Archive:One of a Thousand
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John Clark Rand, One of a Thousand: A Series of Biographical Sketches of One Thousand Representative Men Resident in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, A.D. 1888-'89 (Boston, MA: First National Publishing Company, 1890).
[p. 3]
[Charles Follen Adams (1842-?)] received a common school education, and leaving the grammar school in Dorchester at fifteen years of age, went as a boy into the well-known house of N. D. Whitney & Co., Boston, to learn the business. He was afterwards salesman in the same house, then went into business for himself with John D. Clapp, under the firm name of J. D. Clapp & Co.
[p. 18]
ALLEN, THOMAS, son of Thomas and Anne C. (Russell) Allen, was born October 19, 1849, at St, Louis, Mo.
He was educated at the high school, Pittsfield, Mass., at the Williston Seminary, Easthampton, and then entered the Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., after which he studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, at Düsseldorf, Germany, where he graduated from the master class in 1878, and afterward studied three years in France.
He first exhibited his work in New York, at the National Academy of Design, in 1877, and has been represented in the National Academy at almost every exhibition since then. In 1882, and several times since, he exhibited pictures at the Paris Salon.
He returned to this country in 1882, and in 1884 was made an associate of the National Academy of Design. In 1880 he was elected a member of the Society of American-Artists. His specialty is landscape and animal painting.
After nearly ten years of foreign study, he opened his studio in the Pelham Studio on Boylston Street, Boston; not finding it sufficiently commodious, however, and meeting with marked success as a painter, he purchased a house on Commonwealth Avenue, in 1883, for a permanent home, and there built a large studio at the top of the house which he now occupies.
Mr. Allen was first married in 1880, in Northampton, to Eleanor the, daughter of Prof. J. D. and Louisa (Goddard) Whitney of Cambridge, who left him one child: Eleanor Whitney Allen. In 1884, in Boston, Mr. Allen married Alice, daughter of Hon. Ambrose A. and Maria (Fletcher) Ranney, of Boston. Their only child is Thomas Allen, Jr.
Mr. Allen is president of the Paint and Clay Club, vice-president of the Boston Art Club, patron of the Metropolitan Museum, N. Y., and a member of the permanent committee of the School of Drawing and Painting at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
[p. 102]
CARR, Alonzo AUGUSTUS, was born June 7, 1836, in Hudson, Middlesex county.
His early education was received in the common schools of Fitchburg and Ashby, with the exception of one term in New Ipswich Academy.
While a young man, he taught school in the towns of Gardner and Ashby. He held a clerkship in Beaufort and Charleston, S. C., from 1864 to 1866. In 1866 he, with Henry C. Wilder, bought of R. S. Simonds, in Ashby, a tub and pail manufactory, under the firm name of Carr & Wilder, continuing in business together until 1881. He has since carried on the business alone.
Mr. Carr was married in Ashby, January 12, 1870, to Hattie M., daughter of William and Fanny L. Whitney. This union has been blessed with a family of six children: Blanche L., Bertha G., Helen F., Lawrence Whitney, Arthur W., and Myron A. Carr.
Mr. Carr served as representative to the General Court in 1874 and 1883. He has been selectman, town clerk, and superintendent of schools. He is president of the Soldiers' Memorial Association, and has been a member of the church finance committee, and an officer in the Sabbath-school of the Congregational church, of which he is a member.
Mr. Carr enlisted in the ist Massachusetts cavalry, September 25, 1861, and served three years in North and South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia. He was in Gen. Grant's army at the siege of Petersburg, Va., and was subsequently honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of service.
His father and mother are living, the former aged eighty and the latter seventy-five.
Mrs. Carr's father is still living at the advanced age of ninety-one, and is father of Myron W. Whitney, the celebrated basso of Boston.
The subject of this sketch, with his wife, brother, sister and aged parents, all living quite near each other, may be mentioned as a pleasant family circle, exceptionally beloved in each other's life.
[p. 106]
His educational training was acquired in his native town, with the exception of two terms in Master Whitney's then well-known evening school in Harvard Place, opposite the Old South Church, in the city of Boston.
