USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3 > Part 72
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In Fall River, Massachusetts, October 27, 1921, William Henry Sherry married Florence Cuttle, a native of Fall River, daughter of John and Catherine (Perkins) Cuttle, both natives of Fall River. Mr. and Mrs. Sherry are the parents of one daughter, Florence B., who was born in Fall River, Massa- chusetts, August 7, 1922.
KENNETH C. SHERMAN-The name of Sher- man has for many years borne special significance to the people of Mansfield, Massachusetts, and a large area of the surrounding communities, for, in the undertaking business, father and son were long affiliated together and the business is now carried on by Kenneth C. Sherman, the son of the former owner. Mr. Sherman gives to the duties which de- volve upon him not only the natural ability and painstaking care of the capable executive but the progressive spirit which characterizes his every rela- tion of life. Elbridge G. Sherman, Mr. Sherman's father and the former head of this interest, was born at Foxboro, Massachusetts, and in early life was active as an iron molder, learning this trade after the completion of his education and following it for a number of years. During the last five years of his activity in that connection, Mr. Sherman was foreman of the Chilson Iron Foundry. He died May 25, 1914. The mother, Cecilia J. (Corey) Sher- man, was born in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and survived her husband for a number of years, passing away April 15, 1923.
Kenneth C. Sherman was born at Mansfield, Massachusetts, October 18, 1885. His education was begun in the local public schools and he was gradu-
ated from the Mansfield High School in the class of 1905. Later he took a course along practical commercial lines at the Bryant & Stratton Business College, at Boston. Meanwhile, with the purpose in view of entering the business of which his father was the head, Mr. Sherman took a special course of embalming at the New England Institute of Embalming, at Boston. He then entered the busi- ness with his father and until his death was asso- ciated with him. This concern was originally es- tablished by Seth Carroll Shepard on July 1, 1872. The first location was on Spring street, in Mans- field, and Mr. Shepard was the sole owner until the year 1890, when Elbridge G. Sherman pur- chased an interest in the enterprise and became a partner. In 1894 Mr. Sherman bought out Mr. Shepard's interest and continued as the owner until the year 1907, when he received as partner his son, Kenneth C. Sherman, the firm name thereby be- coming E. G. Sherman & Son. Although the elder Mr. Sherman passed away more than nine years ago, the firm name has remained the same until the present time. The enterprise was located for a number of years at No. 242 North Main street but was later removed to its present location at No. 69 North Main street. As the head of this business, Kenneth C. Sherman has carried it forward in a thoroughly up-to-date and progressive manner, keeping in touch with all advance in his field of en- deavor and constantly adding to his equipment as methods changed or developed. Mr. Sherman is further interested in the local advance as a director of the Mansfield Cooperative Bank. He is a mem- ber of the National Undertakers' Association and the Massachusetts Undertakers' Association. He is fraternally affiliated with St. James Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master; Keystone Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Attleboro Council, Royal and Select Masters; Bristol Com- mandery, Knights Templar; and Massachusetts Con- sistory; Mansfield Lodge, No. 194, Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, and the Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is past patron. Mr. Sherman is a member of the Winthrop Club, of Mansfield, and supports the Republican party in political affairs, although he has never accepted official honors. His religious convictions place his membership with the Congregational church.
Mr. Sherman married, on January 21, 1911, N. Frances Bayley, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, daugh- ter of J. Frank and Nellie (Sweet) Bayley, of Massa- chusetts, her father being engaged in the railroad industry throughout his entire lifetime. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman are the parents of two children: Kenneth Bayley, born May 17, 1912; and Philip El- bridge, born July 26, 1917.
JABEZ HOLT PERRY -- Active in the printing business in Attleboro, Massachusetts, for the past nine years in an independent way, Jabez Holt Perry is noted among the successful and progressive young men of the day in Bristol county. A native of Eng- land but a resident of the United States since his
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youth, Mr. Perry is a thoroughly practical man and is meeting the daily need of the business world of Attleboro in his own line of activity. He is a son of Jabez and Mary (Holt) Perry.
