USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 40
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During his long association with the district he has gained general respect, and has always shown an inclination to help in the responsibilities of good citizenship. He has been a trustee of the public library, and has held other public offices; is a mem- ber of the Masonic order, affiliated with lodge and chapter; a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and is senior vice-commander of Everett Peabody Post, Grand Army of the Republic. By religious conviction he is a Baptist, and a member of the local church.
Mr. Howe married, August 19, 1876, Emma M. Perley, of Lewiston, Maine, the daughter of Luther L. and Maria Conant (Vining) Perley, her father born in Harrison, Maine. He was a tinsmith by trade, but later a farmer at Harrison, Maine, where he died, March 25, 1859. Maria Conant (Vining) Perley was born in Durham, Maine, and died June 1, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Howe have two children, daughters: 1. Josephine Eldred, a graduate nurse
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of the New England Hospital at Roxbury, Massa- chusetts; married Leroy Herbert Clough, a con- tractor and builder, and they are the parents of two children: Leroy Herbert, Jr., and Frederick Earl Clough. 2. Alice Marjorie, a graduate of Haver- hill Business College, now receiver for the North- eastern Street Railway Company at Haverhill, Mas- sachusetts. Miss Howe is a graphologist of repute, quite well known for character readings from hand- writings.
Mrs. Emma M. (Perley) Howe was educated in the grade and high schools of Lewiston, Maine, and when her husband was appointed master at West- boro, Mrs. Howe was appointed matron, a position she most capably filled for eight years. She then became superintendent of the bakery connected with the schools at Westboro and Berlin, Massa- chusetts, filling that office for two years. She was president and is now vice-president of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Baptist church, is a member of the Daughters of Rebekah, and has been presi- dent of the Woman's Relief Corps.
Mr. Howe has written poems without number, many of which have been printed. On his recent celebration of his seventy-seventh birthday he wrote a poem entitled "Ego," ending as given below:
I have lived in the North, the South and the West, But surely I love Old New England the best, For seventy-seven years I have hoed my row, And yet, I am not old, oh no! oh no!
My locks may be white and my form bending low, I may shuffle along and my gait may be slow, But I am within, Ego tells me so,
And Ego tells me that I am not old, oh no! oh no.
Mr. Howe has officiated at Memorial Day services as speaker, and has held nearly all offices of Everett Peabody Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He is one of Georgetown's "grand old men," and is held in high esteem by all who know him.
SIDNEY C. BAKER-The business of making shoes, with its many subsidiary industries, while peculiarly American in its inception and growth, has drawn many from England into its folds. One of the best known of these English-born leaders is Sidney C. Baker, born August 22, 1870, who left London, England, in 1900, and came to the United States. Educated in the public schools of this coun- try, he had found employment in various vocations for many years, but being ambitious for some- thing better, he came to find it in a newer land. Three years after his arrival he went to Haverhill, Massachusetts, and engaged in the making of wood heels. Ten years later, increasing trade made it necessary to enlarge his business so he sought and found a partner in Leon O. Ross.
Mr. Ross was at that time an active member of the contracting and building firm of Charles O. Ross & Son, but withdrawing, he gave his time and en- ergy to making with Mr. Baker a going concern of the new company. They took the name of Ross & Baker, manufacturers of wood heels for women's shoes, and started in the smallest way, with very
little capital. Locating first at No. 100 Phoenix Row, they remained but a short time before re- moving to No. 141 Washington street. After a year at this place they found, in 1914, quarters that suited them better at No. 63 Fleet street, where they now are (1921). Although starting in a very small way, they have bit by bit built up a strong organization and now have about forty-five oper- ators. The products of the factory are sold directly to the shoe trade.
Mr. Baker is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce, Haverhill, and president of the Wood Heel Manufacturers' Association of that city. He be- longs also to the Agawam Club. During the World War he put his energy into the Red Cross and War Loan drives, and many remember his successful ac- tivities.
In 1906 Mr. Baker married Luella M. Moore, daughter of Alden S. and Ella F. (Walsh) Moore, both natives of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Mr. Moore is a maker of wood heels in the city. Of this marriage one child was born, Arline Baker, born January 11, 1909. Mr. Baker and his family are al- ways genial hosts at their pleasant residence, No. 24 Chandler street, Haverhill.
