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'Biographical History of Massachusetts,
Biographies and Autobiographies of the Leading Men in the State'
Samuel Atkins Eliot, A.M., D.D., Editor-in-Chief; Volume VI;
With opening chapters on The Pulpit in Massachusetts, By Rev.
Paul Revere Frothingham, Massachusetts Biographical Society,
Boston, Massachusetts, 19l6
Submitted by
Sara Hemp and Barb Ziegenmeyer
CONTENTS. VOL. VI. BIOGRAPHIES AND FULL PAGE PORTRAITS
ENGRAVED ON STEEL THE
PULPIT IN MASSACHUSETTS NELSON
ADAMS OAKES
AMES EDWARD
ANDERSON SILAS
REED ANTHONY CHARLES
ALBERT BABBITT ALBERT
LE ROY BARTLETT WILLIAM
FRANCIS BARTLETT FREDERICK
ORIN BASTON JAMES
ALEXANDER BILL FREDERICK
ADELBERT BISBEE HENRY
WALKER BISHOP JOHN
JOSIAH BRIGHT ELISHA
DEWEY BUFFINGTON ALFRED
BUNKER WILLIAM
JOHN BURKE ALBERT
WILLIAMS BURTON EDWARD
NAHUM CAPEN THEODORE
FRELINGHUYSEN CHAPIN BENJAMIN
PIERCE CHENEY DWIGHT
CHESTER ALFRED
CLARKE AMOS
SAWYER CRANE ELLERY
BICKNELL CRANE FREDERICK
AUGUSTUS CURRIER MYRON
BATES DAMON ARTHUR
ELMER DENISON HENRY
DEXTER CHARLES
FRANCIS DONNELLY EBENEZER
ALDEN DYER AMOS
MADISON EATON CHARLES
EDWARD FAXON CARL
FEHMER DESMOND
FITZGERALD JAMES
FREEMAN DANA GARFIELD CHARLES
EDWARD GARMAN PATRICK
GILBRIDE HARRIS
COWDREY HARTWELL SAMUEL
EDWARD HERRICK GEORGE
HINCHLIFFE HARRY
CLOUGH HOWARD HARRISON
WHITFIELD HUGULEY WALDO
WARNER JENCKES WILLIAM
SAMUEL JENKS EDWARD
DORR GRIFFIN JONES JOHN
KNEELAND LOUIS
KRONBERG WILLIAM
HENRY LEMON JOHN
MUNRO LONGYEAR LOUIS
PHILLIPPE McDUFFEE ATHERTON
PERRY MASON DANIEL
HOWE NEWTON FRANK
LOVELL OAKES EUGENE
WALTER ONG BAILY
LITTLE PAGE CHARLES
DANA PALMER FRANKLIN
PERRIN WILLIAM
JOHN QUINN JOSEPH
EVERETT REYNOLDS CHARLES
MAY ROBBINS HENRY
STURGIS RUSSELL WILLIAM
HENRY SAART GEORGE
SAMPSON GEORGE
PARMENTER SMITH HENRY
ROGERS SMITH WILLIAM
SIMEON SMITH FRANCIS
EDGAR STANLEY ISAAC
WILSON STETSON GEORGE
WENDELL TAPLEY EVERETT
TORREY FRANK
EMMETT TUTTLE ANDREW
GRAY WEEKS, SR, WARREN BAILEY POTTER
WEEKS FRED
WILLIAMS WELLINGTON GEORGE
ELLIOT WELLINGTON ALBERT
BATCHELLER WELLS JOSEPH
CUTLER WHITNEY ALBERT
LAFAYETTE WILBUR HENRY
AUGUSTUS WILLIS SAMUEL
HOBART WINKLEY WILLIAM
ELLIS WOOD
THE PULPIT IN
MASSACHUSETTS
MASSACHUSETTS is justly proud of her
splendid institutions, as she likewise is of the many famous men
and women who have helped to make those institutions what they
are. When mention is made, for instance, of the Bar in
Massachusetts, the mind reverts at once to such names as Choate
and Webster, Dana, Lowell, Otis, Joseph Story, Lemuel Shaw, and
many others. If Medicine is spoken of we recall such men as
Bowditch and Bigelow, Warren and Waterhouse, Jackson and Hayward,
and Oliver Wendell Holmes and Edward Hammond Clark and others of
conspicuous fame, while in the spheres of literature, philanthropy
and education the names are almost legion of those who have added
to the luster of the State and the welfare and the progress of the
Nation. For many years, however, and for long and successive
generations, the peculiar pride of Massachusetts was her pulpit.
The colony having been settled with a spiritual purpose and by
people who were driven from their homes by reason of their
religious scruples, the government assumed the form, at first, of
a practical theocracy. Its ministers in many instances were its
magistrates, and what was spoken in the pulpit was often put into
an order of the court. None but church members, in colonial times,
were allowed to vote, and the churches were the literal
meeting-houses of the people, - the only places, indeed, where for
many years the people came together as a body. There they
worshiped upon Sunday and there they voted upon week days. To
write the story of the great men who have stood in Massachusetts
pulpits, and whose words of prophecy and power reached at times
with lightning force and emphasis across the continent, would mean
the telling of too long a tale for an introductory article like
this. Beginning with John Cotton, who landed on these shores in
1633 - the Great Cotton, as he long was called, and of whom it was
said - "The lantern of St. Botolph's ceased to burn, When
from the portals of that church he came To be a burning and a
shining light Here in the wilderness," the story would be
long as well as brilliant, and it would hardly find an end with
the life and history of Phillips Brooks, who was one of Cotton's
lineal descendants. The story, I repeat, would not be ended
there, for the volumes of this history will contain the
biographical sketches and portraits of men who are doing and have
done a great deal to continue and keep alive the noble traditions
of the Massachusetts pulpit. In many instances these men are
worthy representatives indeed of the great men who preceded them,
and the torch of inspiration which was handed them they propose to
pass along in undimmed glory to the men who follow. John
Robinson, addressing the Pilgrims as they were on the point of
setting sail from Delftshaven, said to them, as every one recalls,
that doubtless "more light would yet break forth out of God's
word." It was a broad and prophetic utterance for the time, and it
sometimes seems as though that seed-like saying had been planted
in the soil of Massachusetts men, and had taken root and
flourished and brought forth constant and abundant fruit. At least
the prophecy of Robinson has been the potency and power of the
Massachusetts pulpit. Its preachers have been light-bringers from
the early days to these. Let me call attention to a few great
causes which have been particularly identified with the pulpit of
our state. In the first place came what is known in history as
the Great Awakening. It began in 1734. There had come into the
churches, says a writer, "a lack of spiritual vigor, a languor, a
deadness of faith which were not in keeping with their position or
their history. Out of this sleep they were awakened in a wondrous
manner," and a great revival soon took place. The man to bring the
change about, to arouse the sleeping energies and to stir the
languid faith by his fervid, forceful, brilliant, and dogmatic
preaching, was a Massachusetts man who was settled in a little
country town in the western part of the State. I refer to Jonathan
Edwards. It was Edwards who sounded the first clear note that led
to the first religious revival in America. The movement which thus
was set on foot was distinctly encouraged by the arrival on
Massachusetts shores, in 1740, of a young and most remarkable
English preacher. It was the first of many visits that he came to
pay, and the Massachusetts churches were not large enough to hold
the crowds that thronged to hear him. Whitefield took at last to
Boston Common, where he spoke on one occasion, it is said, to more
than fifteen thousand people, thrilling them with his fervor and
arousing them to higher life. He died at Newburyport, in 1770, and
was buried in a vault beneath the pulpit of a Congregational
meeting-house in which he had often preached. There his bones, or
the remains of them, may still be viewed by any who are curious to
see the earthly remnants of one of the greatest revivalists who
ever lived. The larger portion of his life was spent in England,
where he was born and made his home, but Massachusetts claimed and
kept him in his death. As it was with "The Great Awakening,"
which was a somewhat reactionary movement, so it was with that
more enduring and progressive cause which was led by Dr. Channing.
The Unitarian movement in America began in Massachusetts and was
headed by a Massachusetts man. Though a Rhode Islander by birth,
Boston early came to be the home of William Ellery Channing, and
he was pastor of the church on Federal Street for nearly forty
years. Moreover, what was true of Channing and the Unitarian
movement was equally the case of Hosea Ballou and Universalism.
Ballou was born in New Hampshire, but for three and thirty years
he preached in Boston, setting forth with vigor, freshness, and
true genius those liberal truths which are still the strength and
glory of the cause of Universalism. The names of Channing and
Ballou are indelibly connected with the cause of religious
progress in Massachusetts. Both were prophets of new faith, and
both were brave and inspired champions of a purer, simpler form of
Christianity. Both accordingly contributed in no small way to the
breadth and tolerance that to-day are characteristic of the
world. When we come to the next great movement which commanded
the attention of the world and awakened wide-spread comment, - if
not at all times commendation, - the story is essentially the
same. Massachusetts was the leader, and Massachusetts pulpits
formed the background of the new development which received the
name of Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism was a New England
product, and it has been described with accuracy and felicity as
the "New England Renaissance." Its fountain head was in
Massachusetts, and its stream of influence had its rise in certain
of the pulpits of the State. Emerson, to be sure, resigned his
clerical charge and took the world of thought for his parish. He
stepped from the pulpit on to the vantage ground of the platform.
