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 94
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In 1862 he became interested in the brewing business in South Boston, and in 1870 purchased the Crystal Lake Brewery and malt houses in Charlestown, where he still continues the business with his sons.
In 1866 and '67 he was a representative in the Legislature from South Boston. In 1868 he was elected to the city common council, and in 1869 to the board of alder- men. In February, 1880, he was elected to the state Senate, to fill a vacancy in the 2d Suffolk district, caused by the death of Hon. E. S. Norton. He was re-elected to
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WILLIAM T. VAN NOSTRAND.
the same seat at the general election in November of the same year. He is a mem- ber of the I O. O. F. and F. & A. M., and of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
In Jamaica, Long Island, on the 22d of October, 1843, Mr. Van Nostrand was mar- ried to Mehitabel, daughter of Thomas and Ann (Howard) Bradlee.
Starting in life withont money or influ- ential friends, he has by energy and per- severance progressed successfully through many changes, steadily increasing his oper-
VINCENT.
ations, until now he is at the head of one of the largest and best conducted estab- lishments of its kind in New England. He has attained an unquestioned reputation as a man of business, and by his genial and courteous aid to those less fortunate than himself, and his friendly assistance in every charitable undertaking, he has won an enviable social position, and is respected and loved by hosts of friends in all grades of society.
VAN RENSSELAER, HENRY R., son of Abram and Sarah A. (Howe) Van Rens- selaer, was born December 12, 1855, at Moreau, Saratoga county, N. Y.
His early education was received at pri- vate schools in Wiltonville, N. Y. Later, he attended the Wiltonville Academy and the Albany Medical College, then for five years he taught school, subsequently con- tinuing the study of medicine in 1877, and graduated from the Albany Medical Col- lege, March 3, 1881 ; on the Ist of April he received an appointment in the Albany hospital as assistant resident physician and surgeon.
His present home is Lanesborough, where he has established an extensive practice in medicine and surgery during his eight years of residence in that town. He is vice-presi- (lent of the Lanesborough Library Associ- ation, and chairman of the Republican town committee.
Dr. Van Rensselaer was married in Wil- tonville, April 20, 1881, to Sarah C., daugh- ter of William O. and Minnie (Van Schaick) Peterson. Their only son, Wallace A. Van Rensselaer, is four years old.
VINCENT, HEBRON, son of Samuel and Betsey (Pease) Vincent, was born in Ed- gartown, Dukes county, August 21, 1805.
He was educated in the common schools, at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, Kent's Hill, Maine, and at the Wesleyan Acad- emy, Wilbraham. His first employment in active life was in the shoe business. He was afterwards some years a teacher in the public schools.
His later efforts for an education having been with a view to the Christian ministry. he was licensed to preach in the M. E. church in 1829 ; was admitted on proba- tion to the New England conference in 1832, and in full connection in 1834. His health failing in 1835, he discontinued his regular labors for a few years, then being somewhat improved in health, he entered the Providence conference, which had been set off from the New England conference ; but in a very few years he was obliged to
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retire from full service, since which time, although never giving up his relation to the church as an ordained minister, he has in the main become allied to the life of a layman, and a citizen. In the former he has been active in Sabbath-school and other Christian work ; and in the latter he has taken a share of civil burdens, and has held various public offices, always taking a lively interest in the great moral questions of the hour.
In 1843 he was a delegate of the Edgar- town Anti-Slavery Society, to a meeting of some twenty or thirty gentlemen at the office of a Mr. Channing, in Boston, whence, with the mammoth Latimer peti- tion, signed by George Latimer (who had been arrested as a fugitive slave, and whose freedom had been purchased by citizens of Boston) and 62,791 others, they threaded several streets, under a light snow, to the state-house, where, being ad- mitted in a body to the House of Repre- sentatives, the petition was presented by Charles Francis Adams, then a member. This resulted in the passage of the fa- mous " personal liberty bill " of the same rear.
He still resides in Edgartown, where he has been active in the cause of education, having been a member of the school board and president of the county educational association for many years ; and also, though not a farmer technically, yet a pro- moter and co-operator of agricultural in- terests, having been president of the county agricultural society, and six years its delegate to the state board of agricul- ture. He was the originator of the idea of "farmers' institutes," which are now held so extensively, and with such marked results, by the agricultural societies in the different counties of the Commonwealth.
