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 47
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His church connections are with the M. E. church, where he holds the positions of steward, trustee, class-leader, and Sun- day-school superintendent. He is secre- tary of the Dukes County Educational Association, and also of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society.
HINCKS, EDWARD W., son of Elisha and Elizabeth Hopkins ( Wentworth ) Hincks, was born in Bucksport, Hancock county, Me., May 30, 1830. He is a lineal descendant of Chief-Justice John Hincks, of New Hampshire, the first of the name to arrive in the country, and who was also president of the council both in New Hamp- shire and Massachusetts, almost continu- ously from 1683 to 1708.
He received his early education in the common schools. He removed to Bangor, Me., 1845, and worked as printer on the Bangor "Whig and Courier" till 1849, when he went to Boston. He was a mem- ber of the House of Representatives, 1855.
In December, 1860, he tendered Major Robert Anderson a volunteer force to aid in the defense of Fort Moultrie. At the call of President Lincoln for troops, April 15, 1861, he was the first man in Massa- chusetts to offer his services to the gov- ernor for immediate duty, at 9 o'clock,
A. M., of that day, and was directed by Governor Andrew to warn the companies of the 8th regiment, of which he was ad- jutant, to assemble at Faneuil Hall on the morning of the 16th.
He became lieutenant-colonel of the 8th regiment, April 17th, and marched with it for Washington on the 18th. At Annapolis, Md., April 2 1st, he commanded a party that cut out and saved the frigate "Constitu- tion," and on the following day commanded another detachment that finally opened communications with Washington that had been closed for several days, since the
EDWARD W. HINCKS.
assault on the troops in Baltimore, April 19th. Reaching Washington with his regi- ment, April 26th, he was on that day com- missioned 2d lieutenant, 2d U. S. regular cavalry, and May 16th, was promoted to the colonelcy of the Sth Massachusetts, which he commanded during its three months' term of service.
August 3d, of this year, he was commis- sioned colonel of the 19th Massachusetts volunteers. He became brigadier-general of volunteers, November 29, 1862, was on court-martial duty in Washington in the spring of 1863, and superintendent of re- cruiting service, provost marshal-general and military commander in New Hamp- shire, from July, 1863, to March, 1864, and
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commanded the camp of prisoners-of-war, Point Lookout, Md., March and April, 1864, and a division of the army of the James during field operations of that year. He commanded the draft rendezvous on Hart's Island, N. Y., October, 1864, and until the close of the war was chief mustering officer for the United States, in New York City and Harrisburg, Pa.
He was breveted a brigadier-general, U. S. army, for gallant and meritorious services in the assault on Petersburg, Va., June 15, 1864, and major-general of volun- teers for meritorious services during the war, March 13, 1865.
He was governor of the National Sol- diers' Home from July 6, 1866, to March, 1867. Having been appointed lieutenant- colonel of the 40th U. S. infantry (regu- lars), July 28, 1866, he was provost marshal- general of North and South Carolina, in 1867 ; commanded the eastern district of North Carolina in 1868, and, on the reduc- tion of the army, was transferred to the 25th U. S. infantry, March 15, 1869, sta- tioned at New Orleans. In May, 1870, he was ordered to the southwestern frontier of Texas to oppose the Comanche Indians, then hostile to the United States. He was retired with the rank of colonel, December 15, 1870, on account of wounds.
From 1872 to '80 he was deputy-governor and treasurer of the National Soldiers' Homes at Hampton, Va., and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He was wounded at the battle of Glen- dale, Va., June 30, 1862, and again severely -for a time supposed mortally -at the battle of Antietam, Md., September 17, 1862, and received injuries in the assault upon Petersburg, Va., June 15, 1864. From the effects of these wounds he still suffers severely.
HINSDALE, HENRY, son of Chester and Lucy (Allen) Hinsdale, was born in Monroe, Franklin county, June 25, 1830.
He received the thorough education of the common school, but his father being a poor man with a large family, he was then obliged to assist in the general support, and worked upon the farm for his board and clothes till he was twenty-eight years old. Upon the death of his father the farm fell to him and to his younger brother, and they conducted it together for five years, when his brother died, and he has since carried on the farm alone.
