USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume V > Part 21
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Mr. Driscoll was born in St. John, New
Brunswick, Canada, March 21, 1884, son of Bartholmeau J. Driscoll, who died in 1908, and Annie T. (Curran) Driscoll, who died in 1918, both having been natives of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bartholmeau J. Driscoll was promi- nent for many years as a member of the firm of Driscoll Brothers, lumber merchants, in which he was active until his death.
Frederick J. Driscoll was educated in the public schools of St. John, New Brunswick, and after high school, entered Kerrs Univer- sity. After the completion of his formal educa- tion, he entered the realm of business and was occupied for two years in the lumber industry. He next came to Boston in 1911 and entered the insurance business, in which he has ever continued, being associated at first with the New York Life Insurance Company in their Boston office for three years. In 1914, Mr. Driscoll became connected with the firm of Robert A. Boit and since that time has con- ducted an independent brokerage business for this company and by his efforts has achieved considerable success, with a large and discrimi- nating clientele which has grown steadily and consistently. In the activities of his professional life, he is prominently identified with the New England Insurance Exchange, the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters Association, and the Insurance Society of Massachusetts. In · promoting civic development, he aids greatly by his active membership in the Boston Cham- ber of Commerce, while his social organiza- tions are the Woodland Golf Club, the Brae Burn Country Club and the Exchange Club. Mr. Driscoll finds great recreation in skating, golf and horseback riding, while another of his hobbies is floral culture, in all of which he ob- tains the necessary relaxation from his strenu- ous business affairs. In politics, he follows the principles of the Republican party and his re- ligious adherence is given to the Roman Cath- olic church. In the financial life of Boston he is well known as a trustee of the Newton Savings Bank.
Frederick J. Driscoll married, in 1913, Mary J. Bateman, who was born in Dorchester,
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daughter of Charles J. Bateman, a leading builder and contractor of Dorchester, and to this union has been born one daughter, Mary J.
THOMAS E. GRIFFIN-Ranking as one of the largest independent sole leather manu- facturing houses in Boston, the Thomas Griffin Leather Corporation is regarded in the shoe trade and in industrial quarters generally as a leader in its field. The directing force of the company has been the personality of Thomas E. Griffin, who started it in 1924 as an outgrowth of the New England selling branch of the J. W. and A. P. Howard Com- pany, which was organized about 1867 for the manufacture of hemlock and oak tanned leather.
Mr. Griffin was born in Weymouth, Massa- chusetts, on November 6, 1884, a son of Mi- chael and Ellen (Moriarty) Griffin. The father was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and was engaged for a long period of years in the shoe industry until his death; while the mother, Ellen (Moriarty) Griffin, was born in Antrim, New Hampshire, and is now deceased. As a boy, Thomas Griffin attended the public schools in the town of his birth, Weymouth, Massachusetts. In 1901, he entered the shoe industry, as an employee of the firm of John- son and Murphy, known as the Johnson and Murphy Shoe Company, of Newark, New Jer- sey. He remained there for several years un- til, in 1910, he came to Boston with the Howes Brothers Leather Company. He was then in the employ of this firm until 1917, when he took a position as manager for the J. W. and A. P. Howard Company, with which he re- mained until 1924. Then he started the Griffin Leather Corporation, of which he has been president and manager ever since that time. In the few years of this company's existence, it has made remarkable headway, so that it is now credited with being one of the best
equipped and most progressive organizations of its kind in Boston.
In addition to his own business activities, Mr. Griffin maintains an interest in all the civic and public matters of Boston life. Choosing to remain unaligned with any of the existing polit- ical parties, he follows an independent course in regard to politics. When he is not busy with the many activities that necessarily engage his attention in connection with the leather business, he takes time to enjoy his favorite hobby, which is baseball, attending many games and keeping himself acquainted with developments in this sport. Mr. Griffin is a member of the Roman Catholic church.
In 1908, Thomas E. Griffin married Margaret Clinton, who was born in Braintree, Massa- chusetts.
