USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 64
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His eldest son, Samuel Baker Rindge, after the brief but solid schooling of his time, began his business life with no capital except a sound body and a willing mind. At the age of sixteen (1836) he entered the employment of Parker & Blanchard, which was the first firm in Boston that engaged in and relied solely upon the business of selling for the manufacturers American-made textile fabrics. The manufacturing business itself was in its infancy and gave no sign of its later wonderful development. The boy's position was one that called for much hard work and yielded but small remuneration. Hle was expected to be the first to come and the last to go, and in the time between was expected to make himself generally useful. In such a place a shirk would have found himself unhappy, but the lad Rindge was no shirk ; his own work was always done promptly, and it was always his inclination to reach out for a share in the duties of those above him. When he was "the boy " he was always ready to fill a gap in the bookkeeping, and when he became the bookkeeper he managed, by working out of hours, to get time to act as a salesman in the busier portions of the day. He was abstemious in his habits, and recognized alcoholic beverages and tobacco as his enemies. His powers of observa- tion and his memory were alike remarkable; he saw everything and forgot nothing. As an accountant he was thorough and exact; as a salesman he was active and popular; he made himself an excellent judge of the qualities of manufactured goods, and an expert in wool and other raw materials.
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Such a man could not but rise, and in the year 1844 he was admitted a partner in the firm, then styled Parker, Wilder & Parker, and when he died he was the senior member of the house, then Parker, Wilder & Co.
lle grew with his business, opening his mind and enlarging his scale of action as manufacturing developed and the times changed. Losses never discouraged, but simply instructed him, and the end of a season of panie which swept away a large fraction of his capital found him full of confidence in himself, not bewailing the past but looking forward cheerily to the future.
It was a fault in his mercantile character that he took upon himself too much, and that as his work grew he did not depend more upon his employees. It has been said of him that he did the work of ten men ; certainly he loved work, but it would have been wise, and it would probably have prolonged his life if he had been willing to limit himself more closely to the navigation of the ship, leaving others to trim the sails and keep the watch.
Ile was a stalwart man to the last, and his cheeks kept a ruddy hue of health. His powerful physique was illustrated by his interference in one instance to put a stop to a brutal fight between two men in a country town, where as they were struggling on the ground he grasped one of them by the collar of his coat and raised him to his feet as if he had been a child. But even the stoutest of men may be overloaded, and Mr. Rindge, although warned of his danger, preferred apparently to incur the risk rather than deny himself the exhilaration of earnest occupation.
Nor was he content to confine his work to his own especial avoca- tions. To be a director in the manufacturing concerns in which he was interested was to make but little addition to his cares, for he would have felt the same responsibility as their buying and selling agent; but as his reputation for business sagacity increased he was induced to assume additional duties. For two years he was an alderman of Cam- bridge. He was a director in two banks, the president of one; trustee in the Cambridge Savings Bank, president of the Union Glass Com- pany, director in the Cambridge Railroad Company and in other cor- porations. Besides all these, when consulted by friends he was not content to limit his advice to generalities, but was apt to make a study of their interests as if they were his own ; and it was said by an eminent lawyer of Boston that he had never known Mr. Rindge's equal in ability
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to grasp the deepest questions of business and the complicated problems often connected therewith.
One can only wonder that such a man should have lived so long. His strong constitution may explain in part his ability to bear a heavy strain, and his readiness to enter into any passing recreation, to enjoy travel and to be easily diverted may explain the rest. He found but little diversion in books-men and things were more interesting to him.
Mr. Rindge was fortunate, too, in his wife, a woman of remarkable kindliness and charity, everywhere revered for her many amiable qual- ities, and nowhere better appreciated than in her own home. Socially she was connected with many charitable societies in Cambridge, and being a striet church-goer, she exerted a widespread influence upon the morals of the city, She died in less than two years after her wid- owhood, leaving by her will charitable foundations to commemorate her husband.
At a union meeting of officers of various corporations with which he had been connected, resolutions were passed in memory of Mr. Rindge, and it was said that every eye was dimmed by tears.
