USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 82
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 82
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 82
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Mr. Brewster holds membership in the Old Colony Club, of which he is vice-president; the Plymouth Cordage Club; the Pilgrim Society, of which he is a trustee; the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce; and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In addition to his interest in the Plymouth Cordage Company, he is a director of the Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway Company, Kyn's Towne Sweets, Incorporated. Since 1925, he has served as a member of the town planning board, and was for four years a member of the Plymouth School Board. He attends the Unitarian church.
Ellis W. Brewster married, in 1916, Ellen Hatch, a native of Plymouth, and they are the parents of the following children: William S., Lois, Spencer H., Lydia, Benjamin B.
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CHARLES WELLINGTON ALLEN-Promi- nent among the residents of Chatham for his ac- tivitics in the public life of the community and pos- sessed of their sincere respect, Charles Wellington Allen was born at Bedford, Massachusetts, on June 14, 1869, son of Elisha Allen, of Maine, and Ann E. (Goodwin) Allen, of Bedford, his father having been a carpenter for many years.
Charles W. Allen received his early education in the public schools of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and on the completion of his studies realized the ambition of his youth: he joined the United States Navy, and followed the sea for five years After his time of service had expired he went with the Old Fitchburg Railroad, in the passenger service, where he continued until he was taken into the Police Department of Somerville, in 1900. He was employed in the de- partment for twenty-one years, when he left Somer- ville to make his home in Chatham. From that time onward he has been active in the affairs of the town and in town and county politics. In 1924 he was elected to the Board of Selectmen, the Board of As- sessors, and the Board of Public Welfare. Now (1928) in his fifty-ninth year, Mr. Allen is one of the most substantial citizens of Chatham. He is a mem- ber of the Free and Accepted Masons, secretary of St. Martin's Lodge, of Chatham; and of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of Somerville, Caleb Rand Lodge; he is likewise a member of the Chat- ham Board of Trade and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, and is a communicant of the Methodist church.
Charles W. Allen married, at Troy, New York, on March 4, 1893, Ella O. Wattslong, born at Rockland, Connecticut, daughter of John and Anna (Pingle) Wattslong, both of whom were born in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are the parents of three children: 1. Dorothy, born in 1894. 2. William, born in 1896. 3. Hesper, in 1905.
FREDERIC A. BLISS-Among the younger busi- ness men of Plymouth who have made for themselves a place in the business world of this part of the State, is Frederic A. Bliss, president and secretary of the Bliss Hardware Company, Incorporated, a concern which, in addition to the usual line of hardware also carries a full stock of paints, oils, varnishes, and radio apparatus.
Frederic A. Bliss was born in Providence, Rhode Island, July 20, 1898, and received his education in the public schools of his birthplace. Upon the com- pletion of his high school course he was associated for one year with the General Fire Extinguisher Com- pany of Rhode Island, but at the end of that time he left Providence and came to Plymouth, where hc entered the employ of the Plymouth Hardware Com- pany. He made himself thoroughly familiar with the hardware business, giving to all its various depart- ments the close attention and the care which made him master of the smallest details of its management, and maintained his connection with the Plymouth Hardware Company until 1920. In that year, in association with his father, Edgar F. Bliss, he en- gaged in the hardware business under the name of the Bliss Hardware Company, of Plymouth, Massa- chusetts, of which concern he became president and secretary. From the beginning the new enterprise met with encouraging success, and during the six years which have passed since the organization of the company there has been a most gratifying in- crcase in the volume of business transacted. The
Bliss Hardware Company carries a very good line of the usual hardware stock, also paints, varnishes, and oils, and in addition does considerable business in the line of radio apparatus and accessories. The store is located on the Main Street extension and attracts to itself a large proportion of the trade of that section of Pymouth. The young men who are its officials are men of ability and energy, men of sound business ideals, who are giving to their patrons first-class service in every sense of the word. There is every indication that an increasingly prosperous future lies before them. Politically, Mr. Bliss supports the principles of the Republican party. He is a member of Pymouth Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; of Samoset Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Old Colony Commandery, Knights Templar; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and of Plymouth Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; and he is also identified with Mayflower Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is Past Treasurer, and of Sagamore Encampment, also of Mary Allerton Lodge, No. 4, of the Order of Rebekah. During the period of the participation of the United States in the World War, Mr. Bliss enlisted in the United States Army and served throughout the period of the conflict. He is a mem- ber of the American Legion. He is also a member of the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and of the New England Hardware Dealers' Association.
