USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 2
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JEREMIAH JOSEPH DOHERTY-One of the foremost men in the legal profession in Essex county, Massachusetts, is Jeremiah Joseph (J. Joseph) Doherty, long prominent in many lines of activity, and now clerk of the District Court of Southern Essex.
Mr. Doherty is a son of Jeremiah Doherty, a sturdy eighteenth century pioneer, of Irish birth, who bore a noble part in the history of his adopt- ed country. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and came to this country about 1850, lo- cating in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he was employed in the mills. In 1863 he enlisted in Company B, Fourth United States Volunteer Heavy Artillery, and served to the end of the war. He was an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 5, of Lynn, Massa- chusetts, and was a member of St. Mary's Church, of Lynn; he died in 1893. He married Margaret E. Landrigan, who was born in Tipperary, Ireland, and died in 1914. They were the parents of a daughter and two sons: Mary E., now deceased; Jeremiah Joseph, whose name heads this review; and Thomas A., a prominent dentist of Lynn, Massachusetts, popular in social and club circles, single, and a member of the Knights of Colum- bus.
Jeremiah Joseph Doherty was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on January 11, 1878. Gaining his early education in St. Mary's Parochial School, he was graduated from that institution in 1890. He then entered the Lynn High School, electing the classical course, and was graduated in 1895. Following this, he was, for one year, in the acad- emic department of Harvard University, then entered Boston University Law School, from which he was gradated three years later. Mr. Doherty
was admitted to the Essex county bar in Feb- rnary, 1900, beginning the practice of law im- mediately thereafter. He was most successful from the beginning, and in 1906 was appointed assistant clerk of the Lynn Police Court, now the District Court of Southern Essex. In 1911 Mr. Doherty was appointed by Governor Foss clerk of this court, and was re-appointed to the same office in 1916 by Governor Coolidge. He still ably fills this exacting office.
In public life Mr. Doherty is thus a prominent figure, but although a leader of the Republican party in this county, he is far from being a politician. During the World War he served as secretary of the Local Draft Board, No. 1, for a period of nineteen months.
In various activities Mr. Doherty is a well known figure. He is an influential member of the Essex County Bar Association, and is secre- tary of the Lynn Bar Association. He is a mem- ber of the Lynn Republican Club, and also of the Essex Republican Club. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and an active worker for the interest of the order; also a member of the Harvard Club, of Lynn.
Mr. Doherty married (first) Josephine V. Connor, daughter of Dennis Connor, of Revere, Massachu- setts, who died on April 3, 1914. He married (sec- ond) on October 19, 1919, Mrs. Nora G. Whalen, widow of Thomas F. Whalen. Mrs. Doherty was born in Boston, on January 6, 1886, and is a daughter of Timothy and Nora (Mara) Sullivan, her parents having been born in Ireland. Mrs. Nora G. (Whalen) Doherty is the mother of four children: Mary M., Thomas F., Genevieve R., and Helena C. Whalen. The family are members of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, of Lynn.
ANDREW J. SWEETSER - The surname Sweetser is identical with Swetser and Switzer, both of which are still in use by various branches of the family. Concerning the origin of the name, Lower suggests that it was applied by the English to natives of Switzerland. The term was used especially for the foreign soldiers imported into England for use in the various wars, and in gen- eral came to be used for a mercenary soldier. This, however, was a later development, for the name was in use in England long before mer- cenaries in any number were brought into the kingdom. In the Close Rolls of the twenty-ninth year of the regn of Edward III. we find the entry "Richard Swetesire." The name is not a common one either in England or America, and the family is not numerous.
