USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts > Part 34
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Haven, Mrs. Clara P., who for three years has been president of the Daughters of Maine Club, was born at West Gardiner, Me., and taught for some six years in different sections of the State, filling with distinguished success positions in all grades in the schools. Her marriage with Mr. George D. Haven brought her to this city, where she has ex- erted a wide and powerful influence in her church and social life. An active member of the First Universalist Church, Mrs. Haven has devoted herself to the Sunday-school and to all matters pertaining to the parish, in all this, neglecting no portion of her home or social duty. Under her direction the Daughters of Maine have made a splendid showing, and are gain- ing in influence every day. Mrs. Haven possesses unbounded faith in women to accom- plish grand results from earnest effort, and this faith has been justified by good works. Mrs. Haven has a most winning personality, is eminently practical, thoroughly in touch with the progressive spirit that animates this period, and is an ideal home-maker. Looking forward always to higher perfection in the club work, maintaining the highest standard possible, bringing enthusiasm and refined tastes into all she has undertaken, the club mem- bers have only been satisfied with the best results. Mrs. Haven is a member of the Heptorean Club, doing her full share in the work of that notable organization, and her full and busy and useful life is an example of what wide influence may be felt from one active and refined personality.
Hayden, Joseph Orlin, treasurer of Middlesex County, was born in Blandford, Mass., July 8, 1847, the youngest son of Elizur B. and Lucinda (Simmons) Hayden. His father was a well-known schoolmaster for many years, and later in life became a prosperous farmer. In early life Mr. Hayden attended the district school in Blandford, and from there went to the Granville Academy and the High School in Chicopee. At the age of seventeen he went West, and became a clerk in a law, real estate, and insurance establishment in Minneapolis. At the end of two years he bought an interest in a newspaper in that city, and soon after be-
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came the manager. Mr. Hayden came to Somerville in 1868, and entered the establishment of Emerson Leland & Co., of Arch street, as bookkeeper; after one year's service with the firm he resigned to become the treasurer and office manager of the Boston Daily and Sunday " Times." In 1876 Mr. Hayden severed his connection with this paper to assume control of the Somerville " Journal." and for the past twenty years it has been under his personal guidance. Of late years but little of his time has been devoted to his newspaper, for in 1886 he was unanimously elected treasurer of Middlesex County, which office he has held ever since. In 1882 he was elected a member of the Somerville Mystic Water Board, and served as its presi- dent until he resigned, in 1890. During his term of office the much-needed high-water ser- vice was put in operation. Mr. Hayden is the president of the Somerville National Bank, a trustee of the Somerville Savings Bank, and also a trustee of the Somerville Hospital Asso- ciation. In newspaper circles his wise judgment and conservative methods are always in demand. He is now the president of the Suburban Press Association, which has a member- ship of nearly two hundred publishers and editors of the leading New England papers, and is also treasurer of the Massachusetts Republican Editorial Association. Mr. Hayden is a member of John Abbot Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Somerville Royal Arch Chap- ter, and of Orient Council. As a county treasurer he is considered one of the best in the State, his system of bookkeeping and sets of books having been copied by other county offi- cials and approved by experts ; as a newspaper manager he has few equals, and as a conserva- tive, careful business-man he stands in the front rank. In all the progressive, beneficial movements of the city Mr. Hayden has always taken a leading part, both personally and with the great power of his paper.
In 1870 Mr. Hayden was married to Mary Elizabeth Pond of Somerville. They re- side at 42 Spring street.
Hayes, John S. Mr. Hayes has been a living force in Somerville. IIe came to this city to assume the duties of principal of the Forster Grammar School, and held that position from 1878-93, a period of fifteen years. In that half a generation of years how many chil- dren and youths have had the imprint of his personality ! As a teacher he was devoted to his profession, and held in honorable esteem by his associates. He has been president of the Middlesex County Teachers' Association ; has read two admirable papers before its con- ventions, and also before other teachers' conventions. He was founder of the very popular Hillside Club, now sixteen years old, and its second president, and has served two terms as president since then. Nearly every year he has read a paper before the club; and furnished to the local press, and read before historical societies, e. g. in Dedham, Harvard, etc., essays and lectures of local and general value. Some of these have been : " Myths of the Revolu- tion "; " Address on Laying the Corner-stone of the Winter Hill Congregational Church "; " Address at the Twentieth Anniversary of Cœur de Lion Commandery, Knights Templar "; A History of That Commandery; " A History of the Public Library"; "Annual Reports of the Library," which have been of such merit that they have been called for in all parts of the country.
