USA > Massachusetts > One of a thousand, a series of biographical sketches of one thousand representative men resident in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, A.D. 1888-'89; > Part 21
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COLBURN.
Mr. Colburn was an early member of the New England Historic Genealogical So- ciety ; has served as chairman of its various committees, and is a member of the present committee of publication.
In 1858 he was one of the founders of the Prince Society ; has served in its coun- cil and held the office of treasurer ; its first volume, " Wood's New England's Pros- pect," was issued under his supervision. In 1860 he originated the Boston Numismatic Society, of which he was vice-president till 1885, since which time he has been its president, also one of the editors of the " American Journal of Numismatics." He
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JEREMIAH COLBURN.
was one of the founders of the Boston An- tiquarian Club, which in 1882 became the Bostonian Society, to which the city has entrusted the custody and control of the old state-house.
Besides his contributions to various magazines and reviews, Mr. Colburn has compiled and published the bibliography of the local history of Massachusetts, which he proposes to re-issue with revision and extension to date of publication.
In 1869 Williams College conferred the degree of A. M. upon Mr. Colburn, who, in addition to the Boston societies named, is a member of the Essex Institute, and of the historical societies of New York, Vir-
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COLBY.
ginia, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Dela- ware, Pennsylvania and the Western Re- serve ; also of the Société Numismatique of Brussels, and the Institute Canadian of Ottawa.
Mr. Colburn was married in 1846 to Eliza Ann, daughter of John and Eliza Taylor (Pollard) Blackman, of Boston. His residence is Longwood, Brookline.
COLBY, JOHN FREEMAN, son of John and Mary Huse (Holt) Colby, was born March 3, 1834, on his father's farm, in that part of Society Land which afterwards be- came a part of the town of Bennington, Hillsborough county, N. H.
His early opportunities for education were few and small, but he had a strong thirst for knowledge, which his father en- couraged. By the death of his father, he was early thrown upon his own resources. By industry and economy, he saved enough to secure two terms of schooling, and at the age of seventeen taught his first school. He fitted for college at Mount Vernon and Reed's Ferry, N. H., and as a private pupil of the late Hon. George Stevens, of Lowell, and entered Dartmouth in 1855. He took the broad, liberal college course of that time; he taught school every winter ; he learned books as a librarian for three years in one of the college libraries.
Upon his graduation in 1859, a place was waiting for him, and he became prin- cipal of the Stetson high school, at Ran- dolph, Mass. Distinction and promotion continued to open to him as a teacher, and tempting business offers were urged upon him. But he decided to devote himself to the legal profession, and accordingly, in 1864, he moved to Boston and entered the offices of Hon. Ambrose A. Ranney and Nathan Morse. In December, 1865, after less than two years of study, on ex- amination, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and has continued in general practice, a conscientious and faithful attorney, and an able advocate, with a lofty conception of the dignity of the profession and an enthusiasm for it which never fails.
For the most part Mr. Colby has re- sisted political preferment, but he occupied a seat in the common council of the city of Boston in 1878-'9, serving on the judici- ary and other important committees, and in 1886 he was elected representative to the Legislature for the 18th Suffolk dis- trict. He was made House chairman of the joint committee on harbors and public lands, and a member of the joint com- mittee on parishes and religious societies.
He was re-elected to the Legislature in No- vember, 1887, and served on the judiciary committee, also on the committee on parishes and religious societies.
Mr. Colby's religious convictions ma- tured while he was a student at the Merri- mack Normal Institute, Reed's Ferry, and he joined the Congregational church at Mount Vernon in 1854, since which time he has been actively engaged in Christian work. When he moved to Boston, he con- nected himself first with the Mount Vernon church, under the ministry successively of Rev. E. N. Kirk, D. D., and Rev. S. E. Herrick, D. D., where he became promi- nent in all the affairs of the parish, being a teacher and superintendent in the Sun- day-school, clerk and treasurer of the church, a member of the examining com- mittee, and treasurer of the society. The office of deacon, to which he was elected, he declined. Since 1884 he has been con- nected with the Union church, of which the Rev. Nehemiah Boynton is pastor. He is also an officer of the Congregational Club, and active in several benevolent organizations.
Devoting himself with great ardor to his profession, Mr. Colby, as a rule, has avoided business responsibilities, but he served as receiver of the Mechanics' Bank, after its failure in 1877, and has been for several years one of the trustees of the North End Savings Bank. He also com- bines business with pleasure in the man- agement of the farm connected with his summer home in Mount Vernon, N. H.
