USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 13
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eleven years thereafter, as noted, became treas- urer of the corporation.
Fraternally, politically and in other ways, Mr. Ryan is constantly active. A Republican, he is a loyal supporter of the party's principles of government, and is possessed of a considerable influence in political matters locally, notably among his friends in commerce and in fraternal societies; and this influence he exercises quietly, without ostentation, and always for the benefit of the people-at-large. He is a member of Con- stellation Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Norfolk Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Hyde Park Council, Royal and Select Masters; Cy- prus Commandery, Knights Templar; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and Boston Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. As for commer- cial fraternal connections pertinent to his busi- ness, Mr. Ryan is a member of the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters' Association, the Insurance Society of Massachusetts, the Cas- ualty Underwriters' Association, and the Insur- ance Federation of Massachusetts. He is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston Square and Compass Club, Homestead Country Club, and other organizations, and in the workings of all of them an interested par- ticipant. His hobbies and favorite relaxations from the cares of business are motoring and golf. He is a communicant of the Unitarian church, and in charity deals with large heart, giving generously to worthy causes coming to his notice, without regard for creed, race or other consideration of limiting nature.
Mr. Ryan is married, and the father of one son, William C. Ryan, Jr., student in Yale Uni- versity, New Haven, Connecticut.
ALLAN SESERMAN-Numbered promi- nently among barristers of his generation in Boston is Allan Seserman, who has spent the majority of his years to the present time, 1929,
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within the City of Boston and the Common- wealth of Massachusetts. His record has been diversified.
Allan Seserman's parents, Morris and Sarah (Minkofsky) Seserman, were born and bred in Russia, his mother having died at the age of forty-six, August 30, 1925, in Boston. His folks came to this country in 1899 and settled in New York City. In 1906, his father, having become a citizen of the United States, moved to Boston with the family, and established himself in the business of manufacturing slippers, and headed the firm which was known as the Seserman Manufacturing Company. Allan Seserman is the youngest of eight children, the names of the others are as follows: Edward, Dorothy, Leon, Ethel, Frances, Samuel, and Arthur.
A native of New York City, Allan Seserman was born December 22, 1904. He was taken by his parents to South Norwalk when an in- fant, and with them came to Boston when he was but four years of age. In 1918, at the age of fourteen, he completed classes in the U. S. Grant Grammar School, and in 1922 graduated from the English High School, with markings indicative of scholastic excellence. In 1923, ad- mitted to Tufts, he prepared to study law, sub- sequently entering Northeastern University of Law, whence he took the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1927. Admitted to the bar, he has been in practice independently thence onward to the present, with offices at No. 11 Beacon Street.
While the law has become his career, and while he has been busily engaged in its pursuit, Mr. Seserman has not failed to interest himself liberally in general affairs. He has made a hobby of music, at which art he is gifted, being a student of piano and organ at the Northeast- ern Conservatory of Music. At times he has acted as musical director in synagogues, these services having been several in the course of his activity. He plays the trombone, trumpet, and all wind instruments-and plays them well. Fond of debate, talented as a speaker, known for the readiness with which he gives these abilities to worthy causes, he has been a factor
in social and charitable works of Boston. He was a member of the Massachusetts National Guard from 1922 to 1925, 101st Infantry and 2d Battalion. In the guard he was rated as a sharpshooter. He is a member of King Solo- mon Lodge, Knights of Pythias; also of the Boston Bar Association, and a communicant of Seaver Street Temple, of Boston, where he belongs to the Junior Council.
WALTER R. J. SMITH-Since 1920 a mem- ber of the insurance firm of Kimball, Gilman & Company, No. 137 Milk Street, Boston, rep- resentatives in New England of the North British & Mercantile Insurance Company, Lim- ited, of London and Edinburgh, the Pennsyl- vania Fire Insurance Company, of Philadelphia, and others, Walter R. J. Smith is accounted among the men most prominent in the insur- ance field in the Metropolitan District, and is here active not alone in commercial circles but in all movements usually supported by citizens who are known as public in spirit.