At the time of the semi-centennial celebration he took an active part from the first : served on important committees; was chairman of the Historical Committee; and on the day of the parade acted as commander of the Sixth Division. It was fitting he should have the last position, since he came of military parentage. His grandfather was a soldier of the Rev- olution, and his father a soldier of the War of 1812. His active interest in all public affairs has been noticeable. He has been president of the Somerville Improvement Society. He was a member of the committee that marked the historic spots of Somerville. He is at present a member of the City Charter Commission. It may be said, in this connection, that he has written and published many able articles on the ancient and contemporary history of the city. In attending to matters of outside interest he has never neglected those which
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seem to pertain more immediately to his own literary associations. He has a large private library of carefully selected books which have a marked value in wellnigh every depart- ment of literature. Occupying as he now does, and has for three years, the responsible posi- tion of librarian of the Public Library, he has been able to supplement its resources quite frequently by drawing upon those of his own library.
Besides the Hillside Club, he is a member of the Twentieth Century Club, the Massa- chusetts Library Club, and of the American Library Association. His interest in Masonry has been prominent. He is a charter member of Soley Lodge, Past High Priest in Somer- ville R. A. Chapter, was active in founding, and is a charter member of Orient Council R. and S. Masters, and was its first Thrice Illustrious Master; is Prelate of Cœur de Lion Com- mandery, Knights Templar, and a member of the Massachusetts Consistory. He has also been for years affiliated with the Royal Arcanum. He has been Regent of Excelsior Coun- cil, has served on important committees of the Grand Council, was for seven years on its Finance Committee, and has been six years Grand Treasurer, and holds that office to-day. These are skeleton facts, but a clean, vigorous, and helpful life has been built in and around them. Life is more than what it feeds on; more than what it does. Better than seeing, is vision; better than what a man accomplishes is the man himself.
Hazeltine, Channing, was born in Strafford, Vt., October 9, 1844, of old New England pre-revolutionary stock. After acquiring such education as the schools of his native village afforded, he entered his father's tannery to learn the tanner's and currier's trades. At the age of 22 he went to Plainfield, Vt., where, having married, he embarked in the tanning business. At the age of 24 years he represented his adopted town in the Vermont Legislature, soon after adding two more tanneries to his business; he also became largely engaged in lumbering, farming, brickmaking and building. In 1881 he came to Somerville, and soon after entered the real estate business on Devonshire street. He still retains his residence in Somerville.
Henderson, Franklin, was born in Newbury, Vt., August 27, 1818. In 1839, at the age of twenty-one, he came to Somerville - then a part of Charlestown - and engaged as a farmer with Mr. Samuel T. Frost, who lived on Milk Row, now Somerville avenue. In 1844-1848, he served the town as Superintendent of Streets, after which for sixteen years he was in the employ of the Lowell Railroad as track-layer. During the war he returned to the city service on the streets, and remained twelve years in that employment, and subsequently engaged in the milk business in which he still continues to be interested. In 1849 Mr. Henderson married Caroline E. Tufts, of Somerville, and in the same year built his present residence on Central street. He has one daughter, Mrs. E. B. Vreeland.
Herbert, John, is the son of an old and prominent New Hampshire lawyer. He was born at Wentworth, N. H., November 2, 1849, but most of his boyhood was spent at Rum- ney, N. H. At the early age of twelve years his parents moved to Boston. He graduated at the head of his class from both the Mayhew Grammar School and the English High School, and shortly afterwards entered Dartmouth College, where he graduated with honor in 1871. After his graduation he was elected principal of Appleton Academy, New Ips- wich, N. H., which position he held for several years. He then resigned, and studied law with his father in Rumney, and was admitted to the Bar in New Hampshire in 1875. In 1878 he started upon a foreign trip, and spent a year in travel through Europe and the East. Soon after his return he came to Somerville, and began the practice of law in Boston. Mr. Herbert is a member of the Boston Bar Association, and has been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. He is President of the Appleton Academy Asso- ciation, - which has in its membership persons from nearly every city in the Union, including many of note, - President of the Somerville Congregational Union, ex-President of the Mystic Valley Club, ex-President of the Congregational Sunday-school Union, ex-Vice-President of
New Residences on Highland Ave., near Somerville Highlands Station, erected by C. Hazeltine.
SOLOMON S. HIGGINS.
COL. HERBERT E. HILL.
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the Appalachian Mountain Club, and a prominent member of the Congregational Club. He took an active part in the organization of the Municipal League of Somerville, and was elected its first President. Ile is a member of John Abbot Lodge, and of De Molay Commandery. He was one of the original founders of the "Somerville Citizen," and is now President of the Somerville Citizen Company. He is also a member of the Massachusetts Press Association. Mr. Herbert has a large and lucrative practice; and he gives extensively of his time, strength and means to many good causes.