On the 3Ist of August, 1862, in Florida, Mr. Hinsdale married Hannah L., daugh- ter of Joseph and Oratha (Whitcomb) Porter. Their children are : Lyman E. and
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Eunice M. Hinsdale. His wife died Jan- uary 1, 1884, and on the 3d of April, 1885, he married Isabel A., daughter of Nahum P. and Sarah (Pettingill) Brown.
As a philanthropist, Mr. Hinsdale is an active agent in the work of the prevention of cruelty to children. He has held nearly all of the town offices, and he is a man highly respected by all who know him. His church relations are with the Universalists.
HITCHCOCK, CALVIN, son of Abner and Susan (Gardner) Hitchcock, was born in Homer, Cortland county, N. Y., March 22, 1817, but was reared in Brimfield, Hampden county, Mass., the native place of his parents. He gleaned his knowledge of books from the public schools of those days, and from a few terms' attendance at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham.
After passing through the vicissitudes of a poor New England boy during the hard and oppressive business years between 1825 and '50, he settled in Belchertown, in business with S. D. Greggs, and later with Joel Packard and George Chandler, as partners in the carriage business, with a country store as an annex. In 1858 he removed to Ware, where he now resides, and where he has carried on a general mercantile business for thirty-one years.
Mr. Hitchcock was married in Belcher- town, October 16, 1846, to Delia, daughter of Lemuel and Erepta (Pike) Chandler. Of this union were two children : Charles C. and Julia E. (now Mrs. Webber, Den- ver, Col.).
Mr. Hitchcock has been frequently called to serve in the local offices - assess- or, selectman, etc. He is trustee of Ware Savings Bank, and has been director in Ware National Bank for many years, and was representative to the General Court in 1888. In religion he is nominally an Orthodox, in politics he was originally a Whig, but has been associated with the Republican party from its inception, hav- ing been a member of the first convention called for consultation in the city of Wor- cester in 1854.
HIXON, WILLIAM SOUTHERLAND, son of William F. and Eliza (Fancher) Hixon, was born in Cornwall, Orange county, N. Y., November 3, 1848.
He received his early education in the public schools of his native town. He re- moved to Massachusetts in 1868, and in 1872 began business life in the provision business, Washington market, in the city of Boston. In 1879 he opened a wholesale commission business. He continued in
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this business until 1884, when he became interested in the manufacture of soapstone, and is at present engaged in that industry.
Mr. Hixon was married in Boston, December 11, 1875, to Martha L., daugh- ter of Ezekiel and Catherine (Ring) An- drews. Of this union were four children : Imogene Willis, Beulah Sinclair, William Edwin and Leona Whitney Hixon.
WILLIAM S. HIXON.
Mr. Hixon served three years in the United States navy, having enlisted Janu- ary 17, 1864. He served on board the gunboat " Rhode Island," the "Saratoga " and the monitor "Chimo."
He has been three times a delegate to the national encampment, G. A. R. ; three years treasurer of the Temple Council, R. A. ; treasurer of the Cone Axle Com- pany, and president of the Collett Car- brake Company.
Mr. Hixon was a member of the common council of Chelsea in 1887 ; a member of the House of Representatives in 1888 and '89, serving upon the committee on harbors and public lands.
His residence is Chelsea.
HOAR, E. ROCKWOOD, son of Samuel and Sarah (Sherman) Hoar, was born in Concord, Middlesex county, February 21, 1816. He is the brother of the United States senator, George Frisbie Hoar, of
Worcester. On the paternal side he is de- scended from a long line of cultured, patri- otic and influential ancestors ; and on the maternal side is a grandson of Roger Sher- man.
Having been well fitted in primary and academic schools, he entered Harvard Uni- versity, from which he was graduated in the class of 1835. He then taught school a year in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa. ; later on he studied law in the law school of Harvard University, receiving therefrom his degree of LL. B. in 1839. The same year he was admitted to the bar. In 1846 he was elected to the state Senate ; served as judge of the court of common pleas from 1849 to '55, and judge of the supreme judicial court from 1859 to '69.
The honorary degree of LL. D. was sub- sequently (1861) conferred by Williams, and a second time (1868) by his alma mater, whom he has so long and faithfully served. For nearly a quarter of a century he was a member of the board of overseers of Harvard, and for nearly half of that period he served as president of the board.