As showing the general esteem in which he was held, these few ex- tracts from many publie notices may suffice :
As a merchant, says a Boston paper, he leaves a character above reproach; as a citizen he was universally respected, and he will be greatly missed by the mercantile communities of Boston and New York, where he was widely known and where he was accorded a position second to none.
As a business man. writes a Cambridge editor, he was held in the highest esteem, as is evidenced by his associations in this city. For many years he was a director in the Charles River National Bank, and later became its president. He was also a director in the Lechmere National Bank, and a trustee of the Cambridge Savings Bank. Mr. Rindge was always identified with projects for the good of the city, and was a liberal giver to worthy causes.
With an ambition to work and win, says another notice, he was always jealous of his character; nothing could wean him from the path he had chosen. As he grew in years, so grow his reputation for probity and commercial ability. With advancement he assumed the burdens following such promotion with a degree of modesty equaled only by the diligence and uprightness exercised in the execution of all trusts committed to his care. And thus half a century of years in business life was passed, the experience of each year adding to the fullness of a mind already admired for the display of such superior qualities.
In the last years of his life, Mr. Rindge passed the summer seasons by the sea, at the old town of Marblehead, at first as the tenant of
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others, but finally in the beautiful home which he built at Little Top Hill, near Peach's Point. Here he threw off all business cares and immersed himself in healthy country living. His regard for the people of Marblehead was warmly returned, as is testified by the deep feeling which marked his obituary in the local press.
It was with saddened faces and heavy hearts, says the MMarblehead Messenger, that our people heard of the death of Mr. Samuel B. Rindge last week. No person ever died in our midst who was more universally respected than he.
From the first he seemed to love our people, and they in turn had learned to love him. Unlike a good many who have sojourned in our community as summer resi- dents, he could see nothing strange in our dialect or behavior that could excite ridicule or comment. Our erooked narrow streets and quaint old houses called forth from him no disparaging remarks, and he could see in those he met, men, women and children created in the image of God like himself, and that he was com- manded to love them, and this he did most earnestly, and his love was reciprocated by them.
He did not seem over anxious to form an acquaintance with the elite, so called, although he treated all courteously, but rather the men of the people, the day laborer. He never passed one on the street without a kindly salutation and a friendly grect- ing, and if he was burdened with a bundle or had a long walk to or from his work. he was invited to a seat beside him in his carriage to enjoy a ride and also the pleasure of his entertaining and genial conversation.
But above all, he was a friend to the needy and down-trodden. No one who ever asked alms for himself or others, or a favor of any kind from him, was ever refused; but he never published it to the world, for quietly and without display he gave generously of his ample wealth. llis creed seemed to be more than an empty form, for, like the Master, he went about doing good. He was in every sense a true Christian gentleman.
The world is made better by such lives. It would be well for some of our wealthy men to stop and consider if it is not better to make friends instead of enemies of their fellow men who have less means than themselves. Let them study the life of this good man, whose deeds are so enshrined in all our hearts as never to be forgotten.
Akin to the features of character above commended is the interest Mr. Rindge took in the persons employed in mills under his direction. He remembered and recognized men and women, and enjoyed talking with them, and this not as de haut en bas, but placing himself and them on the same level.
It was the desire of his family that the funeral should be private, and their wish was respected; but most unexpectedly a great throng at- tended at the burial. Neighbors and business friends, official associates and employees, and many persons whom he had befriended were there, bearing witness by their attendance to their esteem and his worth.
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WILLIAM P. HUNT.
