USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume V > Part 22
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MARTIN REGAN, superintendent of the four largest Catholic cemeteries in Boston-St. Mary's, Old Calvary, New Calvary and Mount Benedict, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on September 14, 1856. He is a son of James and Mary (Clifford) Regan. His father was a native of Ireland, and was a bricklayer by trade. He came to America and settled in Rox- bury, Massachusetts, where he followed the trade throughout his life, and died in 1880. The mother, Mary (Clifford) Regan, died at the age of sixty-five. They were the parents of ten children, only two of whom are now living: 1. James, who is in the piano business in Rox- bury. 2. Martin, of whom further.
Martin Regan was reared in Roxbury, where he was educated in the common schools. For a number of years he was associated with his
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father, but at the end of this period he en- tered the employ of the Roxbury Carpet Com- pany, with which he continued for ten years. He then became engaged in the undertaking bus- iness, which occupied his attentions until 1893, when he was made superintendent of three cem- eteries-Old Calvary, Mount Benedict and St. Mary's. St. Mary's was opened in 1851, and in the same year Mount Benedict Cemetery was incorporated, although it was not opened until May 22, 1877, the ceremony having been per- formed at that time by Archbishop John J. Williams. New Calvary Cemetery came into the care of Mr. Regan in 1899, six years after he was made superintendent of the other three burial grounds, with the result that today he has charge of more ground for burial purpos- es than any other man in Boston, and employs in the four cemeteries a force of one hundred and twenty-five men, including the services of a number of expert landscape gardeners. Among the large number of monuments in the various cemeteries are some of the finest to be found anywhere in the United States.
During the thirty-six years Mr. Regan has been here he has brought the grounds up to a very high state of perfection and they are today among the most perfectly kept of any in this section.
In 1877, Martin Regan married Hannah Kel- ley, who was born in Jamaica Plain, and who died on May 16, 1916.
THOMAS J. CAVANAGH-One of the old- est cemeteries in Eastern Massachusetts which is still receiving bodies is the Cambridge Ceme- tery, on Coolidge Avenue, in Cambridge, of which Thomas J. Cavanagh has been superin- tendent since April, 1914. Fifteen years of his faithful supervision have brought it to a point where it is one of the best-kept burial grounds in this section of the State.
Michael Cavanagh, father of Thomas Cava- nagh, was born in Ireland in 1839, but at an
early age came to America, locating first in Jamaica Plain. Here he remained until 1870 when he came to Cambridge, where he engaged in busi- ness as a harnessmaker and dealer in saddlery supplies, and in that line he continued to the time of his retirement in 1917, a period of forty- seven years. As a young man he became an American citizen, and he always took an active part in the political affairs of the towns in which he resided. He was one of the well- known business men and respected citizens of Cambridge, where he died, at the age of eighty- two years. He married, in 1868, Mary McCue, who was born in Ireland, and died in 1911, at the age of sixty-nine years. They became the parents of four children, of whom three lived to maturity; but of whom only two are now (1929) living. They are: Annie; and Thomas J., of this record. Both parents were members of the Roman Catholic church, in which they took a deep interest.
Thomas J. Cavanagh was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 24, 1875, and received his education there, attending St. Mary's pa- rochial school, from which he was graduated, and then becoming a student in St. Thomas Aquinas College, where he finished his course with graduation. When his education was com- pleted he became his father's associate in the harness and saddlery supply business, with which he had been familiar from boyhood, and he remained with his father until April, 1914, when he was appointed superintendent of Cam- bridge Cemetery, which responsible position he is filling most satisfactorily. The cem- etery, which contains seventy-five acres, was opened under an act of the Legislature in 1854. Since Mr. Cavanagh became superintendent, in 1914, nearly thirteen thousand people have been buried here and a large number of the lots have been sold. Many improvements have been made, new roads and paths have been construct- ed, the old office building has been remodeled into a chapel, and a new office building con- taining four rooms has been erected. About fifty men are employed on the grounds, and working under the direction of Mr. Cavanagh, the cemetery has been made one of the most
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beautiful in this part of the State. Not only the owners of plots, but all who see Cambridge. Cemetery, appreciate the fact that it is a place of beauty and peace. Skillful landscape garden- ing has converted one section after another into appealing loveliness, and Mr. Cavanagh takes much pride in the genuine artistry of some of the groupings of shrubbery. Among the improvements recently made in the cem- etery was the filling in of a pond and turning the space so regained into lots, an undertaking which, with the perpetual care needed, will run into a cost of more than $100,000.