From its inception he was connected with the camp-meeting at Wesleyan Grove - many of the years officially- which re- ligious gathering was the germ, and be- came the nucleus, of Cottage City. His written reports for a long series of years had much to do in spreading its fame and attracting people to the place, all tend- ing to the building up of Cottage City as a great summer resort ; and he is now the only survivor of the company of men who fixed upon this place for that meet- ing.
He has held the office of register of pro- bate for Dukes county since 1852, with the exception of about two years, at first as an appointee of the governor, and then, un- der a change of the law, by successive
VINTON.
elections (in all thirty-five years) ; and also that of register of the insolvency court since its organization in 1858. Outside of official work his pen has also been a busy one.
Mr. Vincent was married in Edgartown, October 14, 1832, to Lydia Russell, daugh- ter of Holmes and Lydia (Russell) Coffin. Of this union were two children : Rebecca Coffin and Fannie Allen Vincent.
VINTON, FREDERIC PORTER, son of William Henry and Sarah Ward (Goodhue) Vinton, was born in Bangor, Penobscot county, Maine, in 1846.
He was educated in the public schools of Bangor and of Chicago, Ill., subse- quently taking a course of instruction in a commercial college in Boston.
He began his city life with Gardner Brewer & Co., 1861. From 1862 to '65 he was with C. F. Hovey & Co. ; from 1865 to '70 he was in the National Bank of Re- demption, and from 1870 to '75 he was book-keeper of the Massachusetts National Bank. He began the study of art in Paris, in October, 1875, under the guidance and in the school of Bonnat. Since 1879 up to the present time Mr. Vinton has given his attention to portraiture, and has his studio in the city of Boston.
He was married June 27, 1883, to Annie Mary, daughter of George and Mary Pres- ton (Bates) Peirce of Newport, R. I.
Mr Vinton was made an associate of the National Academy of Design, New York, 1880, and has been a member of the So- ciety of American Artists, New York, since 1881. He is a member of the Tavern, Papyrus, and St. Botolph clubs, being one of the executive committee of the latter.
Mr. Vinton was for one year a pupil un- der M. Jean Paul Laurens, Paris, 1877-'78, and was an exhibiter in the Paris Salon, 1878. A few of his best-known portraits are those of Wendell Phillips - from life -- 1881, the last portrait for which he sat ; Judge Otis P. Lord, now in Salem ; Judge George F. Choate, Salem ; Prof. A. P. Pea- body, D. D., Cambridge ; General Charles Devens, in the department of justice, Wash- ington, D. C. ; Hon. George F. Hoar, in the Worcester law library ; William Warren, actor, in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts ; Francis Parkman, in the St. Botolph Club ; Hon. Charles Francis Adams (senior) ; Sir Lyon Playfair and Dr. Henry J. Bigelow. A copy of the portrait of Wendell Phillips was ordered by the city authorities of Bos- ton, and now hangs in the historic gallery of Faneuil Hall.
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WADE.
WADE.
WADE, ALBERT RICHMOND, son of Oren and Jane (Richmond) Wade, was born in Brockton, Plymouth county, Octo- ber 26, 1844.
He was educated in the public schools and at a private boarding-school.
He chose industrial and mechanical pur- suits, learned the trades of blacksmith and carriage builder, and in 1864 began the business which he has carried on up to the present time.
Mr. Wade was married in North Bridge- water, now Brockton, October 31, 1865, to Susan, daughter of Cyrus and Abi (Edson) Howard. Of this union are two children : Carrie Agnes and Helen Everett Wade.
Mr. Wade has been repeatedly called to serve his native city in various official capacities, and his record, as well as the verdict of his political opponents, estab- lishes the fact of his having served the city intelligently, faithfully, and honestly. He was a member of the common council in 1883 ; an alderman in 1884; president of the board of aldermen 1886, and again in '87 ; mayor of Brockton in 1888, and re- elected by a unanimous vote in 1889.
Mr. Wade is a Democrat in politics, but his aim has been, as councilman, alderman, and mayor, to see that the law should be enforced, regardless of party.
WADE, LEVI CLIFFORD, son of Levi and Abbie A. (Rogers) Wade, was born in Allegheny City, Allegheny county, Pa., January 16, 1843. His parents were of New England birth.
He was educated at home and in the public schools until he was thirteen years of age. From thirteen to sixteen he was under private tutors ; from sixteen to nine- teen he studied law in Lewisburg Univer- sity; entered Vale College at nineteen, and was graduated in the class of 1866, with special honors. While in college he was one of the editors of the " Yale Literary Magazine," and took several prizes in de- bate, declamation, and composition.