[p. 156]
[Frederick Augustus Currier (1851-?)] was connected with Whitney Opera House for three years, as business manager.
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[James Robert Dunbar (1847-?)] . . . . In 1874 he formed a partnership with M. B. Whitney, of Westfield, in the practice of law, having previously studied with him and having spent six months at the Harvard law school.
[p. 219]
FLETCHER, Daniel W., son of Rufus R. and Sarah M. (Whitney) Fletcher, was born in Groton (now Ayer), Middlesex county, Feb. 1, 1852.
His early education was limited to district schools. At the age of thirteen, his father needing the aid of his boy's hands to contribute to the family support, he secured work in R. T. Bartlett's clothing store. He attended school the following winter, and the fall and winter of 1866-'07 at Lawrence Academy, Groton, working in the store nights and mornings, and during vacations.
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In the spring of 1867 Mr. Bartlett took him as apprentice to learn the trade of custom-cutting. He learned his trade in the five years following, and took charge of the business, working until September, 1879, making nearly fourteen years in the same employ.
In the summer of 1879 he bought out the stock of a general clothing and furnishing goods, boot and shoe store in Ayer, in company with E. D. Stone, under the firm name of Fletcher & Stone, where he still continues the business.
In 1874 Mr. Fletcher was married to Emma A. Phelps of Ayer. They have four children: two sons und two daughters.
In 1881 he was made a director of the Townsend National Bank, receiving deposits at Ayer. He helped to organize the First National Bank of Ayer, and on November 1, 1883, was chosen vice-president and one of the directors. In 1885 he helped to organize a savings bank in Ayer, called the North Middlesex Savings Bank, and was chosen trustee and auditor.
Some of the public interests of the town are usually in his hands, and he is treasurer of several private organizations.
[p. 245]
[William Gaston (1820-?)] first practiced law in Roxbury, in 1846, continuing there until 1865, when he removed his office to Boston and formed a partnership with the Hon. Harvey Jewell and Hon. Walbridge A. Field, under the firm name of Jewell, Gaston & Field. In 1875 he dissolved connection with this firm, and after carrying on the law business for a time alone, formed a partnership, in October, 1879, with C. L. B. Whitney, under the firm name of Gaston & Whitney. Mr. Gaston's son was added to the firm in 1883, the firm name remaining unchanged.
Mr. Gaston was married on May 27, 1852, at Roxbury, to Louisa A., daughter of Laban S. and Frances A. (Lines) Beecher of Roxbury, both natives of New Haven, Conn., and descendants of the first settlers of the New Haven (Conn.) colony. They have had three children: Sarah Howard, William Alexander and Theodore Beecher Gaston, the latter dying in 1869.
[p. 275]
HALL, James Morris Whiton, son of Samuel Whitney and Margaret Bass (Knowlton) Hall, was born in Boston, September 28, 1842.
Lyman school, East Boston, Boston Latin school, and Roxbury Latin school furnished the advantages for his education.
He began business life as clerk with the house of Edward D. Peters & Co., who were succeeded by George H. Peters & Co., and after dissolution, the present firm of Wellman, Hall & Co., wholesale lumber merchants. Mr. Hall is at the present time the head of the Boston house.
He was married in West Medford, June 23, 1868, to Orianna Antoinette, daughter of Horace A. and Sarah (Smith) Breed. Eight children have blessed this union: Alice Knowlton, Marion Breed, Helen Whitney, Orianna Phillips, James Randolph, Stanley Breed, Henry Bass, and Horace Whitney Hall.
[p. 276]
Mr. Hall has been superintendent of the Shepard Sunday-school eight years, and is deacon of the Shepard Memorial (First Congregational church), Cambridge ; was trustee of Cambridge Savings Bank four years ; is director Howard National Bank, Boston; president Cambridge Club ; president Bay .State Lumber Association ; was president Congregational Club, Boston, in 1885 ; is trustee Sunday-school Publishing Society ; member advisory board, Avon Place Orphan Home, Cambridge ; director of Congregational Union. He was a member of the Cambridge board of aldermen in 1879, and was in 1880 elected the city mayor. He is now a member of its board of water commissioners.
