No. 3119 Calvin Adams Richards, 1828-1892
The following is from Massachusetts of To-day: A Memorial of the State Historical and Biographical. Issued for the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Produced under the Direction of Daniel P. Toomey; edited by Thomas C. Quinn. (Boston: Columbia Publishing Company, 1892)
The man who first predicted the practical use of electricity for street railways must not pass without notice in any story of Massachusetts, although death has removed him from the sphere of his work. Calvin Allen Richards was born in Dorchester, Mass., March 4, 1828. He received his education in the public schools in and around Boston, and left school at an early age to assist his father, Isaiah D. Richards, in his business. He soon exhibited the executive ability which was so powerfully felt in his afterlife. In 1852 he married Ann R. Babcock, daughter of Dexter Babcock, who is now living, an honored, retired merchant, in his ninety-sixth year. Two children were born of this union—a son who died in 1863, and a daughter who survives him. He remained in business with his father and brothers until 1861, when he opened a large establishment on Washington Street, and it was in this location that he amassed the bulk of his fortune. He was in the Common Council of Boston in 1858, 1859, and 1861, and in 1862 he was an alderman. In 1874 he became a prominent director of the Metropolitan Street Railroad, and, shortly after, its president. The Metropolitan Railroad, under his direction, became one of the largest and best managed in the country. He worked most zealously for the interests of the stockholders. In all labor disturbances it was his habit to appear personally before the different organizations and adjust matters amicably. In 1885 Mr. Richards became the president of the American Street Railway Association, composed of the executive officers of almost all the railroads in the United States and Canada. He was almost the first man to predict the use of electric power for street cars, which he did in a magnificent speech at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, in New York, in October, 1884. He was greatly beloved by his associates in this organization, and always received an earnest invitation to attend the conventions long after he turned aside from railroad life. Mr. Richards became associated with the new West End organization under President Whitney, but soon resigned. For a short time afterwards he was connected with the Boston Heating Company, but soon retired to private life after purchasing and remodeling the large office building, No. 114 State Street, which bears his name. The construction of this building was the closing act of Mr. Richards’s business life, as he was stricken with the grip immediately after its completion, in January, 1890 . His family and friends saw him failing quite rapidly for about two months before his death. He had been out on Monday morning (Feb. is, 1890, for a short drive, and had answered a telephone call but a short half hour before he fell dead, his death being instantaneous, without one moment of suffering. His life needs no eulogy for those who knew him—a strong, firm, conscientious business man, who contributed much to the marvelous development of the street railway system in Boston, achieved a wonderful success, and left an ample fortune.
Men of Progress. Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (Boston, 1894), 995.
Calvin Adams Richards, of Boston, merchant and street railway manager, was born in Dorchester, March 4, 1828, son of Isaiah D. and Caroline (Capen) Richards; died in Boston, February 15, 1892. He was educated in the public schools. Leaving school at the age of thirteen to assist his father in the latter’s business, he early exhibited exceptional executive ability ; and, when he was yet quite a young man, his father came to depend upon him for assistance and counsel. He devoted his thoughts and attention entirely to business and to the care of his mother, who was in delicate health during the closing years of her life, denying himself many of the pleasures of young men. ‘Three brothers also joined his father in the business, and he remained with them till x861, when he opened a large establishment of his own on Washington Street ; and here during the years of the Civil War and those immediately following he amassed a fortune. While connected with his father’s business, he was elected to the Boston Common Council, where he served three terms, 1858-59 and 1861. In 1862 he was a member of the Board of Aldermen. The experience he gained in these branches of the city government, especially as a speaker on the floor, he valued ; and he was thereby led to public speaking, becoming especially happy as an after-dinner speaker at dining club tables, being magnetic and having a rare wit. In 1873 Mr. Richards made an extended tour of Europe with his family ; and upon his -return in 1874 he was induced to relinquish business cares somewhat, and take a place in the • directory of the Metropolitan Railroad Company. In that body he soon made his executive power felt, and was urged to take the presidency of the company. This he did, and found the office no easy one. The railroad was on the verge of bankruptcy, and a powerful rival corporation had been allowed by the former management aggressively to push its way. Mr. Richards’s task was to restore his road to its former position, and how thoroughly he accomplished it is known to all street railroad men familiar with the history of street railway development in American cities. When he entered the business, he knew nothing of street railroading; but he was quick to grasp its details, and speedily became master of the situation. Under his management the Metropolitan became the largest and one of the best managed street railways in the country, strong and rich; and his methods were copied by other street railway companies in this country and abroad. In all matters of importance in the interest of his road, or affecting it, before the Legislature or the city government, he personally appeared ; and his arguments, with his strong personal magnetism, shrewd common sense, and intimate knowledge of street railway affairs, were almost always successful in winning his points and overcoming his opponents, often represented by some of the ablest attorneys of the profession. He labored zealously for the interests of the stockholders of the road ; and he had the good will of his employees, although a firm and strict master, holding all up to the line of duty, being found always ready to hear and fully examine complaints and to deal fairly with those under him. In 1885 he was made president of the American Street Railway Association, composed of the executive forces of the leading street railroads in the United States and Canada ; and he took great interest in the annual conventions of the organization held in the different cities, in which he made himself a power by his foresight and wisdom. He was among the earliest to predict the use of electric power for street-cars, and was almost the first man publicly to discuss it, bringing the matter forward in a memorable speech at the annual banquet of the American Street Railway Association given in the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York City, in October, 1884. In 1887, after the consolidation of all the street railways in Boston and the absorption of the Metropolitan in the West End Street Railway Company, Mr. Richards became connected with the latter as general manager under President Whitney; but after a few week’s service he resigned. Upon his retirement as president of the Metropolitan Company, with its union with the West End, he was given a complimentary banquet by his associates, and on this occasion was presented with a massive bronze, the silver plate of which was thus inscribed : ” Presented to Calvin A. Richards, by the Metropolitan Railroad Company, in recognition of his valuable services as president, by vote of the directors, October 24, 1887.” For a short time after his withdrawal from the %Vest End management he was connected with the Boston Heating Company. Then he retired to private life. The closing act of his business life was the purchase and remodeling of the large office building, at No. 114 State Street, which bears his name. His death was the result of disease following an attack of “la grippe,” immediately after the completion of the Richards Building in January, 1890. He recovered sufficiently from “la grippe” to pass the summer at the Isles of Shoals, and had journeyed to the South in the spring of 1891, when he had a critical attack of ” angina pectoris ” on the train from St. Augustine to New York. Another attack of the same trouble was suffered at Richfield Springs, where he was taking the sulphur baths, in the autumn of 1891. Thereafter he steadily failed ; and his death finally occurred suddenly, in February following, at his home in Boston. His funeral was attended by an unusually large number of prominent business and professional men ; and he was mourned as an able and successful business man, a firm friend, a good neighbor, a tender and loving husband and father. Mr. Richards was married February 1y, 1852, to Miss Ann R. Babcock, daughter of Dexter Babcock, of the wholesale grocery firm of Babcock & Coolidge, Boston. They had two children : a son. who was instantly killed by lightning in 1863, and a daughter.