The New England Sweetsers and their branches throughout the United States descend from one progenitor, Seth Sweetser, who was admitted an inhabitant at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the year 1637. Seth Sweetser, the immigrant ancestor and founder, was born in 1606, and emigrated to the New England colonies from Tring, in Hertford- shire, a place thirty miles distant from London. He settled in Charlestown in 1637, and was ad-
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mitted to the church there, January 8, 1638. On March 14, 1638-39, he became a freeman. He was a shoemaker by trade. A letter from his cousin, Daniel Field, dated at Tring, May 10, 1642, has been preserved. It mentions his cousin Crane, father Lake, Aunt Hoten, his brothers, and sister Elis. It notifies him that he was to receive a butt of leather for which he was to pay ten pounds to Thomas Welch or Goodman Fowler; it also conveys messages of love to William Phil- lips and his wife. Seth Sweetser made a deed of gift to his son, Benjamin Sweetser, in 1660, and died May 27, 1662, aged fifty-six years. His will was signed May 24, 1662, and proved June 17 fol- lowing. He bequeathed to wife Elizabeth, daugh- ter Sarah, son Samuel Blanchard and his wife Mary, daughter Hannah Fitch, and to his wife's three children by an earlier marriage. His son, Benjamin Sweetser, and Edward Drinker, were ex- ecutors; Mr. Richard Russell and "my brother Thomas Gold" overseers. His first wife Bethia was admitted to the church, September 9, 1639. He married (second), April, 1661, Elizabeth Oakes, widow of Thomas Oakes, of Cambridge. His widow married (third) Samuel Hayward. Seth Sweetser left only one son to perpetuate the name.
Benjamin Sweetser, son of Seth and Bethia Sweetser, was born in Tring, England, about 1632, and died July 22, 1718, in Charlestown, where he settled with his parents in early childhood. He inherited his father's homestead, and followed the trade of last-maker in Charlestown. He was a prominent Baptist at the time that denomination was being oppressed by the Puritans, and was fined fifty pounds and imprisoned for his re- ligious views. His will, dated May 5, 1716, was proved August 12, 1718. He married Abigail Wigglesworth, born 1632, died July 22, 1718, aged eighty-six years, according to her gravestone. From Benjamin Sweetser and his wife are de- scended all of the name in New England today who trace their ancestry to the Colonial period. In successive generations the family has produced many men of considerable prominence in business, financial and professional life in New England.
Moses Mansfield Sweetser, of Lynn, Massa- chusetts, founder of a well known tobacco busi- ness, and a well known figure in mercantile circles in Lynn in the last half of the nineteenth century, was a lineal descendant of Benjamin Sweetser, above mentioned. He was born at Sweetser Cor- ner (named for the family, which has been set- tled in that vicinity for generations), Cliftondale, Massachusetts, March 20, 1801, and died in Lynn, aged seventy-three years. He was educated in the public schools of Cliftondale, and began his business career in Lynn, with which city he was identified until his death. In 1861, Mr. Sweetser established himself in the tobacco business. The venture proved highly successful and he conducted it with lucrative returns for several years, even- tually disposing of his interests to the Perry Lorrillard Tobacco Company. He was the inven-
tor of the Macaboy snuff boxes.
Mr. Sweetser was widely known throughout Lynn, and was a vital influence in religious circles in the city for many years. For a long period he was a leading layman in the Methodist church, preaching on occasions. He was an able public speaker, forceful, eloquent, and thoroughly well informed. It was largely through his activities in the matter that Brigham Young was driven out of Salem. Although he lent his support un- stintedly to every movement to advance civic wel- fare, he remained aloof from politics, and was in no sense of the word an office-seeker. In later life he became deeply interested in spiritualism, and was active in research in this field, and for many years was president of the Spiritualist church.
In 1821, Moses M. Sweetser married, in Lynn, Mary Reed Dixon, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Reed) Dixon, member of a prominent old New England family. She died at the age of forty- seven years. Issue: 1. Moses, born 1823. 2. Wil- liam Henry, born 1824. 3. Alonzo, born 1827. 4. Mary Reed, born 1828. 5. Elizabeth R., born 1830. 6. Andrew Jackson, of whom further. 7. Frances D., born 1833. 8. Annie M, born 1835. 9. Harriet A. 10. Clarissa C., born 1838; married Charles Jeffrey, whom she survives, and resides at No. 174 Broadway, Lynn, (see following sketch). 11. George W., born 1840. 12. Henrietta, born 1842. All the children, with the exceptions of Clarissa C. and Andrew Jackson are now deceased.
