USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume V > Part 25
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ice, and the management and the owners of plots feel that Mr. Dolan leaves no detail un- attended to in his supervision of this fine old burial place. He gives his entire time to the work, which is steadily being increased, for since his taking charge, in 1924, seven hundred new graves have been made here. Owing to his enterprise and energy, many lots have been sold during the past four years, and both in the business department and in the care of the grounds Mr. Dolan is giving the kind of serv- ice which wins the full approval of management and of lot owners. He takes honest pride in the beauty of the acreage under his care, and lets no opportunity pass to further enhance its attractiveness.
CHARLES L. POWERS-Few men are more thoroughly familiar with the fire insur- ance business than is Charles L. Powers, first Boston branch manager of the Travelers' Fire Insurance Agency, covering Eastern Massa- chusetts. Mr. Powers, whose offices are lo- cated at No. 147 Milk Street, has not only had a varied experience in the fire insurance field, but he is also better prepared for the general handling of his work than are most insurance men, for he is also a lawyer, holding his degree in law from the Law School of Northeastern University. Mr. Powers has been engaged in the fire insurance business since completing his course in the Boston English High School, and, while studying law in the Northeastern University, he was also actively engaged in the fire insurance business, first as a general agent and then as a special agent.
Charles L. Powers was born in Boston, Mass- achusetts, December 19, 1893, son of Maurice Powers, a native of Ireland, who came to this country and was engaged as freight manager in the employ of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company to the time of his death in 1914, and of Johanna (Casey)
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Powers, also a native of Ireland, who is still living (1928). Mr. Powers received a good education in the public schools of Boston, and after completing his course in the Boston Eng- lish High School began his connection with the fire insurance business by entering the employ of the firm of Simpson & Campbell, of Boston, with whom he remained from 1910 to 1915. When he severed that connection he as- sociated himself with the O'Brien, Russell Com- pany, also of Boston, whom he assisted with general insurance business throughout New England. During this time he began study in the Northeastern University Law School, in 1919, and when he changed his business con- nection to that of special agent of the Niagara Fire Insurance Company, covering the New England field, he continued his studies in the Law School. Later, he confined his activities to the State of Connecticut and Western Mass- achusetts, with headquarters at Hartford, Con- necticut, continuing this connection for two and a half years, but developing at the same time a local agency business. He had kept on with his law studies, and graduated with the class of 1923, Northeastern University, receiv- ing the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and in 1923 he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. On May 1, 1925, he became the first Boston branch manager of the newly organized Travel- ers' Fire Insurance Agency, and he has con- tinued as manager of the Boston office since. This office covers Eastern Massachusetts, and Mr. Powers is giving to the work the benefits of his varied experience and of his special legal preparation. He is a member of the New Eng- land Insurance Exchange, the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters, the Insurance Society of Massachusetts, the Insurance Federation of Massachusetts, and the Insurance Library Asso- ciation. Politically, he gives his support to no one party, but casts his vote independently for the candidate whom he considers best fitted for the office. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Cambridge Lodge; Boston Athletic Association, Belmont Springs Country Club, and Northeastern University
Alumni Association. From 1914 to 1916 he served in the First Cavalry Squadron of the Massachusetts State Militia, and he is actively interested in general civic affairs, though he prefers to serve as a private citizen rather than as a public official. He attends the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Mercy, of Bel- mont, Massachusetts, and takes his exercise and recreation in golfing and swimming. Mr. Pow- ers is well known as one of the able and espe- cially successful insurance men of the city, and has greatly developed the district over which he has jurisdiction.
Charles L. Powers was married, in 1926, to Jeannette M. Ghee, a native of Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, and they have one child, Charles L. Powers, Jr.
PETER FLORENCE MCCARTY-Among the leading attorneys of Boston and its en- virons is Peter Florence McCarty, whose ac- tivities in his chosen profession have ever been along constructive lines and have won for him the highest esteem of his colleagues as well as that of the public at large.
