USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 49
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During the latter years of his life, Mr. Little lived at his handsome residence on the corner of Commonwealth avenue in the winter, and at Swampscot in summer. The latter place he did much to improve, the group of cottages under his ownership being among the most noted on the coast. He had practically retired from business for sev- eral years preceding his death, but was confined to his bed only a week previous to the ending of his life, which occurred June 19, 1889, at Swampscot.
In many respects the career of Mr. Little was remarkable and worthy of emulation. By his own unaided efforts he rose from an humble position to be one of the foremost business men of his time. lle was a man of great energy, of incorruptible integrity and of a superior order of business ability. He possessed that rare moral cour- age which would sanction no resort to subterfuge nor permit him to be diverted from a course his conscience approved, on the ground of sim- ple expedieney or policy. What he believed to be right he did, regard- less of consequences. Calmness in difficulty, combined with great
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fertility of expedients, constituted one of his chief merits. Like a skill- ful general he was neither too sanguine nor yet easily discouraged as to the success of any enterprise. He was always actuated by high motives, and he has left behind him a record worthy to be had in per- petual remembrance.
Mr. Little was married October 18, 1813, to Julia Augusta, daughter of Zebedee Cook, jr., and Caroline (Tuttle) Cook, who died at Swamp- scot, July 14, 1883. They had eight children, of whom two died in infancy and six are now living, five sons and one daughter.
JOSHUA SEARS.
JOSHUA SEARS, for many years one of the leading merchants of Bos- ton, was born at Yarmouth, Mass., in August, 1791. At the age of seventeen years he came to Boston to seek his fortune, and entered as an apprentice in the counting-room of Charles Hood on Long Wharf. Here he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. About this time, in consequence of the embargo and the war which soon followed, mercantile business was greatly depressed, and Mr. Sears returned to his native town on Cape Cod, where he remained, teaching school, in- til the close of the war. He then returned to Boston and was employed in the counting-room of George Hallett, where he remained one year. At the end of this time he formed a copartnership with Oliver Hallett, a brother of George Hallett, under the firm name of Sears & Hallett, at No. 10 Long Wharf, which continued for two years, About this time Solomon Burt, of the firm of Burnham & Burt, died, and Mr. Burnham took Mr. Sears in as a special partner, which relationship continued until two years later, when Mr. Burnham retired and Mr. Sears then became sole proprietor of the business, continuing to con- duct it alone with conspicuous success until his death, February ", 1854. He was one of the foremost merchants of Boston during the era when this city was commercially the first of American cities. Ile possessed great sagacity, which, combined with remarkable business talent, and indomitable perseverance and industry, enabled him to ac- cumulate one of the largest private fortunes of his day. Frederick Freeman in his " Annals of Yarmouth, " writing of Mr. Sears's personal characteristics, says: " He was always just in his dealings, painstaking,
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frugal, temperate, assiduous and far-seeing Of entire independence of character, he was also a keen and accurate observer of the character of others; and as a private banker, was also of great service to his neighbors in trade by sustaining their issues. Whilst exact in trade and cautious, he never shrank from a friend in whom he had reason to have confidence. Though not a politician he was ever firm in adherence to Democratic principles 'of the Jackson stamp.' Known to the public only in commercial transactions, few were conversant with his private life and leisure hours; but those who were knew him not only as an original thinker, but a great reader, with a memory remarkably tenacious, enabling him to repeat much that he had read- even whole pages of Homer's Iliad, as translated by Pope. Articles of noticeable ability were often written by him for the papers; and there is little room to doubt that he would have stood high in any pro- fession that he might have chosen."
Mr. Sears was married in February, 1854, to Miss Phebe Snow, daughter of Deacon Snow of Brewster, Mass., an estimable woman, who died January 1, 1855, after having given birth to a son, Joshua Montgomery Sears, who survives. Mr. Sears was buried in his native town of Yarmouth, for which he always maintained a deep regard. This was manifested repeatedly during his lifetime by generous gifts to the poor and needy of that town, and by a bequest in his will for the establishment at that point of a nautical school.
THEOPHILUS W. WALKER.
