USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 51
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On June 24, 1908, at Worcester, Ivar W. Alin married Hildur T. Erickson, daughter of Fridolf Erickson, a native of Sweden. Mr. and Mrs. Alin are the parents of four children : Robert, who was born in March, 1910, and died at the age of two weeks; Alice, who was born December 19, 1911; Ingrid, who was born May 13, 1913,
and died when seven years old; and Isabel, who was born February 20, 1916.
MARK L. O'TOOLE-From factory hand to the official and executive positions of treasurer, secretary, and general manager of a prosperous manufacturing concern is the record of Mark L. O'Toole, whose entire active career has been identified with the interests of the B. F. Blodgett Company, engaged in the manufac- ture of horn and celluloid hair ornaments and knife handles.
Mr. O'Toole was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, September 29, 1878, son of Patrick H. O'Toole, a comb- maker of Leominster, and Mary E. (Daly) O'Toole. He attended the public schools of Leominster and when his grammar school course was completed entered the high school. After finishing his high school course he found his first employment with B. F. Blodgett, and the association with that concern he has maintained to the present time. The firm is engaged in the manufac- ture of horn hair ornaments and knife handles, and Mr. O'Toole began his connection with them in the capacity of a factory hand. After a time he was promoted to a position of responsibility in the shipping department ; in 1900 he was made assistant superintendent, and from 1909-17 was a salesman on the road. Seventeen years later he was made general manager, and in 1918 was elected treasurer of the firm, which official position he still holds. Since 1893 the inanufacture of celluloid hair ornaments has taken the place of horn hair ornaments, but the manufacture of horn knife handles has been con- tinued. The products of the concern go to all parts of the country, and the B. F. Blodgett Company have made for themselves an enviable reputation for excellent workmanship and sound business methods. In addition to his responsibilities in connection with the B. F. Blodgett Company, Mr. O'Toole has always taken an active interest in political affairs, and in matters of local public interest. He gives his support to the Democratic party, and for ten years was the efficient chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, serving from 1908 to 1918. When, in 1898, the United States entered into war with Spain because of the Spanish atrocities in Cuba, Mr. O'Toole at once enlisted, and throughout the period of the war served in Porto Rico with the 6th Massachusetts Volunteers. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, being a charter member of his lodge, of which he is now a fourth degree member, Past Grand Knight, and Past District Deputy. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians; the United Spanish War Veterans, and the Sons of Veterans. He finds recreation and social intercourse as a member of the Leominster Country Club, and of the Monoos- nock Country Club, and his religious membership is with St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church.
Mark L. O'Toole married, on September 30, 1911, at Maynard, Massachusetts, Mary E. Kinsley, daughter of James and Anna' (McCarthy) Kinsley. Mr. and Mrs. O'Toole are the parents of six children : Mary E., born September 17, 1912; David L., born February 24, 1914; Richard J., born July 31, 1915; Mark K., born March 25, 1917; Edward B., born April 9, 1919; and Anna E., born October 9, 1920.
Elmer Dr. Grouch.
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LEO J. LAVIN, in the electrical world of Worcester County, Massachusetts, holds a widely prominent posi- tion, having been active for the past nine years as the head of his own electrical contracting business, the scope of which includes many important cities of this and nearby States. Mr. Lavin is a progressive, forward- looking young man of the day, thoroughly efficient in his field, and possessed of the business ability which has already won him success, and which will unquestionably carry him far in his chosen field of endeavor. He is a' son of Miles D. Lavin, who was born in Ireland and was active in the employ of the American Steel and Wire Company until his death, which occurred in 1905. The mother, Hannah (Boyle) Lavin, was also born in Ire- land, and still survives her husband, residing in the city of Worcester.
