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 87
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April 20th ; was mustered out of service August 5th, and again September 9, 1861, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 25th regiment, Massachusetts volun- teers, participating in its battles and skirm- ishes, and was officially reported for " brav- ery and efficiency " in the engagements at Roanoke Island and Newbern. November II, 1862, he was promoted to colonel of the 5Ist Massachusetts regiment, and served in the department of North Caro- lina, and in Virginia and Maryland. After the expiration of its term of service, in June, 1863, Colonel Sprague offered his regiment for further service, General Lee's army being north of the Potomac. It was accepted by the secretary of war, and he was ordered to Baltimore, thence to Mary- land Heights, joining the army of the Po- tomac near Williamsport, Md.
July 27, 1863, he was mustered out with his regiment. February 1, 1864, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Massachusetts heavy artillery, and served in southern Virginia and North Carolina, commanding the regiment in its field ser- vice, moving with General Schofield's com- mand to open communications with General Sherman at Goldsborough, N. C. Septem- ber 20, 1865, he was discharged at Gallup's Island, previous to which he was commis- sioned colonel of the regiment. He served more than three years and nine months, and was breveted brigadier-general of vol- unteers, to date from March 13, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious service during the war."
General Sprague was commander of the department of Massachusetts, G. A. R., in 1868 ; was junior vice-commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States the same year, and was quar- termaster-general of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1874. He is vice-president of the Merchants' Savings Bank, Worcester, and has been a director in the Worcester Electric Light Company from its organiza- tion.
General Sprague was married in Worces- ter, December 23, 1846, to Elizabeth Janes, daughter of Samuel and Eliza M. (Shep- ard) Rice. Of this union were five chil- dren : Samuel Augustus, Willie Augustus, Josephine Elizabeth, Carrie Lee, and Fred Foster Sprague.
SPRAGUE, HENRY HARRISON, son of George and Nancy (Knight) Sprague, was born in Athol, Worcester county, August 1, 1841.
He received his early education in the schools of his native town, and studied also
SPRAGUE.
for a short time previous to admission to college, at the Chauncy Hall school in Boston.
He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1864. After graduation he went to Champlain, N. Y., as a private tutor, and remained there until the summer of 1865. In the fall of that year he entered the Har- vard law school, and was at the same time a proctor of the college.
In the fall of 1866 he became a law stu- dent in the office of Henry W. Paine and Robert D. Smith, in Boston, and February 25, 1868, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar. He thereupon began the practice of his profession in Boston, where he has since practiced and resided.
He was elected in 1873 to the common council of the city of Boston, and served on important committees in that body for the municipal years of 1874, '75, and '76. During the two latter years he also served as one of the trustees of the Boston city hospital on the part of the city council. In 1878 he was elected one of the trustees- at-large, and continued as such until the incorporation of the city hospital in 1880, when he was appointed as a trustee by the mayor. He has since held this position by successive re-appointments, and since 1878 has also acted as secretary of the board.
In 1880 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives from Boston, and served in that capacity for the years 1881, '82, and '83. In 1881 he was a mem- ber of the committee on the revision of the statutes, and of the committees on probate and chancery, and library. In 1882 he was chairman of the committee on bills in the third reading, and during that and the sub- sequent year he was also a member of the committee on the judiciary.
He was elected a member of the Senate for the 5th Suffolk district for the year 1888, and in that body acted as a member of the committee on the judiciary, on rules, and on cities, and, as chairman of the committee on election laws, he drafted and introduced the new ballot act. Being re-elected to the Senate of 1889, he acted as chairman of the committee on the jndi- ciary, on election laws, and on rules.
In 1884 he was a member of the execu- tive committee of the Municipal Reform Association, and was senior counsel of the association for the purpose of securing the passage by the Legislature of 1885, of the important amendments to the charter of the city of Boston, by which the executive authority of the city was vested in the mayor.
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In 1867 he was influential in restoring to activity the Boston Young Men's Christian Union, and has since continued as a mem- ber of the board of government, acting as secretary from 1867 to '79, and since 1879 as vice-president of the society.
In ISSo he engaged with others in the organization of the Boston Civil Service Reform Association, and he served as one of the executive committee until 1889, when he was elected president of the asso- ciation.
