USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 8
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The Athertons of New England trace descent from General Humphrey Atherton, who came from England in 1635 in the ship "James" with wife, Mary (Wales) Atherton; and three children. Gen- eral Atherton is buried in the old Dorchester Cem- etery, this his epitaph:
Here lies our Captain & Major of Suffold was withal,
A goodly magistrate was he, and Major General, Two troop horse with him here comes, Such worth his love did crave
Two companies of foot also mourning march to his grave,
Let all that read be sure to keep the faith as he has done
With Christ he now lives crowned, his name was Humphrey Atherton.
The Atherton family of England has its seat in Lancashire, the town of Atherton, ten miles north- west of Manchester, lying within their armorial es- tate. The family had immense possessions and was of the wealthiest commoners of England.
Arms-Gules, three sparrow hawks argent. Crest-A swan argent.
These arms hang in the parish church of Leigh in the family vault.
Horace Hale (2) Atherton was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, December 24, 1872. After gradua- tion from Saugus High School, he entered Bryant & Stratton Commercial School, Boston, there pur- suing full courses to graduation. He began his business career as court stenographer for the "Bos- ton Advertiser & Record," later being private secre- tary to William E. Barrett, congressman, and hold- ing similar position with Ernest W. Roberts, of Massachusetts. From 1894 to 1905 he was the Washington correspondent for the "Boston Adver- tiser & Record," and from 1905 until 1912 assistant postmaster of the Lynn postal district. In 1912 he was elected register of probate and insolvency for Essex county, was re-elected and is now (July, 1922) the incumbent of that office. He is a director of the Saugus Co-operative Bank, and a trustee of the Lynn Five Cents Savings Bank.
Mr. Atherton has been duly admitted to the Mas- sachusetts bar, and is a member of the Lynn and of the Essex County Bar associations. During the World War period, 1917-18, he was chairman of the Legal Advisory Board of Massachusetts, District No. 27. He is a Republican in politics, has served on finance and school committees of the town of Saugus, and as secretary of the Massachusetts Re- publican State Committee. He is a trustee of Essex Agricultural Society; member of the Essex Insti- tute; an ex-president of Old Essex Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, the largest chapter in the United States; member of Lynn Historical So- ciety; Patrons of Husbandry; Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks; Knights of Pythias; Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows; and of the Masonic order. His clubs are the Essex County Press, of which he is president, and The Salem. He is secre- tary of Ancient Sirloin Lodge, a dining organiza- tion.
Mr. Atherton married, in Boston, Massachusetts, November 30, 1898, Edith Elizabeth Hall, who died November 8, 1920, daughter of Frank Hezekiah and Elizabeth C. (Henderson) Hall. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Atherton: Edith Rutledge, born August 80, 1899; Roger Morse, born November 17, 1901; Horace Hale (3), born January 29, 1912.
MICHAEL RICARD DONOVAN, M. D .- Lynn, Massachusetts, has always been noted for the dis- tinction of its physicians, and one of the most emi- nent of these is Michael Ricard Donovan. For near- ly two decades he has been a member of the medi- cal fraternity, and is recognized by his fellow- practitioners as one of their ablest and most skillful associates. His medical career has been coeval with the improvement of the health conditions of Lynn. From 1886 until the present year, 1922, he has been connected with the Health Department of the city, either intimately as its head or influentially. As a practicing physician he has a large clientele, and a host of friends.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Dr. Donovan is a native son of Lynn, Massachu- setts, born in 1860. His first schooling was gained in the Whiting Grammar School, and was continued in the Lynn High School, from both of which he is a graduate. He matriculated in Georgetown Col- lege, Washington, D. C., in 1876, and was graduated with the degree of A. B., in 1880. For scientific training in his future profession he went to Har- vard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, and won his medical degree in 1883. After a summer vacation he settled down to the arduous work of the practicing physician, and has continued in his field for thirty-nine years. He had advanced with his times, never being too wise to need no more study nor too old to learn. An outstanding feature of his career in Lynn has been his wholehearted ser- vice to the Health Department of his city. He was city physician from 1886 to 1892, on the Board of Health for a like number of years, and has been on the Commission of Public Health since 1918. He has also been a United States pension examiner, and during the World War acted on the exemption board, Division No. 1, Lynn, Massachusetts.