WILLIAM PRESCOTT HUNT was born in Bath, N. IL., January 14, 1822, and is a son of Caleb and Rebecca (Pool) Hunt, the latter a cousin of W. H. Prescott, the historian. His father was a woolen manufacturer at Bath, N. HI., and imported the first carding machine used in that State. Mr. Hunt was prepared for entrance to Dartmouth College, but choosing a business career he entered the service of the South Boston Iron Company in 1847, and has been identified with that corporation through its various changes ever since. In 1863 he was elected treas- urer of the company, and in 1876 president and treasurer, holding the latter positions at the present time. He has also been largely inter- ested in other industrial enterprises. From 18:5 to 1892 he was presi- dent of the Forbes Lithographie Manufacturing Company; was presi- dent of the Boston Machine Company from 1864 to 1884; has been a director in the Boston Lead Manufacturing Company since 1880; and was a director in the Carver Cotton Gin Company from 1860 to 1888. For many years he has also taken a prominent part in the management of Boston financial institutions. In 1822 he was elected a director of the Atlas National Bank, and from 1828 to 1882 served as president. For ten years he was a director in the Manufacturers' Insurance Com- pany. In these various industrial and financial institutions Mr. Hunt has been a potent factor in their success, freely devoting his long busi- ness experience, his time and energies to their prosperity. Mr. Hunt was first married in 1856 to Miss Catherine Mullen, of New York city, who died in 1869. In 18;1 he married Miss Helen S. Cummings, of New Bedford, Mass. He has five children: Mary E., William Pres- cott, Henry M., Arthur P. and John Cummings Hunt.
MICHAEL IL. SIMPSON.
MICHALI. H. SIMPSON, who brought into a high state of development the well known industries connected with the Roxbury Carpet Com- pany and the Saxonville Mill, was born November 15, 1809, and was the son of Paul Simpson, a wealthy ship owner of Newburyport during the days when a phenomenal success sometimes attended the sending of cargoes of merchandise to foreign ports. Deciding early upon a
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business career, young Simpson entered into it with that energy and keen insight which distinguished him in after life. Before they were of age, he, with Charles H. Coffin, of Newburyport, and George Otis, son of Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston (afterwards partners), made a highly successful venture by sending a ship and cargo to Calcutta, they being the sole owners. This may, perhaps, be considered the basis of the fortune which Mr. Simpson afterwards acquired. His business career soon showed that to a fine physical constitution he united a keen sagacity in adopting means to ends, unusual executive ability and an indomitable will. By the connection of his firm with the wool trade of South America, his attention was drawn to the necessity of freeing Buenos Ayres wool from burrs to enhance its value. His inventive brain soon grasped the situation, and he produced a machine for this purpose, which proved of great value. the modern burring ma- chine, now in general use, being the outgrowth of this invention. In the various industries with which his name was connected, for him to discover the need or necessity for improvement was to give himself no rest until he had devised a way for the accomplishment of the desired end. His extensive career as a manufacturer and employer of labor also gave scope for the development of those finer qualities of mind and heart which characterized the man. It was his delight to lay out parks and drives in connection with his estates, which he always opened to the public. In order to give employment he would purchase tracts of waste land and convert them into richly productive fields. As a friend and companion he was genial and charming. He possessed a mind well stored with the resources of history and philosophy. He was a man of keen business perceptions and was remarkably success- fil in all of his various investments and enterprises.
He ever recognized a beneficent, overruling Providence in all the ways of life, and sought by precept and example to inculcate the prin- ciples of a high morality in all those with whom he was brought in contaet. His love for his native town manifested itself in his generons benefactions to the Public Library, toward town improvements, a fund for keeping the streets watered, and in various other ways.
Mr. Simpson was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Ril- ham, of Boston, by whom he had several children. His second mar- riage was to Evangeline E. Thurston Marrs, of Framingham, who survives him. His death occurred at his residence in Boston, Decem- 22, 1884.
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ALBERT A. POPE.
