USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 44
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Michael F. Quill was born in Newburyport, Sep- tember 24, 1860, son of Michael and Hannah (Mono- han) Quill, who were both of Irish birth, but who lived the greater part of their married life in Newburyport, where Michael died in 1889 and his widow in 1912.
Michael F. Quill was educated in the Newburyport public schools, and in due course entered upon the serious problems of life. His father owned a farm, and for some years after leaving school Michael F. assisted his father. As the years passed he acquired a farm property of his own, and did some teaming. In fact, he held to those occupations until 1915, when in part- nership with his son, Arthur S., he established the firm of M. F. Quill & Son, ice merchants. Their business
address is at No. 71 Lime street, and they have devel- oped quite a satisfactory volume of trade.
Mr. Quill married, in 1881, Florence Perkins, of New- buryport, daughter of Berry and Sarah B. (Smith) Per- kins, of that place. They have five children: Annie F., who married a Mr. Collins; Ellen E .; Sadie A., who married a Mr. Randall; Arthur S., of whom further; and Daniel F.
Arthur S. Quill was born in Newburyport on De- cember 29, 1887. From the elementary school of New- buryport he passed into the high school, graduating therefrom in the class of 1907. Then followed a course at the Salem Commercial College. Entering commer- cial life, young Mr. Quill found employment in the office of Libby & Sargent, of Lynn, remaining with them for two years as cost clerk. For about a year thereafter he was in Salem, Massachusetts, where he worked for the Premo Form Shoe Company, after which he returned to Newburyport and associated with his father, the two of them developing a teaming and expressing business. In 1915, as above-mentioned, the firm of M. F. Quill & Son was formed, and they have done a good business during the last five or six years.
Arthur S. Quill is an energetic business man, but he does not enter much into public movements. Fra- ternally he belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose, and is president of the Neptune Veteran Firemen's Associa- tion.
OTTO F. KRESS, the founder of the company which bears his name, Otto F. Kress & Son, engaged in the manufacture of fire apparatus and automobile bodies, was born in Saxony, Germany, January 14, 1856, and was a son of Henry Kress, also a native of Ger- many, where he was engaged as a hand weaver during his active years. Mr. Kress was educated in the public schools of his native land and soon after completing his formal education, learned the trade his father followed, continuing for fourteen years until he came to the United States. In 1871 Mr. Kress became a resident of Lawrence, and until 1879 worked as a weaver in the Washington Mills of that city. His next occupation was as a wood carver, which he followed for almost five years, and this work led to the business of carriage building in Lawrence, and after three years there, Mr. Kress removed to Salem, New Hampshire, where he engaged in the same line of business on his own account. After five years Mr. Kress returned to Lawrence and there formed a partnership with his brother, Herman Kress, and together they purchased the carriage-build- ing business of John Graham, at the same time changing the firm name to the Kress Brothers Carriage Company. For seventeen successful years they continned this part- nership, which was then dissolved, and Otto F. Kress admitted his son, Edward F., as a partner, and under the firm name of Otto F. Kress & Son they have con- tinued in business to the present time.
In 1903 this firm began the manufacture of fire apparatus and did general repair work on all makes of such apparatus, and in their line of work they are among the best known companies in the United States. A force of thirty-two workmen are employed, each indi- vidual being specially skilled in some feature of the
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work which forms their task. The company does all kinds of blacksmithing, body-building, upholstering and painting, there being nine different trades carried on under one roof, the plant occupying 37,000 square feet of space.
In politics, Mr. Kress is a Republican and staunchly interested in the welfare of that party. He is a member of Phoenician Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Mt. Sinai Chapter. Royal Arch Masons; and Bethany Com- mandery, Knights Templar.
Mr. Kress married Lizzie J. Fuller, of Thomaston, Maine, and their children are: Edward F., associated with his father, and who receives extended mention below; and Eva, who married E. P. Merrow, and has one child, Everett, Jr.
EDWARD F. KRESS was born February 4, 1877, at Lawrence, and there attended school. Soon after this time he went to work for his father, Otto F. Kress (see preceding sketch), then engaged in the business of car- riage building, and until 1903 he continued as an employee, and in the latter year became a member of the firm of Otto F. Kress & Son, continuing until the present time.