Dr. Donovan has wide fraternal connections, among which are: The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No 117, Lynn, of which he is the exalted ruler; Knights of Columbus, Val- ladolid Council, No. 70, being the grand knight; Harvard Massachusetts Medical Association; Lynn Medical fraternity; Harvard Medical Alumni; Mas- sachusetts Society of Examining Surgeons; George- town Alumni of New England, of which he is presi- dent; and the Lynn Historical Society. Dr. Donovan is a member of the Park Club. He is a communi- cant of the Catholic church, of Lynn.
Dr. Donovan married, in 1888, at Chelsea, Mas- sachusetts, Anna Theresa Mulloy, and they are the parents of four children: Michael R., Frank H., Isabelle and Marie V.
HEZEKIAH O. WOODBURY, president and gen- eral manager of the Woodbury Shoe Company of Beverly, one of the largest concerns in this vicinity, with factories in this city and Dover, New Hamp- shire, is one of the best known residents of Bev- erly.
Mr. Woodbury is a Beverly born boy, and since early manhood has been instrumental in the build- ing of the large and successful shoe manufacturing business of which he is the head today. When quite a young man he, with his two brothers, Rufus H. and Thomas Woodbury, started the manufacture of shoes in one of the little shops so common in those days. All the work was done by hand, the women binding and fitting the uppers and the men finishing the shoe. The firm of Woodbury Brothers was started January 17, 1869, in one of the little shops mentioned above, 10x14 feet. H. O. Woodbury did the selling end of the business; and their first cus- tomer was the firm of Lindsay & Gibbs, of Pearl street, Boston. Mr. Woodbury took with him a sample of the shoe they had started to manufacture, wrapped it in a piece of paper, carried it to, Boston in his pocket, and was successful in placing an order
for one case. The Boston concern is now the Pil- grim Rubber Company, and Mr. Woodbury con- tinued to sell them shoes as long as they handled them. Some years later the firm, having outgrown the capacity of the little shop, moved into a larger building. Mr. Woodbury took three samples with him, the concern having started the manufacture of two other' styles, and asked his mother if she had a bag that he could carry them to Boston in. She replied she had one, but it was a large one, but Mr. Woodbury took it and put in his three samples, al- though it was large enough to hold twenty-four. He took his three shoes to the American House, Boston, then the headquarters for the visiting shoe buyers. He noticed two men who appeared to be watching him intently. Finally one of them asked him what he had in the bag, and he replied "shoes," and took out the three samples. Then one of the men asked him where his other samples were and he said that was all he had. After a little further conversation, he started for the door with the re- mark, "I'll sell you yet." One of the men called him back, and after a bit of jollying, gave him an order for three cases. The man who did most of the talking was Mr. Grimling, of the firm of Grim- ling, Spalding & Company, of Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Woodbury continued to sell him as long as he lived, and the name of the firm is still on the books of the Woodbury Shoe Company.
The Woodbury Shoe Company is one of the big- gest shoe manufacturing concerns in this vicinity. Mr. H. O. Woodbury is the only member of the original firm, one of the brothers, Rufus H. Wood- bury, having died, and the other, Thomas Wood- bury, has retired.
Hezekiah O. Woodbury is one of the best known citizens of Beverly, always ready to lend assistance to anything that is of benefit to city or community. He has always been much interested in the Beverly Young Men's Christian Association, is a past presi- dent of that organization, and was largely instru- mental in raising the funds and in the construction and furnishing of the present splendid building. He is an active member of the Washington Street Con- gregational Church, now holding the office of dea- con. He has an attractive home on Ober street.
JOHN HOOPER GOODWIN, D. D. S .- In pro- fessional circles in Marblehead, Dr. Goodwin is counted among the progressive and successful den- tal surgeons of the day, and his practice, which is constantly widening, is among the leading people of this vicinity. He comes of a family long identified with the development and progress of Essex county, and is a son of William and Rebecca Ann (Stevens) Goodwin, his father for many years one of the lead- ing druggists in Marblehead.