THEOPHILUS W. WALKER was a conspicuous representative of the old time Boston merchants, who during the past half century and more gave character and standing to the business interests, the commerce and the capital of Boston. He was born in South Danvers, Mass., February 22, 1813. His father was the Rev. Samuel Walker, a well known minister of South Danvers, and his mother, Sophia Wheeler of Worcester. From this Puritan stock Mr. Walker inherited the many sterling qualities which were conspicuous in his life and contributed so largely to his business success. His father desired him to enter upon a professional career, but he early evinced such a decided taste for a business life that he was permitted to make his own selection of a
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pursuit. He began his business career as a clerk in the employ of Charles Brook & Co., at that time one of the leading hardware firms in Dock square. As a boy he exhibited keen business sagacity and those self-reliant traits of character which in later years were so marked in his career. When he was but eighteen years of age, the head of a well known hardware firm committed forgery and fled the city. He was declared a bankrupt, and his stock was offered for sale. Young Walker after looking over the stock was convinced it was worth purchasing. He had, however, no capital, and not being of age his notes would not be taken. In this strait he applied to Deacon John C. Proctor, an inti- mate friend of his father, and his uncle, Moses Wheeler, and asked them to endorse his notes. The boldness of the request carried the day, and the notes were duly endorsed. The young merchant began his independent business career in the store corner of Exchange street and Dock square. From the first success followed him, and within fif- teen months not only was the bankrupt stock paid for, but a lucrative business had been established. His brother, Nathaniel, became asso- ciated with him at this time as a clerk, and afterwards as partner, the firm name in the early forties being known as Walker & Brother, at which time it ranked among the best hardware firms of Boston. Later on the firm removed to Pearl street, and was better known at that period as the agent of the Essex Glue Company. About this time Mr. Walker became acquainted with a notable ship builder of Belfast, Me., and was induced to embark in navigation. The final issue of this was the barque Sophia Walker, named in honor of his mother. Her first voyage was to Smyrna, in command of Captain Grafton, son of Major Grafton, for many years surveyor of the port of Boston. At the time she was built she was one of the finest specimens of naval architecture afloat, and the fastest sailer. Later she obtained inter- national reputation while in command of Captain John Codman. The success of this vessel tempted her owner to embark further in naviga- tion, and from the time when the great tide of emigration to California began, down to the commencement of the late eivil war, he was the owner of several of the finest clipper ships which sailed from Boston.
With the decline of the shipping interest, which began in the late fifties, Mr. Walker became largely interested in the principal cotton and woolen manufactories of New England, and in this then comparatively new field of activity his great business abilities found congenial em- ployment. At one time he owned the celebrated mills at North Vassa-
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boro, the Victoria Mills at Newburyport, the Annisquam Mills at Rockport, and the Danvers Bleachery, while he held the controlling in- terest in the Androscoggin Mills, and was its president for twenty-five years. At the time of his death he was one of the largest, if not the largest, individual owner of textile fabric manufactories in the United States.
Some forty years ago Mr. Walker purchased the Governor Gore es- tate in Waltham from Rev. J. S. Copley Green, which made him the proprietor of one of the finest estates in Massachusetts, being almost colonial in its style of architecture and in its landscape surroundings. He expended a small fortune in keeping up this estate, and here amid his beautiful surroundings, practically retired from active business, he quietly and serenely passed the latter years of his life. He died April 15, 1890, surviving most of his business contemporaries, few if any now remaining who were active participants in the period when he was an active, positive forec in the business life of Boston.