Mr. Hall has long been identified with the Republican party and was a presidential elector in 1880 on the Garfield and Arthur ticket.
Mr. Hall settled in Cambridge after his marriage. His father's maternal ancestor, Mary Hall, settled in Cambridge in 1639, where lands were granted her. Her sons settled in Medford, where her descendants are now found, and in Cornish, N. H., from which place his father came to Boston about 1817. His mother's ancestor, Joseph Bass, married Ruth .\hlen, daughter of John Alden, and settled in Braintree and Boston, where his mother's ancestors have always since lived, and several of whom were prominently identified with the revolutionary war.
[NOTE: Samuel Whitney Hall was son of Moody and Lois (Harrington) Hall, grandson of Samuel and Lois (Whitney) Harrington, and great-grandson of Nathaniel and Mary (Child) Whitney.--RLW]
[p. 283]
HARDY, John Henry, son of John and Hannah (Farley) Hardy, was born in Hollis, Hillsborough county, N. H., February 2, 1847.
He attended the Hollis common schools, fitted for college at Appleton Academies at Mount Vernon, N. H., and New Ipswich, N. H. He entered Dartmouth College, 1866, and was graduated 1870, working his way by teaching during vacations. He attended Harvard law school, studied law with R. M. Morse, Jr., Boston, while he was engaged in teaching in Chauncey Hall school, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar, January, 1872.
Mr. Hardy formed a partnership with George W. Morse, the firm name being Morse & Hardy. This relation continued two years, after which he formed a partnership with Samuel J. Elder and Thomas W. Proctor, the firm name being Hardy, Elder & Proctor, which continued until his elevation to the bench, May, 1885, when he was appointed associate justice of the municipal court of the city of Boston. This position he still holds. His appointment was eminently a wise one, as his mental balance better fits him for the bench than the bar.
He enlisted at fifteen years of age in the 15th regiment, New Hampshire volunteers, and was at the siege of Port Hudson.
Judge Hardy was married in Littleton, August 30, 1871, to Anna J. Conant, a lineal descendant of Roger Conant, who first settled at Salem, in colonial days, and who was the daughter of Levi and Anna Whitney (Mead) Conant. Of this union are two children: John H., Jr., and Horace D. Hardy.
Judge Hardy was elected to the House of Representatives from the Arlington district, 1883, and was counsel for the town of Arlington, 1873 to '85. He is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He worships with the Unitarian Society.
[NOTE: Anna Whitney (Mead) was daughter of Abraham and Lucy (Kimball) Mead, and granddaughter of Oliver and Anna (Whitney) Mead.--RLW]
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ARTHUR GAYLORD HILL (1841-?) is president of the Whitney Safety Fire Arms Company.
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LEIGHTON, NICHOLAS WINFIELD SCOTT, son of Nicholas and Deborah (Whitney) Leighton, is a native of Auburn, Androscoggin county, Maine, moved from there at two years of age, and was educated at the common and high schools of Gray, Maine. He early gave evidence of talent, and attracted the attention of his parents and teachers by devoting to drawing much time that ought to have been occupied with his regular lessons. His especial taste was for sketching horses.
From the age of fourteen till about seventeen, he was in the habit of purchasing young horses, which, after breaking in, he would sell at a considerable profit. In this way, by the time he was seventeen, he had made from sixteen to eighteen hundred dollars, with which he started for Portland, Me.
He first commenced by painting the portraits of horses for private parties, but as he only received two dollars and a half for his first commission, he did not feel much encouraged, so went to Providence, R. I., where he engaged in the artistic furniture trade, which he quickly picked up without any previous knowledge. This work was paid for by the piece, and young Leighton worked so industriously that some days he earned something over seventeen dollars. Upon the failure of the firm, Mr. Leighton traveled through different states, painting portraits of horses. He finally settled in Boston, and from a portrait painter of horses, he became one of the most famous animal painters of the day.