He has been since 1879 one of the trustees of the Boston Lying-in Hospital, and recently has served upon the executive committee of the board. Since 1883 he has been secretary of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society, is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Bostonian Society, the Bar Association and the Harvard Law School Association, and a member of the general committee of the Citizens' Association of Boston. He is a member of the Union, St. Botolph, and Unitarian clubs, of which latter he was for four years treasurer; he is one of the original members of the Tavern Club, and one of the trustees appointed to hold its real estate. He is also one of the trustees appointed to hold the buildings recently purchased and improved for the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, and acts as treasurer of the trustees.
In 1884 he published a treatise entitled "Women under the Law of Massachusetts, their Rights, Privileges and Disabilities."
SPRING, CHARLES EDWARD, son of Edward and Martha M. (Atwood) Spring, was born in Grafton, Windham county, Vermont, November 19, 1842. He received his early education in the common schools and Burr Academy, Manchester, Vermont. He studied medicine in the Albany Med- ical College, from which he was graduated, 1864. He served as assistant-surgeon, U. S. volunteers in 1865.
Dr. Spring went into general practice at Jamaica, Vt., in 1867; removed to Holliston, Mass., in 1874, where he has continued his practice up to the present time.
He was married in Windham, Vermont, January 24, 1868, to Viorna M., daughter of George and Miranda Adams. Of this union are five children : Mattie A., Charles L., Harvey A. (deceased), George E., and Harrold A. Spring.
Dr. Spring was a representative to the General Court in 1888-'89. He has been a member of the Holliston school board
fourteen years, and has served in various minor town offices.
His church connections are with the Congregational church.
SQUIRE, JOHN P., the son of Peter and Esther Squire, was born in the town of Weathersfield, Windsor county, Ver- mont, on the 8th day of May, 1819. His father was a farmer. The years of his boyhood were spent at his home, attending the public schools and working on the farm.
On the first day of May, 1835, he entered the employment of a Mr. Orvis, the village store-keeper at West Windsor, Vermont, and remained with him until the winter of 1837, when he attended the academy at Unity, New Hampshire, of which the Rev. A. A. Miner was then principal. He taught school at Cavendish during a part of the winter of 1837-'38.
JOHN P. SQUIRE
On the 19th of March, 1838, he came to Boston, entered the employ of Nathan Robbins in Faneuil Hall market, and con- tinued with him until May 1, 1842, when he formed a co-partnership with Francis Russell, and carried on the provision busi- ness at No. 25 Faneuil Hall market, under the style of Russell & Squire, until the year 1847, when the co-partnership was dissolved.
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Mr. Squire continued the business alone, at the same place, until the year 1855, when he formed a new co-partnership with Hiland Lockwood and Edward Kimball, under the name of John P. Squire & Co. The firm name and business have continued until the present time, and the changes in the partners have been as follows: the retirement of Edward D. Kimball in the year 1866 ; the admission of W. W. Kim- ball in the same year, and his retirement in 1873 ; the admission of his sons, George W. and Frank O. Squire, in the year 1873 ; the death of Hiland Lockwood in the year 1874 ; the retirement of George W. Squire in the year 1876; and the admission of Fred F. Squire, the youngest son, January I, 1884 - leaving the firm to-day composed of John P., Frank O., and Fred F. Squire.
In 1855 Mr. Squire bought a small tract of land in East Cambridge and built a slaughter-house. Since that time the busi- ness has grown to such an extent that the firm of John P. Squire & Co. has to-day one of the largest and best-equipped pack- ing houses in the country, and stands third in the list of hog-packers in the United States.
In 1843 he married Kate Green Orvis, daughter of his old employer. Eleven children were born of this marriage, ten of whom are now living, as follows : George W., Jennie C., Frank O., Minnie E., John A., Kate I., Nannie K., Fred F., Nellie G., and Bessie E. Squire. One son, Charles, died in infancy.
In 1848 he moved to West Cambridge, now called Arlington, where he has ever since lived.
Mr. Squire joined the Mercantile Library Association when he first came to Boston, and spent a good deal of his leisure time in reading, of which he was very fond. The position which he holds to-day in commercial circles is due to his untiring industry, undaunted courage, and marked ability.
STAFFORD, JOHN HENRY, son of James and Martha (Hampson) Stafford, was born in Denton, England, November 16, 1841.
He received a public school education.