John McCarty, father of Peter Florence McCarty, was born in County Galway, Ire- land, in 1841. He later came to this country and for many years was engaged in the liquor business in Boston. He married Bridget Tay- lor, who was also a native of County Galway, her birth having been in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. McCarty were the parents of eight children, of whom the following survive: Mary T., wife of William L. Hays, of Boston; Peter Florence, the subject of this review; Simon de Sales, a practicing dentist of West Roxbury, Massachu- setts; and Salina C., wife of John F. Ahern, a practicing physician of Dorchester, Massa- chusetts. John McCarty's death occurred, Jan- uary 11, 1912, and his wife's on July 30, 1905.
Peter Florence McCarty, son of John and Bridget (Taylor) McCarty, was born in Bos- ton, October 13, 1884. Completing his ele-
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mentary education at the Mather Grammar School of Dorchester in 1900, he then entered the Dorchester High School and was gradua- ted from here in 1904, subsequently matricula- ting at Dartmouth from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1908. On com- pletion of his course at the latter institution he entered Harvard Law School, whence he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1911. That same year he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, and immediately entered into active practice. His offices are located in the Pemberton Building.
For many years Mr. McCarty has been a resident of Dorchester and during that time has devoted a large part of it to public serv- ice, being readily accorded a foremost place among that community's substantial and en- terprising citizens. In 1916 he was represen- tative to the General Court from Ward Twenty; from 1922 to 1925 he served as assistant dis- trict attorney of Suffolk County; and has fre- quently served on Democratic Ward com- mittees, being a potent factor in political af- fairs pertaining to the Dorchester section of Boston. During the World War he was chair- man of the legal advisory board of Ward Eighteen, Dorchester, and was treasurer of the Soldiers and Sailors' Relief Society of that ward. On November 10, 1918, having waived exemption, he was assigned to military serv- ice for duty with the Field Artillery Central Officers' Training School at Camp Zachary Taylor at Louisville, Kentucky. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus; Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; An- cient Order of Hibernians, and the Massa- chusetts Catholic Order of Foresters. He is also identified with the Boston City Club and the Irish Charitable Society. In his re- ligious preference he is a Roman Catholic, be- ing a communicant of St. Peter's Roman Cath- olic Church of Dorchester.
On September 2, 1913, at Boston, Peter Flor- ence McCarty married Alice M. Boland, a daughter of Thomas and Alice (Chasty) Bo- land.
WILLIAM C. McDERMOTT-As head of the leather commission house in Boston that bears his name, William C. McDermott has reached a high position in the commercial af- fairs of this city and district, where he has operated in that line since 1903. Originally engaged with others, he eventually founded his own establishment, meeting with success in a field where there is great competition and where the output is constantly being improved in quality. He is a man of culture and uni- versity education, keen minded in business, rigidly ethical in his dealings, and a progressive citizen of value to the community.
He was born in Boston, October 15, 1879, a son of William J. McDermott, an educator and native of this city, who labored here in his calling for many years, until his death in 1903. The mother of William C. was Delia E. (Daley) McDermott, also of Boston, whose death occurred here in 1909. Their son ac- quired his elementary education in the local public schools and was graduated from the Latin School. He then entered Harvard Uni- versity, from which he was graduated in the class of 1903 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His first work was with the firm of C. G. Flynn & Company, of Boston, which concern he left to become associated with McNeely & Company, with whom he remained until 1913, when he became a member of the Murphy, McDermott, Haskell Leather Com- pany. Three years later he withdrew from this firm and established himself independently as William C. McDermott & Company, at No. 145 South Street, Boston, where he is sole propri- etor of the concern, which has high rank in the leather industry of this city and district. The house is selling agent for the McNeeley Tannery Company, of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and is sole representative for New Eng- land of the Cornelius Heyl Company, of Worms, Germany. Mr. McDermott's concern handles upper leather exclusively and special- izes in kid and patent leather. Its sales aggre- gate 4,500 skins per month, which gives it high rank in the trade in Boston. Mr. McDermott
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is president of the South Boston Building As- sociation, attends St. Mark's Roman Catholic Church, is a Democrat in politics and belongs to the Longwood Cricket and Wollaston Golf clubs.
William C. McDermott married, in 1915, Anna C. Cavanagh, a native of Boston, who is still living.