Nevertheless, there lingered about him to the last the flavor of
the church. He was preacher and prophet in all things, whether in
his essays, his lectures, or his poetry. Moreover, his
essential message, and indeed the truths of Transcendentalism in
general, were thundered forth by Theodore Parker from his pulpit
in Music Hall. The influence of Parker, especially in Anti-slavery
matters was nation-wide. While many pulpits were complained of for
their silence, and other preachers were condemned for condoning
the great national sin, Parker spoke from week to week in no
uncertain tone. His words in printed form were circulated far and
wide, and were carried among other places to Springfield,
Illinois. There they were read and re-read by a busy lawyer of the
name of Lincoln; and Abraham Lincoln's immortal utterance in
regard to "government of the people, by the people, and for the
people" was based upon a saying of the Massachusetts
preacher. The influence, therefore, of the pulpit in our State
from the earlier days to these has been wide as well as deep. In
these later days it received fresh strength and glory from the
spiritual zeal, the broad religious outlook, and consecrated life
and words of Phillips Brooks. Nor is the story ended yet. The
stream is borne along in the lives and hearts of many others, the
record of whose services the volumes of this history in part
contain. When Dean Stanley visited America in 1881 he said that
wherever he went, and he heard many sermons, nothing but Emerson
was preached. In the generation that has come since then there has
doubtless been a change. However that may be, there can be no
doubt of the shaping force upon the nation's life which the
religious thinkers of our State have long exerted. More than all
else, that inspiration, as we have clearly seen, is one for
progress, growth, development - one of more light which yet shall
break forth from God's word. The future is a mystery, but the past
is well secured, and that past appears to lay upon us the
necessity of forward looking life and work.
signed: Paul
Revere Frothingham
NELSON ADAMS NELSON ADAMS was born
at Hubbardston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, July 6,1831. He
is the son of Elisha Adams (born August 16, 1787, died July 14,
1868), who married October 12, 1808, Betsey Dean, the daughter of
Richard and Grace Parmenter Dean, of Oakham, Massachusetts. She
died May 20, 1859. His grandfather was Elijah Adams, born in West
Medway, Massachusetts, January 7, 1758, married April 14, 1774,
Lizzie Morse, daughter of Ezekiel and Rebecca (cousins) Morse of
Holliston who settled in Hubbardston, 1774. He died December 7,
1817. She died December 31, 1839. Elisha Adams was the seventh
child of Elijah. He was a man of remarkable mechanical ability, he
could make or repair anything that could be fashioned from wood,
and was a good type of the old-fashioned farmer who did not have
to call in outside assistance to do the many little jobs that are
always occurring on the farm. Besides farming he made chairs from
the abundance of suitable wood growing on his rough stony land. He
allowed nothing to go to waste, the rough wood being made into
charcoal. He was a descendant of Henry Adams who came from England
and settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1633, the line being
Henry 1, Edward 2, John 3, Obadiah 4, Nathan 5, Elijah 6, Elisha
7, Nelson 8. President John Adams and Samuel Adams belonged to the
same family. Nelson Adams lived on his father's farm until he
was about eighteen years old, attending district school in the
winter and assisting his father in his varied industries. He has
always been thankful for his training on the farm in his early
days, although at the time he had the boy's usual prejudice
against the grindstone and the hand-power turning lathe. Of his
school days he mentions the particular delight he took in the
teaching of Samuel Heywood who introduced him to Colburn's Mental
Arithmetic and to the study of Astronomy. He also speaks of the
excellent influence of his mother upon his moral and spiritual
life. She was a skilful farmer's wife whose butter was renowned
through the town. In fact he had just the training which they are
now attempting to supply by the kindergarten and manual training
schools, but it was of a much higher grade, for the boy was made
to feel that he was of some use in the world and was not merely
being taught something that might be of use. He speaks of his
visits to the blacksmith shop, that center of town news, where he
heard discussed the various events that were taking place in the
wide world. From the farm he graduated at the age of eighteen and
went to Fitchburg to work for some time in the chair factory of
Alonzo Davis. But he did not like the confinement of the shop, and
soon left it to engage hi a more congenial business. This was the
life of a drover. At that time all cattle and other live stock for
the Boston Market had to make the journey on foot. This life kept
him continually out of doors and on horseback. He would collect
cattle, sheep, hogs, and horses in the western part of New England
and drive them to the great market at Brighton. In the spring he
bought young hogs in Brighton and drove them west to be fed and
fattened for the fall markets. He was engaged in this business
from 1850 to 1855 when the course of trade began to change and
cattle and other animals were brought to market on the cars. In
the winters of 1852 and 1853 he went to Boston and was employed in
the bacon works and in the market. During this time he attended
courses of the Lowell Institute. Thus he had a good schooling in
the packing business. This was before the days of canned goods,
and everything intended for future use had to be pickled or
otherwise preserved. In 1855 he went to Fitchburg and entered into
business with Mr. Francis Buttrick. Mr. Adams seems to have been
early impressed with the importance of gathering up all the
fragments that nothing might be lost. So when Mr. Buttrick went
into the slaughtering business at Fitchburg he took charge of the
by-products. He rendered the lard at first in open kettles and
afterwards by steam. This produced considerable waste material
which the health authorities compelled him to take care of, as
slaughtering by the old methods was no longer permitted. In 1857
he saw what he considered a better opening for business at
Fairhaven, Connecticut. Buying out a small establishment at that
place, he removed the appliances to New Haven and went more fully
hito the treatment of the butchers' refuse, sending his wagons all
through the county gathering up fragments. He continued in his
first establishment for two or three years when he hired a place
at Beaver Pond where he continued for about twenty years. In
speaking of his work at this place he says the great variety of
by-products would not be apparent to the casual observer. Material
which is useless before it is worked up was gathered and brought
into the rendering plant, which also included curing among its
processes. Tripe, pigs feet, and lambs' tongues were pickled and
put up attractively long before the canning industry began sending
out its products. Besides the provision branch of the business,
the main product of the rendering plant was tallow. Bone was quite
a resource and was separated into several different grades: the
specially selected bone was sold to the novelty dealer, who made
buttons, crochet needles, piano keys, handles for cutlery, and
many other useful things. Some of the bone was made into bone
black, for use in sugar refining, and some was used in the steel
industry for case hardening steel. Tons of ground bones were used
in fertilizers, being sent away by the vessel load to the
fertilizer plants up and down the Atlantic coast. Hide trimmings
and sinews were prepared for glue stock. Neatsfoot oil was made
and clarified for the market. At about the same time he went to
New Haven, Mr. Adams became interested in another establishment at
Bridgeport, although he did not take active charge of this till
some years after. From 1859 until 1887 he was interested in a
plant at Waterbury, and in 1865 he became heavily interested in a
plant in New York City. Finding that he had too much on his hands
he was able to dispose of his interests in New York in 1867. In
1867 he had a chance to buy a well equipped factory at Hartford
and retained his interest in this till 1888. Mr. Adams seems to
have never been averse to extending his business when he saw a
good opening, and in 1876 he bought out the Springfield plant of
R. C. Taylor. This place was on leased premises and in an
unsuitable situation. So he bought the D. B. Wesson place and put
the establishment in charge of his nephew H. G. Thomas. The
establishment was placed in Longmeadow. There he added the
manufacture of poultry food and fertilizers to his other
business. Mr. Adams removed to Springfield about 1897 and still
continues to reside there, content in a happy old age but by no
means considering himself old.
OAKES
AMES OAKES AMES was born in Canton, Massachusetts, February
24, 1863. He died at bis home in Milton, Massachusetts, February
23, 1914. He was the son of Frank Morton Ames (born August 14,
1833; died August 23, 1898) and Catherine Hay ward (Copeland)
Ames; and a grandson of Oakes Ames (born July 10, 1804; died May
8, 1873) and Evelyn 0. Gilmore Ames; and on his mother's side, of
Hiram Copeland (born February 9, 1798; died July 13, 1861) and
Lurana Copeland. The ancestor of the family in New England was
William Ames, who was born at Bruton, Somersetshire, England, in
1665, a great grandson of John Ames, who died in Bruton, England,
in 1560. He settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1641, and died
there in 1654. Mr. Ames' grandfather, Oakes Ames, was a
Congressman from Massachusetts, and one of the chief promoters and
builders of the Union Pacific Railroad. His uncle, Oliver Ames,
was a former Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His
father, Frank M. Ames, was a prominent Massachusetts manufacturer,
having been for many years the President of the Kinsley Iron and
Machine Works at Canton, and was also President of the Lamson
Store Service Company of Boston. Oakes Ames had an aptitude for
mechanics. In early life he took a great interest in athletics,
being principally interested in baseball, in which he was locally
celebrated as a pitcher, and in bicycle contests in which he took
a number of prizes. He attended the primary schools of Canton,
was graduated from the Canton High School, and then entered the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the class of 1885.
After two years at the Institute he entered upon the active duties
of life with the Kinsley Iron and Machine Works of Canton, of
which he eventually became President. Upon his father's death he
became President of the Lamson Store Service Company and
recognizing the great possibilities of pneumatic transmission he
developed apparatus along this line. The Lamson Company became
connected with the American Pneumatic Service Company of which he
was elected Vice-President. At the time of his death he was, in
addition to the above positions, President of the Martin Cash
Carrier Company and the Air Line Carrier Company, Director of the
Batcheller Pneumatic Company, Chicago Postal Pneumatic Tube
Company, Boston Pneumatic Transit Company, International Pneumatic
Service Company, Massachusetts Pneumatic Tube Company, New York
Mail & Transportation Company and St. Louis Pneumatic Tube
Company. He was also associated with gas and electric companies in
several Massachusetts cities and with other corporations. He was a
member of the Massachusetts Automobile Club, the Country Club, the
Norfolk Country Club, the Hoosick Whisick, and the Engineers
Clubs. Mr. Ames was a Republican in his affiliations, but in
the late division of the party, joined with the Progressive wing.
He never aspired to political office, but was content to devote
his energies to the promotion of the large interests with which he
was connected. Mr. Ames was married October 28, 1886, to
Florence, daughter of Joshua S. and H. Amelia (Thurber) Ingalls of
Detroit, Michigan, who survives him. Mrs. Ames is a granddaughter
of Ira A. and Huldah (Clark) Thurber and of Simeon and Rhoda
(Smith) Ingalls. Mr. Ames is also survived by their three
children, Amelia C. Ames, who resides at home, Oakes Ingalls Ames,
and Charles E. Ames, both students at Harvard University. Mr.
Ames died in the full tide of a life of great success. He did
much, and made a point of doing well everything that he undertook.
He was a leader among men, and used his executive ability in
promoting financial ventures with a masterly hand. He never
betrayed the confidence of those who followed his lead. His
interest in his college class was unusually strong, and his
relations with his classmates were among his greatest pleasures.
In a tribute to his memory one of his classmates says: - "It is
twelve years since Death has entered the ranks of the class of
'85. He could have taken no more loyal member, more steadfast
friend or truer gentleman than Oakes Ames, whose memory we shall
hold perennially fragrant in our hearts."
