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 41
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In 1891, Col. Taylor was appointed on Governor Russell's staff with the rank of gen- eral. During his long residenee in Somerville, General Taylor took a prominent part in re- ligious, educational and social matters, and held important positions in a number of the lead- ing organizations. In 1866 he married Georgianna O., daughter of George W. and L. F. Davis. His eldest son Charles H., Jr., together with two younger sons, are associated with him in the management of the "Globe." General Taylor is a past master of John Abbot Lodge, F. A. A. M., president of the Taylor and Algonquin Clubs of Boston, and is a mem- ber of a number of other leading organizations.
Teele, Frank A., was born in Acton, Mass., in 1866, and is a grandson of the late J. W. Teele, for whom Teele square was named. IIe was educated in the grammar and high schools of Acton, the Lawrenee Academy of Groton, and in Comer's Commereial College in Boston. He was first employed by Winn, Rieker & Co., and C. E. Morrison & Co., Faneuil Hall Mar- ket, as bookkeeper; after two years' service with them he entered the employ of John P. Squire & Co., on North Market street, as assistant cashier, and remained with that firm about one year, leaving it to assume the position of eashier of the Moses A. Dow estate (Waverly House), and bookkeeper and advertising manager of the " Waverly Magazine " in Charles- town. He remained in that position six years, and on August 1, 1895, bought the eoal and wood business of the late Col. S. M. Fuller in Davis square, and at once established himself in that trade, adding to it a real estate and insurance business; he was also appointed a notary pub- lic by Gov. Greenhalge. Although inexperieneed in his new business, he has, by the employ- ment of a great amount of energy, not only placed it on a good basis, but has very greatly increased it during the past year. He was married, in 1888, to Miss Mabel Richardson of South Aeton, and has three daughters. He is a member of Elm Couneil, R. A., Caleb Rand Lodge, I. O. O. F., Clarendon Lodge, Pilgrim Fathers, and Provident Lodge, A. O. U. W., having been recorder of the latter organization since its establishment. He is also as- sistant superintendent of the West Somerville Baptist Sunday-school. He resides on the old Teele homestead on the corner of Broadway and Curtis street.
Teele, Samuel, was born at the Walter Russell place on Broadway, November 18, 1818, the son of Jonathan and Lydia (Hill) Teele. He attended the Russell Distriet Sehool of Charlestown, and the Warren Academy in Woburn. He has been a farmer and gardener
SAMUEL TEELE.
HERBERT THORPE.
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT. 635
all his life, on the homestead which he inherited from his father. In 1836 the well-known Teele house was built by his father at the head of Broadway, on Clarendon Hill. In 1864 a portion of the farm was sold to Tufts College, and in 1868 Mr. Teele built his present resi- dence on Curtis street, opposite the reservoir. Mr. Teele married Miss Phebe S. Libbey, daughter of James and Abigail (Goodwin) Libbey, of Ossipee, N. H.
Thorpe, Herbert, was born in Somerville, July 28, 1852, the son of Jerome and Eliza (Howard) Thorpe. He attended the Brastow, Forster and High Schools, entering the lat- ter as a member of Mr. Baxter's first class. On leaving school he entered the employ of Shedd & Sawyer, civil engineers of Boston, in which he remained two years; he then took a position with Charles D. Elliot, city engineer of Somerville, continuing in it one year. On leaving that office he established an express route, which he maintained until June 1, 1893, since which time he has been connected with the Railroad Electric Safety Appliance Com- pany as manager. It is a fact worthy of mention that he assisted in raising the first flag that was raised on any schoolhouse in this city at the opening of the Civil War. He was married, in December, 1878, to Miss Mary A. Burnett of Somerville, and they have three children. Mr. Thorpe belongs to John Abbot Lodge, F. A. A. M., Oasis Lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he is a past Noble Grand, the Somerville Encampment, I. O. O. F., and the Ivaloo Rebekah Lodge.
