USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume IV > Part 48
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son of Charles William and Eliza J. (Corner) Bell, his father having been a real estate op- erator of Glen Head, New York, and postmaster of that place for more than thirty years. He was educated in the public schools of Sea Cliff, Long Island, and took a course at the Brooklyn Busi- ness College, following which he went to work as a messenger in a Brooklyn bank, later going to the Exchange National Bank as note teller. He was engaged in this work for six years, when he abandoned it to engage in the manufacture of stationery in New York City, at which he continued for three years. His next occupa- tion was with the Firestone enterprise as a salesman, at which he worked for several years, with success, when he was promoted and designated as resident manager in Boston of the Mason Tire & Rubber Company of New York. During the participation of the United States in the World War he served in the army in conjunction with the rolling stock employed at the many concentration camps in the vicinity of New York City. He attends the First Con- gregational Church of Swampscott, Massachu- setts, and belongs to the Couples' Club of that place, also to the Homestead Country Club of Danvers, and the Golf Club of Lynnfield.
Frank M. Bell married, October 9, 1912, Martha P. Ploger, daughter of Ferdinand and Susan (McWilliams) Ploger, of Brooklyn, New York. They are the parents of one child: Dorothy Ploger, born in Brooklyn, May 2, 1919.
KURT WINTERS-Operating with his brother-in-law, Sherwood S. Smith, in the life insurance business under the firm name of Winters & Smith, at No. 79 Milk Street, Bos- ton, Kurt Winters holds a position in the field of his labors of considerable importance. He is a man of unusual industry and possessed of a broad knowledge of insurance, with a sound education and a fertility of resources in Bos.i-20
bringing business to his offices. Among the younger men of the city in his line, he has achieved a high reputation and is considered one of the upstanding citizens of the commun- ity, a credit to the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts.
He was born in Williamstown, Massachu- setts, June 29, 1898, and was educated in the public schools, the Boston Latin School and the Lynnfield Preparatory School, after which he entered business, beginning as a clerk in various enterprises, including importing and exporting. This he continued until 1925, when he engaged in the insurance business with the John Hancock Life Insurance Company of Boston, where he remained until 1927. He then helped to organize the firm of Winters & Smith, which was made general agent of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, of Bos- ton, for Eastern Massachusetts. He is inde- pendent in politics and attends the Sweden- borgian church, is fond of tennis and music and a reader of good literature.
Mr. Winters married, in Boston. Helen Cal- lender Smith, and they have one child, Valerie.
PERRY S. FAY-There is no better ex- ample of the success that follows industry in- telligently applied than that of Perry S. Fay, New England district manager of the White Company of Cleveland, Ohio, manufacturers of White Motor Trucks and Motor Buses. Charged with all responsibility for its operation in Eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine, his headquarters are at No. 930 Commonwealth Avenue, in Boston. Following an extensive experience in sales- manship throughout the country, he came to Boston in 1925 as manager of the Boston Dis- trict, since which time he has made steady ad- vances in the field and is today held to be one of the most successful operatives in his business. He is a man of the highest char- acter and conducts his work on lines of in-
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tegrity that cannot be questioned; industrious, affable, and interested in all that appeals to the better element, a citizen with whom others are proud to be classed.
Mr. Fay was born in Columbus, Ohio, Feb- ruary 13, 1889, a son of Herbert D. Fay, of London, Ohio, and Dora E. (Hawley) Fay, of Milford Centre, Ohio, the first deceased in Columbus, May 30, 1916. Herbert D. Fay had been for years superintendent of the Co- lumbus Buggy Company, pioneer manufactur- ers of electric motor cars. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and had been a drummer boy in the 101st Ohio Infantry during the Civil War, having run away from his home and entered the army when he was thirteen years of age. He re- mained with the army for five years after the close of the war, attached to the band, then going to Columbus and engaging in business. He was the father of another son, brother of Perry S., by name Byron A., who is now manager of the Nagle Electric Company of Toledo, Ohio.
