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 23
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In 1883, his fourth year of service in the Senate, he was elected its president. The session of the Legislature for that year was rendered famous by the Tewks- bury and other extended investigations, and was the longest session on record, lasting two hundred and six days. He declined to be a candidate for re-election.
On the death of Hon. Thomas Russell, chairman of the Massachusetts board of railroad commissioners, in February, 1887, he was appointed by the governor, Oliver Ames, as a member of that board, and by its members was chosen its chairman. He still holds that position, having been re- appointed in July, 1888, for a term of three years.
In May of the present year, he was elected a director of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company, but de- clined to serve, on the ground that the holding of that position would be incon- sistent with the most efficient performance of his duties as railroad commissioner.
In June of the current year, Mayor Hart, of the city of Boston, appointed Mr. Crocker as one of three commissioners to examine into the operation of the existing system of taxation, and to report a more equitable system, if any could be devised.
1 Early in the present year, 1889, G. P. Put- nam's Sons, New York and London, pub- lished a parliamentary manual, entitled " Principles of Procedure in Deliberative Assemblies," by George G. Crocker.
He has been and is an officer of various business corporations. He is also treas- urer of the Massachusetts Charitable Society, a trustee of the Boston Lying-in Hospital, and of the Massachusetts Char- itable Fire Society, a life member of the Boston Young Men's Christian Union, a member of the Boston Civil Service Re- form Association, of the Citizens' Associa-
CRONIN.
tion of Boston, of the Society for Politi- cal Education, the Young Men's Benevolent Society, the Bar Association of the city of Boston, the Harvard Law School Associa- tion, the Boston Athletic Association, the Beacon Society, the Papyrus, Union, St. Botolph, Algonquin, Country and Union Boat clubs, and resides in the city of Boston.
On the 19th of June, 1875, he was mar- ried by Rev. Phillips Brooks, at Emmanuel Church, in Boston, to Annie Bliss, daughter of Nathan Cooley Keep, M. D., of Boston, and Susan Prentiss (Haskell) Keep, and has five children : George Glover, Jr., born April 16, 1877 ; Margaret, born April 9, 1878; Courtenay, born February 4, 1881 ; Muriel, born March 30, 1885; and Lyneham, born February 18, 1889.
CRONIN, CORNELIUS F., son of John and Margaret (McCarthy) Cronin, was born in Cork, Ireland, July 25, 1851.
Shortly after his birth his parents came to Boston, where he received his early edu-
CORNELIUS F. CRONIN.
cation at the public schools, winning the Franklin medal on his graduation from the Dwight school. He studied afterward in the Boston evening Latin school, and entered the Boston University law school, where, after a course of three years, he received in 1878 the degree of LL. B.
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CROSBY.
He also studied law in the office of William C. Green, and with Gargan, Swazey & Adams, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1878, where he has been till recently engaged in the practice of his profession. He has of late been in Los Angeles, Cal., as attorney for the Lowe Gas & Electric Company of that city.
Mr. Cronin represented ward 13 of the city of Boston, in the House of Represen- tatives in 1881, '82 and '83, and served on the committees on judiciary, and probate and chancery. He was elected state sen- ator from South Boston in 1884, and served on the committees on probate and chan- cery, bills in the third reading, and was chairman of the joint committee on claims.
He has never been married.
CROSBY, GEORGE HANNIBAL, eldest child of Hartwell Broad and Elizabeth Grant (Buxton) Crosby, was born in Bangor, Penobscot county, Me., September 23, 1836, being a lineal descendant in the seventh generation from Simon and Ann Crosby, who came from England in the ship "Susan and Ellen," in 1636, and settled in Cambridge. Mr. Crosby's father, being a builder and contractor, moved to St. john, N. B., directly after the great fire in that city, 1841. He had only just re- turned to Albion, Me., where he and his wife were both born, and built for himself some mills, when the great fire occurred in St. John's, New Foundland, in 1848; he left his family and with a large crew of mechanics went to that city to again engage in building. Three years later he again went to St. John, N. B., and remained. He built the old custom house, suspension bridge, lunatic asylum, Hammond River viaduct, city hospital, and scores of other railroad, government, public and private buildings.
