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 63
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In August, 1836, at Lempster, N. H., Dr. Miner was married to Maria S., daugh- ter of Edmund and Sarah (Bailey) Perley.
Dr. Miner has been a member of the school board in Methuen, Lowell and Bos- ton ; he was elected by the Legislature a member of the board of overseers of Harvard College ; a member of the state board of education for eight years, by ap- pointment of Governor Claflin, and again for a similar term by appointment of Governor Rice. He still holds the same office under the appointment of Governor Robinson. From 1862 to '75 Dr. Miner was president of Tufts College, and is still a member of the board of trustees. He is a trustee of the Bromfield school at old Harvard ; president of the trustees of the Universalist Publishing House ; a director
of the American Peace Society ; for eigh- teen years president of the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance ; president of the committee of one hundred for the preserva- tion of our public schools ; and appointed by Mayor Cobb, of Boston, chairman of the commission in the treatment of drunk- enness in the city institutions, whose re- port embodied methods since widely intro- duced into Sherborn and Concord reform- atories and in the police court by the pro- bation officer.
He has thus, in many ways, made him- self a most important factor, and exerted a controlling influence in the cause of re- form, easily taking the place of a leader in the temperance movement and in the school question recently agitating the State of Massachusetts.
ALONZO A. MINER.
In 1861 Dr. Miner received the honorary degree of A. M. from Tufts College, in 1863 the degree of S. T. D. from Harvard College, and in 1875 the degree of LL. D. from Tufts College. He delivered the oration, July 4, 1855, before the city authorities of Boston.
Among many literary productions, Dr. Miner's most popular, perhaps, are: "Bible Exercises," (published in 1854, the last edition of which was published in 1884-'85), and "Old Forts Taken " (published in
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MINER.
1878-'85). He is a man of intense vital activity, striking individuality, and oc- cupies a high place in the esteem of the large constituency he has made, not only in the city where he lives, but in the State he equally well serves.
MINER, DAVID WORTHINGTON, son of Nathan and Affa Worthington Miner, was born in Peru, Berkshire county, October 6, 1820. He received his early education in the public and private schools of his native town
He chose the career of a physician for his life work, and prepared himself for his profession in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, and Berkshire Medi- cal College, Pittsfield. Besides these pro- fessional advantages, he had benefited by
DAVID W. MINER.
the private practical instruction given by Dr. John M. Brewster and Dr. H. H. Childs.
Dr. Miner began the practice of his pro- fession in Lee, soon after graduation, in 1844 ; removed to Ware, in 1845, to accept a co-partnership with the late Dr. Horace Goodrich, which continued five years, when Dr. Goodrich retired. Dr. Miner has con- tinued the practice of surgery and medicine in the same office forty-four years.
He was married in Northampton, Sep- tember 24, 1845, to Mary H., daughter of Joseph and Nancy Warner. Of this union
are four children : Worthington Warner Miner, M. D., Eliza N. (now wife of Prof. Charles E. Garman of Amherst College), Jean E., and Affa S. Miner.
Dr. Miner was appointed coroner by Governor Gardner, but did not accept the office. He was appointed medical exam- iner in 1877, and still retains the office ; was member of the school board many years ; chairman of the board of selectmen six years ; member of the board of road commissioners seven years, and has been chairman of the board of health many years. He is a member of the Massachusetts Med- ical Society and permanent member of the United States Medical Association, etc.
Eighteen young men have studied medi- cine under his tuition, graduating from the different medical colleges of the country, all of whom have made successful practi- tioners, several having risen to high emi- nence in the profession.
MINER, GEORGE ALLEN, the son of Harlow and Sarah Katharine (Campbell) Miner, was born at Granby, P. Q., January 15, 1828. On his father's side he is de- scended from Henry Bullman, of the Men- dippe Hills in Somersetshire, England, who furnished Edward III., when on his way to embark for the wars in France, with an escort of one hundred men selected from his servants and from the men employed in his mines. For this timely service the king ennobled Bullman, gave him a coat-of- arms and changed his name to Miner. One of his descendants, Thomas Miner, emigrated from England to Massachusetts, landing in Boston in 1630. On his mother's side he is descended from Sir John Camp- bell, Duke of Argyle.
