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 38
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
Parkhurst, Melville C., chief of police of the city of Somerville, was born in Stand- ish, Me., April 26, 1842, son of John L. and Marcia ( Harriman) Parkhurst. He was edu- cated there and came to Somerville in 1857. August 12, 1862, he enlisted in Company E of Somerville, Thirty-Ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. He was in defense of Washington until 1863, and then was sent with the Army of the Potomac, and was in all its great battles from the Wilderness to Appomattox. June 5, 1865, he was mustered out as lieutenant, the governor having issued to him a commission as captain, on which, however, the war being over, he was not mustered in, although he had for several months commanded his company as captain in the field. May 29, 1868, he received his appointment to the Somer- ville police force. He was appointed captain, April 1, 1871, and chief, in January, 1872. It is a noteworthy fact that Chief Parkhurst has made himself so familiar with criminal law that in all important cases in Somerville he conducts personally the case of the government. He also drew the petition and drafted the bill passed by the Legislature in 1882, giving police
FREDERICK W. PARKER.
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT. 607
officers authority to send samples of liquor seized on search warrants to the state or other authorized assayer - thus making it possible to learn accurately and officially if such liquor contains more than the three per cent of alcohol allowed by law. Chief Parkhurst is a mem- ber of John Abbot Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Somerville Royal Arch Chapter, and Cœur de Lion Commandery, K. T., and of several other local fraternal organizations. In 1865 he was married to Mary E., daughter of James and Ruth (Butler) Coolidge of Waltham, by whom he has two children.
Perkins, George W., son of True and Mary Ann (Chapman) Perkins, was born in Tamworth, N. H., July 1, 1842. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, and in the New Hampton Institution, New Hampton, N. H. He taught in New Hampshire two years, and then came to Boston, where he entered the dry goods business, in which he remained three years. For the six following years he occupied the position of traveling salesman for A. Showe & Co., wholesale tea and coffee dealers, was then admitted a member of the firm, and is now manager of the business. Mr. Perkins has resided in Somerville for twenty-five years. He represented this city in the House of Representatives in 1891, and served as chairman of the committee on drainage. He was re-elected in 1892, and served on the committee on cities. In 1895 he was elected to the Senate, and was chairman of the committee on printing, and a member of the committees on education and on metropolitan affairs. In 1896 he was again elected to the Senate, and served as chairman of the com- mittee on public service, and as a member of the committees on education and metropolitan affairs. He married Miss Minerva R. Berry of Westminster, Vt., and they reside at 3 Pearl street. Mr. Perkins is a member of the Royal Arcanum, the A. O. U.W., a trustee of the Som- erville Hospital, of Somerville Masonic Apartments, a member of the Webcowit Social Club, and a member of the Knights of Honor. Ile is past master of Soley Lodge, F. A. A. M., member of the Somerville R. A. Chapter, the Orient Council of Select Masters, and is senior warden of the De Molay Commandery, K. T., of Boston. He is also a member of the Massachusetts Republican Club, the Mystic Valley Club, and the Metropolitan Young Men's Republican Club.
Perry, Albion A., was born in Standish, Me., January 26, 1851, the son of Rev. John C. and Mary E. (Boston) Perry. He was educated in the public schools and at Monmouth Academy. He came to Somerville in 1869, and for several years carried on the drug busi- ness with marked success. He fitted himself for the profession of pharmacist at the Mas- sachusetts College of Pharmacy. After retiring from the drug business he took up the study of law at the Boston University School of Law, and later opened an office in Somerville. In 1886 he associated himself with Hon. S. Z. Bowman, and the partnership has continued to the present time. Mr. Perry has served the city in many different capacities. He was elected to the School Board, but served only one year, 1876, resigning on account of his business, which demanded his time. He was a member of the Common Council in 1881 and 1882, being president the second term. In 1883-1884 he was in the Board of Aldermen. He was appointed on the Water Board by Mayor Pope in 1891 for two years, and was president of the board both years. At the end of his term he was urged strongly by Mayor Hodgkins to ac- cept reappointment. In 1895 he was elected to the office of mayor after one of the warmest political contests ever held in this State, was re-elected in 1896, and he has filled the office with an ability that has commanded the respect of everyone.