He studied Greek and Hebrew exegesis one year under Dr. H. B. Hackett, and theology one year under Dr. Alvah Hovey ; taught school in Newton, from 1868 to '73 - studying law at the same time. He was admitted to practice in 1873, and was en- ployed by 1. W. Richardson, in his law practice, until 1875, when he opened an office on his own account in the city of Boston, where he continued until May 1, 1880. During the last three years he was
in partnership with Hon. J. Q. A. Brackett, governor-elect of the Commonwealth, under the firm name of Wade & Brackett.
Since 1880 Mr. Wade has confined him- self exclusively to railway law and man- agement, and has been counsel for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa FĂ©, the Atlantic & Pacific, Sonora, and the Mexican Cen- tral Railway companies. He is one of the four original projectors and owners of what is now the property of the Mex- ican Central Railway Company, of which he is president and general counsel, hav- ing held these positions for the past five years.
Mr. Wade was married in Bath, Me., November 16, 1869, to Margaret, daughter of Hon. William and Lydia H. (Elliott) Rogers. Of this union are four living children : Arthur C., William R., Levi C., Jr., and Robert N. Wade. Two daughters died in infancy.
Mr. Wade represented Newton, his pres- ent residence, in the Legislature four suc- cessive years, 1876-'79. In the latter year he was elected speaker of the House.
He is one of the directors of the general theological library ; of the Mexican Cen- tral Railway Company, Sonora Railway Company, Atlantic & Pacific Railway Com- pany, and Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleve- land Railroad Company. He is a member of the Newton water board.
WADE, RUFUS R., son of Abraham and Johanna (Robbins) Wade, was born in Boston, July 10, 1828.
He was educated in the public schools of Boston.
His first entrance into business life was as a manufacturer of blank books. Sub- sequently he was for eleven years officially engaged in the various penal institutions of the State, including the Cambridge house of correction and Charlestown state prison. He was next appointed special agent of the post-office department at Washington, and afterwards chief of the secret service department for the New England states.
In 1879 he was commissioned by Gov- ernor Talbot as chief of the state district police ; upon the new organization of that department was re-appointed by Governor Long ; again by Governor Robinson, and lastly by Governor Ames.
Mr. Wade has brought the inspection service of his department to a thorough and systematic efficiency.
WADE.
He was married in Charlestown, Octo- ber 10, 1849, to Mary A., daughter of Jacob B. and Mary A. (Sprague) Marsh. They have no children.
Mr. Wade is president of the National Association of Factory Inspectors of North America ; was secretary and treas-
RUFUS R. WADE.
urer of the Middlesex county Republican committee for ten years ; was one of the founders, and the first secretary of the Middlesex Club. His residence is Somer- ville.
WADE, WILLIAM HENRY, son of Mar- shall Sumner and Elizabeth (Hunt) Wade, was born in Wrentham, Norfolk county, February 21, 1840.
He was educated in the common schools of Wrentham and at Day's Academy, with a term at Comer's Commercial College, Boston. His first connection in business was in the counting-room of the "Boston Traveller ; " he then obtained a situation as clerk in the store of W. D. Cotton & Co., North Attleborough, which position he held until April 1, 1859. He was then book-keeper for Freeman & Brother till the spring of 1861, when he enlisted in company I, 7th regiment, Massachusetts volunteers, being promoted through various offices till he was mustered out in June, 1864, as Ist lieutenant. He returned to the army a few
WADE. 619
months later as commissary clerk, and after the war began the grocery business in Bur- lington, Iowa. He was in Texas for nearly three years, and tried farming in Minnesota from 1868 to '70, when he again came East and entered the employ of Hayward & Briggs, Attleborough, as book-keeper. He resigned in 1876 to start the firm of Wade, Davis & Co., who began in August of that year the manufacture of jewelry at Plain- ville. Mr. Wade still continues at the head of that firm.
On the 15th of June, 1881, at Plainville, Mr. Wade married Elizabeth Nichols, daughter of George B. and Sarah J. (Gif- ford) Sherman.
He has held many town offices in Wren- tham. He is a prominent and popular Mason, a member of the G. A. R., and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen ; has been a charter member, commander, and prominent officer of two G. A. R. Posts ; an active member of the Universalist so- ciety of Attleborough, a trustee and secre-
WILLIAM H WADE.
tary of the Attleborough Farmers' & Me- chanics' Association, and is now a director of the Attleborough Agricultural Associ- ation, the North Attleborough National Bank, a director and trustee of the Plain- ville Savings & Loan Association, a di- rector and treasurer of the High Rock
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WADLIN.
