he was graduated in the class of 1917 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He thereupon entered the insurance business, with the Underwriters' Association of New York State, with which organization he remained for two years, then becoming associated with the Northern Assurance Company, in the office of Hinckley and Woods, of Boston. He worked for this organization as special agent, covering Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont person- ally, and having charge of its business for all of
New England. In 1925 he took a position with the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company as special agent and in one year was made resident manager for Boston, a post he still holds. He belongs to the college fraternity of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He is a member of the Insurance Society of Massachusetts, the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters, the New England Insurance Exchange, the University Club, the American Legion, the Boston Cham- ber of Commerce and the Aeronautical Associa- tion of New York State. He is a Republican in politics; director in the Insurance Society of Massachusetts, and Insurance Library Associa- tion of Boston. He enlisted in the United States Army in September, 1917, and was assigned to the photography division of the Aeronautical Division. He served until January, 1919, when he was discharged with the rank of instructor.
Kenneth H. Erskine married, in June, 1922, Doris Leake, of Lockport, New York. They have one child, Patricia.
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FRANK A. DEWICK, of Dewick and Flan- ders, insurance, was born in Boston, September 16, 1873, a son of Charles Francis Dewick, born in England, who died in 1919, and of Sarah Ann (Gustin) Dewick, of New York City, who died in 1916. He was educated in the public schools of Boston, and was graduated from Dorchester High School. He became associated, at the age of twenty years, with the insurance agency of Scull & Field, of this city, with which firm he remained for two years. He then went to the New England Insurance Exchange for two years, leaving that organization to accept a posi- tion with the North British & Mercantile In- surance Company, where he worked for one year, going to the firm of L. Burge, Hayes & Company for a like period. Another change took him to the Queen Insurance Company, where he remained for five years. Forming an
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association with Wallace F. Flanders in 1902, they founded the insurance firm of Dewick & Flanders. The firm is general agent for the Queen Insurance Company for Metropolitan Boston, and also agent for twelve fire insurance companies, three marine insurance companies, one plate glass company and two casualty com- panies. The agency ranks among the foremost in Boston, and is incorporated with the follow- ing officers: Frank A. Dewick, president and as- sistant treasurer; Wallace Flanders, vice-presi- dent and treasurer. Mr. Dewick is a member of St. John's Lodge, and of Adelphi Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; the Boston Ath- letic Association, Boston City Club, Boston In- surance Exchange, Wollaston Golf Club, Bel- mont Spring Country Club, Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston Board of Fire Underwriters, of which he is past president; Boston Protec- tive Department, of which he is past president; and Casualty Underwriters' Association, the In- surance Society of Massachusetts, and Plymouth Country Club; is treasurer of Dean Academy, trustee of Franklin Square House, president of Bethany Union, and trustee of Grove Hall Uni- versalist Church. His favorite recreations are fishing and golf.
Frank A. Dewick married, in 1901, Cora Alma Polk, of Boston, Massachusetts.
FLOYD E. DE GROAT-Having found himself well adapted to the insurance business, Floyd E. De Groat has devoted by far the greater part of his career to this work, and is at present general agent for the Eastern Massa- chusetts district for the Mutual Benefit Life In- surance Company, whose headquarters are in Newark, New Jersey. Mr. De Groat maintains offices at No. 30 State Street, Boston; and is active in many of the social and civic organiza- tions of the Massachusetts capital.