Jabez Holt Perry was born at Manchester, Eng- land, September 15, 1888. Receiving a practical edu- cation in the National schools of his native country, he came to the United States in the year 1905 and secured employment in the office of the "Attleboro Daily Sun." There he learned the trade of printer and remained with this concern a period of ten years. Then establishing his present business as job and commercial printer, Mr. Perry has since gone forward as the head of his own enterprise and has attained marked success. Naturally gifted with artistic taste and the capacity for doing fine and attractive work, his printing shows a distinctive quality which is all too rare in the graphic arts, and among those business organizations who place their work in his hands, its excellence and taste are counted as assets in their own progress. He does principally commercial work, but also handles a large share of the social printing demanded by the people of Attleboro. Occupying a floor space of some 22,000 square feet, he employs a number of hands, and has thus far handled only local work, but his future is considered as one of great promise. Mr. Perry is a member of the Attleboro Chamber of Commerce, and fraternally is affiliated with Orient Lodge, No. 279, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and the Encampment, No. 80; and the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles, Aerie No. 1749. He is a Republican by political affiliation, but has thus far never aspired to public honors. He is identified with the Methodist Episcopal church.
Jabez Holt Perry married, on October 4, 1915, at Attleboro, Massachusetts, Esther E. Grover, daugh- ter of Stillman R. and Theodora A. (Ashley) Grover, who both died in 1917. The father was a tool- maker by occupation, a man of the highest char- acter and well known in Attleboro. Mr. and Mrs. Perry have one child, Ethel G., born August 13, 1916.
WILLIAM HENRY BEATTIE, for fifty-six years, has been a resident of Fall River, Massachu- setts, though he was born in the neighboring State of Rhode Island. For nearly forty years he has been associated with the contracting business, and there are none in the State who know the demands of his particular line better than he.
William Beattie, father of William Henry Beattie, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1830, and came to this country as a boy, settling in Newport, Rhode Island, removing thence to Fall River, in 1867, where he became the owner and operator of large granite quarries. In connection with his quarrying operations he conducted a contracting business, which developed into a large concern before the time of his death, which occurred in 1915. Fra- ternally he was affiliated with the Masonic order. He married Mary Hamilton, who was born in England in 1833, and died in 1918, and they were the parents of three sons: Roy H., who is a large
contractor in Fall River; David, who was also en- gaged in the contracting business, under the firm name of Beattie & Wilcox, and who died in 1918; and William Henry, of further mention.
William Henry Beattie, son of William and Mary (Hamilton) Beattie, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, April 2, 1864, and was taken to Fall River, Massachusetts, by his parents when he was three years of age. He attended the public schools of Fall River, graduating from the high school in 1882, and then entered Brown University, from which he was graduated in 1886 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After graduation, he associated himself with his father in the granite and contracting busi- ness, and maintained that connection until 1895. when he formed a partnership with George H. Cor- nell, under the firm name of Beattie & Cornell, and engaged in the general contracting business for himself. The enterprise met with encouraging suc- cess from the beginning and steadily grew. The firm engaged in a general line of constructing work, in- cluding the building of roads, mills, public buildings of all kinds, and private dwellings. Among the large contracts which they have filled may be men- tioned the Bristol county jail, several churches, many roads, a large number of mills, and many beautiful residences The Sagamore Mill, No. 3, is one of the largest mills constructed by the firm. As the amount of business handled continued to in- crease, it became certain that it would be wise to admit another partner into the concern, and in 1920 Michael J. Collins, an old employee, became a part- ner. A vast amount of work outside of the county is done in connection with a still larger amount of local work, among their largest outside contracts being with Esmond Mills, at Esmond, Rhode Island; Cheney Brothers Velvet Mills, at South Manchester, Connecticut; and Wilkes-Barre Lace Company Mill, at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The concern ranks easily as the largest of its kind in Bristol county, and each year sees a rapid increase in its patronage. In addition to his responsibilities in connection with the firm of Beattie & Cornell, Mr. Beattie is also vice-president and a member of the board of directors of the Pilgrim Mill. For more than thirty years he was treasurer of the Fall River Granite Company, which corporation has been recently dissolved. Politically he gives his sup- port to the Republican party. He takes an active interest in local affairs, and from 1914 to 1917 served as a member of the Fire Commission. He was for eleven years a lieutenant in the Massachu- setts Naval Brigade, and was colonel of the 17th Regiment Infantry, Massachusetts State Guard, from 1915 to 1919. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order, in which he holds the thirty-third degree, being one of the six in Fall River who have been thus honored. The degree was conferred in 1918. He has reached that high position through both the York and Scottish Rites, and has served as. presiding officer in several lodges of the order. He has been very active in the Fall River Chamber of Commerce, serving as director for some years, and
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still holds membership in the Quequechan Club, and in the Burns Club. His religious affiliation is with the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, of Fall River, which he has served in years past as a vestryman.
