History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 94

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 94
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 94
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 94

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Herbert E. Robbins received his early education in the public schools of South Scituate, afterward graduating from the Hanover High School, and attending for a time the Mount Hermon School for Boys. Further continuing his studies he received a diploma from Comer's Commercial College of Boston. After graduating, Mr. Robbins was engaged in busi- ness for a period of eight years in Boston, when he returned to Norwell to again take up his residence in his native town. For a time he acted as assistant to Horace T. Fogg, then treasurer of the South Scituate Savings Bank, and was later connected with the Hingham Institution for Savings. During the World War he was called to the Rockland Trust Com- pany to take charge of the Liberty Bond and Savings Department, leaving the Rockland Trust Company in 1918, to become treasurer of the South Scituate Savings Bank, with which institution he has since remained. It is interesting to note that when the bank was incorporated in 1834, Anson Robbins, great- grandfather of the present treasurer, was chosen the first vice-president. The bank with which Mr. Rob- bins is connected is one of the oldest in the Common- wealth and has shown during the ninety-four years of its existence a steady and consistent growth. A tabulation of totals show that $1,897,523 have been disbursed as dividends in the life of this bank. The present president is William F. Bates, the vice-presi- dent is Henry C. Ford and Horace T. Fogg is clerk of the corporation.

Of Mr. Robbins it is interesting to quote the fol- lowing comment from the Rockland "Independent," for February 6, 1926: "He is one of the best-known banking men in this part of the State. He has had much experience in banking. He is the third oldest trustee of the institution in point of service, having been named to the board in 1903."

Mr. Robbins has served as town treasurer of Nor- well for the past thirteen successive years, is treas- urer of the First Parish Cemetery Association and a trustee of the First Parish Fund Corporation. Not- withstanding his active business life Mr. Robbins has found time to travel extensively, having visited Egypt, Palestine and most of the countries of Europe.

Herbert E. Robbins married, in 1911, Emma Allen Eddy of Newport, Rhode Island, a daughter of George A. and Lydia M. (Humphrey) Eddy. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are the parents of four children: 1. Cynthia Foss. 2. Norman Cedric. 3. Gordon De Moss. 4. Constance Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Rob- bins maintain their residence in Norwell, being the third generation to occupy the Robbins Homestead,

built by George Anson Robbins in 1837. Mr. Rob- bins and family are attendants at the historic First Parish Church of his native town, where the Rev. William Wetherell, one of his ancestors, was the first minister.

WILFRID WHEELER-Having spent most of his life in farming, Wilfrid Wheeler is now a promi- nent figure in his chosen occupation. He has care- fully studied agricultural problems and the applica- tion of scientific methods to their solution, and he uses these methods very successfully on his own farm of over one hundred acres, on which he raises fruit, vegetables and flowers. He served for seven years as Secretary and Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of Massachusetts.

Mr. Wheeler was born September 8, 1876, at Con- cord, Massachusetts, the son of George F. and Alice Rattray Wheeler. His father was a farmer and a veteran of the Civil War, having served with the Forty-seventh Regiment of Massachusetts.

Wilfrid Wheeler entered the Concord public schools and later attended Brown University, and the Bussey Institute of Harvard University. When he completed his education, he took up active farming. In 1912 he was appointed Secretary and Commissioner of Agri- culture for Massachusetts, and he served in this position until 1919. About 1924 he acquired Ashumet Farm, one hundred acres of land at Hatchville, town of Falmouth. He has lived at Hatchville since that time, supervising the raising of his products. Polit- ically, Mr. Wheeler is an Independent Republican. He is a member of the Boston City Club, and of the Protestant Episcopal church.

On September 8, 1898, at Newton, Massachusetts, Wilfrid Wheeler married Emily H. Lillie, the daugh- ter of George W. and Emily Rattray Lillie, of Tor- onto, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler are the parents of three children: 1. Wilfrid, Jr., born March 3, 1901. 2. Charles L., born May 19, 1914. 3. Richard P., born May 12, 1917. Wilfrid Wheeler, Jr., attended agri- cultural college and is now a market-gardener at Concord. He has one son, Wilfrid Wheeler (3).