Mr. Miner, in early youth, was not a boy of robust health, and consequently did not readily enter into his father's plans for his own settlement and that of his younger brother in an interior town, preferring a mercantile career in Montreal, about fifty miles distant. As a sort of compromise, his father secured him a clerkship in the country store of C. F. Safford, at St. Albans, Vt. At this time he was seventeen years of age, and he continued in this posi- tion until he reached his majority. He then caught the "gold fever," and had agreed to accompany a friend from Bridge- port, Conn., on a voyage to California to seek his fortune, but owing to a severe storm, the stage-coach by which he was traveling from St. Albans to Troy, N. Y .. was so much delayed that it did not reach New Haven, from whence he was to have embarked, until the day after the sailing of
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the vessel. Making the best of his disap- pointment, he procured employment in the dry-goods store of E. & C. G. Birdsey, of Bridgeport, Conn., where he remained a year, and in 1850, removing to Boston, he entered the dry-goods jobbing house of J. N. Denison & Co., with whom he spent six years
GEORGE A, MINER.
His first connection in business for him- self was as a member of the firm of Talbot, Newell & Co., and, in 1862, this was re- organized as Merritt, Parkhurst & Co., later, Parkhurst, Miner & Beal ; Miner, Beal & Hackett, and now Miner, Beal & Co., wholesale clothiers, of which Mr. Miner is the senior partner.
Mr. Miner was married in September, 1866, at Westborough, to Maria Louise, the daughter of Josiah W. and Clarina S. Blake. Mrs. Miner died in July, 1887, leaving no children.
Mr. Miner has long held an enviable reputation for business sagacity and integ- rity, and while not actively engaged in politics, yet well represents that large class of the mercantile community whose views upon the current movements of the day, and whose sterling private character, go far to build up that unerring and potent factor in political life known as public opinion.
MINK, WILLIAM, son of Henry W. and Eve Mink, was born April 7th, 1832, at Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, N. Y.
After an early education at select schools, he graduated at the Rhinebeck Academy, and entered the law office of the late Charles W. Mink, at Albany, N. Y. But that profession becoming distasteful to him, he became apprenticed to the printing business, and is at present president and treasurer of the Sun Printing Company, located at Pittsfield, where he now resides.
At Kingston, N. Y., he married Elizabeth Hall, daughter of the late Samuel Rey- nolds. They have three sons and one daughter.
During the war Mr. Mink served in the 34th Massachusetts volunteers, and has been connected with the Massachusetts militia in various positions for about fifteen years.
WILLIAM MINK
He is a firm adherent to the faith of Democracy as proclaimed and illustrated by Thomas Jefferson.
MITCHELL, EDWIN VINALD, son of William W. and Sarah (Phipps Leland) Mitchell, was born in Sangersville, Piscata- quis county, Me., October 2, 1850.
His education was received in the com- mon and high schools of Framingham, Mass.
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MITCHELL.
He began his business career without financial assistance, wholly dependent on his own energy, prudence and perseverance, meeting with many obstacles which he manfully overcame, and in 1867 became interested in the straw business with his brothers at Westborough, and entered the firm two years later.
He afterwards became connected with H. O. Bernard & Co., of Westborough, and remained until 1876, then came to Med- field for D. D. Curtis & Co. His devotion
EDWIN V. MITCHELL.
to the interests of his employers, his skill, usefulness and executive ability com- mended him so highly to the firm, that they promoted him to be superintendent of their extensive works, and holding this position until 1884, he received an interest in the business.
On the death of Mr. Curtis (1885), the firm of Searle, Dailey & Co. was estab- lished, Mr. Mitchell being the resident and managing partner at Medfield, H. A. Searle and G. F. Dailey being the New York partners. The firm is to-day one of the most extensive and important houses engaged in the manufacture and sale of straw goods in this country.
Mr. Mitchell was married in Medfield, October, 1885, to Blanche E., daughter of Daniel D. and Ellen (Wright) Curtis. Of
this union are two sons : Granville Curtis and Edwin Searle Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell was selectman of Medfield in 1877, but his private business led him to decline a re-election. He has been chair- man of the Republican town committee for ten years, a trustee of the public library and justice of the peace since his appoint- ment by Governor Robinson.
Although yet a young man, his position as a leading manufacturer, aided by a generous and whole-souled nature, gives him an influence and popularity in public and private affairs that few men attain in a life-time. Prosperity sits well upon him, and no worthy cause or person appeals to him in vain.
He is a Mason of high degree, a promi- nent member of the Odd Fellows, also a member of the Ancient and Honorable Ar- tillery company, the Norfolk, Home Market and Algonquin clubs.
MITCHELL, GEORGE EDWIN, son of Lorenzo Dow and Hannah (Hill) Mitchell, was born in Cambridge, Middlesex county, May 8, 1844.
His early education was obtained in the public schools of Cambridge and Somer- ville. His first connection in business, in 1870, was with E. K. Goodall and George A. Dexter, under the firm name of Goodall, Mitchell & Dexter, wholesale dealers in butter, cheese and eggs, Faneuil - Hall market, Boston.