It is very evident that among the true causes of this artist's success is not only his conscientious devotion to art, but also his inborn love of animals. He is a member of the Art Club, and has been not inaptly called the "Landseer of the United States."
Among his best-known productions may perhaps be named "In the Stable," "Three Veterans," "Smuggler," "On the Road," "The Pet," "Waiting," "Dogs," and "The Fearnaught Stallions."
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Joseph Henry Mansfield was married in Poultney, Vt., September 6, 1865, to Pamelia S., daughter of Eli B. and Sarah (Hyde) Murray. Of this union were five children: Mabel S. (deceased), Frederick Joseph Hallett, George Whitney, Eliza Chamberlain, and Grace Murray Mansfield.
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[Michael Joseph McEttrick (1846-?)] was graduated from the Roxbury Latin school, with honor. He immediately entered the office of Charles Whitney, the city engineer of Roxbury, and has ever since been connected more or less with that line of study and work.
[p. 407]
MERR1AM, Artemas, son of Joel and Polly (Farnsworth) Merriam, was born in Westminster, Worcester county, July 21, 1818. He received a common school education.
His first connection in business was in 1844, but previous to this he liad worked four years at tub-making. Changing to the manufacture of settees and chairs in 1844, he started a small business, employing only one or two hands. In 1848 he removed to South Westminster, where he now resides, and formed a co-partnership with George Holden, under the firm name of Merriam & Holden. Increase of business necessitated the enlargement of their manufacturing capacity, and in 1859 they took in another partner, Joel Merriam — firm name Merriam, Holden & Co. Business still increased, and in 1867 a larger factory was built. In November, 1869, he was burned out. He rebuilt and enlarged his business. In 1873 Joel Merriam died, and the death of the other partner, Mr. Holden, occurred soon after. Since that time Mr. Merriam has conducted the business alone, giving employment to a large number of his fellow-townsmen.
Mr. Merriam was married in Westminster, June 8, 1841, to Salome, daughter of Asa and Dolly (Whitney) Holden. Of this union were six children : Stilman F., Laura, Mary Ella, Ida Eliza, Willie, and Nellie Merriam.
Mr. Merriam was a representative to the General Court, 1878, and has been selectman and overseer of the poor for several years.
[p. 443]
NOURSE, Henry Stedman, son of Stedman and Patty (Howard) Nourse, was born in Lancaster, Worcester county, April 9, 1841.
He studied in the common schools, in Lancaster Academy, and was for two terms in the Leicester Academy. Then he entered Harvard College and graduated in the class of 1853, receiving the degree of A. M. in 1855.
For a year after graduation he was professor of ancient languages at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and for three years thereafter he was principal of the academy at Taunton.
In 1857 he abandoned teaching for the profession of civil engineering, and entered the office of Whitwell & Henck, of Boston, by whom he was engaged upon the Back Bay improvements at their inception. In 1859 he was employed in building the extension of the Delaware Railroad, and after the war in building the Eastern Shore Railroad of Maryland, and the Susquehanna Bridge.
As resident engineer, in 1866, '67 and '68, he built the Pennsylvania Steel Works, near Harrisburg, Pa., and was superintendent of them until 1874. They were the second steel works to successfully manufacture Bessemer steel in the United States, and they still rank as among the largest in the country.
On the 12th of September, 1870, at Lancaster, Mr. Nourse was married to Mary B. (Whitney) Thurston, daughter of John and Mary B. (Holt) Whitney. Their only children died in infancy.
Mr. Nourse is a member of the American Antiquarian Society. During the rebellion he served in the 55th Illinois infantry as adjutant. He was wounded at Shiloh, was promoted to captain in 1862, appointed commissary of musters 1864, and was mustered out in 1865, after participating in many battles. He was representative from the 5th Worcester district in 1883, and senator in 1885 and '86. He was made trustee of the Worcester Lunatic Hospital in 1888, and has held many local town offices.
His present residence is in Lancaster, where he spends his time in cultivating a small farm, and in writing. He is the author of "Early Records of Lancaster," "The Story of the 55th Regiment, Illinois Infantry," "A History of Lancaster and Clinton," and "Military Annals of Lancaster."