Tufts, Nathan, was born at the corner of Washington and Medford streets, January 8, 1818, in the little house still standing, and lived there with his father until he moved to East Somerville. The elder Tufts was a brickmaker, but his son learned the grain business of his father-in-law, Abraham Fitz, with whom he stayed until he started in business for him- self, when twenty-three years old, at Charlestown Neck. He worked hard, saved his money, took advantage of opportunities to make more, made investments, and was able to extend his business until he bought out a firm on Warren Bridge, and conducted the two places, one as a mill and the other as a storehouse and office, until his death. He became a rich man by his industry, honorable dealing, courtesy and wisdom. His worldly possessions were numerously scattered in real estate and a handsome personal property, all secured by no act reflecting on his good name. He was never known to have oppressed the poor, but, on the other hand, had a generous purse for their aid. His fellow-citizens elected him in 1852 and 1853 a member of the Board of Selectmen, his father having been one in the first years of the town. He was an Alderman the second year of the city's life, but declined further ser- vice in that branch, refusing the chief magistracy when prominent citizens importuned him to allow the use of his name. He was a Commissioner of the Sinking Fund from the passage of the act, and at the time of his death was chairman. He was a valued member of the Unitarian Church, a trustee of Warren Institution for Savings, and a director in the Bunker Hill Bank of Charlestown. He was also a member of the Central Club, and a fine member of the Somerville Light Infantry. For twenty years he lived on the corner of Summer and Central streets, this city, with his daughter and son Albert. Mr. Tufts was a man of sterling character. He was of a quiet, unobtrusive nature, yet a genial, earnest and loyal friend whenever and wherever he placed his friendship. He was very sensitive on a question where principle came in, and none can point to an act of his whereby conscientiousness of duty and strictly honest dealing did not play the whole part. Mr. Tufts died October 20, 1887.
Vinal, Robert Aldersey, was born in Boston, March 16, 1821. His father moved to Somerville, then a part of Charlestown, in 1824, and occupied for many years a house in- herited by his wife on the present site of Hotel Warren. Here the elder Robert Vinal re- sided until his death, and, like his son, enjoyed the highest esteem of his fellow-citizens. After attending school at a private academy at Lexington and at Charlestown Neck, Robert A. took charge of a grain mill in North Chelsea, owned by his father. Here the business ability was started that always marked his life. He married an estimable lady in North Chelsea,
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and there some of the older children were born. Mr. Vinal's first business connection on his own account was with Mr. Edwin Munroe, formerly of this city, whose descendants now reside here. They kept on Commercial Wharf until 1848. Mr. Vinal and his brother, Quincy A. Vinal, entered into business together, taking the old store of the father on Lewis Wharf. They kept together fifteen years, when Robert A. retired. In 1849 he bought the lot at the corner of Walnut and Aldersey streets, and built the house upon it which he occupied for thirty-six consecutive years. Mr. Vinal led a vigorous and marked life. Few men equal him in the trusts he fulfilled. He was identified with every good movement in town and city, either in social, church, masonic, patriotic, fire, civic or otherwise. He was a great factor in the problem of advancement of Somerville, old and new, and few enterprises, private or public, succeeded without his aid. He was chief engineer of the Fire Department, a member of the department, treasurer of the Charitable Association connected with it, an original member of the old Winnisimmet Lodge of Odd Fellows at Chelsea, to which he belonged many years, a member of Oasis Lodge, John Abbot Lodge and Somerville Chapter of Masons, deacon of the First Congregational Church, its treasurer, and at one time its efficient super- intendent, an orginal member of the old Boston Commercial Exchange, representative from this town two years during the war, an incorporator of the Somerville Savings Bank and of the committee of investment, a member of the original Water Board, Selectman for many years, and holding the position when the town was converted into a city in 1872, Town Treas- urer at one time, besides many smaller offices of trust. Mr. Vinal left a widow; three daughters, Louise, Mrs. A. T. Kidder, Alice; and two sons, Arthur and Charles. The father died in 1867, and his widow survived him but a few years. They had, besides the eldest son, Robert A. who died April 12, 1887, Alfred E., Quincy A., John W., Mrs. Lydia M. Runey, Miss Elizabeth, now residing in New Jersey, Mrs. Gen. W. L. Burt, and Mrs. E. A. Wilder. A son and two daughters died some time since.