In March, 1869, Mr. Hoar was appointed by General Grant attorney-general of the United States, and discharged the duties of that office until June, 1870. This posi- tion, as member of the president's cabinet, and his confidential adviser on all points involving questions of inter-state or inter- national law, proved for him a school pre- paratory to the highest diplomatic triumph. In consultation with President Grant on the affairs and administration of the gov- ernment, its relations to foreign powers, and particularly to Great Britain, neces- sarily and frequently came under protract- ed discussion.
The result was his appointment as one of the members of the joint high commis- sion which negotiated the treaty between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1871. The settlement of this treaty of Washington was one of the most notable events of the nineteenth century, dispos- ing, as it did, of five different subjects of controversy between Great Britain and the United States, some of which dated from the very proclamation of American Independence, and were perpetually rising to the surface of discussion to vex and dis- turb the good understanding between the kindred nations. The treaty has already attained the dignity of a monumental act in the estimation of mankind, and is des- tined to occupy hereafter a conspicuous place in the history of the diplomacy
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and international jurisprudence of Europe and America. It has fallen to few men to perform such signal service to mankind in the removal of all difficulties between the friendly intercourse and beneficent co-oper- ation of the two leading powers of the world. The American nation owes and gladly pays Judge Hoar the meed of a re- spectful and grateful acknowledgment, and the State of Massachusetts will long cher- ish the fame of the son who reflected such glory upon her training and institutions.
Another and scarcely less conspicuous service, and one not so generally known, was his influential agency in arranging for the first loan made by the United States gov- ernment at another critical period of its history. He was one of a few patriotic citizens who, in connection with Secretary Chase and President Lincoln, successfully negotiated this important financial opera- tion with capitalists of Boston, New York and Philadelphia, instead of going abroad for assistance.
Mr. Hoar was a presidential elector-at- large in 1872, and was elected to the 43d Congress as a Republican, receiving 11,742 votes against 5,989 cast for the Democratic nominee.
Mr. Hoar was married in Concord, No- vember 20, 1840, to Caroline D., daughter of Hon. Nathan and Caroline (Downes) Brooks. Of this union were seven chil- dren : Caroline, Sarah Sherman (deceased), Samuel, Charles Emerson, Clara Downes, Elizabeth and Sherman Hoar.
In a long and eventful life Mr. Hoar has belonged to many social and political clubs, but of all the organizations with which he has been connected, the Saturday Club has been to him the occasion of rarest delight and choicest companionship, meeting there in fraternal converse the artistic and liter- ary stars, himself par nobile fratrum, which have shone so brilliantly in the firmament of belles-lettres.
HOAR, GEORGE FRISBIE, was born in Concord, Middlesex county, August 29, 1826. John Hoar, Senator Hoar's earliest ancestor, in Massachusetts, was one of three brothers who came with their wid- owed mother from Gloucestershire, Eng- land, in early colonial days. One brother, Leonard Hoar, was one of the early presi- dents of Harvard College. Senator Hoar's father, Samuel Hoar, was one of Massa- chusetts' great legal lights, contemporary with Mason, Webster and Choate. His mother, Sarah Sherman, was the youngest daughter of Roger Sherman of Connecti- cut.
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After the school-days spent in Concord Academy, he entered Harvard College, and was graduated in the class of 1846. Choosing the law for his profession, he studied at the Harvard law school, and in the office of the late Judge Thomas in Worcester. Upon his admission to the bar, in 1849, he began practice in Worces- ter, and that city has ever since been his home.
He was for a time associated in practice with the late Hon. Emory Washburn, and later with the Hon. Charles Devens and J. Henry Hill. He quickly rose to a very high rank in his profession.
Mr. Hoar married, in 1853, Mary Louisa Spurr, who died a few years after, leaving a son, Rockwood, and a daughter, Mary, both of whom are living. In 1862 he mar- ried Ruth Ann Miller.
Mr. Hoar's first appearance in political life was as chairman of the committee of the Free Soil party for Worcester county in 1849, which was more efficiently organ- ized there than in any other county in the United States. In 1851, at the age of twenty-five he was elected a representa- tive to the General Court. He was the youngest member of that body, and be- came the leader of the coalitionists in law matters, and to him was given the task of drawing resolutions protesting against the compromise measures of the national government in 1850. In 1847 he became a member of the state Senate and chair- man of its judiciary committee. In that capacity he drew a masterly report, de- fining the boundaries of the executive and legislative authority.