When thirteen years old he worked in the cotton mills, remaining there until the age of seventeen, when he engaged in the dry-goods business. In 1863 he came to this country, and locating in Indiana, taught school until he joined the 146th Indiana volunteers and went to the front, where he served until the close of the war. He came to Lawrence in November, 1865.
and became connected with the mills in that city. In June, 1867, he engaged in the manufacture of brushes, and is still employed in the same industry.
September 21, 1871, in Lawrence, Mr. Stafford was married to Subie A., daughter of James and Susan (Burton) Hodgdon. They have no children.
JOHN H. STAFFORD
Mr. Stafford is a member of the Masonic order and a Knight Templar. For twenty years he has been permanent secretary of Lawrence Lodge, I. O. O. F. He is also financial scribe of Lawrence Encampment, I. O. O. F .; has been 2d lieutenant, com- pany K, 6th regiment, Massachusetts vol- unteer militia; was a member of the common council of Lawrence in 1882, and a member of the House of Representa- tives in 1884, and again in 1889.
In politics Mr. Stafford is a Democrat, but his popularity outside of the party is shown in the fact that since 1884 he is the only Democrat that has been sent to the Legislature from his district - a Republi- can stronghold.
STAPLES, HAMILTON BARCLAY, son of Welcome and Susan Staples, was born in Mendon, Worcester county, February 14, 1829.
After his common school course he pre- pared for college at Worcester Academy.
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He entered Brown University in 1847, and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1851, taking the Latin salutatory.
He studied law in Providence, R. I., in the office of the late Chief Justice Ames, and in Worcester with the late Hon. Peter C. Bacon ; was admitted to the bar at Worcester, 1854, and went into practice in Milford, in partnership with the late Gen- eral A. B. Underwood, in 1855 ; was sub- sequently in partnership with John C. Scammell, Hon. Charles A. Dewey, and William F. Slocum ; in 1869 he removed to Worcester, his present residence, and was engaged in practice in that city, in partner- ship with Hon. Francis P. Goulding, for twelve years, until 1881.
HAMILTON B. STAPLES.
Mr. Staples was a member of the com- mon council of Worcester and a trustee of the city hospital in 1874 ; district attorney of the middle district for eight years ; was appointed one of the justices of the supe- rior court, February 16, 1881, and has since been on the bench of that court.
Mr. Staples was married in Mendon, in 1858, to Elizabeth A. Godfrey, step-daugh- ter of Hon. Benjamin Davenport. Mrs. Staples died July 1, 1867. Mr. Staples was married the second time, in Northampton, October 8, 1868. to Mary Clinton, daugh- ter of the late Hon. Charles A. Dewey,
judge of the supreme court, and Caroline H. Clinton, daughter of General James Clinton of New York. Of this marriage there have been two children : Charles Dewey Staples, who died in infancy, and Francis Hamilton Staples, born April 22, 1872.
He is an honored member of the Ameri- can Antiquarian Society, and has con- tributed to its proceedings the following papers : "A Day at Mt. Vernon in 1797 ;" " The Origin of the Names of the States ;" " The Province Laws ;" "The Winthrop Sword," and " The Monument to La Salle at Rouen." In 1884 he received from Brown University the honorary degree of LL. D.
STAPLES, JOHN A., son of James H and Elizabeth (Dudley) Staples, was born in Lyman, York county, Maine, September 5, 184I.
His early educational training was re- ceived in the public schools of Biddeford, Me. Encouraged and assisted by his step- father, Judge Abel H. Jelleson, he fitted for college, and entered Dartmouth in 1858, graduating with his class in 1862.
In 1864 he formed business connections with the Union Collar Company of New York City, in whose interest he visited the principal cities in the country. In 1865 he was stationed at Buffalo, N. Y. ; in 1866 and '67 at Chicago, and in 1868 in New York City.
During the winter of 1868 he returned to Biddeford, and was elected city clerk, which office he held until 1872.
In 1873 he was appointed cashier of the freight department of the Boston & Maine Railroad, which position he now holds.
Mr. Staples was married in Biddeford, Me., December 5, 1867, to Josephine, daughter of William and Lucinda (Tarbox) Goodwin. Of this union were two chil- dren : Walter H. (born in 1870-deceased), and Philip Clayton Staples (born in 1882).
During his residence in Biddeford, in addition to his duties as city clerk, he was chairman of its school board, and has always taken a warm interest in educa- tional affairs.
Since becoming a resident of Revere he has been town auditor for two years, and has been a member of the board of select- men for every year since 1882.