Andrew Jackson Sweetser, fourth son and sixth child of Moses Mansfield and Mary Reed (Dixon) Sweetser, was born in North Salem, Massacli- setts, March 10, 1831. He obtained his early edu- cational training in the public schools of his birthplace, and as a young man entered the hotel business, which he followed with uniform success in various parts of the country for many years. Mr. Sweetser now lives retired in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, at the ripe old age of ninety years. His personal qualifications for the work he followed for so long were the determining factors of his prosperous continuance therein. Professional en- tertainment came naturally to him and the guests of his establishments never failed to return when circumstances brought them again to the vicinity. The charm of his cordial manner and his sincere anxiety for the comfort and satisfaction of his patrons attracted a generous clientele, and in the course of his business life he made many firm friends among the thousands of men in all walks of life who came under his roof. There is no business in which the personal equation is more prominent than in hotel keeping, and the open secret of Mr. Sweetser's popularity and success in his calling was the pleasant atmosphere of welcome that pervaded his establishments, an at- mosphere that came from his genial, kindly pres- ence. Mr. Sweetser is a Spiritualist in religious belief, strong in the faith that was his father's.
Mr. Sweetser married (second) in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, in 1883, Pauline W. Waldron, daughter
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of Charles H. Waldron. They are the parents of one son, Charles H., who is a Spiritualistic me- dium. The family home is at No. 426 Broadway, Lynn.
CHARLES JEFFREY-The life work of Charles Jeffrey, performed in the last half of the nine- teenth century, can be summed up in the state- ment that he met every obligation, shirked no duty, and returned a good account of his steward- ship. What makes this record of interest and im- portance is not his material accomplishments, but the spirit that animated him in all of his effort, the influence for good that he exerted upon the large circle of his friends. He labored in produc- tive, essential fields, and throughout the seventy- five years of his life walked among his fellows in virtue and honor, a man among men, upright and respected.
Son of John and Mary (Larabee) Jeffrey, Charles Jeffrey, was born on the old Turnpike, now East- ern avenue, Lynn, Massachusetts, March 15, 1820, and died in that city, June 29, 1895. John Jeff- rey was a farmer and later in life became a shoe- maker, continuing active in that calling during the days of hand-made boots and shoes. Their chil- dren were: John, Samuel, Frank, William, Mehit- able, Mary, Joseph, and Charles, of whom fur- ther.
Charles Jeffrey enjoyed few of the educational advantages that the average youth born into his station of life considers his by right today, at- tending school only during the winter months and becoming a bread-winner at the early age of seven years. At this time he worked on his father's' farm during the summer, and in the shops of Lynn when there was no need for farm labor at home. The hardships of his lot did little but to crystallize his determination to take advantage of whatever opportunities for self- improvement came his way, and in his later years he had so far made up for the handicap of earlier years that there were few men whose store of useful knowledge was more complete and exact. He continued work on the farm and in the shops until his marriage, when he devoted himself more closely to truck farming, a line in which his industry and fair dealing won him a generous measure of success. He was a Republican in political sympathy, but his home and his business were his principal interests, and depite the fact that his standing in the community would have assured him of heavy support he consistently held aloof from public office.
Mr. Jeffrey married, in 1860, Clarissa C. Sweet- ser, born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1838, daugh- ter of Moses M. and Mary R. (Dixon) Sweetser, (see preceding sketch). Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Jeffrey has continued her residence at the home at No. 430 Broadway, Lynn, the scene of their ideal companionship of so many years. Mrs. Jeffrey and her brother, Andrew J. Sweet- ser, are the only survivors of a family of six sons and six daughters.
This is the period when all the world looks to New England, and when New England herself pays tribute to the human elements that have made her great. Fitting and proper is it to look back to the Pilgrim and Puritan fathers and to recognize anew their gift to humanity. But had the torch that they lighted not been carefully watched by the generations that followed, had not fuel of patriotism, conscience, high-minded endeavor been supplied in abundance, the goodly heritage would have been lost. It is the lives of such men as Charles Jeffrey, substantial, law- abiding, progressive-minded citizens, that
have provided the medium through which the benefits of the courage and exalted ideals of yester-year have been transmitted to the present.
CHARLES N. KELLY-Through long affilia- tion with the city of Haverhill, Mr. Kelly has become widely known and there he is deeply ap- preciated for his public spirit. Throughout his career he has been an ardent exponent of the trade slogan, "Hitch your heart to Haverhill,"" and both his private and his public activities have been characterized by farsighted vision and sound judgment. He has grown from a small beginning to his present position, and has long been active in the movement tending towards city betterment, his administration as president of the Chamber of Commerce one of the most gratifying the cham- ber has to recall. He is a man of ready initiative, genial and companionable, making friends easily and naturally.