Perry S. Fay was educated in the Columbus public schools and was graduated from the North High School there, class of 1908. He then studied law at the Ohio State University and was graduated with the degree of Bache- lor of Laws and admitted to the Ohio bar, in June, 1911, but never practiced his profession. In August, 1911, he went to Philadelphia, where he became assistant to the general manager of the John Wanamaker store. There he first became interested in motor truck delivery and transportation work, and in March, 1917, en- tered the service of the White Motor Com- pany of Cleveland, by which concern he was sent from coast to coast to develop a trade in delivery trucks for large department stores and other commercial establishments. From 1918 to 1921 he was division manager of the General Sales Department at Cleveland. He was then transferred to Philadelphia, where he engaged in retail selling of trucks and in 1922 he was made manager of the branch of the White Company at Wilmington, Delaware. One year
later he was made assistant district manager of the Philadelphia branch, and in 1925 came to Boston as manager of the Boston district. His further promotion to his present important po- sition followed. He is a director of the Boston Commercial Motor Vehicle Association, mem- ber of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Newton Chamber of Commerce, Boston Athletic Association, and of the Luncheon Club of Bos- ton, a charter member of the Penn Athletic Association, and a member of the college fra- ternities of Beta Theta Pi and Phi Delta Phi of Ohio State University. He attends Trinity Church of Newton Center. His diversions are sailing, motor boating and golf.
Perry S. Fay married, in Philadelphia, in 1915, Marjorie C. Bell, daughter of James and Clara (Crossley) Bell, of that city. Their children are: 1. Perry S., Jr., born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, June 13, 1916. 2. Jane Claire, born in Cleveland, Ohio, December 1, 1919. The family residence is at No. 550 Ward Street, Newton Center, Massachusetts, while their summer home is at Island Heights, New Jersey, on Barnegat Bay.
PAUL CLIFFORD-For nearly thirty years Paul Clifford, of Boston, has been an active partner in the wool brokerage house of A. H. Clifford & Sons Company, with head- quarters at No. 186 Summer Street, of which he has been the sole proprietor since 1919. Conducting this business in what is one of the largest wool centers in the world, Mr. Clifford has made a distinct success, his early knowl- edge having been gained under the expert in- struction of his father, who established the house in 1867.
He was born in Orange, New Jersey, Octo- ber 16, 1876, a son of Alvin H. Clifford, born in Gilmanton, and Marietta S. (Doldt) Clif- ford, born in Milton, New Hampshire, both
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deceased, the father having died in 1919, and had been engaged in the wool business from youth to his death. He established his busi- ness first in New York City but removed it to Boston in 1893, after operating it in the metropolis since 1867. He was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served with a New Hampshire volunteer regiment. His son, Paul, acquired his education in the public schools of Orange and later at those of Boston, attending and graduating from the Boston English High School and later the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he was graduated in 1898 with the degree of Mechanical En- gineer. After completing his university course he became associated with the Mac Kay Shoe Machinery Company, with which he continued for one year, then transferring to the Ameri- can Bell Telephone Company, at the end of which work, in 1900, he entered into partner- ship in the wool brokerage house of his father. Five years later the name of the firm was changed to its present form and in 1919, the father, Alvin H. Clifford, died and his son took over the business as sole proprietor. The house is one of the largest and oldest in the scoured wool trade here and is the New Eng- land representative of the B. Harris Scoured Wool Company, of St. Louis, Missouri, and also for Jacob Brodsky & Sons and Brodsky Brothers, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who are among the greatest of American wool houses. Mr. Clifford is a Republican in poli- tics and indulges in farming and golf as rec- reations. His clubs are the Boston Wool Trade, Brae Burn Country, Weston Golf and University.
Paul Clifford married, in 1926, Helen Ba- con, a native of Massachusetts.
BYRON C. DAY-Twenty-six years of con- tinuous association with various phases of the leather business in several different connec-
tions had thoroughly prepared Byron C. Day for the successful management of a leather en- terprise of his own. Fifteen additional years of successful achievement as president of the Day-Gormely Leather Company, of Boston, made him one of the best-known leather men of this section and placed the Day-Gormely Leather Company in the front rank among commission leather houses. This is the enter- prise that represents Mr. Day's final aims and achievements in the world of practical affairs, and in the course of a busy and successful ca- reer he gave to it much of his own staunch- ness and dependability of character. His death took from his accustomed places a man of proved worth, and his memory is treasured in the wide circle of his associations.
