USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 28
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(Drolet) Bishop, of Sorell, Canada. They were married in Canada, and there for some years afterwards Salaime Bishop followed his trade, carpentry. Their children were: William; Alexander; Edward; Louise; Annie; Josephine; and Charles H., of whom further.
Before the birth of Charles H. Bishop the family had moved into the United States and settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in which city the boy was educated. He attended the public schools, and after his schooldays were over, began the serious work of life as a tele- graph messenger in the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company. For a year he filled this position, receiving a salary of $3.00 a week. At the end of that time he was able to find better-paid employment with the Spaulding Company, of Haverhill. He served that company for a year, and for a similar period was in the employ of the Griffin Brothers Shoe Company, of Haver- hill. For three years, thereafter, he was connected with the N. S. Chase & Son Shoe Company, of Haverhill, then followed a period of service in an altogether dif- ferent line of business that of catering. He was with the Hunt Corporation, restaurant owners, for seven years, and after leaving that company was connected with Fred Cook, in the same line, for six months, and for a short while was working in the Life Saving Café. Next he is found with a restaurant of his own at Salis- bury Beach. He conducted it during the summer months, and then returned to Haverhill, and for the next eighteen months was connected with the Savoy Hotel, of Haverhill. For a further five years he worked in the Life Saving Café, and then again went into inde- pendent business. He now has two good restaurants, and is prospering. He was one of the organizers of the Gelinas Wood Heel Company, of Merrimac, and is its president.
Mr. Bishop is a member of the Roman Catholic church, attending the Church of the Nativity at Merri- mac; he belongs to the Catholic Order of Foresters, Court St. Joseph. Also, he is a member of the Oxford Club, of Merrimac.
Mr. Bishop married, September 20, 1910, at Haver- hill, Marion A. Roberge, born in Sherbrooke, Canada, May 10, 1882, daughter of Louis and Celine (Germaine) Roberge, the former a carpenter by trade, and of French- Canadian antecedents.
JAMES H. WALKER-One of the oldest indus- tries of Essex county, Massachusetts, the Walker Body Company, was founded in 1898 by George Walker, Sr., father of the present head of the company, and its original purpose was for the manufacture of carriages. Two years later the Stevens plant at Merrimac, Massa- chusetts, engaged in a similar line of manufacture, was purchased, and the Amesbury plant was moved to that town. With the advent of the automobile and other changes, the business was gradually changed to the manufacture of automobile bodies, and in 1911 a branch was again established in Amesbury. Two years later this part of the business was incorporated under the name of the Walker-Wells Company, the corporators being: George Walker, Sr., Harlan P. Wells, James H. Walker, Henry Miller. With the passing of the years the business has expanded to a large extent and there are now four plants located in Amesbury, the
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ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
Patrick breedow
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scene of the original start, and the Merrimac plant has been consolidated with the plant in Amesbury. At the present time the line of manufacture includes automobile bodies and accessories, the latter being principally metal stampings. The floor space covered by the plants is four hundred thousand square feet, and the business gives employment to eight hundred men.
James H. Walker, son of George and Georgina (Hume) Walker, was born at Amesbury, August 24, 1872. He was educated in the public schools there and the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College at Boston. Soon after leaving school Mr. Walker became asso- ciated with his father in the carriage business, continuing with the company until the incorporation in 1913, at which time he was one of the corporators.
Mr. Walker has also taken a keen interest in public inatters, and as a member of the Republican party, he represented that party's interests in the Massachusetts State Senate during the term 1905-1906. He is a director of the Powow River National Bank of Amesbury, and is interested in the Bryant Body Company, having organ- ized same, in the Amesbury Lamp and Plating Com- pany, and in the Powow Manufacturing Company. He is an attendant at the Main Street Congregational Church. In these relationships he ranks among the foremost and esteemed citizens of Amesbury.
PATRICK CREEDON-In his long and active career in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, Patrick Creedon has filled prominent positions in many branches of endeavor, always constructive, always progressive, and always definitely contributing to the public pros- perity as well as to his own success.