WILLIAM LAPHAM NYE-One of those men who are most influential in the affairs of Sandwich is William Lapham Nye, whose long career has been of more than ordinary interest and diversity. At the present time (1928) Mr. Nye is in retirement from the most exacting affairs of commerce and industry that occupied his thought for so many years; but he continues to give, as he has given for more than fifty years, liberally of his time, thought and effort to the welfare of community, town and county. In public works his record has been remarked for service to the people, and for his influence in politics, which is considerable. Known affectionately to the citizens of Sandwich, his position is a happy one, of power and general and sincere esteem. Just as no history of the counties of Plymouth and Barnstable would be com- plete without chronicle of Sandwich, neither would that chronicle be complete without the record of Mr. Nye, which though brief is an inspiring one to write, and may well serve as an inspiration to youth in the projection of a career.

William Lapham Nye was born in Sandwich, in 1839, son of Lemuel Bourne and Eliza (Sears) Nye, his father having been for many years a carpenter, mariner and farmer. Both parents gave to their son an excellent training in the home, and early incul- cated in him those principles of thought and character

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which have remained with him through manhood into the eventide of life, responsible in great measure for the success materially and spiritually that has been his.

"My earliest days were spent as a farmer boy," Mr. Nye has written. "In fact, my earliest recollec- tions are of hard work. At the age of fifteen years I left school and entered the employ of a grocer, in the South End of Boston; and I remained in his employ until the year 1859, in the month of April." Then, at the age of twenty, he shipped as common sailor on the schooner "William R. Ginn," in the coasting trade. The following September Mr. Nye arrived in Boston, left this vessel and one of the ad- venturous facets of his life forever, and found work with E. W. Dennison, manufacturer of jewelry and tags for shipping and for merchandise. At the time Mr. Dennison's enterprise was small. employing comparatively few workers; but it grew and employed many. For twenty years Mr. Nye worked in the Dennison company, then, having acquired all the practical experience and theory needed for the suc- cessful founding of a similar establishment of his own, returned to his native town, and in Sandwich, in association with his brother, did organize such a business. Mr. Nye gave his direction to this until 1922, when he retired from it.

Always, in Boston and in Sandwich, but especially in the latter, where he was born and has spent the greater part of his life, Mr. Nye held a dominant rôle in politics. This he continues to retain in Sand- wich, though he no longer applies himself to it with the fervor of activity that marked his younger years. A Democrat, he has remained steadfastly loyal to the party's principles, and has served the party in many capacities. For forty-three years he has served as chairman of the Board of Registrars of Votes, and has been chairman of the Senatorial Committee for Barnstable County. He was chairman of the enter- tainment committee in charge of the fête commem- orating the 300th anniversary of the settlement of the town. Also, he was chairman of the committee in charge of entertainment at the opening of Cape Cod Canal; and it was he, on that occasion, in 1914, who presented to August Belmont. one of the prin- cipals in the canal's building, the loving cup. Mr. Nye is president of the Sandwich Historical Society and of the Nye Family Association. He has also been president of the Village Improvement Society and of the Sandwich Nursing Association, the lat- ter of which he now serves as chairman. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, and in religious adherence is a communicant of the First Church of Christ, Unitarian. Toward charity, regardless of race, creed or other limiting and non- humanitarian considerations, Mr. Nye has constant- ly dealt with large heart, giving generously to all worthy appeals. When the United States entered the World War he did all he could for the advance- ment of our country's cause, notably in service on boards and committees of war work.

On July 5, 1864, at Sandwich, Mr. Nye was united in marriage with Elizabeth Abigail Nye, daughter of Stephen Basset and Mary Ann (Gibbs) Nye; and to this' union were born children: 1. Mary Elizabeth, born September 23, 1865. 2. Augustus Sears, born October 16, 1870.

Mr. Nye is of the proud, rugged, conscientious type of men who have made Cape Cod the peninsula of strength that it is, a valuable integral part of the United States, source from which have come many of our greatest figures in commerce and the profes-

sions. Some men there are who appear destined to dominance in their affairs, regardless of conditions of birth and environment. To them the size of the com- munity in which they operate seems of no particular importance. Mr. Nye is undoubtedly one of these: in moderate circumstances, his earliest recollections of hard work mainly on a farm, he has come forward nobly, advancing not only his own personal fortunes and interests, but those of Sandwich. Had he chosen to spend the balance of his life in Boston, it is as- serted by those most intimate among his friends, his personal success would have surely been as large, if not larger than in Sandwich; but Mr. Nye is content, and Sandwich is appreciative.