Mr. Nourse is a lineal descendant of Rebecca Nourse, who was hung as a witch, at Salem, in 1692.
[p. 492]
Frederick O. Prince was prepared by Abel Whitney for the Boston Latin school, which he entered in 1827, graduating in 1832, receiving the Franklin medal and ...
[p. 508]
RICE, CHARLES J., son of Benjamin and Lucy (Whitney) Rice, was born in New Gloucester, Cumberland county, Maine, July 2, 1832.
The common schools gave him his early education. He finished his school life in
[p. 509]
the Winchendon and Leicester academies. He was a teacher in the public schools of Massachusetts for twelve years.
In 1861 he began his business career as a lumber dealer, in the firm of Bigelow, Wynian & Rice. A change in the firm occurred in 1869, to Raymond, Forristall & Rice, and in 1872, Mr. Forristall having deceased, the firm became Raymond & Rice — the name of the present company.
Mr. Rice was married, February 1, 1872, to Sarah M., daughter of George and Miranda (Moore) Cummings. They have no children.
From 1862 to '71 Mr. Rice held the position of deputy collector of internal revenue for what was then the 9th congressional district, comprising northern Worcester and Franklin counties. He has been a director of the First National Hank from 1865 to the present time. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1885 and '86. He has been a member of the Winchendon school board for several years, and at present is its chairman.
[p. 510]
RICE, WILLIAM W., son of Rev. Benjamin and Lucy (Whitney) Rice, was born in the old historic town of Deerfield, Franklin county, March 7, 1826.
His collegiate education was acquired at Bowdoin, from which he was graduated in the class of 1846. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by his alma mater in 1886.
After graduating he spent four years as a preceptor in the far-famed Leicester Academy, and in 1851 commenced the study of law in the office of Emory Washburn, then in full practice in Worcester. After the usual course of three years' study lie was admitted to the bar, and from the first year of his professional life to the present time he has been a diligent and conscientious practitioner. His courtesy of manner, deference to the court, and fairness in judicial practice have contributed not a little to his success as an advocate.
He has been constantly called by his fellow-citizens to lili positions of honor, trust and responsibility. In the municipal administration of Worcester he has served in various capacities, particularly in those connected with educational interests. In 1860 he was mayor of Worcester. In the capacity of special justice of the police court, and as an occupant of the bench of the county court of insolvency, his course met witli marked approval.
In 1868 he was elected district attorney for the Worcester district, which position he held five years, and his record is that of one who, always acting with fidelity to the State, showed a manly regard for the rights of those whom it became his duty to prosecute.
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WHITNEY, GEORGE, son of Amos and Sophia (Harris) Whitney, was born in Royalston, Worcester county, Sept. 21, 1817.
His education was limited to the common school. In 1839 he engaged in the chair business.
In 1860 Mr. Whitney became interested in the manufacture of fancy cassimeres. His business at present embraces both the manufacture of woolen goods and chairs.
In 1840 he was married in Boston, to Eliza S., daughter of David and Elizabeth Simpson. They have one child: George Ellis Whitney.
Mr. Whitney was a member of the executive council under Governors Washburn, Gaston, and Rice, from 1872 to '77.
WHITNEY, Henry Martyn, was born at Winchendon, Worcester county, August 21, 1828. He is the son of Hananiah and Sarah (Beaman) Whitney.
He received his early education in the public schools of Lowell, to which place his parents removed when he was two years old.
His first connection with business life was in the counting-room of the Massachusetts Cotton Mills at Lowell, at fifteen years. He went in to fill a temporary vacancy for two weeks, and remained twenty months, during which he attended evening school.
He then entered the drug store of Carleton & Hovey, agreeing to remain with them five years. Not satisfied with the excellent common school education he had received, he took a course in the languages and mathematics by private instruction.
During his apprenticeship he received several excellent offers of partnership, which he refused, feeling in honor bound to stay the term agreed upon. One of these offers remained open to him, and at the expiration of that time (1849), the firm of Wilson & Whitney was organized at Lawrence in the location he has ever since occupied. In two years he bought out Mr. Wilson, and for several years carried on the business alone.