Mr. Kelly comes of the oldest Kelly stock in the United States, the original settlers having landed at Newbury, (now Rowley) Massachusetts, where they founded a permanent home, although later generations have scattered to many parts of the country. He is a son of Prescott and Mary Jane (Austin) Kelly, his father a successful farmer and lumberman. The family is of English origin.
Charles N. Kelly was born in Salem, New Hampshire, July 24, 1854, there was educated in the public schools, and there spent the first twenty years of his life. In 1874, he located in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he later became a member of the firm, Kelly Brothers, contractors and builders. He has, during the more than four decades of Haverhill residence. successfully man- aged several lines of business through his con- tracting operations, and was the first president of the Haverhill Master Builders' Association, or- ganized in 1916. This organization led to closer relationship between the different building firms and the benefits have been far-reaching.
Mr. Kelly has always been a public-spirited citizen, serving in many capacities in public life. He was elected president of the Chamber of Com- merce in 1918, serving as chief executive of this organization for two years. He has served as a member of its board of directors and its various committees at different times since 1902, and re- cently rendered valuable service as a member of the transportation and bridge committees of the
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Chamber. Under the old form of government, Mr. Kelly was alderman in 1886 for a term of one year, and subsequently served as couneilman for two terms. He was also a member of the Board of Water Commissioners when that department was first taken over by the eity. He is a direc- tor of the Haverhill National Bank, and a trus- tee of the Haverhill Savings Bank. During the World War period, 1917-18, he acted as chair- man of the finance committee of the Haverhill chapter of the Red Cross, and aided in all forms of war work possible. Politically holding inde- pendent convietions, he has brought to those pub- lie offices to which he has been called the im- partial spirit which counts for the public good rather than for any party advantage. His more personal interests include membership in all the Masonic bodies of Haverhill, in the Pawtucket Club and the Rotary Club. He is a member of the Universalist church, of Haverhill, and very active in its work, being trustee of the Boys' Club of the church.
On July 12, 1922, Governor Channing Cox ap- pointed Edmund C. Wentworth and Charles N. Kelly as members of the special commission to have charge of the construction of the new Haver- hill bridge. Under the act of the Legislature, two citizens of Essex county were to be named by the governor to serve with the members of the county commission as a special bridge commission. The bill did not stipulate that the appointees should be residents of Haverhill, although both are.
Nr. Kelly married, in 1900, in Dover, New Hampshire, Lydia Abie Laskey, daughter of Lewis B. and - (Tuttle) Laskey, of Dover. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly are the parents of six ehil- dren: Natenis, John A., Ruth, George, Barbara and Jeanette. The family home is in Ipswich.
DR. ALFRED PRESTON BOWEN, one of Lynn's leading physicians, was born in that eity, April 21, 1877, and is a son of Joseph Herbert and Caroline Ray (Browne) Bowen. The doc- tor's father was born in Lynn, and his mother in Peabody. Both died in Lynn, in 1902.
Receiving his early education in the public schools of Lynn, Dr. Bowen, as a young man, was graduated from the English Higli School, then pursued his professional studies at Harvard University, from which he was graduated in the elass of 1899. Dr. Bowen is one of the eighteen original members who organized the Lynn Hos- pital, and is still connected with that institution. He has built up an extensive general practice in the eity and vicinity.
ERNEST G. MITCHELL, formerly president of the State National Bank of Lynn, Massachu- setts, was born in that city July 26, 1881. son of Eben A. and Annie J. (Philips) Mitchell. He was educated in the public schools, and the Hoyt School, and his first occupation in the business world was as a clerk in the National Security
Bank, now the Security Trust Company, remain- ing there for sixteen years, and during the last seven years of this period was manager of the branch of the Security Trust Company at West Lynn. Mr. Mitchell was next associated with the State National Bank, as cashier, and on June 1, 1918, was appointed treasurer of this institution, of which later he was president, being appointed January 11, 1921. This institution is now out of business.
Mr. Mitehell is very active fraternally, and is a member of the lodge, chapter, couneil and com- mandery of the Masonic order; Scottish Rite; Lodge of Perfection; Princes of Jerusalem; Rose Croix; Massachusetts Consistory; and Aleppo Temple. His clubs are: Oxford Club; Homestead Golf Club; Tedesco Club, and the Pen Dragon Club.