Dr. Goodwin was born in Marblehead, Massachu- setts, August 10, 1878. His early education was gained in the public schools of his native place, and having chosen his field of professional endeavor, he entered the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the class of 1902, with the de- gree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Within the year
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ESSEX COUNTY
he entered upon the practice of his profession in Marblehead, and has continued until the present time, developing an extensive and lucrative prac- tice, and still being thus engaged. Dr. Goodwin en- joys excellent standing in the profession, is a mem- ber of the Northeastern Massachusetts Dental So- ciety, the Essex Dental Society and the Lynn Den- tal Society. Fraternally, he holds membership in Philanthropic Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and Atlantic Lodge, No. 55, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Delta Sigma Delta fraternity. Politically, Dr. Goodwin endorses the principles and policies of the Republican party, although he has never sought public honors. He is affiliated with St. Michael's Episcopal Church.
Dr. Goodwin married, April 26, 1905, in Marble- head, Maria Power Knowland, daughter of William Crowninshield and Miriam Girdler (Power) Know- land. Dr. and Mrs. Goodwin have two sons: John H., Jr., born May 3, 1906; William Knowland, born August 23, 1908.
HERMAN H. PETZOLD-Among the younger generation of business men in Lawrence, Massachu- setts, and one who has already made a name for himself in his particular line of business which might well be the envy of a much older man, is Herman H. Petzold, architect. He is the son of Emil and Minnie Petzold, the former now retired from active business life. .
Herman H. Petzold was born in Lawrence, Mas- sachusetts, May 25, 1893. He was educated in the schools of his native city and district. Having in the meantime decided to become an architect, he de- voted himself to study along this line, and was sub- sequently employed as draftsman in offices of local architects for five years following. In May, 1915, he opened offices on his own account, and thus con- tinued successfully until February, 1918, when he enlisted in the United States Army. He was first sent to Camp Devens, and later to Camp Upton, where he remained for one month, when he became attached to Company E, 305th Regiment of the Sev- enty-seventh Division, and was sent overseas, where he took part in most of the important engagements until September 25, 1918, when he was severely wounded by five machine gun bullets which went through his right knee, severing the lower part of the leg from the rest of the body. He was captured and sent to a German hospital in Brussels, and later to Trevess, where he was released on December 11, 1918. He arrived in this country, April 14, 1919, and was discharged from the Walter Reed Hos- pital, Washington, D. C., October 25, 1919. Return- ing to Lawrence, Massachusetts, immediately, he lost no time in re-establishing himself in his chosen profession, and on November 1, 1919, was again at work. Mr. Petzold also teaches mechanical draw- ing in the Lawrence High School evenings. He affiliates with Grecian Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the American Legion; and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Mr. Petzold married, September 28, 1921, Ellen
Alberta Bowden, born in Kittery, Maine, daughter of Albert Ellsworth and Georgia May (Fernald) Bowden. They reside at No. 2 Milk street, Methuen, Massachusetts.
JOHN GILL-The Gills of this review are an English family of long standing, but seated in Salem, Massachusetts, since 1912, where John Gill is now president and general superintendent of the Gill Leather Company. Like his father and grand- father, Mr. Gill has been in the leather trade from boyhood, he having been actively connected with tanneries in England, India, and the United States.
Mr. Gill was born in Wrexham, England, January 3, 1876, and was there educated in the public schools. He entered the leather trade as an ap- prentice with the firm of J. Meredith Jones & Sons, Wrexham, England, a company that started manu- facturing leather in the year 1775. It was in this factory that the first roller leather used in cotton spinning was made, more than one hundred years ago, for Sir Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the first cotton spinning machine, and it was here that Mr. Gill laid the foundation of his knowledge of roller leather manufacturing, a branch of the trade in which he specializes today. Beginning in the pullery, he steadily advanced through every de- partment, finally attaining the position of factory superintendent; studying also the technical side of leather manufacturing, he became, after a series of examinations, an associate of the International As- sociation of Leather Trade Chemists. In 1909 Mr. Gill was offered and accepted the general superin- tendency of a shoe factory and tannery in India. He remained there three years, re-organizing the factories and teaching the natives more modern and up-to-date methods of leather manufacture, himself gaining valuable knowledge and having many un- usual and interesting experiences while a resident in that country.