EDWARD ANDERSON AMBASSADORS of the Prince of
Peace are occasionally drafted into the Army, where carnal weapons
are the acknowledged instruments of righteousness and where "the
word preached" is to be that of surrender or death. So it seems to
have been with Edward Anderson. His father, Rufus Anderson, D.D.,
LL.D., (1796-1880) married Eliza Hill (1804-1888) and their son
Edward was born in Boston, November 19, 1833. His grandfathers
were Rufus Anderson and Richard Hill. The Anderson line is traced
back to James, who came from Londonderry, Ireland, to Londonderry,
New Hampshire, in 1719. Rufus, the father of Edward, was a
Congregational clergyman of high repute and for many years was the
distinguished Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions. His tastes were scholarly and he wrote much upon
missionary topics, being the author of a "History of Missions" in
five volumes. The printer's trade attracted young Edward and he
learned it, that he might, through it, get a better knowledge of
practical literary work. There were no special obstacles or
hardships in the path of his education, as he had the advantages
of the Washington and Roxbury Latin Schools, and Phillips Academy,
Andover. He did not have a collegiate opportunity. A godly and
devoted mother exercised a blessed influence upon her son as she
strove to develop in him the noblest likings and ambitions. The
parents would see him a minister of the Gospel and to that end he
studied theology with his father, and in 1858 was ordained into
the ministry. In a life of many vicissitudes he performed the
ordinary duties of the pastorate in several churches, but his
chief work has been in Army circles. He was Chaplain of the 37th
Illinois Infantry, Colonel 12th Indiana Cavalry, and served
through the Civil War. He was for several years editor and part
owner of the Chautauqua (N.Y.) Democrat; a daily paper. Colonel
Anderson was "persona grata" in social and fraternal clubs and
societies, being, among others, a member A. F. A. M., Knights of
Pythias; A.O.U. W.; R. A., G. A. R.; M. O. L. L., U. S. He has
held office in A. F. and A. M.; Commander J. M. Wells Post,
Columbus, Ohio; and Chaplain of many other posts. He was
chaplain-in-chief of the Grand Army of the United States. He
voted as he thought and talked - a Republican, and swerved not
from that political faith. His ministry has been among the
churches of the Congregational denomination principally, but he
has been a servant at large in the Kingdom of God. He is the
author of one volume - "Camp Fire Stories," 1869. As for
amusement, he finds much satisfaction in the game of golf - as any
man must whose life has been vigorously spent under the open
sky. In 1857, July 29, Mr. Anderson married Harriet F.,
daughter of Elijah G. and Florinda Shumway. Five children have
been born to them, of which two - William G. and Henry S. - are
respectively Professor and Instructor of Physics at Yale
University. His daughter (Mrs. Kate Anderson Wadsworth) was,
before her marriage, at the head of the Department of Physical
Culture for Women in the Chicago University. His advice to
youth who would make themselves of most value in the world is, to
be satisfied with nothing less than true worth of character, and
to love work for its own sake.
SILAS
REED ANTHONY SILAS REED ANTHONY, banker and stock broker,
partner in one of the most important banking houses of New
England, member of the New York Stock Exchange, was born in
Boston, August 5, 1863. He died there March 10, 1914. He was the
oldest of five children of Nathan Anthony, born February 11, 1832,
died June 12, 1881, and Clara James (Reed) Anthony, born April 16,
1840. His paternal grandparents were Edmund Anthony, born August
8, 1808, died January 24, 1876, and Ruth Adeline (Soper) Anthony,
and his mother was the daughter of Silas Reed, born May 29, 1806,
died in October, 1886, and Henrietta M. (Rogers) Reed. The
first of the Anthony family to arrive in America was John Anthony,
a descendant from William Anthony, who was born in Cologne,
Germany, in the latter part of the fifteenth century, and, coming
to London, was chief graver of the mint and seals to King Edward
VI and Queens Mary and Elizabeth. John Anthony emigrated from
Hampstead, now a part of London, in 1634, settling in Portsmouth,
Rhode Island. Other ancestors of S. Reed Anthony included such men
of distinction as Myles Standish, John Alden, Governor Thomas
Dudley, Major-General Daniel Dennison, John Rogers, fifth
President of Harvard College, Tristram Coffin and William Reed, of
the Winthrop colony in Massachusetts. Mr. Anthony prepared for
college at the Roxbury Latin School, in which he ever afterwards
showed an active and helpful interest, but upon the death of his
father in 1881, he gave up his plans for college. In December,
1881, at the age of eighteen, Mr. Anthony entered the employ of
Kidder, Peabody & Co. He remained with this house more than
ten years. Resigning in May, 1892, he formed a partnership with
William A. Tucker, and they established the banking house of
Tucker, Anthony & Company. Mr. Anthony's tastes and
business led him into many social and other organizations. He was
a member of the Union, Algonquin, Athletic, Exchange, Essex
County, New Riding and Country Clubs. He was interested in the
history and progress of New England and the country at large, and
belonged to the Bostonian Society, American Geographical Society,
and Mayflower Society. He was also a member of the Eastern Yacht
Club, New York Yacht Club, and the Boston Yacht Club; his favorite
sports were yachting and driving. He was an Episcopalian,
attending Emmanuel Church, Boston, of which he was one of the
wardens. He was a constant adherent of the Republican
party. Mr. Anthony was married June 1, 1887, to Miss Harriet P.
Weeks, daughter of Andrew G. and Harriet Pitts (Pierce) Weeks,
granddaughter of Ezra and Hannah (Prince) Weeks, and of Charles
and Harriet (Pitts) Pierce, and a descendant from Elder William
Brewster who came to America on the Mayflower and Colonel Daniel
Pierce, of Newburyport. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony's three children are
: Andrew Weeks, Ruth and Reed Pierce. Trained in business
methods, and accustomed to weigh consequences before embarking
upon any undertakings, an experience like Mr. Anthony's is
especially instructive to those who would give heed to its
lessons. These are the principles, habits and maxims that his
career suggested to him as most helpful in achieving the highest
and most satisfactory results in life: "Moral responsibility,
steadiness of purpose and firm resolution. Be fair and honest in
dealing with others. Live and let live." Mr. Anthony wrote the
above words for the readers of this work, and his own life shows
that it was modeled along these lines. He said that the relative
strength of influence of home, of school, of contact with men in
active life, of private study, of early companionship, all in the
order named were potent factors upon his own success in
life. Among the many tributes to the memory of Mr. Anthony, the
Boston Transcript said: "S. Reed Anthony, the Boston banker, who
died on Tuesday, was a successful man as measured by the usual
standards, but the true record of his success is written not in
ledgers, but in the hearts of those who were privileged to know
him. It is so written because as boy and man he failed in no
relationship and in no duty. By many lines of descent he was a
Puritan, but in him the granite character of his Puritan ancestors
had been refined to a character of transparent quartz through
which all men might read, though its surface none might scratch;
but it was a quartz warm and glowing like that which marks
Emerson's grave in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. "To die at fifty
years with one's larger plans still unfulfilled and leaving all
that makes life good behind may seem to some the irony of Fortune,
but to live for fifty years and earn honor from one's associates,
devotion from one's friends, love and life-long remembrance from
one's family is surely to achieve success. This is why so many men
and women are to-day proud to have known S. Reed Anthony and happy
in remembering him as 'That friend of mine who lives in
God.'" Speaking of Mr. Anthony, Mr. Henry M. Rogers said, "A
good man has finished his work here. In the ripeness of a rich
manhood, and with seemingly years of service still before him, he
has been taken from us and the mystery of unexpected death remains
to perplex us. To those who mourn him must be a faith that in the
Providence of God there are no accidents and that he is needed
elsewhere. His memory will long endure for he was entrenched in
many hearts. He inherited integrity as a birthright. He was loving
and gentle and kind. His monument was made daily. In every
relation growing out of his manifold duties and responsibilities,
he was simple and direct, with firm convictions, presented with
sobriety of judgment, patience and firmness. He was reserved
rather than demonstrative and in face and bearing could never be
mistaken for less than a gentleman. He was pure in his life,
loving in his household, generous to a degree, and a citizen,
patriotic, wise and self-restrained. "He never mistook
assertion for performance of duty and was instinctively able to
separate wheat from chaff in life. He cared most for the
essentials of living - for truth - for manhood - for service. Many
men will pass before our eyes whose names are praised and sounded
to the echo, - but in the scales that will finally measure
character, it is believed that Reed Anthony will be found among
those designated by the Master as good and faithful servants. Had
he lived for an hundred years what more could he have or we
ask?"
CHARLES ALBERT BABBITT
(Worchester county) CHARLES ALBERT BABBITT, a prominent
resident of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was born in Barre,
Massachusetts, March 11, 1851, and died suddenly, August 14, 1911,
at his summer home at Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, after a severe
surgical operation. He was the son of Pliny H. Babbitt
(1818-1908) and Lydia Perry. His father was an Auctioneer, and
for several years, Deputy Sheriff. His mother, who died when he
was thirteen, left her strong impress, in the choice of things
true and noble, upon her son. He was early familiar with all
kinds of farm work, and learned to be self-reliant and
industrious. He knew what it was to "find a way or make one," amid
the difficult problems which confronted him from his childhood, as
from the age of sixteen he paid all his expenses in securing a
coveted education. He attended the Wilbraham Academy, the
Westfield Normal School, and was graduated from Dartmouth College,
in 1879 and from the Boston University Law School in 1881, with
the degree of LL.B. Beginning the practice of law in Orange,
Massachusetts, in 1882, he removed to Fitchburg in 1887, where he
resided during the rest of his life, and where he won honor and
distinction in his profession. Elected to the Common Council of
his City, in which he served two years (one as its president), he
was later called to the Mayoralty for two years. To that office he
brought marked ability for its varied duties, and was by general
consent, one of the most capable executives in the history of the
city. He had special fitness for understanding and solving
financial questions, and inaugurated many valuable reforms in the
conduct of civic affairs. He led in the revision of the City
Charter, and had much influence in the Legislature, though not a
member of that body. Having the courage of his convictions, he
could not be swerved from those policies and plans he believed to
be right. He heard and loyally obeyed what he thought to be the
voice of duty. In College, he was a member of the Psi Upsilon
Fraternity; he belonged to the Masonic Order; Pay Club, to the
Mayor's Club of Boston, and the Pitchburg Bar Association. In both
the latter organizations he held the office of
President. Politically he was widely known through the
Commonwealth as a Democrat, and was enthusiastic in support of the
principles and candidates of that party. Mr. Babbitt married,
March 30, 1883, Addie P., daughter of Josiah and Marianna
(Houghton) Packard. Their two daughters are Edith D., the wife of
Isaac S. Hall of Medford, Massachusetts, and Ina P., unmarried. In
his sixty years of active service, Mr. Babbitt showed how it is
possible for a determined, faithful, and conscientious man to
come, through his own efforts, to a high and useful position in
the life of the community, and, departing, to leave a sense of
general bereavement among all who knew him personally or by
reputation. He was an excellent example of deserved success in
this land of equal opportunity and obligation.
ALBERT LE ROY BARTLETT ALBERT LE ROY BARTLETT
was born in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, June 1, 1851.
He is the son of Thomas Bartlett and Patience Hawkins. His father
was a farmer, a man marked by industry and honesty, by his good
humor and love of learning. His ancestor, Richard Bartlett, came
from Sussex, England, to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1635. He is
descended also from John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, Governors of
Massachusetts, and from Lieut. Col. Thomas Bartlett and Gen.
Joseph Cilley, who were officers in the War of the
Revolution. Albert Le Roy Bartlett had a good inheritance. His
home was full of inspiring influences. He was fond of reading and
enjoyed the country life. He had no difficulties in following his
tastes and securing an education. He attended the Haverhill High
School and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1872. He was Master
of the Academy at Sherborn, Massachusetts in 1872; Sub-Master of
the Haverhill High School 1873 to 1875 ; 1882-1888 ; Master of the
Bradford High School 1875-1882; Superintendent of Schools in
Haverhill 1888-1897. Besides this service he has been a lecturer
in English in many summer schools. He was chosen a Trustee of the
Public Library of Haverhill in 1888, and still holds that office.
