USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 60
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this period had a most wholesome effect in restoring confidence, its ex- ample being felt in every avenue of trade at a time when faith was shaken and even concerns before considered strong were forced to sus- pend operations. As soon as possible after the fire, Jackson, Mandell & Daniell moved into the spacious quarters provided for them in the building erected by J. Montgomery Sears on the southeast corner of Sumner and Chauncey streets.
It can be stated of this firm, what perhaps is hardly true of any con- cern that ever did an equal amount of business, that it gave no notes and never failed to take advantage of every discount by paying its bills before they were due. These facts, well known to the trade, gave it a prestige in every market of the world second to none. Beginning with comparatively limited capital, yet so ably were its affairs conducted that not a year passed but showed a gratifying increase in trade, as well as healthy and satisfactory gain. At the time of the dissolution of the firm it had long occupied a position of commanding importance among the most successful mercantile houses in New England. The ability and business generalship required to have attained this result will be fully appreciated in these days of close and vigorous competition.
The illness and subsequent withdrawal of Gustavus Jackson from the firm during the earlier period of its existence threw upon Henry C. Jackson added responsibilities, and from that time he became the recog- nized head of the house. A man of remarkable energy, keen business instincts, and possessing a high order of executive ability, he was ad- mirably fitted for the position. An aggressive, positive and forceful character, and with a rugged constitution which permitted almost an unlimited amount of physical and mental labor, he was able to devote himself to his work without reserve, and even extracted pleasure out of his very activity. From such devotion and well directed efforts, in which he was so ably assisted and aided by his associates, came a de- gree of success seldom excelled in the same line of trade. Although associated with strong, positive and able partners, unbroken harmony prevailed throughout their long association, and their mutual feeling of rare good will and respect for each other in no small measure was con- ducive to the general prosperity of the house.
Upon the dissolution of the firm of Jackson, Mandell & Daniell, De- cember 31, 1891, when Mr. Jackson and Mr. Dwight Prouty, his asso- ciate in business for twenty-nine years, retired from the business, the occasion was made the theme of many flattering comments in local and
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trade journals, which were not only highly complimentary to the char- acter and personal worth of the retiring partners, but laudatory of the great business house they had been so conspicuous in creating. Upon the retirement of these partners, the firm of Jackson, Mandell & Daniell ceased to exist, its successor being the present firm of Chatman, Ken- dall & Daniell.
Mr. Jackson was married in 1860 to Miss Maria Amanda Moulton, daughter of Dr. Alvah Moulton, of Ossipee, N. H. Comparatively in the prime of life and possessing vigorous health, Mr. Jackson has before him the promise of many years in which to enjoy his well carned rest. Ile is deeply interested in all that pertains to the well being of Boston, where he has so long resided and where his sterling worth and high character are so well known, and the city has no firmer or more sincere friend.
JOSHUA BENNETT.
JOSHUA BENNETT was born in Billerica, Mass., November 27, 1192, and was the son of James Bennett, a prosperous and respectable mer- chant of that town. He passed his boyhood upon his father's farm, obtaining his education in the common schools of the town and in the academy at Westford, Mass. When about twenty-four years of age he engaged in teaching a grammar school in Dorchester, Mass. Al- though always fond of books, he relinquished the work of teaching at the end of three years and entered upon a business carcer in which few men have shown equal sagacity and few have met with equal success. Even while a teacher he devoted his evenings to trade. As the leading partner in the firm of Bennett & Felton in Boston, he early laid the foundation of his future success and fortune. His active mind found many sources of wealth. He became a very extensive dealer in hops, a business in which his father had preceded him. He had transactions with most of the hop-growers and brewers of the country. He became an exporter of hops and a distiller. It is told of him as an interesting incident that in 1849, being in London at a time when the hop trade was depressed, he actually purchased a large lot of hops which he had himself exported and sent them back to America, thus making two profits upon the same goods.