Mr. Perry was elected president of the Somerville Savings Bank after the death of Oren S. Knapp in 1891, a position he still holds, and he has shown his qualifications as a financier, by building up a strong institution, the business of the bank during the five years that he has held the office having had a tremendous growth; he is also a director in the Somerville Na- tional Bank. Mr. Perry has ever shown the liveliest interest in all matters relating to the welfare of Somerville, and has discharged the duties of every office to which he has been
608
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
called with the utmost fidelity and conscientiousness. Mr. Perry married Mary E., daughter of Jolm W. and Hannah W. Brooks of this city.
Perry, Oliver H., son of David and Phebe Perry, and a descendant of Commodore Oli- ver Hazard Perry, was born at Chatauqua, N. Y. When about ten years of age his parents removed to Plattsburg, N. Y., where he was educated in the common schools and at Clinton Academy. He has been engaged in the real estate and insurance business for the past twelve years in West Somerville, with an office at Davis square and another at 31 Milk street, Bos- ton. He married Miss Harrict Gilmore of Hillsboro, N. H., and has a family of six sons and two daughters. Since 1890 he has been secretary and treasurer of the West Somerville Co- operative Bank, of which he was the originator. The bank, which began with an issue of eight hundred and ten shares for its first series, has shown a constant growth from its in- ception, and now has assets of over $150,000. It has proved a great incentive to very many West Somerville residents, especially the young, to lay by a portion of their earnings, and a great help to a large number who have bought homes through its agency.
Mr. Perry is well known in the city as an active and industrious man, and has a large clientcle in his various lines of business. He built his first residence eight years ago at 373 Elm street, on what was known as the old Powder House farm. Three years later the first house was moved away, and another and finer one was erected, in which he now resides. Ile has also built for others, and sold a large number of houses in that locality. The Nathan Tufts Park, lately constructed by the city, enclosing the old Powder House, makes this lo- cality one of the most desirable for residential purposes in Somerville. Mr. Perry is a mem- ber of the John Abbot Lodge, F. A. A. M., a charter member of Caleb Rand Lodge, I. O. O. F., a member of Golden Cross Commandery of West Somerville, and a member of the Park-avenue M. E. Church.
Phillips, Franklin Folsom, son of James and Mary (Prescott) Phillips, was born in Searsmont, Me., December 21, 1852. He was educated at the town schools of Searsmont and Montville, at the Nichols Latin School, and at Bates College, Lewiston, Me., receiving the degree of A. M. on the completion of his studies. After graduating he taught in Bolton, Mass., and in Lisbon and Rockland, Me., being principal of the High School at the latter place five years. He was commissioned State Assayer of Maine in 1880 for a term of four years. Since 1883 he has been connected with the old and extensive chemical manufactur- ing house of Harrison Bros. & Co., of Philadelphia and New York, his work being both tech- nical and commercial. Ile has served in the city government four years, 1890-1894, two years in the Common Council and two in the Board of Aldermen, and was a member of the committees on ordinances, sewers, fire department, public property and finance, serving on the latter committee the entire four years. Mr. Phillips is much engrossed with his business, but takes a deep interest in public matters. In politics he is a Republican, and as such was elected a member of the General Court in 1896. He resides at 211 Holland street.
Pillsbury, Luther B., was born in Bridgewater, N. H. IIe worked on the farm in early life, and by his own efforts was fitted for college at the New Hampshire Institution, and graduated in the class of 1859 at Dartmouth College. He taught while yet a student, be- ginning his first school before his sixteenth birthday. After graduating he taught in Can- ton, in the Reading High School, the Hopkinton and Bridgewater High Schools, the Pres- cott Grammar and Charlestown High School. Hc had great influence with his pupils. A teacher, having an intimate acquaintance with Mr. Pillsbury's methods, asserting that he "never saw a man who could keep such good order with so little apparent effort as he." Mr. Pillsbury was unanimously elected to the Common Council of Somerville, and in 1878 was president of that body, receiving all the votes but his own and one other. He has for several years been engaged in the real estate and insurance business, and is located at 316 Broadway. lle resides at 45 Sargent avenue. Mr. Pillsbury has been twice married. Ilis
FRANKLIN F. PHILLIPS.
610
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
first wife was Miss Mary A. Leathe of Reading, the author of " Old Mill and other Poems "; and his second, Mrs. Mary A. Libby of Somerville. He has four children : Edwin B., who is engaged in newspaper work; Ernest D., a praetieing physician; May F'., a teacher; and I larry N., the famous chess-player.
