USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 51
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removed. In the walls of this room are doors opening into the retorts, which are chambers of fire brick, slightly larger than the casket. In one of these the casket containing the body is carefully placed and the door closed and locked. Incineration is rapidly accomplished by clear jets of flame producing a temperature of 1,800 or 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the air used in creating the flame being driven by a fan and blower operated by electric power. The incineration takes about an hour and a half, and the ashes may then, in case of need, be removed at once, but the cemetery prefers to allow the retort to cool and to deliver the ashes the next day. Only the ashes of the bones, about four pounds, remain. All else, including the casket, has disappeared in light ash or in gaseous products. The dissolution of the human body has been accomplished in a short time, completely and cleanly, and after placing the ashes in an urn the columbarium or the walls of the chapel offer a secure resting place for them.
In all the many improvements which have been made, Mr. Cobb has taken a very active part and has had the supervision of much of the work.
Fraternally, Mr. Cobb is identified with the Masonic Order, having joined St. Bernard's Lodge, in Southboro, in which he held several offices, and later demitted to Prospect Lodge, of Roslindale. He is a member of St. Paul's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Roxbury Coun- cil, Royal and Select Masters; Joseph Warren Commandery, Knights Templar; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; also a member of all the Scot- tish Rite bodies in Boston, and of the Order of the Eastern Star, in which last he is a Past Patron, having served in that office in 1900. He is also a member of the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, and of Paul Revere En- campment, of which he is a Past Chief; Pa- triarch of Theodore Roosevelt Court, Order of the Amarants; and of the White Shrine of Jerusalem.
Frank L. Cobb married, in 1913, Jeannette H. Hazzard, who was born in Rhode Island.
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WILLIAM J. PITMAN-Forest Hills Cem- etery, located in what was formerly West Roxbury, but now a part of Boston, was con- secrated in 1848, and in 1868, when the city . of Roxbury became a part of the city of Bos- ton, was taken over by the lot owners who placed it under the management of a board of trustees who serve without compensation. Dur- ing the more than eighty years of its existence the cemetery has steadily improved its serv- ice to the people of Metropolitan Boston and has become one of the most beautiful cem- eteries in the United States. It has also be- come one of the most modern and progressive cemeteries in the country, as is evidenced by the fact that at the Walk Hill Street entrance, pleasantly situated in quiet and attractive grounds, stands a beautiful and dignified build- ing, completely equipped for the most advanced and scientific means of taking care of the re- mains of those who have passed on to the next life. There, amid tall trees and well-kept lawns, stands the crematory. Of this, William J. Pitman was formerly assistant, having been associated with the cemetery since June 20, 1896, a period of more than thirty years. The records show that in three decades the an- nual number of cremations has more than trebled, and it is certain that in the same period of time the facilities for this work have been revolutionized and brought to a perfection of detail which leaves little to be desired.
William J. Pitman was born in Lewiston, Maine, January 4, 1871, son of John Pitman, a native of Conway, New Hampshire, who re- moved to Lewiston, Maine, and then to Tops- ham, Maine, where he remained to the time of his death at the age of forty-six years. John Pitman's wife, who before her marriage was Priscilla Williams, was born in Embden, Maine, and is still living (1929) at the age of eighty-seven years. There were two children born of this marriage, William J., of whom we write, and Agusta, who is now deceased. Wil- liam J., whose parents had removed to Tops- ham, Maine, when he was three years of age, was reared, and educated in the public and high schools of that place. He then found
employment with a firm engaged in the manu- facture of pulp board. That connection he continued for a period of six years and then came to Boston, where he entered the em- ploy of the Dennison Manufacturing Company, with whom he remained for two years. At the end of that time, on January 20, 1896, he took a position as assistant superintendent of the Forest Hills Crematory, and here he has been continuously employed to the present time, completing in January, 1929, a continuous service of thirty-three years. When Mr. Pit- man first took charge here the number of cremations was comparatively small, totalling one hundred and thirty-five in 1897. During the year 1928 there were five hundred and eleven cremations. In recent years two re- torts have been added to the equipment, mak- ing four in all, and a beautiful, chapel has been built, furnishing seating for
one hundred people. No situation could be more beautiful than that in which the crematory is placed. When services are held in the chapel, the cas- ket is placed upon a catafalque in front of a platform, and after the services it is noiselessly wheeled into the adjoining room. In the walls of this room are doors opening into the re- torts, which are chambers of fire brick, slightly larger than the casket. In one of these the casket containing the body, undisturbed, is carefully placed and the door closed and locked. Incineration is rapidly accomplished by clear jets of flame producing a temperature of 1,800 or 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and within an hour and a half dissolution is complete, only the ashes remaining. Thus in the short space of an hour and a half "dust has re- turned to dust" and "ashes to ashes." Mr. Pit- man is the second oldest employee of the as- sociation, and there is possibly no person in the United States who understands his special department of the cemetery work better than he. Fraternally, he is identified with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and his unfailing courtesy and his genial disposition have made for him a host of friends.