During his mercantile life he has employed a great many young men, and as he ever maintained and inculcated the same spirit of honor in business that he manifested during his apprenticeship, he has the proud satisfaction of knowing that every living past employee of his is now doing well; and they are noted as honorable business men in almost every state from Maine to Texas. Several of these he admitted in partnership till they found opportunities of
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bettering themselves, and many others he assisted in starting in business.
In 1854 he married Harriet, daughter of George and Clarissa (Morrill) Bagley, of Nashua, N. H. She died in 1876. He subsequently married, in 1879, Mary Wheatland, daughter of Robert E. and Martha (Wheatland) Bemis, of Salem.
He was largely instrumental in securing the adoption of, and carrying into effect, the pharmacy law, and has from its organization been president of the Massachusetts board of registration in pharmacy.
He is one of the trustees of the Essex Savings Hank, and for many years has been warden and treasurer of Grace Episcopal church. He was instrumental in introducing the electric light in Lawrence, and is treasurer of the Edison Electric Light Company of that city, which was the second electric light company organized on that system in the United States.
WHITNEY, Henry Melville, son of James Scolly and Laurinda (Collins) Whitney, was born in Conway, Franklin county, October 22, 1841.
The public schools furnished him with his early educational training, supplemented by one year at Easthampton Seminary.
His first entrance upon a business career was as a clerk in the Conway Bank, where he remained three years. He then went to the Bank of Mutual Redemption, Boston; was afterwards clerk in the navy agent's office for one year (1860), and was then engaged in New York City in the shipping business.
In 1866 he became Boston agent, and in 1879 president, of the Metropolitan Steamship Company, Boston, which position he still holds. In 1887 he was elected president of the West End Street Railway Company, the largest street railway in the world, and a corporation controlling all the horse-car lines now running in the city of Boston. He is also president of the Hancock Inspirator Company.
Mr. Whitney was married in Brookline, October 3, 1878, in St. Paul's church, to Margaret Foster, daughter of Joseph F. and Ruth (Bowman) Green. Of this union are four children: Ruth Bowman, Elinor Green, Laura Collins, and James Scolly Whitney.
Mr. Whitney has brought to the presidency of the West End Street Railway, thorough business experience, financial integrity, and inventive genius. Before him and his associates lies the task of solving the problem of rapid transit in the city of Boston. The movements so far made toward bringing order out of chaos have been eminently successful.
WHITNEY, LEVI LINCOLN, son of John and Eliza Ann (Watson) Whitney, was born in Princeton, Worcester county, January 20, 1838.
He attended the common schools of his native town, and subsequently studied in Worcester Academy.
His first connection with business was in Chicago in 1859, as manufacturer of boots and shoes, under the firm name of Thompson, Whitney & Co. They were burned out in the great fire of 1871, when Mr. Whitney came to Millbury and associated himself with Crane & Waters, manufacturers of hosiery, and remained with them until 1885. He is now one of the firm of Whitney & Molt, manufacturers of indigo blue dye. He is also treasurer of the Stonemetz Printers' Machinery Company.
Mr. Whitney was married in Millbury, September 4, 1862, to Annie Rachel, daughter of Hon. Hosea and Laura Ann (Hubbard) Crane. Of this union are three children: Walter Lincoln, Laura Grace, and Maud Eliza Whitney.
Mr. Whitney was chosen a director in the Millbury National Bank in 1876, and has since continued in the position; was
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elected a trustee of the Millbury Savings Bank in 1873; chosen its president in 1888, which position he still holds. He was selectman in 1877, '78, and '79, and again in 1881 and '87, serving as chairman of the board the last three years.
He was a member of the House of Representatives in 1881, serving upon the committee on banks and banking, and of the Senate in 1889, holding the onerous and responsible position of chairman of the committee on towns, performing good service also upon the committee on labor.
He is an active member in the order of F. & A. M., and is a member of the Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar.