Mr. Mitchell married, April 30, 1904, Elizabeth Victoria Carter Ritchy, daughter of Harry and Helena (Carter) Ritchy, and they are the par- ents of a son, Stuart, born March 30, 1906, and a daughter, Dorothy E., born May 10, 1910. With his family, Mr. Mitchell attends the Unitarian church.
OSCAR A. MARTIN, manufacturer, head of the O. A. Martin Wood Heel Company, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and treasurer of the shoe manu- facturing firm of Martin & Daurier, was born in Salem, New Hampshire, July 16, 1862, the son of Nehemiah and Gustie (Davis) Martin. His father, who died in 1909 at Haverhill, was for the greater part of his life connected with the lumber industry of New Hampshire and Maine, and the Davis family, from which his mother eame, was of Nottingham, New Hampshire.
Oscar A. Martin was not far advanced in boy- hood when the family came to Haverhill, so his schooling, in consequence, was obtained in the public schools of Salem and Haverhill. He elosed his school days in the latter place, then began to work for Goodrich & Porter, of Haverhill. He remained in their employ for eight years, and for ten years, thereafter, was agent for the Ross Heel Company. At the end of that time he de- eided to enter into business for himself, seeing an opportunity in the manufacture of wood heels for the Massachusetts shoe industry. He estab- lished the O. A. Martin Wood Heel Company, of Haverhill, and opened a manufacturing plant at No. 22 Washington street. In the course of time, expansion of his business made it necessary for him to open another factory, which he did, at Georgetown. His present plant is in the new Schmidt building, on Washington street, Haverhill. where he has capacity for the manufacture of 2,400 dozen wood heels a day. Mr. Martin is also one of the principals of a shoe manufacturing busi- ness, that of Martin & Daurier, makers of high- grade ladies' shoes; he is treasurer of that com- pany, the factory of which is situated at No. 60 Wingate street, Haverhill.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Junior
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Order United American Mechanics; socially, be be- longs to the Pentucket Club, and religiously he is an Episcopalian, a member of Grace Church.
Mr. Martin married, in 1882, Mary Sanderson, daughter of George W. and Abigail (Warner) San- derson. Her father, a clergyman, was pastor of a Dover, New Hampshire church, and that was the home town of the mother and their daughter, Mrs. Martin. Later, the Rev. Sanderson was for many years at Watertown.
JOHN REILLEY HAVERTY is one of the steadily advancing lawyers of the younger set of Lawrence, Massachusetts. His growing success in his chosen profession occassions no surprise with those who know his sterling character and re- markable .powers. His cleverness and wit, his skill in argument, the tenacity with which he holds fast to a stand he has taken, his thorough ground- ing in the law, with his strict integrity and loyalty to client and friend, make him of the highest type in the legal profession, and only the future years can tell how far and fast he will travel along the road he has chosen.
Patrick G. Haverty, father of John R. Haverty, was a native of Andover, Massachusetts, having first seen the light of day there in 1859. He early removed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where for more than a third of a century he was a master blacksmith. He died in 1915. The mother, for- merly Elizabeth Martha Connolly, was also of Andover, born 1861, and now living in Lawrence. She is a daughter of John T. Connolly, a native of County Cork, Ireland, emigrated to America and located in South Andover, Massachusetts. where he became a well known general contrac- tor. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1861, and served for a period of about three years. He had quite a reputation as a writer of songs, both words and music, especially songs for the vaude- ville stage and labor songs. He was known as a promoter of amateur theatricals thirty-five years ago in Lawrence and the surrounding country. He married Eliza Williamson, a native of Andover, Massachusetts, daughter of Frank Williamson, a native of County Cork, Ireland.
John Reilley Haverty is of Lawrence birth, born March 3, 1893, and received the elements of his education in the graded schools of the city, gradu- ating from High School with the class of 1912. Entering the Catholic University of Washington, D. C., he spent three years, going from there to Georgetown University, from which he was grad- uated LL.B. in 1916, then to Boston University, where he was graduated with the degree of Master of Laws in 1917. Admittance to the bar at Boston came the same year. He is now a member of the Lawrence Bar Association. With this thorough preparation and recognized ability, his association in law practice was much sought and he finally settled upon the office of John C. Sanborn, a very eminent lawyer of the city, who died in 1920, as the seat of his legal operations. With the death of his associate he established other con-
nections, and in 1920 became one of the firm of Mahoney, Haverty & Carey, conducting a general law practice, with offices in the Bay State build- ing.
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