Vincent, George I., was born in Somerville, July 6, 1851. In 1854 his parents re- moved to Bangor, Me., where he received a common school education, supplemented by a course in a business college. He returned to Somerville with his parents in 1867, his father purchasing the estate now numbered 32 on Cherry street, where the family has since re- sided. He obtained employment, as office boy, with an importing dress-goods house in Boston, in the summer of 1867, and about a year later was promoted to the position of entry- clerk, remaining until 1874. In March, 1874, he was appointed by Mayor Furber as clerk at the call of the mayor, and was assigned to duty as clerk for the Board of Assessors, be- ginning his service on the first day of April. To this duty were soon added those of clerk of the committee on claims and clerk of the committee on sewers, and some time later he was chosen clerk of the committee on public property and of the committee on ordinances, and in 1878, when the first Board of Health, apart from the City Council, was established, he was made the clerk of that board. In 1882 an ordinance was adopted creating the office of clerk of assessors and committees, and Mr. Vincent was made the first incumbent of the office, with an assistant; the duties comprising those of clerk of the Board of Assessors and of all committees, and also of the Board of Health, the Superintendent of Streets, and the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department. February 28, 1888, he was unanimously elected to succeed the veteran city clerk, Charles E. Gilman, who had died on the 22d inst., and he has received unanimous re-elections in each succeeding year. He has held various offices of trust and responsibility, including those of treasurer of the Somerville Musical Association, treasurer of St. James Church, North Cambridge, and superintendent of the Sunday-school and a member of the corporation and vestry of Emmanuel Church, Somerville. He was the first secretary of the Somerville Co-operative Bank, and is at the present time treasurer of the City Clerks' Association of Massachusetts. He was a member of the Sons of Temper- ance and the Good Templars for many years, and has continued the practice of total abstin-
HERBERT L. CLARK.
RUFUS R. WADE. A
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT. 639
ence on the grounds both of principle and expediency. He is a past grand of Oasis Lodge of Odd Fellows, and a member of Ivaloo Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, Somerville Council of the Royal Arcanum, and Washington Council of the Home Circle, and a contributing member of Willard C. Kinsley Post No. 139, G. A. R. Was married, November 26, 1872, to Miss Sophia Elizabeth Edwards, of Allston, and has four daughters.
Wade, Rufus R., one of the most retiring and yet one of the best known men of Somerville is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. Boston born, he had much the same boyhood that the youth of the city had, and we find him in early manhood an officer in the Massachusetts State Prison. IIe remained here until the Middlesex County officials wanted him for turnkey at the East Cambridge Jail and House of Correction, and he served many years under the able administration of the late Capt. Charles J. Adams. Mr. Wade left this position to be the first special agent on depredations in New England for the Post- Office Department, and was made chief of the service in New England. In 1879 " IIonest Tom Talbot," then governor, appointed Chief Wade to be the head of the Massachusetts Dis- trict Police, which force then consisted of two men and had direct charge of the enforcement of two laws. It would be almost next to an impossibility to recapitulate the work of Chief Wade during the almost twenty years he has held his important place of trust. Taking the office in its utter meagreness, he has been obliged to originate plans for the successful ad- ministration of his departments. Work of various kinds has been heaped upon him until now it can be said he has four distinct departments, the criminal, labor, inspection of boilers and the licensing of engineers and firemen, and the inspection of factories, public buildings, etc., and the plans of the same. The force now consists of forty-five men, with seventy specific laws to be guarded and their strict enforcement seen to. Chief Wade is a recognized authority throughout the world on factory inspection in its various phases, and has held for a long time the presidency of the International Association of Factory Inspectors. He has time, however, to devote to outside matters, as evinced by his having held the presidency of the Cambridge Co-operative Bank since its formation seventeen years ago, the third to be organized in the State, and now one of the leading banks of its kind. He was at one time an active politician, and was the founder of the renowned Middlesex Club. He is also a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, being high in the order. Chief Wade came to Somerville twelve years ago, moving from Cambridge, and built the first house on the heights at the left of the Powder House. He married Mary A., daughter of Jacob and Mary Marsh of Hingham. She passed away March 27, 1894. Chief Wade is very proud of his connection with the Third Universalist Church, of which he is one of the founders and best friends.
Wadleigh, William Y., was born at Sunapee, N. H., November 10, 1854. IIis early years were passed in Newport, N. H., but at the age of fourteen, on the death of his father, he was obliged to go to work to help support the family. His first experience as a wage- earner was in farming, but being ambitious for a broader field of usefulness and improve- ment he left the farm after a year's service and went to Milford, N. H., in 1869, where he at- tended the public school a year and then went into a bank, where he remained until he came to Boston in 1876 to accept a position with the wholesale grocery house of Wadleigh, An- drews & Co. He has been associated with the wholesale grocery trade for twenty years, and has been a partner in the firm of John A. Andrews & Co. for thirteen years. This house has the reputation of being one of the largest and most honorable in the State, and Mr. Wadleigh is well known to the trade as one of its most active members. Mr. Wadleigh has lived on Highland avenue nearly twenty years: he takes a great interest in all public matters pertaining to the welfare of the city, but has always declined office of any kind. He has one of the pleasantest homes in the city, and being of rather domestic tastes, prefers it to social and club life.
