History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 62

Author: Thompson, Elroy Sherman, 1874-
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 642

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 62
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 62
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 62

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Dr. Miles has been particularly active in educational interests and was nominated and elected to the Brockton School Board by an unusually large vote. As a young man he was active in the Young Men's Christian Association affairs, serving as a member of several important committees, and was captain of the basketball team that won the championship of New England. During the World War he re- sponded to his country's call and gave unsparingly

of his professional services. Commissioned a lieu- tenant at the beginning of the war he was promoted through the grades to major. He demobilized the largest camp in the United States, Camp Green, Char- lotte, North Carolina, where he was demobilization officer. He is now major in the United States Army Medical Corps. Ever an ardent champion of the Republican cause, he was elected president of the Young Men's Republican Club and was indefatigable in his efforts for his party's welfare. He organized and was elected president of the McCall Club of Brockton, so named for the governor of the State of Massachusetts. In 1919, Dr. Miles was a candidate for mayor of the city of Brockton and his popularity was evidenced by the strong vote in his favor, having the largest vote given a mayoralty candidate. In 1922, he was reëlected to the Brockton School Board for a term of six years; in January, 1927, was appointed by Mayor H. C. Bent to the Brockton Board of Health for a term of three years, and was chosen as chairman of that body. He has been United States Public Health Examiner for the Brockton District since 1919, and chief examiner for the Citizens' Mili- tary Training Camps since 1919. That he is an ardent advocate of educational progress is demon- strated in the fact that he has sent twenty-two young women and eighty-six young men to college, to help them to better their position in life. A characteristic utterance of his which tells the story of his life, is in these words:

The greatest pleasure of this life is the knowledge of doing good to others. I never will be rich, and I never will be idle. Let honesty and humanity be guiding principles; beyond this, the silent grave and the Eternal God.

Dr. Miles' fraternal and social affiliations are nu- merous, including: charter member, Baalis Sanford Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; member of Paul Revere Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Seneker Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Brockton Council, Roy- al and Select Masters; Bay State Commandery, Knights Templar; Carolina Consistory, No. 2, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (orders taken while serving in army); Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Knights of Pythias; Massachusetts Asso- ciation of Boards of Health; Massachusetts Medical Society; Brockton Medical Society, and the Com- mercial Club of Brockton.

Dr. Charles G. Miles married, October 18, 1922, Isabella Augusta McPhail, of East Aurora, New York, who is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and secretary of the "Ten Times One Club" of Brockton.

EDWARD P. NEAFSEY-In seeking the voca- tion in life for which he is best fitted, man's only recourse is to experiment, until chance, or circum- stances, enable him to see the light. It was thus that Edward P. Neafsey finally became engaged in a business for which he has well qualified by natural instincts and inherent ability.

David Neafsey, who was connected with a Brock- ton shoe factory, and the late Bridget (Ganley) Neaf- sey, were the parents of Edward P. Neafsey. Their son was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, October 18, 1886. He received his education in the public schools of his native city, beginning work when fif- teen years old. His education completed, his first occupation was that of proprietor of a local lunch- room. The work, though by no means congenial to

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a youth with ambitions, nevertheless afforded him an excellent opportunity to come into contact with all kinds of people and engage in the study of human nature, knowledge of which is almost indispensable to success in any line of endeavor. Mr. Neafsey eventu- ally left the lunchroom and for some time was em- ployed by the Prudential Insurance Company as as- sistant superintendent for the city of Brockton, and was also construction foreman of the Brockton Gas Company, as well as holding positions in various shoe factories of his home town. Having acquired a modest substance in 1910, he determined to invest his time and means in a career which most of all appealed to him, which was that of real estate. He accordingly established his present business, which deals with the various branches of real estate, and insurance. He is also engaged in the auction busi- ness and is a duly qualified notary public.

Mr. Neafsey is a Democrat. a member of the Brockton Chamber of Commerce; of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church; the Knights of Columbus; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Division Five, Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Amer- ican Legion. During the World War, he served in the United States Navy.