WHITNEY, Milton Burrall, son of Samuel Hart and Marilla Lovisa (Dickinson) Whitney, was born in Granville, Hampden county, October 6, 1825.
He is of the eighth generation in direct descent from Henry Whitney, who emigrated from Herefordshire, England, and settled near Huntington, upon the easterly end of Long Island, about 1649.
He was educated in the public schools; fitted for college in the private school of Rev. Timothy Cooley, of Granville, and was graduated from Williams College in the class of 1849, with the honor of classical oration.
He engaged in teaching for two years after graduating, then studied law with William G. Bates, a leading lawyer in western Massachusetts; was admitted to the bar in 1853, and upon admission, formed a partnership with Mr. Bates, which lasted till 1865. He then practiced alone until 1874, when he associated with himself James R. Dunbar, under the firm name of Whitney & Dunbar, which partnership continued till 1886, when Mr. Dunbar was appointed associate justice of the superior court. Since that time he has been a member of the law firm of Whitney & Brigham.
Mr. Whitney has been repeatedly called to serve his town and state in many positions of honor and trust, and as trustee or director in many local corporations. He has been a trustee in the Westfield Savings Bank continuously since 1857; a director of the First National Bank of Westfield since its incorporation in 1865, and its president since 1881; prior to 1865, he was a director of the old Westfield Bank; has been for years the attorney for the town and many of the leading business firms and corporations; has practiced in all the counties of western Massachusetts; was a member of the state Senate from the western Hampden district, in 1862 and '63. Although the Senate in 1862 contained thirteen lawyers, and he was one of the youngest members, he was made chairman of the committee on public lands, and chairman of the joint special committee on the important subject of the "Concord and Sudbury rivers." He also served on several other standing and special committees.
In 1863 he was a member of the Senate committee on judiciary, and chairman of the joint committee on federal relations, and took an active and leading part in the legislation of that session.
He was presidential elector in 1868, and a delegate to the national Republican convention which nominated President Garfield in 1880. He was appointed a member of the state board of education, in 1881, and was re-appointed in 1889, at the expiration of the term. He has always taken a lively interest in educational matters, and has been found in the ranks of those who have at heart the raising of the standard of good citizenship in the Commonwealth.
Early in life Mr. Whitney was a Whig in politics, and has acted with the Republican party since its formation, but from
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the conservative cast of the man, he has never been an extreme partisan.
He had the rugged experience in early life of one who worked on the farm in summer and taught school winters in order to secure the necessary funds to pay for educational advantages.
Ever since he has been a member of the state board of education he has been chairman of the visitors of the state normal school at Westfield, and of the board of visitors of institutions for the education of deaf mutes, and of the blind who receive aid from the Commonwealth.
But while Mr. Whitney has given much time to uninterrupted and honorable educational work, it is his thirty-six years' legal practice that has earned for him the position of one of the leading lawyers in western Massachusetts.
WHITNEY, Samuel Brenton, son of Samuel and Amelia (Hyde) Whitney, was born in Woodstock, Windsor county, Vt., June 4, 1842.
His early education was obtained in the public schools. He afterward attended the Vermont Episcopal Institute, Burlington ; studied music first with local teachers, afterwards with Carl Wels in New York, and later still with Professor John K. Paine, of Harvard University, taking lessons on the organ, pianoforte, composition and instrumentation.
Mr. Whitney has been organist and director of music of Christ church, Montpelier, Vt.; St. Peter's, Albany, N. Y.; St. Paul's church, Burlington, Vt.; is at present, and has been for the past eighteen years, organist of the Church of the Advent, Boston, the choir of which church has become quite celebrated under his direction. He has frequently been engaged as conductor of choir festival associations in Massachusetts and Vermont; is first vice-president and one of the organ examiners of the American College of Musicians; has written church music quite extensively, also piano and miscellaneous music. He has been conductor of many choral societies in and around Boston, and has the reputation of being very successful in training and developing boys' voices.
Mr. Whitney was for a time a teacher of the organ in the New England Conservatory of Music. He also established in this institution for the first time a church-music class, in which not only were the vocal pupils taught how to properly interpret sacred music, but the organ pupils as well, were instructed as to the management of the organ in church service.
