A statesman, born in Oxford, Mass., Sept. 15, 1835. In 1856 he completed a course at Brown University, studied three years at the Harvard Law School, and after being admitted to the bar, developed a successful practice in Boston. In 1874 he entered the Massachusetts legislature, but soon after retired from public life to attend his extensive law practice, President Cleveland appointed him attorney-general in 1893, and in 1895 he became secretary of state as successor to Gresham, the duties of which office he administered with much ability.