On November 1, 1920, Mr. Neafsey was married to Mary E. McCarthy. To this marriage have been born three children: Mary F., Margaret, and Anna P.

MYRON F. THOMAS-A practical shoe manu- facturer, who had mastered the various branches of the industry throughout, Myron F. Thomas, for years superintendent of the Walk-Over shoe manu- facturing plant, was one of Brockton's most promi- nent and active industrialists, a skilled operator as well as a thorough supervisor of shoe manufacturing and a citizen who left a record of valued constructive and organizing capabilities.

Myron F. Thomas, a son of Benjamin F. Thomas, a farmer, and of Susanne (Green) Thomas, both now deceased, was born July 26, 1856, at Middle- borough, where he received his education in the public schools. He turned his attention from the outset of his business career to shoe manufacture, and when he was nineteen years old, was appointed foreman of a department in the factory of William S. Green, in Brockton. After continuing thus for a short time, Mr. Thomas established a plant of his own, with which he continued until 1902 when he disposed of his business and accepted the position of superintendent for the Walk-Over shoe manu- facturing concern. He remained therein until his death which occurred May 5, 1912.

Mr. Thomas was one of the most capable of busi- ness managers; and he also interested himself in the financial affairs of the city in his active association with the organization and directorship of the Peoples' Savings Bank, in Brockton. In his political views he was a Republican. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; with the local Commandery, Knights Templar; and he was also a member of the Brockton Commercial Club, and the Brockton Country Club. His religious faith was that of the Congregational church.

Myron F. Thomas married, May 2, 1882, Mary M. Tallman, daughter of Asa B. Tallman, a farmer and mason, and of Patience L. (Baker) Tallman, both parents now deceased. Their children are: 1. Leon I., an industrial writer in Chicago, Illinois, and editor

of "Industrial Power." 2. Claude B., who is engaged in the life insurance business in Brockton.

JAMES YOUNG NOYES-Because of his life- long devotion to the business of fire insurance as successfully expounded by the Norfolk Mutual In- surance Company, an institution that has entered upon the second century of its existence, President and Treasurer James Young Noyes holds a place of executive leadership in insurance matters that has been won by his personal abilities and proven merit. He is prominent in that school of Massachuetts in- surance men who have distinguished themselves in the successful direction of the broadening interests of their profession; and as one of Dedham's fore- most citizens, he has at all times displayed the spirit of cooperation in the progress of municipal affairs. He is a son of the late Joseph H. Noyes, of Byfield, who died September 25, 1896, and of Abbie M. (Young) Noyes, of Newburyport, whose death oc- curred January 4, 1871; and he is a descendant of Nicholas Noyes who came to America in 1633, and who was a son of Rev. William Noyes, who for forty years was a pastor of the church at Choulderton, England.

James Young Noyes was born March 7, 1864, at Newburyport, Massachusetts; and upon his gradu- ation from the Dedham High School in 1881, he en- tered the employ of a wholesale woolen concern in Boston. He had continued in that line of business but five months, when an opening was made for his career and he accepted the position of clerk for both the Norfolk and Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance companies. Upon the death of Elijah Howe, Jr., in May, 1898, Mr. Noyes was elected secretary of the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company; and in 1906, he succeeded to the offices of president and treasurer of the company. Besides these leading offices in the insurance world, Mr. Noyes is also president of the Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company; and he formerly was president of the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

A Republican in his political views Mr. Noyes supports the principles of good government in all public matters; and during the World War period he served as chairman of various organizations that cooperated in the service of the United States Government. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, as he traces his ancestry to Myles Standish; he is a Past Master of Constellation Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; a member of Norfolk Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Cyprus Commandery, Knights Templar, both of Hyde Park. A former president of the Public Library Board, and of the Dedham Republican Club, Mr. Noyes is also a member of the Dedham Historical Society. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church, and he is a mem- er of the standing committee, and formerly was superintendent of the Sunday school.

James Young Noyes married, October 11, 1894, Ada W. Bigelow, of Dedham, who died December 22, 1926, daughter of Henry C. Bigelow, of Sudbury, and of Maria C. (Fuller) Bigelow, of Wellesley.