Mr. Pitman was married, in 1891, to Flora B. Storer, a native of Brunswick, Maine, and
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both are well known in this section of the city. They make their home at No. 155 Walk Hill Street, Forest Hills, situated on the cem- etery grounds.
DAVID MANCOVITZ-Prominent in Bos- ton as statesman and lawyer, David Manco- vitz has had a varied and interesting career. He was born August 15, 1876, at Pren, Lithu- ania, son of Aaron and Fannie (Katz) Man- covitz: His father, a wise and distinguished man, was a rabbi in Poland, later being a rabbi in the city of Boston, having taken residence here in 1878. He lived to the age of eighty, dying in December of 1925. Fannie (Katz) Mancovitz was a native of Kingsbridge, Prus- sia; and she died in Boston at the age of fifty years, in 1905. In the family were nine chil- dren, of whom the following survive (1929) : 1. Anna. 2. David, of whom we write. 3. Minna. 4. Rose. 5. Helen. 6. Esther. 7. Irving.
David Mancovitz was less than two years old when his father came to Boston, and with other members followed Rabbi Mancovitz to this city in 1888, at the age of twelve. He had, meanwhile, studied at a Hebrew school in Poland, and when he arrived in Boston con- tinued his education in Eliot Grammar School, completing the course there in 1894. Three years later, accomplishing four years' work in that time, he graduated from English High School, then began his career, as a traveling salesman, at which position he busied himself a year. His interest in the law as a life's work increased apace; and he now entered Bos- ton University Law School, whence he took the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1901, and was admitted to the bar of Massachusetts that same year. He has engaged, successfully and with augmented reputation, in legal practice through the years that have followed down to the present, his offices being at No. 43 Tre- mont Street.
Shortly after commencement of practice Mr. Mancovitz stepped into public affairs, and has been identified with them with fair continuity since. In 1902 he served as representative in the Boston City Council; again in 1903 and 1904 he held the same office, from Ward No. 8, West End. In 1908-09-10 and 1916 he served in the State Legislature, assisting valuably in various progressive instances of law making, and was a member of the Massachusetts Consti- tutional Convention in 1917-18. He became assistant attorney for Suffolk County in 1920, and held the office through the two years suc- ceeding. From 1901 to 1919 he was a member of the Ward Committee, elected continuously from year to year, and has been a delegate to various county and State conventions. As a youth he made a hobby of rowing, and is now fond of boating, taking advantage of all op- portunities to indulge this taste in leisure hours. He is a devotee of the classics. Fra- ternally, Mr. Mancovitz is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Heptasophs, and be- longs to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. He is a mem- ber of the Young Men's Hebrew Association and attends Commonwealth Avenue Temple. Talented at speaking, he is an active figure in the Russell Club Debating Society.
Mr. Mancovitz married, in Boston, January 10, 1912, Mattie A. Snow, native of Massachu- setts. They make their residence at No. 1251 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.
