USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 98
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 98
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 98
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
The Cahoon home at South Chatham is set well back from the main street. A contented and active retirement is "Captain Frank" Cahoon's; few Cape Cod skippers have reached the afternoon of life with so many material comforts.
LESLIE EMERSON CHASE-Having the fore- sight and ability to realize the possibilities that lay in one branch of the agricultural industry of Cape Cod, Leslie Emerson Chase, of Eastham, has risen to prominence through his successful achievements in the asparagus industry which has grown to such enormous proportions in this section. Mr. Chase is a man of vision coupled with capacity for unlimited energy and endeavor, and since coming to Eastham, has always found time in addition to his many and varied business interests to devote to the service of this town and fellow-citizens, and in its civic func- tions he has held many elective offices. He is a true example of a public-spirited citizen of the highest type, giving unselfishly of his time and support to every worthy activity which involves the well-being of his community.
367
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
Mr. Chase was born in Brewster, August 21, 1885, son of Charles W. and Hattie F. (Gill) Chase, the father being a native of Brewster, and his mother a native of East Boston. Charles W. Chase has been a farmer for many years, having in his early youth followed the fishing fleets, after which he returned to his native town, but later moved to Eastham and engaged in agriculture, in which he has been highly successful.
Leslie Emerson Chase was educated in the public schools of Eastham and Orleans, and at the age of fourteen, having completed his formal education, be- gan his business career by working at asparagus cut- ting for a time, after which he farmed for two or three years. He next ventured into the shell-fishing trade and followed that line for three or four years, after which he went to sea as a quartermaster on the "Old Dominion," a famous vessel which was the last side-wheeler to ply between Boston and New York around Cape Cod. After following the life of a sailor for some time, ill-health compelled him to relin- quish his sea-faring activities, and he entered the porgy business, in which he continued for a year. He next became associated with the railroad business in his connection with the Boston & Northern Electric Railroad, and the Worcester Consolidated, Fitchburg and Leominster, which occupied him for five years. Coming to Eastham, Mr. Chase opened a first-class retail fish and produce business, continuing with great success until 1914, gaining a large patronage and establishing a reputation for quality products and service of the most courteous and efficient kind. Rec- ognizing the future that lay in the asparagus business, he devoted all his efforts to this industry with the result that he now operates one of the largest pro- duce concerns in this vicinity, shipping his product direct to Boston by his own trucks, and in this con- nection, handles on his trucks, all of the asparagus raised in this section in addition to his own. This enterprise gives employment to many of this town's residents, and has been an important factor in the agricultural developments of the entire Cape. In the financial affairs of the community, Mr. Chase is prominently active as president of the Eastham Farmers' Association, Incorporated. In the public life of the town, he has served as town clerk since 1919, and he was elected collector of taxes and treas- urer, having been elected annually since then to these offices. He formerly served as constable, and was also sealer of weights and measures, and in this posi- tion, effectively cleaned up this district. He was also attendance officer for the Eastham schools for four or five years. Mr. Chase is allied to the Republican party, in which he is a leading figure, having been Republican Town Committee chairman for many years. He is a charter member of the Grange of Eastham, No. 308, and has held the offices of Past Master and Past Overseer; and is also a trustee of the Congregational Cemetery of Eastham. His re- ligious adherence is given to the Universalist church.
Leslie Emerson Chase married, on May 4, 1912, at Eastham, Mabel W. Cobb, born in Cambridge, daugh- ter of Joseph A. and Eleanor (Warren) Cobb, her father a native of Eastham, and her mother born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Chase are the parents of two sons: 1. Joseph Russell, born March 9, 1922. 2. Charles Whitman, born January 23, 1928.
WILBUR TRIPP CROWELL-Identified with Harwich and Chatham all his life, where his father
before him labored and held public office of trust and honor, Wilbur Tripp Crowell was postmaster of South Chatham for twenty-three years, until his res- ignation in 1925. His father, early in life, was a fisherman, later establishing himself in a grocery and produce business at South Harwich. He was ap- pointed postmaster of that town, an office which he held for twenty-five years, resigning two years be- fore his death, April 3, 1925.