Leo J. Lavin was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, August 29, 1890. His education was received in the local public and high schools, and upon the completion of his formal studies he entered the electrical field as an em- ployee and apprentice. Mastering the intricacies of this modern science in its practical application, he availed himself of an opportunity to enter the contracting field in the year 1914. Founding the interest which has since been known as the Bancroft Electric Company, he began the inevitable up-hill climb which lies before the enter- prising individual who starts out for himself. He was more than successful. The business was first located at No. 97 Pleasant Street, but after one year of activity Mr. Lavin was compelled to seek larger quarters, which he found at No. 85 Pleasant Street. In 1918 the business had grown to such proportions that again expansion was imperative, and the present spacious and desirable loca- tion at No. 39 Pleasant Street was secured. In addi- tion to the wholesale and retail distribution of electrical goods of every kind Mr. Lavin does a very extensive business along the line of general electrical engineering, construction and installation. His work is by no means circumscribed by the boundaries of the city of Wor- cester, but takes him to many points in New England. Some of the more important contracts which he has filled have been for the George E. Keefe Company of Brock- ton, Massachusetts; for the J. & P. Coats Company of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and the North High School of Worcester. He employs fifty skilled workmen at all times, and frequently is compelled to double his force to take care of his contracts. Mr. Lavin is a member of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Worcester Electrical League, and the Massachusetts Contractors' and Employers' Association. His more personal interests include membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the Com- monwealth Club of Worcester. His recreative interests are reflected in his affiliation with the Worcester Coun- try Club, the Worcester Automobile Club, and the Tatassit Canoe Club. He attends the Roman Catholic Church of the Blessed Sacrament.
Leo J. Lavin married, in 1914, Mary A. McInerny, who was born in Worcester, and they are the parents of four children: Leona Mary, Paul James, Philip Vincent, and Leo George.
JOSEPH MORCONE-In one of the most prac- tical branches of business endeavor, Mr. Morcone has
taken a leading place in Milford, Massachusetts. But he is probably more widely known in his extensive ac- tivities in connection with the welfare of Italian born Americans in this section, for he has done much to pro- mote their welfare and encourage their Americanization, and as the head of Italia Bank and Steamship Agency he holds a position of international prominence.
Joseph Morcone was born at Castelfranco, Italy, March 3, 1871. He was reared in his native land and educated in its institutions, and at the age of six- teen years came to the United States, locating at once in Milford, Massachusetts, where he soon took a leading position in the public and financial progress of the com- munity. He had been here only two years when, in 1895, he established the Italia Bank and Steamship Agency, of which he has since continuously been the manager. Reaching, as it does, many interests of his fellow countrymen, both here and in their native land, this bank is an institution of more than local significance, and in this activity Mr. Morcone fills an eminently useful position. For many years he has conducted a thriving grocery business, and here, as well as in the bank, he goes forward along the most progressive lines and has won an enviable reputation for commercial integrity and progressive spirit. Mr. Morcone has for many years been a prominent worker in the ranks of the Repub- lican party, and has represented the town of Milford at the Republican State Convention every year for a long period. He is a member of the Town Republican Com- mittee, and has twice been brought forward as a can- didate for Selectman. Fraternally Mr. Morcone has been a member of the Tisquantum Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Milford, for thirty years, and he is a leading member of the Hesperia Magna Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Boston. He is one of the foremost members of the Order of the Sons of Italy, and for the past fifteen years has been treasurer of the Societa Operaia Italiana.
Mr. Morcone married, on January 6, 1901, at Boston, Massachusetts, Giovannina De Simone, and they are the parents of nine children : John, Angelo, Lucy, Leo, Mary, Susan, Columbo, Josephine, and Nove.
ELMER W. CROUCH-In the business world of Gardner, Massachusetts, one of the most widely familiar figures is Elmer W. Crouch, who has won his way single handed from the rank and file of business workers to the proprietorship of the Davis Hardware Company of Gardner, one of the largest and most important concerns of its kind in Northern Worcester County. Mr. Crouch is a son of Arthur E. Crouch, who was born at Rindge, New Hampshire, and who as a young man came to Worcester County, locating in Southbridge, where he was employed by the American Optical Company as a gold worker. He died in September, 1884, at the age of thirty-three years, cut down in the flower of his manhood. The mother, Sarah H. (Freeman) Crouch, was born in Webster, Massachusetts, her parents remov- ing to Southbridge in her infancy, where she later was married to Mr. Crouch, in 1878. She still survives her husband, making her home with her son in Gardner.
