USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 88
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 88
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 88
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HARRY J. WEBB-One of the younger members of the bar in Norfolk County is Harry J. Webb, of Franklin, who has been engaged in legal practice since 1921, in Skowhegan, Maine, and in Boston,
Massachusetts, but who has been a resident of Franklin only since 1926. He is laying the founda- tions of what promises to be a successful legal ca- reer, and has made many friends in Franklin since opening his office here.
Harry J. Webb was born in Los Angeles, Cal- ifornia, January 9, 1898, son of Thomas M. of Bridgeton, Maine, who was engaged in business as a manufacturer of tin cans to the time of his death in 1912, and of Florence H. (Hutchins) Webb, of Lex- ington, Maine, who survives her husband. He re- ceived his early and preparatory education in the public schools of Medfield, Massachusetts, and after completing his studies in the high school became a student in the Law School of Boston University, but later made a change and continued his profes- sional study in Northeastern University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1921, receiving at that time the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar that same year and associated himself with L. L. Walter, at Skowhegan, Maine, a connection which he maintained for about a year. He then went with F. G. Katzmann, with whom he remained until 1923, when he became an associate of Tucker, Eames, and Wright, at Boston, Massachu- setts. With this well-known firm he remained until 1926, when he came to Franklin and engaged in general legal practice for himself. Mr. Webb is mak- ing many friends in this community and is building up a satisfactory practice. During the World War he served as a private in Company D, of the Twenty- third Engineers, with which unit he served overseas for eighteen months. He is vice-commander of the Medfield Post of the American Legion. Politically, he gives his support to the principles and the can- didates of the Republican party, and he has always taken an interest in local public affairs wherever he has lived. He was a member of the Board of Se- lectmen of Medfield for three years, and he has al- ways been ready to aid in forwarding any well- planned project for the advancement of the general welfare. His religious affiliation is with the Univer- salist church.
CHARLES A. WHITING-As president and treasurer of the Whiting and Davis Company, Charles A. Whiting is at the head of the largest specialty manufacturing jewelry house in its line in the world at the present time. The concern is engaged in the manufacture of mesh bags, and its main plant, lo- cated at Plainville, Massachusetts, covers 80,000 square feet and gives employment to five hundred people. The business is fifty-two years old (1928), and it was only four years old when Mr. Whiting first became identified with the original business as errand boy and general utility man at the wage of nine cents an hour. He has been a member of the firm since 1896, and president and treasurer since 1908.
Charles A. Whiting was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, July 4, 1864, son of Aaron, a cotton mill owner in Cumberland, and of Adeline C. (Mil- ler) Whiting. He received a good, practical edu- cation in the public schools of his birthplace, and then, in 1880, at the age of sixteen years, entered the employ of Wade, Davis, and Company, manufac- turers of plated jewelry, as errand boy and general utility man, receiving for his services the sum of nine cents an hour. This concern had been founded
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in 1876, four years previous to Mr. Whiting's first connection with the business, by William H. Wade, Edward P. Davis, and Louis Heckman, who formed a partnership, and in association with three others, who were silent partners, Joseph T. Bacon, James D. Lincoln, and Frank Tifft, engaged in the manu- facture of jewelry. Each of the six associates con- tributed five hundred dollars, making a total capital of three thousand dollars, and the concern started operations in the little hamlet known as Plainville, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, under the name of Wade, Davis and Company, manufacturing such plated jewelry as bar pins, earrings, bracelets, and stick pins. In 1880, Charles A. Whiting became as- sociated with the concern, as errand boy, as stated above, and that time the hotel floor space of office and factory was approximately twenty-five hundred. Today (1928), 80,000 square feet of floor space are necessary to supply the demand for Whiting and Davis mesh bags and metal mesh. Like most con- cerns, the enterprise passed through a series of changes and readjustments in executive control, with the result that in 1896 Edward P. Davis was the sole remaining executive of the original six. Mean- time, Charles A. Whiting had been making his pres- ence felt in the concern and was advancing. He had been made foreman, and in 1887 he was placed in charge of the New York office, as well as being given charge of the Western territory. The first mesh bag made by the concern was made by Mr. Whiting in 1892, and in 1896 Mr. Whiting became a member of the firm, under the name of Whiting and Davis. In 1907 Mr. Whiting purchased Mr. Davis' interest, and in 1908 