He has been a member of the Park Commission since 1901, and he has
been Alderman and Mayor of Haverhill. He has published several
books in connection with his work as a teacher. He wrote a
"History of the Haverhill Academy and High School" in 1890; "First
Steps in English," 1900; "Essentials of Language and Grammar,"
1900; "A Golden Way," 1902; "The Construction of English," 1903.
He has also been a contributor to magazines. His life has been
an industrious one and of wide spreading influence. He has had
ample opportunities to be of service in school and city, and by
reason of his character, learning and experience he has served
well. In politics he has always been a Republican. He finds
recreation in walking and riding, and in pedestrian tours,
especially among the Alps. His career has been one of quiet and
permanent usefulness.
WILLIAM FRANCIS
BARTLETT The emigrant ancestor of General Bartlett was
Richard Bartlett, who came from England and settled in Newbury,
Massachusetts, in 1635. The family was one of note in the mother
country. At the end of the fifteenth century a castle was granted
to John Bartlett by Edward the Black Prince for efficient service
in the capture of the castle of Fontenoy, in France, and with this
grant of a castle was the right to keep swans in the river near
by. From this privilege came the swan into the family crest. A
great grandfather of General Bartlett's was a soldier at the siege
of Louisburg in 1745, and another was an officer in one of the
Massachusetts regiments in the Revolutionary War. Fondness and
aptitude for military life was a strong family trait which found
its most brilliant expression in the career of William Francis
Bartlett. He was the son of Charles Leonard and Harriett
(Plummer) Bartlett, and was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, June
6, 1840. He was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School and
at Phillips Andover Academy, and entered Harvard in 1858. He was
not a close student, but was fond of athletics and outdoor sports,
which strengthened his tall, slender form and laid the basis of
the vigorous health which enabled him to endure the extraordinary
hardships of his military service. His early political views
inclined him to the Southern side of the great controversy between
the two sections of the Union, but when the clash of arms came he
cast in his lot on the Union side. On April 17, 1861, the same day
that he wrote to a friend that "it would be fighting rather
against my principles to fight on the Northern side," he enlisted
in the Fourth Battalion of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia
commanded by Major, afterwards General Thomas Stevenson. The
battalion was stationed at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor, and
was mustered out on the 25th of May. This training was of great
value to him and he said that he had thus learned more military
tactics than he could have learned from books in a year. At the
completion of this service he returned to his college studies for
the remainder of the academic year, but his mind and heart were
elsewhere, for his taste of military life had stirred the latent
forces inherited from his ancestors. When the Twentieth
Massachusetts Regiment was organized he was offered a captaincy.
He promptly accepted, and was made the senior captain of the
regiment. His commission was dated July 10, 1861. He entered upon
his new duties with all the ardor and earnestness of his nature,
recruiting his company, and organizing and drilling it in the
duties of the soldier. On the 4th of September, 1861, the regiment
left the State for Washington, and soon after became attached to
the division of General C. P. Stone, stationed on the Upper
Potomac. On October 1st it had an active part in the disastrous
battle of Balls Bluff. The Union forces were sent across the river
only to find themselves in a trap with the enemy in great strength
in front of them and the river behind. Six companies of the
Twentieth Massachusetts, in all three hundred and eighteen men and
twenty-two officers, took part in the fierce fighting that
followed. The division lost heavily and Captain Bartlett, thinking
he might as well fall advancing against the enemy as standing
still, led his command up over the Bluff. In a letter to his
mother he describes what he then saw. "The field began to look
like my preconceived idea of a battle-field. Men were lying under
foot, and here and there a horse struggling in death. The ground
was smoking and covered with blood, while the noise was perfectly
deafening. I went to the Colonel and he was sitting behind a tree
perfectly composed. He told me that there was nothing to do but
surrender and save the men from being murdered.'" Nevertheless
Captain Bartlett led his men in a spirited charge, but the troops
were hurled back and the retreat was ordered. On reaching the
river bank Captain Bartlett ordered all his men who could swim to
swim the river. Those who could not swim, in company with
seventy-five men from other regiments, Captain Bartlett led up the
river, and finding an old scow sunk in the water, they raised it,
and by this means he got all the men with him over in safety. The
Colonel, Major, Adjutant and Surgeon of the regiment were captured
and carried to Richmond. Only nine of the twenty-two officers got
safely back across the river, and the six companies lost one
hundred and forty-five men in killed, wounded, and missing. For
his coolness, presence of mind, and resourcefulness in the
management of his command, Captain Bartlett was awarded the
warmest praise by his superior officers. The losses in the field
and staff left him second in command of the regiment for some six
months after the battle. He spent the remainder of the autumn and
the following winter in drilling his men and in perfecting them in
all the duties of the camp and field. He was a strict
disciplinarian and an accomplished drill master. At the same time
he was thoughtful of his men and watchful of their comfort and
welfare. The men became strongly attached to him and acquired that
confidence in his leadership so essential to the efficiency of a
regiment in the field. In the following spring, the Twentieth
regiment was a part of the army which went to the Peninsula under
General McClellan. The duty there was particularly disagreeable as
well as hard and dangerous. The weather was bad and the regiment
was largely engaged in picket duty at the extreme outpost of the
Union line. On the 24th of April, 1862, while in command of the
picket, Captain Bartlett was out on the extreme front and while
kneeling down and watching through his glass the movements of the
enemy, he was shot through the left knee, the ball destroying the
knee joint and shattering the bone for six inches below the knee.
His leg was immediately amputated four inches above the knee
joint, and Captain Bartlett's active service in the Twentieth
regiment was ended. He bore the operation with Spartan courage.
His single remark to a comrade standing by was, "It's rough,
Frank, isn't it?" This and nothing more. Captain Bartlett was
sent to Baltimore and later to his home in Massachusetts. He
rejoined his Harvard class in June and received his diploma with
the rest. Though still belonging to the Twentieth, in the
following September he was offered the command of the military
camp at Pittsfield, where the Forty-ninth regiment, a nine-months'
organization, was being formed. He accepted the commission and
entered upon the work of organizing and drilling the regiment with
his usual energy. So thorough was his service and so great was the
confidence he inspired that when the officers came to elect a
commander of the regiment, he received every vote cast and was
duly commissioned Colonel of the Forty-ninth. The regiment left
Massachusetts November 28, 1862, and on January 28th following was
ordered to New Orleans to join the army of General Banks. It had
an active part in the campaign against Fort Hudson. Colonel
Bartlett had brought it to a high state of efficiency and
notwithstanding his crippled condition he was its active commander
and led it in all its marches and campaigns. On Wednesday, May
27th, General Banks made his first disastrous assault on Fort
Hudson. The Forty-ninth was in General Augur's division and held
the center of the Union line. In front of the division there was
first about half a mile of felled timber and abattis, and between
the edge of the abattis and the rebel works was clear open ground.
Unwilling to let his regiment go into action without him, he led
it on horseback, being the only mounted man in the assaulting
columns. Colonel Bartlett had disapproved of the movement and
foresaw its failure, but his fears did not deter him although he
well knew that his own chances of escape were very small. His
regiment had got two-thirds across the slaughter pen, and just as
he was shouting to his men to keep closed up around the colors, he
was shot in two places. A buck shot struck his right leg and
glancing down passed out through the sole of his foot. At the same
instant a ball struck the joint of his wrist, shattering the
bones. He fell from his horse and was carried from the field. A
few days later, under a flag of truce for burying the dead, the
Confederate officers said to the Union commander in charge of the
burying detail, "Who was that man on horseback? He was a gallant
fellow, a brave man - the bravest and most daring thing we have
seen done in this war," and when told it was Colonel Bartlett,
they said, "We thought him too brave a man to be killed, and so we
ordered our men not to fire at him." The wound in his wrist proved
very painful and he came near losing his arm. Once, indeed, the
surgeons decided on amputation. Before they got ready to operate
it had become dark and Colonel Bartlett asked them if they could
not wait until morning, to which they assented. In the morning the
wound seemed better and they again deferred the operation and as
the improvement continued, it was never performed. Eventually the
wound fully healed, but the wrist was permanently stiffened, and
the use of some of the fingers of the hand was
impaired. Colonel Bartlett was taken after the battle to Baton
Rouge, where he remained about three weeks, and from there to New
Orleans. On July 23rd he sailed for New York, which he reached on
the 31st. Before he left the South he was offered the Colonelcy of
a colored regiment, which General Andrews was then forming, but
the offer was declined. The Forty-ninth reached Pittsfield on
August 22nd and on September 1st its officers and men were
mustered out of service, their term having expired. From this
time until the middle of April, 1864, Colonel Bartlett was in
Massachusetts recovering his health. He was offered, by Governor
Andrew, the Colonelcy of the Fortieth Massachusetts (colored)
regiment, then at Folly Island, Charleston Harbor. Previous to his
discharge from the Forty-ninth he had accepted a commission as
Colonel of the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Infantry, a three
years' regiment, and one of the four veteran regiments of the
State, which was then being raised. He was to recruit as well as
command the regiment. Governor Andrew told him that Secretary
Stanton had promised that he would be made Brigadier-General as
soon as the Fifty-seventh was full, though Colonel Bartlett at
this time was but little past twenty-three years old. By the
middle of April, 1864, the regiment was ready to take the field,
and on the 18th of April it left Worcester for Annapolis,
Maryland, and became a part of the first brigade, first division,
Ninth Army Corps, under command of General Burnside. The corps
joined the army of the Potomac just prior to the Wilderness
campaign. On the second day of the Wilderness fight, the 6th of
May, while leading his men, Colonel Bartlett was wounded just
above the right temple. He was stunned and taken to the rear and
sent to Washington. It was two months before he returned to duty.
In the meantime, on the 14th of June, 1864, he was commissioned
Brigadier-General of volunteers. From the time of his return until
July 30th he was with his division as the Brigadier-General
commanding the first brigade of Ledlie's division, Ninth Army
Corps. The troops, as well as the field and staff, were under
constant fire and both regiments and headquarter officers lost
heavily. At the battle of the Mine at Petersburg on the 30th of
July, General Bartlett's brigade led the charge into the crater.