Mr. Smith was born in Woodford, England, February 23, 1870, son of Richard Smith, native of London, engaged in business as contractor and builder until the time of his death, in 1924, and of Ellen (Rogers) Smith, native of Sussex, England, who died in 1923. At an early age Mr. Smith came to the United States with his parents, and with them located in Boston. Here he attended the public schools and took courses in a business college. Directly he had com- pleted his studies in commerce, in 1885, at the age of fifteen years, he thought to embark upon a business career, and went at once into insur- ance, employed by the North American Insur- ance Company of Boston, to which he came highly recommended by school authorities who had observed the progress of his work with them. With the North American company he acted as private secretary to the president, re-
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maining in this position until 1899, during the fourteen years' period learning all phases of the enterprise, then formed a connection with the Boston Insurance Company. But he continued engaged with the Boston company only a short time, when he went into the insurance business for himself, as an independent broker. He met with fortune both sound and constant, and in 1912 perceived an opportunity to strengthen his experience by forming a connection with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, as assistant manager of the company's office in Boston. Later he became a partner in the Boston branch, under the style of Bruerton & Smith, whose en- terprise consisted of handling all work for the Hartford company in the metropolitan area. But in 1920 the Hartford company decided to give up the Boston office, and to handle local affairs through an agency; so, accordingly, the firm of Bruerton & Smith was dissolved, and Mr. Smith joined Kimball, Gilman & Company, whose business was large in 1920 and is now larger still, in part due to the efforts of Mr. Smith, his selling ability, agreeable person- ality, and fine principles of conduct in commer- cial and private life.
It has been necessary for Mr. Smith to devote the most of his time to his business, but the na- ture of this business is such that he is not con- fined constantly to office routine, and is able, therefore, to meet men at his pleasure, and to participate in diverse matters of political and fraternal concern. He is a Republican, loyal to the standards of the party; and when he sees fit to do so, he exerts the considerable political influence that he owns, always without fanfare, however, and for the largest good to the community as a whole. Fraternally, he is especially interested in the Free and Accepted Masons, member of Mt. Vernon Lodge; Massa- chusetts Consistory of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is further a member of Rocket Lodge of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; of the Cham- ber of Commerce as one of the membership committee; the Boston City Club, the Boston
Board of Fire Underwriters, Insurance Society of Massachusetts, the Insurance Library Asso- ciation, the Insurance Federation of Massachu- setts, and the Bear Hill Golf Club. Apropos of golf, it is one of Mr. Smith's favorite relaxa- tions, and on the green his prowess as amateur is admired, and condemned occasionally, too, by friends in business. He is also fond of fishing and hiking and finds in these exercises ample tonic for maintenance of physical well-being. While he was somewhat advanced in years for service in the military during the World War, Mr. Smith did serve tirelessly, unsparing of self, on committees and boards in charge of the prosecution of the conflict from within this country, and was of use to his country in the several Liberty Loan drives, as well. He at- tends the Episcopal church, and in matters of charity deals largely.
In 1925, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Izolina (Ruth) Ballentine, native of Malden, Massachusetts. Mrs. Smith, like her husband, is liberally endowed with those quali- ties of character which tend ever to cause pop- ularity for their owners.
SHERWOOD S. SMITH-There seems to be a considerable gulf separating the work of canning salmon in Alaska and selling insurance in Boston, yet Sherwood S. Smith, of this city, has made a success of both and is now estab- lished in a productive and constantly growing business here. He is athletic and social in his private inclinations, fond of golf and shooting, and a man of great industry and agreeable per- sonality. His military record, when his coun- try needed him, is excellent, and his citizenship of the highest quality, a commendable unit in the commercial field.
