USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3 > Part 34
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Starting with his work with the association at Danville, Pennsylvania, in September, 1890, a chron- ological record of the positions held follows: Sep- tember, 1890-April, 1892, physical director at Dan- ville; April, 1892-April, 1893, physical director of the North-west branch of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; April, 1893-April, 1896, general secretary at Danville, Pennsylvania; April, 1896-April, 1898, general secre- tary at Pottsville, Pennsylvania; April, 1898-June, 1906, general secretary at Warren, Pennsylvania; June, 1906-September, 1910, general secretary at Terre Haute, Indiana; September, 1910, to date (May, 1923) general secretary, Fall River, Massa- chusetts. He has grown in strength as a Young Men's Christian Association man and is held in high esteem by his contemporaries in the work. At Fall River his work has been prolific of good re- sults, his associates in the work trust their leader implicitly, and the work of the association prospers in all departments.
In addition to the regular work of his office Mr. Dodge, during the period of the World War, threw himself heartily into the extra work that the Young Men's Christian Association assumed. He traveled approximately 20,000 miles and addressed 185 audi- ences of men of the various branches of the United States Army and Navy. He is a hearty, whole- souled, devoted and consecrated Young Men's Christian Association man, and there is no higher type of manhood, outside the Christian ministry.
Mr. Dodge is a member of King Philip Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; member and secretary of the Fall River Rotary Club; member of the official board of Union Methodist Episcopal Church; super- intendent of the Union Methodist Episcopal Sunday School; president of Fall River District Sunday School Association, and finds his social relaxation at the Fall River Golf Club, of which he is a member. He is a platform speaker much in demand, and meets all calls made upon him as far as possible. He possesses a wealth of true friends and has made his work a source of great good to the city.
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Mr. Dodge married, October 12, 1893, Lena A. Tiffany of Rochester, New York, daughter of Charles U. and Marietta (Hess) Tiffany. Mr. and Mrs. Dodge were the parents of seven children: Margaret, married Charles W. Borden of Fall River; Charles H., a student in Illinois State University; Helen V., pianist and bookkeeper in the Fall River Young Women's Christian Association; Allen N., a senior in Fall River High School; Richard F., and Ruth L., yet in grammar school; and Warren, de- ceased.
FERNALD LESTER HANSON, A. B., A. M., LL. B .- A noteworthy figure in professional circles in Fall River is Fernald Lester Hanson, who has attained a leading position in the legal profession and is known among the broadly successful men of Bristol county, Massachusetts. Mr. Hanson is also prominent in the public service in Somerset, Massa- chusetts, where his residence has been located for som years, while his professional interests center in Fall River.
He is a son of Magnus Hanson, who was born in Sweden, and was a ship carpenter in early life, later becoming active in farming operations. Mag- nus Hanson came to the United States as a young man and settled at Somerset, Massachusetts. He became one of the most highly esteemed residents of Somerset, successful in business and a leader in community advance, and for twelve years served as postmaster of Pottersville in the town of Somerset. Mr. Hanson married Deborah Melvina Purinton, who was born in Somerset, of old Colonial stock; both are now deceased.
Fernald Lester Hanson was born in Somerset, December 1, 1875. He received his early education in the local public schools, then attended the B. M. C. Durfee High School of Fall River and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1894. His higher education was begun in the fall of the same year at Harvard University, from which he received the Bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in 1898, the. Master's degree in Arts in 1899, and the degree of Bachelor of Law in 1901. Upon his ad- mittance to the bar of his native State, Mr. Hanson entered upon the practice of his chosen profession with Hollis R. Bailey and Richard H. Dana, at No. 53 State street, Boston, Massachusetts. Active in this connection for a period of two years he later became affiliated with Albert E. Pillsbury, ex- Attorney-General of Massachusetts, at Boston, and in 1906 came to Fall River, opening his own offices at Suite No. 109 in the Granite block, where he has since gone forward along general lines and has won a noteworthy position in the profession, having served as auditor and special master in numerous Superior Court cases. Since his marriage Mr. Han- son has been a resident of Somerset, just across the river from Fall River, and he has won the highest prominence in the public life of this community.