COLLINS, MICHAEL HENRY, son of Walter and Annie Elizabeth (Lewis) Collins, was born in Quebec, September 28, 1822. His parents were born in London, England. At the age of two years he went with them to Philadelphia, where he received his early education in private and public schools.
His first connection in business was in glass-making, and afterward in engineer- ing and as a general inventor.
Mr. Collins was married in 1847 to Eliz- abeth, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth (Erskine) McNear. Of this union is one child : Florence Elizabeth, wife of Frederic F. Clark. He married his present wife, Frances, daughter of Captain Thomas and Katherine (Light) Boyd, in Wiscasset, Maine, October 4, 1855. They have two children by adoption : William Francis and Blanche Collins.
Mr. Collins, after living for a time in Chelsea, removed to East Medway, now Millis, in 1874, where he now resides. He is a man original in his ideas, of indomi-
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COLLINS.
table perseverance; diffuses life and energy wherever he goes, and has done much toward improving the town of his adoption. He is the patentee of many useful inven-
MICHAEL H. COLLINS.
tions -one, in connection with Joseph Hurd, of Malden, the discovery of the pro- cess of manufacturing granulated sugar ; others are the famous lozenge machine, superseding hand power; a ventilator for public buildings ; a quartz crusher, which proved invaluable to miners in past years; the lamp burner and chimney known as the "Sun-burner " and " Sun-chimney " for the use of kerosene. Various experiments made by Mr. Collins at last brought them to a state of perfection that revolutionized the entire market, and to his years in experi- menting is due the present state of perfec- tion in the coal oil illuminating appliances. At the time he marketed his " Sun-burner," the use of kerosene was diminishing, on account of the non-combustion of carbon, and heating of burners and chimneys, inci- dental to the use of crude burners in use. His inventions gave an impetus to its use that has gone on increasing to the present time. One of the chief features of this invention is that it is so constructed as to prevent explosions, thereby saving life and property. The leading makers in the country realized fortunes in the manufac-
ture of these burners, and immense sums were expended in protecting this now uni- versally used and valuable invention from various infringements.
Mr. Collins's last and greatest invention is the " Echolin," a musical instrument in the violin class. After forty years of experimenting, and gleaning experimental knowledge both in this country and Europe, Mr. Collins has perfected an instrument that is claimed to excel any other of its class in richness of tone and depth of volume.
He is liberally read in mechanics, chem- istry and medicine, being a graduate from several medical schools.
COLLINS, PATRICK A., was born in Fermoy, county of Cork, Ireland, March 12, 1844. He came to the United States in 1848 and settled in Chelsea, where he received a common school education. He worked at the upholstery trade for eight years, giving his leisure hours to study.
He entered Harvard law school in 1868, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in the city of Boston, 1871, where he has continued in the practice of his profession ever since.
In 1868 and '69 he was a member of the House of Representatives, and in 1870-'71 a state senator. In 1875 he was judge- advocate-general of the Commonwealth.
Mr. Collins was elected delegate-at-large from Massachusetts to the national Dem- ocratic conventions in 1876, '80 and '88, and was elected president of the national Democratic convention of 1888, held at St. Louis.
In 1882 he was elected to Congress, and has been twice re-elected.
Mr. Collins was one of the secretaries of the Fenian congress held in Philadelphia, in 1865, and has been an active member of the land and national leagues since their establishment. He was chosen president of the Irish National Land League at the convention held in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1884, and served something more than a year, declining a re-election. He has been chair- man of the Massachusetts Democratic state committee since 1884.
Mr. Collins was married July 1, 1873, at Boston, to Mary E. Carey. Of this union are three children : Agnes, Marie and Paul.
A natural-born leader of men, it has not taken Mr. Collins long to secure from time to time legitimate positions of honor and power. A brilliant debater, a forcible and eloquent speaker, a rapid thinker, and gifted with a thoroughly equipped and well balanced mind, he stands a conspicuous example of what a fine graft can be made
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CONANT.
of Irish and American stock. Mr. Collins has certainly contributed his share to keep the state of his adoption well in the van of progressive, liberal and intelligent life.
CONANT, CHESTER COOK, son of Col. Jonathan and Clarissa (Dimick) Co- nant, was born in Lyme, Grafton county, N. H., September 4, 1831.
He was educated in the common schools, Thetford Academy, Vt., and Dartmouth College, from which latter he was gradu- ated with honor in the class of 1857. While pursuing his college course he sup- ported himself in part by teaching, working during vacations. He was graduated from the Albany law school in 1859, and was ad- mitted to the New York, and also the Massachusetts bar the same year.