JOHN FRANCIS HARDY-A native of Boston, where he has practiced law since 1918, John Francis Hardy is a member of the legal firm of Farrer & McCormack, whose offices are in the Old South Building. Mr. Hardy is favorably known in the city for his public service as well as for his activities in his pro- fession. Highly esteemed by his fellow-practi- tioners, he is also popular in political and fra- ternal circles.
John Francis Hardy was born in that part of the city known as South Boston, Septem- ber 15, 1886. He was named for his father, John Francis Hardy, who was born in County Galway, Ireland, January 6, 1863. As a child he came to Boston. After he grew to manhood he entered the service of the Boston & Albany Railroad in the track department and was a section-hand and foreman for forty-two years. He retired from the service, July 1, 1926. He married Mary Ann Folan, who was born in County Galway, June 20, 1863, and came with her parents to the United States at about the same time as did her then future husband. She
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died January 19, 1929, and Mr. Hardy survived her only until February 2 of the same year. They were the parents of eight children: 1. John Francis, of whom further. 2. Mary Ellen. 3. Abigail Helen.
4. Catherine. 5. Dr. Ste- phen F. 6. Thomas E. 7. Joseph V. 8. James J.
John Francis Hardy, eldest child and son of John Francis and Mary Ann (Folan) Hardy, was born at No. 761 Broadway, South Boston, the house where he still makes his home. In 1900 he graduated from grammar school. He was then fourteen years old, and at once began to earn money to buy his clothing and for his other personal necessaries, little luxuries and the like, since the family was not over-sup- plied with funds. He did not, however, aban- don thoughts of a higher education, and in the year that he left grammar school he enrolled in an evening high school and pursued his studies there for two years. Intending in the near future to resume his studies, he began at that time to give his whole time to work.
In 1904 he obtained employment on the Bos- ton & Albany Railroad, where he remained until 1908, when he went to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, where he worked until 1911. In the latter year he was appointed a member of the Boston Fire De- partment. It was while in that service that he fulfilled his earlier resolve, and reëntered evening high school. Here he improved every minute of his time. Meanwhile he continued in the Fire Department service, from which he resigned in 1918.
In 1914, Mr. Hardy had decided to embark upon the study of the law, and he entered the Suffolk law school. He made an excellent stu- dent record, and in his sophomore year was winner of a scholarship. In his mid-junior year, in the examinations conducted in all subjects he stood third highest, the contest having for its objective the O'Callahan (law book pub- lishers) prize. He had still to make up several requirements, which lapsed through his irreg- ular and curtailed preparatory schooling, and these he completed in 1916-17 in a special di- vision of the law school. He was elected his-
torian of his class of 1918, in which year he was graduated as Bachelor of Laws.
Mr. Hardy was admitted to practice before any bar in Massachusetts following his exam- ination which he passed in December, 1918, and later he was admitted to practice in the United States District Court. He set up at once in a general practice, which he has con- tinued with prosperity and an ever-increasing clientele through the succeeding years; with the exception of the period during which he served his country in the World War. Mr. Hardy was quick to offer his services after " entry of the United States in the conflict, and in May, 1918, he was stationed as captain of the police department of the Boston Army Supply Base and as superintendent of the in- telligence bureau. Here he continued, with the rank of captain until May of the following year.
As a boy, Mr. Hardy's hobby was boxing, and in that he attained to some notoriety; to- day it is politics and public service. In politics he exerts considerable influence, without fan- fare, and to the best interests of the com- munity.
In September, 1919, Mr. Hardy was ap- pointed supervisor of the Census, for Suffolk County, Massachusetts, embracing the cities of Boston, Chelsea, and Revere, and the town of Winthrop. He completed this laborious and voluminous work May 1, 1920. It had been held by some persons that the canvass was in- complete, but following a thoroughly conduc- ted investigation, which had been demanded, Mr. Hardy was made the recipient of the com- mendation of the chief in the Census Bureau for his thorough and efficient service.