His men met and broke the first and second lines of the enemy and
held on to the ground acquired where they fought for an hour, the
hostile lines being but only a few feet apart with only a breast
work between them. But at last, to save further slaughter, and all
hope of re-enforcement or rescue being gone, General Bartlett
surrendered to General Mahone, the Confederate commander. A shell
had knocked off a boulder of clay from the breast works which fell
on to General Bartlett's wooden leg, crushing it and killing the
man next to him. He was carried prisoner in an ambulance to
Petersburg, and the next day removed to Danville. He was without
food, drink, or shelter for two days and part of the time
delirious, such was his weakness and suffering. At Danville he was
placed in the hospital where he was made more comfortable, but was
still very ill. On the 7th of August he was sent to Richmond to be
exchanged and was placed in the hospital in Libby Prison, where he
remained until the 20th of September when he started for the
North. His exchange was effected at the special request of the
Secretary of War and was arranged for soon after his capture. The
delay in leaving the rebel lines was occasioned by lack of
transportation north. General Bartlett reached home in a feeble
condition, suffering not only from his wounds but from severe
attacks of prison fever. He passed the winter and spring in
Pittsfield. His health eventually so far improved that in April he
applied for duty. Nothing came of it for some time and he applied
again in May with a like result. In June, however, he was ordered
to report to the commander of the Ninth Corps. In July his
division was broken up, the troops being mustered out of service.
On October 18, 1865, he sailed for Europe and did not return until
the following June. In July, 1866, he was finally mustered out
after a service of five years. On October 14, 1865, he married
Mary Agnes, daughter of Robert and Mary (Jenkins) Pomeroy. She is
a lineal descendant of Eltweed Pomeroy, who came from England to
Dorchester on the ship Mary and John in 1630. Six children were
born of the marriage, of whom four survive, namely: Agnes Bartlett
Francis, Carolyn Bartlett Kidd, Edwin B. Bartlett, and Edith
Bartlett. In the year following his retirement from the army
General Bartlett purchased an interest in the paper mills at
Dalton, Massachusetts, and went there to reside. In 1868 he was
appointed treasurer and general manager of the Pomeroy Iron Works
at West Stockbridge, and returned to Pittsfield. His close
application to business and the exposure incident to the sudden
changes from heat to cold in his business affected his health
unfavorably and he was subject to attacks of diseases which had
their origin in his army troubles. In 1872, he made a second trip
to Europe, and was absent two months. On his return, he was placed
in charge of the Powhattan Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, an
enterprise financed by Northern capital, and he lived in Richmond
for three years, spending the summers in the North. He retained
this position until his death. A severe cold contracted in
Virginia in February, 1874, left him with a cough which was never
cured. His health steadily declined, though his activities did not
entirely cease until within a few months of his death. On
returning to civil life, General Bartlett began to take an active
interest and part in public affairs. His early sympathies with the
Democratic party disappeared amid the contests of the Civil War,
and up to 1866 he acted with the Republican party, but he was not
a radical and could not follow it in its Southern policy.
Eventually both parties sought his alliance and influence. In
1866, he was urged to accept the post of Collector of the Port of
Boston, but he refused, and the following year was named for
United States Marshal for the district of Massachusetts, but the
appointment was not made. He was also asked, in 1866, to accept a
nomination for Governor by the Constitution-Union party, but
refused to listen to the suggestion. The Republicans, in 1875,
urged him to accept the nomination for Governor, but he declined
this, and in the same year the Democratic party nominated him for
Lieutenant-Governor even after he had refused the use of his name.
This nomination he also declined. The only public position he
appears to have held was in 1872 when he was a member of the
Governor's staff. He did not act uniformly either with one party
or the other, but held himself strictly independent, supporting
that one which, for the time being, most nearly represented his
political views. In the liberal Republican movement of 1872 he was
deeply interested and his real party position at that time, and
both before and after, was substantially the same as that of the
men who led in that famous political episode. While deeply
absorbed in his business interests and closely watching the
political life of the time, he was frequently called upon to serve
as an orator on public occasions, particularly on occasions of a
patriotic character or relating to events growing out of the war.
He accepted these invitations, so far as his time and strength
would permit, and rather unexpectedly discovered to his friends a
remarkable gift of public speech. His addresses were thoughtful
and able and set forth the highest ideals of patriotic
citizenship. General Bartlett's later years were filled with
business care and responsibilities and they were years of
suffering most gallantly borne. The disease which fastened itself
upon him early in 1874 marched steadily forward and he died at
Pittsfield December 17, 1876, of consumption, at the age of
thirty-six years, six months and eleven days. The military
record of General Bartlett is hardly paralleled by that of any
other soldier of the Civil War. He entered the army in April,
1861, a private, and he left it after five years a brevet major
general. He was colonel of two different regiments, and at the age
of twenty-four was a brigadier-general. He was wounded four times,
lost a leg before he had been in service a year, and suffered all
the pains and deprivations of prison life. Neither the hardships
of the service, his intense suffering from wounds, imprisonment or
disease, chilled his patriotism or dampened the enthusiasm with
which he served his country. It was only when his command had been
mustered out and the cause for which he fought had won sweeping
victory, that he was ready to sheath his sword. He was the very
highest type of the patriotic citizen soldier. His was a
well-rounded life though it fulfilled hardly more than half of the
allotted three score years and ten. He died for his country as
truly as if he had perished on the field of battle, and no words
of the biographer can add to the impressive lessons, or exalt the
high example which his life conveys. In grateful remembrance of
his eminent service to his country, the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts has placed in the Memorial Hall of the State House a
fine bronze statue of General Bartlett, on the pedestal of which
is the following inscription: WILLIAM FRANCIS BARTLETT A
VOLUNTEER IN THE CIVIL WAR MAJOR GENERAL AT THE AGE OF TWENTY
FOUR FOREMOST TO PLEAD FOR RECONCILIATION BETWEEN NORTH AND
SOUTH BORN 1840 DIED 1876
FREDERICK
ORIN BASTON FREDERICK ORIN BASTON for many years identified
with the financial interests of the town of Natick, Massachusetts,
was a native of Bridgeton, Maine, where he was born January 14,
1852. He died August 11, 1913. His father was Hiram Baston, born
November 22, 1811, died December 13, 1883. His mother was Mary H.
Thompson. His grandfathers were Archibald Thompson and Jason
Baston, and his grandmother was an Emerson, cousin of Ralph Waldo
Emerson. The profession of his father was a wheelwright and in
later years a wool dealer. His marked characteristics were humor
and high sense of honor. The family is of English origin, the
family name upon the other side being Boston. Like many of the
substantial men of New England Mr. Baston's early life was passed
upon a farm and his earliest occupations were those connected with
farm life. He was fond of telling the story that when he was but
ten years of age he sawed and split ten cords of wood, hauled it
to the shed and piled it up unaided. That his religious
education was not neglected is shown in the fact that before his
tenth birthday anniversary he had read his Bible through in
course. His fondness for reading clung to him through life. Very
early he read Irving's "Life of Washington" and the heroes of the
American Revolution were very real persons to him. He attended
the public schools and the Academy at Bridgton, Fryeburg Academy
and Bowdoin College, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of
Arts in 1875. Three years later he received the Master's degree.
At once, upon graduation, he began a career as an educator in the
capacity of principal of the High School in North Berwick, Maine.
From this place he came to Massachusetts, settling at Natick where
for three years he was the principal of the High School. Then for
five years he occupied a similar position in the High School of
Wellesley. The year 1886 closed his career as an educator, for
in that year he became the assistant cashier of the Natick
National Bank. After three years in this position he became the
Treasurer of the Natick Five Cents Savings Bank in which position
he continued to the time of his death. He occupied a seat in the
School Committee of Natick for six years, and for nearly a score
of years was a Trustee of the public library of the town, known
under the name of the Morse Institute, and for a number of years
was its Treasurer. While not classed as a club man Mr. Baston
was connected with several organizations. In college he was a
member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. He retained his college
affiliations through membership in the Bowdoin Club of Boston. He
was a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club of Boston and of the
Heal Estate Exchange, of which last named organization he was a
member of the executive committee. His religious affiliations were
with the Congregational Church. In his summers Mr. Baston was fond
of returning to his native State of Maine and engaging in the
sport of fishing in the streams which flow through the thick woods
of those regions. July 7, 1884, Mr. Baston was united in
marriage with Mary Olive, daughter of Foster T. and Mary (Jones)
Hobbs, of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Baston have no
children. From his own experience and observation Mr. Baston
offered this suggestion to young Americans as to the principles,
methods and habits which he believed would contribute most to the
strengthening of sound ideals in our American life, and will most
help young people to attain true success in life : "Greater
respect for parenthood and a deeper affection for home life which
should be made surely as attractive as the outside world has to
offer." Mr. Baston's more private life kept in pace with his
public efforts. He mingled with his fellows in all the relations
of a friendly neighbor and a good citizen. He was enterprising in
endeavor, practical and sound in judgment, conscientious and
painstaking in all his actions, and cordial in his intercourse. He
was a friend unflinching, faithful and helpful. He gave to his
family life the best type of a loving and devoted
husband. Death came suddenly upon him when he was at the
fullness of his strength, and in the height of his usefulness, yet
the life which he lived was completed. His work was well done, for
he was a good and faithful servant.
JAMES ALEXANDER BILL JAMES ALEXANDER BILL,
for more than a quarter of a century prominently identified with
the Business, Social, Political, and Educational life of
Springfield, Massachusetts, was born April 16, 1852, at Lyme,
Connecticut. He died at his home in Springfield, Massachusetts,
July 15, 1909. He was the son of James Alexander Bill, born March
30, 1817, died February 1, 1900, and Ann Seiden Lord. His
paternal grandfather was Judge Lodowick Bill, born October 9, 1784
; he lived over four score years and died in Lyme, Connecticut.
The maternal grandfather was Joseph Lord of Lyme, Connecticut. His
paternal grandmother was Betsey Geer of Ledyard, Connecticut. His
maternal grandmother was Phœbe Burnham of Lyme,
Connecticut. James A. Bill's ancestors were of English origin,
the name being among the oldest in all England. It can be
traceable in Shropshire County alone for a period of 500 years.
The first of the family of whom we have special account was Doctor
Thomas Bill, born in Bedfordshire in 1490. He was an attendant
physician upon Princess Elizabeth, and was one of the physicians
to Henry VIII and Edward VI. The most conspicuous member of the
family in England was William Bill LL.D., born in Hertfordshire
about 1505. Many honorary degrees were conferred upon him. In
June, 1560, he was installed the first dean of Westminster, and
was the only person who ever held at the same time, the three
important positions of Master of Trinity, Provost of Eton, and
Dean of Westminster. He died in July, 1561, and was interred in
Westminster Abbey, where to-day his altar tomb can be found, and
an inscribed tablet to his memory. In 1613 there appeared in
London one John Bill, a printer for King James I. He published a
collection of the works of the King himself, of which only one
copy exists in this country, and it can now be seen in the New
York City Library. He printed Bibles and Prayer Books, and copies
of the New Testament. A number of these Bibles can be found in the
American Bible House in New York City, carefully preserved in a
prívate room, under lock and key. It is supposed he was the father
of John Bill, who with his wife, Dorothy, and several small
children, emigrated to this country before 1635. They settled in
Boston where the records show that John Bill died in
1638. Their oldest son, James, was born in England in 1615.
After the death of his father, the mother lived with him and
together they bought, in 1639 or 1640, a house and garden of
Robert Means on land which must have been on or near Sudbury
Street, and there they made their home. James Bill was buried in
Copps Hill Burying Ground, and when the history of the Bill family
was written, his gravestone was still standing. During the period
of revolutionary history, the descendants of this family
distinguished themselves in the patriot cause. James Alexander
Bill, was born and reared in a country town, his father having a
large farm on which he raised fancy stock, which he exhibited at
State and County fairs. The boy received his early education in
the public school which he supplemented by much home reading and
study. He had a strong desire to study law and would have done so
had he been able. Beside law and history, he was much interested
in finance and began the study of bookkeeping as a home study.
