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 4
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House of Representatives 1851 and 1852. and in the Constitutional Convention of 1853. He was senator from Norfolk County in 1854, and trial justice for Brook- line from 1857 to 1860, when he resigned. He has held the offices of selectman, assessor, water commissioner, and trustee of the public library. Of the latter board he is now chairman.
Mr. Aspinwall was an ardent supporter of the government during the civil war, and called the first meeting in Brookline to aid in its vigorous prosecution. He served two years on the military conimit- tee of the town, and was at the same time secretary of the Massachusetts Rifle Club, at whose headquarters in Boylston Hall many officers were educated and several regiments were recruited and drilled. The Whig party having ceased to exist, Mr. Aspinwall from 1861 to the present time has acted with the Democratic party, and has stood high in its councils. He has been many years a member of the state committee, and from 1872 to the election of Governor Gaston, was chairman. He re- signed his membership in 1888. He has received the nomination of his party for Congress, and was nominated for presi- dential elector by the Democrats of the 9th congressional district in 1888.
Mr. Aspinwall has brought to all the positions which he has been called to fill, a highly disciplined and well furnished mind. In public debate few men are his equal in the clear, accurate and forcible presentation of a subject, nor can he be excelled in the adroitness and power with which he convinces, and frequently even compels active support from, his opponents.
He is a genial host, and pre-eminently a gentleman of the old school, a man of genuine and distinguished ability.
ATKINSON, EDWARD, son of Amos and Anna Greenleaf (Sawyer) Atkinson, was born in Brookline, Norfolk county, February 10, 1827.
He received his education in private schools. August 8, 1842, he entered the commission house of Read & Chadwick, Boston, as a boy, remaining there five years, where he received an excellent old- time training, such as obtained before the day of porters and janitors, in every line of work, from that of building fires and sweeping lofts, and packing goods, to con- fidential clerk. In 1848 Mr. Atkinson became clerk and subsequently treasurer of various manufacturing companies, in which occupation he remained until 1877. He was subsequently made president of
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ATWOOD.
the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which position he still holds.
October 4, 1855, at Brookline, Mr. Atkin- son married Mary C., daughter of Charles and Caroline (Penniman) Heath. He has seven children living.
In 1887 he was appointed by President Cleveland special commissioner to report upon the status of bi-metallism in Europe. He was .one of the founders of the New England Emigrant Aid Society, one of the founders and is now director of the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology. He is an honorary member of the Phi Beta Kappa (Harvard University), member of the American Academy of Arts and Sci- ences, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member and corresponding secretary of the Ameri- can Statistical Association, member of the International Statistical Institute, Cobden Club of Great Britain, the Unitarian Club of Boston, etc. He has received the degree of LL. D. from the University of South Carolina and Ph. D. from Dartmouth.
Mr. Atkinson has been a prolific writer on economic questions, and is an ardent advocate of a currency based wholly on bullion of full value, dollar for dollar ; he holds that the most effective method of protecting and promoting home industry, is to remove all obstructions to commerce with other nations which the necessity of the country for a customs revenue will per- mit. He holds that the highest-priced labor is the cheapest, because most effec- tive. He is not afraid of the so-called pauper labor of Europe, but agrees with Daniel Webster that there are a consider- able number of undesirable kinds of work that we cannot afford to take up ourselves, when the so-called pauper laborers of Europe can be so readily hired to do them.
ATWOOD, HARRISON HENRY, son of Peter Clark and Helen M. (Aldrich) At- wood, was born in North Londonderry, Windham county, Vt., August 26, 1863.
The public schools of Charlestown and the Phillips school, Boston, gave him his school-day training, He first started to earn a livelihood in the office of Godfrey Morse and John R. Bullard, counselors-at- law He afterward studied architecture and served four years in the office of S. J. F. Thayer, working a year and a half in the office of George A. Clough, after he had left the city architect's office. He has practiced his profession in Boston about seven years.
Mr. Atwood has served three years, 1887, '88, '89, as member of the House of
ATWOOD.
Representatives, being appointed to the committees on state house, liquor law, mer- cantile affairs and cities. In May of the latter year he qualified as architect for the city of Boston, a position to which he had been appointed by Mayor Hart. He was first alternate delegate from the 4th congres- sional district to the national Republican convention at Chicago, 1888.
He is a member of the Masonic frater- nity, also of the I. O. O. F. He has been a member of the Republican ward and city committee of Boston for five years, serving as secretary three years, and has been two years a member of the Republican state central committee. He is unmarried.