HON. FRANK LEVERONI-Notable among the outstanding figures of the legal pro- fession is the Hon. Frank Leveroni, Special Justice of the Boston Juvenile Court and Pub- lic Administrator of Suffolk County. Although a native of Genoa, Italy, Justice Leveroni has been a resident of Boston since he was five years of age, and since attaining young man- hood has been one of the constructive forces in all matters pertaining to child welfare work and to the general advancement of his home community.
Frank Leveroni was born in Genoa, Italy, September 10, 1879, a son of Andrew and Catherine (Trebino) Leveroni, both natives of Genoa, the former having been born there in 1832 and carried on as a merchant in Boston from 1884 until the time of his death. At the age of five years, the son came with his par- ents to Boston, where he pursued his studies in the local public schools and the Boston High School, class of 1897. He then entered the law offices of Arthur Lincoln and William S. Hall, where he remained for four years, tu- toring during that time preparatory to his en- trance into Harvard Law School in 1899. Com- pleting one year of study at the last-named in- stitution, he then matriculated at Boston Uni- versity Law School and was graduated Bache- lor of Laws, cum laude, in 1903, admitted to the bar in August of that same year, and has since been engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. In 1905 he was appointed by Gov-
ernor Guild as a Special Justice to the Boston Juvenile Court, and two years later was ap- pointed by the former to the office of public administrator, serving in both capacities up to the present time. In 1905, Justice Lever- oni was also made counsel for the Italian Con- sular authorities, which office he still holds, and in 1909, by command of King Victor Emanuel of Italy, was decorated with the or- der of the Crown of Italy. He is a director of the Banca Commerciale Italiana Trust Com- pany, trustee of the Home Savings Bank of Boston, director and secretary of the Italian Cemetery Association, and a member of the banking firm of Leveroni and Greer.
Politically, he is an Independent Democrat. Professionally he holds membership in the American Bar Association, Massachusetts State Bar Association, Boston Bar Associa- tion, Institute of International Lawyers, and the Boston University Law Alumni Associa- tion, of which he was president in 1928. Fra- ternally, he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and socially he is identified with the Harvard Club of Boston, Harvard Club of New York City; is a member of the board of governors of the Boston City Club, and a member of the Catholic Union. During the World War, Justice Leveroni was a member of the Draft Board of District No. 22 of Bos- ton, a member of the "four-minute" speakers, and, in fact, was active in all movements per- taining to the conduct of the war.
On October 5, 1903, at Boston, Mr. Lever- oni married Louise Finochietti, a daughter of John and Theresa (Bacigalupo) Finochietti. Jus- tice and Mrs. Leveroni are the parents of eight children: 1. Beatrice, born July 10, 1904; mar- ried, October 5, 1928, James J. Greer of Ded- ham, Massachusetts. 2. Laura, born Febru- ary 9, 1906, is a graduate of the Boston Latin School and of Miss Pierce's Secretarial School. 3. Claire, born December 28, 1908, is a grad- uate of the Jamaica Plain High School and of Miss Pierce's Secretarial School. 4. Vivian, born June 26, 1913, is a student at the Boston Latin School. 5. Heloise, born January 8, 1918.
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6. Edna May, born May 9, 1920. 7. Frank, Jr., born April 9, 1922. 8. John, born May 30, 1924.
Justice Leveroni is a speaker and writer of note, but his avocation is child welfare work, and because of his active interest he holds among others the following offices of trust in this particular and important line of advance: vice-chairman of the State Child Labor Com- mittee; member of the board of trustees of the North Bennett Street Industrial School; trus- tee of the Infants Hospital; member of the board of the Incorporators Home for Italian Children; trustee of the Judge Baker Founda- tion; chairman of the Advisory Board of North End Evening Centre; is also a member of the American Academy of Social Science; and a life-member of the Bostonian Society.
JAMES H. BURNS-For more than thirty years James H. Burns, of Chelsea, Massachu- setts, has been engaged in the embalming and funeral directing business. He was among the first in the State to practice the art of scientfic embalming. At the present time (1929) he is located at No. 718 Broadway, in the old Wil- lard Howland homestead, where he has well- appointed funeral parlors and a thoroughly modern establishment.
