USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Stoneham > History of Stoneham, Massachusetts > Part 20
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
In the fraternal organizations he is a member of Bethesda Lodge, I. O. O. F., of South Boston, Wamscott Tribe, Imp. O. R. M., and Highand Council O. U. A. M., of Stoneham.
He is an attendant at the Methodist Episcopal Church. He lives in a fine modern residence on High Street. Farm Hill. See view on page 65.
CHARLES H. DREW.
Charles Henry Drew, retired shoe manufacturer, one of Stoneham's wealthy and influential citizens, was born in Barrington, N. H., February 18, 1835, his parents being Joseph and Mary J. ( Raynes) Drew.
While he was young his parents took up their residence on a farm in Mere- dith, N. H., and he attended the commen schools of that town, after which he worked on his father's farm until he was twenty years of age and then learned the shoemaker's trade. after which he took shoes to make from John Hill & Co., of Stoneham, and hired men in Meredith to make them.
In November, 1856, he came to Stoneham, where he continued doing the same kind of work until the Mckay heeling machine came into use when he run one of those and had charge of others in the factory of John Hill & Co., doing the work by contract for the firm until the fall of 1866, when he formed a co-partnership with Edward F. Buswell, under the firm name of Drew & Buswell, and they commenced manufacturing women's, misses' and children's grain boots and shoes at East Woburn.
They r.mained there until the spring of 1867, when they removed to Stoneham and k cated in a building belonging to Francis Hay, at Farm Hill, which Lui ding is now a dwelling house. After doing business there about a ye :r they bought and removed to the building on Franklin street in which they con :nued to do business together until Mr. Buswell's death in 1879, and Mr. Dr.w remained in business alone after that until he retired in 1887. In their Franklin street factory they manufactured men's, boys' and youths' buff, calf and veal calf boots and shoes in addition to their former line of goods.
When the firm started at East Woburn in 1866 they turned out about two cases of shoes per day, and employed about twelve hands; from that they increased at Farm Hill to four or five cases per day and employed about
254
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
twenty-five hands, while at Franklin street they manufactured about twelve cases per day and gave employment to seventy-five to eighty hands.
Mr. Drew was united in marriage in Wilmington, Mass., July 5, 1865, to Miss Sarah Pearson, of that town. No children have been born to them.
Mr. Drew is a member of Wyoming Lodge, F. and A. M., Waverly Royal Arch Chapter, Melrose Council, Royal and Select Masters, and Hugh de Payens Commandery, all of Melrose, and is a 32d degree Mason.
He is also a member of the Central Club and of the Stoneham Board of Trade. He is one of the most active and pushing members of the committee appointed to secure the new railroad to the Fells, and it was largely due to his persistency after most of the others had become discouraged that the matter was brought to a successful issue and the building of the railroad is about to be consummated.
Mr. Drew is an attendant at the Unitarian Church. Although never courting or desiring public office he has been selected by the citizens of the town to serve on many important committees to consider matters of leading interest to the town's welfare, and has rendered valuable service.
His residence is on Congress Street.
W. WARD CHILD.
Winthrop Ward Child, carriage maker, is the son of Oliver L. and Polly (Brown) Child, and was born in Cambridge, Mass., November 23, 1828. He obtained his education in the Cambridge public schools, attend- ing the High School for two years.
At the age of fifteen and a half years he commenced to learn the trade of a wheelwright and carriage maker and served a full apprenticeship. Immedi- ately after he went to work at his trade in West Cambridge, now Arlington, where he was employed by Samuel Buckman for about three years, and then went to Medford and worked for Elbridge Teel for seven months.
He came to Stoneham, September 23, 1849, and in April, 1850, he started in business in the same shop which he now occupies. Six years later he dis- posed of his business to B. F. Richardson and went to work in the factory of William Hurd, being engaged to do general repairs about the factory. By careful observation he got a good general idea of the business and in the early part of 1857 was given the position of foreman of the factory, in which position he remained until June, 1861, when the factory was closed on ac- count of business stagnation caused by the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, and remained closed for some time.
Mr. Child worked in the shoe factories until 1865. . In June of that3 year he caught a severe cold while saving leather for his employer, the factory be- ing flooded with water during a heavy storm, and for nearly a year was un- able to do any work on account of sickness. In April, 1866, he commenced doing light work about the factory, but his health not improving he went into
.
