Nazaire Elie Biron (1873-1952)

Portrait from the Souvenir of the New Hampshire Legislature, 1901.

  Today marks a return to New Hampshire with a profile on Nazaire Elie Biron, a resident of Manchester who served one term in his state's house of representatives. Born of French Canadian descent in Manchester on September 5, 1873, Nazaire E. Biron was the son of Theophile Georges (1852-1941) and Therese Frechette Biron (1854-1919). 

  A student at the Lowell Street and St. Augustine Parochial Schools of Manchester, Biron later studied at the Commercial College of Labaie du Febrve in Quebec, Canada before returning to Manchester, where he studied at St. Mary's Parochial School. Further education was obtained in Quebec at St. Hyacinth College and Laval University. 

  In the late 1890s, Biron followed in his father and brother's stead and joined the family bakery business, operating under the name T.G. Biron and Sons. He was thus employed until September 1900 when he began the study of dentistry in Manchester under Dr. A.J. Sawyer. In 1900 Biron was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Manchester's 9th ward and sat on the Insurance committee during his term (1901-03).

  Following his service, Biron married Eugenie Perrault (1872-1965) in 1904 and had at least one son, Paul Emile George (1907-1991). Active in French fraternal circles in his city, Biron would serve a term as president of the Cercle Nationale and was the first secretary of the Court  St. Joseph, A.C.A. 

  Nazaire Biron returned to city politics with his service on the Manchester board of aldermen from 1913-15, and from 1925-1927 served on a three-member police commission for the city. Later, in 1936-37, Biron is recorded as the secretary of the New Hampshire Republican Party. Biron died in Manchester on June 7, 1952, aged 78, and was survived by his wife Eugenie, who, following her death at age 92 in 1965 was interred alongside him at the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Manchester. Far from a forgotten figure in that city, Biron is the namesake of the Nazaire E. Biron bridge in Manchester, completed in 1973. 

Burr Ackley Towl (1868-1952), Burr Ackley Towl Jr. (1912-1991)

From the Westfield Leader, March 22, 1979.

  The city of Westfield, New Jersey has been helmed by over fifty mayors in its history, including a father-son pair possessing the name Burr Ackley Towl. The first of these men, Burr A. Towl Sr., was a native of Ohio who found success in business in both New York City and Cranford, New Jersey. In addition to his residency in those areas, Towl resided in Westfield, New Jersey, where he engaged in banking. He entered local politics with his election to the city council, and in 1928 was elected to a two-year term as mayor of Westfield. Born in Parma, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on July 2, 1868, Burr Ackley Towl was the son of Theodore and Sarah Lucretia (Ackley) Towl. 

   Little is known of Towl's early life or education, except notice of his graduation from the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. In the early 1880s Towl's father, a manager with the Standard Oil company's tax and real estate department, moved to Brooklyn, New York. In the mid-1880s Burr Towl followed in his father's stead and joined Standard Oil, and by the time of his retirement in 1938 was the manager of the tax and real estate departments of three Standard Oil subsidiaries, the Buckeye Pipeline Co., the Northern Pipeline Co., and the New York Transit Company. 

  Burr A. Towl married in Brooklyn on April 20, 1892, to Lettie Mandeville Crane (1868-1956), their wedding occurring at the bride's home. The couple were wed for sixty years and had five children: Edwin Irving (1894-1918), Miriam Edith (1896-2000; lived to age 103), Elizabeth M. Towl Gilmour (born 1901), Burr Ackley Jr. (1912-1991), and Edwin Irving (1918-1962). 

  In the late 1890s, Burr Towl removed to Cranford, New Jersey, where he would reside for over twenty years. Early in his residency, he became a founding director of the Kyle Automatic Water Filtering Company, headquartered in Buffalo, New York, and was later president of the Cranford Board of Education for an indeterminate period. By 1921 he and his family had resettled in Westfield, and in the succeeding years, he experienced further business distinction, holding a directorship in the Westfield Trust Co. He later served as vice president of that concern and was a director of the Westfield Federal Building and Loan Association.

  Towl made his first move into city politics with his election to the Westfield city council in 1925 and served until 1928. Beginning with his time on the city council, Towl chaired a committee that planned the construction of a new YMCA building in town in 1927, work that continued following his election as mayor. Through Towl's early efforts, $300,000 in pledges were received to aid in its building, with the cornerstone being laid in May 1928.

  In March of the last-named year, Towl announced his candidacy for Westfield mayor, with his name being bolstered by the city Republican committee. In March 1928 write-up in the Westfield Leader, Towl was touted as "well qualified for the office", with the Leader noting:

"The Republican Executive Committee in presenting the name of Burr A. Towl, to the voters as a candidate for mayor believe it will meet with the approval of the majority of the people of the Town. Mr. Towl has served one term and is serving his second as a member of the Council. He has proven himself a man of resources, and has served upon important committees and his judgement has been sought by his collegues."

