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William Cushing Wait.
Mr. William Cushing Wait, whose portrait appears in this number of the register, is the well-known and efficient
President of the
Medford Historical Society.
He is well equipped in personal qualities, and by fortunate family lineage, for such a position.
Descended from
Capt. John Wayte, of Maiden, 1638.
Nathan Wait, born in
Malden, April 6, 1763, married
Sarah Lloyd Fulton, daughter of John and
Sarah Bradlee Fulton, July 26, 1785.
Among his children was Nathan W., father of Elijah S., father of
William Cushing.
The great-great-grandson of
Sarah Bradlee Fulton would seem to be a most fitting selection for an office representing historical and patriotic research.
The subject of our sketch was born in
Charlestown, Dec. 18, 1860, the eldest child of Elijah S. and
Eliza Ann (
Hadley) Wait.
He came to
Medford in 1870, and was a pupil in the
Brooks and High Schools.
Graduated at Harvard College, 1882,
Summa cur laude and the highest honors in history, and a member of the
Phi Beta Kappa.
Graduated at Harvard Law School in 1885 with degrees of Ll.B. and A. M. Was a member of Class-day Committee,, 1882, member of Class Committee, 1882, secretary of Law School Class, 1885, and third president of Harvard Union.
Member of
K. N. Everett Athenaeum, O. K.,
Hasty Pudding and Harvard Finance Club college societies.
Was admitted to the
Suffolk Bar, July 25, 1885, Circuit Court of
United States, District of
Massachusetts, May 15, 1888, and Circuit Court of Appeals, 1891. First practised law in office of Nathan
Matthews, Jr.,
ex-mayor of
Boston.
Opened his own office in 1886.
In 1890 associated himself with
Samuel J. Elder, as Elder & Wait, and in 1893, with
Edmund A. Whitman, as Elder, Wait, &
Whitman.
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Mr. Wait has been the candidate of his party three times for representative of his city to the General Court, and the nominee of the
Gold Democrats of his district for the Senate, but while in every instance he received a flattering personal following, the
Republican vote was too powerful to be overthrown.
He was a member of the committee which framed the
City Charter for
Medford, and served as
Alderman in 1893.
He has served on the Sinking Fund Commission since 1892, and on the School Committee since 1894.
Locally, he belongs to the
Medford Historical Society, Comedy Club, Unitarian Club, Medford Club, Good Government Club, City Council Club, High School Alumni, No-license League, Royal Arcanum,
Lawrence Light Guard, and is a Trustee of the
Ministerial Fund of the First Parish.
He also holds memberships in the
New England Free Trade League,
Massachusetts Reform Club (Executive Committee), Reform Club, New York, Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Twentieth Century Club, Appalachian Mountain Club, Suffolk Bar Association, and Young Men's Democratic Club of
Massachusetts.
He is the author of numerous historical sketches of towns and cities in the
United States census of 1880, of law articles in American and English Encyclopedia of Law, and is a frequent contributor to the local press.
His interest in the formidable array of organizations enumerated is an active one, and their several demands, coupled with the extensive law business of his firm, occupy his time fully.
Mr. Wait is a ready and pleasing speaker, a companionable friend, a loyal advocate of every movement bearing upon the best interests of our city.
He was married Jan. 1, 1889, to
Miss Edith Foote Wright, and has no other family.