ATWOOD, SIMEON, son of Simeon and Ruth Atwood, was born in Wellfleet, Barnstable county, July 27, 1825.
SIMEON ATWOOD.
He obtained his education in the com- mon schools of those days. Leaving school, he followed the sea for a time. In 1850 he began his business life in the stove and hardware trade, Wellfleet. In 1852 he was with Knowles, Dyer & Co., grocers, his father being one of the firm. In 1864 the company was dissolved, and he carried on the business, taking his brother, E. T. Atwood, into the firm. These relations continued till 1877, when he sold his interest to his brother In 1882 he again bought
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out the business, taking in his son-in-law, William H. Tubman, the firm name being Simeon Atwood & Co., the present title.
Mr. Atwood was married in Wellfleet, December 5, 1848, to Mercy Waterman, daughter of Joseph and Abigail Higgins. Of this union was one child, Mary Steele Atwood (now Mrs. Tubman.)
In 1860 he was member of the House of Representatives, serving on the committee on valuation. In 1861 he was appointed deputy collector of the port of Wellfleet, serving until December 1, 1877.
He was one of the charter members of the Wellfleet Savings Bank, organized in 1863, and treasurer till 1870. He has since been director, and its president since 1887. He is director in the Barnstable Mutual Fire Insurance Company, having been chosen in 1862; also director in the Wellfleet Marine Insurance Company. He has held a commission as justice of the peace since 1882. He is a deacon and clerk of the First Congregational church.
AVERY, WINSLOW W., son of Ebe- nezer and Rosamond (Spaulding) Avery, was born in Montpelier, Washington coun- ty, Vt., April 22, 1836.
The district school and Washington County (Vt.) Academy gave him his early educational training. He began life as a page and reporter's attendant in the Vermont Legislature, carrying copy to the printers of the "Legislative Journal," and distributing daily papers to members ; afterwards served seven years' apprentice- ship in the printing business, in the office of the "Vermont Watchman," Montpelier, Vt. In 1861 he was promoted to the management of that establishment, and during the trying period of the war, and in the absence in Congress of the proprie- tor of the paper, Mr. Avery discharged his arduous duties with fidelity and acknowledged ability.
In January, 1866, he removed to Plym- outh, purchased the weekly newspaper, " The Old Colony Sentinel," which he suc- cessfully published, and in 1872 consoli- dated that paper with the "Old Colony Memorial," forming a partnership with C. C. Doten, under the firm name of Avery & Doten, continuing to the present time. In 1889 he was appointed post- master of Plymouth by President Harrison, and is rendering the public most efficient service.
Mr. Avery was first married in Williams- town, Vt., September 2, 1860, to Martha Eliza, daughter of David and Betsey (Olds) Burnham. Of this union were four
AVERY.
children : Elmer Ellsworth, Martha Eliza (deceased), David Ebenezer, and Herbert Winslow (deceased). His second marriage was with Mary Abalana, daughter of Free- man . and Hannah (Freeman) Landers. Their children are : Martha Eliza, Marcel- lus Chandler, Hannah Freeman (deceased), and Ebenezer Freeman (deceased).
Mr. Avery was charter member of Saga- more Encampment No. 45, I. O. O. F., holding the office of chief patriarch ; chaplain and member of Mayflower Lodge No. 54, I. O. O. F., and chairman of its board of trustees for several years ; charter mem- ber of Plymouth Bay Lodge K. of H. and its dictator ; Plymouth Rock Lodge, I. O.
WINSLOW W. AVERY.
G. T .; United Order Pilgrim Fathers ; member of the Methodist-Episcopal church from early life, holding all the offices in the church and Sunday- school, being a working and influential member of the committee which had in charge the construction of the beautiful Memorial Methodist church in Plymouth. For many years he has served upon the board of trustees of the Plymouth Five Cents Sav- ings Bank.
Mr. Avery was representative to the general court in 1880 and '81, rendering faithful and valuable service upon the committees to which he was appointed.
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BABSON.
BABBITT, NATHAN S., son of Snell and Jael (Edson) Babbitt, was born in Hancock, Berkshire county, August 30, 1812. His father was a studious and prominent medical practitioner. His mother was also a native of Berkshire, whose family is of Welsh ex- traction, and is descended from Edward Bobbitt, who settled in Taunton in 1643. The descendants have changed the orthog- raphy of the patronymic. The Babbitt fam- ily in Massachusetts has furnished the pro- fessionaland artistic walks of life with many able representatives. The line has been conspicuous for its many eminent physicians and surgeons. Isaac Babbitt, the inventor of the anti-friction "Babbitt-metal," is a member of this family. He made the first Britannia ware in this country in 1831, in Taunton. His great metallic production dates from 1839.