While burdened with professional, state and national affairs, he was yet always ready to render service in behalf of enter- prises for the public welfare of his own city. He aided in the establishment of a free public library and reading-room, was a member of the board of directors, and one of its early presidents. He aided in founding the Worcester County Free Insti- tute of Industrial Science (now the Worces- ter Polytechnic Institute). He was also an early advocate of woman suffrage, hav- ing made an address on that subject in Worcester in 1868, and before a legislative committee in 1869.
In 1868 Mr. Hoar was elected a represen- tative in Congress, as the successor of the late Hon. John D. Baldwin. In this Con- gress (the 4Ist) he served as a member of the committee on education and labor, and his chief work was the preparation and ad- vocacy of the bill for national education.
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During his first term in Congress, Mr. Hoar, by a timely and convincing speech, saved the bureau of education, when the committee on appropriations had reported it ought to be abolished. In this Congress, too, he vindicated General Howard from the charges preferred by Fernando Wood, supported Sumner in his opposition to President Grant's Santo Domingo scheme, and became known as a formidable antag- onist in debate. In the next Congress (the 42d) Mr. Hoar, by his conscientious and judicious dealing in contested election cases, was notably regarded as an impartial judge, honored by Republicans and Demo- crats alike. In the 43d and 44th Con- gresses he was the life and power of many movements in behalf of education, labor and internal improvements. In the man- agement of the impeachment of Secretary
GEORGE F. HOAR.
Belknap, in 1876, he awoke the conscience of the people, and gave the initial impulse to the wave of official and political reform which has not yet spent its force.
But Mr. Hoar's most distinguished ser- vice in the 44th Congress was that con- tributed to the delicate and important work so successfully accomplished by the Electoral Commission. He declined re- nomination for representative in the 45th Congress.
HOBART.
Mr. Hoar was elected to the United States Senate, as a Republican, to succeed George S. Boutwell, taking his seat March 5, 1877. He was re-elected in 1883 and again in 1889 without a note of party dissent, a distinction not accorded to any man since the days of Webster and Sumner. His present term expires in 1895.
In the Senate Mr. Hoar has been a member, and for some years chairman, of the committee on privileges and elections, and a member of the committee on claims, on the judiciary, library and others of less importance.
In general, Mr. Hoar has occupied him- self in Congress with matters of wide scope and fundamental importance. His powerful arguments in the Senate on the tariff issues are embalmed in the classics of forensic debate.
Mr. Hoar presided over the Republican state conventions of 1871, '77, '82 and '85, was a delegate to the national Republican conventions of 1876, '80 and '84, presid- ing over that of 1880.
He was regent of the Smithsonian In- stitute in 1880 ; was vice-president and is now president of the American Antiqua- rian Society; is a trustee of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology; is a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society; was an overseer of Harvard College, 1874-'80, and has been officially connected with many other educational institutions.
The record of Senator Hoar is one re- plete with brilliant and patriotic service to the State, whose favorite son he stands to-day. In every position of honor and responsibility to which he in a long and eventful career has been called to fill, not a single instance can be mentioned wherein he has failed to correctly interpret and energetically defend the public voice of his constituents. Nor has his powerful in- fluence been confined to the border of his own loved Commonwealth. The nation claims him as one of its strong, wise, in- corruptible leaders. His conservatism is founded upon the faith given the early fathers. His radical views are in a line with a quickened public conscience, and keenly alive to the maintenance of an abso- lutely free and enlightened Republic. He is indeed " one of a thousand "-one whom the old Bay State delights to honor.
HOBART, FRANCIS A., son of John A. and Ann Francis (Arnold) Hobart, was born in Braintree, Norfolk county, Sep- tember 18, 1833. He worked on a farm till nineteen years of age, gathering a com- mon school education the while, and then
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entered a boot and shoe store in Boston, at fifty dollars a year. When twenty years old he became a partner in the boot and shoe firm of Holbrook & Arnold, afterwards Holbrook, Hobart & Porter, in which he continued until 1882, when he retired from active business.
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FRANCIS A. HOBART.
January 1, 1855, Mr. Hobart was mar- ried in Boston, to Susan A., daughter of Joel E. and Susan A. Holbrook. Their two children are : Ella S. and John F. Hobart.