he incorporated the firm under the name of Whiting and Davis Company. The following year, 1909, the invention by A. C. Pratt of the first ma- chines for making mesh and the arrangements made with him by the Whiting and Davis Company, started the concern in the manufacture of machine-made mesh bags. By the assumption of Mr. Pratt's pat- ents the company became the exclusive and pio- neer maker of machine-made mesh, and the basic and additional patents on the original and later ma- chines were and are so carefully drawn that foreign and American manufacturers who have tried to build mesh-making machines have been unable to do so. Up to this time mesh had been made by hand, and for several years Mr. Whiting had been searching for a method of making mesh bags by ma- chine. The Pratt invention solved his problem, and by virtue of holding those patents the Whiting and Davis found that by 1912 business had assumed such proportions that it seemed expedient to separate the mesh manufacturing department from the general jewelry manufacturing business of the firm. It was the year 1909 that the first work was done on mesh machines, in the Sloan and Chase factory, Newark, New Jersey, for the Whiting and Davis Company. These machines were shipped to Franklin, Massa- chusetts, where the Whiting and Davis 'Company had a branch factory in the Morse Opera Block. It occupied seven hundred and fifty square feet of space and twelve machines were operated, one operator for each machine, with twelve girls cutting and join- ing the mesh for the bags. The production was shipped each day to the main plant in Plainville. As business increased this branch was too small and was moved to the main plant at Plainville, in April, 1910, where it occupied a floor space of fifteen hun- dred square feet, and included thirty machines. In
February, 1912, a new factory was built, with a mesh room of two thousand square feet and with fifty machines, the machines being so controlled that one operator could handle four machines. In 1915 a large addition was made to the factory, giving 5,000 square feet of floor space, and at the present time five hundred machines are operated. Each ma- chine has automatic stops and individual motor drive, making it possible for one operator to run twelve machines. Automatic machines now do most of the cutting and joining of the mesh, operations which formerly were done by hand. All of these mesh machines and all the automatic machinery used by the Whiting and Davis Company are designed and built in their own factory by a corps of expert workers, as are the tools which are used in the mak- ing of the machinery.
Until 1921 the advertising of the Whiting and Davis Company had been confined to the trade papers and to direct mail announcements. In that year the company began a campaign of extensive national advertising, in order to extend the market for mesh bags and to make them a matter of every day use rather than a luxury. An advertising agency was selected, plans formulated, and a campaign of national consumer advertising inaugurated. In 1925 alone the advertising message was delivered to thir- ty-six million readers of nineteen national magazines, and in addition to this publicity, the Whiting and Davis mesh bag, or the mesh used in other ways has been exploited and featured by leading theatrical and screen productions such as "The Music Box Revue," "Black Oxen," and other successes, where the Whit- ing and Davis products were most subtly "put across" to hundreds of thousands. The company maintains a New York sample room at No. 366 Fifth Avenue, and another at No. 31 North State Street, in Chicago, and there is a Canadian Whiting and Davis Company, plant is located at Sherbrooke, Province of Quebec, Canada. In 1926 the company celebrated its Golden Anniversary by putting on the market an exquisite- ly designed mesh bag at a special price, in order that its patrons might share in the celebration, by getting out a special number of its magazine "Wadco News," and by a series of "good times" well-equipped rooms prepared for pleasure and recreation. Across the street from the factory is the Walter L. Rice Me- morial building, where visitors are always welcome. It is a good sized building, providing adequate space for entertainments, and including a thoroughly mod- ern kitchen and dining room, where the employees may obtain a table d'hote midday meal served at less than cost. Around the building is ample parking space for automobiles. The policy of the Whiting and Davis concern is service, and it has consistently made its contact with employees and with patrons one of mutual benefit. As a result of a "square deal" to both, the company has the earnest and interested cooperation of its five hundred employees, and the good will of its thousands of patrons. Every effort has been made to make employment at the plant as enjoyable and as profitable as possible, and protec- tion from injury is one of the strong features of the management. So thoroughly are workmen protected from injury by safety devices, etc., that the liability company with which the company deals told Mr. Whiting that their deduction for 1925 is the largest of which they have any record, indicating that most unusual efforts have been made by Whiting and Da- vis to safeguard their employees. A Mutual Relief
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Association sponsored by the company is another phase of its welfare work.