Mr. Staples is an enthusiastic believer and helper in all the institutions which give character and standing to his town. He is prominent in lodge circles; president of the Sagamore Association, also of the Revere Co-operative Bank, and a director
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in the Boston & Maine Railroad Relief Association. With his time largely en- grossed by his daily duties, he neverthe- less devotes a portion of each day to the more congenial pursuit of literature in his library.
In politics Mr. Staples is a staunch Demo- crat, firmly believing in the creed as defined by Jefferson. He has been the candidate of his party for legislative honors, receiv- ing a flattering support from his opponents. In religion he is an attendant upon, and a supporter of, Congregational worship.
STEARNS, EPHRAIM, son of Ephraim and Rachel (Learoyd) Stearns, was born in Waltham, Middlesex county, March 8, 1839.
After receiving a good education at the common schools, completed at the Waltham high school, he took up the mercantile profession, and began business life in 1856, with the firm of Milton Cushman & Com- pany, remaining with them nearly ten years.
During this time he enlisted in company G, 45th regiment, Massachusetts volunteers, seeing service in North Carolina. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned with the rank of sergeant.
Leaving the employ of Milton Cush- man & Company, he entered into co-part- nership under the firm name of Blake & Stearns, commission merchants and dealers in woolens-a house since enjoying much prosperity and a reputation for honorable dealing.
Mr. Stearns was married in Waltham, October 26, 1865, to Persis Louisa, daugh- ter of Charles W. and Hannah B. (Haven) Warren. They have two children : Charles Ephraim and Rachel Learoyd Stearns.
January 1, 1885, he was appointed on the staff of Governor Robinson, as assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of colonel.
Although nearly all his interests are in Boston, Mr. Stearns has not neglected the duties of a good citizen, and has been prominent in the political and social affairs of his native town.
Always active in politics, he has served several times as chairman of the Republi- can town committee, and was elected a delegate to the national Republican con- vention at Chicago in 1884. He was a member of the committee on the city charter, and was elected as an alderman of the first city government of Waltham.
In December, 1888, he was elected presi- dent of the New England Commercial Travelers' Association. He has served as
a trustee of the Waltham Savings Bank, and a commissioner of the sinking fund of the city of Waltham. He is a member of the First Parish church, Waltham, and has been chairman of the parish committee for several years. He is a member of Monitor Lodge, Waltham Royal Arch Chapter, and also of the Middlesex Club of Boston
STEARNS, GEORGE ANDREW, son of Ephraim and Rachel (Learoyd) Stearns, was born in Waltham, Middlesex county, September 2, 1827. He received the cus- tomary public school education of the times, attending school in the winter and working on a farm in the summer, from nine years of age until he was sixteen. At the latter age he entered as an apprentice the machine shop of Coolidge & Sibley at Stony Brook, where he devoted the usual four years to acquiring the elements of the machinist's trade, his special branch being the construction and setting up of cotton machinery. At the age of twenty-one he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- tute at Troy, N. Y., where he took a special course in civil engineering. After receiv- ing his diploma, he followed his profession for a year in the service of the Troy & Boston Railroad. He then accepted the position of clerk and paymaster at the Wal- tham Bleachery, and remained in the em- ploy of the company until 1872-for the last four years of his service as superinten- dent of the works. In 1872 he resigned his position to enter into partnership with William H. Forbes of Boston, under the firm name of W. H. Forbes & Co., lithog- raphers and engravers. He has since con- tinued in the business, though the firm has resolved itself into a corporation - the Forbes Lithograph M'f'g Co. Mr. Stearns has held various offices of public trust. He is treasurer and general manager of the Waltham Gas Light Company, and has been a director in the Waltham National Bank ; treasurer of the Waltham Music Hall Company ; a member of the school board ; chairman of the board of managers of public cemeteries, and a member of the drainage and sewerage commission for Waltham. He has always been a promi- nent member of the First Parish (Unita- rian), of Waltham ; was for years clerk and a member of the parish committee, treasurer of the society, and superintendent of the Sunday-school.
Mr. Stearns, in common with all of the name in Waltham or its vicinity, is a de- scendant from Isaac Sterne, or Sternes, who came to America in 1630 from Norfolk, Eng., in the company of Sir Richard Sal-
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tonstall. Isaac Sterne settled in Water- town and acquired considerable property. He always used the spelling of his name adopted above until he signed his will, when he added an "s" to it, from which the form at present used is a corrup- tion. The subject of this sketch is de- scended in the sixth generation from Isaac; through his third son, Samuel ; the latter's fourth son, Isaac ; from Isaac's fourth son, Joshua, and from Ephraim, the only son of Joshua.