In his early manhood Mr. Walker was a foremost figure in the social life of Boston. Those who remember him at this period recall a man of fine personal appearance, always faultlessly attired, whose polished manners and whose engaging and winning conversational powers made him a conspicuous figure in any group or company. He belonged to the Independent Corps of Cadets, and at the time of his death was one of the oldest members of this famous organization. With the increase of business cares and responsibilities he became more reserved in man- ner, and was even considered eccentric, but his very idiosynerasies had a peculiar charm for those who knew him well and those whom he cared to know. He was a great reader, a close observer and a thorough judge of human nature. "Had he followed his father's wishes, " says one writer, "and chosen a professional instead of a business career, and bent the energies and resources of his powerful intellect to the study and pursuit of the law or political economy, he would have been an acknowledged leader of men." One who intimately knew Mr. Walker for many years wrote at the time of his death the following tribute to his memory, which is here reproduced as the verdict of one justly entitled to speak of his life and character:
Mr. Walker belonged to that class of old-time Boston merchants which has now nearly passed away. Very few contemporaries in his active business life remain. He was a man of indomitable will and great industry, and these qualities early laid the foundations of his large fortune; and by his striet and honorable dealing with
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his fellow-men he acquired an influence in the mercantile world which will long sur- vive him. After deciding upon the honorable and proper course, he was very per- sistent in accomplishing the end he had in view. He had one special quality, which few of the present generation except his most intimate friends would be likely to perceive or appreciate. He was modest and retiring, almost to a fault. It was in his unpretentious counting-room in Merchants' Row that many successful business enterprises originated, which owed their inception to his keen business judgment, but for which he never claimed personal credit. He was a faithful and untiring worker for every interest intrusted to him, and he spent Tuesilay, the last day of his life, at his desk, doing the day's work with his usual vigor and carnestness. Ile shirked no responsibility, and he had a direct way of doing a thing, fearless of con- sequences, if it seemed right to him. Conservative by nature, possibly to the casual observer he might have had a stern aspect and demeanor, but this was only his modest dignity of character, which outwardly covered the true inner man. He had no sympathy for modern shams and deceits, and this perhaps at times gave him an uncompromising air towards many of the methods of business dealings of the present day. To do what was honorable and just was his aim, without sounding a trumpet to announce his intention to the world. He has in more than one instance in corpo- rations in which he was interested assumed grave liabilities in order to protect the interests of the smaller stockholders. Ilis genial presence will be missed in business circles.
GEORGE BATY BLAKE.
THE branch of the Blake family from which the subject of this sketch descended was first established in New England in the person of William Blake (a near relative of the famous English admiral, Robert Blake), who landed at Nantasket, May 30, 1630, and soon after fixed his residence at Dorchester, Mass., in that part now called Milton.
Our subject, the youngest of nine children of John Welland and Abigail (Jones) Blake, was born at Brattleborough, Vt., May 19, 1808. His grandfather, Joseph Blake (born February 5, 1639; died July 21, 1818), was a lieutenant in the army at an early age, and saw some service at Crown Point. He married for his first wife Deborah, daughter of Samuel Smith, a physician of Sandwich, Mass, her mother, Bethiah Chipman, being reported by tradition to be a direct descendant of John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth Colony. His father, John Welland Blake, a lawyer by profession, was one of the early settlers of Brattleborough, having established his residence there in 1290. He was one of the first postmasters in this place, represented the town in the State Legislature, and was at one time a large owner
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of real estate in the vicinity. He married, May 24, 1:90, Abigail, daughter of Judge Daniel Jones, of Hinsdale, N. H., and died October 26, 1818. His wife died December 14, 1808, within a few months after George's birth.
George, thus left an orphan, was nursed and cared for during his infancy in the family of Major Stephen Greenleaf, a highly respected citizen in the west village of Brattleborough, and in after years he held the memory of this estimable man and his family in grateful re- membrance. Subsequently he lived at the homestead until the age of thirteen. His eldest sister, Ann Sophia, who in 1814 married Henry Cabot, son of Hon. George Cabot, of Boston, had charge of the house- hold during George's childhood, until her removal to Boston upon her marriage, and there lived until her death in 1845.