In 1872 he became senior partner of Mitchell, Dexter & Co., commission mer- chants, their business ranking with the heaviest dealers in this line. He has re- mained in the same connection up to the present time.
Mr. Mitchell was married in Gloucester, October 22, 1865, to Annie Marie, daughter of John Cleaves and Hannah Palmer Knowlton. Of this union were four chil- dren : Annie Knowlton, Georgie Belcher, Fannie Allen, and Charles Edwin Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell was a member of the com- mon council, Chelsea, 1878 and '79, mem- ber of the board of aldermen, 1880 and '81, serving as president of the board the latter year; mayor of Chelsea 1887 and '88, and was chairman of the Republican city committee for several years previous to 1887.
He has filled the office of chairman of the school committee, also chairman of trustees of the public library, and chairman of the board of water commissioners. He is chair- man of the standing committee of the First Universalist church, member of Star of Bethlehem Lodge, F. & A. M., Shekinah
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Chapter, R. A. M., and Palestine Comman- dery, Knights Templar. He is treasurer of the Mayors' Club of Massachusetts.
Mr. Mitchell has a good war record. He enlisted in Somerville light infantry, company B, 5th Massachusetts volunteers, 1862, and served with the regiment in North Carolina, and was honorably dis- charged at the expiration of his term of ser- vice, and is now secretary of the old 5th Regi- ment Veteran Association, and president of Company B, 5th Massachusetts Veteran As- sociation. He is also a member of Theo- dore Winthrop Post, No. 35, G. A. R., and member of W. S. Hancock command No. I, Union Veteran Union.
GEORGE E. MITCHELL.
Mr. Mitchell has made a pronounced success of all that he has attempted in mercantile, political, civil and military life, and his friends are reasonably proud of the career of one who has filled so acceptably the many offices of honor and trust con- ferred upon him.
MOEN, PHILIP LOUIS, son of Augustus R. and Sophie Ann Moen, was born in Wilna, Jefferson county, N. Y., November 13, 1824.
His initiation into business life was in a hardware store in New York City, in which wire, from the Washburn Wire Mill in Worcester, was sold. In 1847 he settled in
Worcester, and the firm I. Washburn & Moen was formed, the business being wire- drawing and rod-rolling.
This was when Mr. Moen was about twenty-three years of age. The business has continued essentially the same, but in 1868 it began to be carried on under the firm title of the Washburn & Moen Manu- facturing Company, the corporation being established by legislative act. The business has steadily increased, till at the present time it has reached gigantic proportions - the concern said to be the largest wire manufacturing company under individual ownership in the whole world. They now employ three thousand workmen, and turn out about three hundred and fifty tons daily. This phenomenal growth of the business is due largely to the financial ability of Mr. Moen.
Though not a college graduate, nor one who claims especial scholarship, he is yet a man of rare intelligence and elevated thought, a judicious and active friend to all educational movements and institutions, and one ever ready to further his convic- tions by liberal contributions. His services on the school board have been highly ap- preciated, and as trustee of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute since 1869, and treas- urer for seven years, he has so acquitted himself as to merit and receive the highest approval.
In the more active scenes of political life he has not been often found, though on public questions his views and sentiments have had decided expression and due weight. In 1885 he was chosen a presi- dential elector on the Republican ticket, a fact which sufficiently indicates his party affiliations. In religious sentiment he is of the New England Orthodox Congrega- tional stamp, and well known for his broad Christian characteristics.
Mr. Moen has been twice married, his first wife having been Eliza, the daughter of Ichabod Washburn, of Worcester, and his second, Maria S., daughter of Peter C. and Dorothy Grant, of Lyme, N. H. By the last marriage he has had three children : one son, Philip W., and two daughters, So- phie and Alice Grant Moen, all of whom are now living.
MONK, HIRAM ALEXANDER, was born in Stoughton, Norfolk county, July 16, 1829, and his education was acquired in the public schools of those days.
Previous to his majority he had learned the boot-maker's trade. Having mastered this, he launched out into business for himself, taking apprentices and carrying
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on the business to an extent that in those days was considered large.
When the introduction of labor-saving machinery removed the manufacture of boots and shoes to the province of the fac- tory rather than the shop, Mr. Monk accepted the position of foreman, continu- ing in this business until about six years ago, when he entered upon the manufac- ture of shoe-heels as a specialty.