Fraternally, Mr. Hardy's connections include membership in the Knights of Columbus, the Russell Fire Club of Boston, the South Boston Citizens' Association and the South Boston Bar Association, being one of the board of gov- ernors of said association. At one time he held the offices of director and second vice- president of the Fire club. He was a member of the board of trustees and secretary of the
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Boston Firemen's Relief Fund, the only man ever to be elected to that office for three suc- cessive terms. Mr. Hardy is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church in South Bos- ton. His contributions to charity are readily forthcoming and generous in proportions, giv- en without regard for race or creed, in a spirit truly humanitarian. Of him it is said by those who know him well that he is a manly man worthy in every way of respect, that he is honorable in his dealings, kindly, firm of opin- ion, but the first to admit an error if proved wrong, and that as a citizen he is valuable to his community, State and Nation.
In South Boston, April 14, 1909, Mr. Hardy was united in marriage with Mary Ellen Capeless, a native of Boston, daughter of John and Mary E. Capeless, both parents deceased. Of this marriage were born seven children: 1. Marie Agnes, born January 13, 1910, died February 4, 1926. 2. Eleanor Gertrude, born December 5, 1911. 3. John Francis, Jr. (the third member of the Hardy family to bear the given names of John and Francis), born De- cember 28, 1913. 4. Dorothea Margaret, born June 24, 1916. 5. Edward Joseph, born January 20, 1919. 6. Lillian Francis, born December 30, 1920. 7. Leonard Hardy, born January 28, 1928. Mrs. Hardy is a woman of charm and refine- ment, and popular in the circles in which she moves.
JOSEPH JOYCE DONAHUE-Examples of legal erudition in practice at the bar of Massachusetts are many; the reputations of in- dividuals are not confined to the State. Joseph Joyce Donahue, of Boston, is worthy of a place among them. He prepared for his career with sound educational courses, followed up by con- tinual study along broad and deep cultural lines. His law practice has been large and varied and he has applied himself intensively to it. He is one of the most experienced trial lawyers at
the Boston bar, and is frequently called in by council to present cases to juries and to argue before the Supreme Court of the Common- wealth. He is regarded with confidence and affection by his confreres of the bench and bar.
He was born in Medford, Massachusetts, September 26, 1885. His father was Peter E., and his mother, Catherine (Joyce) Donahue. His father was born in Doolin, County Clare, Ireland; his mother in Croughwell, County Gal- way, Ireland. Both are deceased. Peter E. Donahue was prominent and successful builder of Boston. He erected many of the large buildings and schoolhouses as well as a number of Catholic churches in the city and surrounding territory.
Joseph Joyce Donahue received his early edu- cation in the local schools. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1908. He took up the study of law at Harvard Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1910. He later took a post-graduate course of one year in scholastic philosophy at Boston College. While in Har- vard Law School he was an organizer and charter member of Troop C Cavalry, Massa- chusetts Volunteer Militia.
He began the practice of law in the office of James R. Murphy and remained associated with the latter for over five years. During the years 1913-14 he acted as special assistant at- torney-general of the Commonwealth in mat- ters pertaining to the Gas and Electric Light Commission and the Metropolitan Park Com- mission. He represented Medford in the Massa- chusetts Legislature in the year 1915. He was twice the Democratic nominee for attorney- general, 1915 and 1916.
In 1918 he enlisted as a private in the United States Field Artillery, serving therein during the World War. During the years 1922 and 1923 he was assistant district attorney and special assistant district attorney of Suffolk County in charge of the prosecution of broker- age frauds and bucket shops.
He has the taste of the student and scholar. Medieval and Renaissance philosophy, art and social order, and the background of American
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history have been the subjects of his research and study. For many years he gave lectures and addresses on "Guilds in the Middle Ages," "The Rise of Parliamentary Government in England and on the Continent," and similar studies. For recreation he takes long walks either alone or with congenial companions who can talk and listen, too. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Boston Bar As- sociation, and Middlesex Bar Association. His religion is Roman Catholic.
Mr. Donahue married, April 7, 1920, Isabel Rose Cairns, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, daugh- ter of Alexander Douglas Cairns (deceased), and Laura D. (Martine) Cairns. There are three children: 1. Robert Joyce, born July 25, 1921. 2. Aiden Douglas, born December 12, 1922. 3. David Cairns, born November 3, 1926.
RICHARD J. HAYDEN-The city of Bos- ton is fortunate in having secured for its super- intendent of parks Richard J. Hayden, who was appointed May 1, 1929, and it is safe to say that he is one of the best informed men in . the experience he could, but at the end of that the country in the special fields to which he has given his attention. His entire life has been devoted to aboriculture and horticulture, and he has been identified with the park depart- ment of the city of Boston for more than twenty-five years.
