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. [p. 58]
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.