His experience in law has been largely useful to the administration of local affairs in all the bodies of town government upon which he has served. From 1908 to 1911, inclusive, he was a member and
chairman of the School Committee, and in 1912 he was elected selectman of Somerset, in which office he has served continuously since and is still active. He was a member of the special committee of the town for the investigation of conditions relative to the establishment of a system of water supply; he has served as chairman of school house building committees, being chiefly instrumental in securing for the central part of Somerset the $50,000 Pot- tersville School, reputed to be one of the finest town schools in the State. Mr. Hanson was a member of the Local Committee on Public Safety, and chairman of the Somerset Fuel Committee dur- ing the World War. In 1922 and 1923 he was local emergency fuel administrator. Mr. Hanson is widely prominent fraternally, holding membership in Pion- eer Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Somerset; Fall River Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Godfrey de Bouillon Commandery, Knights Templar; Massa- chusetts Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; and Azab Grotto. He is also a member of Elysian Lodge, No. 73, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Somerset. He is a member of the Fall River Chamber of Commerce, and his clubs are the Har- vard of Fall River, Harvard of Boston, and the Quequechan of Fall River. He attends the First Baptist Church of Fall River.
Mr. Hanson married, April 14, 1908, Louise Dean Davol, daughter of George S. and Mary L. Davol, of Fall River, and they are the parents of one daughter, Louise, a student at the Westall Gram- mar School of Fall River.
WALTER J. CLEMSON, A. B., A. M .- A patron of that art which appeals to every human being- music, Walter J. Clemson, of Taunton, Massachu- setts, is a composer of some fame, and devotes a generous share of his means to the encouragement of musical genius. Highly educated in his native England, Mr. Clemson bears a constructive part in many phases of local or general advance, and he has helped to make Taunton a center of musical interest. Mr. Clemson is a son of William and Helen (Adcock) Clemson, both natives of Derby, England, and members of distinguished families of that country, his father a wealthy manufacturer of that city.
Walter J. Clemson was born in London, England, February 17, 1857. His early education was received under the care of the best tutors obtainable, and later entering Cambridge University, he was gradu- ated from that institution in 1885, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In that year Mr. Clemson came to the United States, spending several months, then after returning to England until the summer of 1886, again crossed the Atlantic, taking his degree of Master of Arts, and has since been a resident of the city of Taunton, Massachusetts.
Mr. Clemson is the founder of the vested choir of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church of Taunton, and has been choir master of that body for thirty- eight years, part of which time he was junior and then senior warden of the parish. In these posi- tions of eminence and influence he has done much,
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not only for the church and choir, but for a deeper appreciation of music among the people. Mr. Clem- son became a founder in 1893 of the American Guild of Organists, and for eight years he served as dean of the New England chapter. For several years he has been instructor of music in the Taunton High School, a position which he still holds, and his broad familiarity with, and enthusiasm in, music as an art have been forces counting more for the per- manent significance of music to their lives rather than for mere facility in the work of the students. During the World War Mr. Clemson was the leader of all community singing in Taunton, and the inspiration of those occasions when masses of people numbering thousands gathered about Taunton Green, and sang patriotic songs under his direction, will be a never-dying memory in the hearts of those who witnessed or participated.
In musical circles throughout the United States his name is held in the highest esteem, for his own celebrity is his slightest interest, and as a philan- thropist his relation to musical advance is a vital one. Since the year 1893 Mr. Clemson has donated annually a gold medal, which is awarded to any inhabitant of the United States composing the best sacred anthem. Through this benefaction many compositions of great beauty and permanent value have found recognition, and many obscure com- posers have been brought out into prominence, to the end that valuable contributions have been made to the sacred music of the time. Mr. Clemson's work in his chosen field in Taunton has done won- ders for the encouragement of musical effort and the appreciation of really fine music, and the people of Taunton regard him as one of the public-spirited men of the city. But his reaching out as he has done in giving a helping hand to aspiring musical genius throughout the nation places him among the men whose names will be remembered as a great patron of the arts.