Higgins, Solomon S., was born June 4, 1845, the son of Solomon and Olive Sparrow Higgins. He went on sea-voyages early in life, and subsequently went into the provision business in Boston, where he has been engaged over twenty-five years. He came to Somer- ville, and finally purchased the George O. Brastow mansion on Spring Hill. He is one of the largest real estate dealers in Somerville, a great part of which property he has extensively developed. He was a member of the Common Council in 1889 and 1890, and is an earnest worker in the Republican Ward and City Committee. Mr. Higgins takes a great deal of in- terest in the G. A. R., and is a member of W. C. Kinsley Post 139, and has served on the staffs of Gen. Weisart and Capt. J. G. B. Adams, commanders of the National Department. He married, for his first wife, Julia L. Nickerson of Harwich, Mass., who died in 1875, and by whom he had four children, a son surviving and being in business with his father. In 1878 Mr. Higgins married Abbie E. Lakin. He is a member of the Red Men, Sons of the Revo- lution, Central and Whitney Clubs. He had a great-grandfather who had four commissions in the revolutionary period. At the celebration of the semi-centennial in 1892 Mr. Higgins was inspector-general on the staff of General Wentworth. His voice is often heard in Memorial Day orations.
Hill, Col. Herbert E. Prominent among the veterans of the war who took a great deal of interest in Somerville affairs was Col. Herbert E. Hill. He was the son of Enos and Sarah (Randall) Hill, and was born in Boston, December 18, 1845. His father removed to Vermont, and the son received his education in the grammar and high schools of that State. Fired by patriotism inherited from his ancestry, he enlisted, at the age of eighteen, in the Eighth Vermont Volunteers, serving in every battle and skirmish in which the regiment was engaged until and through the renowned campaign of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. He was then assigned to duty in Washington, and had a part in the search for the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.
A most honorable record for meritorious conduct caused him to be promoted, and at the close of the war he went to Boston, and four years after removed to Somerville. Gov- ernor Rice commissioned him captain and senior aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Hobart Moore, and subsequently Gov. Talbot made him an assistant adjutant-general on his staff, with the rank of colonel. Col. Hill was successor to Col. King as commander of Willard C. Kinsley Post 139, and for four years thereafter was a department officer G. A. R., serving in the council of administration as vice-commander of the department, and subsequently vice-commander in chief of the National Department. Col. Hill was for many years con- nected with the firm of Hill and Cutler, doing a large business in the North and South. One of the important traits in the character of Col. Hill was his love for historic spots, and through his efforts the memorial battery on Central Hill marks revolutionary ground. The marble shaft on the Winchester, Va., battlefield, and monument on the battle-ground of Cedar Creek stand as tributes of his generosity, devotion and good feeling. The Vermont Legislature, on November 2, 1866, adopted resolutions thanking him for his noble work in marking sacred spots. As a historian Col. Hill was also able and accurate, many articles being left behind him to attest to his knowledge of the scenes he so finely portrayed.
In 1880, in the middle of what may be called his political career, he was chosen as messenger to bear the electoral vote of Massachusetts to Washington for Garfield and
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Arthur. He represented Somerville at the centennial celebration at Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1875. He also held other places of prominence, and for three years was secretary of the famous Middlesex Club. Col. Ilill served the city as a member of the Water Board, and was also one of the overseers of the poor, and one of the board of managers of the Perkins Institution for the Blind, in Boston. He was for a long time a deacon in the East Somerville Baptist Church, in which he took great interest. Ile was a member of Soley Lodge and other fraternal organizations.
Col. Hill was married to Emma O., daughter of Richard and Sarah J. (Wheelwright) Rich. One son, Herbert Pierce Hill, was born to them, and is now engaged in mercan- tile business in Boston. Col. Ilill died at his home in Somerville, April 8, 1892, after a long and suffering illness. Soon after his decease his widow erected the beautiful home at the corner of Pearl and Mt. Vernon streets. On the 27th day of June, 1896, she died very suddenly of heart failure, leaving very many dear friends to mourn her loss. The son continues to occupy the home, and is fast following his parents in the esteem of the community.
Hill, William Pomfrey, was born in Boston, February 5, 1845, the son of Converse and Dorothea Washington' (Garner) Hill. He graduated from the Briminer School, Boston, and at once entered into business. His first venture for himself was in December, 1877, when he established the firm of Hill and Langtry - saddlery and harness. The firm dissolved in May, 1892, Mr. Hill continuing the business under the firm style of Hill and Hill. The house is now the leading one in its line in New England. He served the city as a member of the Council three years, and as a member of the School Board six years, - is secretary of the New England Saddlery Dealers' Association, a member of Somerville Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and De Molay Commandery, Knights Templar.