HERMANN E. GOEDECKE-For the first ten years of his business life Hermann E. Goedecke, of Boston, devoted himself to learn- ing the drygoods trade. He left it for an occupation of a nature quite at variance with that work but one which would bring him into still closer contact with men of affairs. His engaging personality, developed by intimate in- tercourse with business men in his capacity as salesman, was of great value to him in the life
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insurance business, which he adopted. For more than thirty years he has seen his business grow, his friends increase in numbers, his stand- ing in the business world advance, bringing to him a satisfaction that must be felt, although it may not be revealed through a cloak of natural modesty.
Hermann E. Goedecke was born in Brook- lyn, New York, August 17, 1866, a son of G. Alwin Goedecke, who was born in Halle, Ger- many, who emigrated to America, settling in Brooklyn, where he was a merchant until his death, his line being the wholesaling of silks. His mother was Emily (Heydecker) Goedecke, of Brooklyn. Hermann was educated in the schools of Brooklyn, being graduated from the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute with the class of 1882. He then entered the wholesale dry- goods business in New York City, remaining in it for ten years, eight years of which time he spent as a traveling salesman. In 1892 he be- came associated with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company in its New York of- fice, and transferred to Boston in 1897, accept- ing the position of special agent. He has con- tinued in that capacity ever since. He is a Republican in politics and from 1886 to 1896 served as a non-commissioned officer in the New York State National Guard. He attends St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church and is chairman of its finance committee. He is a member of the Boston Life Underwriters' Asso- ciation; the Boston Chamber of Commerce; the Boston City Club, and the Episcopalian Club. His favorite recreations are motoring, garden- ing and all sports.
He married, June 11, 1890, Maude E. Forbes, of Lapeer, Michigan.
WILLIAM ITTMAN-There is no name in the insurance field of Boston better known or more greatly respected for what its owner has accomplished than that of William Ittman. He
has been established here only since 1922, yet in that brief period he has made a record that is, in many respects, unique. He is gifted with originality and has brought this quality into his business, with the result that attention has been attracted to him in all quarters where insur- ance is sold and has brought him the encomi- ums of co-operators and competitors alike. So rapid has been his advancement that his busi- ness is now among the leaders in the field, his industry, keen sight, alert mind, pleasing per- sonality and comprehensive knowledge of the work being the chief instruments used in his achievements. Calm in his outward demeanor, he is possessed of an indefatigable vitality, either in the pursuit of business or the recrea- tions of the tennis courts, of which he is a devotee. He is an omnivorous reader and as such has acquired a fund of general knowledge that is most helpful to him in his work, as well as delightfully enjoyable to a large circle of friends. Still in the prime of middle life, the opportunities before him are illimitable, and the unanimous opinion among his business associ- ates is that he will not fail to take advantage of each one as it arises.
He was born in Frankfort, Germany, March 29, 1888, a son of John and Caroline (Kloep- pel) Ittman, both deceased. His father was a chief judge of the district just outside of the city of Frankfort and his mother was a direct descendant of Michael von Leers, who was Prime Minister of the Palatinal Electors of Germany. Their son acquired his early educa- tion in the public schools of Frankfort and was then sent to the Berlin Military Technical School, from which he was graduated in 1910. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Third Artillery of Mayence and while serving in this arm of the military establishment challenged to a duel and fought to the death a French officer in the aviation service, whom he had charged with insulting a superior officer. In 1914 he came to the United States and took a two-term course at Cornell University, following which he was employed for seven years as a manage- ment worker in a number of manufacturing
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William Ittman
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plants, among them having been the Thomas G. Plant Company of Boston; the Wichert & Gardiner Company, of Brooklyn, New York, and the Christian Science Publishing Company, of Boston. In 1922 he became associated with the Boston agency of the Aetna Life Insurance Company and was the first man in Massachu- setts to write $1,000,000 worth of risks for that corporation. In 1927 he severed his connection with that company and established himself in- dependently, opening a Boston agency for the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa and being appointed manager for its New England Division. Since then recognition of his work has been shown by the company by his being given sole supervision over the Worcester ter- ritory and he now has full charge of Eastern Massachusetts, including Worcester County, and the State of Rhode Island. The business is constantly expanding and additional space for office work has been added at his head- quarters at No. 80 Federal Street, Boston. B. F. Hadley, vice-president of the Equitable, on a recent visit to Boston headquarters, took occasion to note that the progress under Mr. Ittman displayed an outstanding achievement in agency development, the increase in life insurance written and paid for since his appoint- ment in the fall of 1927 having increased more than 1,000 per cent.