Pitman, Henry W., was born in Boston, May 17, 1845, the son of David F. and Caroline C. Pitman. He was educated in the Eliot and Latin High Schools of Boston. He moved to Medford when thirteen years of age. After leaving school he engaged in various occupations, and entered journalism twenty-eight years ago. He has been connected with Boston dailies and weeklies in various eapacities, from the lowest to the highest positions. For seventeen years he was connected with the "Somerville Journal," but is now engaged in general newspaper work. Ile is a member of several fraternal organizations, and is a thirty- second degree Mason. When the Somerville Light Infantry was reorganized, largely through his efforts, he was eleeted first lieutenant, and was subsequently chosen eaptain. He was adjutant-general of the semi-eentennial parade in Somerville in 1892, and has been identi- fied with many events in the eity's history. Captain Pitman has always taken a lively interest in polities, and for sixteen years has been seeretary of the Middlesex County Re- publiean Committee. He married Miss Lottie A., daughter of Simeon and Mary Jenkins, at Medford, June 5, 1867. They have four children.
Poole, George S., was born in Woreester, the youngest of a family of six ehildren. His parents were Eliza (Wilder) and Ward Poole, the latter a descendant of the seventh generation of John Poole, who eame from Reading, England, and settled first in Cambridge (1632) and later at Reading (1639), where he was one of the leading proprietors. George S. Poole attended school at Worcester and at Peabody (formerly South Danvers), and while at the Peabody High School was assistant librarian of the Peabody Library. Before gradu- ating at the High School, he spent nearly two years with a brother, a mining engineer at Pottsville, Pa. Coming home, he went to the Phillips Academy at Andover. In 1861 he beeame the first librarian of the Charlestown Publie Library, which position he held for two years, when he accepted a position of assistant librarian of the Library of Congress at Washington. In 1865 he resigned, having been appointed the secretary of the Warren Institution for Savings, which position he still holds. He has heen the treasurer of the Win- throp Chureh, Charlestown, for over twenty years. He was on the School Board of Charles- town, and is at present one of the Sehool Committee of Somerville, is also on the board of managers of the Winehester Home for Aged Women at Charlestown, the Congregational Church Union, and the City Missionary Society of Boston. He is auditor of the Boston Congregational Club, a member of the Boston Bank Officers' Association, Henry Priee Lodge, F. A. A. M., Royal Arcanum, Corinthian Yacht Club of Marblehead, is the see- retary of the Marblehead-Neek Hall Association, a member of the Alumni Association of Phillips Academy and the Bunker Hill Monument Association. He married, in 1871, Sarah Poor Osborne, the daughter of Franklin and Nancy Poor (Jaeobs) of Peabody; and his children are Franklin Osborne (H. C., 1895), Edith Wilder, and Irving.
Poor, Franklin N., was born in Goffstown, N. H., January 23, 1821. He remained at home, engaged with his father, the Hon. Noyes Poor, in the lumber business, until he reached the age of twenty-seven, when he aeeepted the position of treasurer of the Manehester and North Weare Railroad Company. Since that time his interest has centered mainly in rail- roads. He eame to Boston in 1852, and was a prominent director in the Vermont and Massachusetts and Fitchburg Railroad Companies for many years. In 1864 he beeame treasurer of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company, the position he still holds, serving meantime as trustee of estates, ete. He removed to Somerville in 1871, and resides at 30 Chester street. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen in 1874, is a justiee of the peace, and is one of our well-known and most respected citizens.
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT. 61I
Pope, Charles G., was born in Hardwick, Mass., November 18, 1840, the son of Rev. Rufus S. and Sarah (Brown) Pope, of that town. He was educated in the district school of Hyannis, whither his parents had removed in his boyhood, was fitted for college at the Pierce Academy, Middleboro, and was graduated at Tufts College in 1861. He taught school at Hyannis till 1864, when he became master of the Forster Grammar School in Somerville. In 1870 he became master of the Bunker Hill Grammar School, Charlestown. Mr. Pope studied law with Sweetzer & Gardner and John W. Hammond, and was admitted to the bar in 1874, when he formed a partnership with Mr. Hammond for the practice of law in Boston. In 1878 he was appointed a special justice of the Somerville police court. Mr. Pope came to Somerville in 1864, and served in the Common Councils of 1872 and 1873, being President of the Council the latter year. In 1876 and 1877 he represented the city in the Legislature, and was Mayor in 1889, 1890 and 1891. He was a trustee of the Public Library seven years. He was also a trustee of Tufts College. Mr. Pope married Miss Josephine H., daughter of Erastus E. and Harriet N. Cole, of this city. During Mr. Pope's last year of office as Mayor, the Charles G. Pope School on Washington street was completed and named in his honor.
