USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 27
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residence is located at No. 24 Alpine Street, Malden, while Mr. Damon's office is at No. 40 Broad Street, Boston.
WALLACE F. FLANDERS-A member of one of the old Colonial families, Wallace F. Flanders, of Winchester, numbers among his ancestors some of the first settlers of Massa- chusetts, being a descendant of William Mun- roe, who settled in Menotomy, now Arlington, in 1652. He is connected with the firmof De- wick & Flanders, Incorporated, of which con- cern he is treasurer and vice-president, this being one of the foremost insurance organiza- tions in this city. He is also officially con- nected with many other enterprises.
Mr. Flanders was born in Boston, January 14, 1872, son of Franklin M. Flanders and Francena Rebecca (Fessenden) Flanders, who was born in Arlington, both parents now de- ceased. Franklin M. Flanders was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and was engaged in the hotel business all his life, having man- aged and owned the Flanders Exchange of East Cambridge, which was a well-known hotel in its day. He was a veteran of the Civil War, hav- ing served in the 44th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Wallace F. Flanders is a direct descendant of Edmund Munroe, of whom more later. Among the early settlers of Cambridge Farms was William Munroe. As nearly as can be as- certained he came to America in 1652, at the age of twenty-seven. He lived first in Menotomy, now Arlington, and soon afterward procured a tract of land in the portion of Lexington now known as Scotland.
The ancestors of the Munroe family were of Scotch origin, though it is said that they came to Scotland from Ireland at a remote period. The family of Munroe is among the most an-
cient and honorable in Scotland, and were the first in those parts to embrace the Reforma- tion, which they zealously supported.
The records of the family show them to have been Barons of Fowles from an early time, and their names receive frequent and honor- able mention in the records of Scottish his- tory. Up to the year 1651 there were three generals, eight colonels, five lieutenant-colo- nels, eleven majors, and above thirty captains of the name of Munroe, all of the same stock and all descendants of Donald Munroe, first Baron of Fowles.
The Munroes who came to America at that time were made prisoners at the battle of Worcester, when Cromwell was victorious, and were bound out or sold as apprentices to farm- ers in the new country; some for a number of years. Among these are supposed to have been William, who is the ancestor of the Lexington family. He was born in Scotland in 1625. If he was sold as an apprentice on landing in the new country, his term of service must have been a short one, for he appears to have been his own man in 1657. He settled at Cambridge Farms about 1660, in the northeasterly part of the town, bordering on Woburn. He appears to have been quite successful in worldly affairs, and to have been blessed with a large and prosperous family. His name appears in con- nection with numerous important offices in the town and parish.
His grandson, Edmund Munroe, was born February 2, 1736, and married, in 1768, Rebecca Harrington, daughter of Jonathan and Abigail (Dunster) Harrington. She was sister to Jonathan Harrington, who died in 1854, the last survivor of the battle of Lexington. Edmund Munroe entered the Provincial service at an early age.
He was ensign in a corps of Rangers, under Major Rogers, which performed signal service in the French war. In 1761 he was acting adjutant in Colonel Hoar's regiment, at Crown Point. In 1762 he received a commission from Governor Bernard as a lieutenant in his Ma- jesty's service, and continued with the troops at
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Crown Point, Ticonderoga and vicinity, till the peace of 1763. His services in these campaigns were of the most honorable character, and he was there presented, as a reward for his brav- ery, with a sword captured from one of the French officers. This interesting relic is now in the possession of one of his descendants, E. S. Fessenden, of Arlington.
On the 19th of April, 1775, he was one of the Lexington minute-men, and was present at the battle on that day. As early as August, 1776, we find him on his way to meet the British on the same field where he had toiled with them to subdue the French and Indians. He was com- missioned lieutenant on the 12th of July, 1776, in Colonel Reed's regiment. On the 16th of the same month he was appointed quartermaster, and sent to the northern frontier. On the first of January following, he received his commis- sion as captain in Colonel Bigelow's regiment. He was with the northern army under Gates, at Stillwater, Saratoga, and Bennington, and so distinguished himself that, after the capture of Burgoyne, he was presented by his superior officers with a pair of candlesticks, a part of the traveling equipage of General Burgoyne. They are now in possession of a lady in Ar- lington. The pistol carried by Edmund Munro in the battle of Concord and Lexington is now in the possession of Mr. Flanders. The ram- rod in this pistol was whittled out of a piece of wood by Jonathan Harrington, the last sur- vivor of the battle of Lexington.