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It was by the skillful use of the property early acquired in trade that Mr. Bennett amassed the most of his ample fortune. He was a very shrewd and successful dealer in real estate, making his investments with distinguished sagacity. He became the possessor of a large amount of property in Lowell and of a much larger amount in Boston,
Mr. Bennett was not a politician, and he only accepted those offices which his compeers in the business world bestowed upon him on ac- count of his acknowledged ability to fill them with honor and success. He was a director of the Providence and Worcester Railroad, and was on the first board of directors of the old Lowell Bank, the earliest of the discount banks of Lowell, having received its charter in 1828. This board consisted of men of high character, among whom were Kirk Boott and Samuel Batchelder, two of the most distinguished founders of American manufactures, and Josiah B. French and Nathaniel Wright, both of whom subsequently became mayors of the city. After a service of thirty-three years as director, Mr. Bennett was in 1861 elected president of the bank, which office he filled with great ability through the entire period of the civil war, resigning it on account of failing health only a few months before his death.
As a bank officer he was conservative and sagacious, and was es- teemed the highest authority upon the question of investing the funds of the institution.
An excellent portrait of Mr. Bennett, the gift of his grandson, Joshua Bennett Holden, of Boston, adorns the directors' room of this bank.
As a citizen Mr. Bennett gained his highest honor by his patriotic condnet in the early days of the Rebellion. When others faltered he stepped boldly forward. Not only did he proffer to his country his own wealth, but he exerted his great influence as a financier to bring to the rescue the moneyed institutions with which he was connected. He had full faith in his country, and freely instrusted to her his wealth. It was the noble conduct of men like him who in that hour of peril and alarm inspired new hope and courage in the national heart.
Throughout the war his patriotism never faltered. To every soldier who enlisted from his town, he gave from his own wealth a special bounty.
Mr. Bennett resided in Boston in his early business life, but in his later years his favorite residence was upon his farm in Billerica.
Notwithstanding his intense and life-long devotion to business, he was wont to take due time for recreation, having made one visit to
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Europe, and being accustomed to spend several weeks of each summer at Saratoga and Sharon Springs.
In the culture of his farm of fifty acres he also took a special pleasure.
In his will he gave $25,000 to the Washingtonian Home in Boston, an institution in which he was greatly interested. Ile also gave $3,000 to each church of the various denominations in the town of Billerica, as well as small legacies to their respective pastors. It is greatly to the credit of the heirs, that though his will was not signed, all the legacies for benevolent purposes were honorably paid in accordance with the known wishes of the testator. On October 8, 1815, Mr. Bennett mar- ried Eleanor, daughter of Ebenezer Richardson, of Billerica.
Mrs. Bennett died at Billerica May 6, 1891, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. Her life was one filled with good' deeds, and the whole town miss her many acts of kindness to rich and poor.
Of his two children, Ellen, the older, became the wife of George Holden, of Boston, and Rebecca became the wife of William Wilkins Warren, of Boston. The widow of Mr. Bennett, in honor of her hus- band, gave a library to the town of Billerica, erecting for it a substan- tial briek edifice. Mr. Bennett died August 6, 1865, in the seventy-third year of his age, and was buried at Mount Auburn.
HENRY M. WHITNEY.
HENRY MELVILLE WHITNEY, widely known for the important part he has borne in the development of the electric transit system, was born in the town of Conway, Franklin county, Mass., on October 22, 1839. At the time of his birth, his father, General James S. Whitney, kept an old-fashioned country store, where the good citizens of Conway were wont to assemble and discuss and settle, in their own minds, the most important questions of the day. The enterprising public spirit of General Whitney, his broad intelligence, his capacity for business, and his superior tact in the management of men and affairs, were destined to leave their impress upon the boy, who thus grew up in a home made happy and charming by the presence of a good mother-Lucinda (Col- lins) Whitney. General Whitney was a stern old Democrat of the Jacksonian type and the idol of the community in which he dwelt. Ile served two term in the Legislature, where it is stated his vote decided
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the election of Charles Sumner to the United States Senate; subse- quently, from 1854 to 1860, he was superintendent of the United States Armory at Springfield, and was collector of the Port of Boston for one year preceding the inauguration of President Lincoln. His death oc- curred October 24, 1848.
