USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3 > Part 69
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Charles A. Lynds, owner and manager of the C. A. Lynds Company, was born in Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, February 2, 1876, son of John A. Lynds, a silversmith and farmer, who died in 1915, and of Maria A. Lynds, whose death occurred in 1922. After receiving a good practical education in the public school of Savin Hill, Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, Mr. Lynds was employed in various con- cerns until 1916, when under the name of the C. A. Lynds Company he opened an office at No. 19 Winthrop street, and engaged in the trucking busi- ness for himself. Beginning in a small way, he
paid attention to details and made a point of prompt service and careful handling of goods. His patron- age increased rapidly and at the end of three years he found it necessary to seek larger and better quarters. He then removed to No. 70 Washington street, where he has remained to the present time (1923). The concern does all kinds of trucking and crating, and makes a specialty of long-distance moving. Furniture and piano moving, house mov- ing, the moving of boilers and machinery, and the general demands of local patrons occupy the larger part of their time, but to these they also add the storage of furniture and expert service in packing and crating. They will move anything from any place, and it would be difficult to bring to them any request that they would be unable to meet. In addition to the successful management of the busi- ness, Mr. Lynds has found time for local public service, and for the last four years has served as city constable in Taunton. He is also well known in fraternal circles, being a member of Sabbatia Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which order he also is affiliated with Manchester Unity, with Noma Encampment, and with the Re- bekahs; is a member of the Knights of Pythias; and with the Knights of Malta. His religious affilia- tion is with the Trinitarian Congregational Church, of Taunton.
On April 23, 1895, at Raynham, Massachusetts, Charles A. Lynds married Idella M. Wilbur, daugh- ter of Joseph Warren Wilbur, a farmer who died in 1915, and of Mary (Gill) Wilbur, whose death occurred in 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Lynds are the par- ents of six children: Warren A., who was born in 1897; Albert V., who was born in 1902, and died in 1907; Eva May, who was born in 1903; Lewis M., who was born in 1907; Olive E., who was born in 1911; and Alvin F., who was born in 1913.
EDWARD BUFFUM VARNEY-Large mer- chandizing interests have for many years engaged the attention of Edward Buffum Varney and in the supplying of cotton to the mills of New England, especially in local industries of Fall River, he is filling a vital and progressive part in the business affairs of the day. Mr. Varney has won a position of success both as an individual and as a merchant, and he is counted among the progressive citizens of Fall River. A member of an old family of the State of Maine, Mr. Varney is a son of Isaac and Phoebe E. (Buffum) Varney, his father a native of Kennebunk, Maine, and the mother of North Ber- wick, Maine. The father, who has for many years been deceased, was active during the Civil War in the manufacture of Springfield rifles and followed manufacturing interests until his death.
Edward Buffum Varney was born in Kennebunk, Maine, May 3, 1868. His education was begun in the public schools of his native place and the family removing to Manchester, New Hampshire, in the year 1881, he was graduated from the Man- chester High School in the class of 1886. Coming to Fall River, Massachusetts, within the year, Mr.
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Varney secured employment as clerk in the employ of the Troy Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company and was thus engaged until the year 1890. He then entered the office of the Davol Mills and Stevens Manufacturing Company as as- sistant bookkeeper, and was active in this capacity for about five years. Thereafter he became identi- fied with A. D. Easton, a leading Fall River cotton broker of the day, in the capacity of outside sales- man. Through these varied affiliations Mr. Varney became broadly familiar with cotton and with the conditions which governed both the distribution of cotton and its manufacture. With this splendid equipment he entered business himself on April 1, 1900, as a cotton nierchant. He has gone forward along this line until the present time (1923) and has attained a very high position in his chosen field of activity. His independent career has cov- ered a period of various disturbances which have vitally affected the cotton market, but he has car- ried his interest through these unsettled periods, and has met the needs of the manufacturers in an able and efficient manner. Mr. Varney is a director of the Weetamoe Mills, and the Massasoit-Pocasset National Bank, and a member of the board of trustees and vice-president of the Fall River Sav- ings Bank. Politically Mr. Varney is a Republican, but is active in political affairs only as a progressive and forward-looking citizen. He is a leading figure in club circles in this section, being affiliated with the Quequechan, the Fall River Country, the Rhode Island Country, and the Acoaxet clubs. His re- ligious affiliation is with the First Congregational church.