After leaving India, Mr. Giill entered the United States, locating in Salem, Massachusetts, which is yet (1922) his home and the seat of his business. His first position in Salem was with the Helburn Thompson Company. He introduced and made a success of the manufacture of roller leather in that company-having entire control of the department. While connected with this company, Mr. Gill made a trip around the world in their interests, visiting Japan, Korea, China, Malaya, India, Egypt and Europe. Resigning his position in the above com- pany in January, 1920, Mr. Gill, together with Mr. Hall and Mr. Max Weinfeld, formed the Gill & Hall .Company, Leather Manufacturers, Salem, Massachu- setts. In November 1921, Mr. Gill and Mr. Hall took over Mr. Weinfeld's stock in the company and continued in business together until September, 1922, when the company was dissolved, Mr. Gill taking over the factory and all the assets and forming a new company known as the Gill Leather Company, of Salem, Massachusetts.
Mr. Gill married, in 1902, Maud Jones, of Wrex- ham, England. They have four children: Theresa M., John E., Maud J., and Mona C. Gill.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
CHARLES HORATIO CUNNINGHAM-In the construction world of Essex county the firm name of C. H. Cunningham & Son Company stands for high achievement in this field of endeavor, and Charles H. Cunningham, now the president and manager of the concern, is one of the leaders in the group of younger men who are identified with the physical progress and growth of the city of Lynn.
Mr. Cunningham was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, September 13, 1893, and is a son of Charles Sumner and Carrie E. Cunningham, former- ly of Hillsborough, but for the last twenty-three years residents of Lynn. The family removing to Lynn when Mr. Cunningham was a child of five years, it was in the public and grammar schools of this city that he received his early education, later becoming a graduate of Burdett College and also spending two years at Colby Academy. Mean- while the elder Mr. Cunningham had founded and brought to a high point of efficiency the present business in contracting and building, and when the younger man became twenty years of age he became associated with the concern, beginning at the bottom, as a brick mason, and gaining practical experience in every branch of the business for which hi technical training had fitted him. Three years later he was made president of the concern and manager of its affairs, his father retiring from his active management of the business. The high standards which have always embodied the poli- cies of the house have been carried forward with its progress since, and Mr. Cunningham stands among the leaders in the business. A few of the many noteworthy structures which have gone up under his hand are the Security Trust building, the Branch Bank of Lynn, and the Peabody High School.
Mr. Cunningham is broadly interested in every phase of advance, but has little leisure outside his business and takes no leading part in public affairs. He holds the thirty-second degree in the Masonic order. On June 20, 1916, Mr. Cunningham married Mildred J. Johnson, daughter of Edward Johnson, of Pittsfield, New Hampshire, and granddaughter of Clarence Johnson, who for many years was chief clerk of the United States Senate at Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham have one little daughter, Pauline Eva, born April 20, 1918.
RICHARD BARRY-Many citizens of Peabody, Massachusetts, recall with the most sincere regret, the passingof Richard Barry, who, in both busi- ness enterprise and public endeavor, was a man of great mental stature one of those men whom no community can afford to lose, whose place may be taken, but cannot be filled.
Mr. Barry was a son of Patrick and Mary (Keefe) Barry, natives of County Cork, Ireland, sturdy pio- neers of the late sixties, no less adventurous than those of an earlier day, who came to the Land of Opportunity to build a home for their children.
Patrick Barry was a leather worker, and while never gaining great wealth, he left to his children the nobler heritage of mental capacity and spiritual power. Of his three sons, John, James and Rich- ard, only James is now living.
Richard Barry was born in County Cork, Ireland, on January 9, 1859, and died at Peabody, Massa- chusetts, on November 27, 1909. Gaining a limited education in the National schools of his native land, the boy came to America with his brothers, John and James Barry, all joining their parents who had preceded them to prepare for their coming. Richard had little opportunity to enjoy the advantages of further formal education, but he was a student by nature, and every phase of life was to him an open book, with lessons of value on every page. He learned the leather business with his father, and became identified with the production of the finest grades of leather and morocco. He was for many years employed in the morocco leather business of the Pembertons, whom he later succeeded in the business.