Of the youthful days of Henry M. Whitney there is little to be said. In the public schools of the town he acquired his first rudiments of education, and then, while still in his teens, he was sent to Williston Seminary at Easthampton. He was accompanied by an elder brother, William C. Whitney, since famous as secretary of the navy during the administration of President Cleveland.
Young Whitney's term at Williston was limited to one year. Re- turning to Conway he went to work in the store, and later for three years served as clerk in the Conway Bank, where he developed that business turn of mind which has served him so well ever since.
In 1860 his parents removed to Boston, where General Whitney, after leaving the Custom House, became identified with enterprises of large extent and importance, notably with the Boston Water Power Company and the Metropolitan Steamship Company. The son, in the mean time, had passed two years in the Bank of Redemption; after- wards was a clerk in the naval agent's office, and later was engaged in the shipping business in New York city. In 1866 he became Boston agent of the Metropolitan Steamship Company, and in 1829, after he had obtained possession of the stock, which had gradually sunk in value, he became president, holding the same position to this day. From that time to 1884, Mr. Whitney was recognized by all who knew him as an unusually keen-witted and thrifty business man. His mind was full of enterprises of various kinds and character; in all that he engaged success followed him. Indeed, everything to which he turned his attention seemed to bring him gold.
In the spring of 1886 Mr. Whitney, who had long foreseen the mag- nificent possibilities of that section of Boston which borders on the suburban town of Brookline, quietly purchased large tracts of land along the line of Beacon street in the last named place. In midsummer of the same year he became conscious that he had himself put not less than $800,000 into the scheme, and that it was likely to be too heavy to carry on alone. He at once took a number of his more intimate and wealthy friends into his confidence, told them what he had already done and what he proposed to do further, and then invited them to join him.
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That they acceded promptly is a striking evidence of the confidence reposed in Mr. Whitney's integrity, wisdom and tact. The syndicate thuis formed was the now famous West End Land Company. The re- sult of its endeavors is one of the most picturesque boulevards of which this country can boast, fringed with residences and suburban villas of rare beauty, such as only the rich can afford.
The next move was the building of a street railway, which shoukl connect Boston with Brookline, and run directly through this territory, by another corporation formed and headed by Mr. Whitney. The length of the road was about eight miles, and it was named the West End Street Railway. This hne had been in operation but a few months when the subject of street blockades in Boston began to seriously worry the public mind. At the time the following roads, besides the West End, centered in Boston: the Metropolitan, the Cambridge, the South Boston, and the Consolidated (Middlesex and Highland). Popular sentiment decreed that the incessant clashing of interests engendered by so many distinct companies must come to an end, and that, too, speedily. Mr. Whitney and the mature minds associated with him be- came convinced that there was only one way out of the difficulty, that only a single plan could solve the problem-that was consolidation, Such a plan was outlined, and was agreed to by the various roads. In Sep- tember, 1887, Mr. Whitney explained the policy of the West End Street Railway Company, at a meeting of the new corporation, in language as forceful to-day as it was prophetic then. The address is one of the most interesting and important ever delivered by its author. One passage in it deserves reprinting in this sketch. Said Mr. Whitney:
I believe that this company is destined to play a very important part in the lives of this whole community. I am myself deeply sensible of the responsibility which this organization holds in this community. I hope and believe that we shall so be able to administer our affairs that not only shall the stockholders be proud of the organization and have a security second to none, but that every employee shall be proud to belong to the organization, and that the entire community will point to it with pride. We believe we can do something for the comfort and happiness of this people that we could not do as individual corporations, and I am deeply sensible of the responsibility that rests upon us to do it. I hope that this company will meet the future questions connected with the transportation problem in the broadest way.
No words were ever uttered with more profound sincerity; and that they have been serupulously lived up to, so far as Mr. Whiting is con- cerned, no one can deny, who is conversant with all the facts underly- ing the history of this gigantic enterprise from that date to the present
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moment. That perhaps the most important franchise granted by the State and city to a private corporation was placed thus in safe hands, is equally true.