Mr. Bliss is a son of Edgar F. Bliss, a native of Attleboro, Massachusetts, who is treasurer of the Bliss Hardware Company, and of Evelyn M. (Craig) Bliss, a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Frederic A. Bliss was married, in 1921, to Doris Tribble, who was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, a daughter of Ernest and May (Coggshall) Tribble. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss are the parents of one daughter, Doris E., and one son, Frederic A., Jr.
WILLIAM WATTS, of North Chatham, Massa- chusetts, has very successfully combined business with an interest in municipal affairs. He has lived in Chatham for a quarter of a century and has always taken an active part in public affairs. He occupies at the present time an important public office. Apart from that he is a successful business man, and has a varied business experience behind him.
William Watts was born in New York City, son of Charles H. and Mary A. (Adams) Watts, both of whom were born in Malden, Massachusetts, and of whom the father was a wholesale provision dealer in New York, a member of the firm of Watts, Parker and Company. William Watts attended the New York public schools, and also Comers Commercial School at Boston. He worked first for Weeks and Potter, wholesale druggists, and then for J. H. Cun- ningham, gas filling dealers. He was then with the Malden and Melrose Gas Light Company, for ten or twelve years. He came to Chatham in 1902 and has resided there ever since, taking an active interest and an active part in public affairs. He has done considerable work for the town and is much appreci- ated.
He is member and chairman of the Board of Se- lectmen, chairman of the Board of Assessors and Board of Public Welfare. He was formerly sealer of weights and measures, of Chatham. He is a mem- ber of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce; Free and Accepted Masons; and a life-member of the Mount Vernon Lodge of Masons, at Malden, and
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a member of the St. Martin's Lodge, in Chatham. He belongs to the Board of Trade of Chatham.
William Watts married, in Chatham, September 27, 1926, Eva Park Griffin, born in Chathanı, daughter of Emery and Saluda (Burgess) Griffin, the father born in Stockton Springs, Maine, and the mother in Chatham.
HENRY WALTON, superintendent of the plant and vice-president of the corporation of the George Mabbett and Sons Company, textile mills of Plym- outh, Massachusetts, was born on March 12, 1875, in Yorkshire, England. Mr. Walton is a son of Seth and Mary A. (Stansfield) Walton, of Yorkshire. Seth Walton, the father, is now engaged in the textile business in England; and Mary A. (Stansfield) Wal- ton, the mother, born in Yorkshire, is now deceased.
Their son, Henry Walton, received his early educa- tion in the national schools of the district in which he was born, but as a very young lad he voyaged to this country where he completed his education in the public schools of Johnston, Rhode Island. His first real contact with the world of commerce was re- ceived when he entered the employ of the Riverside Textile Mills, at Providence, Rhode Island, where he worked as an errand boy, for he was then but thirteen years of age. He continued with this con- cern until the year 1899, when he left to become as- sociated with the Standish Worsted Mills, of Plym- outh, Massachusetts. He filled the position of over- seer for this company, but only remained with them for a period of about one year when he resigned to become associated with the concern for whom he is now working, the George Mabbett and Sons Com- pany, of Plymouth. He began, during the year 1900, and was advanced through various positions until now, at the date of the writing of this biographical history, 1928, Mr. Walton is filling the dual offices of superintendent of the entire plant and vice-presi- dent. of the corporation.
Despite the many exacting duties of the work in which he is engaged, Mr. Walton has still found time in which to serve the people of his community in other than a private capacity. In his political pref- erences he is a Republican. He served for one term as fire commissioner for the town of Plymouth. Aside from his membership in the National Associ- ation of Worsted and Woolen Overseers, he has also been active as a member of the fraternal order of Sons of St. George, the Pilgrim Lodge, of which he is Past Chancellor; Knights of Pythias, the May- flower Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Plymouth Lodge, No. 1476, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks; and he is also a member of the Old Colony Club, of which he is now serving as the vice-president.
Henry Walton married Eva J. White, who was born in Bath, Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Walton are the parents of five children, all of whom are sons: Al- fred S., Henry O., Oliver S., Frederick W., and Al- bert A. Mr. and Mrs. Walton and their family reside at No. 23 Chilton Street, Plymouth, in which town- ship they attend the Christ Episcopal Church.