255
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
the employ of the American Lasting Machine Co. in 1867, and was travelling salesman for this company for about a year, when he concluded to give up all connection with the shoe business and go back to his trade. This was in the latter part of 1868. He hired a shop in the yard with C. M. Boyce and did business there for himself until 1871, when he bought out B. F. Richard- son and has been in business at his present location since that time.
Mr. Child was married in Brighton, Mass., May 18, 1852, to Miss Sarah A. Phillips, of that place, and a son and daughter have been the fruit of this union, the former, Curtis Milton Child, being married and now residing in Stoneham, the latter, the wife of George N. Green, having died about four- teen years ago.
W. WARD CHILD.
Mr. Child's residence is on the corner of Chestnut and Gilmore Streets.
Mr. Child is a member of Columbian Lodge and Columbian Encampment, I. O. O. F, and having been through the chairs of both is a member of the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment. He has also served sixteen and a half years as Secretary of the Lodge and fifteen years as scribe of the en- campment. He is also a member of Canton Fells, P. M., of which he was Clerk for several years.
256
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
He is Chairman of the Overseers of the Poor, being elected to this board and made its chairman in 1875. He served during that year and was again elected in 1877 and has been chairman ever since. His co-workers are Henry H. French and Silas Dean, and the board has been unbroken for over fourteen years. He was for four years on the Water Committee, and is now one of the Cemetery Trustees.
The faithfulness with which he has discharged the duties of the various offices which he holds, and the confidence reposed in him is evidenced by his continuous re-election and long terms of service.
W. O. CHAMBERLIN.
Woodbury Otis Chamberlin, lumber dealer, of the Stoneham Lumber Co., although a resident of Stoneham but a few years, has been prosperous during those years and having built himself a home here intends to remain.
He is a native of Windsor, N. H., where he was born Nov. 15, 1855, and is the son of Otis and Martha (Wheeler) Chamberlin.
When he was but two years of age his parents removed to Hunterstown, P. Q., Canada, and in a Friars' school at Yamachiche, P. Q., he acquired a French education. He was sent by his parents to Burlington, Vt. for a common school education in the English branches and finished at Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, N. H.
He then returned to Yamachiche, where he was employed as a book-keeper for the Beaver Lumber Co., a concern which employed about a thousand hands. Here he commenced to acquire a knowledge of the lumber business and he has been connected with it ever since except for two years.
He remained with the Beaver Lumber Co. about five years when his father purchased a farm in Enfield, N. H., and the son worked on this farm for two years.
Atter this he was employed as foreman in lumber yards in Worcester and Boston about eight years, until he came to Stoneham in May, 1887, and went to work for Jewett & Cate, lumber dealers and box manufacturers, remaining with them about one and a half years.
When this firm dissolved Mr. Chamberlin bought out Mr. Cate's interest in Stoneham and has been in the lumber business here since. For two years he conducted the business alone under his own name and then took in a partner and since then the business has been carried on under the name of the Stoneham Lumber Co. The trade has continually increased from the beginning and a large business, both wholesale and retail, is now done in Stoneham and the surrounding towns.
Mr. Chamberlin was married in Charlestown, Mass., January 27, 1886, to Miss Hattie M. Trundy, of Addison, Me. They have no children.
Mr. Chamberlin is a member of Ridgely Lodge, I. O. O. F. of Worcester,
257
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
the Order of Unity and Order of the Golden Temple, Concord, Mass., and is an honorary member of J. P. Gould Post 75, G. A. R., and a member of the Stoneham Board of Trade. He resides in a home which he bought on Washington street, corner of Myrtle.
EMORY B. WHITE.
Emory Barron White, expressman, was born in Bath, N. H., October 26, 1833, and is a son of Jacob M. and Melinda C. (Cox) White.
His education was obtained in the common schools of Bath, Landoff, Haverhill and Benton, N. H., in all of which towns his father successively resided.
During his school days he worked for his father on the farm when not at- tending school, and continued with him after finishing his schooling until he was twenty-one years of age, after which he worked a year at lumbering and in 1856 went to California and was engaged in mining there for three years.
In 1859 he returned to Benton, N. H., and from that time until 1866 he was engaged in farming and lumbering in Benton and other towns.