He was born in Owego, New York, on April
29, 1872, a son of J. Fields and Mary (Perry) De Groat, both of whom were natives of Owego, New York, and are now deceased. His father was engaged in business as a wholesale produce dealer until his death; was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served as a first lieutenant in the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment of New York Volunteers and also in the Fiftieth New York Engineers; was wounded in the battle of Spottsylvania; and was a mnem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic. As a boy, Floyd E. De Groat attended the public schools in Owego, New York, his birthplace; went later to the Owego Academy; and finally became a student at Williams College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. When he completed his academic education, he worked for two and one-half years as a teacher in a college preparatory school; and then, in 1896, became associated with the New York Life In- surance Company, as an agent, subsequently agency director in New York City, working in the Brooklyn and Manhattan sections of the city until 1904, when he left the company and went with the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, New Jersey, as the dis- trict agent at Buffalo, New York. He remained in Buffalo until 1906; and then, staying with the same company, became its general agent for the Central and Southern Illinois district, with headquarters at Springfield. In 1908 he went to San Francisco as general agent for the firm, and his western territory took in Northern California and Nevada. In 1913 he came to Boston, Massachusetts, as general agent for Eastern Massachusetts, in which capacity he has remained since that time. He is active in the public life of his city, being a member of the Algonquin Club, the Boston Athletic Associa- tion, the Boston City Club, the University Club, the Belmont Spring Country Club, Unicorn Club, the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Boston Life Underwriters' Association, the Wil- liams College Club of New York, the Middle- sex Club, and the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. He is a member
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of the Zeta Psi Fraternity. Politically, his interests are with the Republican party, whose principles and candidates he supports. His fa- vorite hobbies are golf and swimming. Mr. De Groat is a Unitarian.
In 1899, Floyd E. De Groat married Minna Phelps Swan, who was born in Passaic, New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. De Groat are the parents of two daughters: Elizabeth and Lucy.
JOHN CANDLER COBB-A long life spent in the management of commercial and financial affairs of great importance has given John Candler Cobb, of Boston, Masschusetts, an in- sight into vital issues of the national economic system which has found constructive expression in lectures and magazine articles. He is con- sidered one of the foremost economists of the country along lines of taxation, both municipal and national.
John Candler Cobb was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, May 10, 1858, son of Albert Ad- ams and Mary Russell (Candler) Cobb, and descendant of Thomas Cobb, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1760. His father left Plymouth to fight in the Colonial wars, and settled in Nova Scotia, whence the son moved to the United States about 1777 to join the Revolu- tionary Army and saw service with Washing- ton at Valley Forge. After the war, Thomas Cobb settled in Maine. In New England his descendants lived and prospered. Albert Adams Cobb, born in 1830, was an East India merchant and ship owner, head of the firm of Albert A. Cobb and Company. He died in 1900. The son, John Candler Cobb, was given a good secondary education in preparation for entering Harvard College, but did not matriculate be- cause of a sunstroke. Instead, he spent a year abroad and combined study with recuperation.
In Boston, in 1876, Mr. Cobb entered the mercantile business, which he pursued for a year there, for a year in New York and for
a year in Chicago. It was in 1879 that he en- tered the firm of Albert A. Cobb and Company which, in 1915, became known as Cobb and Company. He organized and managed the South Bay Wharf and Terminal Company, purchased by the New Haven Railroad Com- pany in 1907, and as director and chair- man of the bondholders committee, he was, from 1911, actively interested in New York City tractions. He has retired from active busi- ness and is now devoting himself principally to economic work but continues to give his at- tention to a number of trusteeships and direc- torates. Larger issues have, however, shared his interest. From 1896 to 1909 he was a director of the Boston Merchants' Association, in 1908- 1909, president of the Boston Associated Boards of Trade. From 1909 to 1911, he was vice- president of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and from 1909 to 1914, president of the National Tariff Commission Association. In each of the organizations he served as chairman of the com- mittees on taxation and legislation. Mr. Cobb believes in the efficacy and importance of busi- ness organizations, labor unions and similar bodies to the community and in the value of dis- cussion and contention. His own published articles best indicate the scope of his conclu- sions, and an abstract of "The Social Sciences," which appeared in the May, 1926, issue of "The American Journal of Sociology" illustrates the trend of his thoughts:
The widespread and deep-seated appreciation of the fact that the social sciences are a factor of great prac- tical importance to the development of our civilization is very new and has resulted in an almost overwhelm- ing mass of ideas and theories. In order to get the best practical results, it is necessary to analyze and crystallize these ideas and theories into concrete work- ing forces which can be effectively applied to the prob- lems before us. This requires (1) an analysis of the fundamental objects for which the social sciences should work; (2) a classification of lines of work, in order that the workers may concentrate on specific problems and use the work of investigators in other fields by definite reference, thus avoiding the tendency to spec- ulative theorizing from indefinite data; (3) a placing of the responsibility for the development of the subject. It is neither probable nor important that an early presentation of the case will be complete and final,
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but in order to focus the discussion it is of great im- portance that a clearly defined prospectus should be made that may be accepted, or discussed and amended, in detail.