From the Westfield Leader.

  In November 1928 it was a Republican sweep in Westfield, with Towl winning the mayoral race, and four Republican nominees gaining city council seats. Sworn into office in January 1929, Towl announced his appointive officials and outlined what would be the important aspects of his term, including work on the Rahway Valley Trunk Sewer. Decades following his death Towl was lauded by the Westfield Leader as being  "an originator of an idea to cover all streams in town and provide drainage for surface water." Additionally, Towl noted the separation of "police and traffic work" and instead announced a committee to better handle the city's traffic problems. 

  Burr Towl declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1930 and implored Republican voters to cast their ballot for nominee Frederick S. Tipson. That November Tipson was elected, and he served one term. Several years after his term Towl returned to politics when he was re-elected to the city council, where he sat from 1936-39. 

  Active in other areas of Westfield public life, Towl held memberships in the Sons of the American Revolution, the Atlas Lodge No. 125 of Free and Accepted Masons, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Burr Ackley Towl Sr. died at his home in Westfield on November 24, 1952, aged 84. His wife Lettie survived him by two years, and following her death in 1956 was interred alongside him at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. 

From the Bridgton Courier-News, November 24, 1952.

From the Bridgewater Courier-News, January 3, 1961.

  In the decades following Burr Towl Sr.'s mayoralty, his son Burr Ackley Towl Jr. achieved political prominence of his own, being elected as mayor of Westfield in 1960. Like his father, Towl was connected with the Buckeye Pipeline Company in New York City, serving as its assistant general counsel for many years. Born in Cranford, New Jersey on March 2, 1912, Burr Ackley Towl Jr.'s early life was spent in Cranford before removing to Westfield with his family. A student in city schools, Towl graduated from the Pingry School in 1930 and later enrolled at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

  Following graduation in 1934, Towl wed Morris County native Florence Sayre (1912-1984), their marriage occurring in 1936. The couple were wed for nearly five decades and had three daughters, Patricia, Carol, and Barbara. Towl began a long connection with the Buckeye Pipeline Co. of New York in the late 1930s, which continued until his retirement in 1977. He would serve that company as its attorney for over three decades, "specializing in city assessment and municipal problems." Desiring to pursue a law degree, Towl later enrolled at Fordham Law School, where he attended night classes and earned his degree in 1946.

   In 1960 Burr Towl Jr. announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for mayor of Westfield, and after clinching the nomination outlined his campaign platform, noting:

"I have steadfastly held the one objective of a town government which is responsive to the will of the people. I shall need and expect the best thinking of all civic-minded citizens." 

 In a November 1960 Westfield Leader article on his candidacy, Towl further explained what his administration would strive for, including:

• A town planning program "centered around a committee of town officials and qualified citizens" that would address zoning, traffic and parking facilities, and Westfield's "residential character."
• "Give close and continuing attention to a sound fiscal policy, thus keeping the tax burden at a minimum."
• "A town government responsible to the will of the people."

    

From the Bridgewater Courier News, January 3, 1961.

   Several days following that article's publishing Burr Towl defeated Democrat Arthur Fried and was sworn in as mayor in January 1961. Recognized as the first second-generation mayor in Westfield's history, Towl acknowledged his lack of political experience and how he had been called to seek political office:

" During the last few years I observed a lack of flow of information between the council and the people...It seemed to me that citizens were not as fully informed as they should have been about municipal matters, and some of my friends convinced me that I could help do something about it."

   Towl's mayoralty extended two terms (1961-1964) and during his administration, an $822,000 addition was made to the city's YMCA/YWCA facilities. Active in the civic life of his community, Towl was a former president of the Board of Trustees of the Fairview Cemetery, a member of the College Men's Club and Echo Country Club of Westfield, and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution Westfield Chapter. Additionally, he was a past commodore of the Shelter Island Yacht Club on Shelter Island on Long Island, New York. He and his wife were longstanding members of the local Presbyterian church, with Towl being a deacon, elder, clerk of session, and choir member.

  Widowed in 1984, Towl later remarried to Jeannette Palmer Enders (1920-2002), a graduate of the Julliard School and a past regent of the Westfield Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter. The couple was wed until Towl's death at age 79 on August 29, 1991, in Mountainside, New Jersey. He was survived by his wife, daughters, and stepchildren, and was interred at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield.

Ashland Trenton Patrick (1859-1952)

From the Lexington Leader, September 7, 1941.

   Kentucky earns its second article on the site for 2020 with Ashland Trenton Patrick, an attorney and circuit court judge who, appropriately enough, shares his first name with a Kentucky city (Ashland in Boyd County.) A lifelong Kentucky resident, Patrick had previously served as a county school superintendent, circuit court commissioner, and for four years was county attorney for Magoffin County. The son of John W. and Abigail (Salyers) Patrick, Ashland Trenton Patrick was born in what is now Magoffin County on June 2, 1859.