RALPH E. CAHOON-Native of Chatham, vet- eran of the World War and town clerk and treasurer of Chatham since February 2, 1925, Ralph Eugene Cahoon is one of the more prominent citizens of the community. A Republican, he has considerable in- fluence in local and county elections and is highly
respected for his fine character and for the ability and sincerity with which he fills public office. He is conspicuously identified with Masonry, having been raised to the thirty-second degree, as a member of Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Boston; now (1928) Master of Saint Martin's Lodge, Sylvester Baxter Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, West Harwich, and a member of the Past Masters' Association of the Thirty-second Masonic District.
Ralph E. Cahoon was born at Chatham on May 10, 1888, son of Eugene Everett Cahoon, native of Harwich, and Georgia Cleora (Eldridge) Cahoon, na- tive of Chatham. Eugene E. Cahoon has been for a number of years engaged in the confectionery busi- ness at Campello, Massachusetts, and is active in the public affairs of the community. Among the offices which he held in the corporation of Chatham was that of tax collector. Ralph E. Cahoon's parents re- moved to Chatham in 1887, at which place young Cahoon attended the public schools, completing courses in the high school. On June 23, 1917, he en- listed for service in the World War as radio elec- trician in the United States Naval Reserve Forces, first class. He attended the excellent radio school maintained by Harvard University, at Cambridge, and later saw service on the United States ships, "Penn- sylvania," "Alabama" and "Roanoke." Due to injuries sustained by a fall through a hatchway on the return to the States of the unlighted "Roanoke," he was mus- tered out of service on October 4, 1918. Following his extended and honorable career in the cause of his country and the cause of those countries allied with it, Mr. Cahoon returned to school, first attending classes in the School of Accounting and Commerce at New York University, New York City, then tak- ing work at Burdett's at Boston. His first experi- ence in the comniercial world antedated the war, in telegraphy, with attendant study and understanding of the radio. He was with the New York and Bos- ton Dispatch Express and the Western Union before entering the navy, and after his discharge and sub- sequent schooling returned to the Western Union Company for one year, in Chatham. He was then elected town clerk and treasurer and in leaving the telegraph company's office, assuming his duties in the Town Hall, Mr. Cahoon entered the insurance busi- ness in which he had achieved success from the be- ginning and in which occupation he is still engaged. Mr. Cahoon is a popular figure in Chatham, which fact is partly attributed to his position and manner of filling that position in the public life of the town and partly to his interest in fraternal and social matters. He is not only one of those most concerned in Ma- sonry in Chatham, but is a member of the Oriental Grand Masters of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, at Waterbury, Connecticut, the Cape Cod Protective Fish and Game Association, the Association of Dis- abled Veterans of Foreign Wars and an honorary member of the Chatham Board of Trade as well as a member of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. He is well known for his membership in that dis- tinguished organization composed of soldiers who served in France and which took its name from cars used in troop transportation, each car marked to contain "forty men and eight horses;" the Société 40 hommes et 8 Chevaux, or the "40 and 8" as it is more popularly known in the United States. Mr. Cahoon was delegate from the Chatham district to the 1927 convention of that society, held at Fitch- burg. As a member of Chatham Post, No. 253, Ameri- can Legion, he is a trustee and has served that body
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as commander. Mr. Cahoon attends the Methodist church and is generous in contributions of both time and money to the causes sponsored by it.
Ralph E. Cahoon married, at Chatham, on Decem- ber 27, 1908, Susan Mae Small, native of Chatham, daughter of George Everett Small, born at Dennis, and Clara Maria (Howes) Small, born in Chatham. Mr. and Mrs. Cahoon are the parents of two children: 1. Ralph Eugene, Jr., born on September 2, 1910. 2. Alice Maria, born February 2, 1918.
LEWIS E. BOYDEN-An important figure in the business life of Massachusetts for many years, Lewis . E. Boyden is president and general manager of Boyden and Company, Incorporated, plumbers, at No. 14 Brattle Square, Boston, and Sagamore, Mas- sachusetts. Under his able direction of affairs, the company's business has gradually expanded until to- day, on the basis of sound operating principles and continued excellence of service, it stands among the first of those whose activities cover this field.