WADLIN.
Granite Co. He was a lieutenant in the 7th regiment, Massachusetts veteran volun- teer infantry, and president of the associa- tion. He has always been a staunch Re- publican, has served as chairman of the town committee, and has been an active member of the district committee. He was a member of the House of Repre- sentatives, 1885, having been elected from the 8th Norfolk representative district.
WADLIN, HORACE G., son of Daniel H. and Lucy E. (Brown) Wadlin, was born in South Reading (now Wakefield), Mid- dlesex county, October 2, 1851. He was educated in the public schools, and by pri- vate instruction.
After leaving school he entered the office of Lord & Fuller, of Salem, as a student of architecture ; subsequently he became first assistant in their Boston office, and in 1874 was associated with them in practice. In 1875 he began practice independently in Boston, devoting his attention principally to school and municipal buildings, and do- mestic work.
In 1879 he became an attaché of the Massachusetts bureau of statistics of la- bor, first as special agent, and afterward in charge of special lines of statistical work. In this capacity he was connected with many of the more important investi- gations undertaken by the bureau, and ac- quired a thorough knowledge of the indus- trial resources and economic condition of the Commonwealth. He was engaged in the preliminary work of the decennial cen- sus of 1885, and was chief of the census division of libraries and schools.
He has been closely connected with the activities of his town. In March, 1875, he was elected to the school board ; has served as secretary and for several years as chairman, and is still a member of the board. He has for many years been one of the trustees of the public library ; was one of the incorporators of the Read- ing Co-operative Bank, and its first vice- president ; and for nine years has been reporter of the Reading Lodge, Knights of Honor.
He is a Republican in politics, and in 1884 was elected to the House of Repre- sentatives from the 12th Middlesex dis- trict, and re-elected the following year. In 1886, a new district having been formed, he was again elected, and in 1888 re- elected, this being his fourth term. He served upon the committees on the census, woman suffrage, education, railroads, and expediting public business. He was House chairman of the committee on woman suf-
frage and on education in 1885, on eduea- tion in 1887, and on railroads in 1888.
In 1888, upon the resignation of Colonel Carroll D. Wright, he was appointed chief of the bureau of statistics of labor, which position he still holds, relinquishing the practice of his profession to devote himself entirely to the duties of the office.
Mr. Wadlin is an eloquent and eonvinc- ing speaker, and he has performed consid- erable literary work, chiefly in connection with economic and historical subjects, both for publication and upon the lecture plat- form ; he was joint author with Colonel Wright of the monograph on the industries
HORACE G. WADLIN.
of Boston during the past century, eon- tained in the " Memorial History of Bos- ton," published by Ticknor & Co. He is a recognized authority on the subject of co-operative banking.
He is a member of the American Statis- tical Association, and also of the American Social Science Association, and for the present year secretary of its department of education, and one of the council of the association. He is also president of the South Middlesex Unitarian Conference.
Mr. Wadlin was married September 8, 1875, to Ella Frances, daughter of E. Av- erill and S. Esther (Libby) Butterfiekl. They have no children.
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WALKER.
WADSWORTH.
WADSWORTH, EDWIN DEXTER, son of Thomas Thatcher and Mary (Bradlee) Wadsworth, was born in Milton, Norfolk county, December 3, 1832.
He obtained his educational training in the public schools of Milton and Milton Academy.
In 1849 he joined the exodus to the gold- fields of California. He afterwards followed the sea, commanding sailing vessels and steamships in the China, European, South American, and coastwise trade. Later on he was in command of a steamship in the transport service during the rebellion. He finally retired from the sea, and engaged in the retail coal trade. He is now treasurer of the Boston Marine Society.
Captain Wadsworth was married in Mil- ton, November 5, 1862, to Ellen Maria, daughter of Joshua and Ann Gulliver (Babcock) Emerson. Of this union are two children : Dexter Emerson and Annie Mary Wadsworth.
Captain Wadsworth is of the eighth generation from Christopher Wadsworth, who settled at Duxbury, in 1632, and of the seventh from Captain Samuel Wads- worth, who was killed at Sudbury, in King Philip's war, in 1676. The place on which he now resides was a part of the home- stead of Captain Samuel, and has re- mained in the family more than two hun- dred and thirty years.
