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 30
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While residing in Manchester, Mr. Ed- gerly served as director of the City National Bank, the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company, the Suncook Valley Railroad Company, the Worcester & Nashua Railroad Company, and as trustee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank.
In religious faith he is an Episcopalian, and has always taken an active interest in
affairs relating to his church and denomi- nation. In politics he is a pronounced and sturdy Democrat. He was delegate to the national Democratic conventions of 1872, '76, and '80 ; a member of the national Democratic committee, and centennial com- missioner from New Hampshire, and chief of staff to Governor Weston of that state. In 1882 he was nominated as Democratic candidate for governor of New Hampshire, and in that Republican state was defeated by a very small majority.
Since his election as president of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, he has resided in Springfield, a
MARTIN V. B. EDGERLY.
man highly esteemed and admired by all who come in contact with him in business and social circles. For himself, he finds his chief relaxation and enjoyment in his home and in cultivating his literary in- stincts among the treasures of a large and select library of standard works.
EDWARDS, ELISHA AUSTIN, son of Col. Elisha and Julia (King) Edwards, was born at Southampton, Hampshire county, March 25, 1824.
He received his early education in the common schools of his native town and at Sheldon Academy.
After reaching the age of twenty, for several years he taught school at South-
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ampton during the winter seasons, and during the summer worked upon the farm on which he had been brought up.
He was for thirteen years town clerk ; also served as postmaster, selectman, asses- sor, overseer of the poor, and for some fifteen years moderator of the annual town meetings. He is now acting as county commissioner for the twenty-second year, being for eighteen years chairman of the board ; and on the completion of his present term will have served twenty-four years.
Mr. Edwards has held four military com- missions from the governor of the State. He commanded a regiment of militia three years, and was acting brigadier-general for one year. In 1861 he raised a company of volunteers and went to service in com- mand, and was with General Butler at the taking of New Orleans.
He has been trustee, secretary and treas- urer of the Sheldon Academy twenty-two years, has held a commission as justice of the peace for forty years, as notary public seven years, and for qualifying civil offi- cers seventeen years. He is president of the Southampton Library Association.
Mr. Edwards was married at Southamp- ton, May 12, 1846, to Henrietta L., daughter of Silas and Anna (King) Sheldon, by whom he has four children : Alice Julia Anna, Emma Henrietta, Isabel Georgine, and Anna King.
EDWARDS, OSCAR, son of Oliver and Laura (Starkweather) Edwards, was born in Chesterfield, Hampshire county, June 6, 1821. He received his education at the public schools of his native town, and at the Chesterfield and other academies, and when twenty-eight years old entered into part- nership with his father as general mer- chants, in Chesterfield, then a leading town of Hampshire county, on the direct stage route from Boston to Albany, N. Y.
By President Taylor he was appointed postmaster in 1848, and the same year was elected town clerk and treasurer, which offices he held till 1852, when he removed to Northampton.
In April, 1851, Mr. Edwards married Katharine Wendell, daughter of Harmon- ius and Catalina (Hurm) Wendell, of New York. They have two sons and two daughters.
Upon moving to Northampton, Mr. Ed- wards engaged in the drug business, and is still carrying it on in his original store. For fifteen years he has been president of the Northampton National Bank, which became widely known, two years after his
election, from the fact that it was robbed of a million dollars. He has been a mem- ber of the board of water commissioners of Northampton since its origin, and is a director in the Connecticut River Railroad, the Ashuelot Railroad, and Glasgow Ging- ham Company, of South Hadley Falls, and the Hampshire Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He is also a trustee in the Northampton Institution for Savings, and has filled many other offices of responsi- bility and trust.
Politically Mr. Edwards was a member of the old Whig party, and with many others became a Democrat, but his per- sonal popularity appeared in 1880, when, in a district that is largely Republican, he was elected by a very large majority, to serve upon the executive council of Gover- nor Long.
ELA, DAVID HOUGH, son of Theodore and Priscilla (Woodward) Ela, was born in Canaan, Somerset county, Maine, January 19, 1831.
He gleaned his early knowledge of books from the brief terms of the common school only, till fourteen years of age-then two years in a printing office, afterward learn- ing the trade of a machinist. He subse- quently determined to prepare for a differ- ent line of life-work, and entering Kent's Hill Seminary, Maine, he fitted for college, and in 1857 was graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., paying his way in preparatory school and college by occasional teaching, but mainly by working at his trade.
