Page:One of a thousand.djvu/86

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BRACKETT. BRACKETT. the most loyal communities at that critical time in the history of the nation — that town contributing the first quota of men to join the Union army, while the last company mustered out of active service was largely composed of her brave sons. He represented the town in the House of Representatives in 1865, and the 1st Mid- dlesex district in the Senate in 1885 and '86. He is vice-president and trustee of the Medford Savings Bank, director of the Blackstone National Bank of Boston, presi- dent of the United States Cotton Duck Manufacturers' Association, and the U. S. Cotton Duck Dealers' Association, and president of the Russell Mills of Plymouth. The names Boynton, Boyington, and Byington are one. The Boynton family have held six reunions, and their directory contains the addresses of 4000 names. The Boynton baronets and peers of England show an unbroken line of pedigree for thirty generations. BRACKETT, JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS, son of Ambrose S. and Nancy (Brown) Brackett, was born in Bradford, Merrimack county, N. H., June 8, 1842. He attended the public schools until seventeen years of age, when he entered Colby Academy, New London, N. H., where he was graduated in 186 1. An offer of an appointment to West Point was de- clined, and he entered Harvard College, where he displayed marked ability, being chosen class orator in his senior year, and was graduated in the class of 1865. He took his law course at Harvard, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1868, where he has since continued to practice. He was partner with Hon. Levi C. Wade from 1878 to '80 — since which time he has been associated with Walter H. Roberts, under the firm name of Brackett & Roberts. He was married in Arlington, June 20, 1878, to Angie M., daughter of Abel G. and Eliza A. (Boles) Peck. Of this union were born four children, two of whom, John Gaylord and Beatrice Brackett, are living. In 187 1 Mr. Brackett was made presi- dent of the Mercantile Library Association of Boston, and again in 1S82. In 1874 he was appointed judge advocate on the staff of General 1. S Burrill, 1st brigade Massa- chusetts volunteer militia, and held that position until the re-organization of the militia in 1876. Ill has evinced c;reat interest in political affairs from boyhood, and since 1S68, as a Republican, his voice has been heard in every state and national campaign. He was one of the promoters of the Young Men's Republican movement in 1877, and presided at the first public meeting held under its auspices in Faneuil Hall. He was a member of the Boston com- mon council in 1873, '74, '75, and '76, and was president of that body the latter year. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives for 1877, an d re-elected each year for four years, serv- ing as chairman of the committees on labor and taxation the first year, and reporting the bill for the formation of "building associations" or co-operative banks. The beneficent results of this law are due in a great measure to the subse- quent efforts of Mr. Brackett. In 187S he was chairman of House committee on probate and chancery. In 1879 he was House chairman of the committee on retrenchment. In 1880 he was one of the four leading candidates for speaker, and served as House chairman of the commit- tee on harbors and public lands, and as a member of the committee on rules and JOHN Q. A. BRACKETT orders. He held the same positions the succeeding year, and was also a member of the special committee on the revision of the statutes. In 1884 he was again a member of the House, and was appointed chairman of the judiciary committee and a member