In Fall River, in 1888, William Henry Beattie married (first) Hannah B. Church, daughter of Charles and Albina Church, both natives of Fall River. She died in 1897, and he married (second) in 1899, in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Gen- evra L. Spencer, daughter of James F. and Mary E. (Place) Spencer, natives of Rhode Island. Mr. and Mrs. Beattie have no children.
JOSEPH CLEGG-Along special lines of ma- chinery and tool production, Joseph Clegg, of At- tleboro, Massachusetts, holds a prominent position not only in this State and section but in the United States. A practical machinist by trade, and pos- sessing the ingenuity and energy of the widely ef- ficient man of business, Mr. Clegg has developed an interest which takes rank with many of the more important industrial concerns of Attleboro in the significance of its products to mechanical ad- vance. Mr. Clegg is a son of Henry and Emma Clegg, both natives of England, and his father still active there as a merchant.
Joseph Clegg was born at Lancashire, England, and his education was acquired in the national schools of his native land. Coming to the United States at the age of only fourteen years, Mr. Clegg located in the city of Attleboro, Massachusetts, where he learned the trade of machinist and tool- making with the Watson Company, remaining in that connection for three years. He then entered the employ of the firm of Whiting, Davis Company, of Plainville, Massachusetts, thereafter successively being affiliated with the Attleboro Manufacturing Company, the Holbrook Manufacturing Company, and the D. F. Briggs Company. On November 2, 1909, Mr. Clegg established his own interest in Attleboro, at No. 19 Summer street, under the firm of the Clegg Manufacturing and Tool Company. They manufacture jigs, fixtures, gauges, blanking dies, etc., also special machinery. Their specialty is blanking, forming and drawing of sheet metal. Mr. Clegg is sole owner of this interest, employs about fifteen men, and sends his products to all parts of the United States. During the World War the plant was devoted to the manufacture of ma- terials used by the United States Government, es- pecially gauges and fixtures, and Mr. Clegg takes pride that in all the war work of the time, he and his plant were numbered in the one hundred per cent. American group. Mr. Clegg early became a citizen of the United States, on October 23, 1900. He is a supporter of the Republican party, but has never accepted official responsibility. Fraternally he is affiliated with Ezekiel Bates Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; King Hiram Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Attleboro Council, Royal and Select Mas- ters; and is also a member of the Grotto. He is further identified fraternally with Orient Lodge, No 165, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Attle-
boro and Manchester Unity of the same order, of which he is past noble grand. He is affiliated with the British Social Club and is a member of Murray Universalist Church.
Mr. Clegg married, on July 7, 1902, Annie Ben- son, of Yorkshire, England, and they are the parents of two children: Harry Bliss, born December 25, 1904, now a senior at the Attleboro High School; and Phyllis Lucy, born February 7, 1907, now in the junior class at the Attleboro High School.
ROYDEN E. KENT-In the manufacture of athletic goods, the name of Kent is widely known, and Royden E. Kent has for a number of years been at the head of the plant in Seekonk, of which his grandfather was the founder. Mr. Kent is a man of large executive ability, and is widely fa- miliar not only with the goods of which he is a producer but with the lines of sport in which they are used. The Kent family is one of prominence in Bristol county, Massachusetts, and Elijah Kent, the father of the present Mr. Kent, was one of the prominent citizens of Seekonk, Massachusetts, throughout his lifetime, his death, which occurred in 1914, removing from this community a man whose worth was universally appreciated and whose every activity contributed to the general welfare. The mother, Ida (French) Kent, is also a member of an old Bristol county family and still survives her husband.