During those years his son was attending the public schools, and for a time previous to 1850 he attended the academy at China, Me. He then attended the institute at Waterville, Me., one year, and afterward spent a year at the Wesleyan Academy, Sackville, N. B. At the age of eighteen he was fully prepared to enter college, but at the urgent request of his father to learn the building business, he tried it for one year, but it being distasteful to him he was placed with the firm of Fleming & Hum- bert, builders of engines and general ma- chinery at St. John. Here he remained until the middle of the second year, when, at the time of the Crimean war, he sailed for Constantinople, visiting at the same
time Gibraltar, Malta, Messina and Liver- pool.
Soon' after his return he married, at St. John, June 23, 1857, Sadie Elizabeth, daughter of Robert and Jane (Disbrow) Ray, of St. John. That same year he moved to Boston. He found employment at the Boston Locomotive Works for one year. He was now a journeyman machinist. From this time he was constantly employed studying mechanical engineering, gradually
GEORGE H. CROSBY
advancing into finer grades of work ; was foreman in the Massachusetts state prison five years, then foreman for the Ashcroft Steam Gauge Company. In 1873 he was appointed foreman of the American Steam Gauge Company, and there remained until 1875. In 1876, having in the meantime secured patents for several of his valuable improvements in pressure-gauges, safety- valves, etc., he went into business for him- self, and organized the Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Company, of which he was a director and superintendent. His improve- ments in the steam engine indicator and other instruments of precision in which he made a notable success have a world-wide reputation, until to-day the model factory in Boston, with its varied and continued improvements in this special line, stands an honor to the trade, and its productions are
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CROSBY.
found in the principal cities of the United States, Great Britain and the Continent. Mr. Crosby has secured in all over thirty patents, and with the exception of two, these are all in successful operation.
Mr. Crosby was a member of the Somer- ville common council in 1876 and '77 ; was a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association until 1889 ; and is a member of the American Society of Me- chanical Engineers.
Mr. Crosby's second marriage occurred in 1886, with Alice J., daughter of Harri- son W. and Abbie J. (Thompson) Crosby, of Albion, Me. Of this union are two children : Carlotta Hortense and Omar George Crosby.
Mr. Crosby at the age of fifty retired from active business, and has lately built him a beautiful summer residence in Albion, Me., where he cultivates his taste for agri- cultural pursuits, and enjoys the well- earned fruits of an honorable and success- ful career.
CROSBY, TULLY, JR., son of Tully and Mehitable Crosby, was born in South Boston, August 21, 1841.
Passing his preparatory studies in the public schools, and the academy at Hyan- nis, he then went to sea at the age of eighteen.
In 1860 he sought the gold fields of California, and the Nevada silver mines, where he remained until 1863. He spent the years 1864 and '65 in the city of Chicago, engaged in the pork business ; afterwards he followed the sea again as master mariner.
In 1876 he retired from a sea-faring life, and studied law at Boston University. He was admitted to the bar in 1886, and began practice in Barnstable county, having his residence in Brewster.
Mr. Crosby was married in Melrose, June 13, 1867, to Lovella J., daughter of Walter and Martha Hopkins. Mrs. Crosby died January 25, 1873. In 1876 Mr. Crosby was again married to Malissa H. Foster of Brewster, daughter of God- frey and Reliance Hopkins. Of this union was one child : Grace L. Crosby, still living.
Mr. Crosby served as representative from his district in the General Court in 1885, acting as clerk of the committee on edu- cation. He has been chairman of the school committee, and superintendent of schools the past eight years. He is treas- urer of the First Unitarian parish, Brewster, and trustee of the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank.
CROWELL.
CROSSLEY, AZRO T., son of Henry T. and Eliza G. (Stetson) Crossley, was born in Harshfield, Plymouth county, De- cember 12, 1855.
Passing through the public schools of his native town, he fitted for college in Phillips Academy, Andover, and the high school at South Weymouth.
Instead of pursuing his classical studies further, he studied law, reading with Sam- uel C. Darling, city solicitor of Somerville. He began the practice of law in Boston in 1879. In 1883 he removed to Northamp- ton. and was elected city solicitor in 1886, which office he has continued to hold to the present time.
Mr. Crossley was married January 2, 1882, at Saratoga, N. Y., to Bertha D., daughter of Leslie A. and Mary E. (Dewey) Belding. Of this union are two children : Elsie and Marjorie Crossley.
CROWELL, JOHN, son of John and Anne (Greenleaf) Crowell, was born in Haverhill, Essex county, September 28, 1823. The name was originally Cromwell, but after the restoration of Charles II., so intense was the feeling against anything pertaining to the great commoner, that some were forced to modify the name, for the sake of peace and safety.