He then entered the Methodist ministry, and joined the Providence Conference in 1858, and preached at Norwich, Conn., until 1860. He has remained in the minis- terial work of the M. E. church up to the present time, and has been a member of the New England conference since 1873.
Mr. Ela has been principal of Provi- dence Conference Seminary, East Green- wich, R. L., three years (1871-'73); dele- gate to the general conference of the M. E. church, 1872, '80 and '84; trustee of Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, and of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.
His appointments have included Nor- wich, Conn. ; Bristol, Woonsocket, Paw- tucket and Providence, R. I .; Lynn, Low- ell, Worcester and Boston. He was pre- siding elder of the Springfield district, 1878 to '81, and received the degree of D. D. from Cornell College, lowa, 1876. He is at present pastor of the Mt. Bellingham church, Chelsea.
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He has written much for magazines and the general press. He possesses a pure taste for lyric poetry, and has written many hymns that appear in the Hymnal of the M. E. church, besides fugitive poems prepared for literary and festive occasions.
Mr. Ela was married in Lowell, April 20, 1858, to Louisa B., daughter of William and Naomi (Smith) Sargent. Of this union were five children : Paul Francis, Clara Louisa, Grace Ednah, Emma Torsey and Elizabeth Ela -the two latter deceased.
Mr. Ela is a clergyman widely known and respected outside the confines of his own denomination -a man of original thought, pleasing address, one calculated to build up and unify the various interests of the society over which he is placed.
ELDER, SAMUEL JAMES, son of James and Deborah D. (Keene) Elder, was born in Hopeville, R. I., January 4, 1850.
His early educational advantages were the public schools of Lawrence, Mass., where he fitted for college, and he gradu- ated from Yale in the class of 1873. He studied law with John H. Hardy, now associate justice of the municipal court of the city of Boston.
He was admitted to the bar and began practice in 1875, in Boston, where he still remains actively engaged in his profession. Though employed in general practice, he has given especial attention to copy- right law, and was selected by the Inter- national Copyright League to act with it before the United States Senate on the international copyright bill.
Mr. Elder was married at Hastings- upon-Hudson, N. Y., May 10, 1876, to Lilla, daughter of Cornelius W. and Mar- garet J. (Wyckoff) Thomas. Of this union are two children : Margaret M. and Fanny A. Elder.
Mr. Elder was representative to the lower branch of the General Court in 1885, from the 14th Middlesex district (Win- chester and Arlington), but declined re- election. He has been treasurer of two manufacturing corporations for several years. He is a member of William Park- man Lodge, F. & A. M., Winchester, where he has resided since 1877.
ELIOT, CHARLES WILLIAM, son of Samuel Atkins and Mary (Lyman) Eliot, was born in Boston, March 20, 1834.
He was prepared for college at the Boston public Latin school ; entered Har- vard College and was graduated there- from in the class of 1853. In 1854 he was appointed tutor in mathematics, and
continued the study of chemistry under Prof. J. P. Cooke.
In 1858 he was promoted to be assistant professor of mathematics and chemistry, and in 1861 was placed in charge of the chemical department of the Lawrence scientific school.
For two years, during 1863, '64 and '65 he studied chemistry in Europe, and spent some time in examining the systems of public instruction in France, Germany and England. In 1865 he was appointed pro- fessor of analytical chemistry in the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1867-'68 he was again in Europe for a year.
Professor Eliot was called to the presi- dency of Harvard University, May 19, 1869, which office he still holds.
He was first married in Boston, October 27, 1858, to Ellen Derby, daughter of Ephraim and Mary Jane (Derby) Peabody. Of this union were four children, of whom two survive : Charles and Samuel Atkins Eliot. His second marriage was with Grace Mellen Hopkinson of Cambridge, October 30, 1877. Miss Hopkinson was the daughter of Thomas and Corinna Aldrich (Prentiss) Hopkinson.
During President Eliot's administration, the elective system has supplanted the old- fashioned prescribed curriculum, and Har- vard has come to resemble in its methods the great European universities. It has doubled in number of teachers and stu- dents, and more than trebled in wealth.
President Eliot received the degree of LL. D. from Williams and Princeton in 1869, and from Yale in 1870. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the American Philosophical Society, and a member of many literary and scientific bodies. His public addresses are noted for terseness and strength. Be- sides chemical memoirs, essays on educa- tional topics and economic questions of the hour, and his annual reports as presi- dent of Harvard, he has written two text- books on chemistry.