Richard J. Hayden was born in Ireland, Au- gust 1, 1873, son of John Hayden, who was engaged as a tradesman in his native land, and of Ellen (Londergan) Hayden, now de- ceased. To John and Ellen Hayden nine chil- dren were born, and all of these are living at the present time (1929): John, James, Patrick, Ellen, and Elizabeth are living in Ireland; Mary and Agnes, who reside in New York City; Francis and Richard J., of whom further, are in Boston.
Reared in Ireland, Richard J. Hayden at- tended the National schools of his native land
for thirteen years, and then spent seven years on the Moore estate, Barne Park, Clonmel, Ire- land, where he served his time in all branches of arboriculture and horticulture. In 1898 he came to this country and located in Boston, where he took a position on the estate of Fred- eric C. Hood, of Brookline. For three years he had charge of the estate. At the end of that time he resigned in order that he might accept the position of foreman of the Italian gardens of the late Mrs. John L. Gardner, of Brookline. There, after a year, he was assigned to the hot- houses of the estate, charged with the special work of growing plants and flowers for exhibi- tion purposes. During this time he gave careful study to the special work in which he was en- gaged and exhibited in all the exhibitions at the Horticultural Hall. In the final year of his work on this estate he was exhibiting in eleven classes and taking eight first prizes, one second prize, and the bronze and silver medals. Wish- ing to enlarge his experience, he then resigned and accepted the position of landscape construc- tionist on the estate of the late J. Reed Whipple, of East Lexington, Massachusetts, working from the plans and specifications of Olmsted Broth- ers, landscape architects of Brookline. For one year he continued that connection, gaining all
time, although urged to continue the connec- tion both by Mr. Olmsted and by Mr. Whipple, he decided to again make a change, this time entering the service of the city of Boston, in the old Public Grounds Department, beginning as a gardener. He was far better equipped for his work than is the average gardener, but he gave the closest possible attention to his work, beginning in 1904, and after a time he was promoted to the position of foreman of the Boston Common, and later of Franklin Park. Prior to his present appointment he had charge of the South Boston division of the Park Sys- tem. As time passed his skill and his industry, as well as his knowledge, brought him further advancement, and he successfully passed the examinations and the qualifications tests for assistant superintendent of parks of Boston. From the beginning, Mr. Hayden has been
Diehard Stayden
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a student as well as an active worker and director, and from 1905 down to the present time he has taken numerous courses of study, in order to perfect his knowledge along as many lines as possible. In 1905 he received a certificate from the Educational Centre, evening school, for the completion of courses in mechanical and perspective drawing. The following summer he studied botany in Har- vard College Summer School, receiving his certificate at the end of the term. In 1908, he received his certificate for the completion of a course in forestry at Yale College Summer School. In 1915 and again in 1920 he won his certificates from the Harvard College Exten- sion course in English composition, and in 1916 in the Harvard College Extension department he satisfactorily completed a course in ethics. Still, he was eager to continue the work which he had set for himself, and in 1918 he turned his attention to mathematics, this time completing evening courses in Northeastern College in alge- bra, geometry, mensuration, and trigonometry. All this time he was attending to his duties in connection with the park system of Boston, but he was gaining for himself a liberal edu- cation during his spare time. In 1921 he passed the requirements in a course in oral English given by the State Department of Education, an evening course, and in 1922 he received a certificate from Northeastern College for the completion of a course on topographic map- ping and highway engineering. In 1923 the State Department of Education granted him a certificate of psychology, class room tests, and in 1924 he studied and completed a course in factory organization and administration, given by the State Department of Education. During that same year he also attended a course of lectures given by the Boston Society of Land- scape Architects. Moreover, he put his knowl- edge into practical use. He perfected the first reversible snow-plow made in America, having his model made in the Franklin Park work shops. It is made to be attached to a motor truck for the removing of snow from the park roads, and has saved a vast amount of labor and expense for the city. He also perfected a
rake to be used in gathering sea-weed along the beaches. It is nine feet wide and can be drawn by a pair of horses or by a tractor and when the rake is filled it is so designed that it can be lifted, depositing its load in a pile to be later forked into a cart or truck. Mr. Hayden's mechanical ability has saved the city large amounts of money, and his executive ability enables him to direct the work of the four hundred and fifty men and sixty-seven women under his charge most skillfully.