Wilbur Tripp Crowell was born at Harwich, No- vember 24, 1871, the son of Hiram Leonard and Eliza J. (Tripp) Crowell. He received his education in the public schools of Harwich, upon completion of which he followed in his father's footsteps in the grocery busniess, later being appointed postmaster of South Chatham. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, and in religion a Methodist, being a trustee and steward of that congregation in South Chatham.
Wilbur T. Crowell married Maude A. Nickerson, daughter of Samuel T., of Harwich, and Lizzie (Wing) Nickerson, of Chatham.
ERNEST F. CURRY, M. D., of Sagamore, Mas- sachusetts is a foremost member of the great medical profession, that profession which one philosopher has stated to be the highest calling of man. Certain it is that in the hearts of the world the physician and surgeon comes first, for humanitarianism-the epi- tome of the medical profession - begets love, respect and regard. In addition to the care of his general practice, Dr. Curry also holds various public offices, and during the World War gave freely of his services to his country. He is secretary of the Barnstable Board of Pension Examiners, member of the Board of Health, and serves as school physician and med- ical examiner. During the World War he served with the local Draft Exemption Board, Division No. 43, State of Massachusetts.
Ernest F. Curry was born at Warren, Rhode Is- land, May 10, 1876, son of Patrick W. and Emma (Naire) Curry, his father employed as a cabinet- maker in Boston, while residing in Melrose. Mr. Curry received his preliminary education in the pub- lic schools of Melrose, and during vacations worked in various drugstores. Later he became a student at Tufts Medical College and was graduated in 1905 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After gradua- tion he served as an interne in St. Luke's Hospital, New Bedford, and then established himself in gen- eral practice in Melrose, Massachusetts, until 1908, when he removed to Sagamore, Barnstable County. Dr. Curry has remained in general practice here ever since, gradually building up a large and lucrative practice.
Dr. Curry serves as a member of the staff of Cape Cod Hospital; chairman of the Board of Health of Bourne; school physician of Bourne; and medical examiner for the Second Barnstable District. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the American Medical Society, and the Massachusetts Medical and Legal Association.
In his fraternal affiliations, Dr. Curry is a member of De Witt Clinton Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Sandwich, and of the Knights of Pythias. He attends the Methodist church.
WILLIAM H. BALFOUR-Few men are more thoroughly experienced in the dairy and retail milk business than is William H. Balfour, who has spent
368
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
his life, to the present time, in this branch of the business of feeding the world. He was one of the first to use pasteurized milk in his dairy, and he has built up a very large patronage among the summer people as well as among the native residents.
William H. Balfour was born in Jamaica Plain, January 30, 1892, son of David, a steam-fitter, who was employed with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, and is a resident of Jamaica Plain, and of Agnes (Inman) Balfour. He attended the public schools of Jamaica Plain and then found his first employment with the H. P. Hood & Sons Company, at Jamaica Plain. That connec- tion he continued for a number of years, but in 1923 he came to Chatham, where, as his own venture, entirely independent of the H. P. Hood & Sons Com- pany, he became the local distributor of their milk and cream. As has already been stated he was one of the first to pasteurize his milk, and this process, which is now so popular on the Cape, gained for him a large patronage among the summer residents as well as among the native inhabitants. He has built up a business which is now thoroughly well estab- lished, and each year is adding to his success. Upon the entrance of the United States into the World War, Mr. Balfour enlisted for service as a member of the Motor Transport Corps of the United States Army, with which he served from September, 1917, to June, 1919. He is a member of St. Martin's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Chatham; and is an interested member of the Chatham Board of Trade. His religious membership is with the Con- gregational church.
William H. Balfour was married, in Buffalo, New York, May 18, 1920, to Helen V. Peters, of Buffalo. Mr. and Mrs. Balfour have one daughter, Helen Amelia, who was born in Jamaica Plain, June 27, 1922. Mr. Balfour's business is located on the Old Harbor Road, at Chatham, where he also has his home.
JOHN CHRISTIAN BEARSE-As a business man, and as a figure of considerable importance in the public life of Hyannis, John Christian Bearse, who has been with the firm of John Hinckley and Son Company since 1916, holds a prominent place. He has been engaged with other companies promi- nent in the lumber business, and the firm with which he is now associated is a leader in the lumber and building materials industry. The public offices which he has held are those of town treasurer and clerk, county treasurer, and town auditor.
