USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 46
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Mr. Ladd married Elizabeth Wellington Hun- ter, of West Newton, in 1905. Their children are: Lois B., Nathaniel H., and Theodore P.
GEORGE THORNDIKE SLEEPER- During the thirty-five years George Thorndike Sleeper has practiced law in Boston, Massachu- setts, he has established for himself an enviable reputation among members of the legal pro- fession, and those outside it who have had op- portunity to learn of his work. The number of the latter is not an inconsiderable figure, for Mr. Sleeper has played a prominent part in public life, at one time representing the towns of Winthrop, Revere and Chelsea in the Massa- chusetts State Legislature. Admitted to the bar in 1883, Mr. Sleeper had practiced in the States of Maine and Minnesota before estab- lishing himself in Boston.
With ancestors that, on both the maternal and paternal sides, had played their parts in the American Revolution and other events im- portant in early history of the nation, Mr. Sleeper was born at Dixmont, Maine, September 15, 1852, the son of Elias Phinney and Eliza (Thorndike) Sleeper. Elias Phinney Sleeper, a native of South Thomaston, Maine, was a sea- faring man with a fleet of clipper ships under his command. For many years he held the record for covering in the least time the coastwise journey between Portland and New Orleans. His forebears came from England be- fore the Revolution, settling in Maine. The mother of the subject of this sketch, who was the third wife of Elias Phinney Sleeper, was also of English descent, her ancestors being a leading English family. George Thorndike Sleeper was reared in South Thomaston, where he received his early education in the public schools and under private tutors. Following ali period of study at the Castine Normal School Maine, he entered the offices of Rice & Hall, at Rockland, to read law. Later he studied ind the office of the Hon. Albert P. Gould, a Thomaston. Admitted to the Maine bar, he practiced in that State for a time, having en tered public life even as a young man, for hi, had served as clerk of the Supreme Court and for two years held the office of selectman o Thomaston. Going West to Minnesota he had a successful legal practice there for severa. years. As president of the Blaine Club of tha
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State and in other capacities, he was active in politics. Eventually, however, Mr. Sleeper de- cided that the East offered him better opportuni- ties and, in 1883, he returned to the Atlantic seaboard, opening an office in Boston. During his professional years in that city Mr. Sleeper has done much campaign work for the Repub- lican party, and for one year was clerk of the State House of Representatives. He is fra- ternally affiliated with Winthrop Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Sleeper married twice, his first wife be- ing Ella K. Martin, of South Thomaston. Of this union were born two children: 1. Harvey, secretary and treasurer of the Boston Fruit and Produce Exchange. 2. Ethel M., wife of Alden Butler, an official in the streets and boulevards department of the Los Angeles, California, city government. Mr. Sleeper's second wife was, before her marriage, Imogen A. Bartlett. The one child of this marriage is Edwin L. Sleeper, artist and designer, with residence in Winthrop, Massachusetts.
JAMES ALDERSON BAILEY-Prominent in the legal profession of Boston, widely known throughout New England and the East by con- freres in the law, James Alderson Bailey has had a distinguished career. He is a son of James Alderson Bailey, Sr., who, born in Birm- ingham, England, in 1836, çame to Massa- chusetts with his father and located in Arling- ton, where he died, January 3, 1915. James Alderson Bailey, Sr., married Marietta Peirce who died September 20, 1920, leaving children: Amy E., James Alderson, of whom further; Esther, John W., and Edward A.