Mr. Ittman is the author of a life insurance plan that has made a strong appeal to business men and met the hearty approval of other agents in his field. This is his retirement in- come insurance charts, which give ocular demonstration of the value of setting aside a portion of one's income against old age and possible incapacity. His plan in demonstrating the value of his device is to show that the in- vestor in retirement insurance does not have to die to win, but that the longer he lives the more he will receive at the age when he de- cides voluntarily to retire. He is also protect- ing his family during the years of his activity, for they will be cared for in the event of his premature death. A complete analysis of the plan was printed in the issue of November 15,
1928, of "The Insurance-Age Journal," of Bos- ton, and was widely reprinted throughout the country, receiving favorable comments every- where, while Mr. Ittman was the recipient of a flood of congratulatory letters regarding it.
Mr. Ittman is also deeply interested in the development of young manhood and holds the position of general of Division "E" of the An- nual Budget Balancing Canvass Organization of the Young Men's Christian Association of Boston. He believes in Boston's future and in associating himself with the "Y" movement has adopted the epigram of Ralph Waldo Em- erson, that: "The greatest enterprise in the world is the upbuilding of a man." He looks upon it as a patriotic duty to the country and has given to it as much of his great ability as he devotes to his private business enterprises. Mr. Ittman is a director in the business of Mark A. Dunham & Company of Boston and has membership in the Boston Chamber of Com- merce; General Agents' Round Table; Boston Life Underwriters' Association; University Club; Cornell Club of New England, of which he has served on the board of governors; the Longwood Cricket Club and other organiza- tions. He is independent in politics, and at- tends the Lutheran church.
William Ittman married, in June, 1914, Ethel McLeod, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and they are the parents of one child, William McLeod, born June 10, 1916.
THOMAS EVERETT SEARS, born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, on July 15, 1882, the son of Captain Benjamin Warren Sears and Louisa Thompson (Cornish) Sears, both natives of Plymouth, Massachusetts, is a descendant of Richard Warren and Elder William Brewster of the "Mayflower." Captain Benjamin W. Sears, born in Plymouth in 1831, and a captain at twenty, sailed the seven seas until 1878 when
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he was given command of the only passenger steamer plying between the Sandwich Islands. He moved his family from Plymouth to Hono- lulu, and it was here that his son was born. Later, from 1885 to 1888, Captain Sears had charge of a successful salmon fishing enterprise in Alaska for the same interests with whom he was associated in Honolulu. In 1888 he re- turned with his family to his old home in Plym- outh, Massachusetts.
Thomas Everett Sears attended the Plymouth public schools and graduated from the Plymouth High School in 1899 at the age of sixteen. He then entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and after a four years' course in mechanical engineering was graduated in the class of 1903.
In September, 1903, he entered the engineer- ing department of the Chicago Board of Fire Underwriters as an inspector in their automatic sprinkler department. He soon became assistant to the head of this department. In 1905 he was called to serve with a committee of twenty of the National Board of Fire Underwriters. This or- ganization, following the Baltimore conflagra- tion, established four parties in the field to survey the conflagration hazard and the facili- ties available for preventing or extinguishing fires. Mr. Sears had particular supervision of fire department surveys and covered many of the important cities on the Pacific coast as well as throughout the East and South. In 1906 he accepted a position as regular inspector for the Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Com- panies of Boston. These companies were the pioneers in the development of the automatic sprinklers and other fire protective devices. His duties carried him throughout Eastern Canada and the New England and Southern States. In 1909 he was offered a position as special agent with the Continental Insurance Company. This work involved the settlement of fire losses and the supervision of agents, as well as inspection work, in which he had had six years of intensive training. This wider field, developing greater experience in insurance generally, resulted in his becoming associated as a partner with one of the leading fire insurance agencies in Boston, in
particular charge of their engineering depart- ment.