John C. Bearse was born in Hyannis on August 24, 1877, the son of John S. Bearse, who was born in Hyannis, and served there as a horse dealer and town constable, and of Ada May (Fuller) Bearse, a native of Marston's Mills.
John Christian Bearse attended the public schools of Barnstable, and afterward went to the Bryant & Stratton Commercial School, in Boston. He started working for J. K. and B. Sears and Company, a firm dealing in lumber, when he finished his schooling, and remained for one year in this work. Then, on May 19, 1895, he entered the office of the same com- pany, where he continued to work for the following ten years. In 1905, he became office manager of the Library Bureau, in New York, for which organization he had charge of the accounts. After he had con- tinued in this position for three years, he came to Hyannis, in 1908, where he was elected town treasurer
and clerk, offices which he held from 1908 until 1916. In the latter year, he resigned from this public work to become associated with the John Hinckley and Son Company, with which he has worked since that time. In addition to his business interests in the Hinckley firm, Mr. Bearse holds a directorship in the Hyannis Co-operative Bank.
In his political opinions, Mr. Bearse is a Republi- can, and it was on the Republican ticket that he was elected in 1908 as town treasurer and clerk. On Jan- uary 1, 1920, he was appointed county treasurer, and the following November was elected to this office. He also has held the position of town auditor. Active in the Free and Accepted Masons, he is a member of Hyannis Lodge. He is a member of the Saturday Night Club, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, the Trowel Club of Osterville, and the Osterville Yacht Club. He and his family are members of the Federated Church.
In Cotuit, Massachusetts, on June 28, 1899, Mr. Bearse married Laura R. Burlingame, a native of Cotuit, the daughter of James H. and Lillian R. (Handy) Burlingame. They have one son, Vernon B., who was born on July 30, 1900.
M. BURTON BAKER-No individual has been more prominent or more active on Cape Cod than has M. Burton Baker, developer and owner of Indian Neck Heights, of South Wellfleet. Mr. Baker is chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Wellfleet. has served in other local public offices, and is a vice- president and a member of the board of directors of the Cape Cod Real Estate Board, Incorporated. He is of very old and honored New England ancestry, of "Mayflower" descent, tracing his lineage from Con- stant Southworth, and from others of the early men of distinction in New England. Constant Southworth was one of the original settlers of Brockton, Massa- chusetts, once known as North Bridgewater, and he, with Myles Standish and Samuel Nash, purchased from the Indians the land which now comprises Brockton, Bridgewater, and East and West Bridge- water. Mr. Baker is also a descendant of Elizabeth Hancock, aunt to John Hancock, first Governor of the State of Massachusetts.
Horace Baker, father of Mr. Baker was born in Westford, Massachuestts, and received his education in the public schools of his community, Milton Acad- emy, Phillips-Andover and Comers Commercial School of Boston. Perhaps as much as in the schools, he received an education while serving as messenger in the State House of Representatives. He was always active in public affairs, giving his support to the principles of the Republican party, from the time of its formation as a successor of the old Whig party, and bearing a liberal share of the burdens of public office. Mr. Baker was a member of the Board of Aldermen of Brockton, and at one time was chairman of the City Republican Committee of Brockton. He also served as a member of the council, and was always active in promoting the interests of the com- munity in which he lived, and which his ancestors helped to settle. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War he volunteered as a member of Company I, Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteers, Webster Regi- ment, and served until July 4, 1864, when he received his honorable discharge on Boston Common, because of disability, having lost an arm close to the shoulder, during the second day of the battle of the Wilder-
Florence Hathaway Crowell.
369
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
ness. Horace Baker married Susan C. Cole, who was born in Boston.