Mr. Cavanagh is interested in political af- fairs, and has for many years been active in the Democratic party. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and of Cambridge Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, which last he served as a member of the gen- eral committee in 1927; and his religious af- filiation is with Sacred Heart Church.
Thomas J. Cavanagh married, January 31, 1909, Katherine F. Phelan, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island. To this marriage three children were born: 1. Margaret Mary, who graduated from high school in 1928. 2. Thomas J., Jr. 3. Katherine Wilhelmina.
PATRICK J. COX-More than forty years of experience as a mortician have made Pat- rick J. Cox, of Woburn, Massachusetts, one of the best-known and most thoroughly trusted business men of the town and have placed his establishment among the leading concerns of its kind in this section of the country. Mr. Cox began his apprenticeship to the business which he has made his life-work back in 1889, and since that time has been active in this pro- fession. Twenty years of experience in the employ of the late Mr. Reed, of Woburn, gave him excellent experience, and since the death of that well-known undertaker, Mr. Cox has had twenty years of successful business ex- perience on his own account.
Patrick T. Cox, father of Patrick J. Cox, was
born in Ireland, and received his education in the national schools there. He remained in Ireland until after his marriage, when he left his native land and came to this country, locat- ing in Woburn, Massachusetts, where he con- tinued to make his home to the time of his death at the age of sixty-five years. He settled in Woburn in 1892, bringing with him his wife, Sarah (McKenna) Cox, five sons, and three daughters, having lost one child by death. Of the eight children brought to America seven survive (1929), and all are living in Woburn. The mother of the family died at the age of sixty-nine years.
Patrick J. Cox was born in Ireland, April 3, 1868, and received his education in the local national schools. He was reared on the farm of which his father had charge until he was about twenty years of age and then came to this country with his parents, who settled in Wo- burn, Massachusetts. As a young man he de- cided to try working in the coal mines and, with that end in view, went to Wilkes-Barre, Penn- sylvania. One year in that line of work was sufficient to convince him that better opportu- nities might be found nearer home and he re- turned to Woburn. Here he secured a posi- tion in the employ of Lawrence Reed, one of the well-known undertakers of the place, and this connection he maintained for a period of twenty years, from 1889 to 1909. The death of Mr. Reed in the last-named year made some change necessary, and Mr. Cox decided to en- gage in business for himself as an embalmer and funeral director. His long period of associa- tion with Mr. Reed had well prepared him for the successful management of a business of his own, and for twenty years now (1929), he has been building up his present prosperous establishment. He has steadily adhered to the highest principles of 'honorable dealing and has always endeavored to conduct his business in such a manner as to give the best service to his patrons and to make quality service and honorable dealing the foundations of his enter- prise. It is said that his establishment is per- haps second to none in any town of this size in the United States, and the firm of Cox & Son
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is favorably known not only in Woburn, but throughout a large territory surrounding this place. Mr. Cox is a member of the Funeral Directors' Association of New England. He is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, of Woburn. Both he and his family attend and take an active interest in the Catholic church.
Patrick J. Cox was married, in November, 1897, on Thanksgiving Eve, to Annie Cullen, who was a native of Ireland. They have nine children: 1. John, who is associated with his father in the undertaking business under the name of Cox & Son. 2. Edward, who is em- ployed as a clerk in Lowell, Massachusetts. 3. Helen, employed as bookkeeper in a gear manufactory in Woburn. 4. Annie, who is a trained nurse. 5. Charles, who is a plumber. 6. Catherine, a graduate of Woburn High School. 7. Thomas, attending Woburn High School (1929). 8. Margaret, attending school. 9. Agnes, attending school.
ROBERT CHARLES MANGAN MUL-
CAHY-Admitted to the bar of Massachusetts in 1924, Robert Charles Mangan Mulcahy, while practicing his profession, holds the pub- lic office of deputy income tax assessor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Young in years, he has shown a high order of ability that promises advancement to the highest points. His public-spirited citizenship is a lever which has made him a host of friends, while his sincere appreciation of fraternal, so- cial, and athletic activities are acceptable traits of a valuable nature.