Mr. Kress holds independent views in political mat- ters, casting his vote for the man he believes the best fitted for the office aspired to. He is a member of Phoenician Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Chamber of Commerce; and for fifteen years was a member of the Lawrence Fire Department.
Mr. Kress married, in 1899, Josephine Leahy, horn September 16, 1871, at Boston, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of two sons and a daughter: Raymond E., born May 4, 1901; Claire J., born February 22, 1903; and Leroy F., born September 13, 1906. Mr. Kress and his family attend the Central Methodist Church of Lawrence, of which his parents are also members.
J. EVERETT FROST, of what was formerly the Frost Ice Company, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, but latterly the Independent Ice Company of that place, is a native of the city, and is known as an enterprising business man. He was born on January 6, 1866, son of James N. and Salome P. (Perkins) Frost. His mother was of a well known old Newbury family, but his father was originally of Nova Scotia. He was entirely orphaned in 1915. His parents had lived in Newbury- port during the whole of their married life, and were widely respected. James Everett was their only son.
James Everett Frost was educated in Newburyport schools, graduating from the high school in the class of 1880. After leaving school he associated with his father, who was then in business in Newburyport, as an ice dealer. The business association of father and son continued for thirty-five years, until the death of the father in 1915, when the son became sole owner of the business, which was then known as the Frost Ice Company, It continued under that trading name until 1919, when a reorganization took place, and the Frost Ice Company passed out of existence. The Independent Ice Company then formed took over the business, in which Mr. Frost is still interested. The other incor-
porators were Harry Barth and Charles A. Jones, Mr. Frost holding the official position of treasurer in the new company, the business headquarters of which are at No. I Chestnut street, Newburyport.
Mr. Frost gives the greater part of his time to the affairs of his business, hut he has always been interested in the movements which have sought to bring advance- ment to his home town, and he is known to be a dis- cerning man of business. Fraternally he is identified with the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 909.
Mr. Frost married, in 1896, Mary A .. Cashman, of Newburyport, daughter of Daniel C. Cashman, a mason. Her mother, Margaret (Shea) Cashman, comes of an old Essex county family. Mr. and Mrs. Frost have two children: Evelyn M., born in 1898; and Everett Norman, born in 1900.
WILLIAM ALLISON KIMBALL was born July 7, 1843, in Bradford, Massachusetts, son of David and Mehitable M. Kimball, the former a native of Brad- ford, and the latter of Methuen, Massachusetts. Wil- liam A. Kimball attended the public schools and Phil- lips Andover Academy, then engaged in farming until 1899, when he went to work for the Twombly under- taking firm, remaining there until 1921, when, having thoroughly learned the business in detail, he entered business on his own account in Haverhill.
During his residence in Bradford he took an active part in public matters, and served as town clerk there for several years, also as town treasurer and collector until Bradford became part of the town of Haverhill. He is a member of the Haverhill Chamber of Com- merce, and fraternally is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Malta.
Mr. Kimball married (first) Marillia M. Clough, of Atkinson, New Hampshire, and (second) Oreana Wells, of Haverhill, and they are communicants of the Con- gregational church of the Bradford district of that city.
JOSEPH DAVIS HOUGHTON, who is widely known in the shoe and leather industry in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, and elsewhere, as president of the Houghton Heel and Leather Company, has been identified with this line of endeavor throughout his entire career. The name of Houghton has been familiar to the trade since 1869, when James Houghton, Mr. Houghton's father, established the original firm of which the present cor- poration is the outgrowth.
James Houghton, the founder of the business, was born in Boston, and came to Lynn at an early date. In 1869, in association with William R. Mudge, he engaged in the leather business on State street, in this city. That was a time when the shoe industry in Lynn had scarcely emerged from the experimental stage. The early part- nership endured, under the firm name of Houghton & Mudge, until the death of Mr. Mudge, after which a Mr. Godfrey was received into the business, the firm name thereby becoming Houghton & Godfrey, and continuing thus until the death of Mr. Godfrey. Mr. Houghton has survived both his early associates, and with the incorporation of the business, which took place in 1904, he became treasurer of the concern, largely
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turning over the management of its affairs to his son. He has since, however, kept an active interest in the business, and is still seen at his desk, practically every day, notwithstanding the fact that he has reached an age when many men have been retired for years. He has always been alert to every advance in the line of activity in which he has so long been engaged, more than half a century having passed since his early start. James Houghton married Maria L. Atkinson, who is now deceased.