Royden E. Kent was born February 19, 1882, and his early education was received in the public schools of Seekonk. He later attended the New York Military Academy for three years. After com- pleting his studies, Mr. Kent returned to Seekonk and entered his father's factory as an employee. He familiarized himself with every detail of the business by the practical method of experience in every de- partment, and upon the death of his father in 1914 inherited, in company with his brother, the interest of which the elder man had so many years been the head. This concern manufactures sporting and athletic goods, making a specialty of tennis racquets, and this, their leading product, is sent to all parts of the world. Occupying about 15,000 square feet of floor space, they employ one hundred and fifty people, and this comprises one of the important and progressive industries of Seekonk. Mr. Kent is a supporter of the Republican Party; is widely known in Seekonk, which is his residence town; and he is considered one of the most progressive and broad-minded men of the day in this locality. He is a member of the To-Kalon Club of Pawtucket.
Mr. Kent married, in Pawtucket, on June 8, 1911, Helen Kent, a member of another family of this name, daughter of George W. and Lydia (Fair- banks) Kent. Her father, who was treasurer and manager of the Narragansett Milling Company, of East Providence, was born in Lonsdale, and died in 1915, while the mother survived her husband for a number of years, and died May 10, 1923. Mr. and Mrs. Kent have one daughter, Ruth, born June 20, 1912.
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HOWARD BRADFORD WETHERELL -
Among the many problems unmastered in the early days of cotton manufacturing in Fall River, despite the deep study that was given to them by the fathers of the industry, was the serious one of pro- viding a covering for the top rolls used in spinning, that would produce results commensurate with the needs of yarn-making. Various expedients were made use of without the real difficulty being sur- mounted. At that time word came that Daniel H. Wetherell, who was connected with the Hopewell Mill of Taunton, was an expert on the matter that was so perplexing, and he was called to Fall River by Lazarus Borden, who was agent of the Meta- comet Manufacturing Company, to apply his knowl- edge to the covering of rolls on the promise of a lucrative trade. Therefore, Mr. Wetherell became the first maker of roller coverings in Fall River and probably in the county, and he laid the foundation of an industry with which the family name has ever since been associated.
Almost all the machinery used in roller estab- lishments was made from Mr. Wetherell's designs and ideas, a fact that proves very strongly the close grasp he had on the device from the beginning., As the demands increased he secured as an assistant another Daniel Wetherell, a nephew, and under his instruction the younger Daniel developed so well that upon the death of the uncle the nephew suc- ceeded him in business. Under Daniel Wetherell, the younger, the growth of the business was co- incident with the development of cotton manufac- turing in Fall River, and the services of Orin B. Wetherell were secured, a partnership being entered into under the firm name D. & O. B. Wetherell. When the senior partner died in 1893, Howard B. Wetherell, son of Orin B. Wetherell, became his successor, and the buying trade came to know father and son as O. B. Wetherell & Son, a firm that continued until 1907, then was incorporated as the O. B. Wetherell & Son Company, so remaining until the present, the father, O. B. Wetherell, being succeeded at his death by his son, Howard B., now sole owner of the plant and business; also owner of the Davis & McLane Manufacturing Company, one of the important plants of its kind.
Orin B. Wetherell, born in Taunton, Massachu- setts, February 14, 1830, died in Fall River, Massa- chusetts, March 24, 1918, a son of Thomas and Caroline S. Wetherell, his father dying in 1869, his mother's death occurred in 1879. After school years were completed he learned the shoemaker's trade, an avocation to which he became an expert. In 1852 he entered the employ of Martin Wales, a leading shoe manufacturer of Stoughton, Massa- chusetts. It was Mr. Wetherell's habit to walk the distance from his father's home in Taunton, to his work in Stoughton, about twelve miles, each Monday morning, returning Saturday night after a full week's work. The physical vigor that made this no hardship took him to the ripe age of eighty- eight years. Mr. Wetherell was in that city in 1858 when his brother, Daniel Wetherell, proposed
the partnership that involved a complete change of business. But the offer was so attractive that he gave up his own business and removed to Fall River, where all of his interests were centered until his death, sixty years later. In 1893 Daniel Wether- ell died and was succeeded by his brother, Orin B., head of the D. & O. B. Wetherell Company, which company was succeeded by O. B. Wetherell & Son Company, so continuing until his own passing in 1918. In addition to their own business the Wetherells acquired a large interest in the Davis & McLane Manufacturing Company, a corporation en- gaged in the same business, O. B. Wetherell be- coming also president of that company, the two forming the largest plant for covering rolls in this country. The policy of the Wetherells toward their employees was and is such that labor troubles are unknown and men have grown gray in their service.
