USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 12
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Mr. Munroe was born in Lexington, June 3, 1862, son of James S. and Alice B. (Phinney) Munroe. He received his early education in the schools of this State, attending the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, from which he was graduated with the class of 1882, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He later received the degree of Doctor of Literature from the George Washington University, in 1918, and that of Phi Beta Kappa from William and Mary College, Virginia, in 1919. After his grad- uation in 1882, he entered upon his career as secretary of the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he remained un- til 1889 after which he entered the world of commerce and became a member of the sub- stantial concern of James S. Munroe & Com- pany. His splendid business principles and efficient handling of affairs caused him to ad- vance steadily, and in 1897, he became treasurer of the firm of Munroe Felt & Paper Company, being elected to the presidency of this organiza- tion in 1910, which responsible executive office he continues to hold, ably directing the affairs of this great enterprise with rare sagacity and skill. In his devotion to his alma mater, Mr. Munroe has been most faithful, having been president of the Alumni Association from 1894 to 1897, and a life-member of the corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1897, and has been secretary of that or- ganization since 1909. Always an advocate of the finest and most approved instruction of the
youth of the State, he served on the Lexington School Committee from 1907 to 1909, feeling that the future of this great nation depends particularly on the proper education of its chil- dren. He served as managing editor of the "Technology Review" from 1899 to 1908; was chairman of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, 1908-18; executive director of "Bos- ton 1915," from 1910 to 1911, and a director on the National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness, in which he is still active. Mr. Munroe's interests cover a wide range in phil- anthropic work and he is particularly active in such work as vice-president of the North Bennett Street Industrial School, treasurer of the Garland School, and treasurer of the Resi- duary Estate of George O. Smith.
In civic and social organizations he is a pop- ular member of the Lexington Historical So- ciety, of which he was president, 1898; National Society of Vocational Education, being presi- dent, 1910-1911; Boston Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the committee on education, 1909- 12; Bostonian Society; Unitarian Laymen's League; Massachusetts Civic League, of which he is chairman of the civil service committee; he was vice-chairman of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, 1917-21, and chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Com- mittee for National Service, in 1917. His clubs are the Twentieth Century, of which he has been president since 1924; Technology, in which he was president, 1896-1904; Engineers', of which he is a governor; Massachusetts' Reform, having been its president 1903-09; Puddingstone, Old Colony, of Boston; Authors, Technology, of New York, and the Cosmos, of Washington. In his literary work, for which he has won mnuch acclaim and commendation, he is the au- thor of "The Educational Ideal," 1895; "Sketch of the Munro Clan," etc; "Adventures of an Army Nurse," 1903; "New Demands in Educa- tion," 1912; "The New England Conscience," 1915; "The Human Factor in Education," 1920; "A Life of Francis Amasa Walker," 1923; also numerous articles in the leading magazines of the country, and data for encyclopedias and
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gleason L. archer
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similar publications. He was the editor of "Discussions in Education," by Francis A. Walker, 1899; and of the "History of Lexing- ton," revised by the Lexington Historical So- ciety, 1913. His writings are distinguished by their simplicity and clarity of style and the beautiful and well-chosen language of their composition, and are a valuable contribution to the cultural achievements of this State and country.
James Phinney Munroe married, July 2, 1885, Katharine Winthrop Langdon, of Bos- ton, and to this union were born three children: 1. Alice Langdon, who is deceased. 2. Kathar- ine Langdon, who married Frederic L. Day. 3. Elizabeth Winthrop. Mr. Munroe's office is located at No. 77 Summer Street, and the family residence is at No. 535 Beacon Street.
GLEASON L. ARCHER-One of the most remarkable educational institutions in greater Boston is the Suffolk Law School, located di- rectly back of the State Capitol at the corner of Derne and Temple streets. Founded in the year 1906, with nine students, in the living room of a humble apartment in Roxbury, it celebrated its twentieth anniversary with an at- tendance of more than two thousand young men in one of the most up-to-date school build- ings in America, worth nearly a million dollars.
