USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 49
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Lewis F. Davis was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 4, 1888. An orphan at eleven years of age, he was, nevertheless, enabled to acquire more than a good common school education. He received his preliminary and preparatory training in the public schools of Cambridge and Dorchester, and was gradu- ated from Cushing Academy in the class of 1907.
His business career began with a connection as salesman with the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Com- pany. He was faithful, diligent and ambitious to get on. Soon he received promotion to be the company's sales manager at Omaha, Ne- braska. Here he proved his worth, and later he was assigned to a similar position in New York City, where he remained one and one- half years. All told, he was with the biscuit concern some seven years, and during that period he had developed into a super-sales- man, that type which creates new business and holds that which has been gotten.
The American Chicle Company had one of its scouts with an observing eye appraise the qualifications of Mr. Davis with a view to call- ing him to Boston. The offer of a place as dis- trict sales manager in the metropolitan area ac- cepted, Mr. Davis looked after the selling in- terests of the chicle concern in his territory for about six years. All the time his stock- in-trade, otherwise known as salesmanship, was mounting in value. The demand for a sales- man of his class never falls off; and this fact was given a fresh illumination in 1919, when the Hood Rubber Company concluded negotia- tions with him to assume special sales work as a part of a prearranged selling programı. One year in that assignment served to land Mr. Davis in the berth of New England sales man- ager, in which he gave full proof of his abil- ity for increasing and holding the company's good will. In June, 1927, he was promoted to the more responsible and lucrative position of district sales manager operating out of the company's headquarters at Watertown. Still holding the office, he continues to grow in the favor of his seniors and of the trade.
Ever since he attained his majority, Mr. Davis
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has adhered to the tenets of the Republican po- litical faith. Fidelity to his allegiance to party and country is one of his strong traits of char- acter. In 1907-10 he was a member of the First Corps Cadets, of Boston.
His fraternal affiliations include Winthrop Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Winthrop Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, both of Winthrop, Massachusetts; Boston Commandery, Knights Templar; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston; and the Winthrop Lodge, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Cottage Park Yacht Club of Winthrop.
Lewis F. Davis married, in 1916, at Winthrop, Lillian A. Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Smith. They have their residence in that charming suburb of Boston. Mr. Davis has his official address in the city proper.
JOHN F. PETERSON-The oldest of the many beautiful suburban cemeteries of the Uni- ted States is Mount Auburn Cemetery, at Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, which was consecrated in 1831, five years prior to the incorporation of Laurel Hill Cemetery, near Philadelphia, and six years before the incorporation of Greenwood Cemetery, near New York City. Ninety-seven years have greatly enlarged the acreage of this oldest of burial grounds for the city of Cambridge and have brought to its quiet and beautiful retreat many cele- brated names. Scientists, statesmen, literary masters, historians, and those who have won fame in other lines of human activity have been laid to rest here among the winding paths and fine old trees, and to the first-time vis- itor here, a day spent wandering about brings many surprises. Natural beauty and architec- tural and landscape gardening skill have com- bined to make this resting place one of surpass- ing beauty, and the perfection of its up-keep is