Mr. Monk was united in marriage, April 8, 1851, in Stoughton, to Lucinda Fuller Cole, of that town. The fruits of this marriage have been ten children : Mary Loise, Charles Hiram, Jacob Francis, John Harvey, Cora Estelle, Sarah Abigail, Na- than Adelbert, George A., Hattie Augusta, and Wesley Elias Monk.
At the first election of Brockton under its city charter, Mr. Monk was elected from ward 3 a member of the council. He served three years on the board, then three years as alderman.
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HIRAM A. MONK.
Mr. Monk is a highly respected member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he takes a great interest as member and offi- cer. He has been the worshipful master of St. George Lodge, F. & A. M., of Brock- ton, and has served as a director in the Campello Co-operative Bank for the last twelve years. He is a member of the
Legion of Honor, having been made com- mander of Council No. 16, Brockton.
In early life Mr. Monk joined a temper- ance organization, was a Son of Temper- ance, and is now a member of Temple Lodge, No. 112, I. O. G. T., Campello, and is one of its trustees. He is an unflinch- ing foe to rum, and a friend of prohibi- tion, believing that the cause is best sub- served by working through the Republican party.
In 1864 Mr. Monk joined the ranks of the 58th regiment, Massachusetts volun- teers, and served during the remainder of the war, receiving an honorable discharge. He subsequently became a member of Post 72, G. A. R., Stoughton, and has served as an officer.
Mr. Monk is a member and trustee of the Campello Methodist Episcopal church.
MONROE, GEORGE H., son of Harris and Rebecca (Ellis) Monroe, was born in Dedham, Norfolk county, on the 18th of August, 1826. His paternal grandfather was Nathan Monroe, one of the minute men at the battle of Lexington, in 1775.
When he was ten years old his family moved to Wrentham, where he was edu- cated in the common schools and at Day's Academy. When sixteen years of age he came to Boston to learn the printing trade, in the office of S. N. Dickinson, and became a proof-reader a year later, reading in Dickinson's office, in the New England Stereotype Foundry, and at the University Press, Cambridge, till 1859, when he pur- chased the " Norfolk County Journal," in Roxbury, which he owned and conducted for nearly ten years.
In 1864-'65 he was elected a represen- tative to the General Court, and in 1869- '70-'71 was honored by his constituents with a seat in the Senate. Mr. Monroe was a Whig in politics up to 1854, when he joined the Republican party, and was a delegate from Dedham to its first state convention. He supported Horace Greeley in 1872. He was the Democratic and Liberal candidate for secretary of state in 1872 and '75. To-day he is in the front rank of independent Republicans.
He was for years connected with the school committee in Roxbury and Boston, and has for many years been correspond- ent of the " Hartford Courant " over the name of " Templeton." This connection was suggested by a friend, another famous litterateur, W. S. Robinson, known more familiarly as "Warrington." Mr. Monroe has made the nom de plume " Templeton " of equal prominence in the literary world.
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MONROE.
For four years he was the Boston corre- spondent of the "New York Tribune." In 187 I he became connected with the "Satur- day Evening Gazette " of Boston, and was its chief editorial writer for thirteen years, when he joined the staff of the "Boston Herald," as correspondent and editorial writer. He was correspondent for the "Boston Herald " from the New Orleans Fair, in 1884-'85, and in 1886 from Cali- fornia, Oregon and Washington Territory. He still holds the position of correspondent of the " Hartford Courant," which probably gives him the longest consecutive service of any American writer as a newspaper correspondent for one paper.
GEORGE H. MONROE.
On the 25th of October, 1853, Mr. Monroe was married to Alice Maria, daugh- ter of Dr. William and Alice (Brazer) Ingalls. They have four sons and one daughter : William Ingalls, George Ellis, Alice Ingalls, John Ingalls, and Charles Edward Monroe.
Mr. Monroe has resided in Roxbury since 1863, where he is well known and highly esteemed by a large circle of friends. He has served as president of the Roxbury Athenæum, and is one of the board of trustees of the " Fellowes Athenaeum."
Mr. Monroe's writings are always able, scholarly and entertaining. His views are
broad, his criticisms fair, his compliments just. He has the true instinct of a jour- nalist in the graceful presentation of that which should instruct as well as entertain.
MONTAGUE, SAMUEL L., the son of Simeon and Sybil Montague, was born in Montague, Franklin county, May 4, 1829. He is the great grandson of Major Rich- ard Montague, who fought in the revolu- tionary war.
Samuel L. Montague received his early education in the common schools and at the academy in Hopkinton, finishing at the Baptist Academy at Worcester. He re- sided with his parents at Montague and at North Leverett until 1837, when he re- moved with them to Michigan, about twenty miles west of Jackson. In the fall of 1839 he returned with his father's family to Massachusetts.