Byron C. Day was born in Kennebunk, Maine, April 19, 1870, and died June 3, 1928, in Quincy, the son of Edwin Day, a native of Kennebunk, Maine, who was engaged as a farmer and lumberman to the time of his death, and of Lydia M. (Waterhouse) Day, also deceased, who was born in Lyman, Maine. Mr. Day received his earliest school training in the local public schools and then went to Bridgton Academy, where he completed his education. After leaving the Academy, he worked for a period of two years with the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Portland, Maine, and then, in 1892, began his permanent connection with the leather busi- ness. Though he was to make the leather business his chief interest, he was to secure the wide and general knowledge of the indus- try which he possessed through numerous con- nections with individual firms, and after hold- ing his position with the White Brothers Com- pany, of Boston, for a year and a half, he made a change and secured employment with Sharp, Clark and Company, of Boston and Chicago, thus enlarging his opportunity. Seven years later, he again sought new fields and identified himself with the Gray, Clark and Engle Com- pany, of Boston, as salesman. Four years la- ter he accepted a position as eastern manager in the employ of the B. D. Eisendrath Leather
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Company. In this responsible office he con- tinued until 1913, when, having demonstrated his ability to handle the executive side of the business, he associated himself with James T. Gormely, under the name of the Day-Gormely Leather Company, and engaged in the commis- sion leather business as president of the com- pany, with Mr. Gormely treasurer. The en- terprise continues primarily a commission leather business, representing the Gutmann Leather Company in New England; the B. D. Eisendrath Company, of Racine, Wisconsin, as representatives for the Eastern Territory; and holding the United States agency for the Collis Leather Company, of Aurora, Province of Ontario, Canada. The concern specializes in calfskin and patent leather, both high grade, and deals in a general line of cowhide upper leather. Some jobbing and some manufacturing round out the volume of a business which ag- gregates a quarter of a million dollars a month, and the house of Day-Gormely ranks as one of the largest leather commission houses in the Boston district. The establishment is located at No. 195 South Street, in Boston. Mr. Day was for a number of years known as one of the skilled men of the leather business, and both he and his partner won high reputation as able business men. Mr. Day was a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and of the Boot and Shoe Club, and his recreational in- terests were farming and fishing. In his polit- ical faith he was one of the many who refused to give unqualified allegiance to any one polit- ical party, reserved for himself the right to cast his vote for the best qualified candidate, regardless of party affiliations, and classed himself as an Independent in politics. He at- tended the Congregational church.
Byron C. Day married, in 1897, Etta Col- burn, a native of Nova Scotia, and they had two children: Helen M., and Edwin C.
JAMES T. GORMELY-Since 1913 James T. Gormely has been one of the owners and
the official treasurer of the Day-Gormely Leather Company, of Boston, the leather com- mission concern fully described in the preced- ing account of the life of Byron C. Day. The entire active career of Mr. Gormely has been identified with the leather business, for he began his active life in the tannery of his father, and he is an able and progressive part- ner in the concern which he helped to organize.
James T. Gormely was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, March 30, 1890, son of James Gormely, a native of Athlone, Ireland, who was engaged in the leather tanning business in Roxbury, Massachusetts, for a period of forty- three years, and who died in 1917, and of Delia (Leach) Gormely, also a native of Roxbury, who died in 1926. Mr. Gormely received his education in the public schools of Roxbury, and then became associated with his father in the tannery business, in which he continued until 1913, when he became the partner of Byron C. Day in the establishment of the Day- Gormely Leather Company, of which Mr. Gormely is treasurer. As has been stated in the preceding article, this is one of the fore- most leather commission houses in this dis- trict, and is handling an aggregate business of a quarter of a million dollars a month. Mr. Gormely is a member of the New England Shoe and Leather Association, and he is an Independent in politics. He is very fond of athletics of all kinds, has always been deeply interested in scholastic sports and was cap- tain of the baseball team of the Boston High School of Commerce during school years. He is a member of the Boston Athletic Associa- tion; and of the Hatherly, Unicorn, and Man- chester Country clubs, and takes a very active part in the affairs and interests of all these organizations. Mr. Gormely has a very large number of friends in Boston and vicinity, and is popular among those with whom he is as- sociated in business, athletics, and socially. He attends the Roman Catholic church.