The preparatory education of Mr. Bab- bitt was received at the academy at South Adams. Cut off from a college course by lack of means, he entered at once upon his preparatory work for the medical profession.
He studied one year with Dr. H. M. Wells of Windsor, then with his father, and also at- tended the usual course of lectures at the Berkshire Medical school, from which he was graduated M. D. in 1833, at the age of twenty-one years. His degree was conferred by Williams College, of which the Berkshire school constituted the medical department. The degree of A. M. was subsequently awarded Dr. Babbitt by the same college.
Locating in South Adams, after gradua- tion, he speedily gained a wide and success- ful practice, which he prosecuted until 1846, when he removed to North Adams. For upwards of thirty years he has been studiously devoted to his profession, and is to-day the acknowledged leader of the medical fraternity in his vicinity.
The excavation of the Hoosac Tunnel was attended by many accidents to the workmen employed therein. Their fre- quent and severe injuries imperatively de- manded the presence of a skilled surgeon, whose cool judgment and prompt action should be adequate to all emergencies. Dr. Babbitt was engaged by the Tunnel com- pany, and for more than twenty years his services were often under requisition. Prior to his settlement in Adams, patients who needed surgical treatment sought it at the recognized centres of professional skill. Since then his eminent abilities have ren- dered such recourse unnecessary.
In 1837 Dr. Babbitt was elected a fel- low of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He was the first president of the Northern District Medical Association.
In 1835 Dr. Babbitt was married to Ann Eliza, daughter of Thomas Robinson, of Adams.
BABCOCK, JAMES FRANCIS, son of Archibald D. and Fanny F. (Richards) Bab- cock, was born in Boston, February 23, 1844.
His early education was accomplished at the Quincy grammar school and at the English high school in Boston, where he graduated in 1860, and at once entered the chemical department of the Lawrence Sci- entific school of Harvard University. Com- pleting the course of study in 1862, he at once commenced the profession of analyti- cal chemist, which he has practiced in Bos- ton to the present time, frequently being engaged as chemical expert in patent cases and in capital trials in this and other states.
On the 25th of May, 1865, in Boston, Mr. Babcock was married to Mary Porter, daughter of Walter and Mary (Watson) Crosby. Their children are : Walter C., Frank C., and Marie Babcock.
Mr. Babcock was appointed state assayer by Governor Gaston in 1875, and re-ap- pointed by successive governors for ten years. He was appointed milk inspector for the city of Boston in 1885, and contin- ued to the year 1889. His official reports on milk, butter, etc., form valuable contri- butions to the literature of these subjects. From 1870 to 1875 he was professor of chemistry in the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and in the Boston University from 1875 to 1880.
Prof. Babcock is a popular lyceum lec- turer upon scientific subjects, and is the inventor of the chemical fire engine and the Babcock fire extinguisher.
BABSON, FITZ JAMES, son of Joseph and Mary Babson, was born in Gloucester, Essex county, February 14, 1828.
From the public schools of his native town he passed to the Murray Institute Academy, where he remained until the age of fourteen. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a master carpenter, with whom he served four years. Commencing business as contractor and builder at the age of twenty-one, he continued in this line until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion.
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BABSON.
Enlisting in the 23d regiment of Massa- chusetts volunteers, he served three years with this regiment, until 1864, as second lieutenant, lieutenant and captain. In 1864 he recruited the 25th unattached company, United States infantry, to which he was assigned, with the rank of captain, and with which he served until the close of the war. He was commander of Colonel Allen Post, G. A. R., 1868 and 1869, the first two years after it was instituted.
In 1858 and 1860 he represented his district in the lower branch of the Legisla- ture. He was inspector of customs and boarding-officer for the district of Glouces-
FITZ J. BABSON.
ter from 1865 to 1869, and collector of customs for the same district from May, 1869, to November, 1885, holding commis- sions from Presidents Grant, Hayes, and Arthur.