In 1846 he went to Boston and entered a West India goods store, at the corner of Pearl and Purchase streets, as clerk.
In 1854 Mr. Montague went into business for himself, commencing, with his present partner, a concern that has grown into a commission business of no small propor- tions, having been carried on without inter- ruption, and steadily increased for the last thirty-four years. He made Boston his residence from 1846 to '55, then removed to Brighton, where he remained till 1859, in which year he changed his home to Cambridge, where he still resides.
He is a member of Mizpah Lodge of Free Masons of Cambridge ; was master of the lodge 1876-'77 ; member of Cambridge Royal Arch Chapter, Boston Council of R. & S. Masters, and De Molay Encamp- ment of Knights Templar. He served six years in the city government of Cam- bridge-1873-'74, in the common coun- cil ; 1875-'76, in the board of aldermen ; was twice elected and served as mayor, 1878-'79. In 1877 he was elected one of the commissioners of the sinking fund, which position he resigned on being elected mayor. In 1881 he was elected one of the trustees of the Cambridge public library, and since that date has been chairman of the board. He was one of the originators of the Charles River Street Railway Company, and one of its directors ; and also a director in several other business organizations.
He was elected presidential elector on the Republican ticket, in 1884, from the 5th congressional district, and in 1885 was appointed by the civil service commission- ers of Massachusetts, one of the board of examiners for the city of Cambridge ; was elected chairman of the board, which
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position he still holds. He is a member of the New England Historic Genealogi- cal Society ; is one of the trustees of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank, and also one of the directors of the Longfellow Memorial Association.
Mr. Montague was selected by Frederick H. Rindge, as one of a committee of five citizens of Cambridge to assist in carrying into effect his munificent gifts to that city.
SAMUEL L. MONTAGUE.
He is extensively interested in the man- ufacture of wood-pulp, is one of the direct- ors, also treasurer and manager of the Penobscot Chemical Fibre Company of West Great Works, one of the largest manufactories of the kind in this country; also of the Piscataquis Falls Pulp & Paper Company, of Montague, Maine.
Mr. Montague married, December 23, 1852, Annie Maria Burchsted, of Boston. She died September 12, 1854. He married again, May 4, 1856, Mary Elizabeth Burch- sted. He has three children : Annie Sybil, Charles Hibbard, and Mary Noyes Mon- tague.
MOODY, DWIGHT LYMAN, son of Ed- win and Betsey (Holton) Moody, was born in Northfield, Franklin county, Feb- ruary 5, 1837. He is of old Puritan stock, his ancestors being numbered among the earliest settlers of the State.
MOODY.
He was brought up a Unitarian, and had never been under evangelical in- fluences until he was seventeen years of age. His father was a farmer in rather straitened circumstances. He died sud- denly when the son was only four years old. The young lad was able to obtain only a limited education. As a boy he was healthy, boisterous and self-willed -a leader among his playmates, but by no means a promising scholar, his head being filled with play and mischief.
When seventeen years of age he went to Boston, to be trained for business in the establishment of his uncle; and going one day to the church of the late Dr. Kirk, for the first time to an evangelical sermon, it had the effect of making him uncomfort- able, and he resolved not to go again. Something induced him, however, and the previous impressions were deepened.
When eighteen years of age he was a clerk in a shoe store in Boston, and a member of the Mount Vernon church Sunday-school, in a class taught by Ed- ward Kimball. The influence of his teacher, and the interest enhanced by con- versation with him, determined him in mak- ing a public profession of faith, with which view he applied for admission to the church, May 16, 1855. In September, 1856, he accepted a situation in a shoe store in Chicago, and on his first Sunday there he sought out a mission school, and offered his services as a teacher. He was informed that the school had a full supply of teachers, but if he would gather a class he might occupy a seat in the school-room. The next Sabbath he appeared with eigh- teen boys, and a place was assigned him for his raw recruits. On that day he un- folded his theory of how to reach the masses-" Go for them." Soon after this he rented a saloon that held two hundred persons, in order to hold prayer-meetings and Sabbath-school services. It was in such a rough neighborhood, that during service it was necessary to have policemen guard the door and building. But he toiled on until the winter of 1857-'58. when a powerful revival led to the forma- tion of the V. M. C. A. of Chicago, and the establishment of a daily union prayer- meeting, in which work Mr. Moody was the principal motor. He soon after this felt called to give up his situation in Chicago, and go out into the southern part of the state to aid the work of Christian enter- prise. In 1863 his work had assumed such magnitude that a large and commo- dious tabernacle was erected in Chicago,
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