History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 81

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 81
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 81
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 81

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Seabury W. Bearse married, June 18, 1913, at Cen- terville, Annie E. Lapham, of Centerville, daughter of Arthur W. and Elizabeth (Dewar) Lapham, and they have two children: Laurence W., born in the village of Centerville, April 10, 1914, and Barbara J., born here December 31, 1917.

JOHN H. DAMON-Reference to several en- gineering annals of national repute reveals that sev- eral members of the family bearing the name of Da- mon are notable figures in the profession of engineer- ing. John H. Damon, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in- ventor, and plant engineer for an important industrial corporation, apparently acquired his professional abil- ity through, possibly, hereditary channels-plus the traits of perseverance which he possesses and the technical training secured in a famed educational in- stitution.

Calvin S., father of John H. Damon, was a native of Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He became associated in youth with the Plymouth Cor- dage Company. one of the largest concerns of the kind in the United States. His first major position with the company was that of salesman, and he gradually assumed positions of increased responsibil- ity in other departments of the business. He was, at the time of his death in 1878, a member of the board of directors of the Plymouth Cordage Com- pany. Calvin S. Damon was united in marriage to Jerusha Crossley, who was a native of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and who died in 1898.

John H. Damon was born in the city of Plymouth, July 5, 1864. He acquired his rudimentary education in the public schools and the Plymouth High School. His professional education was obtained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has equipped for their calling many nationally known leaders among the engineering profession.

Following his course at the institute, Mr. Damon became associated with the industry to which his father had devoted his life-career - the Plymouth Cordage Company. The younger Damon was inter- ested in the operative end of the manufacturing busi- ness from an engineering standpoint and consequently chose the machine shops of the concern as affording the greatest opportunity in which to acquire the knowledge essential to one of his profession. After a tenure of six months in the shops was completed, he removed to Boston, where he was engaged for the following year and a half as an associate of a widely known engineering firm. He returned to Plymouth in 1887, to resume his connection with the Cord-

age company, and was made foreman in charge of the machine shop operations in 1893. He continued in the latter position until 1921, when he was selected for the responsible position of plant engineer which he now occupies. Mr. Damon has made many radical labor-saving and other improvements in the machin- ery used by his company. He is also credited with having invented and designed a number of new types of machines which are now employed in various departments of the industry in the manufacture of cordage.

Mr. Damon is keenly interested in the affairs of his native city. He is a member of the boards of direc- tors of the Jordan Hospital, the Plymouth Public Li- brary, and the Plymouth Savings Bank; he was one of the original founders of the last-named institution. He attends the First Parish Unitarian Church, is affiliated with Plymouth Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a Past Master, and is also a member of Somerset Chapter and the Old Colony Com- mandery. Technical organizations of which he is a member include the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Plant Engineers' Club of Boston. A steadfast Republican, he served the city of Plym- outh for several years as secretary of the Board of Water Commissioners.

Mr. Damon married (first), Nellie Harlow, born in Plymouth, who died in 1900. He married (second) Fannie Stevenson, who was born in Wednesbury, England. By the first union were born: John W., who served eighteen months in France as a second lieutenant in the One Hundred and First Engineers Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, during the World War; his younger brother is Harold S. By his second marriage, John H. Damon is the father of two sons, Darrell M., and Philip C.

JOHN J. O'BRIEN, prominent as an electrical contractor of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and a man who has taken a particularly active part in the civic and political affairs of his township, was born on October 18, 1879, at Plymouth. Mr. O'Brien is a son of William and Margaret (Sullivan) O'Brien, both of whom were born in this State. William O'Brien, the father, was born in Bridgewater, and he has for a considerable number of years been en- gaged as an iron worker; while Margaret (Sullivan) O'Brien, the mother, was a native of Boston, Massa- chusetts. She died during the year 1897.