Joseph D. Houghton was born in Lynn, Massachu- setts, November 15, 1872. He received his education in the public schools of this city, and in his early youth became interested in the business of which his father was the head. Beginning at the bottom, he worked through all the departments, familiarizing himself with every detail of the business. With the incorporation in 1904 he was made president of the company, and has since gone forward in that capacity, carrying to ever- increasing success the business in which he has spent his active life. Under his management the output of the factory has gradually expanded, until now they are doing a very considerable business. They produce heels, shoe findings, etc., for the trade throughout the city of Lynn and the New England district, shipping also to the shoe centers of the West. They have a well- equipped plant at No. 520 Washington street, Lynn, and employ about sixty people.
Mr. Houghton is a member of the Oxford Club, of Lynn, also of the Lynn Lodge, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. He is single, and resides with his father at No. 33 Breed street, Lynn, both attending the Unitarian church.
GEORGE H. AYER-If a lad is sufficiently ambi- tious and eager to get ahead it is an advantage to be born in a manufacturing town. George H. Ayer. with- out neglecting either grammar or high school, learned that part of the shoe industry in which he set himself up as an independent manufacturer immediately upon graduation.
Auson Burlingame Ayer, father of George H. Ayer, was born July 2, 1862, at Hampstead, New Hampshire, and is the well known box maker of Haverhill, Massa- chusetts. His wife, Fannie Elizabeth (Dias) Ayer, was born June 17, 1865, in Haverhill.
George H. Ayer was born February 23, 1888. He studied in the public and high schools, graduating from Haverhill high school with the class of 1906. Mean- while, he had acquired, during his school days, enough education in the shoe trade to start out for himself right after finishing school. His first venture was spent at the trade of making the minor parts of shoes, such as tongues, etc. His place of business was right in the heart of the shoe district, at No. 100 Phoenix Row. Sticcess in that line fitted him for further advance, and in 1918 he formed. with S. B. Marshall and T. A. Coparan, both Haverhill men, the Haverhill Shoe Com- pany, serving as its treasurer. This firm is an impor- tant maker of ladies' slippers and infants' and children's shoes, and have agents in Boston and New York City. They occupy three floors of space at No. 100 Phoenix Row, and have about forty employces.
Mr. Ayer finds time along with his business activities to be interested in other matters. He is a Republican in politics, and is a wide-awake member of the Chamber of Commerce of Haverhill; he also is a member of the Agawam Club, and shows a country life interest in having joined the Haverhill Grange.
Mr. Ayer married, in 1907, Mariona Achenbach, of Haverhill, Massachusetts. She is a native of Williams- port, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Willard W. and Catherine (Seckler) Achenbach, of that city. Mr. Achenbach is a lawyer of note, at one time attorney for his county. Of this marriage two children were born: Robert W., born June 27. 1908; and Kathryn Harriet, born July 2, 1910.
FREDERICK R. BARKER was born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, April 15, 1890, the son of George M. Barker, a merchant of that place, and Mary (Rutherford) Barker, born in the same place.
Frederick R. Barker began his education in the city schools. He further prepared at Exeter, Massachusetts, whence he was graduated, class of 1909, going thence to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there receiving his degree with the graduating class of 1913. With this equipment he entered the business world, locating in Salem, Massachusetts, where in 1016 he organized the Associated Tanners' Machinery Com- pany, a corporation manufacturing machinery used by tanners. The company continued along the original lines as planned by F. R. Barker until 1918, when the plant was turned over to the manufacture of war ma- terial, in the form of battleship and airplane engine parts. The plant was run on government work until the signing of the armistice, it then being closed. Set- tlements for work done could not be immediately effected and the company has not since resumed business.
Mr. Barker is a member of the Salem Chamber of Commerce; Grace Episcopal Church; the Engineers' Club, of Boston; Boston Historical Society; and Theta Chi fraternity.