M. Burton Baker, son of Horace and Susan C. (Cole) Baker, was born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, Massachusetts, April 25, 1867, and received his education in the Brockton public schools. He began his active career in the employ of the George E. Keith Shoe Company, which connection he main- tained for a period of twenty-five years, but during this time he was also operating two greenhouses. He has always been very fond of flowers and grow- ing plants of all kinds, and while developing skill and knowledge in their care he also grew skillful in mak- ing the enterprise a paying one. In 1911 he left Brockton and came to Cape Cod, locating first in Orleans. In an effort to overcome ill health and wishing to spend as much time as possible in the open air, Mr. Baker became interested in real estate transactions, his first deal being when he was twenty- one years of age, in the purchase of three acres of land in Brockton. In 1913 he removed to South Well- fleet, and here he has become one of the most promi- nent citizens and one of the most active and success- ful developers of this section of the Cape. He has purchased a large amount of land here, and is the largest taxpayer of South Wellfleet. Mr. Baker is not, however, one who buys and simply holds land for the increase which comes without effort. He is actively engaged in development work, being the owner and developer of Indian Neck Heights, a sec- tion which is beautifully located on a point overlook- ing the bay and a wide stretch of surrounding coun- try, in the town of Wellfleet. Mr. Baker is interested in local public affairs, is chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Board of Assessors, and of the department of public welfare. In his fraternal affiliations he is identified with Adams Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons . of Wellfleet; Dionysius Lodge, No. 112, Knights of Pythias of Brockton, of which he is a charter member and was the first chancellor com- mander; and with Eastham Grange, Patrons of Hus- bandry. He is a vice-president and a member of the board of directors of the Cape Cod Real Estate Board, Incorporated; member of the Cape Cod Cham- ber of Commerce; and president of the Cape Cod Forestry Association, East. He is also a member of the Massachusetts Real Estate Exchange. His relig- ious affiliation is with the South Congregational Church of Brockton.
M. Burton Baker married, September 27, 1894, in Brockton, Massachusetts, Ruth Ella Buck, who was born in Mansfield, Massachusetts, daughter of Frank- lin, a native of Easton, and of Ellen (Stearns) Buck, who was born in Norton, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are the parents of three children: 1. Ken- neth B., born February 6, 1896, who served with the American Expeditionary Forces during the World War. 2. Richard A., born September 28, 1899, a veteran of the World War, who married Welthea McCall of Wellfleet, and they are the parents of a son, Richard Burton Baker, and a daughter, Phyllis Evelyn Baker. 3. Dorothy, born January 22, 1909.
JOSHUA FREEMAN CROWELL-In West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, the name of Crowell is a very well known one, for Joshua Freeman Crowell, the present owner of the old homestead place, rep- resents the ninth generation dwelling on this land. Mr. Crowell is an accomplished musician, was en- gaged in teaching school and music for a number of years, and later was engaged in market-gardening on
a large scale. He is also the author of numerous children's stories and other short stories, also of poems and plays, and of several books.
The Crowell homestead on which Mr. Crowell lives was sold to Yelverton Crow, ancestor of Mr. Crow- ell, in 1639. The old house, built about 1690, was near the site of the present one, but was torn down in 1880, making room for more spacious grounds around the present dwelling house which was built by Mr. Crowell's maternal grandfather, Zadock Crowell, about 1827. The timber for the new house was brought from Maine, already cut and numbered and transported in one of Zadock Crowell's own vessels. With the help of sixty neighbors the structure was raised and boarded in one day, and for this service the neighbors were rewarded by a feast consisting of chowder and mince pies made by Zadock Crowell's skillful wife. The salt works covered the section around Lewis Bay in those days, and thousands of acres located south of the main street in West Yar- mouth and now thickly wooded with pine, were flour- ishing fields of Indian corn as late as the seventies. At one time forty captains of clipper ships sailed from this village, which was once known as South Sea.
Isaiah Crowell, father of Mr. Crowell, was born on the homestead place and received his education in the local public schools. During the early years of his active life he was a mate on clipper ships, but later he left the sea and was engaged in business as a grocer and general merchant in West Yarmouth. He was one of the active and public-spirited men of the community, and "did his bit" in public office, serv- ing as a member of the board of road commissioners and as a member of the school committee of Yar- mouth. He married Mercy Baker Crowell, daughter of Zadoc Crowell, and both were highly respected in the community.