On the capture of Burgoyne, Captain Munroe was sent with his regiment to the Jerseys, where he served under Washington. When he entered upon the command of a company, he had with him fifteen men from Lexington. He was killed by a cannon ball, while in line of battle, on the field of Freehold, commonly called the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. The same cannon ball which deprived his coun- try of the services of the gallant captain, killed George Munroe, his kinsman, and maimed for life Joseph Cox, of Lexington, a member of the company.
The oath of office by Captain Munroe, wit-
nessed at Valley Forge by the Baron de Kalb, May 18, 1778, is now in the possession of the daughter of Mrs. Almira Tufts (Fessenden) Whittemore, of Arlington, Massachusetts, now deceased.
Captain Munroe was deliberately brave, with- out rashness. His knowledge of military mat- ters and his startling traits of character ren- dered him a valuable aid in the struggle of the Revolution, and his services were eagerly sought in the formation of the American Army.
He was forty-two years old at the time of his death. His widow survived him, until her death in 1834, at the age of eighty-three. Their daughter, Pamelia, born in 1773, married James Brown, son of Francis Brown, one of the min- ute-men in 1775, and a participant in the battle of Lexington.
Wallace F. Flanders was educated in the public schools of Boston, and entered the in- surance agency of Adam Archibald of Boston, in 1888, remaining with this concern until 1894, when he became associated with Charles M. Tillinghast, another of the leading insurance brokers of the time. In 1900, Mr. Tillinghast took him into partnership, the style of the firm being Tillinghast and Flanders. Two years later Mr. Tillinghast retired and the business was merged with that of Dewick and Flanders when the new firm came into existence.
Mr. Flanders is also vice-president of the Winchester National Bank, director of the Bay State Mortgage Company, director in the Commonwealth Associates, Incorporated, and treasurer of the Winning Home, Incorporated. His fraternal connections are with the William Parkman Masonic Lodge. He is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Boston Real Estate Exchange, the Insurance Society of Massachusetts, the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters, and past president of the Massa- chusetts Casualty Underwriters' Association. He is identified with the Boston Athletic Associa- tion, the Calumet Club of Winchester, of which he is past president, the Winchester Country Club, the Belmont Spring Country Club, the Roosevelt Club, the Republican Club, the Ex-
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change Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and the Massachusetts Fish and Game Associ- ation.
Active in patriotic and historical organiza- tions, he is a member of the Sons of the Amer- ican Revolution and the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. In politics he follows the principles of the Republican party, while his religious adherence is given to the Unitarian church. Mr. Flanders served in the Win- chester Machine Gun Company of the Massa- chusetts State Guards during the recent World War.
Wallace F. Flanders married, in 1900, Maude Canning Goldsmith, who was born in Brook- lyn, New York, and to this union were born four children: 1. Franklin A., now associated with Dewick & Flanders, Incorporated. 2. Kenneth Goldsmith, engaged in the insurance business in Winchester. 3. Virginia. 4. Jean.
WILLIAM REED BIGELOW-At No. 46 in the Ames Building, Boston, William Reed Bigelow is taking care of a legal practice which has steadily grown through the years. Mr. Bigelow is a graduate of Harvard College and of Harvard Law School, and has been engaged in general practice in Boston for the past thirty-five years.
The Bigelow family is one of the old New England families, tracing back to John Bige- low, who came to this country from England in 1638 and settled at Watertown, Massachu- setts, where his marriage is the first recorded in the town book. He married Mary Warren, and they became the ancestors of a large and distinguished family which has contributed to practically all of the professions and the mem- bers of which have always been highly esteemed in the communities in which they have lived.
William Bigelow, great-great-grandfather of William Reed Bigelow, fought in the Revolution, taking part in the battles of Concord and Lex- ington, as did also Willianı Bigelow, great- grandfather of Mr. Bigelow.