He then formed a partnership with Judge David Aiken, at Greenfield, Mass., the firm name being Aiken & Conant. He continued these relations several years ; afterward was for three or four years a partner with Edward E. Lyman ; practiced alone till 1878, when, admitting Samuel D.
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CHESTER C. CONANT.
Conant, a nephew, as partner, the business has since been conducted under the firm name of Conant & Conant.
He has been admitted to practice in the United States supreme court at Washing- ton, and has practiced in said court.
CONANT.
Mr. Conant was married in Portland, Me., June 14, 1860, to Sarah B., daughter of Rev. Roger S. Howard, D. D., and Martha (Pike) Howard. Of this union are two daughters : Charlotte Howard, and Martha Pike Conant.
Mr. Conant was register of probate, Franklin county, from 1863 to October, 1870, when he was appointed judge of probate and insolvency for Franklin coun- ty, an office he still holds.
Judge Conant was for years a member of the school board. In 1884 he was delegate to the national Republican convention, held at Chicago, and in 1888 was presiden- tial elector on the Republican ticket, and voted for President Harrison.
For several years he was secretary of the Greenfield Library Association - is now trustee ; a director in the Franklin County National Bank twelve years ; one of the original incorporators of the Green- field Savings Bank in 1869, its first and only secretary, and has been its attorney and trustee to the present time. He was elected its vice-president in 1889.
He is an Episcopalian, a vestryman of the church, and is usually a delegate to the annual diocesan convention ; for over twenty years he has been superintendent of the Sunday-school.
Before entering his profession he learned of his father the trades of carpenter and builder, and cabinet-maker, and was called a skilled workman.
Judge Conant is a lineal descendant in the eighth generation from the Pilgrim, Roger Conant, who landed in America in 1623, and who built the first house in Sa- lem. He is also a lineal descendant of Mary Chilton, the first woman to set foot on Plymouth Rock at the landing of the Pil- grim Fathers.
CONANT, NELSON B., son of Francis and Sophia (Goldsmith) Conant, was born in Acton, Middlesex county, December 6, 1845.
He received his early training in the public schools, which was supplemented by attendance at Lawrence Academy, Groton.
He began mercantile life for himself in Littleton, 1868. In 1874 he went into the wholesale produce business in Boston, where he remained two years. He after- wards located in Acton, and later removed to Littleton, where he still continues in business.
Mr. Conant was married in Littleton, April 29, 1874, to Frances W., daughter of George W. and Atlanta (Gerry) Tuttle.
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CONVERSE.
Of this union was one child : Wallace~ B. Conant. Mr. Conant's second marriage took place in East Hardwick, Vt., with Harriette W. Adgate of that town, Octo- ber 1, 1885.
Mr. Conant served eight years as select- man, three of which he was chairman of the board. He was for four years trustee and treasurer of the " Reuben Hoar " libra- ry. He has been trustee of the North Middlesex Savings Bank, located at Ayer, from its incorporation to the present time. In the fall of 1888 he was elected repre- sentative to the Legislature from the 30th Middlesex district, serving as a member of the committee on public charitable insti- tutions.
CONVERSE, EDMUND WINCHESTER, son of Rev. James and Charlotte (White) Converse, was born in Weathersfield, Wind- sor county, Vt., June 12, 1825. He ob- tained his education in the public schools of his native town and in the academy at Meriden, N. H.
He entered the store of Ammidown & Converse as clerk, at seventeen years of age. Subsequently he became successively a partner in the following firms : Blanch- ard, Converse & Co .; Converse, Harding & Co .; Harding, Converse, Gray & Co., and Converse, Taylor & Co., all of which were dry-goods importing and jobbing houses, Boston. He is now in the same business, in the house of Converse, Stan- ton & Cullen, Boston and New York.
Mr. Converse was married in Boston, May 11, 1854, to Charlotte Augusta (Shep- herd) Albree, daughter of George and Charlotte (Saunders) Shepherd. Of this union were seven children : Edmund Win- chester, Jr., Ellen M., Charlotte, Margaret, Charles Henry, James and Frederick Shep- herd Converse.
Mr. Converse is director in the follow- ing corporations : Etna Mills, National City Bank, Boston ; National Tube Works Company, Mckeesport, Pa., and Pueblo Smelting & Refining Company. He is president of the Conanicut Mills, Fall River ; trustee of the Newton Cottage Hospital ; was a member of the state drain- age and sewerage commission ; is chairman of the school board and trustee of the free library in the city of Newton, where he lives to enjoy the fruits of an honored and successful carcer.