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BENJAMIN F. FREEMAN.
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Wadsworth, George M., was born in South Weymouth, April 4, 1857. He attended the public schools of Pawtucket, R. I., and Fall River, Mass., graduating from the high school of the latter city in 1874. After working several years, he entered the Holliston High School to prepare himself for college, and was admitted to Colby University in the fall of 1879. At the close of his sophomore year, he was offered the grammar school in Hollis- ton, which position he accepted. Then, instead of returning to Colby to complete his col- lege course, he spent the last two years of his college life at Brown University, from which he graduated in 1884. He became principal of the Renfrew School, of Adams, Mass., in the fall of 1884, which position he held until October, 1886, when he resigned to become prin- cipal of the Washington School, Quincy, Mass. Four months later he was transferred to the Williard School, West Quincy. This position was held until May, 1890, when he accepted the superintendency of the schools of the Bedford District. Upon the opening of the Charles G. Pope School of Somerville, he became its principal, which position he still holds. While superintendent of the Bedford District he was president of the Town and District Superin- tendents' Association; and at present he is financial secretary of the Teachers' Annuity Guild, an association organized three years ago, and which now embraces twenty-nine cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts, with a membership of nearly 1300, of whom 112 teach in Somerville, and has a fund of over $40,000. He is also president of the Middlesex County Teachers' Association.
Ware, Frank A., son of Preston J. and Lavinia (Lilly) Ware, was born in Baltimore, Md., April 12, 1850. He was educated in the public schools of Newton, Mass., entered the shoe business in his nineteenth year, and has continued in that business until the present time, being now a member of the firm of Ware & Lincoln, shoe manufacturers, at Brockton, Mass. He came to Somerville in 1879, and has resided here since that year. He was married in 1880 to Carrie H. Langmaid, and they have four children, three sons and a daughter. Mr. Ware is not a so-called club-man, but is widely known in social and busi- ness circles. He resides at 54 Dartmouth street.
Weld, William E., was born in Somerville, in January, 1852. He was educated in the public schools of the city, and graduated from the high school in June, 1869. He was a member of the city government four years, having served two years in the Common Coun- cil, and two in the Board of Aldermen. He was on the Board of Trustees of the Somerville Public Library for nine years, was for three years treasurer of the Central Club, and has been quite active in municipal politics, having been secretary and subsequently president of the Democratic City Committee. He was for ten years in the boot and shoe business in Boston, but is now engaged in the wholesale wine and liquor trade in that city. He resides at 166 Summer St.
Wellington, J. Frank, was born in Lexington, November 20, 1849, the son of Horatio and Mary Bowman (Teele) Wellington. The Wellington family has been settled in Water- town and Lexington for two centuries, and was active in the early settlement of that region. Moving to Charlestown, Mass., with his parents in his infancy, he was educated in the schools of that city, graduating from the high school in 1867. He began his business career in the upholstery goods trade in Boston, in which he spent five years. He then became as- sociated with his father in the coal business, and in 1884 a partnership was formed under the firm name of Horatio Wellington & Co., and upon the death of his father, in 1894, he became senior member, continuing the business under the same firm name. In 1875 he moved to Somerville, and has always taken an active interest in the affairs of the city. In 1881 he served as a member of the Common Council, and in 1882 and 1883 was a member of the Board of Aldermen. He was chosen a member of the First Board of Registrars of Voters, and served for the years 1885 and 1886. In 1887 he was elected a member of the Board of Health, serving for five years, four of which he was chairman.
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Mr. Wellington is now a member of the Board of Trustees of the Somerville Public Library, having been elected to that position in 1893. He is president of the Somerville Co-operative Bank, a director of the Somerville National Bank, and a trustee of the Charles- town Five-Cents Savings Bank. He is a member of Soley Lodge F. A. A. M., of Unity Coun- cil R. A., and Howard Lodge I. O. O. F. of Charlestown, and is vice-president of the Central Club of Somerville. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Somerville IIos- pital, also of Tufts College and of the Woodlawn Cemetery. Mr. Wellington married Charlotte A., daughter of Edwin and Sarah A. (Cutter) Hunnewell of Charlestown.