His early education was chiefly under the direction of that noted mathematician and teacher, Benjamin Greenleaf, his ma- ternal uncle, with whom he fitted himself for college. His health failing, he did not enter college, but subsequently was able to keep abreast with its curriculum.
In 1844 he took charge of the School Street grammar school in Haverhill, where he won success. He commenced the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. George Cogswell, of Bradford. He pur- sued his professional studies still further with Prof. James McClintock of Phila- delphia, and in the Pennsylvania hos- pital in that city, graduating from the Philadelphia College of Medicine in 1850. After remaining a year in Philadelphia, in hospital and dispens- ary service, he began the practice of medicine in his native town in 1851, where he has since resided, identifying himself with its literary and social life, and always taking a deep interest in whatever related to the welfare of his fellow-citizens.
Among the positions of honor and trust that Dr. Crowell has been called upon to fill may be mentioned : chairman of the school board, trustee of the public library and secretary of the board, trustee of Bradford Academy, Haverhill City Hospital
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CROWELL.
and Linwood Cemetery Corporation, con- sulting physician of Danvers lunatic asy- lum, member of Massachusetts Medical
JOHN CROWELL.
Society, president of Essex North Dis- trict Medical Society, state correspondent of board of health, corresponding member of Wisconsin Historical Society, and chair- man of Haverhill board of health, etc.
Dr. Crowell's literary labors have been many and varied, embracing professional, scientific, critical and miscellaneous papers. Some of his professional papers are, " Dis- eases of the Rectum " (1856) ; " History of the Asiatic Cholera " (1873); "Anomalies in Pregnancy " (1878) ; "The Human Brain and Some of its Phenomena," and " Bright's Disease of the Kidneys." In 1884 he was orator at the annual meeting of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, Boston.
Among his miscellaneous papers and lectures are : "The Colonial and Revolu- tionary History of Haverhill," an oration, (1876) ; " John Ruskin," "Architecture," " Michael Angelo," "Historical Poem," Bradford, (1882).
Dr. Crowell was first married January 7, 1854, to Sarah Bradley, daughter of Sam- uel Johnson, of Haverhill, who died in 1859. Of this union was one child, born 1857, died 1858. Dr. Crowell was again married October 31, 1861, to Caroline,
CROWLEY.
daughter of Ephraim Corliss, of Haver- hill.
Dr. Crowell's church connections are with the Centre Congregational church, of which he is an active member, holding im- portant official positions.
CROWLEY, JEREMIAH, son of Dennis and Mary (Conley) Crowley, was born in Lowell, Middlesex county, January 12, 1832.
He received his early educational train- ing in the public schools of his native place. When about thirteen years of age he entered the employ of the Lawrence Manu- facturing Company, as a boy. He learned the machinist's trade with Aldrich, Calvert & Tyng, afterwards working at his trade with Marvel & Lane, and from 1855 to '58 at Nashua, N. H.
At the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, in 1861, he enlisted as a member of the old 6th Massachusetts regiment, and his company was one of the four that made the memorable march through Baltimore. He served nearly four months, and after being mustered out, again sought to enter the service, but was refused on account of disabilities.
JEREMIAH CROWLEY.
He worked for a time at the Watertown arsenal, and then commenced the study of law, pursuing his legal studies in the office
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CULLEY.
of John F. McEvoy, Lowell. He was admitted to the Middlesex bar in 1869, and has remained in the successful prac- tice of his profession up to the present time.
Mr. Crowley served as national delegate of the A. O. H. for two years, and was for thirteen years treasurer of division No. 2, A. O. H .; has been president of the Low- ell Irish Benevolent Society, St. Patrick Temperance Association and the old 6th Regiment Association. He was a member of the Lowell common council in 1870 and '71, and of the board of aldermen in 1873, '74, '77, '78 and '86. In 1882 he was elected to the state Senate, serving on the com- mittees on prisons and liquor law, and the committee on removal of Judge Day, judge of probate for the county of Barn- stable.
Mr. Crowley did not have the advant- ages of wealth in his earlier days, and to a great extent is a self-educated man, work- ing at his trade by day and studying by night. He is an earnest advocate of tem- perance, and is a leading representative of the better element of the Democratic party. He is in the enjoyment of a very large and lucrative practice, and his integrity is unquestioned. No man stands higher in the estimation of his native city, and his present leading position, both as a man and a lawyer, is a conclusive proof of what pluck, ambition and honest endeavor will accomplish in the face of adversity.