This was the beginning of his becoming an expert accountant in
later years. His home influences and surroundings tended toward
frugality, honesty and self-reliance. To stimulate these, the
father gave the boy in early life, hard manual tasks to perform on
the farm, obliging him to assume considerable responsibility in
directing and leading the men in his employ. In this way the youth
early learned habits of industry, faithfulness to duty,
tactfulness in dealing with men, and the value of money in its
use. The father strongly believed in giving the growing boy
regular tasks to perform, increasing in responsibility with his
years and also encouraging the habit of self-reliance in the
matter of providing his own spending money. When nineteen years
of age, he was engaged as clerk and purser on a freight and
passenger steamer running daily on the Connecticut River between
Hartford and Saybrook Point. He continued this for four summer
seasons thus earning the money to enable him to attend
Poughkeepsie Business College from which he graduated in the
spring of 1874. The following year Mr. Bill came to Springfield
as freight agent of the Connecticut Central Railroad at the time
the road was opened to traffic. A year later he entered the
employ of the Union Envelope Company as bookkeeper. When the Union
Envelope Company was consolidated in 1878 with the National
Papeterie Company Mr. Bill became bookkeeper of the combined
companies. He was a man of marked persistency and exceptional
business ability. Consequently he gradually rose to a position of
importance in the company. When P. P. Kellogg retired from the
firm Mr. Bill was made a member of the firm and later became
treasurer and manager of the corporation when it removed to its
present location at Orleans and Quincy Streets. Mr. Bill sold
his interests in the National Papeterie Company with the intention
of retiring from business, but he could not reconcile himself to
inactivity, and he became interested in the Springfield Knitting
Company, holding the office of Secretary, Treasurer and Manager at
the time of his death. He was also Secretary of the Blake
Manufacturing Company and was interested in the Rush Cutlery
Company till it was dissolved. Mr. Bill was an ardent worker in
the Royal Arcanum, being a member of Pynchon Council of
Springfield, but as a whole, he was not a club man and preferred
to make his home his club. In politics he was a Democrat and
one always in accord with the best interests of his party; a
conservative rather than a radical. He was unanimously indorsed
for the common council from Ward 2 by Democrats and Republicans
and held a seat in the council for five consecutive years. During
his term of service, he was the means of the City Government
appropriating money to make the use of the City Library free to
all residents. He was offered the mayoralty nomination of his
party several times, as he was offered other offices, but
declined, not caring for high office. He was a member of the fire
commission for three years and was for three years on the School
Board. He was a tireless worker in everything he undertook. Mr.
Bill was a member of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Aid Committee,
organized at the time of the Spanish-American War, for the purpose
of collecting and distributing money and needed supplies for the
use of the 2nd Regiment on their return from the war, and while in
temporary encampment at Montauk Point. Mr. Bill spent several days
with the soldiers, doing all in his power to relieve the sickness
and suffering among them. Upon their return he also cared for them
and their families, when necessary. Mr. Bill was an attendant
of the State Street Baptist Church giving freely of his time and
means, and was frequently one of the teachers of the young men 's
Bible class. Mr. Bill was married October 2, 1879, to Ella
Beckwith, daughter of Alfred P. and Sarah C. Beckwith, of Lyme,
Connecticut, and granddaughter of Andrew and Nancy (Hudson)
Beckwith, also of Lyme. The Beckwith family originated in
Scotland by the marriage of Sir Hercules de Malabisse, a
descendant of one of the Norman followers of William the
Conqueror, and Lady Dame Beckwith Bruce, daughter of Sir William
Bruce, who inherited a title and lands from his ancestor, Sir
Robert Bruce, the progenitor of the royal Bruces of
Scotland. Lady Beckwith Bruce inherited an estate called
"Beckwith" and because of a desire to perpetuate this name, the
husband was obliged to change his name for it, by a marriage
contract dated 1226. One branch of the family emigrated to this
country in 1687 and settled in Maryland. One Mathew Beckwith, a
descendant of another branch, came to this country in 1635 and
settled at Saybrook Point, at the mouth of the Connecticut River.
He is the ancestor of by far the larger number of the American
Beckwiths, and his descendants are to be found in every State of
the Union and Canada. Mrs. Bill descended from this line, direct.
Mr. and Mrs. Bill had one son, Raymond R. Bill, who is married and
lives in Springfield. In summarizing Mr. Bill 's business and
political career, sagacity was manifest in all concerns in which
he was called to act a part. In speaking of Mr. Bill, his wife
said : - "Upon his death, there was a passage of Scripture which
fastened itself upon my mind, as a thoroughly fitting eulogy,
namely : - "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith."
FREDERICK ADELBERT BISBEE In the village of
Nunda, Livingston County, New York, on February 28, 1855,
Frederick Adelbert Bisbee was born. His ancestors were English and
one Thomas Besbedge (Bisbee) was a passenger from England on the
ship Hercules, which landed at Scituate Harbor in 1634. Some
twenty-six of Dr. Bisbee's ancestors fought in the War for
Independence. His father, Hiram Alonzo Bisbee, was born July 12,
1826, died July 11, 1896. His mother's maiden name was Mary Jane
Hand. His grandfather Nahurn Bisbee was born July 14, 1790, died
August, 1864. The names of his grandmothers prior to marriage were
Maria Hollenbeck and Mary Jacoby. His father was a miller and
his most marked characteristics honesty of purpose and work, and
gentleness of spirit. The things which interested Frederick as a
lad were literature, nature and sports. His early life was spent
on a farm and he grew up amid the varying activities incident to
rural employment. He was "chore boy" in those early years, filling
out the full meaning of the phrase from day to day. His mother
exercised a strong influence upon him and he owes much to her
counsel and inspiration in the forming of his character. In
pursuing an education, young Bisbee had many difficulties to
encounter, the most emphatic being sickness and poverty. He
persevered until he gained for himself a place among thinking men,
a wide information and literary aptitude of no mean order. He read
with avidity books of travel and exploration and, so far as
possible, journeyed himself through this and other lands, thus
adding to his book knowledge the knowledge which comes from
observation and contact. The public schools of New York State
opened the door for his educational career and later he pursued a
special professional course in Tufts Divinity School, graduating
in 1877 with the degree of B.D. Twenty years afterwards his Amia
Mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of S.T.D. At the
age of fifteen, he learned the trade of printing and became a
reporter on the Binghamton, New York "Daily Times." Later he
entered the ministry of the Universalist Church, and was settled
in the pastorates of Spencer, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. New church edifices were built in both places during
his ministry. He also edited the monthly magazine "Today"
1894-1896 and became editor-in-chief of the Universalist Leader at
Boston, Mass., in 1898, thus entering the field of journalism
which for years had been his ideal lifework and from which he had
never allowed his mind to wander. Though the duties of these
various industries were many, he has found time to take interest
in affairs affecting the community in which he has lived. He has
been Library Commissioner at Spencer, 1879-1881, Chairman Finance
Commission 1906-1908, Chairman School Board 1909-1910, Arlington,
Massachusetts, Secretary Universalist State Convention,
Pennsylvania, 1885-1897; Member Executive Committee International
Council of Religious Liberals, 1907. He has written one book,
"A Summer Flight," an illustrated volume of travel, also various
booklets: "The Gospel for Today;" "What is Universalism?" "Key to
the Kingdom of Heaven;" "Why I am a Universalist," and "What It is
All for." In social and fraternal orders he has held membership
as follows: - Masonic order, Religious Education Association,
International Peace Union, Boston Press Club, Philadelphia
Contemporary Club, Tufts College Club, American Academy of Social
Science, National Liberal Club of London (Honorary), and the
National Geographical Society. In politics he is a Republican,
though he has voted independently when in his judgment candidates
have not represented the Republican party. Dr. Bisbee was first
married to Hannah T. Bradley 1880. From this union one child was
born, Marion. Mrs. Bisbee died in 1886. In 1891, the 28th of June,
Dr. Bisbee was married to Matty, the daughter of James and Martha
James Gaily, granddaughter of Judge George and Martha Abbot James,
and of John and Jane Gaily. Two children were born to them - John
Bancroft and Eleanor, both of whom are living. The advice which
this successful minister and journalist offers to young Americans
is this: "Know some trade well. Read much, write much and work
hard. Have for your ideals personal purity, honesty, patriotism
and religious convictions." If the youth of America should follow
this we need have no fear of American manhood in the days to
come.
HENRY WALKER
BISHOP HENKY WALKER BISHOP was born in Lenox, Berkshire
County, Massachusetts, June 2, 1829. He died at Sea-bright, New
Jersey, September 28, 1913. He was a son of Henry W. and Sarah
(Bulkeley) Bishop. His father was a lawyer of note and for many
years was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas; he died at a ripe
old age on April 13, 1871. His grandparents were Nathaniel Bishop
and Betsey Taintor. Henry W. Bishop, Junior's mother was a
daughter of Captain Charles Bulkeley. She was a woman of high
ideals whose influence for good was very strong upon the moral and
spiritual life of her family. Henry W. Bishop spent his boyhood
in Lenox, attending the public schools of the town and later
becoming a student at the Lenox Academy where he fitted for
college. He entered Williams College and after remaining there a
short time changed to Amherst College where he graduated in 1850.
He then attended the Harvard Law School and later continued the
study of law with his father, Judge Bishop. In 1856 he removed to
Chicago, Illinois, where he entered upon the practice of law,
continuing his residence and professional duties in that city for
upwards of half a century. Not long after Mr. Bishop settled in
Chicago, Judge David Davis, then the presiding judge of the
Federal Circuit, appointed him Master in Chancery for Chicago, and
he continued to hold this office until his death in 1913. It was a
position of honor and responsibility, requiring great judicial
acumen and thorough knowledge of law, and the fact that Mr. Bishop
administered the official duties of the office continuously for
nearly fifty years is ample proof that he was well fitted to hold
the position. Mr. Bishop was twice married. By his first
marriage he had a son, Henry Walker Bishop, 3rd, whom he almost
idolized. The son entered Williams College, and died while a
student there, in 1885. His second marriage was to Miss Jessica,
daughter of Colonel Robert Pomeroy, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Mrs. Bishop survives her husband, also their daughter, Jessica,
now Mrs. Spencer Turner of New York City. After his marriage to
Miss Pomeroy, Mr. Bishop bought the site of the Pomeroy Homestead
in Pittsfield. Later he purchased an estate nearby and built a
fine country seat which he and his family occupied every
summer. Mr. Bishop always kept up his interest in his native
town and was a member of the Lenox Club until his death.