Elmer W. Crouch was born in Southbridge, Massa- chusetts, April 24, 1883, and his early education was acquired in the grade schools of that community. He
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is a graduate of the Gardner High School, class of 1901, but when he was but a lad of nine years he started to work for himself, and never slackened his energies until he reached the goal he has attained to-day. His next business experience was in the employ of the Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company. He filled a position in their shipping department for a period of four years, then was employed in the Greenwood Associates for one year. In 1906 Mr. Crouch accepted a position in the Davis Hardware Company's store and three years later purchased a half interest in the business. Energetic and ambitious, he devoted himself to the interests of the organization to such an extent and to such good effect that in 1916 he was enabled to absorb the entire business, and purchased the interests of his partners, becoming sole proprietor of the store. He has developed it to a point until it is considered the largest hardware business in the county of Worcester compared with any other town or city of the size of Gardner. Mr. Crouch became a member of the Gardner Chamber of Commerce at the time of its organization, and during the entire subsequent period he has been a member of its board of directors, filling a similar office also for the New England Hardware Dealers' Association and the At- lantic Coast Hardware Association of Boston. He is also a director of the First National Bank of Gardner, and of the Chair Town Cooperative Bank.
Fraternally Mr. Crouch holds membership in Hope Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Gardner Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Ivanhoe Commandery, Knights Templar; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; he is also a member of the Gard- ner Lodge, No. 1426, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Chair City Club, the Oak Hill Country Club of Fitchburg, and the Gardner Boat Club. In political affairs he supports the Repub- lican party, and his religious affiliation is with the Bap- tist church, in which he is a leading worker, and ex-member of the official board.
Mr. Crouch married, on July 10, 1906, Alice Davis, daughter of J. Walter Davis, former employer of Mr. Crouch, he having been the proprietor of the Davis Hardware Company before selling his interest to the latter. Mr. and Mrs. Crouch have one daughter: Bar- bara D., now a junior at Gardner High School.
CARRIE EMILY READ, the executive head of one of the noteworthy institutions of Worcester County, as librarian of the Barre Town Library, is bearing a useful part in the local advance. Miss Read is a former school teacher and has served other libraries efficiently and well in a similar capacity to that in which she now is active. She is a daughter of Joseph Henry and Mary Eleanor (Falls) Read, her father a prominent farmer of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, during his life- time and for many years active as Middlesex County Commissioner.
Carrie Emily Read was born at Westford, Massachu- setts, and is a graduate of Westford Academy, also of the Amherst Summer School of Library Economy. Fol- lowing the completion of her education Miss Read taught school for two terms, then accepted the position of li- brarian of the J. V. Fletcher Library, of Westford, which she filled for twelve years. Thereafter for seven
months she served as acting librarian of the public library of Keene, New Hampshire, then came to Barre as librarian of the Barre Town Library in the year 1903. She has since served in this responsible position with marked efficiency, and her broad familiarity with lit- erature has given her wide influence in the educational advance of this community. Miss Read is a member of the Massachusetts Library Club, the Bay Path Library Club, and the American Library Association. She is identified with the Congregational church, and is a worker in all the social and benevolent activities of the church.
ALBERT JOSEPH LANOIE-One of the widely prominent professional and business men of Worcester County, Massachusetts, is Albert Joseph Lanoie, of Webster, who is an expert optometrist with a large and prosperous practice, and is also interested in the distri- bution of motor cars under the firm name of the Lanoie Motor Company. A native of the Province of Quebec, Canada, Mr. Lanoie has been a resident of the United States for upwards of twenty-five years, and prepared for his professional work in an American college. He is a son of Louis M. and Mary L. (Brouillard) Lanoie, his father a prominent grocer of Fall River, Massa- chusetts.