William Perkins Bigelow, father of Mr. Bige- low, was born in Natick, Massachusetts, July 29, 1834, and died in Natick, April 23, 1912. He received his education in the public schools and then engaged in mercantile business, becom- ing proprietor of a drygoods store located at No. 56 Temple Place, in Boston, which he operated for more than forty years under the name of William P. Bigelow and Company. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted for service but was incapacitated. He married Martha Ann Mansfield, who was born in Wel- lesley, Massachusetts, November 25, 1835, and died January 31, 1913, at Natick. They became the parents of five children, one of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Florence, who is principal of the Walnut Hill School for Girls in Natick; William Reed, of further mention; Gertrude, who spent two years in Barcelona, Spain, in a school for girls, and is now identified with the Walnut Hill School for Girls in Natick; Margaret Lander, wife of William B. Sprout, an attorney of Boston and of Hingham, Massa- chusetts.
William Reed Bigelow, son of William Per- kins and Martha Ann (Mansfield) Bigelow, was born in Natick, Massachusetts, February 10, 1861. He received his early education in the public schools of his birthplace, graduating from the Wilson Grammar School in 1880 and from the high school in 1883. He completed his preparation for college in the Newton High School, at Newton, where he graduated in 1885. The following fall he matriculated at Boston University where he spent his freshman year. In the fall of 1886 he entered the sophomore class in Harvard College, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1889, and then entered Harvard Law School, from which he was graduated in 1892, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He successfully passed the examinations for admission to the Massachu-
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setts bar February 2, 1892, and has since been engaged in general practice in Boston. He has his offices at No. 46 in the Ames Building and long ago established a reputation as one of the most skillful of attorneys. On December 20, 1899, he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, at Washington, District of Columbia, and he has for many years held a high place among his professional associates. Fraternally, he is identified with the Theta Delta Chi College Fraternity; and the City Club of Boston. Mr. Bigelow was deeply interested in baseball while a student at Har- vard and played on the class team for two years. He is now interested in hiking and in gardening, and in the care of his home in Natick. He is a member of the School Board of Natick, in which capacity he has served for six years. He has been a member of the Board of Select- men for one year, and was chairman of the board. He was also chairman of the Republican Town Committee of Natick, for several years. His religious affiliation is with the First Con- gregational Church of Natick.
William Reed Bigelow is married to Mary Louise Bigelow, who was born in Natick, Massachusetts, daughter of Francis Bigelow, who was county commissioner for Middlesex County for sixteen years and who is now de- ceased, and of Mary Eliza (Kimball) Bige- low, also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow are the parents of three children: 1. William Francis, who was born February 6, 1900. 2. Louis Kimball, born January 30, 1904. 3. Rob- ert Mansfield, born October 12, 1906.
BERTRAND WHALLEY TAYLOR-
Among the younger lawyers of Boston a posi- tion of growing prominence is held by Bertrand Whalley Taylor, who has been in practice but seven years, yet whose name is well and favor-
ably known. He is a man of well-grounded educational attainments, peculiarly fitted for the practice of one of the most exacting of the pro- fessions, since he also is gifted with an attrac- tive personality that draws friends readily from among the multitude of acquaintances he makes in the course of his work. From what he al- ready has done, it is the general prediction that he will rise to eminence at the bar of Massa- chusetts, where he established himself imme- diately upon his admission to practice.
He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, October 8, 1899, a son of John Thomas Taylor, a native of England, who came to America in his youth and, after a time in Fall River, removed to Boston in 1908, and of Ellen Louise (Coyne) Taylor, a native of Westerly, Rhode Island, who died in 1925 at the age of fifty-two years. They were the parents of two children, Bertrand W., and Mabel Thelma, now the wife of Donald Howell, of Chicago, Illinois. Their son ac- quired his education in the public schools of Boston, being graduated from the Wendell Phil- lips Grammar School in 1913 and then attending the Mechanic Arts High School for four years, graduating in 1917. These courses of instruc- tion were followed by a three-year term at the Boston University Law School, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1920, being admitted to the bar in 1921. In order to better inform himself, he took a post-graduate course at Harvard University for three succes- sive years, completing that course in 1922, when he began his active practice. He was a famous debater at college and now indulges in breeding and training police dogs. He is a member of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons and affiliated with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon College Fraternity. He belongs to the Boston City Club and to the Charles River Country Club, and attends the Harvard Congregational Church of Brookline, where he has his residence at No. 123 Summit Avenue.
Bertrand Whalley Taylor married, in New York City, January 5, 1927, Mary Helen Pere- grine, daughter of Clarence R. and Alice L. Peregrine, of Indianapolis, Indiana.