But even the courses of study mentioned above do not complete the long list of his ac- tivities as a student. In 1926 he attended a course of lectures given by Henry B. Bigelow, A.M., Ph.D., on "Recent Studies of the North- western Atlantic, Physical and Biologic," un- der the auspices of the Lowell Institute and also completed a course on parliamentary law given by the State Department of Education. He also in that year passed the civil service examinations for director of the South Boston aquarium. The following year, 1927, he quali- fied in a civil service examination for deputy- park commissioner of Boston.
During the years of his work and study, Mr. Hayden has contributed various articles to the press and to magazines on the advancement of arboriculture and horticulture, and it was through one of these articles, which appeared in the evening edition of the "Boston Globe," November 6, 1909, that the work of rejuvenat- ing the soil of Boston Common, from the Park- man fund, was begun. His long years of asso- ciation with the park department have made him thoroughly familiar with the needs and the special difficulties of the park system, and have also won him the entire confidence of his associates. For a time he had charge of Frank- lin Park, and during that period he took an active part in bringing it to its present state of beauty and usefulness. He was appointed to his present position as superintendent of parks, May 1, 1929, and his experience and knowledge are exceedingly useful to him in taking up his new duties and responsibilities.
Mr. Hayden is a man of unusually broad in- terests, in spite of the fact that he has special-
Bos.ii-9
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ized in gardening and in aboricultural and horti- cultural fields all his life, and it is probably true that few men in his position are so well informed on so many general subjects as is he. In 1914, he made an extensive trip abroad, and during his travels he carried a note-book and made a number of visits to the largest pri- vate estates and public parks in Continental Europe, making copious notes upon methods of growing certain of the rarest plants and drafts and sketches of the blooms of those plants. He has also made similar visits to the large estates of this country, filling his book with all sorts of useful notes, and this invaluable note-book is a valuable reference work in his present activities. It is probable that few, if any, men in this country have made so exhaustive a search or have so complete a knowledge of the science of floriculture as has Mr. Hayden. He is a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- ciety, and of the American Society for Muni- cipal Improvements.
JOSEPH M. MURPHY-Veteran in the profession of funeral director and embalmer, Joseph M. Murphy throughout his long and successful experience in Charlestown has won a place of esteem and of increasing regard from his immediate constituency and his business as- sociates. His father, Richard Murphy, was born in Ireland, but spent the greater part of his life in Charlestown, where he was well known as a blacksmith, having spent twenty-eight years at the popular Phil Ham blacksmith shop on Main Street.
Joseph M. Murphy was born in Charles- town, where he attended the public schools. Upon leaving school, he entered the employ of Osgood and Hurd, later Osgood and Witherly, of Charlestown, well-known foundry men, and learned the trade of moulder, where he re- mained for fifteen years. In 1898-1900, at the time of the Spanish-American War, Mr. Murphy
joined the forces of moulders of the Navy Yard, at Charlestown, and he remained there until he entered upon his present activities. It was al- ways his wish to enter the funeral directing bus- iness, and with this end in view, he became as- sociated with Joseph A. Turnbull, a well-known undertaker, and has remained here since. Mr. Turnbull died in 1915, and Mr. Murphy has since continued to carry on the business, under the firm name of Murphy and Turnbull, Mrs. Turnbull continuing as an equal partner, the service of this firm being not only in Charles- town but throughout metropolitan Boston.
Fraternally, he is affiliated with Reliance Lodge, New England Order of Protection, of Everett. He is also a member of the Massachu- setts Funeral Directors' Association. He was for some years a communicant of St. Francis' Roman Catholic Church, of Charlestown, but now of St. Benedict's of Somerville.
Joseph M. Murphy married, in 1902, at St. Stephen's Church, in Boston, Margaret J. Mc- Neil, and of their four children, two survive, Francis and Joseph.
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