James H. Burns was born in Providence, Rhode Island, July 2, 1863, son of Patrick and Bridget Burns. After attending school until he was ten years of age, he found employment in one of the textile mills, where he was em- ployed for several years, but not finding this work congenial, he decided to learn the under- taking business. With this end in view he took a position with the old firm of E. J. Brown, undertakers, of East Boston, where he remained for eight years. When he engaged in the un- dertaking business for himself, he located first on the site of a part of the wing of the present
City Hall, in Broadway, where he remained for eleven years. He then moved to No. 479 Broad- way, opposite City Hall, and was located there for another eleven years, until in 1908, in which year his establishment was destroyed by fire (the fire in which the heart of the city was burned). He then located on the site of the old Dr. Shackford home, and later removed to his present location, No. 718 Broadway, in the old Willard Howland homestead, in Chelsea. It is one of the old landmarks of this locality, and was so cherished by its former owner that he held it for many years after he desired to sell because he could not find a buyer to whom he was willing to hand over the place. Mr. Burns was finally fortunate in securing the old home- stead, which he purchased in 1920, and where he still remains. Mr. Burns is taking care of a large business which has steadily grown through the years. He was one of the first scientific embalmers in the State of Massachusetts. The art of embalming was first used in this country in 1888, and Mr. Burns, who was a graduate of the Champion School of Embalming in Boston, formerly located at Cincinnati, Ohio, began embalming the following year, in 1889, thus being one of the pioneers in the practice of this process. For the past twenty-five years he has furnished service to the Soldiers' Home, of Chelsea, and no man of his profession is better known in Boston. He is a member of the Mas- sachusetts Funeral Directors' Association. Fra- ternally, he is identified with the Knights of Columbus, and with the Catholic Order of For- esters. He is very popular among his associates. Though he is sixty-six years of age it is said by those who know him that he looks not a day older than fifty-five, and his optimistic and youthful viewpoint enhance this general im- pression of youthfulness. He is a man of very high standards and exacting in his requirements of himself and of others so far as high busi- ness ideals are concerned.
James H. Burns was married (first) in Chel- sea, in 1891, to Mary Noonan. She died, and he married (second), in 1922, Katherine T. Noonan, a sister of his first wife, both of whom were natives of Chelsea.
Eng by E G Williams & Bro NY
Patrick Edward Murray
Lewis Historical Pub Co.
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VINCENT De PAUL READE, Jr .- Well known in his profession, the third generation of his family to carry on the same line of busi- ness, Vincent De Paul Reade, Jr., of Charles- town, Massachusetts, is one of the pioneer em- balmers of the country. His undertaking es- tablishment in Charlestown was established six- ty years ago by his grandfather, continued by his father, and has been for the last twenty- seven years conducted solely by himself, fol- lowing his father's retirement.
Mr. Reade was born in Charlestown, August 22, 1877, a son of Vincent De Paul, and Selina (Mahoney) Reade, of Boston. His grandfather, John Reade, was born in Ireland and came to Boston at an early age, where he worked for a time prior to the Civil War, when he enlisted in the Union Army and left for the front with the first contingent from Milford, where he had settled. He remained in the service throughout the conflict, participating in many of the great battles, notable among which was the siege of Vicksburg, under General Bart- lett. After the war he settled in Charlestown, where he established himself in the livery and undertaking business. He was the owner of sixty horses and a large equipment, and for years furnished the livery service of the Adams House, also Clark's Hotel of Boston. He served in the Massachusetts Legislature for several years up to 1892, when he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. Because of his abundance of long white hair, he was almost universally called "The White Chief." He was prominent member and Commander of Charlestown Post of the Grand Army of the Re- public, and also took an active part in the Vet- erans' Union, of Charlestown. His death oc- curred in Charlestown in May, 1897, at the age of seventy-two years.
Vincent De Paul Reade, the son, succeeded to his father's business, which he continued until 1900, when he turned it over to his son, the present administrator. He died March 9, 1927, at the age of seventy-three years.