JAMES T. FITZGERALD, lawyer, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was born in that city, October 1, 1884, son of James H. and Mary A. (O'Brien) Fitzgerald. His father was engaged in the leather business, in Haverhill, until his death in 1919, and his mother died in 1905. Mr. Fitzgerald attended the St. James' Parochial School, the Haverhill High School, graduating with the class of 1904, and the Boston University Law School, receiving his de- gree in 1912. The same year he was admitted to the Essex county bar, and he located in his native city to engage in the practice of his profession. He is among the well-known citizens of Haverhill and has built up a very satisfactory clientele. Mr. Fitz- gerald is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Historical Society of Haverhill. Fra- ternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Colum- bus and Father Mathews Society.
He married, in 1915, Maguerite M. Goodwin, of that city, and they are the parents of a daughter, Rita Fitzgerald. The family attend and support the St. James' Catholic Church.
ABRAM W. COLBY, manufacturer, part owner of the Haverhill firm of Colby & Towne, manufac- turers of wood heels, is a well-known business man of Haverhill, having been born in the city, and in it passed more than fifty years. He was born No- vember 3, 1870, the son of Wallace and Georgianna (Hall) Colby, the former a shoe manufacturer, orig- inally of Madison, New Hampshire, and the latter a native of Haverhill.
The Colby family settled in Haverhill, and there Abram W. received all of his schooling. After pass- ing through the local public schools, he began to work for Chester & Rugg, shoe manufacturers. With that firm he remained for twenty-one years. For another three years he was in the employ of
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P. N. Wadleigh, but at the end of that time he formed a business partnership with Mr. Haseltine, the two opening in the manufacturing business un- der the trading name of Haseltine & Colby. Their original plant was situated at No. 62 Washington street, but they moved it later to Essex street. The partnership was dissolved in 1918. Shortly after- wards, however, Mr. Colby formed association with Edwin G. Towne, and began to manufacture wood heels for shoe manufacturers, their trading name be- ing Colby & Towne, and their plant being at No. 11 Stage street. So they have continued to the pres- ent, their present plant covering 4,500 square feet of floor space, and having a capacity of 300 dozen heels a day. It is therefore an appreciable business enterprise.
Mr. Colby married, in 1912, Belle (Davis) Hasel- tine, daughter of Amaril and Adelia (Fuller) Davis, both originally of Appleton, Maine. Her father, who was a shoe manufacturer, died in 1892; her mother in 1881. She was the widow of - Hasel- tine, and resided in Haverhill before her marriage to Mr. Colby.
EDWIN G. TOWNE was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, March 1, 1888, a son of Sydney F. and Ellen M. (Pickard) Towne. His father and mother were residents of Newburyport. His father, who was engaged in the railroad business, died in 1892, leaving Edwin G. an orphan at the age of four years.
Mr. Towne married Mabel Batchelder, of Haver- hill, Massachusetts, in 1905. Mrs. Towne is a daugh- ter of Orrin T. Batchelder, of Northwood, Massa- chusetts, and his wife, Ada M. (Ayer) Batchelder, of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Towne have one son, Edwin G., Jr., born in 1906.
HUBERT CLINTON THOMPSON, attorney, member of the Harvard University Law School, class of '14, and now in practice in Haverhill and Essex county, has given indication of aptitude for public affairs and law. He was born in Danvers- port, Massachusetts, November 15, 1889, the son of William O. and Agnes J. (Doty) Thompson, both of New Hampshire families.
Hubert C. Thompson passed through the elemen- tary public schools of his native place, and after fur- ther preparatory tutoring entered Clark University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1911. Having resolved to become a lawyer, he then be- came a student at the Harvard University Law School, the standing of which is probably the high- est of any in the United States. While an under- graduate, he was a member of the 'Varsity Debating Club. He was admitted to the bar of Essex county, Massachusetts, in February, 1915, and entered at once into practice in Haverhill. He was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Massa- chusetts and appointed to the Committee on Codifi- cations.
The great World War, 1917-18, necessarily inter- fered with his professional and civil plans. He set aside his personal affairs and became a member of the United States Merchant Marine, and until the end of the war gave national service at sea, as quar- termaster, his official rank being A. B. S. After the war was over, he resumed his practice of law. He is unmarried.