Joshua Freeman Crowell son of Isaiah and Mercy Baker (Crowell) Crowell, was born in South Yar- mouth, Massachusetts, January 27, 1867, and after attending the public schools of Yarmouth, including the high school, continued study in Wesleyan Acad- emy, at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Later he be- came a student in the New England Conservatory of Music, and during the early years of his active career he was engaged in teaching school and in teach- ing music, also as church organist. Eventually, he engaged in market-gardening on a large scale, and in this line, as in other lines of interest, he was success- ful. He has always been interested in civic affairs in Yarmouth, and like his forebears, has contributed his share to the task of conducting the local govern- ment. He served as a member of the school com- mittee of Yarmouth from 1896 to 1900, and has al- ways been a generous supporter of any project which seemed to him to be wisely planned for the advance- ment of the general welfare. Along with his other work, Mr. Crowell has found time for a large amount of literary work. He is the author of many chil- dren's stories and of other short stories, also of poems and plays, and has published several books, among which may be mentioned: "Frogs O' Poolo," pub- lished by Dutton Company, 1909; "The Cheer Chirp- ers," Pilgrim Press, 1913; "Outdoors and In," Four Seas Company, 1920; "The Pilgrim Land," Cape Cod Publishing Company, 1920; "The Cheer Chirper Ser- ies," Four Seas Company, 1922; "Cape Cod in Poetry, An Anthology," compiled with the aid of his wife, Florence (Hathaway) Crowell, Four Seas Company, 1924. Mr. Crowell is also the owner and developer of "Crowell Shores" and "Crowell Pines," both re- stricted residential sections of West Yarmouth. His
Plym.1-24
370
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
religious affiliation is with the Congregational church, and that of his wife with the Unitarian church.
Joshua Freeman Crowell was married, in Boston, Massachusetts, August 24, 1895, to Florence Hath- away, who was born in Fall River, daughter of Guil- ford H. and Betsy (Wilson) Hathaway. Guilford H. Hathaway was president of the Fall River National Bank and director and officer in many other institu- tions. Mrs. Crowell studied the Rudersdorff method of voice culture and has sung a great deal over the Cape. She and Mr. Crowell have been very active in the promotion of musical activities.
FRANK HOWARD BARNETT-Operating a general store which has been in the family for nearly sixty years, an auctioneer of ability and a business man of keen judgment, Frank Howard Barnett, of Provincetown, has also found time to engage in the political, civic and social affairs of the community, in which he has made for himself a reputation of high merit.
He was born in Everett, Massachusetts, March 1, 1898, a son of Richard Frank and Mary (Cook) Barnett, both natives of Provincetown. His father was a lumber foreman and Frank was educated in the public schools here. In his youth he entered the dry- goods house of Brown Durrell, in Boston, then with the Wisconsin Milk Company, as advertising mana- ger. This occupied him for but a short time, when he became salesman for Armour & Company. Two years later he returned to Provincetown, to operate the general store that has been in the family for nearly two generations. He also operates a collec- tion agency, is Deputy Sheriff and chairman of the Provincetown Board of Selectmen. He is also chair- man of the Republican Committee, a communicant of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Knights of Columbus, of Provincetown, of the Board of Trade and of the Plymouth Lodge, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. He has served in the Coast Artillery and the Commissary Department of the United States Army, with station in Boston.
Mr. Barnett married, in Provincetown, May 25, 1923, Marion Merrill, of Augusta, Maine, daughter of Albert and Stella Merrill, and a graduate of the Mas- sachusetts Homeopathic Hospital.
JOHN PETER NICKERSON, M. D .- Since 1901, Dr. John Peter Nickerson has been a physician in general practice in West Harwich. He has also held many public offices and made extensive tours through- out the world in his enjoyment of his favorite diver- sion of traveling. Not only has he been in many places, but he has made a complete trip around the world and in these tours and visits to many coun- tries he has acquired much first-hand information of interest which is a pleasure to him and to those who come in contact with him. He is a son of John Wixon and Mary A. (Howes) Nickerson. His father, who was a native of West Harwich, owned and operated a farm when on shore but spent most of his life as a sea-faring man. He died in 1903.
John Peter Nickerson was born at Harwich, Massa- chusetts, February 15, 1876. He attended the local public schools and then went to the Massachusetts Agricultural College, where he graduated in 1898 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then decided to pursue the study of medicine and carried on his studies in that subject at Tufts College, from where he was graduated in 1901 when the degree of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.