Their son, John J. O'Brien, received his education in the public schools of Plymouth, and he later at- tended the Plymouth High School, graduating from there with the class of 1895. Immediately after the completion of these courses of study, young Mr. O'Brien at once branched out for himself, receiving his first real contact with the world of commerce when he was apprenticed to the electrical trade, a type of endeavor he has since followed with marked success. He soon learned and mastered this trade, and during the year 1909 he opened an establishment of his own under the name of J. J. O'Brien, Electri- cal Contractor. This proved to be a most successful venture and the type of work in which he has re- mained up until the date of the writing of this bio- graphical history, 1928. His first and only office and store was and is located at No. 6 Middle Street, in Plymouth, and it is a point of some interest that, due to the high standard of his business methods, Mr. O'Brien enjoys a most enviable reputation in the commercial world of the Twin Counties.

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Despite the many varied and exacting duties of the work in which he is engaged, Mr. O'Brien has still found time in which to serve the people of his community in other than a private capacity. In his political affiliations he is a member of the Republican party, and was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the terms of 1923 to 1926, in- clusive. He has also been active in the civic affairs of his own community, for he has served as a mem- ber of various important town boards, among which are the Building Committee of the Memorial Hall, the Building Committee of the Newton Wharf, and he also served for a considerable number of years as a member of Plymouth Town Finance Committee. He has also been active in his club and social life, for he is affiliated, fraternally, with the Plymouth Lodge, No. 1476, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he holds active membership in the Old Colony Club. John J. O'Brien resides at No. 23 Fremont Street, Plymouth, in which township he attends and is a devotee of the St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church.

BENJAMIN AUSTIN KENDRICK-Numbered among the prominent citizens of sincere public spirit in Chatham is Benjamin Austin Kendrick, who was born at Chatham on June 17, 1852, son of Benjamin and Amanda (Hamilton) Kendrick, deceased. Ben- jamin Kendrick, the father, was in his youth and early manhood, engaged in fishing off the coast of Massachusetts, and in later years took up coasting. Benjamin Austin Kendrick received his education in the public schools of Chatham, and, having a love of the sea common to so many natives of Chatham, went out upon it with his father when a boy. He went to sea continuously until 1917, though through the intervening years his occupations varied; until 1887, while in the coasting trade with his father, he ran a packet between New Bedford and Chatham; and later he was engaged in the sailing of yachts. When the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad ran a branch to Chatham, completing it in 1887, Mr. Kendrick found that packet commerce to New Bed- ford was much affected; and, from that date until 1900, he continued at coasting, then sailed yachts until 1915 when he went into the paint business until 1922. when he gave that up to take charge of the estate of Mr. Charles A. Whiting, at Chatham.

Benjamin Austin Kendrick has been active in public and fraternal connections, and is respected highly for his efforts made toward the welfare of the community. Shortly after leaving the packet com- merce he was made estate supervisor, and held that office until 1925, when he was elected tax collector. He is now (1928) serving in that capacity to the evidenced satisfaction of property holders. Identi- fied as a staunch adherent to the principles upheld by the Republican party, Mr. Kendrick has considerable influence in local elections, though it is his custom to support the candidates whom he believes best suited and most capable of holding creditably the offices designated. He is affiliated with the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, St. Martin's Lodge, of Chatham; and is a member of the New England Order of Protec- tion. Of unimpeachable character and devoted to the moral as well as to the material good of Chatham and its people, he is a devout Methodist, and steward and one of the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Benjamin Austin Kendrick married, at Chatham, on March 16, 1876, Flora R. Smith, born in Chatham, Plym.1-20

on January 21, 1855, died on February 18, 1927, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Howes) Smith, both natives of Chatham. Throughout her lifetime in Chatham, Mrs. Kendrick had many true friends, who were deeply grieved at her death.

JAMES WILLIAM HAWES-Native of Chat- ham, Massachusetts, James William Hawes was born July 9, 1844, son of James and Susannah (Taylor) Hawes. Mr. Hawes was descended on paternal and maternal sides from the earliest settlers in the Plym- outh Colony. Edmond Hawes, progenitor of the house in the United States, came to this country from England, in 1635; his paternal grandmother, Mercy (Hopkins) Hawes, was a descendant of Stephen Hop- kins, who was a passenger aboard the "Mayflower."