Mr. Varney married, at Arlington, Massachusetts, in 1899, Ruth Basset, daughter of William and Lydia A. (Buffum) Basset, her father a native of Lynn, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Varney are the parents of one child, Constance.
HENRY A. DICKERMAN, of Taunton, Massa- chusetts, stands at the head of a mercantile estab- lishment of large importance, which was established more than half a century ago and during its entire history has contributed in a very practical way to the business advance of Massachusetts and other New England States in the distribution of sta- tionery, office supplies, and so forth. Mr. Dicker- man is a son of Henry A. Dickerman, the founder of the present business, whose life was spent in useful activity and whose death, which occurred in the year 1903, was a loss to the community at large, as well as to the mercantile field in which he had attained a noteworthy position. The mother, Minnie L. (Dillingham) Dickerman, was born at Edgartown, Massachusetts, and still survives the husband and father.
Henry A. Dickerman was born at Taunton, Massa- chusetts, January 12, 1868. His education was begun in the public schools of Taunton and he later made special and practical preparation for a commercial career at the Bryant & Stratton Business College, at Boston. At once becoming associated with his
father in the stationery business, Mr. Dickerman familiarized himself with the details of the business by the method of experience in its various branches, and from his earliest connection with the enter- prise the firm name was known as Henry A. Dick- erman & Son.' This business, which comprises both retail and wholesale distribution of stationery, office supplies, and all the appurtenances of business, also an important branch in books, was established in 1870, by the late Henry A. Dickerman, and has been carried forward at its original location at No. 74 Main street, Taunton, up to the present time. Occupying three floors of this building, aggregating about 9,000 square feet of space, Mr. Dickerman employs fifteen people, and the territory covered in- cludes all New England. This is probably the oldest firm of its kind in this part of the State and since the death of the founder, the son and present head, Henry A. Dickerman, has been sole owner of the business. The original start was on a very modest scale, but the growth of the enterprise has been steady from the first and the entire history of the business has been marked by constant expansion and ever growing usefulness. During the two decades in which Mr. Dickerman has been sole owner of this interest, he has developed its scope materially. Adhering faithfully to the same principle of busi- ness procedure which gave his father his enviable reputation, the strictest integrity, unfailing courtesy and promptness in every transaction, Mr. Dickerman has earned his present eminence in the trade. He is affiliated with the financial world as a director of the Morris Plan Bank, and is a trustee and director of the Taunton Construction Company.
A Republican by political convictions, he takes only the citizen's interest in public affairs, but gives his influence to every worthy movement. He is a member of the Wholesale Stationers of America; the Taunton Chamber of Commerce, of which he was treasurer for several years; and his fraternal affiliations are with King David Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; St. Mark's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Taunton Council, Royal and Select Mas- ters; Boston Commandery, Knights Templar; Pal- estine Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Providence, Rhode Island; and Sabbatia Lodge and Naomi Encampment, Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows. His clubs are the Winthrop and Segregansett Country, and he is a life member of the Old Colony Historical Society. His religious affiliation is with the Unitarian church, of which he is treasurer.
Mr. Dickerman married (first), June 10, 1892, Sadie J. Jones, of Boston, Massachusetts, daughter of William B. and Julia M. (Goddard) Jones, her father a merchant tailor by occupation. Mrs. Dick- erman died in the year 1920. They were the parents of two children: Harold A., who was born Febru- ary 5, 1900, and is a graduate of Taunton High School, where he held the rank of major of the High School Cadets, and later attended Amherst College, where he was a member of the Student Army Corps; and William T., who was born May
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20, 1903, and is a graduate of the high school and also of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the degree of mechanical engineer. Mr. Dick- erman married (second), in February, 1923, Edith Whitman, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, daughter of Fred N. Whitman, of Maine, a dry goods mer- chant by trade. The mother, Miriam B. (Little- field) Whitman, is a native of Roxbury, Massa- chusetts.