In politics Orin B. Wetherell was a Republican and a member of the Masonic order. He was the first initiate of King Philip Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Fall River, and in recognition of that fact he was made a member of the Order of Henry Price at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the lodge. He was always interested in clean sport, loved a fast horse, was a true friend to Fall River, and his influence was always exerted in behalf of the welfare of the community in which he had cast his lot.
Orin B. Wetherell married Hannah M. Barney, born in Warren, Rhode Island, in 1844, died at Fall River, Massachusetts, January 23, 1923.
Howard Bradford Wetherell, son of Orin Brad- ford and Hannah M. (Barney) Wetherell, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, and there yet resides (October, 1923). He was educated in the public schools and at Phillips-Exeter Academy, class of 1889, and began his business career as an employe of the firm of D. &. O. B. Wetherell of Fall River, roll coverers. He became thoroughly familiar with the details of the business and in 1893 was admitted by his father to a partnership, later becoming treas- urer of O. B. Wetherell & Son Company. Mr. Wetherell is now its sole owner, continues the busi- ness under the same name, and is one of the highly successful business men of Fall River, the city of his birth. He holds directorships in other com- panies, but his principal interests are in O. B. Wetherell & Son Company.
Mr. Wetherell is a Republican in politics; a mem- ber of the Masonic order, holding the thirty-second degree; the Chamber of Commerce; Fall River Country Club; Quequechan Club; and the. First Baptist Church Society. He is unmarried.
MICHAEL JOSEPH COLLINS-As a member of the firm of Beattie & Cornell, one of the largest contracting firms of Bristol county, Massachusetts, Michael Joseph Collins is taking an important part in the development of Fall River and vicinity.
Thomas B. Collins, father of Mr. Collins, was born in County Waterford, Ireland, in 1846, and is now living with his son. For several years he was
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employed as a quarryman, but later he became as- sociated with the New Haven Railroad Company, as a section foreman. He married Ellen McCarthy, who was born in County Waterford, Ireland, in 1850, and died in Fall River, March 1, 1922.
Michael Joseph Collins, son of Thomas B. and Ellen (McCarthy) Collins, was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, January 6, 1875, and received his education in the public schools of his native dis- trict. After attending the B. M. C. Durfee High School for one year, he entered the office of the contracting firm of Beattie & Cornell, and that con- nection he has maintained to the present time. He began as clerk, but in 1920 he was made a member of the firm, and at the present time (1923) he is an important factor in the growth and development of that already large and well-established concern. The firm of Beattie & Cornell was founded by Will- iam Henry Beattie, who was associated with his father in the granite and contracting business. In 1895 he formed a partnership with George H. Cor- nell, under the firm name of Beattie & Cornell, and engaged in a general contracting business, building roads, mills, public structures, and private residences. The enterprise grew steadily and at the present time, after thirty years of expansion, ranks as the largest concern of its kind in Bristol county. It does a vast amount of work outside of Bristol county, one of its important outside contracts being the erection of the War College, at Newport. Rhode Island. Politically, Mr. Collins gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Republican party. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, in which he holds the fourth degree, and which he served as grand knight for one year in Fall River. He finds healthful recreation and enjoyable social companionship through his affilia- tion with the Fall River Country Club; and his re- ligious connection is with the Church of the Holy Name.
At Fall River, Massachusetts, April 24, 1901, Michael Joseph Collins married Abbie L. Shay, daughter of John B. and Margaret Shay, both of County Cork, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Collins are the parents of three children: Ellen, attending the College of the Sacred Heart, Manhattanville, New York; Thomas S., who is now a student in Fall River High School; and Margaret C., who is at- tending the Sacred Heart Academy.
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