making it each year more attractive. Since De- cember 31, 1920, John F. Peterson has been the efficient superintendent of Mount Auburn Cem- etery. Prior to its opening the people of Bos- ton buried their dead in the cellars of the church- es. In 1825 Dr. Jacob Bigelow called together a few representative men of the city and laid before them a plan for a rural cemetery. The plan was approved and a committee was appoint- ed to look for a suitable site. About this time George W. Brimmer had purchased a tract of land situated in Cambridge and Watertown, known as "Stone's Woods" but known to Har- vard students as "Sweet Auburn." In 1830 Dr. Bigelow proposed to Mr. Brimmer that the tract be purchased as a cemetery site and Mr. Brimmer agreed to sell at the original cost to himself. Dr. Bigelow then went before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which had been incorporated the preceding year, with the proposition that they acquire "Sweet Au- burn" for the establishment of a cemetery. The new society had no funds, however, so it was decided to buy the tract of about seventy-two acres, at six thousand dollars, in behalf of the Horticultural Society, as soon as one hundred subscribers for cemetery lots, at sixty dollars each, could be secured. The purchase was made and on Saturday, September 24, 1831, two thou- sand people gathered in the beautiful amphi- theatre, still known as Consecration Dell, to take part in the consecration ceremonies, the speaker of the occasion being the Hon. Joseph Story. A portion of the land, that situated next to the road and separated from the interior woodland by a water course, was to constitute the Experimental Garden of the Horticultural Society, but a conflict of interests caused the formation of a new corporation of Mount Au- burn Proprietors, and a deed of conveyance was made out from the Horticultural Society to the new corporation, under the terms of which the cemetery corporation had paid to the Horti- cultural Society, by 1896, about $242,000. In 1832, a wooden gateway and lodges were erected from a model submitted by Judge Story, who was president of the corporation for eleven years, and ten years later these were replaced,
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in substantially the same design, in granite. A chapel was undertaken in 1844, but later this was razed and a new one erected. The present chapel, built in 1901, is one of the finest of its kind in the country, fully equipped with every convenience and an interior as beautiful as money and art can make it. The centre aisle leads to a rostrum, on the right and left of which are seats for altar boys if these are re- quired, while on the right is a beautiful organ. In front of the rostrum are two reading desks, the one on the right made in the form of a semi-circle approached by four steps. On the left is a magnificent hand-carved eagle upon which a Bible may be placed. Over the main doorway is a choir loft providing for more than twenty-five singers, and the chapel, with its beautiful oak pews, provides seating for three hundred people. This is acknowledged to be the finest cemetery chapel in New England and it is one of the finest in the country. The office building contains six very beautiful rooms, in- cluding three offices and three reception rooms. As the increasing demand of years has made more space necessary more land has been pur- chased until now (1929) Mount Auburn Ceme- tery contains an acreage of one hundred and sixty, and employs a force of from sixty to one hundred and thirty-five men for its up-keep. Since he has been in charge, Mr. Peterson has done a very large amount of work here. He has built a number of miles of crushed stone road, eighteen feet wide, in the most substantial manner, and his work has included the drain- age of the grounds by the laying of some two thousand feet of drain pipe. The cemetery has its own pumping station, and in 1909-10 over three thousand feet of water main was laid. The station is electrically controlled, and the water is supplied by twenty-eight driven wells. The cemetery has a modern, well-equipped cre- matory, and in 1908 a new engine room was built for this part of the service. There are about four hundred cremations a year, and by December 31, 1927, the total number of crema- tions since the crematory was established amounted to 7,965. Recently, twenty-one addi- tional acres of land have been developed, where burial lots are now being staked out, and a
very fine rest house is being erected. A notable feature of the burial ground is the observation tower, which, like the chapel, was designed by Dr. Bigelow, and was erected in 1852. It is sixty-two feet high and is built on the general plan of the round tower of feudal times. It has a gallery, battlements, Gothic windows, and a spiral staircase of stone. Solidly built of Quincy granite, the stones are smooth ham- mered on both sides so that each stone makes a part of both the inside and the outside sur- face. The tower commands an extensive view of the cemetery and of some of the surrounding country and is much sought by visitors.