In addition to his responsibilities in connection with the world's largest specialty manufacturing jewelry house in its line, Mr. Whiting is vice-president of the Manufacturers Bank. Politically, he gives his sup- port to the principles and the candidates of the Re- publican party. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Royal Arch Masons; also of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Boston Chamber of Com- merce, also of the Franklin Country Club and of the Franklin Business Men's Association, and his re- ligious affiliation is with the Universalist church.
'Charles A. Whiting was married, in 1887, to Josie Heaton, daughter of William and Nancy Ann (Hall) Heaton, and they are the parents of one daughter, Marion W. The family home is in Franklin.
JOHN L. BLINN-Among the energetic and suc- cessful real estate and insurance men of Quincy, Massachusetts, is John L. Blinn, whose offices are located in Rooms No. 4 and 5, Mutual Building, No. 1601 Hancock Street. Mr. Blinn was formerly en- gaged in the same line of business in Brockton, where he was also a member of the Brockton Team of the New England League of professional baseball play- ers for several years. He is a veteran of the World War and appraiser of the city of Quincy.
John L. Blinn was born in Bridgewater, Massa- chusetts, December 9, 1890, son of Luke R., a native of Nova Scotia, Canada, who is engaged as a laborer, and of Mary A. (Gill) Blinn, a native of Ireland. He received his education in the public schools of his birthplace, and upon the completion of his high school course entered the employ of the George E. Keith Shoe Company with whom he remained for a period of thirteen years. At the end of that time he engaged in the real estate business in Brockton, but two years later he came to Quincy, and opened an office in the Mutual Building at No. 1601 Hancock Street, where he has since been conducting a steadily growing business. For several years Mr. Blinn was a professional on the baseball diamond, playing as a member of the Brockton Team of the New England League, and he still maintains his enthusiastic inter- est in that sport. In July, 1917, he enlisted for serv- ice in the World War, and was assigned to the Fourth American Train of the Fourth Division with which unit he served in France. Later he was transferred to Advance Ordnance Depot, No. 1, located at Is-sur-Tille, France, after having served for one year, and continued there until he was discharged, in May, 1919, with the rank of corporal, when he re- turned to Brockton and engaged in the real estate and insurance business, as has already been stated. He is a Republican in his political sympathies, and in 1923 served as appraiser for the city of Quincy. He is a member of the Quincy Council, Knights of Co- lumbus, and is identified with the Granite City Club, Quincy Chamber of Commerce, Quincy Real Estate Exchange, Massachusetts Real Estate Exchange, and the American Legion. His religious interest is with St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, of which he is an attendant.
John L. Blinn was married, in 1916, to Edith M. Austin, who was born in Bridgewater, Massachu- setts, and they are the parents of two children: John R., and Rita M.
FRANK E. PACKARD-To mention' insurance in Brockton, Massachusetts, or in its companion sub-
urb, Campello, is to at once bring to mind the name of Frank E. Packard. Indeed, the Packard family has so long been identified with this type of endeavor in this township that it is almost impossible to men- tion the one without praising the name of Packard. Frank E. Packard was born during the year 1857, at Kingston, Massachusetts, and he is a son of S. Franklin and Louisa (Keith) Packard, both of whom are now deceased. S. Franklin Packard, the father, was associated all of his life with the insurance bus- iness his son is now operating, and the work that he performed can best be described later, when the his- tory of the company itself is given.