Patrick Creedon was born in County Cork, Ireland, on December 4. 1861, and is a son of John and Nora (Goggin) Creedon. He was educated in the National schools of his native land, and at the age of eighteen years came to America to build his future in the "land of opportunity." He located first at Melrose, Massa- chusetts, where he remained for two years, then spent one year in Stoneham, also in this State. During this time he was interested in various activities, and in 1895 he came to Salem. At the time of the big leather strike he purchased the leather business of Timothy Calla- han, and from that time until the present he has been more or less interested in this line of production, first as a manufacturer, and later in a jobbing way. He has made many trips abroad in connection with this busi- ness, and has a very large following in England. He has established himself so deeply in the confidence of his clientele that if he cables any of his friends that he has a line to offer, they order on the strength of his unsup- ported statement,
At the time of the great fire in Salem, in 1914. Mr. Creedon's plant was wiped out, and since then other interests have so filled his time that he has not con- tinued in the manufacturing branch of the leather busi- ness. After the fire Mr. Creedon at once took a hand in the rebuilding operations which demanded such a vast volume of concerted effort to cope with the situa- tion. He went into the re-inforced concrete business and built many factories and dwellings in the devastated district, also building his own residence. Furthermore, he huilt a large garage, where he now conducts an
important business, and adjoining this structure is the factory occupied by the United Tanning Machine Com- pany.
In his garage business Mr. Creedon has recently developed a wide-reaching interest. On his last trip abroad he found a market for used cars and motorcycles, and will, in future, send them over in large lots. Con- nected with his garage is a machine shop, fully equipped, where he puts these machines in perfect order for ship- ment abroad.
In the public life of the city Mr. Creedon has always taken a deep interest, although he has never been per- suaded to accept public office. He is a staunch sup- porter of the Democratic party, and has long taken a leading part in the progress of the party in this county. Holding as he does a prominent position in various activities, Mr. Creedon may feel a large degree of satis- faction in the fact that he has achieved all by his own unaided efforts.
Mr. Creedon is an influential member of the Knights of Columbus, and is a member of St. James' Roman Catholic Church. He has a brother, Peter, in this coun- try, but his parents are both deceased, his father having died in Ireland, after which the mother crossed the ocean in her old age, and spent her last days with her son Peter.
Mr. Creedon married, in 1894, Mary M. Brophy, of Salem, and they have three children: Frances: Marye; and William.
URDIX L, STAPLES-Among the men, natives of Haverhill, Massachusetts, who have attained their suc- cess within its confines, Urdix L. Staples holds a promi- nent place, Mr. Staples was born February 12, 1883. in Haverhill, son of Edward M. and Arzelia (Glazier) Staples. Edward M. Staples was a building contractor.
Mr. Staples was educated in the public and high schools of Haverhill and subsequently entered business college. His first experience in business was as a clerk with the retail shoe firm of the George T. Evans Com- pany, where he remained for seven years. He then entered the manufacturing end of the business with the F. J. Thompson Company, Inc. He worked upward from an apprentice to superintendent of the plant. After ten years of faithful and industrious service he was made a stockholder of the company, resigning his position in 1919 to become a partner of the Collins Shoe Company, where he continues to the present time.
Mr. Staples is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce of Haverhill, and fraternally is a member of the Masonic order.
Mr. Staples married, in 1905, Myrtle M. Hayes, of Haverhill, and their children are: Robert S., Dorothy H., and Homer L.
ELLSWORTH J. CULLEN was born at East Bos- ton, Massachusetts, in 1890. He was educated in the public schools of East Boston and Somerville and is a graduate of the Somerville High School. He began his career in the business world by entering the service of the Somerville Coal Company. When the Company purchased the Danvers Coal Company, Mr. Cullen became the manager of that branch of the business. Two years later he purchased the business from its new
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owners and began to operate it for himself. He moved to Danvers, Massachusetts, on September 17, 1910, and seven years later took over all of the railroad tracks owned by the firm of Pettengill & Divelly, thus estab- lishing transportation for his supplies of coal by land as well as by tidewater.
The Danvers Coal Company is the oldest business of its kind at Danvers. It was founded nearly one hundred years ago by Nathaniel Merriam, and the landing wharf upon which the coal is unloaded is still known as Mer- riam's wharf. When Nathaniel Merriam retired, the business was purchased by Warren & Hood, who, in turn, sold it to Messrs, Lore and Russell, and from them it passed into the hands of George Russell, and later to the Danvers Coal Company, and thus to Mr. Cullen, who now owns and operates it as the Danvers Coal Company.