James Alderson Bailey was born in Arling- ton, March 25, 1867. He completed his ele- mentary academic instruction in the Cutter Grammar School of Arlington in 1880, graduated from Arlington High School in 1883, matricu-
lated then in Harvard College, and from it took the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 1888. In 1891 he took from Harvard College the degree of Master of Arts, from Harvard Law School that of Bachelor of Laws, and began practice of his profession forthwith, having been admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1890. His professional record has been one of brilliance. His clientele is important, representative of the city's great- est interests. In 1894 Mr. Bailey became a member of the State House of Representatives, where he served until 1895; in 1897 he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1900 was ap- pointed to the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board, on which he was active from 1901 to 1913, and from 1918 to 1919. From 1919 to 1924 Mr. Bailey was chairman of the Metro- politan District Commission. In 1905-06 he was chairman of the Arlington Board of Select- men, and has consistently had the best interests of Arlington and greater Boston at heart. He has been president of Arlington Co-operative Bank, First National Bank of Arlington, Menotomy Trust Company, and director of Lincoln Trust Company, and International Trust Company, of Boston, and director in many business corporations. Fraternally, Mr. Bailey is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows. He belongs to the Algon- quin Club of Boston, the Harvard Club of Bos- ton, and is a communicant of the Unitarian church of Arlington. His principal pleasures are sports. He is fond of horseback riding, tennis, shooting and fishing. During the period of America's participation in the World War he gave valued help to the many campaigns of patriotic appeal.
James Alderson Bailey married, in Boston, February 26, 1903, Helen Gage Hopkins, daugh- ter of Reuben W. Hopkins, former president of the Boston Ice Company, deceased, and Helen E. (Gage) Hopkins. Of this union there were born children: James Alderson (3), deceased, Edward H., Gage, and Ruberton H. The fam- ily residence is in Arlington, and Mr. Bailey's Boston offices are in Barristers' Hall.
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GEORGE VON LENGERKE MEYER-A broker and director of several financial insti- tutions in Boston, George von Lengerke Meyer has been for some years an important figure in the life of this city, of which his father was long a distinguished and honored resident.
Mr. Meyer was born in Boston on April 7, 1891, a son of George von Lengerke and Alice (Appleton) Meyer. His father achieved a notable career in public life, serving successively as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Rep- resentatives, Postmaster General of the United States, and Secretary of the Navy. Later he was American Ambassador to Italy and Russia.
George von Lengerke Meyer, of this record, received his early education at Groton School, from which he was graduated in 1909, and later entered Harvard University, where he took the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1913. He began his business career soon afterwards in Boston, and is now well known as a broker in this city. He is also a director of the Old Colony Trust Company and a trustee of the Meyer Estate.
Mr. Meyer has found time for participation in other phases of Massachusetts life. He is a member of the Republican State Committee, chairman of its finance committee, and stands high in party councils throughout the State. He served during the period of the World War as aide-de-camp to General Leonard Wood in the 89th Infantry, and is now a major in the Of- ficers' Reserve Corps. Mr. Meyer is affiliated, fraternally, with the Free and Accepted Masons, and also holds membership in several clubs, in- cluding the Somerset Club of Boston. With his family he worships in the faith of the Episcopal church.
On December 20, 1913, at Milton, George von Lengerke Meyer married Frances Saltonstall, daughter of Philip Leverett and Frances Anne Saltonstall. Of this marriage three children have been born: 1. George von Lengerke (3), born on July 22, 1916. 2. Charles Appleton, born on June 27, 1918. 3. Nancy, born on June 27, 1920. The family residence is main- tained in Boston at No. 54 Beacon Street, while Mr. Meyer's offices are situated at No. 53 State Street, in this city.
ROBERT H. NESBITT-Thirty years ago, Robert H. Nesbitt came to the city of Boston, and entered the employ of the old McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. When that famous concern became a part of the Interna- tional Harvester Company of America, in 1902, Mr. Nesbitt was still giving his usual efficient service in the company and he was promoted to the position of salesman of farm implements. Today (1929) he is New England manager of the motor truck and bus department of the company and has his offices at No. 61 North Beacon Street, in Boston. He is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and is ma- king his department of the International Har- vester Company of America well known among the business men of Boston, as well as among the many rural patrons whom he supplies with motor trucks and with busses for all purposes. Mr. Nesbitt is a native of Maryland, and is a resident of West Medford, Massachusetts.