At the age of twenty-two years, in 1866, Mr. Hawes graduated from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, at the head of his class and possessor of a special prize for translations into Greek prose. For a year he taught in the preparatory school of E. S. Dixwell, Boston, and entered Harvard Law School, wherein he undertook preparation for his career and at the same time acted as instructor in mathematics in the college. After one year of legal study, in 1868, Mr. Hawes was admitted to the bar of New York; in 1869 he took the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College, and thence onward until his retirement practiced his pro- fession in New York City.

Throughout his time in New York City, Mr. Hawes was actively concerned in Republican politics, and soon after his introduction to the law in the metropo- lis was identified prominently in public life. He was member of the Board of Aldermen in 1881-1882, and chairman of the committee on law department. His chief work, aside from the law, was in the guiding of public opinion, and in service for the public good on committees of various societies, and at mass meet- ings, for the purpose of influencing legislative action. He was a regular contributor to Appleton's "American Encyclopedia" and to Kiddle and Shem's "Cyclopedia of Education;" and for a number of years he wrote for Appleton's "Annual Encyclopedia." Also, he contribu- ted articles to the "Overland Monthly," including a translation from the Portuguese of the Brazilian rom- ance, "The Guaranty," and to the "Columbia Jurist." In 1884 Mr. Hawes was chosen at a mass meeting at Cooper Union one of a committee of fifty-three who supported Mr. Roosevelt in his course at Albany, and initiated many important measures. In 1885 he was an active member of a committee that drafted and put before the State Legislature a constitutional amend- ment proposing separation of municipal and State elections; and the bill was adopted, substantially, in the Constitution of 1894. In 1886 he was named a member of the Citizens' Committee of One Hundred became a member of its executive board and chair- man of its committee on general policy. The same year Mr. Hawes was chairman of a joint committee of the Republican Club of New York City, the Young Men's Democratic clubs of New York City and Brooklyn, the City Reform Club, and three others, formed to secure the affirmative vote of the people on the question of calling a constitutional convention. The vote was secured, and as chairman of another committee Mr. Hawes dealt prominently in the framing of the Constitution of 1894. He was energetic in behalf of the improved ballot reform bill, which passed the houses but was vetoed by Governor Flower. In 1891 he prepared a bill for compulsory

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voting, on which he reported to the Republican Club. It was in 1885 that Mr. Hawes was candidate on the Republican ticket for Justice of the City Court. Five years later he was anti-Tammany candidate for president of the Board of Aldermen, and in 1895 was nominated by the Republican party, the convention of good government clubs and other organizations opposed to Tammany Hall, for Justice of the City Court, but he declined the nomination.

For three years Mr. Hawes was president of the Republican Club of New York City, and thereafter, for two years, was chairman of its executive com- mittee. He appeared in the fore when was fought the campaign to overthrow the Tweed Ring, and always he fought for the city's good, as officer of assembly district organizations, member of county committees, and as delegate to State conventions. He was a a founder of the Republican League of the United States, of the New York Republican State League, and of the latter was first chairman of the executive and sub-executive committees. In 1895 he drafted the law relating to naturalization, and suggested and revised the act providing for registration of inmates of lodging houses. That same year he was called into consultation by Senator Raines, in regard to the ballot bill, which he was introducing, and many of Mr. Hawes' suggestions were embodied in the act. He was a member of the committee of the Republican Club on the Greater New York Charter of 1896-1897, and appeared before the Greater New York Com- mission in advocacy of the views of the committee.

While in Harvard College, Mr. Hawes assisted in the foundation of Pi Eta Society, and became its first president. In 1881-1882 he was president of the national honorary scholastic fraternity alumni as- sociation in New York, known as Phi Beta Kappa Alumni. When the Harvard Club of New York was incorporated in 1887, he was one of the incor- porators, and a member of the first executive com- mittee.

In 1873, James William Hawes was united in mar- riage with Amelia Appleton Prendergast, of Lowell, Massachusetts, whose grandfather was a member of the Appleton family prominent in the history of that city.

A man of most inspiring and pleasing presence, keen of intellect, kindly, firm in his convictions and opinions, yet the first to admit error when error was made apparent by new evidence in point, temperate, charitable, James William Hawes was possessed in liberal measure of those endowments of character that endear one to the hearts of his fellows, and he well merited the high respect and admiration of those with whom he had dealings. An honorable member of an honorable family, dominant figure in the legal fra- ternity of New York City and no less dominant and well known in the political and legislative proceedings of city and State, his passing was regretted indeed, and his memory is the fond possession of many as- sociates.

WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER SMITH-Account- ed one of the principal historians of Cape Cod, speaker and writer on topics historical, known widely in Massachusetts, William Christopher Smith is Chat- ham's historian, chronicler of its events from earliest times. Here, in Chatham, he also engages in the practice of his profession, which is the law, and gives much thought to fundamental matters of progress in the community, just as he has in times past given reflection to township settlement, advancement, and

welfare. Mr. Smith served as an adviser in the prep- aration of the "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties," much to the profit of that work, and himself wrote and had published the "History of Chatham," as well as considerable other material of historical bearing involving research. He is a member and past president of the Chatham Historical Society, and in 1920, on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary celebration of the founding of the Chatham Congregational Church, delivered the oration that made the day memorable.

William Christopher Smith was born in Chatham, September 16, 1861, a son of Christopher and Sally Taylor (Hawes) Smith. Christopher Smith, Sr., was for many years of his life a captain on the sea, but later retired to the land, doing business in Chatham as store keeper. He was a kindly and hardy man, participated with great advantage to the community in general affairs, and had a large number of friends on land and sea alike, who grieved sincerely at the news of his death; for Captain Smith was possessed in liberal measure of those finer qualities of character that tend to make one warm in the affections of his fellows. William Christopher Smith attended the public schools of Chatham, graduated from Chatham High School in 1877, at the age of sixteen years, and for two years took studies in preparation for Harvard College in Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hamp- shire. He matriculated in Harvard College in 1881, graduated from it with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1885, and entered the university's law school, where he studied diligently for two years, passing the bar examinations of the State in 1887, before com- pletion of the curriculum. Mr. Smith established himself as barrister in Boston, and practiced there for ten years, after which, because of the state of his health, he returned to the family homestead at Chat- ham, here resuming activity in the profession in which he has during the succeeding years been en- gaged continuously. His principal recreation, partly for reasons of health and mainly for those of pleasure in itself, consists in the running of the homestead farm; but this is only a recreation with him, and his principal activities are centered in Chatham, where he is most concerned in public affairs. A Republican and loyal to the principles of the party, Mr. Smith exercises a considerable influence in matters political. For five years he was chairman of the Chatham Board of. Selectmen; for a like period he was a mem- ber of the board of overseers of the poor, and chair- man of the School Board. He is a director of the Chatham Railroad, and is recognized for his executive ability, notably as related to the law. Toward char- ity Mr. Smith is ever large of heart. His contribu- tions to worthy causes are in no way restricted by considerations of race or creed. He attends the Congregational church.

On October 3, 1889, in Chelsea, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Florence Ilsley, who was born in Chelsea, a daughter of William R. and Be- thiah (Crocker) Ilsley; and to this union were born two children, a son and a daughter: 1. Christopher Ilsley, March 1, 1893, at Melrose; graduate of Tufts, instructor in electrical engineering in Brooklyn, New York, Technical High School; married, in Medford, August 21, 1924, Louise Rice Peterson, and they have a son, Peter Miller Smith. 2. Marjorie Culbertson, born November 30, 1897, in Chelsea; married, in Chatham, October 11, 1920, Lieutenant Waldemar S. Broberg, graduate of West Point, now of the United States Army, and they have two children:

William C. Smith

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Ronald Harrington and Marjorie J. After the close of the World War, Marjorie Culbertson (Smith) Broberg served as aide in reconstruction in occupa- tional therapy, in the army, and was stationed at the base hospitals in Camp Dix, Hampton, Virginia, and Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Her period of service began on March 12, 1919, and ended April 1, 1920, with commendation for faithful performance of duty.

William Christopher Smith, although somewhat advanced in years for service in the military during the World War, served on the Legal Advisory Board, of Chatham, and likewise took part in the workings of various committees in charge of prosecuting the conflict from within this country. In the several Liberty Loan campaigns he was most influential, in the solicitation of subscriptions.