REV. MARK E. MADDEN-For the past dec- ade the spiritual and educational interests of St. John's Roman Catholic parish at Canton, Norfolk County, have been cared for by the present pastor, Rev. Mark E. Madden, known throughout the com-

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munity for his wisdom and progressive spirit. As the resident leader of his flock, which now numbers some twenty-four hundred souls, he has accomplished a re- markable task along the lines of church work and in the extension of the school facilities connected with the parish, the physical results showing in a highly improved parish property. He has demon- strated his capacity, both as a faithful priest in watch- ing over those committed to his pastoral charge, as an aggressive overseer and promoter of Catholic education, and as an executive of outstanding busi- ness ability, all of which qualifications are required in one who has been given the responsibilities of so im- portant a parish as St. John's.

Born in Watertown, Massachusetts, March 18, 1868, Rev. Mark E. Madden is the son of James and Mary J. (Ryan) Madden, both of whom were natives of Ireland. These sturdy, good-living, de- voutly Catholic parents reared their children, the present Pastor Madden among them, most carefully in the tenets of their historic religion, at the same time instructing them by example and word of mouth to become exemplary citizens of their adopted coun- try. The son, Mark, attended the public schools, where he received his preliminary academic instruc- tion. This completed. he entered Boston College, a Roman Catholic institution of high standing in the New England metropolis, and from which he was graduated in the class of 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Grounded in the principles of a liberal education, he was now prepared to take his theological course, and entered St. John's Seminary at Brighton, Massachusetts. Here he acquitted himself with such high rating and faithful devotion in his studies as to reflect credit upon the seminary, its faculty and student body, as well as upon the church, whose priesthood he was destined to adorn.

After spending eighteen years as assistant to the Rt. Rev. Thomas Magennis of Jamaica Plain, in June, 1915, he was assigned to his first pastorate at Hough's Neck, Massachusetts, where he remained three years, during which time he built the church of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a stone structure of English Gothic design. His next appointment was to St. Philip's Church, Boston, and this association was fruitful of outstanding results for the faith. Late in October, 1918, he took charge of St. John's parish in Canton, where he built a new convent for the Sisters who teach in the parochial school, renovated the old church and otherwise improved the church property.

The history of St. John's parish begins in 1854, when Rev. Michael Strain, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and Rev. Terrence Fitzsimmons, of South Boston, visited Canton and conducted services in what was called the "Stone Factory Chapel." A few months later work was commenced on a Catholic church a short distance north of the railroad station in South Canton. The new church of that time was opened for regular services in the summer of 1855. Under different pastorates the parish enjoyed increasing prosperity, and in 1868, the present St. John's Church was erected by the Rev. John J. Flatley. From 1882 until 1908 the parish was in charge of Rev. Joshua P. Bodfish, who was succeeded in that year by Rev. John J. Farrell, who had during his pastorate Revs. D. J. McGuire and E. T. McKenna as assistants. Rev. Farrell's stay in the parish was ten years, and in 1918 he was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Mark E. Madden.

A general toning up of the spiritual, educational and physical elements of St. John's parish has been noted since the coming of Rev. Madden. His zeal for the church naturally leads him to give primary attention to the duties of his priestly office, which of themselves are very exacting in so populous a parish as St. John's, but he is also highly esteemed for his earnestness of citizenship in the promotion of the civic betterment of Canton. He has fitted in nicely with the municipality, its people and their various endeavors, wherein they meet with his ap- proval. He is deeply beloved by his own people, whose spiritual welfare he directs with a trained mind, a loving heart and skilled hand. In fraternal relations he is affiliated with the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

S. HEATH RICH-The career of S. Heath Rich has been one of unusual interest and variety, identi- fied throughout its years with the editing and publi- cation of newspapers. Before he was twenty he had founded and carried forward successfully a small newspaper; when he was twenty he became associate publisher of a semi-weekly journal, as its editor; and from that time to the present he has seldom been far distant from the chattering of a linotype, the rumble of a press, the ticking and clink of a typewriter, pen- cil, paste or shears. Few figures of the Cape area have had more replete experience in newspapering or in general affairs than the editor of the daily Brockton "Evening Enterprise," of which he was joint founder, and which will see its golden annivers- ary in 1930. His record, in abridged content, is here given.