He was born in Boston, November 3, 1897, a son of George Joseph Mulcahy, a retired commercial traveler, and of Minnie A. J. (Man- gan) Mulcahy, both natives of Salem, Massa- chusetts, and both living in Watertown. Rob-
ert, the younger of two children, is a graduate of Phillips Brooks Grammar School, Boston, and of the Boston English High School of the class of 1914. He then went to Lawrence Academy, at Groton, Massachusetts, for two years and entered Dartmouth in 1916. He was graduated from the Suffolk Law School in 1922 and admitted to the bar two years later. His hobby is football and during his prepara- tory school days he was a player of note. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Middlesex Club, and of the Massachusetts Republican Club, also of the Dartmouth Club of Boston. His religion is Roman Catholic, his church the Sacred Heart of Watertown, where he lives, at No. 16 Kim- ball Road. His Boston office is at No. 40 Court Street.
Mr. Mulcahy married, in Boston, June 6, 1922, Mary Catherine Gargan, daughter of Joseph Gargan and niece of Thomas Gargan, both par- ents being deceased. Their children are: 1. Rob- ert Charles Mangan Mulcahy, Jr., born Feb- ruary 13, 1925. 2. George Sumner, born May 11, 1926.
JOHN WILLIAM McCORMACK-The seat that Mr. McCormack fills in Congress is his by a strongly convincing majority at the polls. As a member of the National House of Representatives he continues a career of broad usefulness in his profession and in the public service. Born in Boston, Massachu- setts, December 21, 1891, John William Mc- Cormack was the son of Joseph H. and Mary E. (O'Brien) McCormack. His father, who was a contractor, died in 1924 at the age of sixty-five years. His mother, both of whose parents were born in Ireland, was born in Boston in 1863, and died here in 1913. Grad- uated from the John A. Andrew Grammar School in 1906, John William McCormack went
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into business for some years, but meantime read law, and in 1913, was admitted to practice in the United States District Court. He is a member of the well-established firm of Farrar and McCormack with offices at No. 701-04 Old South Building, Boston. In 1920, 1921, and 1922, he was a member of the Lower House of the Massachusetts Legislature, and in 1923, 1924, 1925, and 1926, was a member of the Massachusetts Senate. In 1917 and 1918 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts. In September, 1929, he was nominated to serve out the un- expired Congressional term of the late James A. Galligan, representative from the 12th Congressional District of Massachusetts, and at the same time was nominated for the reg- ular term. In the following election he was elected for both the unexpired and the full terms by the largest majority (about 60,000), ever received by a Congressional candidate in the history of the State. He at once took his seat in Congress and is there active as this is written. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, and of the Ameri- can Legion. He is also a member of the Old Timers' Club, the Boston City Club, and a number of other organizations. With his fam- ily he is a communicant of St. Margaret's Ro- man Catholic Church.
MrÄ™ McCormack married, June 10, 1920, Harriet Joyce, daughter of Garret G. and Mar- garet H. (Connors) Joyce, who was born in Boston.
RALPH J. KELTIE-The firm of Keltie and Company was started in Boston, Massa- chusetts, in 1925, by Ralph J. Keltie, with its offices located at No. 184 Summer Street. This company handles a line of fine wool, chiefly for the woolen mill trade, and about eighty
per cent of the business is in foreign wool. It also handles a line of fine white waste and high grade noils, making a specialty of these last two products. Most of the dealing so far is with the New England textile trade. Al- though the business is young, it is already well known throughout New England and is flour- ishing in constant growth. Mr. Ralph J. Kel- tie is the treasurer and the general manager. He is the son of John Ross Keltie, a native of London, England, who for a number of years before his retirement from active busi- ness was engaged in the stock brokerage busi- ness in Boston, Massachusetts; and Mary E. (Cunningham) Keltie, a native of the city of Boston; she died in 1913.
Ralph J. Keltie was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, on August 10, 1897. He was educa- ted in the public schools of Boston; the Boston Latin School and at Harvard College at Cam- bridge, graduating from there in the class of 1918 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Im- mediately after he finished his college work, he enlisted in the United States Army and after his discharge from military duty, he went to work for the Auburn Worsted Mills at Worcester, Massachusetts; this was in 1919. He left there in 1920 and went to work for the firm of Arthur I. Darman, engaged in the wool business in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he remained until 1924. At this time he came to Boston, and making a connection with the firm of the Chester Brett Wool Company, he held a position there until 1925. In that year he started the business he is now in as Keltie and Company, the history of which has been related.