President Eliot is an independent thinker and an efficient executive officer. While not inclined to mingle in party politics, he is an outspoken defender of civil service reform and of the theory of free trade as against protection.
ELLIS, GEORGE EDWARD, son of Da- vid and Sarah (Rogers) Ellis, was born in Boston, August 8, 1814.
He was graduated at Harvard in 1833, and at the divinity school in 1836, and after study and travel in Europe, was or-
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dained March 11, 1840, as pastor of the Harvard Congregational church, Charles- town.
From 1857 till '63, he was professor of systematic theology in Harvard divinity school. In 1864 he delivered before the Lowell Institute, a course of lectures on the "Evidences of Christianity," in 1871 a course on the "Provincial History of Massachusetts," and in 1879 a course on " The Red Man and the White Man in North America."
He resigned the pastorate of Harvard church in June, 1869.
GEORGE E. ELLIS.
Mr. Ellis was at one time editor of the " Christian Register," and afterwards joint editor with Rev. George Putnam, D. D., of the " Christian Examiner," which he sub- sequently conducted alone.
He has been vice-president of the Mas- sachusetts Historical Society, and is now president. He was a member of the board of overseers of Harvard in 1850-'51, serv- ing one year as secretary. Harvard gave him the degree of D. D. in 1847, and L.L. D. in 1883. Mr. Ellis is the fourth person who has received both of these degrees from the university.
He was chairman of the committee of publication of the Massachusetts Histori- cal Society for editing the MS. journal of
Chief Justice Samuel Sewall, and published an address on the life and character of the judge. He delivered the address at the unveiling of the statue of John Harvard, in Cambridge (1884).
He is a fellow of the American Acad- emy of Arts and Sciences, member of the American Antiquarian Society, and corre- sponding member of the Historical socie- ties of New York, Connecticut, New Ha- ven, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. He delivered an address before the New York Historical Society upon its eighty- second anniversary, November 16, 1886.
He has published lives of John Mason (1844), Anne Hutchinson (1845), and Wil- liam Penn (1847), in Sparks' " American Biography ; " "Half Century of the Uni- tarian Controversy" (1857); " Memoir of Dr. Luther V. Bell " (1863) ; "The Aims and Purposes of the Founders of Massa- chusetts, and their Treatment of Intruders and Dissenters " (1869) ; "Memoir of Jared Sparks " (1869) ; " Life of Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford " (1871); " His- tory of the Massachusetts General Hos- pital " (1872) ; "History of the Battle of Bunker Hill " (1875) ; " Memoir of Charles Wentworth Upham " (1877) ; " Memoir of Dr. Jacob Bigelow " (1880) ; " Memoir of Nathaniel Thayer " (1885) ; an address before the city government on the centen- nial of the evacuation by the British army, with an account of the siege of Boston (1876) ; and numerous other memoirs, ser- mons and addresses. Mr. Ellis wrote three historical chapters for the " Memo- rial History of Boston " ( 1880-'81) ; "The Religious Element in New England," and five other chapters in the " Narrative and Critical History of America " (1886) and several articles on' American subjects for the ninth edition of the "Encyclopedia Britannica." He has also contributed nu- merous articles to periodicals. He pub- lished in 1882 " The Red Man and the White Man in North America ; " in 1888, " The Puritan Age and Rule in the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay," and in 1888, an historical address delivered in Dedham, November 19th, on " The Church and the Parish in Massachusetts, Usage and Law."
ELLIS, GEORGE LIVINGSTON, son of Edson and Mary Sherman Ellis, was born in Plympton, Plymouth county, November 10, 1838. He is a lineal descendant from old Plymouth " Mayflower" stock.
His education commenced in the com- mon schools of Plympton. He was gradu- ated from Plympton Academy, of which he afterwards became principal. While fitting
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for college, his health became undermined, precluding further efforts in that direction.
He studied medicine under the instruc- tion of the late Dr. W. W. Comstock of Middleborough, and was graduated in the regular course at Harvard medical college in June, 1872.
He located in Taunton, in general prac- tice for three years, and was then appointed assistant physician in the lunatic hospital, which position he filled for several years, till breaking down in health, he resigned, and removed to Middleborough and re- sumed general practice.
Under Governor Robinson he received the appointment of medical examiner for Plymouth county, which position he still retains. He is chairman of the school board for the town of Middleborough.