Robert H. Nesbitt was born in Colora, Cecil County, Maryland, February 12, 1873, son of Robert Nesbitt, a farmer, who died while Mr. Nesbitt was but a young child and is buried in Colora, and of Martha (Tosh) Nesbitt. He attended the local public and private schools, and as a young man worked on his father's farm and on the farms of near-by neighbors. Later, he was clerk in a retail store for four years, and then, in 1898, he came to Boston, a young man of twenty-five years, and began his long connection with the concern with which he is still identified. He entered the employ of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Com- pany, working first in the parts department, but soon after being placed in the sales depart- ment. There his special ability found congenial opportunity and when, in 1902, the old McCor- mick Harvesting Machine Company became the International Harvester Company of America, Mr. Nesbitt was made salesman of farm im- plements. Some years later he was again promoted, being then made manager of the department of farm implements and motor trucks, and in 1925 he was given his present responsible position as manager of the motor truck and bus department for the New England
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district. Long experience, natural ability, and a manner which is at once pleasing and con- vincing, together with honest representation and the all important advantage of a first class product to offer, have always been the founda- tions of Mr. Nesbitt's personal selling suc- cess, and in his position as manager of a great district he is able to give most valuable as- sistance to the many salesmen working under his direction. As has been stated, he is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and is well known among business men of the city. Fraternally, he is a member of Lodge No. 53, Free and Accepted Masons, of Port Deposit, Maryland, his membership there now being an honorary one; an active member of Aroostook Chapter, No. 17, Royal Arch Masons, of Houlton, Maine; a member of Coeur de Lion Commandery, Knights Templar, of Charlestown, Massachusetts; and a member of Korah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston; also a mem- ber of the Boston Consistory, thirty-second de- gree Mason. He is a member of the Square and Compass Club and the Boston City Club, and he is fond of fishing. He has a camp in New Hampshire, where he enjoys his vacations and where he stores up energy for the work of the year, and where he fishes to his heart's content. His religious membership is with the Presbyterian Church of West Nottingham, Maryland.
Robert H. Nesbitt married, in Washington, District of Columbia, December 10, 1902, Sara Wilson, a native of Maryland, who died in March, 1926, and is buried at West Nottingham, Maryland, a daughter of John P. and Louisa (Biles) Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt became the parents of two children: 1. Ruth, born in Houlton, Maine, January 30, 1904, is a graduate of the Framingham Normal School, later taking a degree from Teachers College, New York City. 2. Mary, born August 16, 1905, is a graduate of the Boston School of Physical Culture, and is now (1929) teaching physical training in Water- ville, Maine. The family home is located on Allston Street, in West Medford.
WILLIAM M. LORENZ-In contrast with past generations of commercial operation, modern business demands experts in details ot almost every enterprise, who, generally, confine themselves to their own particular field of training. Such has been the experience of William M. Lorenz, district manager for New England of the Willard Storage Battery Com- pany, of Cleveland, Ohio, with headquarters in the Statler office building, Boston, Massachu- setts.
From the beginning of his business ca- reer Mr. Lorenz has specialized in details of automobile construction and in the dis- tribution of the finished product, as well as of the accessories that are a vital part of it. The result of this training under experts has been illustrated in the success he has achieved and which has placed him in a high position among the many representatives of the auto- motive industry who operate throughout Metropolitan Boston and the New England territory. Mr. Lorenz is the fortunate pos- sessor of a most ingratiating manner, coupled with a confidence in the qualities of the prod- uct he represents that enables him to con- vince others of its merits. This natural gift is enhanced by the education he acquired in details of salesmanship, giving him altogether an armament against the commercial assaults of competitors, whether or not they also may have been trained in their special fields. He has made it a strict rule of his work to make no statements that are not absolutely honest and fully susceptible of minute dissection, a principle that has won him the esteem of the business community and brought to his side a legion of friends. He is an able business man and a valuable citizen.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, October 16, 1888, a son of John W. and Amanda N. Lorenz, his father having been an executive of the American Lithographic Company, of New York City, deceased, De- cember 12, 1912. Educated in the public schools of Brooklyn, he afterward attended the Heffley and Pratt institutes in that city,