JOSEPH N. FONTAINE-Among the successful business men of. Massachusetts is Joseph N. Fon- taine, formerly a member of the firm of Moquin & Fontaine, of Fall River, and founder of three prosperous retail shoe stores. For thirty-five years he has been a resident of Fall River, and few of the citizens of that community are better known than is he.
Mr. Fontaine was born in the Province of Que- bec, Canada, December 25, 1864. He received a good practical education in the public schools of his native district. Feeling that larger opportunity was to be found in the United States, he left Can- ada when he was eighteen years of age, and came to Providence, Rhode Island, where he remained for a period of six years. In 1888 he settled per- manently in Fall River, Massachusetts, where in 1895 he engaged the insurance business. He was successful in this line of business activity in which he continued until 1909, when he founded a retail shoe business in Fall River. His executive ability as well as his business acumen soon became apparent, and as a member of the firm of Moquin & Fontaine he developed two more prosperous re- tail shoe stores, of which he was the executive head until March, 1923, when he sold his share of the business and invested the proceeds in other interests. He has always taken an active interest in the ad- vancement of the general welfare of the city, and is identified with several fraternal and other social organizations, including the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Calumet Club. He has won in a high degree the confidence and esteem of his business associates, and has a host of personal friends.
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In Fall River, Massachusetts, June 2, 1895, Joseph N. Fontaine married Meleda Belliveau, who was born in Grass Valley, Nevada county, California, daughter of Onesime and Marie Louise (Marche- seau) Belliveau. Mr. and Mrs. Fontaine are the parents of four children: Armand E., a sketch of whom follows; Lillian; Adrienne; and Roland. The family home is in Fall River.
ARMAND EMERY FONTAINE, a progressive and enterprising business executive of Fall River, Massachusetts, holds a broadly noteworthy position as secretary and treasurer of the Fall River Cement Construction Company, this concern being largely active in its field throughout Bristol county. Mr. Fontaine is a young man of outstanding ability, as is clearly demonstrated by the flourishing condi- tion of the interest of which he is the acting head.
Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, August 15,
1896, Armand E. Fontaine is a son of Joseph N. (q. v.) and Meleda (Belliveau) Fontaine. His edu- cation was begun in the public schools of Fall River, and after one year at the Fall River High School, he entered the East Greenwich Academy, a pre- paratory school at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, taking a three years' course, and being graduated with the class of 1916. Thereafter taking up special preparations for a commercial career, Mr. Fontaine entered the Boston University College of Business Administration, from which he was graduated with the class of 1921. His first business experience was in connection with his father's interests in the retail shoe trade. He was active for a year and a half as an employee of the firm of Moquin & Fontaine, assisting in the management of their stores. He then became affiliated with the Fall River Cement Con- struction Company, with headquarters at No. 14 East Main street, with which he is still identified. Associated with him in this enterprise are Edward J. Farrell as president and C. L. Sullivan as vice- president, but other business interests claim a part of their time and the management of the company's affairs rests almost wholly with Mr. Fontaine. That he is fully capable of this large responsibility is evi- denced by the growth of the business, which has prospered largely in the comparatively short time since its inception. They act as contractors and builders, as distributors of building materials, and also operate a plant for the manufacture of cement blocks and bricks at North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, on the road to New Bedford from Fall River. They are doing more and more in the line of road construc- tion, and since the incorporation of the concern, which took place early in the year 1921, their ac- tivities have materially expanded.
During the World War Armand E. Fontaine served with honor and distinction as aerial gunner in the United States Naval Aviation service, and was stationed at the Great Lakes Training School, in Illinois, for one year, as a non-commissioned of- ficer. His activities in the United States Naval Reserve covered a period of four years. Mr. Fon- taine has thus far been too busy to give more than the attention of the progressive citizen to political affairs. He is a leading figure in the local post of the American Legion, which he served as com- mander in 1922, and at the present time is active as a member of the executive committee, also being secretary of the Fall River Memorial Commission. Mr. Fontaine is further affiliated with the Benevo-, lent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 118, the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, and the Kiwanis, Calumet, Montauk Country, and Fall River Yacht clubs. He attends the Roman Catholic church.