JAMES R. TURNER-Clerical work during his business career, from school days in Provincetown to the agency of American Railway Express Company here, has trained to high excellence qualities funda- mentally fitted for the position of trust and impor- tance held by James R. Turner. His prominent posi- tion in the active commercial affairs of the town has brought him in constant contact with his fellow- citizens and with hosts of visitors during the years he has been in charge of the express office, enabling him to make a multitude of friends, through his na- tive courtesy and unflagging devotion to his exacting duties.

James R. Turner was born in Provincetown, June 6, 1873, a son of Isaiah, who died in 1915, and Mary (McKay) Turner, a native of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. He was educated in the local public schools and at Brown's Business College, Brooklyn, New York, from which he was graduated in 1894. His graduation was followed by work as a book- keeper with Faulkner, Page & Company, wholesale woolen and cotton merchants, then with Potter & Wrightington, of Boston, wholesalers of canned goods, where he worked for one year. He then came home to Provincetown, where for fourteen years he worked as a shoe salesman for Angus McKay, and later for Mark Lewis. He eventually went with Frank Atkins in the express business and merchan- dising of coal and wood, where he kept the books for a number of years. He engaged with the Adams Express Company at Buzzard's Bay for a time, then with the same company at Warehain, Massachusetts. later coming back to Provincetown as agent for the Adams Company, a position which he has held con- tinuously since 1912. In religion he is a member of the Center Methodist Episcopal Church, a Repub- lican in politics. He is a member of the Encamp- ment, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Provincetown Board of Trade, and is treasurer of the Encampment and a member of the Odd Fellows Club.

Mr. Turner married, in Provincetown, July 1, 1900, Jennie Baker Newcomb, daughter of Captain Thomas C. and Melissa Newcomb, both natives of Nova Scotia. Their children are: 1. Mabel E., born May 26, 1901, now the wife of Kenneth Le Lachner, of Boston. 2. Isaiah T., born September 29, 1910.

PEREZ H. PHINNEY-Monument Beach, Barn- stable County, Massachusetts, has had but one post- master, and that one has been, and is, Perez H. Phinney, who was first appointed to this office July 3. 1878, by Postmaster-General David M. Key. Since that time he has served the community in Uncle Sam's employ continuously, and the resi- dents of this section would scarcely feel that their

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mail was rightly handled if it were not delivered by Mr. Phinney. Mr. Phinney was also station agent here for a period of forty-three years, resigning in 1921.

Abram Phinney, father of Mr. Phinney, was born in Monument, Massachusetts, and followed the sea for more than forty years, as a member of the mer- chant marine during the greater part of that time. During the Civil War he was captured by the rebels off the coast of Florida, but later was released and returned to Monument Beach, where he died and was buried. He was engaged in the Mediterranean fruit trade during much of his active life on the sea, and was one of the well-known men of this coast. He retired in 1876 and spent the rest of his life in his birthplace. He married Lucinda E. Burgess, daugh- ter of the late Perez Burgess, and both were among the highly respected citizens of Barnstable County.

Perez H. Phinney was born in Monument Beach, Barnstable County Massachusetts, April 28, 1854, and received his education in the public schools of his birthplace and in Comers Business College in Bos- ton. He was variously employed for a time, but in 1878 was appointed postmaster of Monument Beach by Postmaster-General David M. Keys, receiving his first appointment July 3, 1878. He was the first to hold this position in Monument Beach, and to the present time (1928) he has been the only postmaster of this town. He was reappointed by President Hard- ing, October 7, 1921, and by President Coolidge, Jan- uary 26, 1926, and is still handling the mail in his old time efficient manner for this section of the county. At this writing (1928) he is the second oldest post- master in the United States in point of service, and has recently passed the fiftieth anniversary of his appointment. He naturally has become so familiar with the names and personalities of the town of Monument Beach and vicinity that he easily keeps track of all new arrivals, and any stranger desiring any information concerning the residents of this town can secure it more easily and quickly by going to the postoffice than in any other way. Along with his duties as postmaster, Mr. Phinney was also sta- tion agent in the town of Bourne from 1878 to 1921, when he resigned, and he has been very active in local affairs, serving as chairman of the board of au- ditors of the town of Bourne for thirty-two years, at the end of which time he resigned, and he has also served for six years as a member of the finance com- mittee of the town of Bourne. He has also been a notary public for the State of Massachusetts for more than forty years. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist church.