James T. Gormely married, in 1916, Louise Morrissey, who was born in Boston, and they have two children: Louise C., and Anne M.
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SUMNER R. HOLLANDER-From gen- eral merchandising to chief executive of an automobile company which is extending its ac- tivity throughout New England, Sumner R. Hollander, president of the Minerva Automo- bile Company of New England, shows the value of experience to those who make capital of it to use as an asset in the furtherance of any project they may undertake. Mr. Hollander is the son of Lewis P. and Emma (Rand) Hol- lander, both natives of Boston, Massachusetts, where Lewis P. Hollander, now retired, is one of the oldest merchants of that city. He was also a soldier in the Civil War and is a mem- ber of the Civil War Veterans.
Sumner R. Hollander was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 28, 1874. His early education was obtained in the Somerville pub- lic schools, later attending the Allen School in Newton, the Hopkinson School at Boston, and then Harvard College, graduating from there in 1897. He then became associated with his father, Lewis P. Hollander, in merchandising, where he remained until 1908, when he was made merchandising manager of John Wana- maker, New York City. He was here for thir- teen years, when he became president of Hol- mac, Incorporated; then vice-president of the Great Lakes Building Corporation, where he remained until 1925. In that year, Mr. Hol- lander entered the automobile business, and in 1927 established the Minerva Automobile Com- pany of New England, of which company he is the president. This concern handles a complete line of Minerva cars, the body work being done by different foreign builders, the Minerva people supplying the chassis alone. Mr. Hollander is a much-traveled man, having crossed overseas fifty-five times, and is familiar with many for- eign countries and their business methods. His hobby is golf, to which he gives much time and belongs to numerous golf associations. He is a member of the Unitarian church and makes his home and maintains his office in the city of Boston.
On August 31, 1912, in New York City, Sum- ner R. Hollander married Ethel Vaughn, of New York City, a daughter of Henry C. and Ella
(Smith) Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn was born in Eng- land and his wife is a native of Rockingham, Nova Scotia. Mr. and Mrs. Hollander have three children: Sumner R., Jr., Mary Louise, and Ethel L.
ALBERT B. CALDWELL-Widely experi- enced in the direction of large business enter- prises, Albert B. Caldwell is now the manager of three important Boston hotels. In this ca- pacity he has secured a very efficient operating staff and initiated many progressive policies to the complete satisfaction both of his company and of his guests.
Mr. Caldwell was born on August 18, 1889, at Somerville, Massachusetts, a son of William Caldwell, who was born in Scotland, and of Louise (Barrington) Caldwell, who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, opposite Longfel- low's home. His father came to the United States while still a young man and in associa- tion with his brothers, Jackson Caldwell, who had served as captain in the Spanish and World wars, and Edward Caldwell, built up and op- erate a wholesale and retail furniture business, having at one time nine stores. William Cald- well died in 1918 and is buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetery.
Albert B. Caldwell attended the Rindge Tech- nical School of Cambridge, and the Bryant & Stratton Business College in Boston, and when he completed his education, became associated with his father in the furniture business under the firm name of William Caldwell Sons, In- corporated, of Boston. Subsequently Mr. Cald- well became president of this company, and while still retaining the position, became paying teller for the Cambridge Trust Company. In connection with his banking work, he opened the branch office of the Cambridge Trust Com- pany in North Cambridge and acted as its man- ager for about a year and a half. At the end of this time he resigned to return actively to the
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furniture business, but soon afterward, in 1916, he became manager of the Hotel Braemore in Boston. After six years of successful operation, he took over in addition the management of the Hotel Kenmore, which is owned by the same corporation, and this arrangement continued for two years. For two years more he acted as efficiency man at the Copley Plaza, in Boston, and later opened Alden Park Manor, at Brook- line, Massachusetts, where he remained in charge for about a year. For one season, he was manager of the Hotel Atlantis, in Kenne- bunkport, Maine. Finally, in 1926, he returned to his old position in Boston as manager of the Hotels Braemore, Kenmore, and Wadsworth, all owned and operated by one corporation, and to this work he has devoted himself since that time.