Beginning the manufacture of leathers on his own account, Mr. Barry purchased what was known as the Daniel Woodbury Morocco plant, and enlarged it to suit the requirements of his plans. He organ- ized the George & Barry Company, of which he was president. The magnificent success which he achieved was built upon the stable foundations of honor and integrity. Mr. Barry believed in a "square deal," and no man approached him with any business matter without finding him open- minded and eminently fair. His success was never gained over another's defeat, but rather through the perspicacity and rare judgment which were dis- tinguishing characteristics of the man. He was fearless to advance, once his conclusions were reached, but they were never reached by guess- work. He would often decide like a flash, but only when familiar with the ground and certain of his premises. Up to the last, even to the day before his death, Mr. Barry gave his personal attention to his extensive business interests. For several months his health had been less vigorous than usual, but the end was not anticipated so soon, and it was a great shock to the people of Peabody, and especially to the factory force throughout all the depart- ments, when the message of his death was re- ceived.
Outside his individual interests Mr. Barry had long borne an active part in the interests of the town of Peabody. In the nature of the case a man of his ability would be sought for different offices of the public trust, and of benevolent endeavor, and it is entirely possible that if he had spared himself in the many services he rendered the pub- lic, he would have been among his friends longer.
Mr. Barry took an active interest in the public affairs of the town of Peabody, and for many years was a member of the Committee on Finance. His voice was always on the side of economy in the conduct of its affairs, so far as economy was con- structive, rather than penurious. He was the chair-
Essex-2-8
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man of this committee for a number of years. He was considered a force for progress in the financial world of Peabody, and was elected a director of the Warren National Bank, which office he still held at the time of his death.
In his personal benevolences Mr. Barry was broadly liberal, although the story would never have been made public through his own declarations. He was particularly interested in the young men of his acquaintance, and to him many young men owe the privilege of a college education. He early espoused the temperance cause, and when a young man enrolled himself as a total abstainer. He join- ed the St. John's Catholic Total Abstinence Asso- ciation in 1875, was at one time its president, and for sixteen years was its treasurer.
Mr. Barry was a charter member of the John Bertram Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Salem; a member of Division 11, Ancient Order of Hibernians, of Peabody; of Verague Council, Knights of Columbus, of Salem, later being trans- ferred to Leo Council, of Peabody. He was an in- fluential member of the Essex Institute. Mr. Barry was a devout Catholic, and a consistent member of St. John's Church, of Peabody.
On November 26, 1884, Mr. Barry married Han- nah J. Sullivan,, daughter of William and Mary (O'Connell) Sullivan, and they were the parents of five children: Mary Agnes; James Joseph, who married Grace M. Gannon; Ellen; William Richard, and Alice Louise. The oldest daughter, Mary Agnes Barry, was graduated first from the Pea- body High School, then, later, took a Normal course at Burdett College, at Lynn, and Simmons College, Boston, and is now a teacher in the Commercial Department of the Sharon (Massachusetts) High School. The elder son, James Joseph Barry, is a graduate of the Peabody High School, and the Sa- lem Commercial School, and is now on the office force of the Salem Gas Company. The second daughter, Ellen, died at three years of age. The younger son, William Richard Barry, is a graduate of the Peabody High School, and also of St. John's Preparatory College, at Danvers, Massachusetts, and also of the Georgetown University, at Wash- ington, District of Columbia, from which latter in- stitution he was graduated in the class of 1918. He was on the faculty of St. John's College as professor of English, French, Church History, and also Secular History; he is now sub-master at Salem High School. He married, on April 21, 1919, Grace Emily Hewitt, daughter of Frederick and Adelina (Henneick) Hewitt, of Washington, District of Columbia. They have an infant daughter, Grace Patricia, born on March 4, 1920, and a son, Rich- ard Hewitt, born August 1, 1921. The youngest daughter, Alice Louise, is a graduate of Peabody High School, and Trinity College for Women, at Washington, District of Columbia, and is now teach- ing at Peabody High School.
With his family about him, and the business career in which he had been so successful at its height, there was a peculiar sadness in the death
of this man of many interests and of innumerable good deeds. His loss is one which will long be felt among his associates in every branch of endeavor which claimed his attention. Mr. Barry departed this life on November 30, 1909. In the Salem "News" of November 80, the Tuesday following, a memorial by a close friend was published, signed only by the initials, T. P. F .:
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