CONVERSE, ELISHA SLADE, son of Elisha and Betsey (Wheaton) Converse, was born in Needham, Norfolk county, July 28, 1820.
CONVERSE.
He availed himself of the advantages of a common school education.
His first entrance into business life was in a clothing store in Thompson, Conn., April 1, 1839.
In 1844 he made a change to the shoe and leather business, in which he remained till 1853, when he became the treasurer and manager of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company, which office he still holds.
Mr. Converse was married in Thompson, Conn., September 4, 1843, to Mary D., daughter of Hosea and Ursula (Burgess) Edmands. Of this union were four chil- dren : Frank E., Mary Ida, Harry E., and Frances Eugenie Converse.
ELISHA S. CONVERSE.
Mr. Converse has served the Common- wealth two years in the House (1878 and '79), and two years in the Senate (1880 and '81). Standing as he did, so high in the esteem of all of his fellow-citizens, he was by universal acclaim awarded the honor of serving as the first mayor of the city when the old town of Malden accepted the city charter in 1881.
He is president of the First National Bank of Malden ; president of the Boston Belting Company, director of the Revere Rubber Company, and of the Exchange National Bank, Boston ; president of the Rubber Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance
14I
COOK.
Company ; trustee of Wellesley College, and also of the Boston Five Cents Savings Bank.
Mr. Converse is a successful business man, active in thought, indefatigable in work, conservative in method. His church connections are with the First Baptist society of Malden. His private benefac- tions are as many and judiciously placed, as his public bequests are frequent and wisely bestowed. He is a loyal citizen, and has done probably more than any other resident of Malden to increase its attractions and to promote its prosperity, his last and crowning gift being the mag- nificent library recently erected by his generous hand.
COOK, JOSEPH, was born in Ticon- deroga, Essex county, N. Y., January 26, 1838. His early training was at Phillips Academy, Andover, under the celebrated classical teacher, Dr. Samuel H. Taylor. He entered Yale College in 1858, but his health having become impaired, he left col- lege early in 1861. He entered Harvard College as a junior in 1863, and was grad- uated in 1865, with honor, He then en- tered Andover Theological Seminary, and went through the three years' course. He added to this a fourth year at Andover, for special study of advanced religious and philosophical thought. He was licensed to preach, and has done so to some extent, but was not ordained. He was acting pas- tor of the First Congregational church in Lynn in 1871. In September, 1871, he went abroad for two years, and studied at Halle, Leipzig, Berlin and Heidelberg, un- der the directions of Tholuck, Julius Müller, Dorner and Kuno Firchen. He then traveled in Italy, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Turkey, and other countries in Europe. Returning to the United States at the close of 1873, he took up his residence in Boston, and in 1874 entered upon his spe- cial work as a lecturer on the relations of religion and science. His present vocation is lecturer and author, residing in Boston.
He was married in New Haven, Conn., June 30, 1877, to Georgie Hemingway.
Mr. Cook is a member of the Victoria Institute, London, and the American Insti- tute of Philosophy, New York City. He was Chautauqua lecturer five years, be- tween 1877 and 1888, and appeared in the same capacity before several theo- logical seminaries. He has conducted the Boston Monday Lecture for fourteen years, with great audiences at noon, on a week-day. He has also made extensive lec- ture tours for fifteen years. In 1880, '81, and
COOKE.
'82, Mr. Cook, accompanied by his wife, made a lecturing tour of the world. In all the great cities visited there were immense audiences. During the two years and sev- enty-seven days occupied by Mr. Cook's journey around the world, he spoke oftener than every other working-day while on the land.
Mr. Cook made one hundred and thirty- five public appearances in the British Islands. Of these, thirty-nine were in Scotland, thirteen in Ireland, and eighty- three in England and Wales.
After spending some months in Germany and Italy, Mr. Cook went, by the way of Greece, Palestine, and Egypt, to India, where he arrived on the fifth of January, 1882, and where he spent about three months. During this period he lectured in Bombay, Poonah, Ahmednuggur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Benares (the headquarters of Hindooism), Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore, etc., to large, intelligent, and appreciative audiences, composed of both Europeans and natives.
From India, Mr. Cook's tour extended to China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the Sandwich Islands.
In Australasia, in the winter of the southern hemisphere, from July to Octo- ber, 1882, Mr. Cook gave long courses of lectures to brilliant, crowded, and enthusi- astic assemblies, in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and other leading towns.