Pratt, Josiah N., was born in Freeport, Me., March 14, 1838. He attended the public schools of that town, and at the age of eighteen apprenticed himself to learn the mason's trade. He worked at that occupation in Portland, Me., three years, being employed on Fort Gorges, Portland Harbor, as a skilled mechanic. He enlisted in the United States Navy, and was sent to the Gulf Squadron which was stationed at Mobile Bay; his term of service expired September 1, 1865. After the great fire in Portland in 1886, Mr. Pratt was in charge of the construction of some of the most prominent buildings in the city. In 1868 he moved to Lawrence, Mass., where he carried on the business of builder. About 1882 he entered the employ of the Jarvis Engineering Co. as mechanical superintendent; after a short service in that position he was given the agency of the company for Maine, New Hampshire and the lower maritime provinces. He was subsequently transferred to the agency for the Middle States, with his office in New York City; and was finally, in 1887, ap- pointed treasurer and general manager of the parent company, with office at 61 Oliver street, Boston, which position he still holds. Mr. Pratt has served our city in the Common Coun- cil, and was elected a member of the Board of Aldermen from Ward I in 1895 and 1896. He is a member of Bethany Commandery, K. T., Royal Arch Chapter, Soley Lodge, F. A. A. M., Knights of Honor, and the Grand Army of the Republic. He resides at 33 Franklin street.
Prichard, John P., is the son of A. P. and Mary J. Prichard, and was born in Charles- town, educated at old Training Field and other schools, and had a boyhood which fitted him to meet life in any phase that might come to him. He was a conductor and then road master of the old Middlesex Horse Railroad for many years. During Mayor Belknap's term of service he was elected Superintendent of Streets, and his ability showed itself in every possible way. After going to Everett for one year to fill the same position, he then left to go to Quincy as its Street Superintendent. After two years the town changed to a city, and Mr. Prichard was elected the first Commissioner of Public Works. He planned and caused to be built under his immediate supervision the Neponset Bridge, and proved his ability to build bridges with the same skill in which he had built the roads in this city and elsewhere. When the new city of Medford needed a Superintendent of Streets, Mayor Lawrence wisely appointed Mr. Prichard to the position, and he put into his work the same earnestness, efficiency and honesty that had always characterized his efforts. He won the respect and admiration of the City Council and the citizens, and was gaining friends when, in January, 1896, he was called back to Sommerville, to again serve her as he had so ably done in the many years he was here. The streets, at once, put on a new look, and much new work and many improvements are now on the way.
JOHN P. PRICHARD.
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT. 613
That Mr. Prichard is an adept in his line has been many times exemplified. He has made addresses, written much, and on one occasion, among twenty-one competitors for the Engineering Record " prize, he was the leader. It is needless to recite further of his quali- fications. His tact to manage men, his knowledge and dexterity are all known by the results he has achieved. Mr. Prichard married early in life, and has two sons, George W. and Charles E., and a daughter, Mrs. Emma Prichard Hadley, the reader wife of Walter M. Hadley. His great-grandfather on his mother's side was a participant in throwing the tea into Boston Harbor, living at Charlestown at the time. When Charlestown was burned, this ancestor went to Malden, but returned, roofed the cellar over, and for a long time he and his family lived therein. Mr. Prichard is a veteran fireman, a Knight Templar, Knight of Honor, Companion in the Royal Arcanum, a member of the Training Field School Associa- tion, and a Universalist.