Edwin G. Towne received his early education in the public schools of Massachusetts. When his DR. RALPH ROY MOULTHROP .- A scion of one of the oldest New England families, Dr. Moul- throp's ancestry can be traced to a very early period, and in New York State a branch of his family were also among the first settlers. It was there, at Ken- oza Lake, Sullivan county, New York, that he was born, June 28, 1889, son of Elroy B. Moulthrop, grandson of Gideon Moulthrop, and great-grandson of Nathan and Jane Moulthrop. school days came to an end, he decided to enter the shoe manufacturing business and associated himself with the Slipper City Wood Heel Company, in order to learn the details of the industry. After leaving the Slipper City Wood Heel Company, he worked for various other firms in order to gain experience. In 1905 he entered the service of O. A. Martin, a local manufacturer. He remained with Mr. Martin for two years, during which he perfected his practical The latter were among the earliest settlers in Sul- livan county, and their son, Gideon, was born there in 1833, and died in 1909; he was a farmer and a member of the Methodist church. His son, Elroy B. Moulthrop, was born in September, 1858, and was a merchant at Binghamton, New York. His wife was Martha Amelia Miller, daughter of George and Amelia Miller; she was born in 1860, and died in 1920. knowledge of the details of manufacturing wood heels by machinery. He then became foreman for A. R. Wade, and after three years' service at the Wade factory, became manager of Cunningham & Wilde's factory. Later he became manager of the Excel Wood Heel Company, and foreman of the Blackburn & Haseltine Company. In 1919 he formed a partnership with Abram W. Colby, and under the firm name of Colby & Towne opened a Ralph R. Moulthrop attended school at Bingham- ton, and prepared for college at the Central High School in that city; he graduated from Cornell Uni- versity in the class of 1914, having specialized in the study of veterinary medicine and surgery. Subse- factory with a manufacturing capacity of 300 dozen wood heels a day, and they have an enviable repu- tation in the business world. Mr. Towne is a mem- ber of the Junior Order of American Mechanics, the Knights of Malta, the Improved Order of Red Men, . quent to his graduation he was in the employ of the Sons of Veterans, and the Superintendents' and Foremen's Association of Haverhill.
the United States Government at Washington for one year, and in 1915 engaged in practice at Law- rence, where he is now located, engaged in business with Dr. Ray S. Youmans (see following sketch), under the firm name of Moulthrop & Youmans. He is a leader in his profession there, and is also the city veterinarian of Lawrence and Methuen. While at college, Dr. Moulthrop became a member of the
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Omega Tau Sigma fraternity.
Dr. Moulthrop married, September 15, 1915, at Norwich, New York, Genevieve Rose Moulton, daughter of Will and Ruby C. Moulton. The for- mer is the secretary of the Sherman Gasoline Cor- poration of New York City. Dr. Moulthrop and his wife attend the Trinity Congregational Church of Lawrence.
DR. RAY S. YOUMANS, of the firm of Moul- throp & Youmans, proprietors of the Veterinary Hospital, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was born March 18, 1892, in Wellsbridge, New York, and there attended school. In 1914 he was graduated from the Veterinary College of Cornell Univer- sity, with the degree of D. V. M.
Subsequent to his graduation, Dr. Youmans was in the employ of the United States Government at Buffalo, New York, as meat inspector, which position he held for six months. The outbreak of the World War at this time, and the urgent need of men specially trained, caught Dr. Youmans in its train and he was engaged in transporting horses for the English Government, having charge of the horses en route.
After the war he came to Lawrence, Massachu- setts, and formed a partnership with Dr. Moul- throp (see preceding sketch) to conduct a Veter- inary Hospital. At the hospital there are ac- commodations for boarding animals, and there is a well-equipped hospital for small animals.
Dr. Youmans married, July 80, 1919, Sarah E. Springall, at Dexter, Maine. Mrs. Youmans was a native of Malden, Massachusetts. They are the parents of two children: Elizabeth, born Novem- ber 16, 1920; and Jane, born March 23, 1922. Dr. and Mrs. Youmans are attendants of the Univer- salist church.
REV. NATHAN MATTHEWS, of Danvers, Massachusetts, was born in Newfoundland, the son of John and Fannie (Dix) Matthews, the former, commissioner of fisheries for many years. Mr. Matthews attended the public schools, and later came to Boston, where he was employed for almost two years. He then resumed his studies at the Virginia College, and in 1900 was gradu- ated from the Virginia Episcopal Theological Sem- inary. For fourteen years he labored as a mission- ary on the west coast of Africa, and after his re- turn to the United States, spent a year in Ten- nessee under Bishop Gaylor. The following year he was stationed in North Carolina, under Bishop Guerry, and during the World War Mr. Matthews served nine months as civilian chaplain at Camp Sevier, South Carolina.