Mr. Boyden was born at North Perry, Maine, in 1868, a son of Delphia and Maria (Wilson) Boyden of that place. His father was well known locally as a ship joiner, while during the period of the Civil War he served his country faithfully as a member of Company B, First Maine Battalion.
Lewis E. Boyden attended the public schools of his birthplace, and was later graduated from Wells School, at Boston. Upon the completion of his aca- demic training, he began his business career, and in 1892 when he was only twenty-four years of age, became president and manager of Boyden and Com- pany, Incorporated. Thoroughly familiar with all the details of the plumbing industry, and with trade con- ditions to be met in Massachusetts, he was imme- diately successful in this responsible position for which he was well fitted by temperament and train- ing. In the years since that time his services to his company have proved repeatedly of great value in its efficient operation and in the program of expansion which it has gradually undertaken.
Politically a supporter of Republican candidates and principles, Mr. Boyden has served for some years as chairman of the Republican Town Committee of Bourne, where he makes his home. He has found time, in spite of a busy life, to interest himself in the problems of government and the general welfare of the community and State, contributing liberally of both his time and substance to worthy movements directed toward desirable ends. In military service, he was a member for three years of Company B, First Massachusetts Regiment, while he was in 1896 Commander of Jonas C. Wellington Camp, No. 14, Sons of Veterans, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Boyden is affiliated, fraternally, with Middle- boro Lodge. No. 1272, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and with Wankinquoah Lodge, No. 119, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Ware- ham, Massachusetts. He also served during 1924 and 1925 as Chancellor Commander of Manomet Lodge, No. 148, Knights of Pythias. With his family he worships in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church.
On July 20, 1911, at Sagamore. Massachusetts, Lewis E. Boyden married Elizabeth E. Haskell, a daughter of Charles C. and Alice Haskell. Mr. and Mrs. Boyden are the parents of one child, Dean, who was born March 28, 1925.
HON. ORESTES T. DOE-Since July 2, 1898, Hon. Orestes T. Doe has been rendering service of a high order as Justice of District Court of Western Norfolk County, Massachusetts, where he has made for himself a very high place in the esteem of his professional associates, and where he has also ta- ken an active interest in the advancement of the general welfare of the county. Judge Doe has been treasurer of the Dean Co-operative Bank of Franklin, since 1901, and he was one of the most important factors in developing this sound financial institution.
Judge Doe was born in Parsonsfield, Maine, March 3, 1864, son of Joseph E., a native of Parsonsfield, who died in 1868, after having been engaged in farming throughout his life, and of Louisa R. (Hurd) Doe, a native of Maine, whose death occurred De- cember 25, 1879. He attended the public schools of Parsonsfield and then prepared for college in Parsons- field Seminary, after which he matriculated in Boston University Law School, where he completed his course with graduation in 1891, receiving at that time the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was ad- mitted to the bar in both Massachusetts and Maine that same year, and began practice at Franklin, Mas- sachusetts, in association with George W. Wiggin, under the firm name of Wiggin and Doe. That part- nership was continued for a period of six years, until July 2, 1898, when Mr. Doe was appointed Jus- tice of the District Courts of Western Norfolk. During the nearly three decades which have passed since that time Judge Doe has been not only an excep- tionally efficient justice but he has also been very active in promoting the general welfare of this sec- tion of Norfolk County, and in local public affairs in Franklin. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Benjamin Franklin Institute for Savings, and it was largely due to his interest and his untiring work that the Dean Co-operative Bank was devel- oped. Since 1901 he has been treasurer of this bank, and the institution has grown to be one of the impor- tant and one of the most soundly established finan- cial institutions in this part of the State. In his political principles Mr. Doe is a Republican. Dur- ing the State Constitutional Convention of 1917-18- 19, Mr. Doe served on the committee of Bill of Rights. During the World War he was chairman of the Franklin Legal Advisory Board, and he has al- ways been one of the consistently public-spirited citizens of Franklin, having been Town Clerk of Franklin from 1893-1910. He is a member of the Business Men's Association, and vice-president of the Franklin Public Library, and is identified with several of the local clubs. Fraternally, he is identi- fied with Excelsior Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, and with the local Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- sons; also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious affiliation is with the Con- gregational church.