Mr. Fontaine married, on June 2, 1923, Lillian Carleson, daughter of Charles J. and Frances (Trask) Carleson, then residents of Cambridge, but later residents of Brookline, Massachusetts. She is also a graduate of Boston University, class of 1921.
RUSSELL C. PAIGE is one of the foremost men of the day in Taunton, Massachusetts, and his posi-
armand E. Fontaine
Joseph M. Fontaine
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tion as treasurer and general manager of the Colby Company, Incorporated, places him in the front rank of mercantile progress in Eastern Massachusetts. Still a young man, yet with years of experience in the organization in which he now holds a prominent position, Mr. Paige has given the best years of his life to the development and expansion of this great enterprise. The Paige family has been very prominent in Bristol county for many years, and Nomus Paige, father of the subject of this review, was for many years a leading physician of Taun- ton, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth College. His death, which oc- curred in the year 1919, removed from this city a man of large significance to the people and a leader in his profession. The mother, Nora (Colby) Paige, was also a member of a leading Bristol county family, and died in the year 1903.
Russell C. Paige was born in Taunton, Massa- chusetts, August 11, 1882. Receiving his early edu- cation in the local public schools, he was graduated from the Taunton High School in the class of 1899. Then entering Harvard University, he was gradu- ated from that institution in the class of 1903, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For about two months after completing his education Mr. Paige was active in the cotton industry, then he entered the organization with which he has been affiliated since, the department store, which has for many years borne the name of Colby. His first experi- ence was in the ready-to-wear clothing department, where he remained for a period of five years. Dur- ing this time he made a constant study of all the other departments, gaining a comprehensive grasp of the business, and in 1908 he was elected treasurer of the company, also general manager. This enter- prise is one of the oldest in mercantile circles in Taunton, having been established in the year 1846, and has been continuously active for seventy-seven years. Since taking over the management of the company's affairs Mr. Paige has developed and increased the business, and has introduced new methods and progressive policies. He has won a high place in the confidence of the people and in the esteem of his contemporaries in every field of effort. He bears the part of the progressive citizen in all worthy movements, and politically supports the Republican party, although taking no leading part in public affairs.
Fraternally he is identified with Ionic Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and St. Mark's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He is a leading member of the Winthrop Club, of Taunton; the Harvard Club, of Boston; the Segregansett Country Club, and the Taunton Automobile Club. His religious connection is with the Episcopal church.
Russell C. Paige married, in the year 1907, Ethel Baker, of Taunton, daughter of Charles and Abbie (Applegate) Baker, her father one of the foremost men of the day a generation ago in Taunton, and one of the founders and owners of the Weir Stove Company. He died in 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Paige have one son, Samuel C., born in 1909.
NATHAN H. FRIEDMAN-The establishment and development of the Harodite Finishing Com- pany of North Dighton, Massachusetts, is one of the interesting chapters in the history of Bristol county, covering a period of less than fourteen years, and during that space of time it has become one of the really noteworthy industrial organiza- tions of Bristol county, Massachusetts. Officered by a group of progressive and enterprising young men, the interest has gone forward steadily from its in- ception. Nathan H. Friedman, as secretary, and treasurer, and also general manager of this business, is filling large responsibilities and has been the principal factor in the development and the present importance of the enterprise.
Nathan H. Friedman was born in New York City, June 4, 1890. His education was begun in the public schools of the metropolis, and following the completion of the high school course he took up special studies at the Institution of Technology. He then completed special courses at Columbia Uni- versity, after which he determined upon a career in the textile industry, and coming to Bristol county, Massachusetts, covered a course at the New Bed- ford Textile School. Starting out in life as a pro- ducer, Mr. Friedman became affiliated with his present associates of the organization of the Haro- dite Finishing Company in the year 1910. Locating in North Dighton, Massachusetts, they established this plant for the purpose of bleaching and dyeing cotton goods, and although started on a small scale, it has developed steadily until at present they employ about one hundred people and occupy three buildings, aggregating a floor area of some 50,000 square feet. They send their products to all parts of the United States and do a very considerable ex- port business. The personnel of the corporation is: Dewey D. Stone, president; Sadie S. Friedman, vice-president; and Nathan H. Friedman, secretary, treasurer, and general manager; the organization be- ing capitalized under the laws of the State of New York. In their very important branch of the textile industry this concern has achieved a position of far more than local prominence and it is well worthy of note that Mr. Friedman entered the organization with a fine industrial equipment when only nineteen years of age, and during the comparatively short period of its existence has put forth his force of charac- ter and business ability and has carried it to its present eminence in the trade. Mr. Friedman has few in- terests outside of Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 27, Free and Accepted Masons, of New York City. He is also a member of the B'nai B'rith. He attends the Congregation Agudth Achim, of Taunton, Massa- chusetts.