On April 1, 1866, he came to Stoneham and went into the employ of H. W. Gordon as a driver on the Stoneham and Lynn Express, and on Septem- ber 1, 1867, he bought out the business of Mr. Gordon, and has carried it on to the present time. He has applied himself closely during the twenty- four years and has not been away from his business in all that time except for six weeks in 1883 when he paid a visit to Washington, Oregon, and nine weeks in 1890 when he took a trip to California and other states on the Pa- cific coast. He now runs every day from Woburn and Stoneham to Lynn.
Mr. White was married January 14, 1862, in Benton, N. H., to Miss Amaret A. Whitcher, of that town, and three children. all of whom are liv- ing, have been born to them, viz. : Lulu F., Lewis B., and Elva G.
Mr. White is a member of Stoneham Lodge, K. of H., and of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.
HENRY A. SMITH.
Henry Augustus Smith, of Smith & Robertson. Insurance, Boston and Stoneham, was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, September 14, 1840, and is the son of Edward E. and Rachel (Lewis) Smith. He is one of a family of seven children.
When he was less than two years of age his parents removed to Middle- bury, Conn., and a few years later to Newtown, Conn., where his father bought a home in the Putatuck Valley.
Mr. Smith's mother died in the fall of 1852, and from that time on for five or six years he lived with various parties doing farm chores, etc., and at- tending the district schools. For a time he attended Dr. R. M. Gray's select school in Monroe, Conn.
17
258
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
In 1857 he worked for the Scovil Manufacturing Co., in Waterbury, and in 1858 at wool hat sizing in Monroe, and in 1859 removed to Sandy Hook where he intended to learn the hatter's trade, but ill health prevented, and he again turned to farm work and studied evenings, preparing himself for teaching a district school in Newtown, Conn., which he taught in the winter of 1859-60, and afterwards attended the State Normal School in New Brit- ain, Conn. In the winter of 1860-61 he taught a district school in Monroe, at the close of which he again entered upon his studies but when the firing on Fort Sumter was reported, filled with patriotic ardor, he left school and walked fourteen miles to New Haven, where he enlisted April 19, 1861, among the earliest soldiers of the war.
HENRY A. SMITH.
He was assigned to Co. B, Ist Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, and was at the first battle of Bull Run. He was discharged July 31, 1861, by reason of expiration of service, and September 3, 1861, again enlisted in Bridge- port, Conn., as Corporal in Co. A, 8th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged at Baltimore, Md., November 15, 1862, on account of a gun- shot wound received at the Battle of Antietam.
His wound did not heal until the following spring while attending the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College in Albany, N. Y.
He then worked for a short time as clerk in a grocery store and later on a farm in Rutland, Vt., and July 21, 1863, again enlisted as Corporal in Co. E,
259
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
13th Veteran Reserve Corps, this time from Rutland, and did provost duty in Brattleboro, Vt., Concord, N. H., White River Junction, Greenfield, Mass., and Boston, and was discharged in Boston, November 15, 1865.
For a period after this he was employed as a bookkeeper in Boston, since which time for the most part, he has been in the business of soliciting, plac- ing and writing insurance, principally Fire Insurance. February 1, 1889, he formed a partnership with Charles S. Robertson, and the firm of Smith & Robertson have offices at 441 Exchange Building, corner of State and Kilby Streets, Boston, and in Stoneham.
While in the army Mr. Smith was on detached service during a portion o the time that his company was quartered in the Beach Street barracks, Bos- ton, and was clerk to Dr. J. F. Harlow, of Boston, while examining recruits in Faneuil Hall, was clerk to Major F. N. Clark on Bulfinch Street and to Major-General Daniel Sickles on Beacon Street. While his company was in Concord, N. H., he was Adjutant's clerk to Colonel D. K. Wardwell.
Going to war changed his plans for life. He had contemplated studying for the ministry, but having spent so much time in the service and being lim- ited in means and without a home, he abandoned the idea and went into business.
Mr. Smith was married in Boston by Rev. Henry Morgan, September 12, 1865, to Miss Myra M. Johonnot, of Stoneham, and has resided in Stone- ham most of the time since. They have two children, Edward, and Marion, wife of Elmore Sanborn.
Mr. Smith is a member of the Baptist Church, having united with that de- nomination in 1856 in Stepney, Monroe, Conn., Rev. W. B. Toland, pastor. He was one of the founders of the First Baptist Church, Stoneham, was its first Sabbath School Superintendent, and has held the office of Corporation Clerk since its organization.