His eleven volumes of Boston Monday Lectures, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., have appeared in thirteen different foreign editions. In 1888 he founded " Our Day," a monthly record and review of cur- rent reform, with Miss Willard, ex-presi- dent Cyrus Hamlin, and other specialists as associate editors.
COOKE, GEORGE PHELPS, son of Albert Andrew and Maria Fidelia (Talbot) Cooke, was born in Oxford, Worcester county, October 28, 1849.
His usual common school preparation was passed, and he entered Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, and subsequently the Harvard dental and medical college. He began the practice of dentistry in Milford, his present residence, in 1869, in which profession he still continues.
Dr. Cooke was married in Medway, December 27, 1883, to Marianna, daugh- ter of William A. and Adelia E. (Crooks) Jenckes. Of this union are two children : Allan Jenckes and Guenn Cooke.
Dr. Cooke is president of the Quidnunc Association ; vice-president of the Co-oper-
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COOKE.
COOLIDGE.
ative Bank, having been prominently iden- tified with its incorporation.
He is a leading member of the Milford Business Men's Association; was connected
GEORGE P. COOKE.
with the militia for a number of years, and is chairman of the Democratic town and senatorial district committee.
While always taking a lively interest in the politics of the State, he has uniformly refused to be a candidate for office, though he has done much to shape the local policy of his party. Ever since he has been a resident of Milford, he has com- manded a flourishing practice in his pro- fession.
COOKE, JOSIAH PARSONS, son of Josiah Parsons and Mary (Pratt) Cooke, was born in Boston, October 12, 1827.
He received his early education at the Boston Latin school, and was graduated from Harvard in 1848. During the next year he became tutor in mathematics, sub- sequently instructor in chemistry, and in 1850, Erving professor of chemistry and mineralogy.
Professor Cooke was the first to introduce laboratory instruction into the undergrad- uate course of an American college, and has successfully labored to render the in- ductive methods of experimental science a legitimate means of liberal culture, not
only in the college, but also in the prepara- tory school.
Professor Cooke's work has been largely that of instruction, and in addition to his duties at Harvard, he has given courses of popular lectures in New York, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Lowell, Washington, and Wor- cester, and six courses at the Lowell Institute, Boston. As director of the chemical laboratory of Harvard Col- lege, he has published numerous contri- butions to chemical science, most of which have been collected in a volume entitled "Chemical and Physical Researches " (1881).
The investigation of the atomic weight of antimony (1880) was one of the most brilliant and perfect pieces of chemical work ever executed in this country. He has been editorially connected with the " American Journal of Science," and the " Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences and Arts." His " New Chem- istry " was the earliest exposition of the principles of molecular chemistry. Pro- fessor Cooke is a member of many scien- tific societies. In 1872 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He is an honorary fellow of the London Chemical Society. In 1882 he received the degree of LL. D. from the University of Cambridge, England, and in 1889 the same degree from Harvard. His published works include "Chemical Problems and Researches " (Cambridge, 1857); " Ele- ments of Chemical Physics" (Boston, 1860) ; "First Principles of Chemical Philosophy " ( 1882, revised edition); " The New Chemistry " (New York, 1872, re- vised, 1884); "Fundamental Principles of Chemistry " (Cambridge, 1886); " Religion and Chemistry " (New York, 1864); "Sci- entific Culture and Other Essays" (New York, 1881, with additions, 1885); "The Credentials of Science, the Warrant of Faith " (New York, 1888).
He was married at Lowell, February 6, 1860, to Mary Hinckley, daughter of Elisha and Hannah ( Hinckley) Hunting- ton. Mr. Huntington was at one time mayor of Lowell, and at another lieuten- ant-governor of the State.
COOLIDGE, TIMOTHY AUGUSTUS, son of William and Ann (Leighton) Cool- idge, was born in Natick, Middlesex county, June 25, 1827.
'The district school bestowed upon him an elementary education, and beyond this he has depended entirely upon his percep- tive faculties, studying from the world about him.
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CORCORAN.
COOLIDGE.
His father was a shoemaker in a small way, and as he was one of seven children, he was obliged very early in life to provide for his own support. Until he was twenty years old, he worked in the shop with his father, with the exception of three months, when, as a lad of thirteen years, he "pegged " for Henry Wilson - afterward United States senator and vice-president. Ever since his twentieth year, Mr. Coolidge has been a growing shoe manufacturer, at first doing most of the work himself, now giving employment to hundreds of people.
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