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but was compelled to abandon this work be- fore graduation because of illness. He later continued it and was graduated from the Pratt Institute's industrial mechanical engi- neering course in June, 1909. He then became associated with the American Lithographic Company, remaining with the company until the death of his father, when he entered the automobile field and for two years sold cars in New York City. His work came to the favorable attention of the officials of the Willys-Overland Motor Car Company and he accepted an opportunity to go to the plant in Cleveland, Ohio, where he studied sales ef- ficency and the application of Arthur Sheldon's scientific salesmanship under the competent instruction of Wilson M. Taylor, sales ef- ficiency expert for the Willys-Overland con- cern. He then went into the field, where he worked with success until the outbreak of the World War, when he returned to New York and became associated with the Carl H. Page Company, distributors of Mitchell automobiles. In August, 1914, he disassociated himself from this enterprise, to accept a position with The Emerson Company, of New York City, ef- ficiency engineers, where he remained until February 1, 1917, when he went to the machine application division of the Hyatt Roller Bear- ing Company, of Harrison, New Jersey, as a sales engineer, continuing there for one year. The opportunity to become associated with the Willard Storage Battery Company came in February, 1918, and he became their rep- resentative in the New York District, working in the field until March 15, 1921, when he was made assistant district manager. On January 1, 1922, he was again promoted, this time to district manager for New England, a post he still administers. He is a member of the Belmont Springs Country Club, of Waverley, and affiliated with the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, having attained the thirty-second degree; he belongs to the Anglo Saxon Lodge, No. 137, of Brooklyn; the Con- sistory of New York City, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons; and Long I Grotto, of Brooklyn.
ARTHUR N. FOLSOM-The oldest Pro- testant undertaking establishment in the vicinity of Roslindale is that of Arthur N. Folsom and Son, located at No. 781 South Street. Mr. Folsom has been connected with this establish- ment since 1889, a period of thirty-nine years, and during that time has become widely known as one of the skilled and reliable morticians of this section of the State. He is a native of Charlestown, but came to Roslindale as a young man and learned the undertaking business here, with the proprietor of the business which he now owns and operates.
John A. Folsom, father of Arthur N. Fol- som, was a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, but in his early years located in Charlestown, Massachusetts, where he secured a position as clerk in the employ of the National Security Bank. From that time until his death, which occurred at the age of forty-two years, he re- mained with that bank, filling various responsible positions and winning the confidence and high " esteem of his associates there. He married Lizzie C. Richardson, who was born in Somer- ville, Massachusetts, and who died at the age of forty-two years. They were the parents of one child, Arthur N., of further mention.
Arthur N. Folsom, son of John A. and Lizzie C. (Richardson) Folsom, was born in Charles-' town, Massachusetts, August 1, 1875, and spent his boyhood days in Charlestown and in Win- throp, attending the public schools of those places and finishing his education in the Dwight School of Boston. When school days were over he became interested in the embalming and funeral directing business and came to Roslin- dale, where he entered the employ of one of the well-known undertakers of the place. In this position he remained until he had thor- oughly learned the business, and then, when the former proprietor retired, he purchased the establishment, which he has since conducted most successfully. He took charge in 1908, and during the twenty years which have passed since that time he has built up a large patronage and has become known as one of the most skilled of his profession. As the oldest Pro- testant undertaking business in this section his
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establishment is widely known and has served some of the prominent families of the district for many years, adding to satisfactory and hon- orable business dealings the ties of long asso- ciation and of service to departed members of families. Few business men are better known in Roslindale than is Arthur N. Folsom, and as a citizen, as well as a business man, he is progressive, active, and successful. Politically, Mr. Folsom gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Republican party. He is well known in fraternal circles, being a member of Prospect Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Roslindale Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Hyde Park Council, Royal and Select Masters; Joseph Warren Commandery, Knights Templar; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, as are his wife and daughter; and he is identified with Longfellow Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Roslindale. He is a member of Roslindale Temple Club and of the Odd Fellows Club, and is an interested member of the Business Men's Association of Roslindale.