ALBERT AUGUSTUS POPE, the founder of the bicycle industries in the United States, was born in Boston, Mass., May 20, 1843. He traces his genealogy through many well-known New England families of Pope, Pierce, Cole, Stubbs, Neale, and others. His father, Charles Pope, was an active and stirring business man, and his mother, a daughter of Capt. James Bogman, of Boston, was a lady of rare dis- cernment and quiet decision of character, who taught her son the habits of economy, order and method, to the exercise of which he attributes much of his success in life. When young Pope was only nine years of age, his father met with business reverses which placed the family in decidedly straitened circumstances. Albert began at once his life of work and business activity by riding a horse to plow for a neighboring farmer in Brookline, which was his home at that time. Three years later he commenced buying fruit and vegetables of the farmers and selling them to the neighbors, showing his innate ability as a manager by employing boys to assist him and reaping a profit from their labors. He soon had between forty and fifty customers, and in one season this business yielded him a profit of $100. During this time he received a fair public school education, which was all the training he ever had from schools, though by careful reading and persistent application he has obtained an exceptional fund of general knowledge. At the age of fifteen he left the high school and secured employment in the Quincy Market, and later on took a position with a firm dealing in shoe find- ings. While there he did all the work of a porter, carrying heavy bags of pegs and 100-1b. bales of thread-work that would not be imposed on a full grown man in these days-and for this he received only four dollars a week, two of which he paid for board, and saved money out of the balance. An accurate account of his expenses shows that he exercised the strictest economy. The store was five miles from his home, yet he frequently walked to and from business in order to save the car fare of sixteen cents. When the war broke out he began the study of military tacties, joining the Salignac's Zouaves and the Home Guards of Brookline, of which company he soon became captain. So intense was his interest that he kept a musket in the store and with it drilled his fellow clerks and the " bosses " whenever business would permit. At nineteen years of age he joined the volunteer forces of the Union army and went to the front as second lieutenant in the Thirty-
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fifth Massachusetts Infantry August 22, 1862. His promotion to first lieutenant, March 23, 1863, and to captain, April 1, 1864, are evidences of his ability and valor. He was employed upon important detached services, and acted as commander of his regiment on many occasions when the colonel was absent or disabled. He organized within twenty- four hours a provisional regiment of artillery from the convalescent camp at Alexandria, and with this force he advanced to the defence of Washington, assuming command of Fort Slocum and Fort Stevens with forty-seven pieces of artillery. This was a move which called for great ability in managing men, and it was accomplished with such skill that Captain Pope was highly complimented by his superior officers. He served in the principal Virginia campaigns, was with Burnside in Ten- nessee, with Grant at Vicksburg, and with Sherman at Jackson, Miss. He commanded Fort Hell before Petersburg, and in the last attack led his regiment into the the city, at the age of twenty-one years. He was brevetted major " for gallant conduct at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va.," and lieutenant-colonel "for gallant conduct in the battles of Knoxville, Poplar Springs Church and front of Petersburg," March 13, 1865. After the war Colonel Pope returned quietly to his former em- ployers, but soon went into business for himself in slipper decorations and shoe manufacturers' supplies. In 1846 he became enthusiastic over the bicycle, and, with his rare foresight, determined to go into their manufacture. This was done under the name of the Pope Manu- facturing Company, a corporation for which he furnished the capital and of which he became, and has ever since continued, the president and active manager. This company was organized for the making and selling of small patented articles; but within a year Colonel Pope had resolved to stake all its future on the bieyele, and he thus made his company the pioneer in the business. There was not only no demand for wheels at that time, but in many places the prejudice against them was both outspoken and intolerant. This opposition had to be over- come and a market created. Colonel Pope exercised great diplo- macy in treating this phase of the business. He imported the best 'cycling literature to be had, bound it up with the advertisement of rival firms and distributed it freely throughout the country. Through the influence and encouragement of the Pope Manufacturing Company home talent also was brought to bear on the question, resulting in the production of Mr. Pratt's book, "The American Bicycler," and in the founding of the illustrated magazine, The Wheelman, which cost up-
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wards of $60,000, and which is flourishing as the Outing of to-day. The educating process was followed by the opening of the highways and parks for the use of wheelmien, the company expending thousands of dollars in settling the Central Park case in New York, the South Park matter in Chicago, and the Fairmount Park contest in Phila- delphia. The successful organizing and prosperous growth of this industry bear a well deserved tribute to Colonel Pope as a promoter and manager of large business interests, and as a financier of strength and fertility. Colonel Pope is a director in many banking and business corporations, and his advice is sought after and valued.
He is the pioneer in the great movement for highway improvement, and has contributed liberally of his means and time for the advance- ment of this project. His speeches on this subject have been widely read and quoted. His latest move for a comprehensive road exhibit at the Columbian Exposition aroused the press and the public in general to the importance of the road question.
He married September 20, 1811, Abbie, daughter of George and Matilda (Smallwood) Linder, of Newton, Mass., and they have four sons and one daughter.