In 1881 Mr. Smith was one of the organizers of the Equitable Mutual Re- lief Society, but owing to the law enacted in 1885 reinsured and provided protection for all the members in the Bay State Beneficiary Association. Having been an agent of the John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of Boston, for over twenty years, and thoroughly believing in the principles of insurance, he has joined a number of fraternal benefit orders and is now a member of Miles Standish Colony Pilgrim Fathers, the Supreme Council of the Royal Conclave of Knights and Ladies, the Union Endowment, and the Supreme Lodge of The Fraternal Associates of America, of which he is Supreme Sec- retary. He is also a member of the Bay State Beneficiary Association, of Westfield, Mass., and of the Massachusetts Mutual Accident Association, of Boston, both business benefit societies.
Mr. Smith first joined a secret society in Monroe, Conn., called the Loyal Legion, during the war, and next joined Athena Lodge, I. O. G. T., of Bos- ton, in 1865, and was its Secretary for a time. He has also been a member
260
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
of a number of lodges in Winchester and Stoneham and passed through the chairs and was admitted to the Grand Lodge.
He has since joined the Temple of Honor and is now a member of the Grand Temple.
He is also a member of Columbian Lodge, I. O. O. F., J. P. Gould Post 75, Wamscott Tribe, I. O. R. M., all of Stoneham, and of Henry Price Lodge, F. and A. M., of Charlestown.
CHARLES S. ROBERTSON.
Charles S. Robertson, of the firm of Smith & Robertson, Insurance, Bos- ton and Stoneham, was born in Charlestown, Mass., April 24, 1850, and is the son of Charles M. and Hannah F. (Viall) Robertson.
He was educated in the schools of Charlestown. He is a resident of Som- erville and has never lived in Stoneham.
He formed a partnership with Henry A. Smith, of Stoneham, February I, 1889, for the carrying on of the insurance business, but previous to that time had been in the patent medicine business.
Mr. Robertson was married at Somerville, November 20, 1879, to Miss Carrie E. Waterman.
He is a member of the Universalist congregation, Somerville, is a Past Master and Secretary of Henry Price Lodge, F. and A. M., Charlestown, is a Past Grand of Howard Lodge, No. 22, I. O. O. F., of Charlestown, but now a member of Paul Revere Lodge, of Somerville, and is a member of St.
261
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Andrew's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Boston, and Cœur de Lion Com- mandery, of Charlestown.
Mr. Robertson gives his attention to the business of the firm at their Bos- ton office, No. 441 Exchange Building, corner of State and Kilby Streets.
EDWARD P. DUNCKLEE.
Edward Payson Duncklee, shoe stock manufacturer, is a native of Green- field, N. H., where he was born January 23, 1832, and is the son of John and Sarah (Center) Duncklee.
He attended the district school of Greenfield and worked on his father's farm until he came to Stoneham in 1851. Here he learned to make shoes by hand, as all shoes were made at that time, and worked at shoemaking for two and a half years, saving $900 during the time, when he went to Califor- nia, and after remaining there nine months returned to Stoneham and went into shoe manufacturing on his own account, making women's, misses' and children's shoes. Mr. Duncklee built the factory on Elm street, in the northeast part of the town which is now owned by W. D. Brackett and oc- cupied by Tucker & Moulton. He was at one time one of the largest man- ufacturers of shoes in Stoneham, and continued in the business until 1872 'when he retired to a large farm which he had bought in South Lyndeboro, N. H., about a year previously. He purchased and combined four farms, amounting in all to 900 acres, on which were two sets of buildings one set of which he greatly enlarged and improved and finally with still further addi- tions to the house turned it into a summer hotel and called it The Mountain-
MOUNTAINSIDE SUMMER HOUSE.
side Summer House. This is a forty room hotel beautifully situated part way up the side of a mountain, high, sightly and healthy, and is under the direct supervision of Mr. Duncklee's son and son-in-law, Mr: C. A. Moody, of Stoneham. Here Mr. Duncklee erected a large, substantial four-story
262
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
barn, conveniently adjoining the house, and this he intends to remodel and furnish as a still further addition to his hotel.
Mr. Duncklee remained on this farm with his family about eight years and then returned to Stoneham. About this time Sanborn & Mann were about to enter into the manufacture of shoes and they engaged Mr. Duncklee as foreman to take charge of their factory, which position he retained for about two and a half years.