The son, Frank E. Packard, received his early education in the public and high schools of Brockton, and he later attended Amherst College, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Imme- diately after leaving Amherst, Mr. Packard taught school for a period of some four years: one year of which he served as principal of the Sprague School, at Brockton. During the year 1884, however, he gave over his pedagogical work entirely, and en- tering his father's insurance business, has continued thus ever since. This concern, which has for a great many years been known under the title of S. F. Pack- ard & Son, Insurance, was established during the year 1870 by Alfred Laws. In 1873 it was ac- quired through purchase by S. Franklin Packard, the father, who owned and operated it alone until the year 1884 when his son, Frank E. Packard, entered the business and offered active and valuable assis- tance. The name of this concern was then simply S. F. Packard, Insurance. But in 1889, S. Franklin Packard, Frank E. Packard, Edward B. Mellen and Lucius Leach formed a new partnership under the name of S. F. Packard & Son, Insurance. Mr. Mellen and Mr. Leach had previously acquired the older in- surance agency of Noah Chesman, and this was con- solidated with the above concern. In due course of time and in a natural order of events many changes were made: S. Franklin Packard died during the year 1901, Lucius Leach retired during the month of January, 1909, and Edward B. Mellen retired when he removed to Seattle, Washington, during the month of June, 1909; since which time Frank E. Packard continued as the sole proprietor until the year 1923 when he accepted Roger Keith as a partner and thus brought together in a single business two old and closely related families. For Roger Keith is a grandson, on the maternal side, of S. Franklin Pack- ard, second owner of the business in which Mr. Keith is now an equal partner. (The biographical history of Mr. Keith follows this.) Despite these many changes in the fortunes of this one concern, the name has remained the same: S. F. Packard & Son, Insur- ance. The present Mr. Packard has, however, as- sumed a number of outside interests, among the more important of which is the office he fills as a trustee of the People's Savings Bank of Brockton.
Despite the many varied and exacting duties of the work in which he has been engaged, Mr. Packard has still found time in which to serve the people of his community in other than a private capacity. In his political preferences, he is a staunch member of the Republican party, and as such, he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives during the years 1905 and 1906, and he has served as a mem- ber of the Brockton School Board for ten years. He has been almost equally active in his club and social life, for he is fraternally affiliated with the Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; the Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- sons; the Council, Royal and Select Masters; the Con-
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sistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; the Com- mandery, Knights Templar; and he holds the thirty- second degree in this Order.
Frank E. Packard married, April 2, 1890, at Brock- ton, Nellie Evans. Mr. and Mrs. Packard reside in Brockton, in which township they attend the South Congregational Church.
ROGER KEITH, a member of the firm of S. F. Packard & Son, insurance brokers of Brockton, was born May 8, 1888, in New York City, New York. Mr. Keith is a son of Horace A. and Nellie W. (Packard) Keith, of Brockton.
Roger Keith received his early education in the public and high schools of Brockton, and he later attended Amherst College, graduating from there with the class of 1911, when he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Immediately after the comple- tion of these courses of study, Mr. Keith at once went into the textile business with his father. This was in Brockton, and he remained in this type of endeavor until the year 1923 when he resigned from this concern to accept an equal partnership in the old and well-known insurance firm of S. F. Pack- ard & Son, the history of which is given in full detail under the biographical history of Mr. Keith's partner, Frank E. Packard, which precedes this. This concern, carrying a general line of insurance, is one of the oldest in this part of the State, and such has been the success with which it has met that, today, it is forced to maintain two offices: its headquarters being in Brockton, and its first branch office being in Campello.
Despite the many and varied types of work in which Mr. Keith has been engaged, he has still found time in which to serve the people of his community. in other than a private capacity. His political af- filiations are strongly Republican, and as a member of this party he was elected a member of the Com- mon Council of Brockton for the term of 1917 to 1920, during the last two years of which he served as the council president, an office equivalent to mayor. He was also the delegate from his District to the Republican National Convention under Calvin Cool- idge, in 1925. Mr. Keith has always had the welfare and betterment of his township at heart, and he has been active in its service. He is now a director of the Brockton Chamber of Commerce, and he is the treasurer of the Commercial Club. He has been al- most equally active in his club and social life, for he is a member and the president of the Kiwanis Club, vice-president of the University Club; and he is fra- ternally affiliated with the Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; the Coun- cil, Royal and Select Masters; the Consistory, An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite; he is a Past Com- mander of the Commandery, Knights Templar, and the Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.