Albert Joseph Lanoie was born at Saint Marcel, Prov- ince of Quebec, Canada, September 21, 1883. His edu- cation was begun at Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec, and after the completion of his high school course, the family re- moving to Massachusetts and settling at Fall River, he completed his studies at American institutions, covering his classical course at Fordham University, and his professional course at the Philadelphia Optical College, from which he was graduated in 1901 with the degree of Doctor of Optometry. His first professional ex- perience was in association with a leading optician of Arctic, Rhode Island, after which he returned to Fall River, where he became assistant to Dr. Hudd, of that city, a physician specializing on the eye. At St. Ann's Hospital, at Fall River, where Dr. Hudd was in charge of eye work, Dr. Lanoie acted as assistant and gained a very extensive and enviable experience. Coming to Webster, Massachusetts, in the year 1906 Dr. Lanoie established his own office and has since been very active in eye testing and the grinding and fitting of glasses. In the year 1917 Dr. Lanoie formed a further business affiliation, becoming agent for the Chevrolet automobile, and in 1921 took over the agency also for both the Essex and the Hudson cars. He details much of the respon- sibility of this interest to his employees but keeps in close touch with the business, and is becoming very widely known in the motoring world. In 1923 he erected a garage and salesroom at the corner of Main Street and Schofield Avenue, costing about $35,000.
Dr. Lanoie is a member of the American Optical As- sociation, the Massachusetts Optical Association, and is one of the foremost members of the Club Gagnon of Webster. He served this organization for six and one- half years as president and for three years as director, and was a prime mover in the raising of funds for the erection of a new building, which now is the club's headquarters. He is also a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, was the organizing dictator of Lakeside
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Lodge, of Webster, and served as District Deputy in 1915; is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, the Franco-American Foresters, the Knights of the Golden Cross, and the Societe St. Jean de Baptiste, and is a member of the Grand Army Associates. He at- tends the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart.
Dr. Lanoie married, in Arctic, Rhode Island, Virginia Parent, of Arctic, Rhode Island, daughter of Charles and Virginia (Lorcque) Parent, and they have one daughter, Mary Alice.
JAMES H. NOONAN-Representative not only of the progressive city of which he is a resident, but of the large group of aggressive young men of high ideals and forward-looking spirit, who are giving such an im- petus to the industrial advance of the day, James H. Noonan, treasurer of the Gardner Upholstered Furni- ture Company, Inc., is contributing definitely to the progress of the community of the industrial life of which this enterprise forms a part.
James J. Noonan, Mr. Noonan's father, was well known both East and West for many years as a ship- per of horses. He was born at Otter River, Massachu- setts, and educated in this State. He spent long periods of time in the Far West, buying horses and shipping to Gardner, Massachusetts, where his interests in the East centred. Engaged in his line of business throughout his active life, he is now retired from all business interests, and resides in Gardner. He married Catherine Ann Daly, who was born in Dorchester, Iowa, and she is also still living.
James H. Noonan was born at Madison, South Da- kota, March I, 1893. His education was begun in the public schools of Gardner, Massachusetts, and he is a graduate of the Gardner High School of the class of IgII. Then spending one year at the Holy Cross Col- lege, at Worcester, Massachusetts, he returned to Gard- ner and entered the office of a' leading chair manufac- turing concern of this place, the S. K. Pierce & Son Company. He was identified with the progress of this firm as a member of the office force for a period of seven and one-half years. It was during his connection with this industrial organization that the United States intervened in the World War and created the great need of efficient service along special lines. Mr. Noonan enlisted in September, 1918, and was assigned to the Ordnance Department of the United States Army. He wa's stationed first at Fort Slocum, New York, then was later transferred to the finance division of the same de- partment at Boston. In this connection the responsibility of signing all vouchers of this important department for the Boston district fell upon him, and he continued in this capacity until March, 1919, when he received his honorable discharge from the service. Upon his return to civilian life Mr. Noonan was active in the Pierce interests for a few months, then formed his affiliation with the young men with whom he is active in the present concern.