Proctor, George O., was born in Rockingham, Vt., February 23, 1847, and is a descendant of the well-known Proctor family of that State. His early life was passed on the farm, and his education was obtained in the schools of his native town and in the Chester, Vt., Academy. He followed the occupation of farming and lumbering until 1874, when he came to Boston and formed a copartnership with his brother in the grain business, under the firm name of Proctor Brothers. They located at the corner of Charles and Leverett streets, at the end of Craigie Bridge, where they conducted a successful business, until the construction of the Charles River Park compelled them to seek a new location; this they found at the Cambridge end of the bridge, where they now remain, theirs being one of the largest establishments in the hay and grain trade in the vicinity of Boston. Mr. Proctor was married in 1869 to Lillie A., daughter of Captain Thomas R. Clark of Chester, Vt., who served through the War of the Rebellion in Company E, Sixth Regiment. In 18So he purchased the estate on which he still resides, at 44 Spring street, Spring Hill. He was elected to the Common Council in 1SS7 and 1888, and served as president of that body in the latter year, and as a member of the School Committee. He was elected a member of the Legislature in 1892, and served on the committee on street railways, and was re-elected in 1893, and was placed on the committee on cities. Mr. Proctor is a director of the Somerville National Bank, and is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, Somer- ville Central Club, Soley Lodge, F. A. A. M., Winter Hill Commandery, Golden Cross, Washington Council, Home Circle, Delft Haven Colony of Pilgrim Fathers, and the First Unitarian Church.
Ralph, Mrs. Harriet A., was born in Camden N. J., March 20, 1851, and is a daughter of the late Joseph P. and Hannah E. Myers. She was educated in the public and private schools of Boston, where her parents resided for many years. In 1874 she married William N. Ralph, and has lived in Somerville twenty-two years. She has been prominent in church work, and also in the woman's branch of Odd Fellowship, her husband being one of the leading Odd Fellows in Massachusetts. She has been treasurer of Ivaloo Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, and higher offices in its gift have been tendered her. It is, how- ever, in societies founded on patriotic work that Mrs. Ralph is best known. The late Brigadier-General William W. Bullock was her uncle, and her father was a lieutenant in Company G, Eleventh Massachusetts Regiment. She was a member of the Ladies' Aid Society, formed in 1871 as an auxiliary to Joseph Hooker Post of East Boston. She is a charter member of Willard C. Kinsley Relief Corps of Somerville, and lias served as presi- dent and secretary. She has been prominent in state conventions, and in 1886 she was elected department treasurer. After serving with great efficiency for three years, she declined a re-election, on account of illness, but served as a member of the Department Executive Board two successive years. She was prominent in the arrangements for national encampment week in Boston in 1890, and a member of the Executive and other W. R. C.
614
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
Committees. She was a delegate-at-large to this convention, and as chairman of the Finance Committee had charge of several thousand dollars contributed to the encampment fund by the corps. Mrs. Ralph has been department junior vice-president, department press correspondent, and in 1893 and 1894 was department chaplain. Owing to illness in her home she declined to be a candidate for the office of department president. Mrs. Ralph has also been active in the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Ilome in Massachusetts, serving on the committee that drafted its constitution, and as corresponding secretary of the association for three years. Upon declining a re-election in 1886, a valuable silver service was presented her, accompanied by an engrossed testimonial expressing the regard of the members and their appreciation of her efficient services. In public and private life Mrs. Ralph has the esteem of all her associates.
Ralph, William H., was born in Kingston, Ont., June 12, 1849; soon after his birth his parents moved to Cambridge, Mass., and he was educated in the schools of that city. In 1868 he entered the employ of Messrs. Andrews and Stevens, provision dealers, 47 Brom- field street, Boston, remaining with that firm until 1880, when he formed a copartnership with F. M. Reed, and located at 53 Charles street, Boston. In February, 1896, the firm dissolved, and Mr. Ralph entered the firm of J. W. Smith & Co., at 17 Faneuil Hall square, Boston. In May, 1874, he married Miss Harriet A. Myers, only daughter of Lieutenant Joseph P. Myers, a veteran of the Civil War, and in September of the same year he became a resident of Somerville, and immediately identified himself with its social and public interests. In 1881 he united with Oasis Lodge, I. O. O. F., and has served in many of the offices, and for several years was active in committee work; as past grand of Oasis Lodge he entered the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and has served that body on prominent committees. He is also past chief patriarch of Somerville Encampment, I. O. O. F. : and in February, 1895, was elected grand junior warden of the Grand Encampment of Massa- chusetts, serving one year, but owing to change of business was obliged to decline further advancement; he has served as district deputy grand patriarch, the district comprising Waltham and Stoneham.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.