Mr. Cullen is a director of the Danvers National Bank, and has been for several years a member of the Danvers Finance Committee. He belongs to the Cath- olic church, and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He is also a member of Salem Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Cullen married Gertrude J. McKenna, and they have two children: George Leo, and Walter Joseph Cullen.
FERDINAND DUPRE-Many have come from Canada to New England seeking their fortune. Ferdi- nand Dupre is one of those who came and found it. Always a man of quick decisions, he never hesitated when opportunity presented itself-he seized it at once. From a worker in a feed store to eminence in many lines and many places is a long distance, yet Mr. Dupre has been over the route, step by step, until now he has valu- able interests in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in Portland, Maine, and in Boston, Massachusetts, in Canada and elsewhere, and is recognized as a leader in business and in civics. His success has not resulted from blind luck, but from the faculty of always being wide awake, of sceing straight and clearly, of deciding promptly, and then pushing ahead with indomitable grit and vigor. He has earned that which he has attained.
His father, Francois Dupre, was a lumberman, land- owner, and farmer in the Province of Quebec, Canada ; his mother, Rosalie Sharon, was of the same province.
Ferdinand Dupre was born on a farm in the Province of Quebec, November 1, 1863. His education came from the lower schools and the high school of his native place. But he was not to be a farmer, so coming from Haver- hill shortly after his fifteenth birthday, he went to work for Joseph Dupre, a relative, as handy boy in a feed and grain house. Soon he came to the turning point where he had to decide whether his life should be spent working for another or as his own boss. What his decision was may be seen in the fact that he soon became a partner in the business in which he had started, and he began to organize or buy other interests, over which he retained control. He created the Haverhill Milling Company, and later branched out into the coal trade with J. & T. Marin, at No. 262 Winter street, Haverhill. In April, 1917, the Haverhill Coal Supply Company was organized, with himself as its manager and director. This in a few years became the largest
concern of its kind in the city, with offices at No. 4 Essex street. This address is also the home of another business of which he is general manager and treasurer, the Broadway Realty Associates, Inc., dealers in real estate and also in all types of insurance. He is general manager and treasurer of the Bay State Brick and Stone Company. Outside of Haverhill he is among other things, part owner of the Lajoie Coal Company, of Lowell, Massachusetts, of which he is president, and a director of the Keystone Coal Company, of Portland, Maine.
His popularity and ready helpfulness have brought him into many organizations other than business enterprises. For twenty-five years he has been a most valued member of the Chamber of Commerce, both in Haverhill and in Boston. It is years since he joined the Grange Society. Some of his clubs are the Wauchesset and Rochambeau. He is also a member of La Societe of St. Jean Baptiste. During the World War, 1917-18, he was one of the hardest workers in the Red Cross drives for funds, to which he subscribed most liberally.
As was natural, Mr. Dupre went to Canada for his bride, where he was married, February 16, 1885, to Her- maide Marin, daughter of Joseph and Adelaide (Val- court) Marin. Of this union came two children : Henry J., born February 29, 1886, who was actively engaged in business with his father when the influenza epidemic of the war period laid its hand on him and he was taken: Eva Josephine, born January 11, 1896, who is now the wife of Dr. Lucien R. Cliaput, of Haverhill. Mr. Dupre and family have been for years connected with St. Joseph's Catholic Church, which has been the recip- ient from his hand of many benefactions.
THURMAN LESLIE, treasurer of Sheridan Bros., Inc., shoe manufacturers, of Haverhill, was born in Dan- vers, January 31, 1884, son of William H. and Mary Me- lissa (Weaver) Leslie, of Danvers. William H. Leslie was a Civil War soldier, member of Company B, 11th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. In later life he was a manufacturer of shoe heels, his plant being in Danvers. He was a Republican for many years, almost from the stirring days just prior to the Civil War when the party came into existence, and he was a good Methodist. He was twice married, five children, all sons, were born to him by his first wife, and his second wife bore him three sons and two daughters. He died in 1885, aged fifty-four years. Mary Melissa (Weaver) Leslie was born at Port George, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Thurman Leslie passed his boyhood mainly in Dan- vers. He attended the public school of Danvers and eventually graduated from the Danvers High School in the class of 1902. Soon thereafter he began his busi- ness career, and was in the employ of Arthur T. Way, of Salem, Massachusetts, for two and a half years, there gaining knowledge of the leather industry. Next he worked for B. N. Moore & Sons. at Pcabody and Bos- ton, for four years, and for eight years thereafter was in the employ of the F. E. Jones Company, of Boston. He left at the end of that time to take connection with The Clapp Tapley Company, of Danvers, shoe manu- facturers, holding that connection until, May, 1920, when he joined William R. Whitney in taking over the busi- ness of Sheridan Brothers, at No. 92 Essex street, Ha-
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verhill. The reorganization was successfully effected and took the trading name of Sheridan Bros., Inc., of which Mr. William R. Whitney became president, and Mr. Leslie treasurer. They are still the executives, and in direction of the company which has been well devel- oped, the output of women's shoes (Mckay) being now one thousand pairs a day. The company has 15,000 square feet of floor space in its plant, and finds steady employment for one hundred employees.