Pittsfield received many benefits from his becoming a summer
resident there. Soon after the death of his son he built the Henry
W. Bishop, 3rd, Memorial Training School for Nurses. The structure
was completed in 1889 and presented to the House of Mercy
Corporation of Pittsfield. During the twenty-five years of its
existence, this useful and valuable memorial gift has proved of
ever increasing service to the citizens of Pittsfield and adjacent
towns. During his long residence in Chicago, Mr. Bishop was a
well known man in social, literary and professional circles. He
was a member, and during the World's Fair was President, of the
Chicago Club and for some years was a Director of Crerar Library
of Chicago. Mr. Bishop superintended the building of the Union
Club of Chicago and was its President for the first seven
years. The last year of Mr. Bishop's life was a year of well
earned rest. Among the many tributes to his memory the
following from Honorable William W. Gurley is here quoted: "It
was my privilege to be intimately acquainted with Mr. Bishop for
nearly forty years and I knew him as one man rarely knows
another. ''His estimable qualities of mind and heart appealed
to me from the very beginning of our acquaintance. "He was a
gentleman under all circumstances and all aggravations. He was
courteous, gentle and kind, without indecision of character. He
was frank and upright and no one ever doubted the sincerity of his
convictions, however unpopular they for the moment might be. Time
in almost every instance vindicated those convictions. He was
always just, and although there passed through his hands an
enormous volume of business involving the most diversified
interests and values running annually into millions of dollars, no
one ever suspected that he was influenced by any other
consideration than the desire that justice should be done to all.
Another distinguishing characteristic was his infinite patience,
which never failed him. "He occupied, for nearly half a
century, a high position of trust as Master in Chancery appointed
by the United States Circuit Court for the Northern District of
Illinois, and for many years was sole Master in Chancery in the
Northern Division of that District During that period thousands of
cases were referred to him for report upon both the facts and the
law and with very rare exceptions his reports were uniformly
accepted and approved by the courts and, what is still more rare,
were almost always accepted as right and just by the defeated as
well as the successful party. "I do not think Mr. Bishop ever
lost a friend whom he made, and his friendships were legion, as
the conduct of his office brought him in contact with thousands
whom the citizen in private life would not meet. He had the
absolute confidence of the judges of his court. He stood high in
the community in which he lived and his reputation for integrity,
ability and conscientiousness was excelled by none. Mr. Bishop had
the faculty, not vouchsafed to many, of attracting to himself the
respect, admiration and love of those with whom he was brought in
contact. He was dignified without being stiff or harsh. He
detested hypocrisy and sham, but never forgot the frailty of human
nature and the sympathy due to weaknesses and misfortune. He took
a lively interest in the well-being and welfare of others and
every impulse with him was a kindly one. "His life was an
exceedingly busy one and so continued until within a year of the
time of his death. "The example furnished by his industry,
devotion to duty, absolute integrity and courteous treatment
accorded to all alike, has fixed a high standard which his
successors may well emulate and which none will be able to
surpass. That example, especially to the young men of his
profession, for whom his sympathy was deep and toward whom his aid
was constant and helpful, has been and will continue to be of
incalculable benefit. The beneficent influence of his life will
not terminate with his peaceful repose in the quiet cemetery at
Lenox."
JOHN JOSIAH
BRIGHT JOHN JOSIAH BRIGHT is one of the Directors of the
Boston Elevated Railroad Company and has had experience in many
different occupations in life, which have given him that knowledge
of men and affairs so necessary for such a position. He was
born in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1832, his father being a
farmer and ice-dealer who was highly respected for his industry
and perseverance. His immigrant ancestors may be traced back to
Joseph Bright, who came over from England about 1639 and settled
in Watertown. As a boy he worked on his father's farm both
before and after school and received his education at the Hopkins
Classical School of Cambridge and in the Comers Commercial
College. He began the active work of life in Philadelphia as the
Manager of the Carpenter Ice Company, a choice to which he was
naturally led by his experience obtained in his father's business.
He has had some experience in newspaper work, having served on The
New York Mirror as a reporter, and has served in the militia for
twenty years as a private. His politics are Independent
Democrat. He is associated with the Unitarian denomination and
finds his chief relaxations in hard work and reading the
newspapers. The influence of his mother was particularly strong
on both his intellectual and spiritual life and he believes that
the work he did in school days was helpful in forming his
character. "HONESTY, TRUTH AND PERSEVERANCE," "EARLY TO BED AND
EARLY TO RISE" is the counsel he gives to young Americans who
would achieve true success in life. He was married on November
20, 1862, to Julia M., daughter of Captain Samuel and Julia
Sargent, and to them eight children were born. A varied
business experience extended over a series of years has enabled
Mr. Bright to grasp the details of many a business problem readily
as well as to act promptly when such action is needful, when
duties relating to a directorship in the Boston Elevated Railroad
Company are under consideration.
ELISHA DEWEY BUFFINGTON Born of strong New
England stock in Swansea, Massachusetts, on November 4, 1836,
Elisha Dewey Buffington was the sixth in descent from Thomas
Buffington, who came from Scotland to America probably soon after
1650, and settled at Salem. Thomas married Sarah Southwick, the
daughter and granddaughter of a Quaker. They seem to have escaped
persecution and lived a very quiet life at Salem. Benjamin, their
son, moved with his wife to Swansea about 1700. Family tradition
has it that about fifty families went from Salem to Swansea and
bought the titles to the land of the Indians as was the custom of
the Quakers. Benjamin Buffington had a deed which is now in the
possession of the family, and shows that he bought 300 acres of
land of Mr. Marcy, who was the only one of the settlers not a
Quaker. Eliaha Dewey Buffington was born and brought up on the
old Buffington homestead, originally purchased of King Philip and
which has been in the possession of the family for 200 years. One
of the family writes: - "The Buffingtons have all been Quakers
down to E. D. Buffington of Worcester, and he was a thorough
Quaker in principle, although a few years before his death he
joined the Unitarian Church, to which his wife
belonged." Elisha Buffington had the early training which came
to all New England farmers' sons of his generation. Performing the
usual round of work on a large farm, made him strong in body,
self-reliant in spirit, and gave him a sense of responsibility. He
went to the district school in his native town, and later, while
still a boy, worked on his father's farm in the summer, and
attended the Academy at Warren, Rhode Island, in the winter,
walking four miles to school and back every day. At the age of
eighteen, in 1854, he went to California by way of the Isthmus of
Panama. His stay in California was short, and he returned home by
way of Lake Nicaragua. We soon find him teaching school in
Lansing, Michigan, and at the same time studying for the practice
of medicine. As a summer excursion he walked from Michigan to
Pike's Peak and back. Finding himself not perfectly fitted for
the profession of medicine, he left Lansing, and returning to
Massachusetts, he entered a druggist's store in Fall River, where
he learned the business, which this time proved to be congenial,
and one in which he was to achieve success. In 1862 he bought
the drug store of William H. Goulding, in Worcester,
Massachusetts, where Buffingtons' store is at present, and started
in the drug business for himself. He married, November 4, 1867,
Charlotte Eaton Walker, daughter of Benjamin and Charlotte (Eaton)
Walker. Her father was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, but
lived most of his life in Worcester. Her mother, daughter of
Nathaniel Eaton, belonged to one of the best of the old Worcester
families. Mr. and Mrs. Buffington had no children. Mr. Buffington
died November 19, 1900, after a short illness at his home in
Worcester. In politics he was a stanch Republican, and was a
member of the Home Market Club of Boston. He was fond of travel
and had the means to gratify this taste. He made many trips
abroad, and brought home many artistic and interesting souvenirs
of his travels. His house is fitted with treasures collected on
his trips to other parts of the world. He was a liberal
contributor to the Worcester Art Museum Corporation. He was also a
member of the Society of Antiquity, the Tatnuck Country Club, the
Worcester Club, the Commonwealth Club, and a Director of the
Worcester Safe Deposit and Trust Company. Mr. Buffington was
attracted to outdoor life from boyhood and was an enthusiastic
sportsman, especially in fishing. He was a member of the Oquosic
Angling Club, composed of enthusiastic and regular anglers in the
Rangeley Lakes. He was practically the founder of the hatchery of
the Fish Commission at Wilkinsville, and had an earnest desire to
have Lake Quinsigamond properly stocked with fish. In 1893 he was
appointed a member of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Commission,
was very active in propagating and preserving fish and game, not
only in Worcester County, but throughout the State and was serving
his third term on the State Commission at the time of his
death. There could be no better or more appreciative tribute to
the character of Elisha Dewey Buffington than that published in
the Worcester Spy of November 20, 1900, from the pen of one of his
closest and dearest friends, Col. E. B. Stoddard: - "He belonged
distinctly to that class of men, who, without early advantages of
education, have by their own native intelligence and energy made
their way to recognized positions of prominence and influence in
the community. Mr. Buffington began at the bottom of the ladder,
so far as worldly advantages are concerned, but was not destined
to stay there. He was gifted with rare common sense and quick
insight, and easily took in the essential conditions of any
situation. Success was no accident with him. He saw the path to
it, and followed it with the necessary self-denial and persistence
to accomplish his object. Whether in the accumulation of property
or the keeping of it by judicious investment, his judgment was
always of the soundest. But though he thus acquired a large
competence, he was by no means a mere money getter. He knew not
only how to get it, but how to spend it. He always looked upon
money as a means, not as an end. He had a large range of interests
and was constantly engaged in making investigations into many
subjects. His knowledge of nature of plants and animals especially
was wide and accurate. Perhaps no man in this community had a
better command of everything relating to game, not only the haunts
and habits, but the game lanes and usages and the best method of
propagation and protection. He had also a genuine interest in art,
not merely of American and European art and artists, but various
forms of art in the East, where he traveled extensively and
observed intelligently. His large collection contains not only
pictures of unusual merit and high value, but also tapestries,
ceramics and other objects of rare excellence. His taste in this
direction was fully shared and greatly assisted by his
accomplished wife. Even in his recreations, as whist and chess, he
was not content with any superficial practice of the game, but
always wanted to go to the bottom of it and find its underlying
mathematical principles. Above all, Mr. Buffington was a steadfast
friend and genial companion, and it is his cheerful, loyal and
affectionate disposition that will be longest remembered by those
who knew him best."