ELLIS, THOMAS, son of William and Judith (Peirce) Ellis, was born in Rochester, Plymouth county, August 4, 1812, on the old homestead bought and settled by his great grandfather, John Ellis, in 1755, then primeval forest. Here he lived and labored during his minority, and being the third child and eldest of four brothers, was able to attend only the winter district schools after he was large enough to be of value in farm work. His school attendance was coupled with the disadvantage of living a long distance from the school, the way lying through woods and swamps, and streams that often must be forded.
He early acquired a strong taste for reading, and the scanty historical library in town (forty volumes) was conned before his school days were passed. His taste for standard literature has never forsaken him, and has fully supplemented his lack of early educational training. His business has been principally lumbering and farm- ing, and now at an advanced age he is enjoying the results of a long and busy life.
Mr. Ellis was married in Rochester, March 10, 1836, to Almy D., daughter of Nathaniel and Ruth (Davis) Tabor. Of this union were three children : Cordelia M., William T. and Mary T. Ellis. William T. Ellis enlisted in the 3d regiment, Mas- sachusetts volunteers, in 1862, served out his time, and returned home to die of dis- ease contracted in the army. His death occurred June 23, 1863.
Mr. Ellis was a member of the House of Representatives in 1855, and again in 1869. He has held a commission as justice of the peace for many years, has served as select- man, member of the school board, super- intendent of schools, and has several times been appointed to look after the interests
of the town before committees of the Leg- islature. He held the commission of lieu- tenant in the militia for several years - was elected captain, but declined the office.
ELSON, LOUIS C., son of Julius and Rosalie (Snell) Elson, was born in Boston, April 17, 1848.
His parents were German, and of some prominence in the rather small foreign col- ony of Boston at that time. His bent to- ward music was displayed at an early age, his instruction proper beginning when he was six years old. He enjoyed the benefit of the acquaintance and instruction of many eminent musicians from this time forward, but owes much of his theoretical knowledge to the friendship of Carl Glogg- ner of the Leipzig Conservatory, who awakened his interest in musical literature and even assisted him in his earliest essays at original production in this field. His studies in the German Lied were fostered by August Kreissman, whom Liszt acknowledged to be one of the best interpreters of Robert Franz.
Mr. Elson's first entrance into musical journalism was made in the " Musician and Artist," of which he became musical reviewer. When this magazine ceased to exist he became contributor to, and subse- quently editor of, the "Vox Humana," in which he began his historical work on an- cient music, which has since been pub- lished under the title of " Curiosities of Music." He subsequently became musical editor of the "Score," the " Musical and Dramatic Times," "Wide Awake," and numerous other literary ventures. He is the author of " The Harmonica " (1878), " Home and School " (1881), "German Songs and Song Writers " (Boston, 1882), " History of German Song " (1888), and various translations. His musical work has kept pace with his literary labors. He has been connected professionally with Trinity, Emmanuel, and other leading churches of the city of Boston. In the New England Conservatory of Music he has long been prominent as a teacher of voice and of the theory of music. He has labored faithfully to enlarge the horizon of musical education in America, and to cause the culture of the musician to be at least equal to that of other workers in the field of art. As a lecturer he has made a successful record, and has appeared in many of the leading American educational institutes.
Mr. Elson was married in Boston to Bertha Lissner. Of this union is one child : Arthur Elson.
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ELY, FREDERICK DAVID, son of Nathan and Amelia M. (Partridge) Ely, was born in Wrentham, Norfolk county, September 24, 1838.
He fitted for college in Day's Academy, Wrentham, and entered Brown University, where he was graduated in the class of 1859. He read law in the office of Hon. Waldo Colburn, Dedham, and was admit- ted to the bar in 1862, before the superior court at Dedham.
He first opened a law office in Dedham, and in 1870 at Boston, where he has prac- ticed up to the present time. He is now associate justice of the municipal court of the city of Boston, to which place he was appointed in 1888.
Judge Ely was first married in Boston, December 6, 1866, to Eliza B., daughter of Seth and Harriet E. (Rice) Whittier. His second marriage occurred in Dedham, August 10, 1885, with Anna, daughter of Lyman and Olive Emerson. He has two children : Frederick D., Jr., and Amelia M. Ely.
Judge Ely is a prominent Mason, has been master of Constellation Lodge, Ded- ham, grand marshal and deputy grand mas- ter of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
He is trustee of the Dedham Institution for Savings ; member of the vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal church, Dedham ; was a member of the school board three years, and seventeen years trial justice - both until his election to Congress.