Mr. Leslie has not entered much into public affairs, but at one time (1919-20) was a member of the Finance Committee of Danvers. He is a Mason, and at present worshipful master of Mosaic Lodge. He also belongs to the Danvers Masonic Club and to the Boston City Club. By religious preference he is a Methodist, mem- ber of the Danvers Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Leslie married, December 18, 1911, at Danvers, Massachusetts, Helen D. Smart, born there in 1885, daughter of Willis E. and Ida M. (Webster) Smart, the former a grocer. Mr. and Mrs. Leslie have two children: Harding Bruce, born April 13, 1917; and Hugh Dearborn, born December 20, 1920.
WILLIAM GEORGE NICOL TYRIE was born in Scotland, July 31, 1883, and is a son of David and Helen ( Malcolm) Tyrie, who were both natives of Scotland. Mr. Tyrie's father is a reed and comb maker.
Mr. Tyrie was educated in the schools of Scotland. He began his business career by spending three and a half years in the factory of Lowson & Company, then deciding to learn the plumbing business, entered the service of David McBeth, as an apprentice. He spent six years in the employment of Mr. McBeth and then, having acquired a thorough knowledge of plumbing, went to the city of Kirriemuir, Scotland, and entered the service of Alexander Reed. In 1907 he came to the United States and settled at Haverhill, where for a year and a half he was associated with the Haverhill House Heating Company. He then entered the service of McAree Brothers, remaining with them until 1913, when he established a business of his own, the Haver- hill Plumbing Company, at No. 28 How street. This business he still directs with entire success. Mr. Tyrie is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Order of Scottish Clans.
Mr. Tyrie married, in 1909, Margaret Steele Nicol, who was born in Scotland, a daughter of James and Rose (Henderson) Nicol, both of whom were natives of Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Tyrie have four sons: David William, who was born in 1911 ; Arthur Armistead, who was born in 1913; James Henderson, who was born in 1916; and Wallace Rolley, born in 1921.
EDWARD L. DUMONT, although young in years, has already attained success in his chosen line of work. Through his own industry and attention to detail he forged ahead and to-day holds a well-deserved place among the business men of Haverhill, Massachusetts. His father, David Dumont, was a native of St. Louis, Canada, where he was engaged in the shoe industry. In those days shoemaking in winter and farming in summer furnished occupations to many men who were thrifty and thus they provided themselves with com-
fort. The children of these parents were accustomed to help in the work after school hours and it was in this way that Edward L. Dumont first realized his incli- nation toward mechanical ability. His mother was Eliz- abeth Manseau, of Haverhill.
Edward L. Dumont was born May 31, 1887, in Haver- hill, Massachusetts, and received his education in the public schools of that city. Soon afterward he learned the machinist's trade at the plant of the Duplessus Machine Company and there he remained for three years. His next place of employment was with the Briggs & Belmer Company, of Haverhill, remaining there a year. An opportunity then presented itself to enter the florist business and this occupation he followed for a year's time. The automobile business was just beginning to expand at this time and Mr. Dumont was quick to appreciate the opportunities offered in this field for a skillful mechanic and for four years he followed garage work. With a thorough knowledge of the mech- anism of the cars, Mr. Dumont sought a position as private driver and after eight years was in a position to enter business on his own account. At this time he bought the J. R. Smith Company, of Haverhill, and has met with success in his venture. Mr. Dumont uses the same firm name which has become synonymous with service.
Mr. Dumont's time is practically all taken in the care of his business, so does not have much leisure for fra- ternal affiliations or public affairs, yet he realizes his duty as a citizen and is always willing to lend his aid whenever called upon. He is a member of the Forest- ers of America, and of St. Jean Baptiste Union.