In every field of human endeavor Mr. Clemson's attitude toward current effort is one of the broadest sympathy. He is a prominent member of St. Botolph Club, of Boston, also of the Tavern Club, of Boston, and of the Old Colony Historical Society of Taunton. For two years he has served as chairman of the Red Cross Society of Taunton, and is now president of the Life Saving Corps. He served as a member of the Massachusetts State Guard during the police strike in Boston, his enlist- ment covering a period of two years. Politically he supports the Republican party, but has never accepted the honors or emoluments of public office. He has been a member of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church of Taunton since coming to this country, and is a leading figure in all its social and benevolent activities as well as directing the church music.
Walter J. Clemson married, in 1888, Harriet A. (Mason) Sparks, widow of W. E. Sparks, and daughter of William and Harriet (Metcalf) Mason. Both the Metcalf and Mason families are very old and highly honored ones of Massachusetts, the pioneers having originally settled in Taunton, and these lines having remained in this community con-
tinuously until the present time. Mr. and Mrs. Clemson are the parents of two daughters: May, wife of Arthur R. Sharp; and Ethel, wife of E. Crosland Taylor.
GEORGE B. LOVELL-A descendant of the Massachusetts Lovells, and a grandson of Rev. Nehemiah G. Lovell, a Baptist minister of Belling- ham, Massachusetts, George B. Lovell, treasurer of the Fall River Morris Plan Company, is a native son of Fall River, his mother, Abbie A. (Brown) Lovell, also born in that city, daughter of Josiah Brown, a nationally known civil engineer, builder of the Hoosac Tunnel, and of many of the mill structures of Fall River. Abbie A. Brown married Shubael P. Lovell, born in Bellingham, Massa- chusetts, the first treasurer of the Stafford Mills of Fall River, cotton manufacturers, and they were the parents of George B. Lovell, of this review. Shubael P. and Abbie A. (Brown) Lovell are both deceased, Fall River having been their home until the end.
George B. Lovell was born at Fall River, Massa- chusetts, December 14, 1876. He completed a full course of public school study with graduation from Fall River High School in 1894, and at once entered business as a member of the clerical force of the Union Cotton Manufacturing Company of Fall River, spending four and one-half years in the employ of that corporation. He next formed an association with the Hargraves & Parker Mills, an association that was unbroken for a period of nine- teen years, although his position was one of in- creasing responsibility with each year. In 1918 Mr. Lovell resigned to accept the position of treas- urer of the Fall River Morris Plan Company, and that position he has held during the five years which have since intervened.
Mr. Lovell is a member of the Masonic order, affiliated with King Philip Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of which he is a past master; Fall River Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Fall River Council, Royal and Select Masters. He is a mem- ber of the First Baptist Church, the Quequechan Club, and in politics is a Republican. He is un- married.
JUDGE WILLIAM S. WOODS-The profes- sion of the law in Bristol county, Massachusetts, is represented by a group of thoroughly progressive and forward-looking men, whose activities are con- tributing to every branch of social, industrial and commercial advance. In this group Judge William S. Woods holds a leading position, and his twenty- eight years of experience as a member of the Massa- chusetts bar has carried him to a high position. Judge Woods is a son of John J. Woods, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, and came to the United States as a young man, settling in Essex county, Massachusetts, where for many years he was active in the grocery and provision business. He died in 1915, at an advanced age, esteemed and honored by all who knew him, for he had been
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an upright and progressive citizen of his adopted country. The mother, Anne Kelley, who was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, died in 1909.
William S. Woods was born in Newburyport, Essex county, Massachusetts, November 16, 1869. Receiving his early education in the local public schools, he was graduated from high school in 1886, then attended Ottawa University at Ottowa, Canada, after which he spent two years at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His choice of a profession early made, he entered Harvard University Law School, from which he was gradu- ated in 1895, with the degree of Bachelor. of Laws. Admitted to the bar in May of the same year, Mr. Woods took up the practice of his chosen profession in August, 1895, and has practiced con- tinuously in Taunton from that time until the pres- ent, with offices in the Rand building, at No. 1 Broadway.