Mr. Stearns was married, in Waltham, October 4, 1853, to Lucretia Kendall, youngest daughter of Jonas and Abigail Lawrence Viles. Eight children have been born to them, of whom six survive : Fred- erick Augustus, Helen Learoyd, George Andrew, Abby Lawrence, John Walton, and Walter Mulliken Stearns.
STEARNS, GEORGE MUNROE, son of William L. and Mary (Munroe) Stearns, was born in Stoughton, Norfolk county, April 18, 1831.
His early educational training was re- ceived in the common schools of the town of Rowe, where his father was settled as pastor of a Unitarian parish, supplemented by an attendance at Shelburne Falls Academy.
Choosing the profession of law, he en- tered the office of the late Judge John Wells, at Chicopee, where he pursued his legal studies. He was admitted to the Hampden county bar in April, 1852, and immediately entered into co-partnership with Judge Wells. This relation continued until the removal of the latter to Spring- field, when Mr. Stearns continued alone for several years, afterwards forming a co-partnership with M. W. Chapin at Chicopee. Later he opened an office in Springfield, in partnership with the late Hon. E. D. Beach, and still later with Hon. Marcus P. Knowlton - judge of the su- preme judicial court-and C. L. Long. Since 1878 he has continued in practice alone at Chicopee.
May 17, 1855, at Brooklyn, N. Y., Mr. Stearns was married to Emily Caroline, daughter of Erasmus D. and Caroline (Bullard) Goodnow. Their children were: Mary Caroline and Emily Spaulding Stearns, the former dying at the age of twenty-eight, and the latter at twelve.
Mr. Stearns held a commission as justice of the peace and quorum and notary pub- lic for several years. In 1859 he was a member of the House of Representatives, and was appointed one of the committee of thirty who reported the revision of the
statutes in 1860. In 1871 he was a mem- ber of the Senate, serving on the commit- tee on railroads. In 1872 he was elected district attorney for the western district, holding the office for over two years, when he resigned. In February, 1886, he was appointed United States attorney at Bos- ton, resigning the position at the end of seventeen months.
In politics Mr. Stearns is a Democrat, and has frequently been a delegate to state conventions. In 1872 he was a delegate to the national Democratic convention, where he favored the nomination of Hor- ace Greeley. He was candidate for lieu- tenant-governor on the ticket with John Q. Adams, and also for the same place when Charles Sumner was nominated by the Democrats, but when the latter declined, Mr. Stearns did likewise.
The ability of Mr. Stearns has long been known to the members of the bar, and to those who have been pitted against him in political debate; but the prominence given to the much-vexed question of the division of towns before recent Legislatures has afforded him an arena wherein he has added much to his reputation for keen wit, pungent sarcasm, and brilliant oratory. The eloquent presentation of the cause of his clients in many notable cases has been well-nigh irresistible.
Mr. Stearns is a grandson of Charles Stearns, D. D., of Lincoln, who was made doctor of divinity by Harvard, and was one of the ablest and most learned men of his day. He was a close friend of Hon. Samuel Hoar of Concord, and his memory is still held in great respect. Dr. Stearns was offered the presidency of Harvard College, but declined it, because he considered it his duty to remain with the little parish at Lincoln, though his compensation was but four hundred dollars a year. Dr. Stearns was one of the founders of the Unitarian sect, being, with Dr. Ripley, of Concord, among the earliest to dissent from the dogma of the trinity.
STEARNS, RICHARD HALL, son of Leonard and Sarah (Colburn) Stearns, was born in Ashburnham, Worcester county, December 25, 1824.
While an infant, his father removed to New Ipswich, N. H., and about nine years later to the town of Lincoln, about fifteen 'miles from Boston. He availed himself of every opportunity to attend the public schools, although as soon as his services were of value on the farm, his schooling was confined to the winter months. He made such good use of. his limited ad-
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vantages, however, that at the age of twenty he was a successful teacher.
One of his duties on the farm at Lin- coln had been to start at two or three o'clock, A. M., with a load of farm pro- duce, which he sold in Boston. His acquaintance thus gained in Boston deter- mined him to take the first opportunity to leave the farm and begin business in the city.
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