He is an active member of the order of F. & A. M., having served as master for eight years. He has been identified with all progressive movements in his native city and district, and is always alert in guard- ing the American fishing interests. He was made president of the National Fishery Association in 1886, and still holds the position. He prepared and presented most of the documentary and oral testimony for the United States before the Halifax Com-
BACON.
mission, also the report to the state de- partment of his voyage on the "Kear- sarge," inspecting the Dominion shore fish- eries, and assisted in the compilation and presentation of the report on the Fortune Bay outrage on American fishermen.
His continued defense of the marine interests of New England from foreign ag- gression and adverse legislation has given him a national reputation, and to his pub- lished articles on matters connected with the Atlantic fisheries, the weight of author- ity. He has always been an intense Repub- lican and protectionist, and insists upon " America for the Americans."
Mr. Babson was first married, August 19, 1850, in Gloucester, to Sarah E., daughter of Joseph and Sarah Procter. His second marriage was in Middlefield, July 14, 1885, to Mary Jane, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Sophia) McElwain. His children by first marriage are : Mary, Anna Procter, and Fitz James Babson, Jr.
BACON, EDWIN MUNROE, son of Henry and Eliza Ann (Munroe) Bacon, was born in Providence, R. I., October 20, 1844. His father was an eminent univer- salist clergyman, who died in Philadelphia when he was a lad of twelve years.
His early education was mainly received in private schools in Providence, Philadel- phia, and Boston. He finished his studies in an academy at Foxborough, a private and boarding school which flourished for many years under James L. Stone as prin- cipal, and which fitted many boys for college.
At the age of nineteen he became con- nected with the " Boston Daily Advertiser" as a reporter, Charles Hale at that time being chief editor of the paper. He re- mained with the " Advertiser " for several years, and then left its employ to take the editorship of the "Illustrated Chicago News," in Chicago, Ill., an enterprise which enjoyed a very brief but honorable career.
From Chicago he returned East, and in the spring of 1868 became connected with the " New York Times," first as assistant night editor, subsequently becoming night editor, and later, managing editor. He was fortunate in securing employment on the " Times " staff during the life of Henry J. Raymond, its founder. Under him and the late S. S. Conant - general news edi- tor during Mr. Raymond's later years - he learned the journalist's trade thoroughly. He was made managing editor by John Bigelow, who became editor of the " Times" soon after the death of Mr. Raymond.
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BACON.
In 1872 Mr. Bacon resigned his position on the "Times" on account of ill-health produced by over-work, and returned to Boston. Subsequently he joined the staff of the " Advertiser " as general news editor, after representing it in New York for some months as its special correspondent there. In 1873 he became chief editor of the " Boston Globe," and conducted it as an independent journal. Resigning in 1878, he returned to the "Daily Advertiser," assuming the duties of managing editor. In the winter of 1883, upon the retirement of Edward Stanwood, chief editor, Mr. Bacon came into full editorial charge of the paper, and in the summer of 1884 he was made associate editor with Professor Charles F. Dunbar. In January, 1886, he retired from the "Advertiser," when the paper passed into the control of new hands, and in May, 1886, was made chief editor of the " Boston Post," when this journal was purchased by a number of gentlemen known in politics as Independents. Under the editorship of Mr. Bacon the " Post " has steadily grown in public favor, and has secured a permanent position among the daily papers of the first class in the country. The present management in- tend to maintain a high standard of in- dependent journalism by treating all political and other questions of public interest with fairness, frankness, and pro- priety, and to continue to advocate with the same energy and persistency it has displayed in the past, tariff and adminis- trative reforms until they are finally estab- lished.
Mr. Bacon has done much work as a special correspondent. Early in his career he wrote for several western journals ; for several years he served as Boston corre- spondent of the "New York Evening Post; " he was a special correspondent of the " New York Times" in Boston from 1873 until his assumption of the editorship of the " Boston Post," and he was the reg- ular Boston letter-writer of the "Spring- field Republican " in the summer of 1879 and that of 1886.
He has compiled several books in Bos- ton. He is the author of "King's Dic- tionary of Boston " (1883) -now " Bacon's Dictionary of Boston " (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1886), and is the editor of " Boston Ilustrated " (Houghton, Mifflin & Company).
On the 24th of October, 1867, at Somer- ville, Mr. Bacon was married to Gusta E., daughter of Ira and Hannah Hill. He has one child, Madeleine L. Bacon.
BACON.
BACON, JOSEPH NEWMAN, son of Joseph and Beulah Crafts (Fuller) Bacon, was born in Newton, Middlesex county, January 25, 1813.