But one of the most remarkable things about the school is the romantic life-story of its founder, the dynamic and colorful figure known in legal circles all over the nation as Dean Gleason L. Archer. He has not only built up one of the largest professional schools in America, but during the years since 1910 has written on the average of nearly one book a year, chiefly law textbooks. It is through his law writing that he is chiefly known outside of New England, some of his law textbooks
being used in as far-off places as the Universi- ties of Kyoto and Tokyo in Japan.
Gleason L. Archer was born in a little ham- let of nineteen dwelling houses and of about seventy-five inhabitants in the midst of the forest wilderness in Eastern Maine, October 29, 1880. He was the third of the ten children of John S. Archer and his wife, Frances (Wil- liams) Archer. The Archer birthplace is known as Plantation No. 33, one of the Lot- tery townships in northern Hancock County. It has a little postoffice known as Great Pond.
At the early age of thirteen, young Archer was obliged by parental poverty to go into the nearby lumber woods as a cook in a lumber camp. From that time until October, 1899, he lived the life of a woods cook, except that he took books with him into the camp and de- voted every odd moment to study. In fact, it was in the woods and as his own teacher that he developed some of the original ideas of teaching that have been put into such striking effect in Suffolk Law School. In October, 1899, he bade farewell to the woods and es- sayed to work his way through the high school in Sabattus, a village near Lewiston, Maine. He was admitted to the sophomore class and in June, 1902, was graduated as valedictorian, despite the fact that during his three years in high school he had taught two terms of school and supported himself without a dollar of help from home, the last year working as a reporter on the "Lewiston Journal." He came to Bos- ton University in September, 1902, and entered the College of Liberal Arts of Boston Univer- sity. In September, 1904, he transferred to the law department, from which he received a degree of Doctor of Laws in June, 1906. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in July, and began practice with the firm of Carver and Blodgett on State Street, Boston.
In September, 1906, seven years after leav- ing the lumber camps, he founded an evening school, Suffolk Law School, intended to be a means of helping young men to study law. So phenomenal was the success of the Archer methods that he was soon obliged to give up
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law practice and devote all his energy to the school and to his law writings. Textbooks for his own classes was his primary purpose, but as before indicated his books have found a much wider market.
Another significant thing that marks Dean Archer as an unusual man was his action in 1914, when he conveyed by a deed of gift to a board of trustees the school which he had founded and to that date maintained at his own expense. The school had just won a hard fight in the Massachusetts Legislature for power to confer law degrees. The gift to trustees rendered the school perpetual in char- acter. Since that date all earnings above run- ning expenses have gone into a building fund. In 1919-1920, under Dean Archer's personal oversight, the main building on Derne Street was erected. In 1923-24 the annex on Temple Street was added in the same manner.
There is in Archer's ancestry the finest tra- ditions of New England. He is a descendant of Thomas Rogers, who came to Plymouth on the "Mayflower"; of Governor Thomas May- hew, of Martha's Vineyard; of Thomas Tup- per, of Sandwich; of William Spooner, of Plym- outh; of William Bassett, of Plymouth, and numerous other Colonial families. An ancestor of his was killed in King Philip's War. An- other was one of the first judges of what is now the Superior Court of Massachusetts. The Archer family are of distinguished lineage in England, having come from Normandy with the Conqueror in 1066.
His maternal great-great-grandfather, Josh- ua Williams, a Revolutionary soldier, emi- grated from Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1784, and assisted in the settlement of Eastern Maine. Unfortunately, the section that he selected did not develop and for a full century his descend- ants lived in the little hamlet which Joshua founded, living humbly and obscurely in the wilderness. Dean Archer and his brother, Hiram J. Archer, who has been associated with him in the building up of Suffolk Law School, have demonstrated that the blood of their Colonial ancestors has not lost its virility.
He married, in October, 1906, Elizabeth G. Snyder, a college classmate, daughter of Rev. H. S. Snyder (Congregational minister). They have a splendid family: Allan F., born January 22, 1908 (Boston Public Latin School, 1926; Harvard College, class of 1930); Marian G., born November 14, 1910 (Girls' High School of Boston, class of 1929); Gleason L., born May 22, 1916 (Boston Public Latin School, class of 1934).
