Page:One of a thousand.djvu/96

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8 4 BROWNE. BRUCE. Dr. Brown received his medical educa- tion first in the University of Vermont, taking his degree. M. D., in 1870. He subsequently has taken courses of study at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, and at Rush Medical College, Chicago. He has been a very busy and successful practitioner, excelling particu- larly in treatment of diseases of women and children. He accredits his unimpaired constitution to his being early in life accus- tomed to the physical labors and exercise incident to farm life. BROWNE, CAUSTEN, youngest son of William and Sarah Justice (Mclntire) Browne, was born in Washington, D. C, October 9, 1S28. He is of old Massa- chusetts descent on his paternal side, the first American ancestor, Nicholas Browne of Droitwich, England, having settled in Reading in 1638, whence the family were transplanted in 1742 to Newburyport, where it has been largely and creditably repre- sented ever since. Mr. Browne's father took up his resi- dence in Washington in 1812 while yet a boy, and there married a Maryland lady. It was in this city that Mr. Browne re- ceived his early education, mainly from George J. Abbott, a highly esteemed teacher of that day, and at the age of fif- teen he entered the sophomore class of Columbian College near the city. Here he remained two years and then entered the service of the United States Coast Survey, in which he remained until he became of age. On his twenty-first birthday he went to live in New York City, and immediately commenced the study of law, partly in the office of the late Charles M. Keller, one of the leading patent lawyers of the country, and partly under the direction of William Curtis Noyes, who enjoyed at that time the reputation of being the leading equity lawyer of the New York bar. In the spring of 1852 Mr. Browne was admitted to practice in New York. At Washington, June 2, 1852, he was married to Katharine Eveleth, eldest daughter of General William (U. S. Ord- nance) and Sarah (Eveleth) Maynadier. Of this union were five sons : Alexander Porter, who is his father's law partner, William Maynadier, Henry Rossiter Worth- ington, Causten, and James Maynadier. In October, 1852, Mr. Browne removed to Boston, where he has since resided. Very soon after establishing himself in Boston, he set himself about discharging the debt which every lawyer is said to owe to his profession, by writing a treatise on the construction of the statute of frauds, a branch of the law of contract. The sub- ject was one of uncommon intricacy and difficulty, but the favor with which Mr. Browne's treatise was received, and which it has ever since enjoyed at the hands of professional critics, leaves no doubt of the quality of the work. It was published in 1857, and has passed through four editions since that time. With the exception of this work, Mr. Browne has confined himself to the practice of his profession, having at no time held or sought political or mercan- tile office of any kind. While the circum- stances of his early professional study gave a predominance in his practice to the pat- ent law, he has devoted considerable atten- tion to the kindred subject of copyright, and is a recognized authority thereon. Mr. Browne is a member of the Episco- pal church, and actively interested in its affairs. He has also taken much interest in the Citizens' Association of Boston, of which he is now vice-president. He was for several years president of the Boston Bar Association. He is a member of the Union and St. Botolph clubs. BRUCE, Alexander Bern, son of David and Jemima (Bern) Bruce, was born September 17, 1853. Receiving his early educational training in the common schools of Andover, he en- tered the employ of J. P. Kent, cracker baker, Lawrence, Mass., at the age of fif- teen, as a boy, and worked his way up to be foreman of that concern. Upon the death of Mr. Kent, he formed a partnership with the son of the deceased, under the firm name of Kent & Bruce, and has since continued the business, which has grown to be one of the largest of its kind in the state. On the 24th of September, 1S70, at Law- rence, Mr. Bruce married Mary, daughter of William and Mary (Cooper) Mitchell, by whom he has one son : David Bruce. Mr. Bruce is a member of Phoenician Lodge of Masons, Mt. Sinai Lodge Royal Arch Chapter, Bethany Commandery, K. '1'., Aleppo Temple, Nobles Mystic Shrine, Royal Good Fellows, Lawrence Lodge, B. P. O. E. (first exalted ruler), and has been past grand of Lawrence Lodge, I. O. O. F., and past chief patriarch Kearsarge En- campment. He is also a director in ( )dd Fellows' Hall Association, and a member of the Alma and Home clubs of Lawrence. He is president of the Merrimac Valley Felt and Wool Company of Lawrence, and is a director in the New England North