After the death of his father, George was for a few years particularly " under the charge of his brother, John Rice Blake. These brothers long survived the other children, and were for twenty years partners in the banking business which George undertook about 1850 in Boston, and to which the energies of the remaining years of his life were chiefly given. Although George's father had been at one time a man of con- siderable wealth for the period, at his death the family was left quite poor, so that when Mr. Dickinson, a dry goods dealer of Boston, offered the boy, then thirteen years of age, a place in his store, the family gladly availed themselves of the offer, and he went to Boston. He lived at first with his sister, Mrs. Cabot, in High street, and for two or three years received from his brother John and this sister fifty dollars a year, which was the only pecuniary help he ever received. lle was in Mr. Dickinson's employ a few years, and then secured a place with his brother-in-law, Edward Clarke, of the firm of Edward Clarke & Co., dry goods importers, and before he was twenty-one years of age Mr. Clarke took him into the firm as a partner, and he went at once to England to buy goods. From this time to 1828 he was eon- stantly going to England and the Continent in the pursuance of his business, making many acquaintances and some life long friendships. Among others, he thuis became acquainted with the late George Pea- body, at that time a buyer of dry goods for his Baltimore firm, and afterward long resident in London, with whom Mr. Blake continued in warm relations of friendship until Mr. Peabody's death, and for several years their respective firms had extensive business relations.
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May 24, 1833, Mr. Blake married his cousin, Anna Hull, daughter of Joshua Blake, of Boston, a prominent and successful merchant doing business with the Mediterranean ports. They were married at her father's house in Winthrop Place, by the Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood, of King's Chapel, at which church Mr. Blake then, and during his whole life, attended service, acting for several years as vestryman, and always taking a deep and lively interest in the church and its several clergy- men.
During his earlier visits to England, Mr. Blake made the acquaint- ance of Richard Cobden, the distinguished English statesman, then, about 1835, partner in a cotton printing establishment near Manchester where he had built up a prosperous business. Mr. Blake at this time bought goods of Mr. Cobden, and had a great admiration for the qualities which later won him such distinction as a legislator and polit- ical economist. Mr. Blake gave full adherence to Mr. Cobden's free trade views, and was always of the opinion that for any country custom duties were only to be justified by the need of revenue. He recog- nized, however, for the United States that reform in this direction, in justice to large vested interests, must be somewhat gradual, but he looked confidently to absolute free trade as the true policy for all nations, and he believed under such a free interchange of commodities the United States would soon become cotton manufacturers for the world.
Mr. Blake had nine children, of whom the first two died in infancy, and the seventh, Henry Jones Blake, died October 11, 1880. IIe served as a lieutenant in the United States navy during the war of the Rebellion and had an excellent record in the important engagements in which he participated. The youngest son, John Willard Blake, bearing the name of his paternal grandfather, died in 1861, aged nearly fifteen years. Arthur Wellington Blake, the last son, died in March, 1893. Two daughters are the only surviving members of the family.
Mr. Blake, after leaving the firm of Edward Clarke & Co., formed a copartnership for the importation of dry goods with William Almy, under the firm name of Almy, Blake & Co., and during this time, and subsequently, he continued his frequent passages to Europe, having crossed the Atlantic upwards of eighty times during his life. He next formed a copartnership with the late David Nevins and Edward H. R. Lyman, under the firm name of George B. Blake & Co., also importers of dry goods. About the year 1846 Mr. Blake's health, which had 67
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always been delicate, failing him, he was obliged to retire from active business, and in the spring of 1847 he bought an estate in Brookline, near Boston, where he resided during the remainder of his life, except- ing the winters of the last few years; these were passed at his home in Boston. During this three or four years' interval in his active business career Mr. Blake became a director in the Boston and Worcester Rail- road Company, and took a most active part in the affairs of that corpo- ration. He was one of the very earliest to favor and promote the joining of this railroad with the Western Railroad. The first steps taken by this corporation towards a rail connection with East Boston were chiefly instigated by Mr. Blake at a time when few foresaw the prospective growth of the export trade from the West, which his sagacity enabled him to anticipate. The construction of the Brookline branch of the Boston and Worcester Railroad was largely due to his energy and foresight.
In 1850 Mr. Blake associated himself with Mr. Addison Gilmore, president of the Western (now Boston and Albany) Railroad, and George Cabot Ward, son of Thomas G. Ward, Boston agent of Messrs. Baring Brothers & Company, of London, for the prosecution of a foreign and domestic banking business. The firm name was Gilmore, Blake & Ward. Mr. Gilmore dying very suddenly shortly after this firm was established, the name was changed to Blake, Ward & Com- pany, and later to Blake, Howe & Company. At this time his brother, John Rice Blake, came from Brattleborough and joined him as a part- ner, the firm name being later changed to Blake Brothers & Company, the three eldest sons joining as partners about the year 1860.