ERNEST CLARENCE PRESCOTT, now in inde- pendent business in Haverhill, Massachusetts, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, August 22, 1869, son of Alden J. and Lydia A. (Pettingill) Prescott, both of Methuen, Massachusetts, where Josiah Prescott, grandfather of Ernest C. Prescott, was also born. Josiah Prescott, a Baptist, and by trade a farmer and shoemaker, married Mehitable Carlton, and to them were born seven chil- dren, four sons and three daughters, among them Alden J., who was born in January, 1832, and died in 1896. He was also a Baptist, was a Democrat by political prefer- ence, and by occupation also a shoemaker. His wife, Lydia A. (Pettingill) Prescott, bore him three chil- dren: Julia A., born in Salem, New Hampshire, March 4, 1867; Winifred L., born in Salem, New Hampshire; and Ernest C., born in Salem, New Hampshire, August 22, 1869.
The last named was educated in the public schools of Salem, Methuen and Haverhill, in the shoe factories of which places his father at different times was employed, and when his schooldays were over he entered the employ of W. F. and J. A. Blake, of Granite street, Haverhill, as errand boy. He remained with them for five years, latterly as shipping clerk, and at the end of that time felt that he could enter into business for himself. He did so, having a plant at No. 79 Washington street, Haverhill, his branch of the shoe industry being cutting, trimming, and perforating. Later he worked on a gen- eral line of upper leathers, trading as E. C. Prescott. Eventually, he gave up that business and went to South
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Carolina, where he remained for two years, engaged in the turpentine business. He then went to California, remaining for six years, where he established the Wear- well Shoe and Repair Company, and this business is still in existence there. He sold this and then returned to his native State, settling in Haverhill, and for the following two years was connected with J. L. Adams, a leather dealer of Haverhill. In 1916 he resumed his old business, that of leather dealer, and he has quite satisfactorily developed his business at No. 140 Wash- ington street, Haverhill, where he trades as E. C. Pres- cott. Politically, he is a Republican ; he is a member of Masonic bodies, also the Shrine, is a member of the First Baptist Church, of Haverhill; and belongs to the Pentucket Club.
Mr. Prescott married, in 1894, at Haverhill, Maude A. Gregg, who was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, January 26, 1874, daughter of Walter F. and Ellen A. (Spinney) Gregg, of that place, the former a shoe salesman by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Prescott have one child, Pauline Z., born July 29, 1895. She was given a good education, commencing in the elementary school of Haverhill, and including two years of high school in Los Angeles, California, and two years in Haverhill High School, after which she was a student at Mount Ida College, Newtown, New Hampshire, eventually graduating therefrom.
SAMUEL J. DURKEE-One of the prominent utili- tarian business establishments of Lynn, is that of Sam- uel J. Durkee, dry cleaner of rugs, clothing, furs, feathers, and every kind of fabric which requires this method of cleansing or renovation.
Mr. Durkee comes of Nova Scotia stock, and his grandfather, William Henry Durkee, was a farmer, owning extensive lands there, and personally managing his large interests.
Charles William Durkee, Mr. Durkee's father, was a native of Nova Scotia, but came to Essex county, and for many years was prominent in the construction world of this section as a painting contractor, doing business with his partner, under the firm name of Durkee & Daley. He died in May, 1917. His wife was Mary B. Corning, also of Nova Scotia. They were the parents of three sons and five daughters. The younger son is prominent in the laundry business in Lynn.
Samuel J. Durkee, elder son of Charles William Durkee and Mary B. (Corning) Durkee, was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, October 22, 1871. Acquiring his education in the public schools of his native city, Mr. Durkee, as a young man, became connected with the Nugars Laundry & Dye Works, of Halifax, Nova Sco- tia, where he learned much of value to his subsequent career. Thereafter he went to Rochester, New York, and there thoroughly mastered the business in which he is now engaged. Coming to Lynn about 1911, he built a dry-cleaning establishment, taking advantage of all the latest developments of modern science as applied to this branch of endeavor. The plant is very large, and in every particular conforms to the Massachusetts laws, pertaining to the nature of materials used in the process of cleaning. Twenty-three skilled operatives are em- ployed, and they handle everything which can be cleansed by their processes. They keep four motor
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