WILLIAM T. ELDRIDGE-Descendant of a family that has resided in Massachusetts for nearly two hundred years, William T. Eldridge is a worthy representative of his line, occupying, as he does, a prominent place in the business, financial, civic and political affairs of the town of Plymouth.

Thomas M. Eldridge, a direct descendant of three brothers who settled in Harwich, Massachusetts, in 1630, was born in the town of Bourne. He was ac- tively engaged as a drygoods merchant until his death. He married Eunice Pope, a native of Plymouth, who died in 1924, at the age of ninety-two years.

William T., son of Thomas M. and Eunice (Pope) Eldridge, was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on November 10, 1863. He received his education in the public and high schools at Plymouth, graduating from the high school in the class of 1880. He then became associated with his father in business of the latter, and was thus employed for the period of three years, at the end of which time his father accepted him as a partner in the concern, which thus con- tinued until 1912 when the death of his father placed the entire business in his charge. Being more inter- ested in another line of endeavor, Mr. Eldridge later sold the drygoods business, and engaged in that of real estate and insurance, which lines he continues to follow, with offices in the Drew Building, Plym- outh.

Mr. Eldridge is president of the Leyden Club and the Fox Hunters' Club, and a member of the Old Colony Club; Chamber of Commerce. He is a trus- tee of the Stickney Fund; chairman of the town Board of Selectmen since 1913; member of the Board of Overseers of the Poor for the past sixteen years. In politics he is Republican; senior vice-president of the Five Cent Savings Bank and member of its in- vestment board.

William T. Eldridge married, in 1882, Flora A. Howland, who died in 1924. He has one son, Richard T.

THEOPHILUS SANFORD SNOW-Identified with all movements wherein benefits may accrue to Chatham as a town, and to the people of Chathan! individually, Theophilus Sanford Snow is a member of the Board of Selectmen, elected in 1925, member of the Public Welfare Board, and the Board of As- sessors, and has been active in public and commercial life in Chatham for many years. He is cordially ad- mired by all who know him, and the number is large; he is respected for his honorable character, and for the efficiency with which he meets problems of ad- ministration.

Theophilus S. Snow was born at Sandwich, on February 18, 1880, son of Theophilus Sanford and Ruth A. (Phillips) Snow, both of whom were born at Harwich, his father having been with the Old Colony Railroad for a number of years. Theophilus S. Snow, the son, was educated in the public schools of Harwich, and learned the trade of printing. For four years he was in that business at Harwich and Ware- ham, then took to the sea where he sailed a yacht for seven years. Following this connection he went with a shell-fish company in Chatham, under the direction of Franklin B. Nickerson. He remained in Mr. Nick- erson's employ until 1925, by which time he was so well and favorably known to the citizens of the town as a man of capability and honor that he was elected to public office. His record on the Board of Selectmen has been above reproach; indeed, highly commendable, as with his other public offices. Mr. Snow is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, of which he is now (1928) secretary, and of the Chatham Board of Trade. His chief recreation is music, particularly violin, and he leads an orchestra which plays for many of the dances on the Cape.

Theophilus S. Snow married, at Falmouth, on June 3, 1909, Edith Bartlett Basset, born in Chatham daughter of Obed E. and Clara E. (Robbins) Bas- set. Mr. and Mrs. Snow are the parents of two chil- dren: Edwin Howard, born May 15, 1911, Ruth Clara, born March 12, 1928.

ELLIS W. BREWSTER, son of the late William Wetherell and Annie L. (Barnes) Brewster, now living, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on July 13, 1892. He received his preliminary educa- cation in the local public and high schools, and was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the class of 1913 with Bachelor of Science degree. He subsequently entered the serv- ices of the Bemis Brothers Bag Company, at St. Louis, Missouri, with which firm he remained for a period of six months, after which he journeyed to Seattle, Washington, where he was connected with a branch of the company, there remaining for one year. He then returned east, and became an assistant in the experimental laboratories of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his alma mater, and thus continued for the following year. In 1915, Mr. Brewster returned to his native Plymouth to accept a position as clerk in the sales department of the Plymouth Cordage Company, and was promoted, in February, 1917, to assistant superintendent of the Plymouth Cordage Company. In November, 1926, he becaine assistant to the treasurer of the com- pany.

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History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 81

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