S. Heath Rich was born at Rochester, New York, November 24, 1856, son of Samuel H. and Margaret (McLauthlin) Rich. Samuel H. Rich came of a Boston ship-owning and seafaring family engaged in the clipper ship trade with China, Japan and the Straits Settlements. He became a ship captain, and sailed out of New York harbor.

As a boy, S. Heath Rich made several voyages with his father to the Windward Islands and South America, one of these being made aboard a Provi- dence sidewheel steamboat that had been sold to the Brazilian Government to be used for transporting troops up the Parana River during the war with Paraguay. On this adventure were four members of the family-the father, S. Heath Rich, his mother, and a younger brother-and the voyage was con- sidered one of some risk, in so small a craft. Re- turning from Montevideo in a barque, the family established residence on the island of Nantucket, where several of the older families were related to the house of Rich. There S. Heath attended the Coffin School, became interested in amateur printing, and in the early "seventies" printed and edited a little paper named "The Magnet." Then, after a year at the type-cases in the offices of the Nantucket "In- quirer and Mirror" he came to the mainland, and for two years worked in book and job offices in Provi- dence, Boston, and Cincinnati, Ohio. From Cincin- nati he returned to Nantucket, in 1876, because of his mother's failing health, and became associated with Isaac H. Folger in the publication of a semi- weekly newspaper, the "Island Review," which in summer printed an edition for circulation in Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard. In 1878 Messrs. Rich and Folger acquired the Brockton "Advance," a

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weekly that had been established by Albert H. Fuller. The paper was given a new dress of type. It gained materially in circulation, but at the same time assumed liabilities it could not meet, and went into the hands of creditors the following spring. After this misadventure, S. Heath Rich and Albert H. Fuller entered the field with the Brockton "Enter- prise"-this was in July, 1879. They gave to the growing shoe town its first daily newspaper the fol- lowing January, and together were associated, with- out break in continuity, until the death of Mr. Fuller, 1926. Through all the years S. Heath Rich handled the news and editorial end of the publication, while his partner acted as publisher and business manager. They were associated in the conduct of the "Enter- prise" for more than forty-seven years, and now (1928) S. Heath Rich continues to occupy the editor- ial chair, as noted, of the "Evening Enterprise." Charles L. Fuller, son of Albert H. Fuller, has suc- ceeded his father as business manager of the Enter- prise Publishing Company, and the paper thereby remains under the control of the two families that established it.

In general affairs pertaining to literature, the na- tion, State, and community, S. Heath Rich has con- stantly participated. As a diversion from desk work on the newspaper he has taken trips abroad, has written many columns of travel articles, containing experiences and impressions, and had the story of an European tour put into book form. For years he wrote "Random Notes by a Brocktonian," a title well remembered by the people who read the "Enterprise" for its interest and charm of expression. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Brock- ton, having been its president for two years, and belongs to no other social or fraternal organizations, save as a supporter. In political adherence he is Independent-Republican, and occasionally attends the Porter Congregational Church. His career, work and his pleasure, all have been wrapped up in the "Enterprise," and even now (1928) in his seventy- second year, he puts in more than a full day at the office, attacking each day's tasks with a zest and verve that is unabated.

S. Heath Rich married, in Rochester, 1880, Flor- ence L. Doty, of that city. He survives two brothers, Louis E. and Paul M. Rich. Louis E. Rich, until his death, 1923, was a valued news gatherer on the "Enterprise" staff, later having become news editor and editorial writer.

HEMAN ELDREDGE - Born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, May 2, 1866, Heman Eldredge is a son of David H. and Sarah (Gillespie) Eldredge, his father having been throughout his active life a sea- faring man, in the whaling and merchant services. David H. Eldredge was a man of high principles, and both parents early inculcated in their son the right ways of thought and action which were the foundation of his character, and which have remained with him through manhood.