Mr. Barker married, in May, 1920, Mathilda Randel, of Rosendale, Massachusetts.
LEWIS H. ORDWAY-For upwards of three dec- ades, being identified with one of the foremost concerns manufacturing ornaments of various kinds for the shoe trade, Mr. Ordway is numbered among the successful executives of Essex county. A native of this county, he is a son of Hazen Elliott and Caroline P. (Smith) Ordway, for many years residents of Haverhill. The father is now deceased, but the mother is still living, at the age of eighty-two years.
Lewis H. Ordway was born in Haverhill, Massachu- setts, January 7, 1876. His early education was ac- quired at the public schools of his native place, and choosing a career in the industrial, rather than the pro- fessional world, the young man prepared for the future in a business college. At the age of seventeen years he became identified with the widely-known firm of J. A. Dalrymple & Company. Beginning in a subordinate position, he familiarized himself with the business from every angle, and rose to a position of executive respon- sibility. He has steadily risen, continuing with the same
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concern, and has now (1922) been associated with them for twenty-nine years. The firm of J. A. Dalrymple & Company was established in 1889, and in 1918 was incor- porated, thereby becoming the Dalrymple-Pulsifer Com- pany, the personnel of the concern now being as follows: J. A. Dalrymple, president and treasurer; G. Herman Pulsifer, vice-president; and Lewis H. Ordway, secre- tary. The concern manufactures and sells to both the domestic and foreign trade, shoe bows and ornaments of many kinds, ribbons for this class of manufacture, and galloon bead work. The main offices and plant are at No. 88 Washington street, Haverhill, and they also have offices at No. 59 Lincoln street, Boston. They handle a very extensive trade, and are counted among the foremost of the many companies allied with the shoe trade. Mr. Ordway has few interests outside of his business affiliations, but for twenty years has been a member of Saggahew Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Ordway married, in Wakefield, Rhode Island, Victorine Doucet, who died in 1917, leaving four sons: Donald, Robert, Hazen, and Victor.
J. NORMAN ANDERSON-Thomas Carlyle called man "a tool-using animal," meaning, no doubt, that man is different from other animals in his ability to use tools and machinery to multiply the efficiency of his labor. Many beasts are larger, stronger, swifter than any individual of the human race, and yet they have to struggle for a mere existence because they can use no power save the one with which they were born. Even primitive man, with all his work, can gain little more than food and shelter. Civilization has been brought to its present height principally by man's multiplication of his powers by the use of machines. To-day the endeavor is to go a step farther and make the forces we have harnessed guide and control themselves auto- matically.
One of the men who has had much to do with the making and improving of such automatic devices as will regulate and control the energies of steam, water and air is J. Norman Anderson. Rising from the bot- tom to a mastership of his own line, he now is. with associates, manufacturing and selling, thronghout the world, regulators that are needed by all large power plants.
John Norman Anderson was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, July 24, 1882. His father, James Anderson, and mother, Barbara Amelia (Stratton) Anderson, are both of Scottish extraction, the one coming from Glasgow, the other from Perth. The father was engaged in the shoe business in Bristol at the time of the birth of his son.
Mr. Anderson went to the common schools of the town, and was graduated from Bristol High School in 1900. He then entered the employ of Brown & Sharpe, Providence, Rhode Island, from whom he received a diploma as master mechanic.
Coming to Lawrence, Massachusetts, Mr. Anderson secured a place with the United States Bobbin and Shuttle Company, where he remained for thirteen years. During that time, by reason of his natural ability and persistent application, he rose to be their head designer
of punches and dies, a position of great responsibility, requiring unusual skill and brain.
Meanwhile, Mr. Anderson had been looking with longing eyes upon a business for which he was par- ticularly fitted, and with B. and Herbert W. Horne as partners, bought the Watts Regulator Com- pany, with all its rights, building, patents, ctc. The enterprise was an old-established one, being started by James E. Watts in 1854. Mr. Watts, a native of Lawrence, was the inventor of the steam regulator. In 1874 additional men and capital came in with the inventor and formed the Watts Regulator Company, manufacturers of steam, water and air regulators, and other power plant utilities. About 1892 Robert F. Pickles, another Lawrence man, secured the plant and retained control until he sold out to J. N. Anderson and his partners. Under new management the establishment at No. 252 Lowell street has taken on new life. From a trade of a few thousand dollars has been built a busi- ness of a quarter of a million. They have agents throughout this country, besides doing a large export trade. The production during 1921 was taken over by the Walworth Manufacturing Company, of Boston. Mr. Anderson has now taken over the sole ownership of the Textile Shield Company, which has moved into its new factory at No. I Groton street, South Lawrence. This concern will stamp and draw metal in every form.