In 1919 he established the firm of Thomas E. Sears, Incorporated, of which he is still the president and general manager. Through his own organization he was able to provide a serv- ice peculiarly adapted to the large industrial clientele which he had acquired throughout the United States and Canada. The Associated In- dustries of Massachusetts, in 1919, appointed Mr. Sears as their insurance adviser. This ap- pointment was brought about owing to Mr. Sears' wide experience in handling industrial in- surance problems. In the same year he was elected an officer of the Insurance Management Corporation of Pennsylvania and in 1921 a director of the General Reinsurance Corporation of New York. In 1918 he was elected a director of the Braintree National Bank.
On October 27, 1908, Mr. Sears married Helen Jane MacCarthy, a descendant of the Lowdens and Murrays, Scotch pioneers in Nova Scotia. They have four children: Thomas E., Jr., born in 1910; Richard Warren, born in 1914; Helen Jane, born in 1918; and Victoria Louise, born in 1920. The family has lived in Braintree, Massa- chusetts, for the past nineteen years.
Mr. Sears has taken an active interest in town affairs during this time. At present he is chair- man of the board of trustees of the First Con- gregational Church of Braintree and a member of the Board of Water Commissioners of that town.
A. O. BARKER-Accounted prominent in the business circles of Boston's younger men and having a wide acquaintanceship among com- mercial and industrial figureheads of the city, A. O. Barker is president of Barker, Meader Company, Suite No. 533, at No. 50 Congress Street. The company deals in insurance, as a brokerage house, handling all kinds of policies, though Mr. Barker himself specializes in life insurance.
Mr. Barker is the son of Dr. Justin Starr
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Barker, native of Effingham, New Hampshire, and Edna L. (Straw) Barker, native of York County, Maine, who died April 29, 1929. Jus- tin Starr Barker is a physician and surgeon, hav- ing had a most satisfactory career in that pro- fession. Previous to the World War he served as captain in the Medical Corps, Maine State Guard. In medical circles of county and State his standing is of the highest.
Born in Maplewood, Maine, August 21, 1894, A. O. Barker moved two years later to Ken- nebunk, Maine, and he received his first school training in the public classrooms of that place. He prepared for college in Thornton Academy, Saco, Maine, and Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; he matriculated in Yale Univer- sity, and in 1916 received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. Following this he continued in study for one more year, in Yale, taking post- graduate work in the School of Business Admin- istration. He secured his first commercial con- nection with the Housing Company, Boston, in 1919. With this organization he continued un- til 1921, when he became associated with the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company. He represented the Provident in its Boston office until 1926, working as special agent; then, that year, he joined in association with Walton B. Meader in the formation of Barker, Meader & Company, Incorporated, with himself as presi- dent, and Mr. Meader as treasurer.
He is a member of a number of clubs and organizations of Boston, and of Cohasset, where he lives. These include the Exchange, Union Boat, Yale Club of Boston, Cohasset Golf, and Cohasset Yacht clubs; membership in the Bos- ton Chamber of Commerce, in which he is ac- tively interested, and in the Military Order of the World War. At the outbreak of the war Mr. Barker took service in the United States Naval Reserve Corps, and held the rank of lieu- tenant, junior grade. Politically he adheres in principle to the Independent party. He is a communicant of the Unitarian church.
In 1922, Mr. Barker was united in marriage with Helen Howes, of Boston, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of two children: Grant Starr, and Elisabeth.
ERNEST BOOTH-One of the best-known wool brokers in the city of Boston is Ernest Booth, who has been engaged in that line of business since 1889, a period of thirty-nine years. During the first ten years of his active life he was associated with his father, but in 1899 he began operating under his own name and has since continued alone. His office is lo- cated at No. 246 Summer Street.
Henry Booth, father of Mr. Booth, was born in Halifax, England, and was engaged in the wool business for about fifty-five years. While still in England he entered that line of activity and after coming to this country became as- sociated with the Peacedale Manufacturing Company, of Peacedale, Rhode Island. That connection was continued for a period of twen- ty-five years, after which he came to Boston, where he rounded out a total of about fifty- five years in the business. He married Isabella Ormston, who was born in Bolton, England, but is now deceased.
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