Wendell, Mina J., was born in Woburn, Mass., February, 20, 1853. She was cdu- cated in the Woburn public schools, graduating from the high school in June, 1872. In September after she was graduated she began to train for teaching, and in the following spring her ability was tested in one of Woburn's hardest schools. Upon the completion of the new Cummings grammar school building in her native city, she was honored by an ap- pointment to teach in it, and was promoted from year to year, until she became principal of the Central Grammar School. In June, 1882, much to the regret of the Woburn public, she accepted a position as master's assistant in the Morse School in Somerville. During the changes which subsequently occurred among the principals, Miss Wendell had entire charge of the school, and so efficiently did she fill the position, that the citizens of Spring Hill sent two petitions to the School Committee, asking that she become the permanent principal of the Morse School. She was finally elected to the position, one which was for the first time in Somerville given to a woman, and she has in the service thus far rendered proved her complete qualification for the situation. Unusual executive ability, rare tact, quickness to adapt modern methods of public school teaching to the needs of her school, have marked a success which shows that the confidence in her powers was not misplaced. Her winning personality and unusual power as a disciplinarian easily make her master of the most com- plicated and trying situations, and the force of her character and her personal interest in the welfare of each pupil have left a lasting impression on the graduates of the Morse School. Miss Wendell is the daughter of a veteran soldier, her father having served in the Civil War in Company E, Tenth N. H. Volunteers. She is a member of the Teachers' An- nuity Guild, a member of the Current Events Committee of the Heptorean Club, and a member of the Unitarian Church, Highland avenue.
Wentworth, Thomas S., was born in Acton, Me., in 1846. He resided in that town until he was sixteen years old, when he went out into the world for himself. In the Civil War he responded to the call for volunteers, and served in the army from 1862 to 1865. He was a member of the 13th New Hampshire Regiment, was wounded May 16, 1864, at the battle of Drury's Bluff, and again September 28, at Chapin's Farm. He served in the 9th, 18th, and 24th Army Corps, was before Petersburg in the summer of 1864, and participated in all the battles of the regiment except when wounded. At the fall of Richmond, on the morning of April 3, 1865, he entered the city, being a member of Gen. Charles Devens's division of the 24th Army Corps. Seventeen years ago(1878) the firm of Downs & Wentworth was estab- lished, and it has been built up by the efforts of the partners to its present prosperous status. They are located at 40 and 42 Merchants Row, Boston. Mr. Wentworth served our city two years in the Common Council, but declined an election to the Board of Aldermen. In 1894, 1895 and 1896, he was a member of the School Committee. In the great semi-centen- nial celebration in 1892, he organized the parade and took command of one of the largest processions, military and civic, ever formed in this State outside the city of Boston. In recog- nition of his valuable services on that occasion he received from the City Government a gold medal. Mr. Wentworth has always taken an active interest in the Boston Fruit and Produce Exchange, an organization of upwards of five hundred members, served two years as a direc- tor, and in 1896 was elected president of the association. He resides at 350 Broadway.
THOMAS B. BLAIKIE.
CHARLES A. DOLE.
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Whitcomb, Charles T. C., son of John Gray and Mary Jane (Fountain) Whitcomb, was born in Thomaston, Me., July 1, 1861. His father was engaged in shipbuilding and re- moved to Boston in 1863, and later to Provincetown, Mass., where the subject of this sketch passed his boyhood and received his early education, graduating from the classical de- partment of the high school of that place. Entering Amherst College in 1879, he received the degree of A. B., with honor in 1883, from that institution, and three years later, for special work in English, the degree of A. M. Soon after graduation Mr. Whitcomb accepted a position at the head of the Sandwich Grammar School, and a few months later he was placed in charge of the High School of that town. After four years' successful experience in that position he was elected principal of the Wakefield High School in 1888, where he re- mained for a period of seven years, although during that time opportunities to take other positions were offered. He has always identified himself with the social, religious and busi- ness interests of the community, being highly esteemed by his fellow-townsmen. Mr. Whitcomb was the first president of the Barnstable County Teachers' Association. He has been twice president of the Middlesex County Teachers' Association and president of the Massachusetts High-School Masters' Club. He is also a member of the Massachusetts Schoolmasters' Club. He is a member of Joseph Warren Royal Arch Chapter of Province- town, and past master of De Witt Clinton Lodge, A. F. and A. M. of Sandwich, and a mem- ber of Excelsior Council No. 3, Royal Arcanum, East Somerville. On April 29, 1895, he was elected head master of the English High School, Somerville, and at once began the task of its organization. The school was opened in September, 1895, and under his management it has already attained standing in the front rank of the high schools of the State. In 1889, Mr. Whitcomb married Miss Charlotte Chapouile Waterman of Sandwich. Their children are Rachel Gray, born June 3, 1891, and John Leonard, born September 4, 1894. Mr. Whitcomb resides at 12 Highland avenue.
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