The part Mr. Whitney bore in giving to Boston the most complete system of electric railways which exists in the world is well known. In 1884 the electric railway in Richmond, Va., attracted attention far and wide. Mr. Whitney went to that city to study its merits. He re- turned to Boston, impressed with the conviction that electricity was indeed the power of the future. He decided to test it as a power for the present; and as a result of his conviction, in 1888, an electric line was opened, extending from Park Square, Boston, to Oak Square in Brighton District-a portion of it being operated by an underground conduit, and the remainder by the trolley system. In February, 1889, a line of twenty motor cars from Bowdoin Square, Boston, to Harvard Square, Cambridge, was inaugurated, and so successfully by the Thom- son-llouston Electric Company, that Mr. Whitney six months later gave an order for six hundred additional motors. This was the begin- ning of the great electrie system, which to-day is both the pride and the boast of Boston. Since then the history of the West End street railway has been one of constant development and of rapid improve- ment. Gigantic power stations have been erected, which are marvels of engineering skill; more modern models of apparatus have replaced those of older and less efficient types; nearly 16,000 horse power is being daily furnished by the electric generators of these stations, and over 1,200 motors are under 469 electric cars. Although but one hun- dred and twenty miles of the two hundred and sixty operated by the company are equipped with the electric system, suburban property reached by the system has appreciated in value over one hundred per cent.
Having carried the system to such a successful stage of completion, Mr. Whitney through the demands of other business interests which re- quired attention, retired, much to the regret of his associates, from the presidency of the West End Company in September, 1893, His able management of this great corporation had won universal admiration and gave him national reputation.
The Street Raikvay Journal thus speaks of ex-President Henry M. Whitney, of the West End Street Railway Company:
Henry M. Whitney may rightly be called the pioneer of the commercial side of electric railroading, and in his retirement the street railway industry has lost a mem- ber to whose perseverance, intelligence and enterprise it owes much.
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With keen perception he saw the possibilities of electricity for street railway service while the new power was only in its infancy. llis faith in it was so strong that he was not afraid to stake his reputation on the success of its application.
Winning over to his views his fellow-directors in the West End Street Railway Company, he invested a large amount of capital in what was then looked upon by many financiers as a hazardous undertaking, and by his eloquence, aided by his indomitable perseverance, gained from a conservative and somewhat reluctant public the privilege of installing in Boston the largest system of electric railways ever then attempted.
Much of the labor to be performed was in an unexplored field, and costly experi- ments had to be made. In the results of these every electric railway company in the country has been a beneficiary. The knowledge acquired at immense cost in Boston has been utilized in the economical construction and operation of electric roads in different parts of the country.
Mr. Whitney was always an ardent advocate of attracting to the suburbs the city's workers. To aid in this he has done a great deal in extending the distance of travel on a single fare. Much more would undoubtedly have been accomplished by him in the way of rapid transit has his offers and suggestions been met in the same spirit as that in which they were tendered.
As an organizer in consolidating and unifying into one corporation the many street railway companies in Boston, his executive ability was especially marked.
Mr. Whitney's home is in Brookline. It was in this beautiful but quiet town that he first met Miss Margaret Foster Green, to whom he was married on October 3, 1828. This union has been blessed by the birth of one son and four daughters. The summer home of the family is at Cohasset.
Mr. Whitney's success in life has been phenomenal, a surprise even to his most intimate friends. The West End enterprise has not re- quired the whole of his time by any means, and his name is associated with several other prosperous corporations, notably the Hancock In- spirator Company, the Non-slip Horse Shoe Company, the Metropoli- tan Steamship Company, and several others. In all of these enterprises he has largely invested capital, and actively direets their policies.