At the organization of the Gardner Upholstered Fur- niture Company, Inc., Mr. Noonan was made treasurer and manager of the concern, Thomas F. Denney be- coming the president, and William A. Earle, vice-president. In the few years which have since elapsed, this concern has attained a high position in the manufacturing world
of New England, gaining the reputation of making the finest upholstered furniture in this part of the country. They make a specialty of over-stuffed furniture for the drawing room or living room, but produce nothing but the most beautiful and artistic suites. In 1922 the com- pany established a sales and show room in Boston. The fact that they are the one firm in New England chosen to exhibit at the "Home Beautiful" show in Boston, in April, 1923, appraises the standard of artistic value which attaches to their product. In 1923 extensive im- provements were made, quadrupling their floor space. In March, 1921, when the members of this corporation organized the Hubbardston Chair Company, Mr. Noonan was made president of this enterprise, and under his capable leadership this business has already developed into a thriving and widely recognized interest, having reached an assured basis, on an equal footing with many of its older competitors. This company manufactures wood seat chairs in great variety, with special side lines which can be handled to advantage in this connection. The young men who are going forward together in these two concerns have added materially to the prosperity and dignity of the two communities in which they are located, and to the county of which these communities form a part. They are rightly numbered among the really significant figures of the day in Worcester County, and will unquestionably mean more and more to the public advance and to the field of endeavor in which they are engaged as time passes. It is such young men as these who have made the city of Gardner what she is to-day, and who are carrying the county of Worcester ever forward in the march of progress.
Mr. Noonan is a member of Gardner Lodge, No. 1426, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of Columbus, and is an active and popular member of Gardner Post, American Legion, of Chamber of Commerce, Oakhill Country Club, Massachusetts Home Furnishers' Association, and American Homes Bureau. He is still single.
A. JUDSON LAYTHE-One of the oldest names among the merchants of Clinton, Worcester County, Massachusetts, is that of Laythe, and for nearly sixty years that name has been associated with the retail shoe business there and in other cities in the State of Massachusetts. As treasurer and general manager of the G. W. Laythe Shoe Company, Inc., one of the largest retail shoe corporations in the East, A. Judson Laythe is a prominent figure in the retail shoe trade of the State. Through the five stores which the concern has established in different cities throughout the State, the corporation reaches a vast number of the purchasing public, and its patronage is steadily growing.
Gilman W. Laythe, father of Mr. Laythe, and founder of the business, was born in Newport, Vermont, Novem- ber 28, 1838, but moved to Bolton, Massachusetts, when about ten years of age, where he received his edu- cation in the public schools of that city. Upon the completion of his school training he found employment in one of the many shoe factories in that part of the State, and continued as an employee in that industry for several years, learning thoroughly all the various processes of the art of making shoes. After returning from the Civil War in 1866, having gained the necessary
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experience and thriftily saved a fair proportion of his earnings, he decided to engage in the retail shoe busi- ness for himself. He bought a small shoe and repair store on Union Street, in Clinton, where he remained until 1884, when larger quarters became necessary in order that he might meet the requirements of his rapidly growing trade. In that year he removed to No. 20 High Street, where the business continued to grow, and by 1906 had so expanded that it was deemed advisable to incorporate. This was done under the corporate name of the G. W. Laythe Shoe Company, Inc., with G. W. Laythe as president; A. J. Laythe, treasurer; and Walter R. Darne, secretary. In the meantime, in 1915, the present quarters were taken over, and general offices also established. Later David C. Nickerson was elected president, which office he continued to efficiently fill until his death, in October, 1922. At the present time (1923) the officers of the corporation are as follows: Warren Goodale, of Leominster, Massachusetts, president; Dr. Walter P. Bowers, vice-president; A. J. Laythe, treas- urer; and Walter R. Darne, clerk. The business has far outgrown the limitations of a one-store concern and has become well known in the shoe trade as one of the large retail shoe corporations in the East. Besides the store in Clinton, it has established four other retail stores, one in each of the following cities, Fitchburg Greenfield, Northampton, and Leominster, all in Massachusetts, and its offices, as well as the original retail store, are located in Clinton. The company deals mostly in medium high- grade shoes, and has made for itself an enviable repu- tation both for the quality of its goods and for its honest business methods. Gilman W. Laythe, founder of the business, was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served as a private in Company C, 5th Massa- chusetts Volunteers, for a period of three years, at the end of which time, having been wounded in action, he was honorably discharged because of his wounds. He had been a member of Company C, the Clinton Guards, prior to the war. He was a member of Post No. 64, Grand Army of the Republic, in the activities of which he maintained a deep interest to the time of his death, which occurred April 5, 1915. He married Sarah Ann Norris Dodge, who was born in Wenham, Massachu- setts, in 1841, and died in 1901, daughter of Ira Dodge.
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