Mr. Keltie was active in military service overseas during the World War with the Amer- ican Ambulance Corps in France, holding the rank of sergeant. He served overseas from 1917 until 1919. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre for bravery under fire and for bringing back the wounded men from the front line. He is a member of the Boston Wool Trade Association, and the Brookline Post of the American Legion. In politics he
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is a Republican. He attends the Roman Cath- olic church. His hobbies are golf and camp- ing.
Ralplı J. Keltie married, in 1926, Sophia Mattmann, who was born on Long Island, New York, and they have one child, Ralph John Kel- tie, Jr.
DANIEL A. MACDONALD-Having giv- en his entire business career to the woolen industry which is one of the greatest factors in New England's industrial prosperity, Daniel A. Macdonald of Boston has attained a promi- nent place among the wool brokers of this city. Mr. Macdonald became an independent broker dealing in wool, noils and waste, when he opened his present offices at No. 185 Sum- mer Street in 1926, since which time he has built up a large and substantial patronage, the result of thorough attention to the needs of his customers and the supplying of only the highest class materials at all times. He is thoroughly familiar with all details of the wool industry having been connected with various manufacturing concerns and brokerage houses during his career, gaining much valuable ex- perience which has been of incalculable aid in his present enterprise. Mr. Macdonald was born in Cambridge, May 8, 1889, son of Daniel Macdonald, who is deceased, and Jane Mac- donald, both parents having been born in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Daniel A. Macdonald was educated in the public schools of Cambridge and later attended the Cambridge Manual Training School, and upon the completion of his formal education, entered the wool business in 1907, when he accepted his first position with F. Nathaniel Perkins of Boston, with which organization he remained for three years and a half. His next connection was with the Slater Mills at Webster, where he remained for four years learning the manufacturing side of the indus-
try, acquiring a knowledge of the processes necessary to convert the raw materials into finished products. After leaving Webster, Mr. Macdonald accepted a situation in Albany, New York, with the firm of William Barnet & Sons, and in that city he stayed for five years, advancing steadily while in the employ of that organization. For six more years, he was connected with the Adirondack Woolen Company of Little Falls, New York, where he gained further insight into manufacturing matters. Returning to Boston, Mr. Macdon- ald became associated with the firm of Barrett & Levensohn Company but after two years in this connection, he formed his own concern in 1926, under his own name, handling wool, noils and waste. His enterprise is devoted ex- clusively to the wool brokerage business and he buys wool for the following important man- ufacturing establishments in New England: Dumbarton Woolen Mills, Dexter, Maine; Dumbarton Woolen Mills, Sangerville, Maine; and George Park Manufacturing Company, Dexter, Maine. In connection with his com- mercial interests, he is a popular member of the Boston Wool Trade Association. Frater- nally, he is affiliated with the Cambridge Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while his religious adherence is given to the Roman Catholic church. His hobby is golf and in this great outdoor sport he finds great pleasure and relaxation after his intense busi- ness activity. In politics, he is a supporter of the principles of the Republican party, al- though in all civic affairs he is a sincere ad- vocate of everything that tends towards muni- cipal betterment and civic welfare.
Daniel A. Macdonald married, in 1917, Mary Frances Delaney, born in Cambridge, who died in 1926. To this union were born three chil- dren: Jane, Daniel A., Jr., and Claire.
THOMAS J. KENNEDY, Jr .- A native and lifelong resident of Boston, Mr. Kennedy
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has been connected with the wool business in Boston ever since he completed his education in 1917. Since 1926 he has been engaged in this business under his own name and as the result of his thorough knowledge, great ability and untiring industry he has built up a steadily growing business and has made for himself a very high reputation.