  A student at Kentucky's Georgetown College, Patrick also attended Ohio Wesleyan University. Following his graduation, he followed a teaching career for three years and also read law under Judge John Cooper. Patrick was admitted to the bar in the early 1880s and by 1883 had established himself in practice. In either 1881 or 1882 (dates vary) Ashland Patrick married Amanda Louise "Lulie" Howes (1860-1942), to who he was wed for six decades. The couple's long union produced four children, Lenore Patrick Adams (1882-1969), Hortense Patrick Elam (1884-1967), Henry B. (birthdate unknown), and Effie Patrick Milby (1902-1991).

  Ashland T. Patrick began his career in public service in 1885 when he was elected as Magoffin County superintendent of schools. He served in that capacity for a year and in 1886 was appointed as a U.S. circuit court commissioner for Kentucky, a post he held until 1896. This period saw Patrick as the partner of his father-in-law, attorney William Wiley Howse in Salyersville, a firm that continued until the latter's death in 1900. 

   In 1897 Patrick entered into the race for Commonwealth's Attorney but was defeated. In 1901 the citizens of Magoffin County elected him as their county attorney, where he served a four-year term. He returned to his law practice after his term concluded and in 1915 was elected as Circuit Court judge for Kentucky's 31st judicial district, defeating incumbent Democrat D.W. Gardner. In the following year, Patrick removed to Prestonsburg, and in 1919 was designated by Governor Augustus O. Stanley as a special judge for the Letcher County circuit, due to the illness of Judge John Butler. 

  Patrick won the Republican renomination for judge in October 1921, following the contested August primary instigated by his opponent, C.B. Wheeler. Despite his successful bid for renomination, Patrick was defeated that November by Democrat W.W. Williams, by a 4,000-plus vote majority. Several years following his defeat he returned to politics when he announced his candidacy for state senator from Kentucky's 13th district. He was defeated in the August Republican primary by Alex L. Allen, who polled 3,616 votes to Patrick's 2,119.

From the Park City Daily News, August 8, 1931.

From the Lexington Leader, July 26, 1932.

  Several months following his senatorial dreams being dashed, Ashland Patrick set his sights on a higher office: U.S. Congressman. Announcing his bid in July 1932, Patrick was one of fourteen candidates vying for the Republican nomination from an at-large congressional district. In the days leading up to the August election Patrick's character and judicial service were profiled in the Louisville Courier-Journal, which wrote:

"He served on the bench for six years with credit to himself and honor to people of the district. He is a good speaker and belongs to a prominent and Republican family in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, who have always fought faithfully for the party in all of its battles. His party can depend on him."

  On primary election day, Ashland Patrick polled 17,728 votes but was one of several candidates who lost out at the ballot box. In 1939 Patrick established the annual Patrick reunion of Kentucky, and in 1941 was honored at this family reunion with an oil painting of himself. Designated as the Patrick family's "Grand Old Man", Patrick celebrated his 90th birthday in 1949 and died at the General Hospital in Prestonsburg on September 9, 1952. He had been preceded in death by his wife in 1942, and both were interred at the Gardner Cemetery in Salyersville, Kentucky.

From the Lexington Leader, September 9, 1952.

Benyew Dunham Philhower (1869-1952)

   After yesterday's profile of New Jersey state senator Providence Ludlam,  we journey to Northern New Jersey to profile obscure oddly named Mayor Benyew Dunham Philhower. Mr. Philhower served a short term as Mayor of the borough of Madison, New Jersey, and little else could be found on him other than the following!
  Philhower was born in New Jersey on March 16, 1869, the son of Phillip (1828-1872) and Mary Dunham Philhower (1830-1901). Facts detailing his early years have proven to be difficult to locate, except his marriage to Susan Reeve Techer in 1893. The couple was married for nearly sixty years until her death at age 80 in 1951. Benyew and his wife are known to have had at least one child, Helen May Philhower, who is listed as dying in 1974.
   We fast forward now to January 1914, and it was in this month that Philhower was elected Mayor of Madison, New Jersey. He served a one-year term in this office, concluding on December 31, 1915. Five years after leaving the mayor's office, Philhower became Madison's Fire Chief, serving a short term from 1920-21.
  Other than the preceding information, little else could be found on the life of Benyew D. Philhower. It is known that he died on August 2, 1952, at age 83, and was buried alongside his wife in the Pottersville Reformed Cemetery in Pottersville, Somerset County, New Jersey.

YOU CAN HELP!

   I am currently in the process of trying to locate more facts on the life of Benyew D. Philhower, and need your assistance! As there is next to nothing online about this interestingly named man, maybe someone out there knows more than what's already stated in this article. If any reader/lurker/amateur historian wants an interesting project to fill their time with, see what you can locate on this obscure politician!