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HENRY A. SLEEPER-Since 1922, when he established the company which bears his name, Henry A. Sleeper has been well known in the New England leather industry. Though still relatively young and though he spent the war years in the service of his country, Mr. Sleeper is a man of considerable experience in the shoe and leather trades, and his business, which is situated at No. 60 South Street, Boston, Massachusetts, is a prosperous one. He spe- cializes in the preparation of patent side leather, buying the raw leather and contracting with local tanneries for the tanning, and his plant is able to furnish on the average three thousand sides of leather a month for the manufacture of patent leather shoes. Mr. Sleeper is a man of wide civic and social interests and is highly esteemed in his community as a public-spirited citizen.
He was born on April 18, 1895, at Lynn, Massachusetts, a son of Alden B. and Alice M. (Lindsey) Sleeper, both natives of Lynn, where his father engaged in the leather business until his death in 1918.
Henry A. Sleeper attended the public schools and the high school of Swampscott, Massachu- setts, and later entered Lawrenceville Academy, where he remained for two years. When he completed his academic education in 1916, he entered the shoe industry, first with the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Company, of Boston, and then, after a year, with the Thomas A. Kelley Leather Company, of Lynn, Massachusetts, with whonı he also remained for a year. At the end of that time he enlisted in the United States Army, serving for the duration of the war with the 132d Coast Artillery Corps at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and after his discharge he again re- turned to New England, becoming associated with the Neil J. Tracy Leather Company, where he remained until 1920. In that year he became with the T. F. Boyle Leather Company, of Bos- ton, and finally, in 1922, he established the . company which is now known as the H. A. Sleeper Leather Company, and of which he is the sole owner. Mr. Sleeper's own energy and ability and his thorough knowledge of all phases
of the shoe industry, are entirely responsible for the success of his company.
Politically, Mr. Sleeper is a member of the Republican party. He is affiliated, fraternally, with the Wayfarer Lodge of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and is a member of the Ionic Club and the Oxford Club of Lynn. He at- tends the Protestant Episcopal church. He is fond of all outdoor sports, and devotes much of his spare time to them, especially to football.
In 1917, Henry A. Sleeper married Florence M. Butterworth, who was born at Swampscott, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of one child, Alden B. The family home is at No. 21 Norfolk Avenue, Swampscott, Massachusetts.
HENRY C. WEEKS-As an adjuster of in- surance claims, Henry C. Weeks has been lo- cated in Boston since 1915, and during the nearly thirteen years of his experience in this field he has built up a very successful business. He does general adjustment work for all kinds of claims, and has established a reputation for tact, equity, and insight in handling the many special problems which arise in this difficult department of the insurance business. His of- fices are located at No. 141 Milk Street, Rooms 240-242.
Henry C. Weeks was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, September 22, 1885. His father, Clin- ton D. Weeks, was born in Waldoboro, Maine, and served during the Civil War as a member of the 137th Massachusetts Volunteers. He was engaged as a carpenter and builder during his active life, and is still (1928) living. The mother, Abbie Katherine (Ranklin) Weeks, a native of Richmond, Virginia, died in 1922. Mr. Weeks attended the public schools of Boston and Dorchester High School, and then worked in various capacities until 1905, when he en- gaged in the automobile business as a salesman in the employ of the Studebaker Company. In
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1907 he made a change and associated himself with the Universal Truck Company, as a sales- man. One year later he went with the Lippard Stewart Company, as a salesman, and for two years he sold their trucks. By that time he had gained a large amount of experience and had accumulated some capital, so he went to East Milton, Massachusetts, and engaged in business for himself as proprietor of a general repair and service garage, in which line he con- tinued with success for a period of about six years. At the end of that time, in 1915, he came back to Boston, the place of his birth, and en- gaged in business for himself as an adjuster of insurance claims. He does a general adjust- ment business, handling the adjustment of claims on all kinds of risks underwritten by insurance companies, including automobile, jewelry, building, etc., and has made of this diffi- cult branch of the insurance business an art in which he may well be styled a master. He has for some years been known as one of the very expert in this line, and his services are much in demand by numerous insurance com- panies. Mr. Weeks keeps closely in touch with the general insurance field, has made himself a connoisseur in the fine points of the many problems which are usual in insurance adjust- ment, and has shown unusual ability in handling the less common situations which try the skill of the expert insurance claims adjuster. Tact, diplomacy, discernment, a keen sense of justice, and firmness when once the right has been de- termined, have enabled him to serve the in- terests of both insurers and policy holders, and to build up for himself a very substantial business concern. Mr. Weeks is a Republican in his political affiliations, and, fraternally, is identified with Wollaston Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and Mount Wollaston Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons. He is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and also of the Boston City Club, and he finds his chief recreation in playing golf. He attends the Uni- tarian church.