More attractive and of greater interest, how- ever, than the natural beauties of this peaceful burial ground is the roster of famous names which may be found here. While the four statues in the chapel represent important periods in the history of Massachusetts-John Win- throp for the period of settlement; James Otis for the beginning of resistance to British ag- gression; John Adams for the Revolution, and Judge Story for the period following the Revo- lution; it is the memorials of those who are resting here that represent the widest possible range of human achievement. William Ellery Channing, Edward Everett, Charles Sumner, Rufus Choate represent the best in statesman- ship, and are representatives of the stirring periods of our history; also there are: Jared Sparks, the historian; Louis Agassiz, the be- loved student and professor of natural history; Asa Gray, the botanist; Francis Parkman, his- torian; John G. Palfrey, historian of New Eng- land; and Robert C. Winthrop, scholar, orator, statesman, and philanthropist. Of the masters of literature, Mount Auburn shelters a noble group. Three of the greatest American poets, who were friends and neighbors are not far sep- arated in the place of their burial, the grave of Longfellow on Indian Ridge Path; that of James Russell Lowell under Indian Ridge, with- in a stone's toss of his friend; and that of Oliver Wendell Holmes not far away on Lime Ave- nue. Here in Mount Auburn, too, lie the re- mains of Louise Chandler Moulton, Eleanor Porter, Amy Lowell, Jacob Abbott, author of the once-beloved Rollo Books, and James T.
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Fields, ideal publisher, friend, and comrade of authors, and himself a prominent and charming figure in American literature. Here, too, are representatives of the histrionic art-Edwin Booth, Charlotte Cushman, tragedienne, William Warren, and Mrs. James R. Vincent. On Mi- mosa Path, in the old family lot where his father and mother lie, is the grave of Phillips Brooks, marked by a modest stone of white marble, containing the name, dates of birth and death, dates of his service as rector, and as bishop of the diocese of Massachusetts. These and many others of distinction rest in Mount Auburn Cemetery, and it is fitting that this last resting place of so many who have served their day and generation so well should be the place of beauty that it is.
Mr. Peterson was born in Boston, Massachu- setts, August 24, 1879, and received his early and preparatory education in the local public schools and in Lynn (Massachusetts) High School. He then entered Tufts College, from which he was graduated as a civil engineer, and soon after graduation he entered the em- ploy of Mount Auburn Cemetery Association. He had charge of construction work and of all the landscape work and of the laying out and building of walks and roads. In the more than quarter of a century which has passed since he first associated himself with this burial ground he has had a very active part in devel- oping it to its present state of loveliness, and his interest has increased with the passing of the years. On December 31, 1920, he was made superintendent, and in this responsible position his years of experience enable him to give more than usually effective service. His train- ing, too, is greatly to his advantage and an asset to the corporation, and he spares no effort in perfecting the task which is his.
Mr. Peterson is a member of the American Society of Cemetery Superintendents; of the Boston Society of Cemetery Superintendents, formed in 1848; and of the New England Asso- ciation of Cemetery Superintendents, of which he served as president in 1917. He is also a member of the Boston Society of Civil Engi- neers, with which he has been associated twenty- one years; the American Society of Civil Engi-
neers; a member of Annabel Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and of the Boston City Club. For several years he has been much interested in athletics. He is one of the best-known land- scape artists and engineers in this section, and is a recognized authority on cemetery land- scaping.
John F. Peterson married Julia Hamblen, of Wellsfleet, member of an old family of that section, and they have three children: 1. Eli- nor, who is captain of the 'varsity swimming team of Radcliffe College, and captain of the Women's Crow Point Golf Club. 2. Winifred. 3. Edward Hamblen.
JOHN L. TUTTON-Oak Grove Cemetery, of Medford, Massachusetts, has been under the care of John L. Tutton, as superintendent, eight years. During this time the grounds have been beautifully landscaped, and forty of the total of sixty-five acres have been developed (1928). Mr. Tutton is prominent in the Masonic Order, and in various other organizations, and is also interested, as a half owner, in one of the largest monumental concerns in this section, the firm of Tutton Brothers.
John Tutton, father of Mr. Tutton, was born in Cornwall, England, but came to this coun- try in 1882 and engaged in the marble business in Medford. After a time, however, he returned to England, but later he again came to this country and organized in Medford the marble business which today is operated by his sons under the firm name of Tutton Brothers. That was in 1892, and from that time until his death he continued to devote his full interest to the development of this enterprise. He knew his business thoroughly and was successful in gain- ing the full confidence of those with whom he was associated. His concern came to be knowr. as the best of its kind in this section, and ultimately, as one of the best known and long. est established in this locality dealing in ceme. tery memorials. His wife was born in Ply. mouth, England. They were the parents o seven children, all of whom are living. Two
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of them, Ernest W. and John L., comprise the firm of Tutton Brothers and carry on the busi- ness founded by the father. The mother died in 1910, aged seventy-one years.