He was a member of the House of Rep- resentatives 1873, and of the Senate 1878 and '79 ; in 1873 and '79 serving on the judiciary committee, and in 1878 on that of public charitable institutions. He was elected a member of the 49th Congress in 1886, in which he served on the com- mittees on elections and private land claims.
His residence is in Dedham. His party affiliations are with the Republicans. He attributes what success he may have real- ized in life to the good judgment of his parents in guiding his early years, and to their liberality in his education.
ENDICOTT, AUGUSTUS BRADFORD, son of Elijah and Cynthia (Childs) Endi- cott, was born at Canton, Norfolk county, September 10, 1818.
He received his early education in the common schools at Canton, and upon leav- ing school was apprenticed to the carpen- tering trade in the same town, at which he served four years and a half. Soon after reaching his majority he removed to Chel- sea and accepted a position as pattern-
ENDICOTT.
maker in a foundry, at which he continued about ten years.
In 1852 Mr. Endicott came to Dedham, where he still resides. In 1853 he was appointed a deputy sheriff under Thomas Adams, then sheriff. He continued to act as under sheriff until August, 1885, when, upon the death of Sheriff Wood, he was ap- pointed to succeed him for the unexpired term of his appointment. In November, 1886, he was again elected by both parties for the full term of three years, which office he still holds.
He represented the town of Dedham in the Legislature in 1874 and '76. He has held the offices of selectman, assessor, overseer of the poor and member of the board of health for twenty-two years. He is also president of the Dedham Institu- tion for Savings ; director of the Dedham National Bank, and also director in the Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
Mr. Endicott was married at Dedham, July 22, 1845, to Sarah, the daughter of William and Millie Fairbanks, of Dedham, by whom he has three children : Mary Augusta (Mrs. William H. Lord), Lizzie Blanche (Mrs. George H. Young), and Henry Bradford Endicott.
ENDICOTT, CHARLES, son of Elijah and Cynthia (Childs) Endicott, was born in Canton, Norfolk county, October 28, 1822.
He had the advantages of a common school education. He worked on his father's farm, and also at boot making, during his early days.
In 1846, at twenty-four years of age, he was appointed deputy sheriff. He is now deputy tax commissioner and commissioner of corporations.
Mr. Endicott was first married in Can- ton, September 30, 1845, to Miriam Webb. By this marriage there is one child : Charles W. His second marriage occurred Octo- ber 2, 1848, in Charlestown, N. H., with Augusta G. Dinsmore. Of this union are two children : Edward D. and Cynthia A. (Endicott) Field.
Mr. Endicott was admitted to the bar in 1857, as an attorney and counselor-at-law, after having read law in the office of the late Ellis Ames, of Canton.
He has been called to serve in nearly all the town offices ; was county commissioner six years ; commissioner of insolvency, at first appointed by the governor and subse- quently clected by the people ; represen- tative in the General Court, 1851, '57 and '58 ; state senator in 1866 and '67 ; mem- ber of the executive council, 1868 and '69 ;
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state auditor six years (1870 to '76) ; state treasurer five years (1876-'81) ; deputy tax commissioner from 1881 to the present time.
Mr. Endicott is a director in the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company ; Nepon- set National Bank ; was for forty years trustee of the Canton Institution for Sav- ings, and is now its president.
ENDICOTT, HENRY, son of Elijah and Cynthia (Childs) Endicott, was born in Canton, Norfolk county, November 14, 1824.
He was educated in the public schools ; commenced business life in the manufac- ture of steam engines and boilers, in Bos- ton, in 1845, under the firm name of Allen & Endicott. He retired from business in 1875.
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HENRY ENDICOTT.
Mr. Endicott has long been a prominent member of the order of Free and Accepted Masons, and is now serving his third year as grand master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
ENDICOTT, WILLIAM CROWNIN- SHIELD, the son of William Putnam and Mary (Crowninshield) Endicott of Salem, Essex county, was born in Salem, Novem- ber 19, 1826. His father was a graduate of Harvard University, class of 1822, and
ENNEKING.
a descendant from John Endicott, the first governor of Massachusetts. His maternal grandfather, Jacob Crowninshield, was a member of Congress for some years, and was appointed and confirmed secretary of the navy in Jefferson's cabinet, but de- clined, preferring to remain in Congress.
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