Mr. Anderson also is a partner in the George W. Homer Company, of Lawrence, and organized the Testite Shield Company, a one hundred thousand dollar concern, also of Lawrence. During the World War, placing his resources at the call of the government, he was at it's wish, an active maker of parts for munitions. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce; in poli- tics a Republican, but too busy to dabble much in same. He is a member of a number of societies and clubs, among their number being: The Commercial Engi- neers' Society; the Commercial Travelers' Association; the Merrimack Country Club, the Universalist Club, and Lodge 179, Knights of Pythias. He is vice-presi- dent of the Home Club; is worshipful master of Tuscan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons: Mt. Sinai Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Lawrence Council, Royal and Select Masters; Bethany Commandery, Knights Tem- plar; and Aleppo Temple, of the Mystic Shrine. He and his family are members of the Universalist church.
Mr. Anderson married, July 27, 1914, Dorothy L. Gee, daughter of Edwin and Alice (Halliday) Gee, both of English birth. Mr. Gee was for more than twenty-five years engraver for the Pacific Mills at Law- rence, Massachusetts, and is at the present time (1921), expert die sinker with the United States Machinery Corporation of Beverly, Massachusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson one daughter has been born, Shirley Norma, born March 4, 1917.
HARRY S. TETLER-A native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Harry S. Tetler now holds the position of master mechanic with one of the large industries of that city, the Prospect Mills. Mr. Tetler was born Oc- tober 15, 1882, son of James H. Tetler, of Lawrence, and Fannie (Smithi) Tetler. The former died in 1920, having survived his wife eight years.
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Mr. Tetler was educated in the public schools of Lawrence, and at an early age hegan to make his own way in the world, his first position being with Samuel Smith, where he remained for sixteen years. He was then employed for two years by the Arlington Mills Company, and from that time until 1919 was employed by the American Engineering Company in Philadel- phia. In this latter year he returned to Lawrence, and there received a position as master mechanic with the Prospect Mills, which he holds at the present time. Mr. Tetler is a man skilled in his line of work, and his many years of experience make his services still more valu- able.
In 1904, Mr. Tetler married Etta Marshman, of Law- rence, and they are the parents of the following children: Norman, born in 1905; George W., horn in 1907; Frank S., born in 1911; and Samuel E., born in 1913.
Mr. Tetler is a member Bine Lodge of Masons, of Reading. He is devoted to his family, and to their interests, and is an attendant of the Baptist church.
FRED MARSDEN-One of the energetic young busi- ness men of Lawrence, Massachusetts, who has achieved success, is Fred Marsden, office manager and paymas- ter of the Katama Mills Company of that city, who was born in England, August 30, 1890, son of John R. Marsden, a native of Maynard, Massachusetts, who died in 1916. He is survived by his wife, Sarah Eastwood, also a native of Maynard, Massachusetts, where she now resides.
The early education of Mr. Marsden was obtained in English schools, and it was completed in the schools of Massachusetts. He then attended the Lowell Textile School, and graduated from the La Salle University. Thus equipped, he entered the world of business in the pattern and weaving departments of the United States Worsted Company, continuing there until 1918, in which year he entered the employ of the Katama Mills Company as office manager and paymaster, both very responsible positions, acquiring, not only executive abil- ity, but progressiveness, and the art of successfully managing a large force of employees to promote har- mony and satisfaction. In this work Mr. Marsden has been very successful; he has worked hard to bring about results, and is very deserving of his place among the worth-while citizens of Lawrence.
He married, in 1913, Marion E. Henderson, daugh- ter of Robert Henderson, of Lawrence, and they are the parents of two daughters: Mildred Elsie, born in 1915; and Barbara Janet, born in 1918.
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