One of the leading aims of Mr. Blake throughout his business career was to advance in every possible way the commercial interests of Boston. He was largely instrumental in securing and maintaining the regular visits of the Cunard steamers to this port. During the civil war he was always most warmly interested in the preservation of the Union, and actively aided, both with his purse and by personal service, the Sanitary Commission and other organizations for the relief and welfare of the soldiers.
Originally a Whig in polities, and voting for Henry Clay in the presi- dential election, Mr. Blake early sympathized in the views of Garri- son, Sumner and the others who looked upon African slavery in the United States as a barbarism. With many other law abiding citizens of Massachusetts, his sense of justice was shocked by the enforcement
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of the fugitive slave law in Boston in returning Anthony Burns to servitude. He endeavored to prevent this by offering, through a friend, to buy Burns of his owner, who then refused to sell his property at any price.
When the State of Massachusetts was rapidly forwarding troops for the suppression of the Rebellion, and was incurring a large debt for bounties and other war expenses, the money market had become ex- ccedingly active, so that the State for providing money on its notes, having a few months to run, paid as high as twelve per cent. per annum. At this time it became necessary for funding its indebtedness that the State should promptly secure some three or four millions of dollars. This was finally done by a sale to Mr. Blake's firm, by Gov- ernor Andrew and his Council, of three million of dollars of five per cent. sterling bonds, and Mr. Blake was appointed by the State authorities agent for the State, with authority to domiciliate the loan with either of several London banking firms, selected by him, foremost among whom were the Messrs. Baring and Rothschild. Mr. Blake went at once to London on this mission, but found the time most un- favorable for such negotiations, the Bank of England having suddenly advanced the rate of interest to ten per cent. He, however, finally succeeded in making arrangements with the Messrs. Baring, through whom the loan was successfully negotiated. Mr. Blake always felt that the deserved high credit of Massachusetts was largely due to the high integrity and strong sense of Governor Andrew in insisting upon gold for the payment of both principal and interest of the funded debt of the State throughout the general suspension of specie payments in the United States during the Rebellion.
Possessed of a character of unswerving integrity, Mr. Blake stood as an example of the highest commercial honor, and the many young men whom he educated during his long business career all testify to the warm interest he took in lending a helping hand to those who needed his assistance. Devoted and affectionate in his family, it was perhaps in the home circle that his character appeared to best advan- tage, and those who were in the habit of meeting him there will ever cherish the pleasant memories of his sprightly humor and friendly interest. Reverent and devout by temperament, he was a regular attendant upon religious services, and although he never identified him- self with the church by active membership, his whole life testified to his sincere and earnest belief in the truths of Christianity.
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Mr. Blake died at his residence in Brookline, August 6, 1815, his death resulting from an attack of paralysis at his office in Boston two days previous. He was interred in the family burial lot at Mount Anburn Cemetery. His wife died two years before, June 1, 1813, at the Brookline home.
The death of Mr. Blake called forth numerous notices not only from home journals, but from papers in many sections of the country. The following condensed extract from the Boston Globe of August :, 1875. will perhaps best serve to illustrate the estimation in which he was held in the community where he was best known and where most of the years of his useful life were passed :
The announcement of the death of George Baty Blake, the senior member of the firm of Blake Brothers & Co., bankers, will cause wide-spread feeling of sorrow in the business and social circles of Boston. It is not often that we are called upon to record the death of a Boston merchant who has quietly and unostentatiously pro- moted the substantial interests of this city in the effective manner that was char- acteristic of Mr. Blake. George Baty Blake was a strong man, one whose clearly defined individuality and indomitable will would have made his power, nerve, and brain felt in any walk in life which he might have chosen. In both the dry goods trade and the banking business he was very successful, although through nearly his whole life he labored with the disadvantage of a physical infirmity which would have paralyzed the efforts of men with weaker will or less active brain.
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