Hodgkins, Frank E., the son of William and Abigail (Gibbs) Hodgkins, was born in Charlestown, March 3, 1849. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, and then entered upon a commercial life. In 1878 he became cashier of the Boston Lead Manufacturing Company, and there remains. Mr. Hodgkins came to Somerville in 1864. He is a member of John Abbot Lodge, F. A. A. M., Somerville Chapter, R. A. M., Orient Council, R. and S. M., De Molay Commandery, K. T., Unity Council, R. A., of which he is a P. R., and is treasurer of the Somerville Y. M. C. A. Mr. Hodgkins married Miss Eveline F. Gulliver, daughter of Lemuel and Emeline G. (Whiting) Gulliver, of Somerville. They reside on Broadway.
Hodgkins, William H., was born in Charlestown, June 9, 1840, the son of William and Abigail (Gibbs) Hodgkins. His education was obtained in the Harvard Grammar and the Charlestown High School. On leaving school he learned the business of a merchant, in the southern shipping and commission trade, on State street. In July, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Thirty-sixth Regiment, Massachussetts Volunteers, was promoted second lieutenant, first lieutenant, adjutant and captain. In 1865 he was brevetted major. After the war Major Hodgkins came to Somerville, and entered the service of the city of Boston, in the Department of Public Institutions, where he served as clerk of the board for twenty- one years. He is now trustee of the estate of the late J. Putnam Bradlee. Major Hodgkins served the city in the Common Council of 1873 and 1874, the last year as president. In December, 1891, he was elected mayor of the city, which position he occupied four years. Major Hodgkins is a member of W. C. Kinsley Post, G. A. R., of the Loyal Legion, and was five years president of the Somerville Y. M. C. A. He is the author of the "History of the Thirty-sixth Regiment" and "The Battle of Fort Stedman." Major Hodgkins married Miss S. Augusta Hayward, daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Lane) Hayward, of Boston. They reside on Central street.
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Holland, Silas Harvey, was born in Boston in 1814, the son of Samuel and Martha (Rogers) Holland. His father was an English sea captain, and was lost at sea. The greater part of the young man's early life was spent in the towns of Marlboro and North- boro, where, in the latter town, he learned the carriage-maker's trade. He went to Cani- bridge in 1835, and after working at his trade a few years he engaged in the railroad-car business, which he followed for fifteen years, until his health failed him, when he sold out his interest in the business. He married Miss Sarah S. Locke, daughter of Major Jonathan and Mary (Tufts) Locke, of Lancaster. Mr. Holland came to Somerville in 1856, and bought the farm owned by Thomas Teele, on Broadway, where he engaged in market-gar- dening and fruit-raising for thirty-five years. He has also been a dealer in real estate in this city and Cambridge. He served on the Board of Selectmen for the town of Somerville four years, and at the present time is one of the trustees of the Somerville Savings Bank.
Holt, Samuel W., son of Reuben, Jr., and Sibel (Piper) Holt, was born in Landgrove, Vt., October 23, 1827. His education was obtained in the district schools of that town, and in 1845 he came to Boston and obtained employment in the grocery business; in this he remained a few months, and then learned the trade of paper hanging, which calling he fol- lowed two or three years, he then entered the teaming business, and soon purchased the in- terest of a retiring member of the firm of Page, Noyes & Co., now Fifield, Richardson & Co., continuing in the firm until he retired in September, 1895.
Mr. Holt was a member of the Boston Volunteer Fire Department nine years, and was a charter member of the Boston Light Artillery, the first mounted battery M. V. M. He came to Somerville in 1860, and served in the Common Council in 1884 and 1885, in the Board of Aldermen in 1886 and 1887, and on the Water Board in 1889 and 1890. He is a member of the John Abbot Lodge, F. A. A. M., the Somerville Chapter, R. A. M., the Bos- ton Veteran Firemen's Association, the Vermont Association and the Mystic Valley Club. Mr. Holt married Mary A. Richardson, daughter of Artemas and Rachel (Davis) Richardson, of Weston, Vt. They reside at 197 Washington street.
Hopkins, James R., chief of the Somerville Fire Department, was born at East Cam- bridge, January 10, 1836, and was educated in the Cambridge public schools. After gradua- tion, at the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed to learn the furniture-carving trade with Doe, Hunnewell & Co., furniture manufacturers. While serving his apprenticeship he also received a full course of instruction in drawing at the Lowell Institute, Boston.