In the public life of the city of Taunton, Judge Woods is a figure long distinguished as one of the honored public servants of his time. As far back as the year 1898 he became city solicitor for the city of Taunton and served in this capacity for six years, resigning to accept the appointment of Gov- ernor Bates, as associate justice of the District Court of Bristol county. Serving on the bench for nineteen years he has displayed the qualities which mean so much in the administration of justice, and his work is recalled as eminently fair-minded, for he was able to take into account every side of a question and every phase of human experience. He was elected to the office of mayor of Taunton in 1909, and in this, the highest local office in the gift of the people, he had the honor of serving as the first mayor under the new charter. His record in administrative activities was as constructive and estimable as in his judicial capacity. For several years he served as a member of the school com- mittee, and when the World War called out the best endeavors of every citizen, he served for a period as chairman of the local draft board, also giving largely of his time and energy as one of the "four-minute" speakers in this city and also as- sisted the Legal Advisory Board in their activities. He was also a member of the Navy League of the United States and received a certificate from the government in recognition of his war-time services. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Fores- ters. His religious affiliation is with the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Woods married, on October 12, 1905, Flor- ence M. Garvin, of Taunton, Massachusetts, daugh- ter of Charles and Catherine (Toomey) Garvin. Mr. and Mrs. Woods are the parents of three children: Muriel G., born January 12, 1908; Natalie F., born in January, 1909; and Wilma Ann, born in April, 1915.
ARTHUR M. REED-A noteworthy figure in the public life of Bristol county, Massachusetts, is
Arthur M. Reed, who for some years has been a member of the Board of County Commissioners and is numbered among the really significant men of the day in the public advance. With practical experience in business affairs and the natural ability which counts for breadth of usefulness in any field, Mr. Reed is definitely contributing to the welfare of the people in the work in which he is engaged. He is a son of John M. Reed, who was born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and was for many years engaged in teaming and also in the ice business in Fall River. John M. Reed was a member of the City Council of Fall River for a number of years, taking an active part in all civic affairs, and for about six years was a member of the Associate Board of County Commissioners, on which he was serving at the time of his death, which occurred in September, 1909, at the age of fifty-nine years. He married, in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1872, Nannie B. Sadler, who was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and survived him for nearly four- teen years, passing away February 20, 1923, at the age of seventy-two years.
Arthur M. Reed was born at Fall River, Massa- chusetts, April 13, 1876. His education was begun in the public schools of Fall River and he was graduated from the B. M. C. Durfee High School in the class of 1894. He then entered mercantile interests and, settling in North Westport, Massa- chusetts, conducted a general store for about twen- ty-five years, during ten years of that time acting as postmaster of North Westport. In the year 1909, following the death of his father, Mr. Reed was appointed to succeed him on the Board of Associate County Commissioners and served for nine years in this connection. In the year 1919 Mr. Reed sold his business in North Westport, although still retaining his residence in that com- munity, but since his retirement has been recalled to the public service. In August, 1921, he was ap- pointed to the Board of County Commissioners to succeed Frank M. Chace, whose death had left a vacancy. In November, 1922, Mr. Reed was elected to the board for a four year's term, the voice of the people calling him to this responsi- bility with no uncertain sound. Out of sixteen towns and four cities he carried fourteen . towns and three cities, his election being consummated with a majority of more than three thousand votes. In his public service Mr. Reed has always given to the responsibilities placed in his hands the same practical ability and constant devotion to duty which won him success in his business career, and as a progressive citizen and public servant he is looked upon as one of those men to whom the public owe much. Always loyal to the best in- terests of the people and to his duty as a public official, his record is one which sets an excellent example to the younger men of the day as they take up the duties of public life. For many years Mr. Reed has owned and developed considerable real estate in Nortlı Westport, and in recent years he has been active in the real estate business in
Henry I Collis
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this community, his operations doing much for the progress of the section, especially in the en- couragement of home ownership among the work- ing people.