In political affairs, likewise, Mr. Cobb has taken a prominent part as a Republican. He was presidential elector in 1896. He belongs to the American Economic Association, the American Sociological Society, the Royal Eco- nomic Society, the American Statistical Asso- ciation and other learned bodies. His church is the Unitarian. His clubs are the Union, the Eastern Yacht, the Metropolitan of Washing- ton, and the Down Town, of New York City. Yachting and tennis are his favorite forms of recreation.
John Candler Cobb married, in New York, in 1879, Leonore Smith, daughter of Augustus F. Smith, a lawyer of that city. Children: John Candler Cobb, Jr., Emma May (Mrs. Foot) ; Augustus S. Cobb; Stanley Cobb; Florence (Mrs. Brooks); Beatrice (Mrs. Smart); Hilde- garde (Mrs. Forbes).
HENRY M. S. AIKEN-Thirty-five years of continuous service in the employ of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Boston, is the record of Henry M. S. Aiken, who is at present special agent and broker for this concern, with offices at No. 30 State Street, in Boston. Mr. Aiken began his connection with the company before he was out of school, serv- ing as errand boy when he was only thirteen years of age, and he has been an agent since 1897.
Stephen J. Aiken, father of Mr. Aiken, was born in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and was engaged in business as a manufacturer for many years. A part of his long and active ca- reer was given to the manufacture of shoes, but he was also at different times engaged in the manufacture of other lines of merchandise. His death occurred in 1900. He married Mary Elizabeth Smith, who was born in New Bed-
ford, Massachusetts, daughter of Henry Merk Smith, who was keeper of Clark's lighthouse at New Bedford during the Civil War. She survived her husband, her death occurring in 1915.
Henry M. S. Aiken, son of Stephen J. and Mary Elizabeth (Smith) Aiken, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, July 3, 1878, and re- ceived his education in the public schools of Boston and in Roxbury High School. In 1891, when only thirteen years of age, he secured employment as errand boy in the Boston office of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, and since that time, a period of thirty-six years, he has been continuously identified with this concern. Since 1897 he has been an agent, and he is now a special agent and broker, with offices at No. 30 State Street, in Boston. He is a member of the Boston Life Underwriters' As- sociation, which he has served as a member of the executive board. He is identified with sev- eral local organizations, including the Lions Club, of which he is a past president, the Maugus Club, the American Canoe Association, of which he has been vice-commodore; the Bostonian Society, and the Unitarian Layman's League. Politically, he gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Republican party. During the World War he served in and was a first lieutenant in the Wellesley, Massachusetts, Home Guards. His religious affiliation is with the Wellesley Hills Unitarian Church, which he serves as treasurer and as a member of the standing committee. He is fond of mountain climbing and of all out-of- door life, and in these pastimes finds healthful recreation and keen delight.
Henry M. S. Aiken was married, in 1906, to Rebekah Stall Dary, who was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of three children: John D., Robert M., and Priscilla S.
JAMES PHINNEY MUNROE-A citizen of whom Boston can be proud, James Phinney Munroe is one of the outstanding men of this
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country and a leader in cultural, scientific and industrial circles. Mr. Munroe is also prom- inent as a writer, being the author of many books of the biographical or historical character and of numerous contributions to present-day periodicals, encyclopedias, etc. In the commer- cial life of Boston, he is an active factor as president and treasurer of the Munroe Felt & Paper Company, while in the affairs of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he takes a deep and constructive interest, devoting a great part of his time away from business cares to promoting the welfare and success of that famous institution of learning.
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