When only twenty-one years old, Mr. Hobart was taking an active part in poli- tics, and was chosen chairman of the Re- publican town committee, which office he held for thirty years. He has also been a member of the state central committee for eighteen years. He was sent from Brain- tree as representative to the state Legisla- ture in 1860 and '61, and was a member of the Senate in 1865, '69 and '70. He was a delegate to the national Republican con- vention at Chicago in 1880, and was one of the famous " 306 " who voted for General Grant. He has been a trustee of the Brain- tree Savings Bank ever since its incorpora- tion, and for two years was president of the Braintree Water Company.
Mr. Hobart has always resided in Brain- tree, where he has been moderator of the
town meetings for nearly twenty years, having served eighty-two times. He is chairman of the committee which erected the Soldiers' Monument, and delivered the centennial address, by invitation of the town in 1876. He is a highly respected citizen, and has been frequently entrusted with many other local offices of responsi- bility.
HOBBS, GEORGE MILLER, son of Wil- liam and Maria (Miller) Hobbs, was born in Waltham, Middlesex county, April II, 1827.
He attended the common schools of his native place until the age of twelve, when he was placed in a store in Cambridge, where he remained three years. During this time he came in daily contact with many law students, whose superior attain- ments inspired him with an ambition to make himself an equal with them. As a beginning, he took up the study of Latin, without a teacher, the only time attainable for the object being after the shutters were put up at nine o'clock at night. With the small amount of Latin thus obtained, and without knowing a letter of the Greek alphabet, he placed himself under the care of that most excellent scholar and woman, Mrs. Ripley, at Waltham and at Concord for one year, when he presented himself for examination for Harvard. He success- fully passed the same, and was matriculated as a member of the freshman class, gradu- ating in the class of 1850.
After graduation he was engaged as a private tutor in Upper Marlborough, Md., and then went to Alexandria, Va., where he remained for some years, teaching. He then returned to Cambridge, entered the law school, receiving his degree therefrom in 1857. While there he acted as proctor, and was librarian of the law school for a year. He was admitted to the bar in Bos- ton in 1858, and immediately after became associated with the Hon. Edward Avery, which connection has ever since con- tinued.
Mr. Hobbs was married in Boston, Octo- ber 26, 1859, to Annie M., daughter of Dr. Samuel and Ann (Carter) Morrill. Of this union are two children : Alice Avery and Edith Morrill Hobbs.
Mr. Hobbs was a member of the House of Representatives in 1868 ; a member also of the Roxbury and Boston school boards for twenty-three years, serving as president of the Boston board two years. He was one of the water commissioners for the city of Boston two years. In connec- tion with his partner, Mr. Avery, he pub-
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lished a work on bankruptcy, upon the enactment of the bankrupt act.
He has been law reporter for the " Bos- ton Post" for twenty-five years, writing many of the reviews and notices of law books published in that paper.
HODGDON, RICHARD LORD, son of Richard and Eunice (Lord) Hodgdon, was born in South Berwick, York county, Maine, April 11, 1825.
His foundation training was received in the public schools of those days, and his preparation for a classical course in college acquired at South Berwick Academy. En- tering Bowdoin College in 1841, he finished the course and was graduated therefrom in 1845. Choosing the medical profession, he entered the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he received his diploma in 1852.
Dr. Hodgdon began the practice of med- icine in West Cambridge (now Arlington), in 1853, where he has since resided.
Dr. Hodgdon was married in West Cam- bridge, November 9, 1854, to Maria W., daughter of Dr. Timothy and Lydia (Yates) Wellington. The children of this union are : Frank W., Andrew H., and Ellen W. Hodgdon.
Dr. Hodgdon has been a member of the school committee for many years, and also superintendent of schools. He has also been a member of the state board of lunacy and charity.
HODGKINS, WILLIAM E., son of Jo- seph W. and Sarah (Barnes) Hodgkins, was born in Plymouth, Plymouth county, September 26, 1829.
The common and high schools of Plym- outh furnished his early education. After leaving school he entered his father's tail- oring establishment in Plymouth. Coming to Boston shortly afterwards, he entered the employ of Charles A. Smith, who had about that time leased the old state-house, after the removal of the post-office to Mer- chants Exchange on State Street, where he remained until 1866, in which year the firm again changed its location to its present commodious quarters on School Street. From this time, and by this change, the business received a new impetus, and met with phenomenal success, not only retain- ing the first-class trade which they then enjoyed, but increasing the same nearly three-fold.
In 1867 Mr. Hodgkins formed a co-part- nership with Mr. Smith, under the firm name of Charles A. Smith & Co., and dur- ing their long business career they have
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