Orestes T. Doe was married, in 1892, to Mabel Piper, of Worcester, Massachusetts, daughter of John H. and Mary F. (Fernald) Piper. Mr. and Mrs. Doe are the parents of three children: 1. Ken- neth P., who is a graduate of Colby College, degree of Bachelor of Science. 2. Donald B., a graduate of Tufts College, with an Associate of Arts degree, and of Boston University with degree of Bachelor of Laws. 3. Robert H., who attended Tufts College and is a graduate of Boston University with a Bachelor of Laws degree.
Orestes V. 80€
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MRS. EDITH MAY BLANCHARD-The first Brockton woman to become a member of the Re- publican State Committee, who subsequently became chairman of the Fourteenth Senatorial District (com- prising Brockton and nine other towns), which she had organized, Mrs. Edith May Blanchard, of Brock- ton, is also widely known throughout literary circles, and as evidence of her versatile talents, is conducting the Blue Moon Antique Shop, at West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, one of the most popular institutions of its kind in this section of New England. And, what is more remarkable, Mrs. Blanchard, after an extended period devoted to political affairs, has re- turned to her literary work and also is again engaged in fiction writing. Having served as private secre- tary to four different mayors of Brockton, Mrs. Blanchard thus became recognized as one of the best informed members of her sex on matters politic of the State, and through her work along other lines also has attained additional prominence.
Mrs. Blanchard was born September 17, 1873, at North Bridgewater, her maiden name being Edith May Dunbar, her parents having been Charles Augus- tus and Adella (Browne) Dunbar. Entering the public schools of Brockton, Edith May Dunbar graduated from the high school there at the age of sixteen years and entered the office of the Bouve-Crawford Shoe Company. Early in life she had visions of a literary career, and in a few years after having become con- nected with the shoe company, she drifted into news- paper work. In this branch of literature she dis- played considerable talent, but eventually entered the field of short-story writing, and here she found the vocation that was to keep her occupied for an ex- tended period.
Fiction writing proved most profitable to Mrs. Blanchard, and it was not until she had disposed of two hundred and fifty short stories that she entered politics, wherein she was to attain the heights of her career up to the present time. In 1915-1916 she served as private secretary to Mayor John S. Bur- bank of Brockton; in 1917 she acted in a like capacity to Mayor Stewart B. McLeod; in 1920-21 she was secretary to Mayor Roger Keith, and the years 1924- 25 found her occupied as secretary to Mayor William A. Bullivant, making a total of seven years in this post. The first Brockton woman to be appointed to the Republican State Committee, Mrs. Blanchard was made chairman for the Fourteenth Senatorial Dis- trict, which had been organized by her. This com- prised nine other towns outside Brockton, was the first organization of Republican women, and will go down in the annals of history, due to the fact that this group, headed by Mrs. Blanchard, eventually secured sub-committees in each ward and precinct, some times in each street. Towns were divided into sections and these women made a house to house canvass, carefully explaining the new civic duties that had been thrust upon their sex. Mrs. Blanchard re- signed from the Republican State Committee in June, 1928, having decided to return to fiction writing, and at the same time she established the Blue Moon Antique Shop at her summer home in West Bridge- water. This establishment, although of comparatively recent origin, is located at No. 76 South Elm Street, and is attracting attention among the lovers of an- tiques and objects of art from points far distant. The original wording on the business card of this institu- tion is worthy of reproduction herewith: "The Antique that is found only 'once in a blue moon,' may be in the Blue Moon Antique Shop, Or we may
know where it is." During her most interesting and diversified career, Mrs. Blanchard has made connec- tions with many organizations which are ordinarily presumed to be "for men only." Among these might be mentioned the fact that she was a member of the Republican State Committee from 1920 to June, 1928 (when she resigned); member of the Brockton Re- publican City Committee, of which she was vice- chairman for four years; private secretary to four mayors, for a total period of seven years in the City Hall. Her position on the State Committee auto- matically made her chairman of the Fourteenth Sen- atorial District, heretofore mentioned. Other organ- izations having this talented woman as a member are: the Women's Republican Club of Massachusetts; Women's Club of Brockton; Women's Press Associa- tion of New England; Young Women's Christian Association; Brockton Business Woman's Club, Ten Times One Club; Brockton Humane Society; Nation- al Civic Federation, Red Cross Motor Corps, and Thorny Lea Golf Club.
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