Arthur N. Folsom was married, in September, 1895, to Emma B. French, a native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and they have had four chil- dren, of whom three are living: 1. Pearl, who married Lawrence Oberacker, and has three children: Elaine, Buddy, and Hazel. 2. Wilfred, who married Ada M. Shannehan, and is associ- ated with his father in the undertaking busi- ness. 3. Owen E., who is a salesman. He married Marion Colby. Mrs. Folsom is very active in the Order of the Eastern Star, in which she has at various times held all the of- fices, and in 1927 served as a Deputy on the staff of the Grand Matron. The family home is located at No. 27 Parkvale Road, in West Roxbury.
WALDO J. STOKES-One of the most beautiful and most completely equipped funeral homes in the State of Massachusetts is located
at No. 1803 Centre Street, in West Roxbury. Spacious landscaped grounds, a building re- modelled to meet the most modern needs of the profession, and artistic and appropriate furnish- ing make this establishment one of unusual attractiveness, which its equipment is of the most advanced and scientific. The owner of this unusually fine embalming and funeral di- recting establishment is Waldo J. Stokes, who has been a resident of Roxbury for many years.
He is the son of Warren J. Stokes, who was born in Epping, New Hampshire, but as a young man came to Boston, where for a period of forty-five years he most efficiently served as a truant officer, continuing in that office to the time of his retirement. He is still (1928) liv- ing and enjoying good health at the age of ninety-two years. He married Margaret O. Moulton, of Lowell, Massachusetts, and they became the parents of five children, of whom two are living: Warren L., and Waldo J., of further mention.
Waldo J. Stokes was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, July 13, 1871, and attended the public schools of his birthplace, graduating from the grammar school. After leaving school he worked at various jobs and later was for some time engaged in the livery business in Roxbury. Looking about for an opportunity to establish a business of his own, he finally chose the em- balming and funeral directing business, and with the intention of ultimately conducting a con- cern of his own, he entered a school of embalm- ing, where he successfully finished his course with graduation. As practical experience was necessary in order that he might be fully quali- fied for the management of his own enterprise, he secured a position as assistant in the em- ploy of a well-known undertaker and remained in that connection until he had made himself familiar with all the details of the profession of mortician. He then made real the dream of his earlier years by establishing his own enterprise in West Roxbury, and since that time he has been continuously and very successfully en- gaged in building up a clientele which is second to none in this district.
Service of the highest order has been his
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aim from the beginning, and he has not over- looked the fact that attractive furnishings and a beautiful and attractive funeral home increase the value of skilled professional services. In 1927 he began the remodelling of the building in which he is now located, and this work has been done most thoroughly. The house is a large two-story building, and it has been so ar- ranged that two of the four large rooms on the first floor can be used as a chapel, while a third can be used as a secluded room for the im- mediate family. The front room is a very large and beautiful room, elaborately furnished as an office. The office furniture is of solid mahogany and here, as in the other rooms, the floors are covered with choice and carefully selected rugs which are in exquisite harmony with the rest of the furnishings. The preparation or embalming room is specially fitted with all the latest and most approved appliances for use in scientific embalming, and the taste and artistic ability which has made the interior of the other rooms so beautiful is in evidence even in the prepara- tion room. This beautiful funeral home, erected in 1907 and remodelled in 1927, is surrounded by spacious lawns and these, too, are beautified by the most careful landscape gardening, giving to the place an exterior beauty in keeping with its beautiful interior. As has already been stated, this establishment is said to be one of the most beautiful in the State of Massachusetts, and its owner has achieved the reputation of being one of the most skilled morticians in this State.
Mr. Stokes is well known in the Masonic Order, being a member of Washington Lodge, also Prospect Lodge of Roslindale, Free and Accepted Masons; St. Paul's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Boston Council, Royal and Se- lect Masters; Joseph Warren Commandery, Knights Templar, of Roxbury; all the Scottish Rite bodies up to and including the Consistory, in which he holds the thirty-second degree; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, which he formerly served as Sentinel; also of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; the Re- bekahs; and the Knights of Pythias. His club
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