Mr. Eldredge attended the public schools of Nan- tucket, and began as a youth to learn the trade of printing. He was "devil" in the composing and press rooms of the Nantucket "Journal," and there secured his first experience at typesetting, operating the presses, and making up pages. At the age of nineteen years, in 1885, he went to work for the Brockton "Enterprise," as managing director of ad- vertising and business. He remained with it twenty-

one years, and then, in 1907, was requested to be- come business manager of the Worcester "Evening Post." He accepted, and remained with that publi- cation seven years, much to the profit and strengthen- ing of it, and to the pleasure of Mr. Eldredge's em- ployers and associates. In 1914 he became connected with the Manchester (New Hampshire) "Union," but his tenure of relationship to that paper was com- paratively brief, for soon he received an offer from the Goss Company, manufacturers of printing presses and machinery, and in the fall of 1914 he took charge of the Goss list of papers on Cape Cod. Then in 1916 he purchased the Hingham "Journal," and as its publisher and manager of the Journal Print and Stationery and Gift Card business has continued through the years succeeding.

Mr. Eldredge is particularly well acquainted in Brockton where he spent twenty-one years in the commercial circles of the community, as recounted. There he made many fast friends who were sorry to see him remove to Worcester. In Brockton he had greatly served the people through various enterprises directed toward the public good, instigated by political parties, by fraternal orders, by churches, etc., or by himself, in association with others. The Brockton "Enterprise," while his connection with it endured, was never, perhaps, so well appreciated by the citizenry. Its publishers found in him a master hand at method in printing, both from the point of view of type composition and presswork, which he himself superintended frequently because of the pleasure that he has always taken in good typography and completed jobwork, and from the viewpoint of business management, at which Mr. Eldredge was remarkably efficient, introducing various reforms in the "Journal's" formula of routine. Routine did well enough and became less bothersome under his facul- ties; but Mr. Eldredge did more than that for the Brockton publication: he was a source never failing of new ideas for commercial exploitation. These he offered to the advertising men of the town, convinced them of the potential value, and caused to be em- ployed judiciously in advertising copy.

When in 1916 Mr. Eldredge came to Hingham he found himself at the realization of a dream long cherished: to own his printing establishment, and to publish a newspaper, with editorial as well as busi- ness authority. As in Brockton, he has in Hingham made many close friends, for he is liberally endowed with those attributes of nature which beget friend- ship and hold it. He is of service to the merchants directly, through the advertising columns of the "Journal"; and to them he gives good ideas for "copy" just as he did in. Brockton. And to the people of Hingham he is of service directly also, for to them he gives the news, the current history of the community, together with editorial comment suitable to each occasion of importance. He who publishes a good newspaper is indeed a benefactor. Mr. Eld- redge takes justifiable pride in the "Journal" plant, for in it are the best of machines of all kinds; it is comparable with many large shops of metropolitan clientele and the advantages of city location.

Mr. Eldredge professes no leaning toward either of the principal political parties, but does exercise a considerable influence in politics when he so chooses. He so participates when the interests of the community seem in the balance; and then that influence is felt, sometimes with decisive movement. During the World War he took part in the activities

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of boards and committees in charge of the prosecu- tion of the conflict from within this country, and was of great assistance in the several campaigns of the Liberty Loan. He is a member of Old Colony Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Hingham; Massa- soit Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Brockton, of which he is Past Grand, and member of the Grand Lodge; Beatrice Rebekah Lodge, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; Dorothy Bradford Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, Hingham; An- cient Order of United Workmen, Brockton; and the Wampatuck Club, of Hingham. He is a parishioner of the First Parish, of Hingham, and in matters of charity deals with large heart, giving generously to. all causes of merit.

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History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 62

Author: Thompson, Elroy Sherman, 1874- Publication date: 1928 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 642

Author: Thompson, Elroy Sherman, 1874-
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 642