CULLEY, ELI, was born near Bath, England, February 4, 1840.
He was educated in the national schools of England.
He came to this country when fifteen years of age. He began business as a file manufacturer in Weymouth, Mass., in 1864, where he remained four years. He then removed to Fitchburg, where he has ever since followed the same business on an ex- tensive scale.
In 1862 he married Martha A., daughter of Eli and Fanny E. Redman. Of this union were six children : Frank C., Walter E., Fanny E., Albert E., Elsie B., and Edith F. Culley.
Mr. Culley has often been called upon to serve his fellow-citizens in some public trust ; was president of Fitchburg common council in 1875, and was an alderman in 1877 and '78.
He represented his district in the House of Representatives in 1880, was mayor of Fitchburg in 1880 and '81, and was elected to the same office in 1888 and '89.
CUMMINGS.
He is a prominent member and officer in various Masonic bodies and associations of I. O. O. F.
ELI CULLEY.
Mr. Culley served his adopted country in the late war in company K, 43d regiment, Massachusetts volunteers, during its term of service in 1862 and '63.
CUMMINGS, JOSEPH H., son of Jo- seph and Hannah H. (Knowles) Cummings, was born in Orleans, Barnstable county, June 16, 1840.
He obtained his early school training in the public schools and private academy of his native town. This was supplemented by a two years' attendance at Pierce Academy, Middleborough.
From 1846 to '47 he was traveling in Spain and Italy ; spent six months in Eng- land (1852) ; was in St. John, N. B., New Orleans, La., and Liverpool, England, in 1854. These trips were taken for his health, which was delicate in those days. From 1858 to '61 he was clerk for the firm of Thomas Knowles & Co., New Bed- ford.
From 1861 to '73 he owned and con- ducted a country store. In 1873 he began the wholesale manufacture of clothing, in connection with William H. Howes, a na- tive of Dennisport, under the firm name of Cummings & Howes. The factory was
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CUNNIFF.
located in Orleans, with office in Boston. He still continues the business connection, but carries on the general store in his own name. The firm has branch factories in Dennisport and Wellfleet.
Mr. Cummings was married in Orleans, September 3, 1862, to Helen C., daughter of Eben H. and Rebecca B. (Crosby) Lin- nell. Of this union are six children : Eben L., Henry K., Francis C., Nellie J., Mary S., and George Cummings.
Mr. Cummings has served fifteen years on the school board, four of which he was chairman. He is a director in the Cape Cod National Bank of Harwich.
He now resides in Orleans.
CUNNIFF, MICHAEL MATTHEW, son of Michael and Ellen (Kennedy) Cunniff, was born in Roscommon, Ireland, in 1850, his parents coming to Boston when he was three months old. He obtained his early educational training in the public schools of Boston. This was supplemented by a course of commercial training in the Bry- ant & Stratton Commercial College, Bos- ton.
His first connection in business was in the wine and spirit trade, with his brother Bernard, in Boston. He subsequently went out of that line to do a general banking and brokerage business, principally in the handling of gas securities.
He has also been identified with the West End Street Railway, Charles River Embankment Company, and other land and railroad improvements in Boston and vicinity.
Mr. Cunniff was president of the Demo- cratic city committee of Boston two years ; chairman of the executive branch of the Democratic state committee two years ; has been a member of the state committee twelve years ; was a member of the execu- tive council of Governor Ames, 1888, and was renominated, but declined the honor, for 1889.
He is a member of the Charitable Irish Society of Boston ; a director in the Me- chanics, National Bank of Boston, having been prominent in its re-organization ; director in the Bay State Gas Company ; one of the foremost capitalists in the organization of the Boston Gas Syndicate, and largely interested in the gas business of Boston.
Mr. Cunniff was chief ranger in the In- dependent Order of Foresters : and a member of the Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Montgomery Light Guard Veteran Association.
Mr. Cunniff is unmarried.
CUNNINGHAM.
CUNNINGHAM, JAMES ADAMS, son of Nathaniel Fellows and Martha (Putnam) Cunningham, was born in Boston, Novem- ber 27, 1830.
He received his educational training at Framingham and Lunenburg academies, and began life for himself as a farmer in Lunenburg.