Roger Keith married, April 12, 1913, Carolyn B. Hastings. Mr. and Mrs. Keith are the parents of five children, four of whom are sons and one a daughter: 1. Roger Keith, Jr., who was born March 31, 1914. 2. Hastings Keith, born November 22, 1915. 3. Thalia Keith, born July 3, 1917. 4. Paul Keith, who was born January 23, 1920. 5. Mark Keith, who was born March 25, 1922. Mr. and Mrs. Keith and their fam- ily reside in Brockton, in which township they at- tend the South Congregational Church.
CHARLES D. HIXON-The entire active career of Charles D. Hixon has been identified with manu- facture of ladies hats. Mr. Hixon is now (1928) presi- dent and treasurer of the Carroll, Hixon, and Jones Company, Incorporated, and has held those two offi- cial positions since 1915.
Charles D. Hixon was born in Medway, Massachu- setts, in 1868, son of Waldo B. and Sarah (Lincoln) Hixon. He received his education in the local public schools, and when his school training was completed became associated with the hat manufacturing busi- ness. He made himself thoroughly familiar with ev- ery department of the business, the practical opera- ting side as well as the business management, and in 1915, was made president and treasurer of the con- cern, which is known as the Carroll, Hixon, and Jones Company, Incorporated. At the same time his son, Carroll J. Hixon, was made vice-president of the corporation. The business has steadily grown, ex- cellence of quality and prompt and fair treatment in the matter of service in filling orders bringing a reputation which has steadily attracted new patrons, until at the present time (1928) the volume of pro- duction has reached an amount which requires the services of about three hundred employees. The con- cern specializes in ladies' hats, confining their opera- tions to that one class of goods, and their product goes to all parts of this country and to some foreign countries. Politically, Mr. Hixon is a Republican in his party allegiance, and fraternally, he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Charles D. Hixon was married, in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1891, to Maud Louise Abbott, of Framingham, Massachusetts.
ERNEST S. BRADFORD-Descended from the illustrious Governor Bradford, Ernest S. Bradford was born in Hyannis, February 23, 1867, son of Noah and Sarah (Furbush) Bradford, both deceased, the father having been for many years engaged in the trade of carpenter and builder, in Hyannis, where he was universally respected as a man and citizen, and is remembered today as one of the public-spirited members of the community. In 1904 Ernest S. Brad- ford was appointed an officer of the Massachusetts State Police, and has upheld this trust during the years succeeding, accounted high in the ranks of the State organization by brother officers and of sub- stantial position in West Hyannis, where he resides and maintains offices, by the people of the locality.
Ernest S. Bradford attended the public schools of Barnstable, and possessing a pleasing manner even so early in years, secured employment as traveling salesman, with Wiley & Richardson, manufacturers of paints and varnishes, of Sudbury, Boston. This con- nection endured for one year and demonstrated alike to Mr. Bradford and his employers the talent which he had for selling; and after the year had terminated the company sent him to supervise operations at the plant in New York City, as superintendent and in addition as salesman. But after a year with Wiley & Richardson in New York City he resigned, and accepted an offer from the North River Beef Company of Swift and Company, entering this company's em- ployment as salesman. Meanwhile the affection bred in him for Cape Cod proved irresistible, and after a suc- cessful period as salesman for the beef company he re- turned to Hyannis, where he undertook to learn the trade of carpenter in association with his father. To- gether they executed a number of contracts, under the firm style of Noah Bradford & Son; then, in 1897, Mr.
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Bradford was appointed deputy sheriff of Barnstable County, and in his first office in service of the public distinguished himself so notably that his turned naturally from that of carpenter and builder to officialdom. Seven years later it was no surprise to his associates when he received the appointment to the State police; nor, in view of the excellence of his service, have successive reappointments occa- sioned surprise.
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