The personal appearance of Mr. Whitney is clearly indicated by his portrait. There is no mistaking the look of firmness and decision his eyes flash upon all occasions, but it is a look tempered by refined cour- tesy and kindness, except when it confronts a man unworthy of his trust. Frank, outspoken and confiding himself, Mr. Whitney regards nothing more despicable than deceit. He is of medium stature, rather stout and somewhat inclined to stoop when walking. He is quick in all his actions, perhaps nervously so, and equally as quick to decide a question. In social intercourse he appears to be more a good listener
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than a good talker; and yet few persons can recite a more taking anee- dote or more keenly relish one. As is generally conceded, he is a most impressive public speaker, and always commands the attention even of his opponents. Ile possesses a wonderful memory, a deep sense of the value of facts and figures, and rarely advances an argument that does not rest on both. His address to the State Legislature in March, 1891. is an illustrious example of this assertion. Mr. Whitney's generosity is proverbial, his charities are dispensed freely, unostentatiously and with discretion, and many there are who to-day are indebted to him for their success in life. Happy in his home, true to his frienships, appre- ciative of all efforts that tend to uplift humanity, and ever ready to assist them, he enjoys the universal respect of the community.
FRANCIS BLAKE.
FRANCIS BLAKE, widely known through his important invention in connection with the telephone, was born at Needham, now Wellesley 1Tills, Mass., December 25, 1850. He is of the eighth generation de- scended from William and Agnes Blake, who came to America from Somersetshire, England, before 1636, and settled at Dorchester in that part of the town now called Milton. William Blake was a distinguished leader in colonial affairs, and his descendants have. kept his name in honorable prominence to the present time.
Mr. Blake is a grandson of the Hon. Francis Blake, of Worcester, State senator, and for many years one of the prominent members of the Worcester county bar, and son of Francis Blake, who engaged in busi- ness pursuits in early life, and from 1862 to 1874 served as United States appraiser at Boston, Mr. Blake's mother was Caroline Burling, daughter of George Augustus Trumbull, of Worcester, a kinsman of General Jonathan Trumbull, the original " Brother Jonathan," who was private secretary to George Washington.
Mr. Blake was educated at public schools until the year 1866, when his unele, Commodore George Smith Blake, U.S. N., secured his ap- pointment from the Brookline High School to the United States Coast Survey, in which service he acquired the scientific education which has led to his later successes in civil life. His twelve years' service in the Coast Survey has connected his name with many of the most important
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scientific achievements of the corps. Ilis first field work was in con- nection with a hydrographie survey of the Susquehanna River, near llarve de Grace, Maryland, followed by similar service on the west coast of Florida and the north coast of Cuba. In October, 1868, he was ordered to astronomical duty at Harvard College Observatory in con- nection with the transcontinental longitude determination between the observatory and San Francisco. On this occasion, for the purpose of determinating the velocity of telegraphic time signals, a metallic cir- cuit of 2,000 miles with thirteen repeaters was used, and it was found that a signal sent from Cambridge to San Francisco was received back, after traveling 6,000 miles, in eight-tenths of a second. In October, 1869, Mr. Blake was ordered to determine the astronomical latitude and longitude of Cedar Falls, la., and St. Louis, Mo., and for the sue- cessful accomplishment of this work was promoted to the rank of sub- assistant. Portions of the year 1869 he spent in Europe in determining the astronomical difference of longitude between Brest, France, and Harvard College Observatory, by means of time-signals sent through the French Atlantic cable.
November ?2, 1870, he was detached from the Coast Survey and ap- pointed astronomer of the Darien Exploring Expedition, under the command of Commander Selfridge, U.S. N. This expedition was for the examination of the Atrato and Tuyra River routes for a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien. Mr. Blake's work included the deter- mination of astronomical latitudes and longitudes of several points on the Gulf and Pacific Coasts, and in the interior, as well as a determina- of the difference of longitude between Aspinwall and Panama. In a letter, dated March 9, 1871, Commander Selfridge wrote to the super- tendent as follows: "Upon the close of Mr. Blake's connection with the expedition, it gives me pleasure to bear witness to the zeal, ability and ingenuity with which he has labored, and to recommend him to your favorable consideration ."
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