In June, 1926, Dean Archer received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from At- lanta Law School, one of the law schools that use his textbooks. He attends the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston; is a Democrat in politics; life-member of the Mass- achusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants; life-member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; life-member of the Bos- tonian Society; life-member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and member of the Uni- versity Club. He is the author of "Law Office and Court Procedure," 1910; Ethical Obliga- tions of the Lawyer," 1910; "The Law of Con- tracts," 1911; "Law of Agency," 1915; "Law of Torts," 1916; "Equity and Trusts," 1918; "Law of Evidence," 1919; "Building a School," 1919; "Introduction to Study of Law," 1919; "Crim- inal Law," 1923; "Real Property," 1923; "Wills and Probate," 1925; "The Impossible Task," 1926; "Ancestors and Descendants of Joshua Williams," 1927; "The Law of Corporations," 1928; "History of the Law," 1928; "Digest of Criminal Law Cases," 1929.
Dean Archer's summer residence is an old Colonial home on a large estate at Norwell, Massachusetts. Here he devotes a large part of his time to outdoor life. His winter resi- dence is in Boston.
JOHN HENRY EDMONDS-As a Colonial historian of New England, an archivist and antiquary, John Henry Edmonds, of Cam-
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bridge, the present Chief of the Archives Divi- sion of the office of the Secretary of The Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, holds a position of dignity and responsibility. To this he rose from a beginning that seemed indicative of a life to be devoted to an entirely different field of effort, the engineering profession. However, his inclinations were to the study and compila- tion of historical works, an attribute of his character that has been of great assistance to the people of New England and to others in- terested in the foundation and building of our Country.
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, Sep- tember 29, 1873, second son of Michael and Joanna M. L. (Foster, i. e., Fechter) Edmonds, and acquired his education in the elementary schools of this city, graduating in 1891 from the English High School. Upon completing his schooling he engaged in private surveying, then entered the office of the City Surveyor of Bos- ton, remaining from 1892 to 1895, and then, in turn, the surveying, sewerage and street lay- ing-out divisions of office of the City Engineer of Boston, where he became a recognized au- thority on early American maps and storm tides. In this work he continued until 1907, when he became research secretary and librarian to Frederick Lewis Gay, antiquary, of Brook- line, Massachusetts. He continued with Mr. Gay until the latter's death in 1916, when he was made Curator of the Gay Collection of British historical tracts in the Harvard College Library. Here he stayed until 1918, when he was called to the office of Chief of the Archives Division, a post he still fills to the complete sat- isfaction of his sponsors. He was co-editor of "A List of Maps of Boston, 1600-1903," Boston, 1903-1904; "A Descriptive Catalogue of the Massachusetts Colonial Books at . . . James- town," Boston, 1907; "A Rough List of a Col- lection of Transcripts Relating to the History of New England, 1630-1776," Brookline, 1913; editor of "Volume XXI, Province Laws of Mas- sachusetts, 1779-1780," Boston, 1921 (comple- ting a work commenced in 1869, by Abner C. Goodell, Jr.); co-author of "The Pirates of the
New England Coast, 1630-1730," Salem, 1923; author of "The Burgis-Price View of Boston," 1907; "The Romance of Records," 1913; "The Burgis Views of New York and Boston," 1915; "Dorman Mahoone alias Matthews, an early Boston Irishman," 1917; "Memoir of Frederick Lewis Gay," 1917; "Captain Thomas Pound, Pilot, Pirate, Cartographer and Captain in the Royal Navy," 1920; "Captain Kidd, Private or Gentleman," 1921; "The Massachusetts Ar- chives," 1921; "Organs and Organists in Colo- nial Boston," 1923; Archives Work in Massa- chusetts," 1924; "How Massachusetts Received the Declaration of Independence," 1925, and "Massachusetts and Independence (1629-1780)," 1929.
Mr. Edmonds is a member of the American Antiquarian Society, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the American Historical Associa- tion, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and is a Fellow of the American Geo- graphical Society. He resides at No. 5 Crawford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
John Henry Edmonds married, July 19, 1899, Elizabeth Frances Ruttle, of Fall River, Massa- chusetts, eldest daughter of James Henry and Mary Ann (O'Brien) Ruttle, and great-great- grand-niece of Barbara (Ruckle) Heck, the founder of American Methodism.