Vincent De Paul Reade, Jr., of the third gen- eration, received his education in the public
schools and was graduated from Champion Col- lege of Embalming, September 11, 1896. He then took a post-graduate course at the Chicago School of Embalming, and is also the possessor of a diploma from the Harvard School at Charlestown. He is one of the pioneers in this modern art, which in this country has been in general use for less than forty years. The first five years following his education for his pro- fession, he served an apprenticeship in the busi- ness, receiving his license to practice in 1897. In 1917 he was appointed by Mayor James M. Curley, of Boston, to the Board of Overseers of the Poor, which he served for the following two years and was continued for another term of the same length under Mayor Peters. This position calls for care, skill and judgment in the dispensing of large sums of money provided by the city of Boston for the urgent assistance of the poor. During the World War he was appointed coal supervisor for Charlestown, an office which he filled with ability and satisfac- tion during the critical period of coal shortage. From 1913 to 1920 he was Grand Knight of Bunker Hill Council, Knights of Columbus, the oldest council in Massachusetts. This council was especially active during the war period, owing to the location in Charlestown of the United States Navy Yard, large sums of money having been allotted to its charge for special war work among the men attached there.
Vincent De Paul Reade, Jr., married, in Mal- den, Massachusetts, June 10, 1914, Alice M. Connor, daughter of John J. and Ellen J. (Twohy) Connor.
PATRICK EDWARD MURRAY-Direc- tor of funeral services with Funeral Home at No. 54 Roxbury Street, Roxbury, Boston, the whole of which is occupied by his mortu- ary establishment, Patrick Edward Murray conducts one of the best-known funeral homes
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in Boston, in which city the Murray family has lived for years.
Patrick Edward Murray was born in Boston on August 22, 1869, son of Patrick Edward Murray and his wife, Mary E. Harney, both of whom are now deceased. Patrick Edward, the father, ran a livery stable at East Concord and Washington streets, Roxbury, where he boarded the horses of the more prominent gentlemen of the South End, when the locality was the aristocratic section of Boston. He founded the business in 1861, and maintained it for fifty years, until the building of the superstructure for the elevated railway and the advent into popular service of the auto- mobile made it necessary for him to close the stable. He was a thorough sportsman and lover of horses, and during the balance of his proprietorship enjoyed a flourishing business. It was part of his custom to supply "coaches" for funerals, and at the death of Daniel Web- ster he furnished a number of vehicles.
Patrick Edward, the son, entered the busi- ness in 1892, following the completion of his education in the Roxbury schools. Later, he became interested in the profession of mor- tician, and attended classes in the Boston School of Embalming. In December, 1911, after graduating, he established a funeral home, at No. 54 Roxbury Street, moving to his pres- ent location, January 1, 1928, where he is equipped for complete services day or night. He operates three motor hearses, one a glass- sided Cunningham, a Packard limousine, and a white hearse. He is recognized as among the leading morticians of Boston; is a mem- ber of the Massachusetts Funeral Directors' Association, and the National Funeral Direc- tors' Association of the United States.
Mr. Murray, through his long residence in Roxbury and acquaintanceship with the prom- inent men of the community, has taken an ac- tive part in public affairs. He was sent to the Legislature in 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916, from the Eighteenth Suffolk District, and in the No- vember election of 1926, he was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, from the Ninth Suf-
folk District. This district was formerly known as the Eighteenth Suffolk, but of lesser area. Mr. Murray is affiliated with a number of fra- ternal societies, and chief among them the Rox- bury Historical Society. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish National Foresters, the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. But of all of these organizations, Mr. Murray is perhaps most interested in the Roxbury His- torical Society, in which he does active work. This society is one of the best known in New England. Mr. Murray is an intensive student of history in general, but more especially in the history of his community. He has in his pos- session a brass door knocker taken from the home of his family in Cabot Street that has been in his family for five generations. The house in Cabot Street originally stood near the old Elliott Square Meeting House, and was one hundred and fifty years old.
Patrick Edward Murray married, at Taun- ton, Massachusetts, June 24, 1902, Mary J. E. Mckeon, of Taunton. Mr. and Mrs. Mur- ray are the parents of six children: John J., Arthur P., Mary G., George E., Jennie F., and Regina R.
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