Sherwood S. Smith was born in Boston, No- vember 16, 1898, a son of Francis S. Smith, deceased, who was for many years a member
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of the firm of C. B. Smith, wholesale grocers here, and of Helen May (Callender) Smith, of Boston, living in 1928. He was educated in the public schools of Boston and was graduated from the Newton High School, then attended the Burdett Business College. Upon comple- ting these courses he was employed by the firm of C. B. Smith, for whom he traveled for a year or more, spending part of that time in a salmon canning factory in Alaska, where he learned that part of his business. At the entrance of the United States into the World War he enlisted in the navy and served as a seaman during his early days, afterward being promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer before his discharge in December, 1918. He then returned to his grocery associations and was occupied in that and manufacturing until 1920, when he became associated with the Paul Clark life insurance agency of Boston. In October, 1925, he ac- cepted an offer from the John Hancock Life Insurance Company to become its general agent in the branch office in St. Louis, Missouri, but remained there only until May, 1926, when he returned to Boston and became a member of the insurance firm of Winters & Smith, general agents for Eastern Massachusetts for the Berk- shire Life Insurance Company, with offices at No. 79 Milk Street, which was dissolved a year later, when Mr. Smith consolidated the two then existing agencies of the Berkshire Life Insur- ance Company of Boston. He is a Republican in politics, and attends the Protestant Episcopal church. He is a member of the Boston Athletic Association, the South Shore Country Club, the Boston Life Underwriters' Association and the General Agents' Round Table Club of Boston.
JAMES MARCUS SWIFT, Boston law- yer, although a native of Michigan and a grad- uate of the University of that State, has spent most of his life in Massachusetts and elected Bos.i-6
to practice his profession here. He made a notable success as Attorney-General of Massa- chusetts, although at the time of his first elec- tion in 1910 he was the youngest man who had ever been elected to that office in this Commonwealth. He has conducted a lucrative law practice largely devoted to the business of corporations and has had broad experience as counsel for public service corporations. He enjoys a deserved popularity, and the many years which must elapse between his prime and the end of the road of his life must of neces- sity bring him numerous additional laurels, no doubt politically as well as in a professional and business way.
Mr. Swift was born in Ithaca, Michigan, No- vember 3, 1873, the son of Marcus G. B. and Mary D. (Milne) Swift, both descendants from Colonial ancestors who served in the American forces in the Revolutionary War. His parents, soon after his birth, removed to Fall River, Massachusetts, the home of his mother. His early education was obtained in the public schools of that city and he graduated from the B. M. C. Durfee High School there in 1891. He attended the Michigan State Normal School for one year, after which he entered the sophomore class of the University of Mich- igan at Ann Arbor, from which he graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. From 1895 to 1897, he pursued his law studies at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge but was not able to complete his course there be- cause of the illness of his father. On October 7, 1897, he was admitted to the practice of law in this Commonwealth and entered the office of Swift & Grime at Fall River, then com- posed of his father, who had been formerly a partner with Hon. Henry K. Braley under the firm name of Braley & Swift until the appointment of the former as Associate Jus- tice of the Superior Court, and Hon. George Grime who later served as City Solicitor and Mayor of Fall River. Upon the death of Mr. Swift's father in 1902, Mr. Swift continued the partnership under the same title until his broth- er, John T. Swift, now Treasurer of the Citi-
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zens Savings Bank of Fall River, entered the firm when it became Swift, Grime & Swift, and is now Swift, Grime, Buffinton & Crossley.
Mr. Swift early took a prominent part in the activities of the Republican party and has always continued his interest in its success. In 1899, he was appointed Assistant District Attorney for the Southern District of Massa- chusetts and acceptably discharged the duties of that office until 1902 when he was elected District Attorney, which office he held for eight years. His record as District Attorney was such that he was nominated without opposi- tion in the Republican Convention: of 1910 as the party's candidate for Attorney-General, which he ably filled during the years 1911, 1912 and 1913. He then returned to private practice, continuing at the head of his firm in Fall River and he also established an office in Boston where he has since devoted his prin- cipal attention to his profession. For a time he was the senior member of the firm of Swift, Friedman & Atherton, and since 1919 has practiced by himself. He has held offices in numerous corporations and has always re- tained his connection with the Citizens Sav- ings Bank of Fall River, being First Vice- President of that institution, a Trustee and a member of the Board of Investment, to which he succeeded upon the death of his father.
Mr. Swift is a member of the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Associa- tion and the Bar Association of the City of Boston. In 1916, he was appointed by Gov- ernor McCall, a member of the Commission to revise the General Laws of Massachusetts and served for two years in this capacity. In 1923, he was appointed by Governor Cox as a member of the Commission to revise the Crim- inal Laws.