Mr. Reed married, December 30, 1895, Jennie M. Borden, daughter of the late Jonathan Borden, a prominent farmer of North Westport, and they are the parents of two children: 1. Harry L., asso- ciated with the Armour interests as their repre- . sentative in the Fall River branch of their meat packing establishment, and prominent in fraternal circles as a member of Noquochoke Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He served for about two years and a half in the United States Navy during the World War. He enlisted April 20, 1917, shortly after America intervened and was assigned to duty in the transport service. He was active for . when the necessity for expansion became impera- nearly a year after the signing of the armistice and received his honorable discharge as a machinist's mate. 2. Marion K. Mr. Reed and his family are members of the Christian Church.
HENRY JAMES COLLIS -- There are few fig- ures in the commercial or industrial life of Taun- ton, Massachusetts, more thoroughly representa- tive of high personal achievement than Henry James Collis, whose success has been won wholly through his own endeavors, and who may well lay claim to the American title of honor, the self-made man. Taking up for his life-work an established industry, he has developed new branches, and has given to his own product the dignity and signifi- cance of specialization, in which he has won wide recognition in the trade. Mr. Collis is a son of Charles J. and Mary N. (Ford) Collis, both natives of England. His father was a veterinary surgeon during the early part of his life, but as Vermont was sparsely settled, and business in that line was very limited, he went into the provision business, in which he continued during the latter part of his life. He came to America in the prime of life, bringing his family with him, and until his death was prominent professionally in New Hampshire and Vermont. He died in 1911, the mother having passed away four years previously.
Henry James Collis was born in England, July 12, 1873. His studies were begun in his native land, but the family crossed the Atlantic when he was nine years of age, and he attended the public schools of Vermont and New Hampshire, complet- ing his studies at the Lyndon Institute at Lyndon Center, Vermont. Mr. Collis went to Newbury- port, Massachusetts, as a young man, and in the factory of E. P. Dodge Manufacturing Company in that city learned the trade of shoe designing and pattern-making. After three years of activity in this connection he was employed in the same gen- eral field in Haverhill, Massachusetts, for a short time, then returned to Newburyport as an employee of the Newburyport Shoe Company. There he was engaged in the designing room for four years, after which he went to New York City to accept a re-
sponsible position in the plant of the John G. Lati- mer Shoe Company. There he was placed in charge of all designing and pattern-making, and remained with that concern for a period of four years, leaving only to enter business in an inde- pendent way. He started business in New York City in the year 1903, under the firm name of the H. J. Collis Manufacturing Company, where he began the manufacture of a corset ankle support, of which he was the sole inventor, and on which he had obtained the basic patents. This support was soon recognized by physicians and professors of physical training as an appliance of great value to the college and sporting goods trade, and the demand for it has steadily increased. Mr. Collis remained in New York for about two years, but
tive he found it desirable to remove his business to Boston. This was in 1905, and in 1907 similar conditions brought about his removal to Taunton. Here he was first located in the Atlas Tack Com- pany building, but in 1915 removed to the present modern and spacious factory at Spring Lane, which he later purchased, and where he is going forward steadily. Occupying the entire building of some 10,000 square feet of floor space, and employing about one hundred operatives, the product of this plant goes to all parts of the United States, Canada and England. In 1922 Mr. Collis added new lines to his business, taking up the manufacture of sport- ing shoes for athletic purposes and skating shoes, making of the last-named product a leading spe- cialty. Mr. Collis has also invented something en- tirely new in a skating shoe, and known under the trademark as the "20th Century Weak Ankle Cor- set Skating Shoe." This will be a boon to ice skaters who have weak ankles, and will be sold universally in due time. The steady growth of the business has compelled him to expand constantly. He owns several other patents covering his own inventions, and is the sole .owner of the business This plant is the only one in this part of the country manufacturing corset ankle supports.
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