John L. Tutton was born in Liverpool, Eng- land, April 7, 1879, but was reared in Quincy, Massachusetts, receiving his education in the public schools, including the high school. When his school training was completed he became associated with his father in the marble busi- ness, manufacturing and dealing in all kinds of cemetery memorials. He was personally asso- ciated with the business until 1920, when he took his present position as superintendent of Oak Grove Cemetery, at Medford. Upon the death of the father, he and his brother, Ernest W., became members of the firm of Tutton Brothers, and under that name they have con- tinued the prosperous business which their father so well established. As superintendent of Oak Grove he has greatly improved this fine old cemetery, which was organized in 1848, and which has received during the eighty years of its existence some 23,000 bodies. The entire cemetery now comprises ninety-five acres, of which forty are developed. Since Mr. Tutton took charge a very large amount of work has been done. A new tool house has been built, also a house containing a well-equipped office, a perfect carding system has been installed, show- ing just where all burials have been made, a new section containing twelve hundred lots has been laid out, and in 1927 a tract of ground was set apart and consecrated for the use of Catholics. In the future all Catholics in Med- ford will have the right of burial here, a change which will substantially increase the annual number of interments, which now (1929) aver- age about five hundred per year. A large amount of landscape gardening has been done, making of Oak Grove Cemetery a place of beauty which challenges the attention of all who pass this way. Mr. Tutton is a member of the New England Association of Cemetery Superintend- ents, the New England Granite Manufacturers' Association, and he is also well known in fra- ternal circles, being a member of Mount Vernon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; a charter
member of Sagamore Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and of Medford Council, Royal and Select Masters; also of The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a Past Noble Grand, having filled all the chairs; the Daugh- ters of Rebekah, in which his wife has passed all the chairs; and of Medford Lodge, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Rotary Club. Both he and his wife have many firm friends in Medford.
John L. Tutton was married twice, the first time, in 1901, to Berdie Corson, by whom he had two children: Edith E., who married, Sep- tember 15, 1928, George G. Beals; and Ernest S. Mr. Tutton married (second), June 20, 1928, Doris May Armstrong, of Medford.
CHARLES OSCAR NORDLING-Among those who have come to this country from other lands and by sheer pluck and ability made their way upward to places of responsibility in the community, to business success, and to promi- nence among their fellows, none have more fairly earned permanent record than has Charles O. Nordling, of Boston, who came to America as a boy of eighteen with no knowledge of this country and unable to speak the English lan- guage. He has now (1929) been in Boston much of the time since 1890, two years after his arrival in America, and has gained experi- ence in numerous lines of business activity. Since 1917 he has been located in Boston as an embalmer and funeral director. His office and chapel is on the first floor of a four-story block which he owns, at Nos. 1041 and 1043 Tremont Street, and he is one of the prominent and well-recognized citizens and business men of Greater Boston. He is also well known in the Masonic Order, as well as in other fraternal bodies.