Rev. Matthews. is a member of the various Masonic bodies, including the Lodge, Chapter, and Council at Rockhill, South Carolina; Commandery at Chester, South Carolina; Omar Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Charleston, South Carolina; Lodge of Perfection; Princes of Jersusalem; Rose Croix, at Salem; and Massachusetts Consistory at Boston.
Rev. Nathan Matthews married Etta Cabell, of Virginia, and they are the parents of one living child, Patrick C. Matthews, now a student in the grammar school at Danvers. Rev. Matthews is at present pastor of Calvary Episcopal Church, at Danvers, Massachusetts.
CHARLES HOYT MORSE, civil engineer, of Haverhill, associated with Henry N. Chase in con- sultant practice as civil, architectural and land- scape engineers, with offices in Haverhill, Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts, is a native of Brad- ford, Massachusetts, born May 2, 1887, son of Scott Herbert and Harriet Elizabeth (Hoyt) Morse. His father, who died in 1903, spent most of his life in Haverhill; his mother, who died in 1891, was of a Hampstead, New Hampshire, family. He, himself, came especially into public notice a few years ago because of his military service during the war, reference to which will later herein be made.
Charles Hoyt Morse was reared in Bradford and Haverhill, and in due course passed through the local public schools, after which he took a pre- paratory course at Mitchell's Military School, Bil- lerica, Massachusetts. This education he supple- mented by taking special and private tuition to fit him for the engineering profession. He gave close study to mathematics and to engineering sub- jects after leaving school, and obtained a post under Nelson Spofford, of Haverhill, former en- gineer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Later he was with Ralph D. Hood, with whom he was associated until he went into the United States Government service in 1914, in the Depart- ment of the Interior. He was in federal civil ser- vice for a year, his work being in the Rocky Mountains and National Parks on road and bridge design and construction. When he left in 1915 it was to accept appointment as assistant engineer for the Massachusetts Highway Commission. He held that State post until 1919, though service was not continuous. Indeed, the greater part of the period was spent in military service, on the Mexi- can Border and in France.
Major Morse has been identified with military units since 1906, when he enlisted in Company F, of the 8th Massachusetts Infantry, a regiment of the National Guard. He was a private in 1906, and rose to commissioned grade in September, 1912, being then a second lieutenant. In June, 1914, he became first lieutenant, and was a captain in March, 1916. With the 8th Massachusetts In- fantry he served on the Mexican Border during the trouble with Mexico in 1916, and acted as brigade engineer officer. Returning home early in 1917, the troops were only a few months out of Federal service. With the entry of this nation into the World War, in April, 1917, the National Guard units were mobilized, including of course the Massachusetts troops. Captain Morse was transferred to Battery A, of the 102nd Regiment of Artillery, as battery commander, April 12, 1917. The unit was mustered into federal service, July
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25, 1917, and he left for overseas service in Sep- tember, 1917. He studied at the General Staff College, Langres, France, and was graduated there- from in February, 1918. He was on duty with the 18th British Army Corps until March 17, 1918, at the time the last desperate drive was begin- ning. On March 17th he was assigned to duty with the general staff of the 26th (New England) Division, of the American Expeditionary Forces. On June 7, 1918, he left France for the United States, being ordered home as an expert to assist in the organization and training of the national army. He reported to the chief of staff of the United States Army, at Washington, D. C., and was immediately assigned to duty with the War Plans Division of the Army War College at Wash- ington, D. C. In August, 1918, he was appointed to the General Staff at Washington, and on the 27th of that month was promoted to grade of major, United States Army. He was held in mili- tary service until April 7, 1919, and was thus in active service for almost three years, having gone to the Mexican Border with his old regiment in June, 1916.
After discharge from the army, he again took up his State civil engineering appointment, being soon made personal assistant to the chief engineer. He held that capacity until 1920, when he associ- ated with Henry N. Chase, the two establishing the firm of Morse & Chase, with offices in Haver- hill, Boston, and Hyannis, and undertaking most branches of civil engineering. Major Morse has in addition some other professional appointments. He acted in the capacity of chief engineer for the Pilgrim Tercentenary Commission, with res- ponsibility for designing and construction of all improvements at Plymouth. And he acts in sim- ilar capacity for the Provincetown Commission. By the way, going back a few years, it should be stated that while associated with Mr. Ralph D. Hood, Mr. Morse was locating and construction en- gineer for the Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway Company.