He remained with this concern until the spring of 1858. He then found employment at the Haley, Morse & Boyden furniture factory, at South Dedham - now Norwood, - where he remained one year, and then returned to his former employers, with whom he remained until April 19, 1861, when he responded to the first call of President Lincoln for troops, and with the Somerville Light Infantry, a part of the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment, went to Washington, D.C., via New York and Annapolis, in Gen. B. F. Butler's command. Sub- sequently, with his regiment he was stationed in Virginia, and participated in the first battle of Bull Run. With this battle ended his three months' term of enlistment. Returning home, he at once found a position with his old employers at East Cambridge.
In the fall of 1862 he again enlisted, and went with General Butler to New Orleans, where he remained seventeen months, and was attached to the Chief Quartermaster's Department.
His long and successful career as a fireman commenced when he was a mere lad, and he has been an active member of several engine companies in East Cambridge, Somerville and Norwood. In 1859 he was placed on the rolls of the Somerville No. I Company, and served as an active member, and during his time of service in the war as an absent member, until November 7, 1865, when he was transferred to the new Hose Company No. I, with which he remained until it disbanded in July, 1866.
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IIc held the office of second assistant foreman of Somerville Engine Company No. 1 in 1859, and was clerk of the company the year following. He was also clerk of Hose Com- pany No. I during the entire time lic was a member of that company. In April, 1869, he was appointed an engineer by the old Board of Selectmen, and January 15, 1872, some two weeks after Somerville became a city, he was elected chief, and has held that position ever since. He was one of the original members that organized the National Association of Fire Enginecrs at Baltimore, Md., October 20, 1873. He has attended most of its an- nual conventions, has held the office of vice-president, and served upon many of its impor- tant committees, as well as contributing many valuable essays on the fire service at its conventions. Ile is also an active member of the Massachusetts State Firemen's Associa- tion, the Somerville Volunteer Vetcran Firemen's Association, and the prime mover in the recently organized Massachusetts Fire Chiefs' Club. He is also a member of the J. Abbot Lodge, F. A. A. M., Oasis Lodge, I. O. of O. F., the Royal Arcanum, Knights of Honor, Good Fellows and the G. A. R. For many years he has been a member of prominent church choirs in Boston, Roxbury and Somerville. He was married September 30, 1865, to Susan C. Moore, daughter of J. Abram Moore, and has two children, a son and a daughter.
Howes, Francis M., was born at Chatham, Mass., in 1840. He was of a sea-faring family, and very naturally he took to the sea, shipping before the mast on fishing schooners when but eleven years of age, during the summer months. Throughout the winters he attended school. After four years of this life he shipped in one of the vessels of the Mer- chants and Miners Transportation Company, the Joseph Whitney, and with the exception of about two and a half years in the latter part of the Fifties, which he spent in cruising around Cape Horn, his entire nautical life has been in the employ of this line. His rise was steady and rapid, and when he was but twenty-six years of age he took his first per- manent command of the McClellan, formerly the Joseph Whitney, although he had had temporary command of the George Appold the year before. He was the youngest captain that ever had command of a steamer of this line, and to-day he is the oldest captain in point of service. He has held the position of senior captain of the line for ten years, a position that his brother, the late Solomon Howes, held before him. The late Capt. Howes, who took the first boat out of Boston Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1854, was as able a sailor as ever commanded a ship, and it was under his training and that of Capt. Hallett, the pioneer commanders of the line, that Capt. Howes received his lessons in seamanship. This training, together with his natural push and indomitable will, have put him in his present high position on the line. In the twenty-seven years in which he has been a captain for this line, Capt. Howes has commanded the following vessels : The Mcclellan, George Appold, Blackstone, William Lawrence, William Crane, Berkshire, Decatur H. Miller, Chatham (named in honor of his native town), the Dorchester, and the new boat the Gloucester, one of the finest vessels afloat. At the age of twenty-one, Capt. Howes married Miss Catherine R. Doane, of Chatham, where they had been schoolmates together. About seven years later he moved to Somer- ville, where he has resided for the past twenty-nine years. Their union has been blessed with six children, of whom onc son and three daughters are still alive. They reside on Summer street. Capt. Howes, during his service with this line, has towed in fifteen disabled vessels, and rescued from a watery grave eleven crews. Oftentimes his life-saving work has been done at great personal risk, and his acts of heroism have been recognized in many ways. He is a member of John Abbot Lodge, F. A. A. M., Knights of Honor, Royal Arcanum, and Pilgrim Fathers.
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