Mr. Caldwell is affiliated, fraternally, with the Free and Accepted Masons, being a member of Charity Lodge, Cambridge; he is also a member of the Kiwanis Club of Brookline, and a mem- ber of several clubs and associations, including the Metropolitan Riding and Driving Club, the Massachusetts and New England and City of Boston Hotel associations, and the Hotel Men's Mutual Benefit Association. Much of his spare time he devotes to riding and motoring. He and his family attend the Christian Science church.
On January 27, 1915, in Boston, Albert B. Caldwell married Frances D. Martin, a daugh- ter of Bert and Mabel (Darling) Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell are the parents of two chil- dren: 1. Albert Bradford, born in Boston, Feb- ruary 9, 1922. 2. Carol, born in Boston, Novem- ber 3, 1923.
FREDERIC J. CROSBY-The second old- est undertaking establishment in Metropolitan Boston is the one now owned and operated by Frederic J. Crosby, and is located at Nos. 8-10-12 Warren Street, Roxbury. The concern
was founded by Mr. Crosby's father, Frederic J. Crosby, Sr., a half century ago, in 1879, and has the distinction of being one of the largest and best known of its kind in this section of New England. Skill as a mortician, long ex- perience in the management of both large and small funerals, and reliability in business trans- actions have given the establishment an en- viable reputation and have brought a very large patronage, which is drawn from all parts of Boston and from a large area surrounding the city.
It was back in 1879 that Frederic J. Crosby laid its foundation. He was successful in build- ing up his new enterprise, which he continued to the time of his death, which occurred in 1895, at the age of forty-two years. Since that time it has been conducted by his son, Frederic J. Crosby, Jr.
Frederic J. Crosby was born in Boston, Au- gust 28, 1882, and spent his early years in the city of his birth, attending the public schools, and after finishing the courses in the grammar school entered Boston Latin School, from which he graduated in 1896. After graduation he began the task of mastering the embalming and funeral directing business and as soon as he was prepared he took over the business, which he has since conducted. Mr. Crosby has now been engaged in this line for more than thirty years, and during that time has greatly developed the business which his father had so ably founded. During this time he has made for himself a reputation second to none in his profession, and as his concern ranks as the second oldest in this section he has the ad- vantage of long years of association with many of the old families of Greater Boston. He has been a worthy successor of his well-known father, and has built well upon the foundation laid back in the early years of the development of the business. As a result of nearly a half century of honest business dealings and of ex- pert service he has made many permanent business connections, and in some cases families who employed the services of the father back in 1879 still call upon the son when bereave- ment brings the need for his profession. In
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his civic and political relations, as in his busi- ness dealings, Mr. Crosby is reliable and inter- ested. He gives support to the principles and the candidates of the Democratic party, and for the past six years has served as a member of the sinking fund commission of the city of Boston. He is also a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and also holds membership in a number of clubs and societies, social, civic, and fraternal.
Frederic J. Crosby was married, November 11, 1908, to Mary P. Lawless, who was born in Boston, and they are the parents of three children: Eleanor, Helene, and Elizabeth. The family home is located at No. 75 Arborway, Jamaica Plain.
LEWIS F. DAVIS-Manufacturing and mer- chandising interests of the Boston area, as re- lated to the rubber goods industry, have as a representative in the younger group of busi- ness leaders, Lewis F. Davis, district sales manager of the Hood Rubber Company, of Watertown, Massachusetts. Having passed through all the channels of salesmanship with his concern, to which he brought a valued ex- perience acquired in the service of other houses, Mr. Davis may be said to have shown the way to many a follower of the approved placing of his company's products with a very large and eminently satisfied as well as increasing num- ber of clients. So well does he demonstrate his principles of salesmanship in his district that on many notable occasions the forces in competition are put to rout, either by himself or by those who serve in the group with him. Mr. Davis traces his line of ancestry to the pioneer members of the Davis family who helped settle Newport, Vermont. N. N. Davis, father of Lewis F. Davis, was an electrician by trade. He died when his son was three years old.
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