During the World War, he was a member of the Lawyers' Preparedness Committee of the City of Boston and took an active part in the work of that committee. In recognition of his achievements, the University of Michi- gan conferred upon him in 1925 the honorary degree of Master of Laws. In 1926, the hon-
orary degree of Bachelor of Laws was con- ferred upon him by Suffolk Law School, of which institution he is a Trustee. Mr. Swift is a member of the Congregational church, is a thirty-second degree Mason, an Elk, and is Chief Grand Tribune of the Knights of Pyth- ias of Massachusetts. His clubs include the Algonquin, University, Boston Press, Harvard of Boston, and the Quequechan of Fall River.
Mr. Swift married, on February 28, 1907, Mrs. Olive (Underwood) Sterling, daughter of Nathan and Hannah (Weekes) Underwood of Dixon, Illinois.
EVERIT B. TERHUNE-No trade publi- cation is better provided with a chief of staff than the "Boot and Shoe Recorder," of Boston, the president and general manager of which is Everit B. Terhune, son of the founder. He is a man of excellent education, a student of lan- guages, with a breadth of vision acquired largely through foreign travel and coming into close contact with cultured men in the course of his professional work. Devoted to his business, he has constantly sought to improve the quality of the service he renders to the shoe and leather trade, thus meeting with the success that such efforts bring. He is a deep student of music and has written many articles on this subject and on economic matters. He is fond of golf as a recreation, although travel is his special pleasure, aside from his profession of specialized journalism.
Mr. Terhune was born in Plainfield, New Jer- sey, November 5, 1878, a son of William L. Ter- hune, who was born in Newark, New Jersey, came to Boston and founded the "Boot and Shoe Recorder Publishing Company." He re- tired in 1909, and is still living. His wife, the mother of Everit B., was Nellie E. (Littlefield) Terhune, of Dover, New Hampshire, now de- ceased.
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The "Boot and Shoe Recorder," published at No. 80 Federal Street, Boston, owes its preëmi- nence in the shoe and leather field to the vision of its founder. The first issue was published in April, 1882, with Mr. Terhune as active head, editor and business manager. In that year there were in the shoe and leather field no publications which brought together the manufacturer and the retail merchant, no paper or magazine which attempted to educate, through its editorial col- umns, the retail merchant and to bring him, in its advertising columns, the sales message of the manufacturer or wholesaler. All papers at that time in the field were purely technical and confined in their circulation largely to the tanner and manufacturer. For two years Mr. Terhune continued the publication alone, in 1884 bringing to his aid Charles H. McDermott as editor-in-chief, who had been connected with the "Shoe and Leather Review," of Chicago. He was a profound student of economics and had the rare ability to apply his studies in a practical manner. He assumed responsibility for the editorial content, while Mr. Terhune un- dertook the management of the business end of the rapidly growing enterprise. To the in- sistence of the founder the country owes a great deal for the present system of consular reports, which are depended on by business men who require accurate knowledge of economic condi- tions throughout the world. The first of these consular reports covered merely the kind and cost of the footwear commonly worn in the countries to which the consuls had been as- signed, and this knowledge enabled the Amer- ican manufacturer to widen his market many fold, and to ship constantly increasing quanti- ties of shoes into almost every country of the world. To the organization ability of Mr. Ter- hune the trade owes the present system of trade associations, retail, manufacturing and whole- sale. He organized the Boston Boot and Shoe Club, which is still in existence, in February, 1888, and later was active in arranging for and organizing the first convention of shoe mer- chants ever held in this country. From this beginning have come the thriving trade or-
ganizations in every part of the country where shoes are made. During the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893, an office was established on the grounds, a daily paper was printed and the staff of the publication spent much of its time in bringing together, to their mutual bene- fit, shoe and leather men from all parts of the world. It is also to the credit of the "Boot and Shoe Recorder," that in the earliest days it was the first to publish advance information on shoe styles, accurate descriptions of both staple and novelty styles, so that the retail merchant might have time to make his buying decisions in advance of the call of the manufacturers' rep- resentative. In 1909 Mr. Terhune sold his in- terest in the "Boot and Shoe Recorder" to the United Publishers' Corporation of New York City, of which company Everit B. Terhune is a director. He then retired from active busi- ness, vesting the general management of the publication to his son, who had been associated with his father for the preceding ten years. Under his management and leadership, the po- sition of the "Boot and Shoe Recorder" has been maintained and many of the trade trends, instituted by the founder, have been carried to successful completion by his heir.