On his father's side he is descended from William Bacon, who settled in Salem in 1640. His wife traces her genealogy in a direct line from the Woodward family, who as long ago as 1681 owned and occupied the homestead located in Newton High- lands.
He attended the common schools until the age of thirteen, when he went for two terms to Marshall S. Rice's private acad- emy for boys, at Newton Centre. Several
JOSEPH N. BACON.
years later he attended Phillips Academy, Andover, for a short time.
In 1835 he bought out his father's in- terest in a general store in Newton, in which business he remained until 1846. He then engaged in buying and selling real estate. In 1856 he was elected presi- dent of the Newton National Bank, and in 1858, president of the Newton & Water- town Gas Light Company, which positions he still holds.
Mr. Bacon was married in Newton, April 17, 1845, to Sarah Anna, daughter of Elijah Fuller and Anna (Murdock) Wood- ward. Of this union were four children : Anna Woodward (deceased), Sarah Emma,
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BAILEY.
Joseph Herbert (deceased), and William Francis Bacon.
In addition to the offices named, Mr. Bacon has been director of the Citizens' Mutual Insurance Company from its com- mencement ; trustee of Euphrates College, Harpoot, Turkey, and deacon of the Eliot Congregational church.
In 1838 Mr. Bacon made a prospecting tour West, as far as Cincinnati and Louis- ville, doing half the distance by coach, canal and steamboat, and decided that the East was more desirable for residence.
In politics he was a Whig until 1848, when he voted for Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, as a "Conscience Whig." He became a Republican in 1856, when that party absorbed the " Conscience Whigs." He has ever voted the Republi- can ticket, with the single exception of 1884, when distrust of the Republican candidate for president led him to vote with the Prohibitionists.
Mr. Bacon has erected several fine blocks of buildings that add much to the beauty and valuation of his native place. He is conservative in his action, and what- ever offices he has held have come to him entirely unsolicited. He has never been swept into the whirl of active struggle for political preferment, chiefly from his dis- like of the questionable methods and prac- tices frequently associated with it.
BAILEY, DUDLEY PERKINS, the son of Rev. Dudley P. Bailey, a Baptist clergy- man, was born in Cornville, Somerset county, Maine, October 24, 1843. He received his elementary education in the district schools of Hartland and Monson, Maine, and also at Monson Academy. In the summer of 1864 he entered Waterville College, now Colby University, and gradu- ated with the class of 1867.
He then commenced the study of law with Hon. William L. Putnam at Portland, Maine, and continued with him till 1870, in May of which year he opened an office for the practice of law at Freeport, Maine, having been admitted to the bar at Port- land, April 28, 1870.
In October, 1870, he removed to Port- land, and practiced law there until March, 1872 ; he then opened a law office in Everett and also subsequently in Boston, both of which he still retains.
He was a member of the House of Rep- resentatives in 1886 and 1887, and served as House chairman of the committee on taxation both years ; also served on the committee on probate and insolvency in 1887.
BAILEY.
Mr. Bailey has never married. He is a member of the Palestine Lodge F. & A. M., Everett and Tabernacle Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, Malden.
He has been treasurer of the First Bap- tist church in Everett since 1878, member of the school board of Everett, 1873-74, 1876-80, and from 1882 until the present time. He has been chairman of the same from 1886. He is a trustee of Everett public library, and has been secretary of the board since 1878.
In 1868 Mr. Bailey was awarded the first prize offered by the American Free Trade League to the undergraduates of American
DUDLEY P. BAILEY.
colleges for the best essay in favor of free trade.
He was formerly (1867-72) connected with the " Portland Press," and has been an occasional contributor to various other newspapers. He is also author of various articles, mostly financial, for magazines : first in the " American Exchange and Re- view " of Philadelphia, and afterwards in the " Banker's Magazine " of New York. Among these may be mentioned : " Public Expenditure, Debt and Taxation ; " " Paper Money and Commerce in Russia ; " . " "Na- tional Banks or a National Bank ;" "His- torical Sketch of Banking in Massachu- setts ;" The Currency and Commerce of
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BAKER.
Cuba ;" " The Credit Institutions of Italy ;" and a series of articles giving an extended account of " The Clearing House System," with statistics of nearly all the clearing houses in the world. These ar- ticles on the clearing houses have attracted the attention of financial writers both at home and abroad. Besides magazine articles, he is the author of the historical sketch of the town of Everett in " Drake's History of Middlesex County ; " also of the part relating to clearing houses in " Bolles' Practical Banking."
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