Perez H. Phinney was married, at Monument Beach, Massachusetts, October 15, 1884, to Susan D. Fox, daughter of Rev. Samuel and Mary E. (Howes) Fox, the last-mentioned of whom was a member of the Howes family of Dennis, Massachusetts. Rev. Samuel Fox was a Methodist minister, who was lo- cated at various points on the Cape and also at Provincetown, Massachusetts. Mrs. Phinney is chairman of the Red Cross organization of the town of Bourne, has held practically every office in Wom- en's Relief Corps in Massachusetts, and in 1923 was State president of that organization. She is secre- tary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of this section, and is one of the most active and able of this section of Barnstable County. Mr. and Mrs. Phinney have one daughter, Lydia B., who married Earl L. Brownson, and has two children, Burgess Phinney Brownson, and Ruth Alice Brownson. Mrs. Brownson is a graduate of Tabor Academy.

JONATHAN P. EDWARDS-Insurance, finance, politics, public official, and salesmanship-all of these interests have, at one time or another, felt the in- fluence of Jonathan P. Edwards of Dennisport, but it is perhaps in the fields of insurance and finance that he is best known in Massachusetts. His public life has encompassed experience in the State Legis- lature, membership on the town school committee, and on the board of trustees of the town library. All these vocations and avocations have followed Mr. Edwards' original occupation, that of a sailor, he having early in life followed the sea. Thus it will be seen that the esteem and honor in which he is held in his State is built up on training acquired in that most valuable institution, the school of exper- ience.

Mr. Edwards was born April 7, 1854, at Dennis- port, son of Nehemiah E. and Mary C. (Phillips) Edwards. Nehemiah E. Edwards was a master mariner during the early part of his life; later he left this strenuous calling, entered the grocery business in Dennisport, there passed the remainder of his days, and there died. Jonathan P. Edwards obtained a thorough education, such as is customary in the pub- lic schools and then, like his father, went to sea. He remained so occupied for several years, or until he had reached the age of twenty-seven. At this time, dissatisfied with his lot, he entered the employ of a wholesale grocery house at Fall River, Allen, Slade & Company. With this firm he remained for about three years, engaged as traveling salesman. While Mr. Edwards might have been satisfied with this occupation, he was not content to remain an employee all of his life, and thereupon organized the Dennis- port Fishing Company, of which he was manager and agent until the dissolution of this firm. For many years he engaged in cranberry growing and had bogs at Wareham and Carver, Massachusetts. Once again he chose a new field of endeavor, one that was to bring him great success, and one in which he has re- mained until the present time, that of insurance. Since this change Mr. Edwards has steadily increased his financial interests, and he now is a director of the Barnstable Fire Insurance Company of Yar- mouth, in addition to which he conducts an indepen- dent insurance brokerage business. Among his other attainments are his office of president of the First National Bank of Yarmouth, and his membership on the board of investment of the Bass River Savings Bank. Formerly, he was vice-president of the Bass River Savings Bank of South Yarmouth, having held this office until he was elected president of the First National Bank. Mr. Edwards has been a director of the First National Bank since 1916, and he has been its president since 1927.

At one time an important factor in Republican politics of the Cape, Mr. Edwards has given service in various public offices. He was a member of the School Committee of Dennisport, and in 1905 and 1906 was a representative in Massachusetts State Legis- lature. He has been chairman of the finance com- mittee of the town of Dennis since 1922. During his régime as president of the Chase Library in the village of West Harwich, he contributed materially to the upbuilding of this institution, and the Swan Lake Cemetery Association benefits through his work as president thereof. During the World War, although Mr. Edwards was not permitted to enter the active military departments, he did most faith- fully and loyally aid his government in every way possible toward bringing to a successful conclusion

Jonathan V. Edwards

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this conflict. He was especially helpful in various bond sales and was chairman of the Dennisport Dis- trict for the Liberty Loan drives. In fraternal af- filiations, Mr. Edwards has given most of his work along these lines to Mount Horeb Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at West Harwich, of which he is a Past Master. A devotee of the Baptist denomina- tion, he attends the West Harwich Baptist Church and contributes liberally, financially and otherwise, to its activities.

Jonathan P. Edwards married, December 28, 1876, at Harwichport, Emma W. Baker, a native of that town, who passed away on October 13, 1918. She was a daughter of Matthew and Mary (Chase) Baker, and her father, was, before his death, a sea captain. Seven children were born to Jonathan P. and Emma W. (Baker) Edwards: 1. Emma. 2. Albert J., who died in 1926. 3. Hattie N., deceased. 4. Lottie, de- ceased. 5. Jonathan P., Jr., now a practicing dentist. 6. Edna, now Mrs. Nickerson. 7. Marguerite.