After this in 1884 he went into partnership with R. R. Danforth in the manufacture of prepared shoe stock in a moderate way, and in about a year bought out Mr. Danforth's interest and has since then been in business alone in the same factory, on Main Street, corner of Union. He has purchased and made large additions to his factory, nearly doubling its capacity, he oc- cupying two whole floors. He manufactures in large quantities a tap which he invented and patented, made from pieces of solid sole leather, and that and innersoles constitute principally his output. In good business times he employs from thirty to thirty-five hands.
Mr. Duncklee was married in Andover, Mass., Dec. 17, 1857, to Miss Amanda O. Follansbee, of Andover, who is still living, Two children, both of whom are living have been born to them, viz: Emma, wife of Charles A. Moody, of Stoneham, and Edward Albert.
Mr. Duncklee has never been interested in public affairs or societies, but has confined himself to business.
E. F. SAURIN.
Edward Francis Saurin, house painter, etc., was born in Coleraine, County Antrim, in the north of Ireland, July 31, 1835, and is the son of Thomas J. and Jane J. (McManus) Saurin.
When he was two years of age he came with his parents to America. His rudimentary education was obtained from his parents and he afterwards went to school in Trenton and Bordentown, N. J. After this his father moved onto a farm in the backwoods of Central Pennsylvania and for three years the son was deprived of schooling but studied at home and worked on the farm. Then his father removed to Bridgeport, Conn., Dorchester, Rox- bury, Boston, and Somerville successively and he was allowed to attend the public schools in all these places, the one in Boston being the Dwight School. He finished with a year and a portion of a second in the Somerville High School after which he went to work for his father at house painting and has followed the trade, working for others and as a boss painter, from that time to the present.
He came to Stoneham March 31, 1856, having been employed previously in Boston, Cambridge, Newton and Waltham, and went to work for Joseph Barrett.
E. F. SAURIN'S BUILDINGS.
2
264
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
After remaining with Mr. Barrett five years Mr. Saurin went into business for himself January 1, 1861, and has continued since. He started on Main street in the upper front of the building where Holdsworth's confectionery store is now located and after remaining there for a number of years he bought a lot of land and built a shop on Franklin street. This property he sold to T. H. Jones in 1889, repurchasing the building containing the fish market and removing it to a lot of land which he bought on the other side of Franklin street, near the Drew & Buswell factory. He occupied the upper portion as a paint shop until 1890, when he erected the new building adjoin- ing. He now occupies one store on the lower floor for the sale of paper hangings, another store is let for grocery, the upper part of the building is his paint shop, Hibernian Hall is on the third floor, and the second floor is let to the Blues and other clubs.
Mr. Saurin has been the longest in business of any of the painters in Stoneham and has taken the lead in his line, and being particular in doing good work himself and requiring it from others whom he has employed, he- has established a high standard.
Mr. Saurin has never married, never has united with a fraternal order, and has never held public office.
WILLIAM B. STEVENS, ESQ.
William Burnham Stevens, Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law, is a native of Stoneham and one of the leading citizens of the town. He was born March 23, 1843, and is a son of William Flint Stevens, M. D., and Mary Jane Gould (Burnham) Stevens. His maternal ancestry extends back in this town to John Gould, who was probably the original settler within the terri- tory incorporated as Stoneham. The first paternal ancestor to reside in the town was Rev. John H. Stevens, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who came here in 1795.
Mr. Stevens obtained his early education in the common schools of Stone- ham, afterwards took a full course at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., and succeeded this with a course at Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in the class of 1865. He afterwards attended the Harvard Law School, and from that went into the law office of Sweetser & Gardner.
He opened an office for himself in Stoneham Jan. 1, 1868, having been admitted to the bar in the summer of 1867. Not long after he established an office in Boston, and continued the practice of his profession until Janu- ary, 1880, when he was appointed by Governor John D. Long as District Attorney for Middlesex County, to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Ham- mond, who resigned in 1879.
Mr. Stevens was nominated and elected by the voters of the County three times successively afterwards and served ten years in all, or until 1890, when
WILLIAM B. STEVENS, ESQ.
266
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
he declined a renomination. While occupying the position of District At- torney he gave such time to the practise of law as he was able, and is now devoting his whole attention to his profession and matters of private business.
Mr. Stevens served in the war of the Rebellion in Co. C, Fiftieth Mass. Vol. Infantry. He was mustered in in September, 1862, served in the De- partment of the Gulf, and was in General Banks' expedition to New Orleans, and at the siege of Port Hudson. He was discharged in August, 1863.
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.