Henry C. Weeks was married, in 1913, to Marie Burt, who was born in Paris, France.
FLETCHER SPRAGUE HYDE-With the exception of three years spent in active military service on the Mexican border and in the World War, Fletcher Sprague Hyde has been engaged in the practice of law since his admission to the Suffolk County bar, in 1914, in the city of Bos- ton. His offices, at No. 40 Court Street, where he is associated with Howard M. Dowd, are known to an ever-increasing clientele, and his standing in the legal fraternities of city and county is high indeed. Mr. Hyde is one of the principal and most public-spirited members of the community of Malden, where he makes his residence, and in the metropolis is identified with all public movements coming within his favor. He is recognized as a substantial citizen of valuable service to both centers in which he is interested, as have been his forebears, in theirs.
The family of the surname Hyde, of which Fletcher Sprague Hyde, of Boston and Malden, is a member, was founded in this country by Deacon Samuel Hyde, who came from London, England, in 1640, to Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and there settled on land pur- chased from Nathaniel Sparhawk. Mr. Hyde is also a descendent in the ninth generation from Ralph Sprague, who came from Upway, Eng- land, in 1629, and located at Malden, Middlesex County. From him descended Mr. Hyde's great-grandfather, John Sprague, son of Dr. John Sprague, the latter a surgeon in the Revo- lution. The old Sprague home was built by Joseph Dyer, a carpenter and a member of the historic Boston Tea Party. It was erected in 1797, from timber taken out of the Second Par- ish Church, which had been built in 1743 and was demolished in 1795-96. This home is now (1929) occupied by Fletcher Sprague Hyde, in Malden.
Charles Henry Hyde, father of Fletcher Sprague Hyde, was born in Malden, May 14, 1855, and died there June 8, 1928. He was for many years connected with the Kennebec Steamboat Company, succeeding his father, Henry Hastings Hyde, and later the traveling representative of several importing houses, and
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it is from him that Fletcher Sprague Hyde has inherited his interest in public affairs. Charles Henry Hyde was a member of the Malden Com- mon Council in 1893-94, and of the Malden Board of Aldermen, 1895-96. He married Ger- trude Isabel Fletcher, born in Woburn, Middle- sex County, died June 12, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde were the parents of three children: 1. Susan Callender, who died at the age of three years. 2. Fletcher Sprague, of whom directly. 3. Stanley Winship, a teacher, formerly at Stone- ham, Middlesex County, now principal of North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Maine.
Fletcher Sprague Hyde, first son and eldest surviving child of Charles Henry and Gertrude Isabel (Fletcher) Hyde, was born in the an- cestral home in Malden, April 8, 1889. He re- ceived his early school training in Malden, grad- uating from high school in 1907, at the age of eighteen years, and matriculated at Harvard University, where he was graduated, in 1912, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts; then en- rolled in Boston University School of Law, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1914. In October of that year he passed the examinations admitting him to prac- tice in Suffolk County, and began at once in gen- eral practice in Boston. Two years later, in 1916, he volunteered for service on the Mexican border, and was on duty there for six months. Shortly after his return to Boston, the United States declared existence of a state of warfare with Germany, and Mr. Hyde again entered the service oi his country. He served from the fall of 1917 until 1919, with 103d Infantry, 26th Division, American Expeditionary Forces; was promoted from private to corporal, and from corporal to the rank of sergeant. Mr. Hyde saw active service on the Western Front, and major operations in which he participated included the fighting at Chemin des Dames, in the Toul Sector, the Champagne-Marne defen- sive, the Aisne-Marne offensive, the St. Mihiel offensive, and the Meuse-Argonne offensive. While in France he took post-graduate work in law at the University of Rennes, at Rennes. During the Boston police strike, Mr. Hyde vol-
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