Everit B. Terhune began his education in the public schools of Boston and was graduated from the Boston Latin School, after which he attended Harvard University and was graduated from that institution with the degree of Bache- lor of Arts in 1899. He then made several trips to Europe, where he made a study of languages, returning to Boston to enter the employ of the "Boot and Shoe Recorder Publishing Company." By 1912 he had worked his way up to the gen- eral management of the publication, and in 1925 he was made president, as well. Mr. Terhune is a member of St. John's Lodge, Order of Free and Accepted Masons, and belongs to the Bos- ton Chamber of Commerce; is a director of the Associated Business Papers, Incorporated; member of the Boston Advertising Club; for six years a member of the Foreign Commerce Committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce; is a member of the Domestic Dis-
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tribution Department of the United States Chamber of Commerce, and was an unofficial observer in 1923 of the conference of the League of Nations, as representative of the Interna- tional Chamber of Commerce of Paris, France. In politics he is a Republican; his church is the Protestant Episcopal. He belongs to the Hol- land Society, the Harvard Club of Boston, the Harvard Club of New York, and the Algonquin Club.
Everit B. Terhune married, in 1904, Ella May Phillips, born at Phillips Beach, Massachusetts. They are the parents of two children: Everit B., Jr., and Phillips Glover.
LOUIS B. TUCK-From boyhood to ma- turity, constantly moving upward in his chosen work, Louis B. Tuck, of Boston, has held to the organization which gave him his start in business and which has been the medium through which he has made a substantial suc- cess. There have been no backward turns in his career. His business and social relations are extensive and his friends and clientele growing with the passing of time.
Louis B. Tuck was born in Meriden, Con- necticut, June 4, 1883. His father was Frank B. Tuck, of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and his mother, Eliza B. (Crooks) Tuck, of Chelsea. The father was a manufacturer, and later an insurance representative. Both parents are still living. The son acquired his education in the public schools of Newton, Massachusetts, upon completion of which he became associated with the Aetna Insurance Company, of Boston, in 1898, taking a position as office boy. He rose to be cashier of this company and then to claim adjuster. In 1921 he was promoted to be man- ager of the health and accident department. This position he held until 1926, when he decided to engage in the business independently and es- tablished a business under the firm name of Ar- thur W. Robinson and Company, writing insur-
ance, and placing it with the Aetna Life Insur- ance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut. He has since continued that business, and it is now conducted under his own name. He is a Re- publican in politics and is a member of the Lynnfield School Committee, of which he was chairman during 1927. During the participa- tion of the United States in the World War, he served in Company B, Twelfth Regiment, Massachusetts State Guard, with the rank of sergeant. He is a member of the Star of Beth- lehem Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Som- erville Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Somerville Council; and Palestine Commandery, Knights Templar. He is past president of the Clarendon Club, a member of the Boston Casualty Under- writers' Association and of the Boston Life Un- derwriters' Association, and past secretary of the Accident Underwriters' Association of Bos- ton, of the Insurance Society of Massachusetts and of the Aetna Club. He is fond of sports, especially tennis, and has a predilection for gardening.
Louis B. Tuck married, in 1913, Harriet R. Brander, of Chelsea. Their children are: Leigh- ton B., and Shirley B.
WILLIAM D. HAGERTY-There are few men in Massachusetts who possess such a thor- ough knowledge of the wool industry as does William D. Hagerty, of Boston, who operates one of the most important brokerage houses dealing in wools, noils and waste, with offices located at No. 170 Summer Street, this city. Mr. Hagerty has devoted his entire commercial career to this particular province, having been connected with the wool industry in Boston continuously since 1911, inaugurating his pres- ent independent establishment in 1926, which since that time has come to be one of the best known among the people of the textile trade of New England.
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