Mr. Friedman married, in 1912, Sadie Stone, of Brockton, Massachusetts, and they have two chil- dren: Robert S., born January 9, 1915; and Ruth T. C., born January 10, 1920.
REV. JAMES H. LOOBY, as pastor of the Sacred Heart Church, of Taunton, Massachusetts, is a prominent figure in his ecclesiastical circle in
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New England. Locally he is deeply beloved among his people and even outside of his own parish he enjoys the confidence and esteem of the people, re- gardless of religious differences. He has done much not only for the advancement of his own parish but for the general progress of the community, and as an exponent of religious significance in the com- munity, he is exemplifying the significance of re- ligious teachings to the general progress. He is a son of Patrick and Margaret (Dunigan) Looby, his father, a resident of Rhode Island, died in 1889; his mother having died in 1877.
Father Looby was born in Burrillville, Rhode Island, February 11, 1862. His education was begun in the public schools of his birthplace, and at four- teen years of age he entered Holy Cross College, at Worcester, Massachusetts. He covered his classical studies in that institution, from which he was graduated in the year 1881. Thereafter taking up his studies in philosophy and theology at Montreal Seminary, Canada, he was ordained to the priest- hood in Boston Cathedral in the year 1884, and his first appointment was as assistant priest at Saint Theresa's Church in Providence, Rhode Island, after which he was transferred to Saint Mary's Church, at Newport, Rhode Island, thence to Saint Lawrence's Church, at New Bedford. He was ap- pointed pastor of Saint Peter's Church, at Sand- wich, and St. Patrick's Church, at Wareham, where he served from 1896 to 1899. He was then appoint- ed pastor of the Church of The Immaculate Con- ception, at North Easton, where he erected and paid for the new stone church. In September, 1912, he was appointed to his present pastorate at Sacred Heart Church, in Taunton.
MILLARD F. MOORE-In the production of monuments and cemetery memorials of every kind, the late Millard F. Moore, of Taunton, Massachu- setts, was a noteworthy figure in this general field in Bristol county. Mr. Moore had been active in his field for many years and his natural ability and artistic taste gave to his work more than pass- ing significance and placed the patronage of many of the best families of this section in his hands. He was the son of Hiram Moore, who was for a number of years active as a farmer at North An- son, Maine, and who died in 1890. The mother, Eliza (Coleman) Moore, died at a very advanced age, in 1899.
Millard F. Moore was born at North Anson, Maine, May 15, 1849, and died in Taunton, on June 17, 1923. His education was begun in the public schools of his birthplace and he later had the ad- vantage, unusual in those days, of a course at the Anson Academy, from which he was graduated in the class of 1868. Following his graduation Mr. Moore came to Taunton, where he entered the employ of Reed & Barton as a silversmith. He was identified with that concern for a period of twenty- five years, and during that time, for thirteen years, was one of the noted professors of dancing in this part of the State, directing some of the largest classes
which were ever formed in the city of Taunton. In 1915 Mr. Moore established his business, secur- ing a location at No. 3 Jefferson street. He has given to this interest not only the energy and prac- tical ability of the forward-looking business man, but the attention of the man broadly appreciative of the ethical and artistic side of the work. To every commission, from the simplest marker to the great and dignified memorial which represents wealth as well as the beauty of human memory, Mr. Moore gave the same careful and considerate attention, never considering a piece of work com- pleted until it was placed to the satisfaction of the customer and in a manner which brought out the full beauty and dignity of the object. Mr. Moore took a deep interest in various branches of com- munity and fraternal effort.
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