MOSES NICKERSON GIFFORD-Born June 11, 1848, died January 14, 1918, Moses Nickerson Gifford is recalled with affection by the leading citi- zens of Provincetown, Massachusetts, as one of the men of high character and strict moral purpose who did all things within his power for the welfare and advancement of the community's interests. So too was his father before him prominent in the affairs of Provincetown. It was his father, James Gifford, who owned the old Pilgrim House, and later the then well-known Gifford House. Native of Provincetown, James Gifford in his long and useful career accom- plished much for it, through the dominant rôle he had in local political circles, and more directly, through office as representative to the State Legis- lature, where he worked conscientiously for measures designated to benefit his constituency. James Gifford gave to his son, Moses Nickerson Gifford, those same high principles of thought and conduct which he himself bore in life, and which assisted Moses Nick- erson Gifford to live his own life to the greatest good to his fellow-men.

Moses Nickerson Gifford attended the schools of his native Provincetown, in them secured a sound academic basis for continued study and reading, and found himself early much interested in works of lit- erature. This led him to take a proprietary participa- tion in the Provincetown Public Library and its con- duct. For many years he was chairman of the li- brary's board of trustees, and he himself recom- mended volumes to be purchased, selecting them from among works which he knew to be most worthy. Through his influence, largely, the library secured the Benjamin Small bequest as a trust fund for pur- chase of new books. But while studies and good books were his pleasure to such a degree, his business career was in banking, for the most part, though his commercial and financial connections were diversi- fied. For over fifty years Mr. Gifford was identified with the First National Bank, having held all offices in it, including that of president. Mr. Gifford was at one time president of the Provincetown Board of Trade, and in this office active, and treasurer of the Seamen's Relief Fund. He was one of the presi- dents of the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Associa- tion, and a member of the Provincetown Art As- sociation. Politically, as his father, Mr. Gifford main- tained a degree of influence, which he exerted with conscience, always to the most enduring good to the community. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the

Free and Accepted Masons, having been honored with all offices in those parts of the Order of which he was a member. He was a member of the parish committee of the Universalist church. In this de- nomination he was for an extended period superin- tendent of the Sunday school, unfailingly an influ- ence for the better life among all with whom he came in contact, both in and outside of the parish.

Moses Nickerson Gifford was united in marriage with Harriet Prescott Lovering, of South George- town, Massachusetts, in 1870, and this union was blessed with a daughter, Frances Crocker, born in Provincetown, December 12, 1875, and living there at the present time.

AUGUSTUS CYRENUS ELLIS-Unflagging in his interest in affairs of the town, actively engaged in the prosecution of the various programs for its bet- terment, distinguished as a citizen, Augustus C. Ellis has held a number of the local public offices and is high in the estimation of his confrères in business.

Augustus C. Ellis was born in Chatham, Septem- ber 3, 1880, son of Cyrenus and Myra E. (Eldredge) Ellis, both of whom were born in Harwich, his fa- ther having been a prominent and honored citizen of Chatham. Cyrenus Ellis held many public offices, and among them those of road surveyor, member of the Board of Selectmen, town assessor and overseer of the poor. He was serving on the Board of Se- lectmen at the time of his death, July 16, 1925, and was one of the principal merchants of Chatham, dealing in coal and wood. Augustus C. Ellis went to work for his father in 1896, in the coal and wood yards, until 1910, when he succeeded to the control of the business. Aside from his interest in the coal and wood concern from which he retired in 1927, he is connected with a number of enterprises in Chat- ham. He was an incorporator of the Harwich Five Cent Savings Bank, and is a stockholder in the Chat- ham Trust Company and the Cape Cod Trust Com- pany. Moreover, Mr. Ellis is conspicuously identi- fied with local politics, and is chairman of the Re- publican Town Committee, formerly a member of the school committee and for one year its chairman, and during the war was treasurer of the Public Safety Committee. His fraternal associations are widely distributed, among them being membership in St. Martin's Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is now (1928) treasurer; the Monomoyick Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men, of which he is Past Sachem and Collector of Wampum; the Board of Trade, of which he is now (1928) its presi- dent; the Historical Society of Chatham, formerly on the ways and means committee; and now (1928) on the house committee. He attends the Methodist church.

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History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 94

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