WILLIAM A. COOK, one of the partners and a member of the board of directors of the Herbert L. Hill Leather Company, Inc., of Boston, Massachusetts, is a native of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He is the son of James and Flora (MacQuarrie) Cook, both of whom were born at Carlton Point, Prince Edward Island, Canada. His father was a builder and contractor who carried on that business for a great number of years and was active in it until the time of his death in 1918. His mother died in 1925.
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William A. Cook was born at Carlton Point, Prince Edward Island, Canada, on June 17, 1887. He came to live in Boston when quite a young child and it was here that he got his education in the public schools. Immediately after finishing school, Mr. Cook entered the leather business in the employ of the Corona Kid Company, in 1904. Later, this firm con- solidated with the firm of Lucius Beebe's Sons and Mr. Cook continued with the new organiza- tion until 1919. He then made a connection with the Chevaux Kid Company of Boston, where he remained until 1921 when he became associated with Herbert L. Hill and Herbert J. Denner and with them formed what is now known as the Herbert L. Hill Leather Company of which, as has been stated, he is a partner. Mr. Cook has practically grown up in the leather business, and his experience in the dif- ferent concerns with which he has had con- nections has broadened his concept of the busi- ness, and this training has especially fitted him for the position he now holds with his own company.
During the World War, Mr. Cook served with the 102d Regiment of the Massachusetts Na- tional Guard, assigned to Company E, of that regiment. He is a member of the Needham Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, the Need- ham Board of Trade, and the Baptist church. In politics, Mr. Cook is a Republican and he is very fond of outdoor sports, such as horse- back riding and fishing. He also takes much delight in farming, for all things out-of-doors appeal to him, and in such recreation he finds his chief delight.
In 1923, William A. Cook married Frances G. Cahoon, of Needham, Massachusetts.
FRED A. CHILTON, for upward of thirty years has been identified in Boston with one of the largest tanning industries in the United States, having been since 1910 vice-president
and general manager of the branch in this city of the Richard Young Company, Incor- porated. This has been another case of a young man rising in life largely by virtue of con- sistently remaining in a business for which he at first believed himself fitted. He began as a boy upon leaving school and steadfastly re- mained with the original concern, receiving re- ward in the shape of promotion to posts of greater and greater responsibility as he showed that he merited such recognition. During the years that he has been so engaged here he has made a host of friends and developed an ever-growing trade for the corporation. He has shown himself to be interested in all civic and fraternal affairs that engage the attention of the standard element of the community, and established for himself and his enterprise a com- mendable name for integrity of the individual and the high grade of its products.
Fred A. Chilton was born in Moingona, Iowa, January 3, 1877, a son of Spencer, a native of Russell, New York, who was a veteran of the Civil War and a farmer and engaged in mining in that State. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and a citizen of high re- The spectability and inviolable integrity. mother of Fred A. was Ella (Burlingame) Chil- ton, also a native of Russell, who is living, and is a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their son acquired his education in the public schools of Hermon, New York, and in the city of Brooklyn, concluding his elemen- tary work in 1895, when he entered the employ in New York City of the Richard Young Com- pany, Incorporated, tanners and distributors of high-grade wholesale leather. For three years he remained in New York, then being trans- ferred to Boston, as salesman for the South Shore. In 1905 he was made manager of the Boston branch, and in 1910 was elected vice- president of the company, both of which posi- tions he still administers. The Richard Young Company, Incorporated, occupies the entire building of six floors at No. 54 South Street, and has the record of being the oldest concern of its class in active operation today in the
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United States. The company operates tan- neries at Peabody, Massachusetts; Brooklyn, New York; Gloversville, New York, and Wil- mington, Delaware, and manufactures high- grade leathers for shoes, bags, cases, belts and fancy articles, under the trade marks of "Ryco" and "Youngco." There are other branch houses of the corporation in Chicago, Gloversville, Cin- cinnati, Brooklyn, and Sydney, Australia. Through the Boston branch, thousands of skins are annually distributed. Mr. Chilton is very fond of horseback riding and golf, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a Republican in politics, and belongs to the Boston City Club, the Boston Chamber of Com- merce, the Boot and Shoe Club and the New England Shoe and Leather Association.