Among Mr. Whitney's compositions are a trio for pianoforte and strings, many solos and arrangements for both pianoforte and organ, as well as several church services, Te Deums, and miscellaneous anthems, songs, both sacred and secular.
WHITNEY, WILBUR F., son of John and Eliza (Cushing) Whitney, was born in Westminster, Worcester county, December 9, 1839.
He was educated at the common and high schools of his native town, at the Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, and passed the freshman year at Dartmouth College.
He began business as a chair manufacturer, in 1865, with a capital of three hundred dollars, and has continued throughout his life in the same business, at the present time manufacturing four hundred thousand chairs a year, at a wholesale value of three hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The factory is situated at South Ashburnham, where two hundred hands are employed, and two hundred and fifty prisoners are constantly occupied in the same business.
On the l7th of July, 1866, Mr. Whitney married Emeline S., daughter of Dexter and Sarah (Mower) Jewell, of Jaffrey, N. H. Their children are: Oscar J., born January 22, 1871, Celena M., Luella C., Ethel E.,and Edith L. Whitney. Their son, Oscar, died January 2, 1886.
Mr. Whitney was elected a member of the House of Representatives in 1875. He is a director in the Ashburnham National Bank, trustee of the Cushing Academy, and member of the committee on education. In religious associations he has always been an active and earnest Methodist.
His present residence is at Ashburnham, where he holds an enviable reputation as a man who has always been successful in business. Politically he has been a strong adherent of the Greenback party, and is a vigorous and enthusiastic Prohibitionist.
[p. 665]
William Copley Winslow, son of Rev. Hubbard Winslow, D. D., and Susan Ward (Cutler) Winslow, was born in Boston, January 13, 1840. . . . . His mother was the daughter of Hon. Pliny Cutler and Phoebe Ward, daughter of Rev. Ephraim Ward.
. . . .
He was married in Boston, June 20, 1867, to Harriet S., daughter of Joseph Hayward, and niece of the eminent surgeon, Dr. George Hayward. He has one child: Mary Whitney Winslow, born November 14, 1873.
[p. 672]
WOODWARD, Charles F., son of James F. and Arvilla (Whitney) Woodward, was born in Wakefield, Middlesex county, November 19, 1852.
His education was drawn from the public schools of Wakefield, and commercial colleges in Boston. His first connection in business was in 1872, with the firm of James F. Woodward & Son, tool and machinery manufacturers, and this business still engages his attention.
Mr. Woodward was married September 4, 1878, to Susan D., the daughter of Alexander and Dorothy (Thompson) Turnbull. Of this union were two children: Charles A. and Susie A. Woodward.
He was assessor in Wakefield seven years, 1883 to '89, inclusive; and also tax collector the same years. He was a representative to the General Court from Wakefield, in 1887,'88, and '89; 2d and 1st lieutenant and captain of company A, 6th regiment Massachusetts volunteer militia; elected major, February, 1882, and holds the same office at the present time.
He is president of the Wakefield board of trade.
[p. 677]
YOUNG, James Harvey, son of William and Hannah (Harvey) Young, was born in Salem, Essex county, June 14, 1830.
. . . .
Among his better works are portraits of Edward Everett (the original belonging to Mrs. E. B. Everett), William Warren, W. H. Prescott and Horace Mann (both in the Salem normal school), Colonel Ellsworth and Lieutenant Brownell (belonging to the Salem Independent Cadets), General Townsend (Soldiers' Home, Washington, D. C.), Thatcher Magoun (for the town of Medford), Harnas Sears and Professor Whitney (Newton Theological Institution), Rev. Dr. Peabody (for Exeter Academy), Rev. Dr. Hedge, Professor Mulford (Harvard), and John Ward Dean (in the New England Historic Genealogical Society), and of many private individuals. Mrs. George Livermore, of Cambridge, owns a half-length cabinet size portrait of Everett, and a copy of the original head is in the Boston public library.
Copyright © 2009, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