Major Morse is a member of Boston Chapter, Military Order of the World War; the local post of the American Legion; American Association of Engineers, the Haverhill Board of Survey; and the Haverhill Soldiers' Memorial Commission. He is also a member of the Haverhill Chamber of Com- merce, and Bradford Community Club, and soci- ally he belongs to the Pentucket and Island clubs. Fraternally, he is identified with the Masonic order, member of Merrimac Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Pentucket Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Merrimac Valley Lodge of Perfection. He at- tends the Congregational church, of Bradford.
Mr. Morse married, in 1916, Helen M. La Croix, of Haverhill, Massachusetts.
DANIEL SAUNDERS, (2nd)-The ability to put one's self mentally in another's place is somewhat rare, and Daniel Saunders is rising high in his profession because he is particularly able in this
respect. Specializing as he does on the less for- ensic aspect of the law, that of general practice, he is becoming noted for his faculty of seeing all sides of a question, for his power to enter into the other fellow's thought and belief, and for the skill and vigor with which he can state the posi- tion of his client. He began life at York Beach, Maine, September 25, 1891. His father, George Fair- field Saunders, was a native of Lawrence, Massa- chusetts, born November 30, 1865, and for a long period was engaged in the wool trade. He now is a manufacturer of wool shoddy in the city of his birth. His mother was Sarah Jane (Donnell) Saunders, of Kittery, Maine.
Daniel Saunders, 2nd, received his early educa- tion in the public schools of Lawrence, in which he stayed until graduated from high school with the class of 1908. In 1913 he finished his college course at Bowdoin College, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After two years in Harvard Law School he took special studies in Boston Uni- versity, concluding his thorough preparation for his profession in 1917. During the autumn months of this year he entered the firm of Rowell & Clay, lawyers of Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he re- mained for one year. In 1919 he started the prac- tice of law by himself, having offices in the Bay State Bank building, Lawrence, where he conducts so successfully his general law practice, with an ever-growing clientele. He is a member of the Essex County and Lawrence (Massachusetts) Bar Associations. He has kept in touch with his col- lege through the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Bowdoin), and is connected with the Masonic or- der, in which he is junior deacon of the Blue Lodge, Lawrence. During the World War he was for a time at the Plattsburg (New York) Camp, from. which he holds his honorable discharge; he is now a member of the American Legion. Through the years 1915-19, inclusive, he served on the school committee of his city.
Mr. Saunders married, at Lawrence, during Sep- tember, 1918, Augusta Frank, of the same city, daughter of Emil Frank, who is engaged in the wool business, and Minnie (Plisch) Frank. Of this marriage there are two children: William Put- nam, born November 16, 1919, and Janice Fairfield, born February 28, 1921. They are active members of Grace Episcopal Church.
Daniel Saunders, 2nd, is a worthy son of worthy ancestors, three generations of whom have lived in or near Lawrence, his father, George Fairfield Saunders, being born in the city, his grandfather, Caleb Saunders, though born in Andover, soon re- moved to the same place, and the grandfather, from whom Mr. Saunders received his name, was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, but lived the most of his years in Lawrence.
GRANT H. FAIRBANKS, manufacturer, gen- eral manager and vice-president of the Robert Gair Company, boxboard manufacturers, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was born at Joplin, Missouri, Feb-
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ruary 18, 1877, the son of William H. and Ella (Peters) Fairbanks. His father, who was a whole- sale grocer in Indiana, died in 1908; he was a colonel in the Civil War, a member of the 31st Regiment, Indiana; his mother was originally of Port Madison, Iowa.
Grant H. Fairbanks was given a good educa- tion, taking a preparatory collegiate course after passing through the public schools. Eventually he entered Princeton, from which university he was graduated with the class of 1897.
Returning then to his native State, Mr. Fairbanks for the next three years engaged in the manufac- ture of news print, or paper, in Anderson, Indiana. In 1901 he came to Haverhill to take executive office with the Haverhill Box Board Company, having been elected secretary and treasurer. Ultimately that company was absorbed by the Robert Gair Com- pany, and in the reorganization Mr. Fairbanks be- came manager and vice-president, capacities he still holds.
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