Fred A. Chilton married, in 1903, Mary C. Kimball, of Brockton, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of the following children: Fred- erick Kimball, Constance, Robert B., Mary, and Jean.
FREEMAN O. EMERSON-Beginning his business life as a clerk in a furnishing goods house, then setting himself up in that business and continuing independently for eighteen years, friends of Freeman O. Emerson, of Boston, viewed him solely as a successful retail mer- chant. To him, however, there seemed to be a broader field for his energies, a decision that has been proved auspicious by his prosperity in the occupation of selling insurance of all classes. In this line of work he has made a continuously growing circle of friends, held in their fidelity by his inflexible standards of business probity, together with his affability, and pleasing per- sonal attributes.
Freeman O. Emerson was born in Gorham, New Hampshire, January 12, 1867, son of Orrin M. and Lucinda L. (Williams) Emerson, both born in Montpelier, Vermont. His father was a contractor and builder, and a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served in the First Rhode
Island Cavalry, and as an aide-de-camp to Gen- eral Phil Sheridan. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Freeman O. Emerson was educated in the public schools at Gorham, and at Hebron Acad- emy. He then entered trade, as a clerk in a furnishing goods store, later establishing him- self in that business in Boston. His entrance into the insurance field was a propitious event in his life, and one which has been well re- warded. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, of Boston, Free and Accepted Masons; St. Matthew's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Bos- ton Commandery, Knights Templar; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; American Lodge, No. 191, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is Past Grand Master; Paul Revere Encampment, of which he is Past Chief Patriarch; Shawmut Canton, Patriarchs Militant, of which he was Inspector General; Grand Lodge of Odd Fel- lows of the State of Massachusetts, and Beacon Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which he is Past Chancellor. He also is editor of the Patriarchs Militant Bulletin. He belongs to Middlesex, El- liot, and Lincoln Republican clubs, and has served three years in the Boston City Council, and five years in the Massachusetts State Legis- lature. He served five years in the Massachu- setts National Guard, and two and one-half years in the State Naval Brigade. He is a director in the Hillside School for Orphans and Homeless Boys, and treasurer of the Boston Industrial Home. In the Legislature he had a large share in enacting the anti-tuberculosis bill, the boot- black bill, and other important acts. During the World War he served on the State Draft Board.
Freeman O. Emerson married Maude E. Greenleaf, of Westport, Maine, in 1912.
WILLIAM CURTIS RYAN, for nearly two- score of years has been identified with the in-
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surance business in the city of Boston, this period constituting the whole of his career up to the present time, and since 1919 has been a member and the treasurer of the R. S. Hoffman Company, Incorporated, theretofore, from 1908 until the company was granted a charter of incorporation in 1919, a partner in it. R. S. Hoffman Company, Incorporated, main- tains offices in "Insurance Lane," as it might be called, owing to the location there of so many of Boston's insurance houses, or, more properly, in Milk Street, at No. 111; and in Milk Street, as well as in the insurance circles of the greater metropolitan area and, indeed, throughout the county and State, Mr. Ryan is a figure well known among his confreres in business. More- over, he is active in all principal enterprises di- rected toward the welfare of the city at large, and his name is inscribed prominently on the rolls of these movements as a citizen of great and sincere public spirit.
William Curtis Ryan was born in Medfield, Massachusetts, February 18, 1882, son of Wil- liam and Hughena (Rose) Ryan. William Ryan, the father, was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada, there attained to manhood, and engaged in the trade of blacksmith until the time of his death, an honorable and upright man high in the estimations of those who knew him. His wife, Hughena Rose, was also a native of Nova Scotia, born in Lenessy Glen, and she too is deceased.
William Curtis Ryan attended the graded and high schools of Medfield, Massachusetts, where he was born, and in 1899, at the age of seven- teen years, began his career in business, secur- ing employment in the insurance firm of Darling & Russell, of Boston. Here he continued for two years, acquiring a knowledge of the chief aspects of insurance selling, theoretically and practically, and in 1901 severed the connection to engage in business for himself, as independent insurance broker. As such he operated, suc- cessfully, during the next five years, until 1906, when he became associated with R. S. Hoffman Company. After two years he was taken into the Hoffman organization as a member, and
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