Thomas J. Kennedy, Jr., was born in Boston, December 3, 1899, a son of Thomas J. and Georgiana (Terrio) Kennedy. His father, a native of South Boston, has been successfully engaged for many years in the real estate and produce business. His mother, a native of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, died in 1920. Mr. Kennedy was educated in the public grammar schools of Boston and at the Boston Latin School. He then entered the wool business, in 1917, with the Crimmins and Pierce Company of Boston, with which firm he remained until 1921. He then became asso- ciated with another well-known Boston wool firm, the Paul O'Sullivan Company, with which he continued until 1926. In that year he es- tablished himself in business under his own name, with offices at No. 184 Summer Street, Boston. Mr. Kennedy does a general wool business, handling a line of noils and waste, but specializing in wool waste. The greater part of his business is done with the New England textile trade, amongst which he is very highly regarded. He is a member of the Boston Wool Trade Association. In politics he is an Independent, while his religious affili- ations are with the Roman Catholic church, and more particularly with St. Mark's Church. He finds his recreation chiefly in golf and he is also very fond of the seashore.
Mr. Kennedy married, June 6, 1923, Gene- vieve Duggan, a native of Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and a daughter of Cornelius and Mary (Kelly) Duggan. Mr. and Mrs. Ken- nedy are the parents of two children: Eleanor Mary, and Paul Kennedy. The family home is located at No. 10 Semont Road, Dorchester, Massachusetts.
JOHN EDWARD CONWAY-Incidental to a career at the bar of Massachusetts, where he has, in a comparatively brief length of time, established himself in a position of importance, John Edward Conway is a sports writer of considerable note, conducting a special col- umn on the Boston "American" over the sig- nature of "Mr. Boston." Filled with the vigor of his race, he was an enthusiastic follower of boxing while at college, and also engaged in baseball and track work. Upon graduation and admission to the bar he continued his in- terests in athletics, yet never neglecting his profession, for which he had made extensive preparation in a university course, during which he maintained himself on a plane of high scholarship and graduated with unusual hon- ors. His years of activity at the bar of this city have been brief, but they have been preg- nant with results and today he is held in high esteem as a practitioner and advocate, with larger fields in which he certainly will show an increasing comprehension of the intrica- cies involved in this profession of exacting de- mands.
John Edward Conway was born in Boston, Massachusetts, October 29, 1892, a son of Ed- ward Timothy, and Adelia (Gallagher) Con- way, the mother a native of County Donegal, Ireland, the father of Boston, where he was born, October 9, 1864. He is now (1928) an inspector on the Boston police force, with which he has been connected for more than thirty-five years. They were the parents of three children, the eldest being Mary, now a Boston school teacher, and the youngest, Eliza- beth, who died at the age of twenty-one years.
John Edward Conway, the second child, ac- quired his education in the public schools of Boston, graduating from Dudley Grammar School in 1906 and from the High School of Commerce in 1911. He then attended North- eastern University, from which he was grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, in 1917. In that year he was admit- ted to the bar of Massachusetts and at once
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established himself in practice, which he has since continued. He maintains his offices at No. 73 Tremont Street, Boston, and has his residence at No. 26 Dunster Road, Jamaica Plain. He is a member of the Jamaica Plain Council, Knights of Columbus, and of the Boston Lodge of the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. His church is St. Thomas' Roman Catholic, of Jamaica Plain.
John Edward Conway married, in Boston, Massachusetts, November 11, 1921, Evelyn Louise Canty, of Boston, daughter of John F. and Ellen (Shea) Canty, deceased. They are the parents of three children, all living, as follows: 1. John Edward, Jr., born December 9, 1923. 2. William Canty, born November 2, 1925. 3. Evelyn Carolyn, born October 2, 1927.
WILLIAM M. GADDIS-William H. Gad- dis, who is an attorney of Boston, Massachu- setts, is the son of Patrick J. and Catherine (Dolan) Gaddis, both of whom were natives of Ireland.
William M. Gaddis was born in Boston, Massachusetts, July 14, 1877. He was educated in the schools of Boston, graduating from the Dudley Grammar School in 1891, and con- tinuing his studies in the high school, gradua- ted from the Roxbury High School in 1894. After finishing his high school studies, he got a position in the office of the police commis- sioner, which place he has held for a period of twenty-five consecutive years. He was in this position for some time when he decided to study law and in order to carry on this work, he entered the Northeastern University Law School and completed his course there with graduation, class of 1915. In December of this same year, 1915, he was admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts and began the prac- tice of law. In May, 1927, he was appointed by William J. Foley assistant district attorney, which position he holds at the present time.
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