ALFRED
BUNKER ALFRED BUNKER, an eminent teacher in the public
schools of Boston, after a devoted service of forty-five years in
that city, the last twenty-five years of which period he was
master of the Quincy School, having reached the age limit, was
retired in 1909, and became "Master Emeritus." He was born in
Nantucket, Massachusetts, on the 14th of February, 1838. His
father was James Madison Bunker (1811-1873), a lawyer who had been
a teacher for several years, and who was a Register in Bankruptcy
for Bristol County and Judge of Probate in Nantucket. The
immigrant ancestor, was George Bunker, who came from England some
time between 1640 and 1650, and settled in Topsfield,
Massachusetts. This George Bunker was a son of William Bunker (Bon
Coeur) of Nantes, France, who was driven to England by religious
persecution. The mother was Sarah West, daughter of Paul West.
Other immigrant ancestors were Thomas Chase, who settled in
Hampton, New Hampshire, in 1638; Peter Folger, Martha's Vineyard,
1635; Christopher Hussey, Lynn, 1632; and Tristram Coffyn,
Newbury, 1642; all from England. Both grandfathers, Paul West
(1778-1862) and Reuben Bamsdell Bunker (1775-1855), were
distinguished for their enterprise and success as captains of
whale ships, in the days when the whaling industry was most
prosperous in Nantucket. As a boy, Alfred Bunker, displayed no
special tastes or interests which appear to have had any marked
influence on the course of his later life. An active, observant
lad living with well-to-do parents in a busy seaport town has the
best of opportunities for training in practical things; and these
opportunities young Bunker did not neglect He had, as he says, an
early bent for a mechanical occupation a bent which he did not
wholly outgrow, which very likely accounts for the fact that, when
manual training became a part of the regular school work in
Boston, this new branch of instruction was more heartily
appreciated and more intelligently managed in his school than it
was in many others. In boyhood and youth he enjoyed the advantages
of the very excellent schools of Nantucket. After finishing
courses in the High School and in the Coffin School (an endowed
academy in Nantucket) he became a teacher for a short time in a
private school; and then entered the State Normal School at
Bridgewater to prepare for his chosen profession. After graduation
he taught town schools in Attleboro, West Bridgewater, North
Bridgewater, Chilmark, Hingham, and Quincy. Five years of such
experience as this, gave him a good preparation for a
submasterahip in the Boston schools. As sub-master, Mr. Bunker
served twenty years (1864-1884) in the Quincy School and in the
Comins School; with a short interval of service in the High
Schools of Weymouth and Somerville and as Master twenty-five years
in the Quincy School, retiring in 1909. He maintained high
ideals of thoroughness and accuracy in school work, exercised a
vigorous but just discipline over his school, and evoked the loyal
support of his corps of assistants by evincing an ever ready
spirit of helpfulness to them in their difficulties and trials.
The feeling of his teachers and associates towards Mr. Bunker were
pleasantly demonstrated by a banquet and presentation at. the time
of his much regretted retirement. Aside from his unstinted
devotion to his school, Mr. Bunker has displayed untiring industry
in the promotion of the professional interests of teachers. He was
for six years the Secretary, and for six years the Treasurer of
the Massachusetts State Teachers' Association. He was
indefatigable in his efforts, with others, to secure the enactment
of the law creating the Boston Teachers' Retirement Fund
Association; and since the organization of that association, in
1900, has been the industrious Secretary of its Board of
Trustees. Mr. Bunker lives in Roxbury, is the senior deacon of
the First Church there, and consequently is a Trustee of the
Roxbury Latin School. He is a life member of the American
Unitarian Association, a member of the Unitarian Club, a member,
and for three years President of the John Eliot (Church) Club, a
member of the Massachusetts Schoolmasters' Club, a member and for
three years President of the Sons and Daughters of Nantucket, a
member and for two years President of the Chase-Chase Family
Association, a Vice President of The Massachusetts Civic Alliance,
a Director of the John Howard Industrial Home for Discharged
Prisoners, a member of the Unitarian Temperance Society, and a
member of various other philanthropic and civic
associations. He has always been a Republican in politics, and
an active participant in local affairs. He married, August 15,
1864, Cordelia Mitchell, daughter of John Simpkins and Lydia
(Samson) Barker, a descendant from Robert Barker, who came from
England some time between 1640 and 1650, probably. Of three
children born to them, the one now living is Clarence Alfred
Bunker, A. B. (Harvard, 1889), A.M., LL.B., a Boston
lawyer. Mr. Bunker's earnest words of advice to young Americans
are: "I would urge upon all young Americans to set a high value
upon personal character founded upon high principles followed with
unswerving integrity, to mark their lives with indomitable
industry even amid discouragements, to manifest a generous public
spirit; if employed, to be thoroughly loyal to the interests of
their employers, and if employers, to be heartily considerate of
the interests of those whom they employ."
WILLIAM JOHN BURKE WILLIAM JOHN BURKE was
born November 18, 1837, in St. John, New Brunswick. His parents
were passengers on a sailing ship bound from Ireland to the United
States. The ship was forced to make a harbor at St. John through
stress of weather. While still an infant, his parents moved to
Boston, where, after receiving an elementary education, he
obtained employment first in a sawmill, then as a teamster, and
soon after was an apprentice in a boiler shop. As he gradually
acquired a knowledge of the practical part of boiler construction,
he realized the necessity for an education if he were to master
his trade, and while still in his teens began a systematic study
of mathematics and mechanical drawing. How well he succeeded not
only in his studies but in his work is shown by the fact, that at
the age of twenty-one years he was made foreman over 200 men in
the Charlestown Navy Yard. In 1868 he accepted a position as
foreman of the Erie Basin Iron Works, Brooklyn, New York,
remaining there until 1869, when he accepted the position of
Superintendent of the Boiler Department for the Woodruff &
Beach Iron Works, Hartford, Connecticut, at that time one of the
largest concerns of its kind in the United States. There he
remained until 1872, when he engaged in business for himself,
retiring, however, after a few years, on account of the great
business and financial depression of that period. For many
years thereafter, he was engaged in the grocery and provision
business in East Boston, relinquishing the business to other
members of his family to accept the position of Inspector of
Elevators and Buildings for the City of Boston. Here he labored
until 1887, when the Directors of the East Boston Ferries
prevailed upon him to accept the office of Superintendent of the
East Boston Ferries. The new duties which he assumed were executed
and his work performed with the same high degree of honesty, care,
skill and efficiency, which had marked all his previous endeavors.
He retired in 1895. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Burke led
a very active and buqy life in his various charges, he still found
time to interest himself in public affairs. In 1876 he was elected
a member of the Boston Common Council, and served in that capacity
three terms. In 1879, '81, and '82, he served as a Representative
to the General Court from East Boston, speaking on many important
measures and earning the confidence and respect of all, regardless
of political belief. In early life, he showed a decided fondness
for oratory and literature, and was an omnivorous reader. For many
years he spoke throughout the Commonwealth in the interest of
political candidates, and was widely known as an eloquent and
convincing speaker. During the formative period of the old Irish
Land League in Massachusetts, he gave unselfishly of purse, time,
and voice, in behalf of the movement, and was instrumental in
establishing many new branches of the League. Having rounded
out a long life in the exercise of those virtues which win the
generous regard of our fellow-citizens, he passed away, leaving
behind him a legacy of simple faith, of unbroken loyalty to duty,
of conscientious tolerance for the sincere convictions of others,
even when opposed to him, of unfaltering belief in the
effectiveness of lofty ideals, of tireless service for the welfare
of the city he loved, and of generous help in all movements that
helped either to lighten the burdens of the bread-winner or to
brighten the pathway of the toiler.
ALBERT WILLIAMS BURTON ALBERT WILLIAMS
BURTON was a man whose usefulness as a citizen has made him worthy
of commemoration. The men who in the prime of manhood were active
in the heroic period when the nation was struggling for its very
existence, especially deserve that a lasting record should embalm
their names and tell the story of their lives. Albert Williams
Burton was born in Foster, Rhode Island, December 19, 1831, and
died at Buttonwood, Rhode Island, July 24, 1909. He was the oldest
child of Elliot Lee and Bernice (Williams) Burton. His father was
born in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, October 20, 1803, and his mother
at Foster, Rhode Island, November 8, 1806. His mother had for her
pioneer ancestor no less a personage than Roger Williams. The
subject of this sketch, therefore, was a descendant, in the eighth
generation, of the founder of Rhode Island and first and foremost
exponent in America of the theory of the absolute freedom of the
individual in matters of religion. In his childhood Mr.
Burton's educational opportunities were limited to the district
school three months in summer and three months in winter until he
was twelve years of age, and for four years thereafter to the
winter terms only. When sixteen years of age his parents moved to
East Killingly, Connecticut, where for six months he worked in the
cotton mills, and then on a farm, in Gloucester,
Connecticut. At the age of eighteen he shipped on a whaling
voyage, bound for the Arctic seas, on the ship Ocean, Captain
Smith. On this voyage he encircled the globe, his ship touching at
the Azores, Sandwich Islands, Hong Kong, and Japan. He spent
altogether thirteen years at sea, making numerous voyages along
the Atlantic coast. At the close of his experience as a sailor he
was mate of the ship Mary J. Mifflin, engaged in carrying supplies
for the army of General McClellan. Leaving the sea, he enlisted
in the Fourteenth Massachusetts Battery, at Wrentham, February
20,1864, and saw much hard and honorable service. He participated
in the battles of the Wilderness, New River, Spottsylvania, North
Anna River, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Deep Bottom,
the Crater and Trenches at Petersburg, Fort Steadman, and at the
fall of Petersburg. He received an honorable discharge, July 15,
1865, and was mustered out at Readville. At the close of the war
he returned to his home, and engaged with the jewelry
manufacturing business of H. F. Barrows, at North Attleboro,
Massachusetts. Acquiring a thorough mastery of this trade, he
went to Plainville, Massachusetts, and for two years was in the
employ of Lincoln, Tiffany & Bacon. In 1872 the Plainville
Stock Company was organized for the manufacture of specialties in
jewelry, and Mr. Burton was one of the incorporators. This company
was a success from the beginning, and never more so than at the
time when Mr. Burton retired, March 26, 1909, to enjoy the rest
called for by his advancing age. He attended the Methodist
Church at Plainville and gave liberally to its support. The organ
of this church was his gift. He was a member of George H. Mantein
Post, No. 133, G. A. R., and served as senior and vice-commander,
and as quartermaster many years. He married at Wrentham, June 22,
1857, Mary Ellis, daughter of Edward Renouf and Susanna Dale
Bennett, and granddaughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Randall. Of
their five children, three are living, vis.: Albert Edward, who is
a jeweler; Maria Lincoln (Burton) Noble, and Bernice Elliot
(Burton) Hatch. Mr. Burton was genial and lovable as a man. He
knew how to bring comfort and relief to many a poor heart and
aching mind and body. His life was a noble one. It had earned for
itself ample appreciation before it closed, and it ended in honor.
He left a record of good deeds which will remain always a fond and
living memory in the hearts of all who knew him.
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