AMASA WALKER, LL. D.
AMASA WALKER, eldest son of Deacon Walter Walker, was born in Woodstock, Conn., May 4, 1499. In 1800 his parents bought the estate in the North Parish of Brookfield, Mass., on which their son Amasa subsequently lived and died. Amasa Walker was a feeble and delicate child. Lack of physical stamina deprived him of the enjoyment of most of the athletic sports practiced by his companions. The fact, however, had its compensation in the impulse given to study and re- flection.
On his father's estate in North Brookfield, Amasa Walker was reared, attending the Center District School; and, in the intervals of study, working upon his father's farm, or sticking card-teeth for the manu- facturers at Leicester. Naturally a good and even brilliant scholar, the child and youth took the utmost advantage of the limited opportunities offered by the village school, and acquired that thorough training in English which, without the advantages of a college education, enabled him to discuss abstruse questions of political science clearly, effectively
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and agreeably, and to address senates and universities with acceptance. In 1814 he became a clerk in Colonel Henshaw's store. During the winter of 1815 to '16 he was laid up as the result of a physical injury ; but in the spring of 1816 went to live with Dr. Crossfield, who had opened a store in South Brookfield. In June the store was burned, and he became clerk to Captain Moses Bond, then trading in North Brook- field. In 1814 he began to fit for Amherst College, under the tuition of the Rev. Dr. Snell. His zeal in study soon outran his strength, and his health completely broke down, compelling the abandonment of the college project. During the winter of 1817 to 1818, he taught a district school, and then went again to live with Captain Bond. For two years following he taught school in various districts of North Brookfield, or worked upon the farm at home.
In October, 1820, in company with Allen Newell, he bought the store and stock of Major Holt, of West Brookfield. The partnership con- tinned successfully until February, 1823, when Mr. Walker sold out his interest and became agent of the Methuen Manufacturing Company, where he remained for two years. In 1825 he entered into business in Boston with Charles G. Carleton, under the title of Carleton & Walker, and on the 6th of July, 1826, married his partner's sister, Eme- line, daughter of Deacon Jonathan Carleton, of Boston. Mrs. Walker died July 24, 1828, leaving one child, who died in infancy. In 1829 Mr. Walker went into business by himself, where his energy enabled him to achieve success; yet, notwithstanding the urgent demands of his business and his always delicate health, often threatening complete pros- tration, he took a prominent part in a great variety of political, social and intellectual efforts.
In 1829 he helped to organize the Boston Lyceum, and was its first secretary. In the same year he entered actively into the movement against Masonry, which culminated in the nomination of William Wirt for the presidency in 1832. In the latter year he became president of the Boston Lyceum and a director of the Franklin Bank. In 1833 he delivered the Fourth of July oration before the Young Men's Society of Boston. In 1834, June 23, he married Miss Hannah Ambrose, of Con- cord, N. H., by whom he had three children, all of whom survived him. In 1835 Mr. Walker lost both father and mother by death. In this year he wrote a series of articles in the Daily Advertiser, calling attention to the necessity of a railroad to connect Boston with Albany and the West beyond. These articles (signed, South Market Street) gave rise to a
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public meeting, which resulted in securing the stock of the Western Railway. In 1834 he was appointed one of the directors, serving in that capacity four years.
In June, 1839, Mr. Walker visited St. Louis and Alton, and addressed meetings of the citizens, urging the importance of early and strenuous efforts to secure a continuous all rail line of communication between Boston and the Mississippi. Newspaper reports of these addresses have been preserved and constitute a most interesting feature in our com- mercial history. At that time railroad engines weighed but nine tons. A train of cars carried but fifty tons of freight. A journey by rail was only less tedious than by canal. Mr. Walker assured his hearers that locomotives weighing fourteen tons would soon be built; that trains in the future would carry as much as a hundred and fifty tons; and that, incredible as it might seem, a Boston merchant would yet make the journey to St. Louis in five days, eating and sleeping on the cars. In his description of passenger cars " of two stories, " the upper being for lodging, we have the germ of the Pullman car.
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