Captain Wadsworth was chief officer of the first American merchant ship that traded in a Japanese port.
He has been selectman, assessor, and overseer of the poor ; a member of the school board six years ; a trustee of the public library eighteen years ; he is presi- dent of the Milton Water Company, and a director in the Society of California Pioneers of New England.
The life of Captain Wadsworth has been an eventful one, and his family history is interwoven with the chronicles of New England from colonial days.
WALDRON, DANIEL WINGATE, son of Daniel and Susan (Wingate) Waldron, was born in Augusta, Kennebec county, Maine, November 11, 1840. He received his early educational training in his native city. He entered Bowdoin College in 1858, and was graduated in the class of 1862.
He studied theology two years in Bangor Theological Seminary, and one year at An- dover, and was graduated from the theo- logical school at the latter place in 1866.
He was ordained and installed as a Con- gregational minister at East Weymouth, April 3, 1867, from which pastorate he was
dismissed May 14, 1871, to become acting pastor of the Maverick Congregational church, East Boston. This position he held until December, 1872, when he closed his labors at East Boston to accept the po- sition of clerical missionary of the City Missionary Society of Boston. He has continued in the work of this society to the present time.
DANIEL W. WALDRON.
In addition to his visits among the poor, preaching in chapels and presenting the claims of city missions to the churches, he has established the "Easter card mission," the "fresh-air fund," the "Thanksgiving- dinner charity," and the " Christmas letter and card mission."
He was elected chaplain of the House of Representatives in 1879, and each year since has been re-elected, having served in all, eleven years. He preached the annual sermon before the executive and legislative departments of the government, January 7, 1880.
WALKER, BENJAMIN, son of Benjamin and Abigail (Tweed) Walker, was born in Wilmington, Middlesex county, June 24, 1822. He is a lineal descendant, through a family long settled in that county and distinguished in public service, from Cap- tain Richard Walker, who came from England and settled in Lynn about 1630 ;
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WALKER.
also on the maternal side a descendant of Elder William Brewster of Plymouth.
His early education was received in the district school. He afterwards attended private institutions in Weymouth and Low- ell, Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N. H., and the Lowell high school. Having gradu- ated from the last-named school, he matric- ulated at the law school of Cincinnati, Ohio, but in consequence of the death of his father in 1840, he abandoned his legal studies, and returned to Lowell.
His business career began in Philadel- phia, as a member of the book-publishing house of Walker & Gillis. In 1847 he be- came a teacher in the public schools of Lowell, and in 1850 was made paymaster of the Hamilton Print Works in that city. After twelve years' service he resigned the position and entered the employ of Dr. J.
BENJAMIN WALKER.
C. Ayer & Co., as a correspondence clerk. He remained with that firm until the organ- ization of the J. C. Ayer Company, in October, 1877, with which company he still remains, in charge of an extensive depart- ment of their business.
Mr. Walker entered political life as a member of the Whig party, with which and its successors he has constantly acted. In 1860 and '61 he was a member of the school board ; a member of the common
WALKER.
council 1865, '66, and '71 ; alderman 1872, '74, and '75, serving on the committee which drafted and reported the present city charter ; has been a justice of the peace since 1861, and a commissioner for Michigan since 1879 ; was chairman of the Republican city committee for 1871, '72, '73, and '74 ; has been a director, clerk, and treasurer of the Lowell & Andover Railroad since 1876 ; vice-president of the Central Savings Bank ; and a director in the Lowell Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany.
In local organizations, outside of business or politics, Mr. Walker has been a useful and prominent citizen : president of the Middlesex Mechanics' Association, and for several years chairman of its lecture com- mittee ; ten years president of the Choral Society, and member of the executive com- mittee of the Old Residents' Association since its formation in 1868. He has been conspicuous and influential in musical cir- cles, and has been thirty-seven years a church organist - twenty-six of these with St. Anne's Episcopal church - the oldest church in the city.
Mr. Walker has also been a constant writer and critic for the local press. He was married in 1842 to Catharine Kimball, daughter of Josiah and Mary (Stark) Gillis, of Wilmington. Mrs. Walker died in 1874, leaving one daughter : Mary Catharine. His second marriage occurred in 1876, with Mrs. Mary E. Rix, daughter of William and Mary (Cline) Bryant, of Stoneham. Of this union were no children.
WALKER, ELIJAH, son of Amos and Judith (Bailey) Walker, was born in Union, Lincoln county, Maine, July 2, 1818.
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