At the opening of the war of the rebel- lion, he entered the service of his country, and from November 1, 1861, to July 1, 1865, he was with his regiment, the 32d Massachusetts volunteers, as lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, and brevet-colonel. September 1, 1866, he was
JAMES A. CUNNINGHAM.
brevetted brigadier-general ; commissioned adjutant-general of Massachusetts, with the rank of major-general, December, 1866, resigning January 14, 1879 ; was appointed superintendent of Soldiers' Home in Mas- sachusetts, April, 1882, where he still re- mains, and has his residence in Chel- sea.
General Cunningham was in all the cam- paigns of the army of the Potomac, from the Peninsular under McClellan, to the sur- render of the army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, April 9, 1865.
He has a natural talent, and early dis- played a taste, for the details of military science. As early as 1846 he was commis-
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CURRIER.
CURTIS.
sioned in the Fitchburg Fusileers, and re- signed as captain in 1859.
General Cunningham was married in Annisquam, June 12, 1856, to Ann Eliza, daughter of Oliver Griffin and Charlotte (Phippen) Lane. Of this union are three children : Charles Edward, Frederick Lane, and Annie Grafton Cunningham.
CURRIER, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, son of Festus C. and Johanna M. (Allen) Cur- rier, was born in Worcester, December 24, 1851.
His parents removed to Holliston when he was about a year old, and he received his early education in the public schools of that town.
He removed to Fitchburg in January, 1869, and for a number of years had full charge of the office work of the large in- surance agency of his father. At the time of his appointment as postmaster, he was a member of the firm of F. C. Currier & Son, insurance, railroad, and steamship agents.
He was connected with Whitney Opera House for three years, as business mana- ger. He was for four years secretary of the Worcester North Agricultural Society, and declined a re-election. He was also in charge of the office work of the Massachu- setts Mutual Aid Society, of which his father is secretary.
He was appointed postmaster of the city of Fitchburg by President Cleveland, receiving the endorsement of business men, irrespective of party, although he had never sought, nor had he previously held, public office.
CURTIS, ALBERT, son of Samuel, Jr., and Eunice (Taft) Curtis, was born in Worcester, July 13, 1807, being one of the fourth generation from Ephraim Curtis, who came from Sudbury to Worcester in 1673, and who is supposed to be the first white settler in Worcester.
He was one of a large family of chil dren, and was early bereaved of his father. Before he had reached his tenth year he was obliged, to a great extent, to pro- vide his own living. He resided for a time with his uncle in Auburn, and later with an elder brother in Tioga county, N. Y., doing what he was able to do at farm labor. He returned to Worcester at the age of seventeen, robust in health, and filled with a laudable ambition to better his condition, and that of those who might need his support.
Hle went into the service of White & Boyden, manufacturers of woolen machin- ery. He remained with them as apprentice
and journeyman several years. In 1831, with John Simmons and Abel Kimball as partners, he commenced a business of his own, in the manufacture of machinery suitable for use in various departments of cloth making.
His business broadened with success, taking in the manufacture of cloth itself. He was soon the owner of extensive mill property. His early knowledge of ma- chinery stood him in good stead in the va- rious branches of his extensive business. Twice during his business career he has suffered largely by destructive fires, but nothing daunted by untoward vicissitudes, he has immediately set about repairing and rebuilding.
Possessed of but a limited education, his taste for reading in early years has been a strong motor in his after acquirements. He has obtained a good knowledge of books, and has pursued his studies in va- rious departments of intellectual culture. Particularly has he been interested in his- torical and antiquarian researches. He has been vice-president of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, and an efficient mem- ber of several other like institutions.
Mr. Curtis has also for many years been interested in agricultural pursuits. He has devoted his time to business rather than to politics ; but as early as 1840 he was se- lectman of the town of Worcester, serving two years ; was a member of the common council the first year of the infant city, and alderman in 1857.
Mr. Curtis has been an unswerving mem- ber of the Republican party since he joined its ranks after the dissolution of the old Whig party. He has been a member of the Trinitarian Congregational church since 1828.
The first wife of Mr. Curtis was Mrs. Sally V. (Houghton) Griffin, of Sterling, to whom he was married in October, 1833. His second wife was Rosella P. (Perrin) Bancroft, widow of Rev. David Bancroft, formerly of Tolland, Conn. He has no children.
CURTIS, EDWIN UPTON, son of George and Martha Ann ( Upton) Curtis, was born in Roxbury, Norfolk county, March 26, 186 1.
He attended the grammar and Latin schools, in Roxbury, the Little Blue school at Farmington, Maine, fitted for college, entered Bowdoin College, and was grad- uated A. B. in the class of 1882. He re- ceived the degree of A. M. in 1885.
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