Charles Oscar Nordling was born in Sweden, September 22, 1870, the son of Jacob Nordling, farmer, who spent his life in his native a
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Sweden and died at the age of eighty-two years, and his wife, who was Anna Gustava Anderson. She died at the age of eighty-three years. They were the parents of eight children, of whom three, Victor, Ernest, and Charles O., are still living (1929). John, an older brother, now de- ceased, was a very prominent man in the West. Charles O. Nordling spent his boyhood years in his native land, attending the public schools and remaining there until 1888. Then, as a boy of eighteen years, he came to America, locating first in Pennsylvania, where for a time he was employed on a farm. Like most of his coun- trymen, he was not afraid of hard work, and he was also thrifty and ambitious. After work- ing on a farm for a while he decided to enter the coal mines. This he did and he followed that occupation until 1890 when he came to Boston and associated himself with Vose & Sons, piano manufacturers, accepting the meagre salary of four dollars a week and giving in re- turn his best possible service. Feeling, how- ever, that he had not yet found the opportunity for which he was seeking, he later found en1- ployment in a carriage business, where he was employed in the painting department at six dol- lars per week. By changing his positions and improving his opportunities he was adding stead- ily to his experience and his general fund of knowledge, and his next position was with the New England Organ and Piano Company. Still later he entered an entirely different line of business by associating himself with the Sole Leather Company of Boston, with whom he re- mained for a period of five years. At the end of that time he returned to his native land for a visit. After renewing old associations and looking about the old haunts again he decided that he had been right in coming to the New World and subsequently again crossed the seas in search of that elusive but substantial open- ing known as Opportunity. Having now some command of the English language, he secured a position on the Boston Elevated Railroad, where he remained for two years. He was, however, thinking of a business of his own, and at the end of that time purchased a billiard room at No. 890 Tremont Street, Boston, which he con-
ducted successfully for twenty years. This was a means to an end, and when the opportunity offered, he, in association with his brother-in- law, became interested in the embalming and funeral directing business at No. 1041 Tremont Street, Boston, his present place of business, and since that time he has built up a large and successful business. Honest principles, skill in his calling, and tact in meeting his patrons have gained for him a reputation which extends far beyond the limits of his personal acquaintance; and thrift and wise investments have brought him financial success. He owns the four-story block in which his business is located, and has here rooms especially equipped for carrying on the business, also his office and a well-appointed funeral chapel, well furnished. He can accom- modate about two hundred, and as the years pass his list of patrons is steadily growing. Many of the oldest Swedish families in this sec- tion, as well as a large number of the old Co- lonial families come to him in times of bereave- ment, during which the services of the mortician are needed, and no funeral director in the city is more thoroughly liked and respected than is Charles O. Nordling.
Probably few men in the city of Boston are better known in fraternal circles than Mr. Nord- ling. He is a member of the Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and of all the Scottish Rite bodies, including the Lodge of Perfection, Princes of Jerusalem; Chapter of Rose Croix and the Massachusetts Consistory, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree, and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and St. Omar Grotto, Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm. He is also a member of the Boston Square and Compass Club, the largest Masonic club in the United States. In addition to his numerous Masonic connections Mr. Nordling is identified with several other fraternal orders, including Boston Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is a life-member; Scandia Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also the Paul Revere Encamp- ment of this order. He is also a member of Logen Klippan No. 58, Order of Vasa; Strand
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Lodge, Scandinavian Fraternity of America; the Swedish Charitable Society of Greater Boston; and of the Boston Fusileers, in which he has held all the offices, and in 1915 was captain. He is also identified with the Boston Nest of Owls, and a number of other local societies. In a business way, Mr. Nordling holds member- ship and is actively interested in the State and National Funeral Directors' associations. Mr. Nordling has won by close attention to busi- ness, by honorable principles in all his contacts with life, and by the worth of his character, a place of prominence in the business and social life of Boston.
Charles Oscar Nordling was married, April 30, 1900, to Alfrida N. Follberg, who was born in Sweden and came to this country in 1892.
FRANK E. BROWN-For more than thirty years Frank E. Brown has been located at his present address, No. 286 Meridian Street, East Boston, where he is conducting the oldest under- taking establishment in East Boston and one of the three oldest in the city of Boston. His father and his grandfather before him were en- gaged in the same business, which is now more than eighty years old.
William Henry Brown, grandfather of Mr. Brown, located in East Boston as a young man, and in 1848 he opened the first undertaking establishment and funeral parlors in this section of the city. He was a good business man and an expert mortician and during the remainder of his long life he continued to build up the enterprise which he had founded. His death occurred at the advanced age of eighty-one years, but long before that time his son, Wil- liam E. Brown, had become his associate in the business. William Henry Brown was a mem- ber of all the Masonic bodies and took an ac- tive part in them.
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