USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 9
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Urban W. Leavitt is a native of Haverhill, Massa- chusetts, born in the city on December 28, 1886, son of George E. and Laura A. (Whittaker) Leavitt, of that place, where the former was in business, as contractor and builder, until his death in 1891. Urban W. was then only in his fifth year, but his mother was able to care for him, and he was educated in the Haverhill public schools, being able to remain in school until he had passed through the high school, a member of the
class of 1905. He afterwards took a course at the Ilaverhill Business College. He showed good business aptitude very soon after entering commercial affairs, and soon became credit man with the Hanscom Hard- ware Company, Inc., three years later taking part in the reconstruction of the company, and becoming IIS treasurer, which capacity he has since held.
Mr. Leavitt is a Mason, holding membership up to the commandery, and belongs to Haverhill bodies of that order. Socially he belongs to the Agawam Club, of Haverhill. He is widely known in the city and vicinity.
Mr. Leavitt married, in 1914, Florence White, of Haverhill, daughter of J. W. and Hattie F. (Silloway) White, the former a merchant of Lawrence, Massachu- setts. Mr. and Mrs. Leavitt have two children : Laura Frances, born in 1915: and Christine Louise, born in 1917.
FATHER JOSEPH HECTOR COTÉ, of Ames- bury, Massachusetts, was born in Saint Francois, Que- bec, Canada, July 28, 1873, son of Alfred and Alize (Paul) Coté, who were both of Canadian birth. He was educated for the priesthood at the seminary in Nicolet, Canada, and was ordained to the priesthood on July 2, 1899. Entering upon work in holy orders as curate at Nicolet, Canada, he remained there in that capacity for four years, until March of 1903, when he was appointed to a curaey in the United States. For the next two years he was curate in Lynn, Massachu- setts, and for eight years thereafter was pastor at Shirley, Massachusetts, leaving that parish in 1913 to come to Amesbury as pastor of the Sacred Heart Church of that place. That has been his station and office since, but in addition Father Coté is head of the Sacred Heart Parochial School, which is in high standing among the schools of Essex county. Its enrollment is now about four hundred and fifty scholars, and its curriculum is equal to that of other public schools of its class. The school teaching staff consists of eleven sisters of a Catholic order.
The Sacred Heart Church is one of the oldest French- Canadian Catholic churches in the Amesbury district, and the parish embraces more than 2,000 people. Father Coté is widely respected in that part of Massachusetts, as is Father Bernard, curate at Amesbury.
RALPH WALDO BARNARD, business man, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, was born in Candia, New Hampshire, March 27, 1894, son of James L. and Ida May (Sargent) Barnard. His father was engaged in the shoe industry until his retirement in 1915.
The public schools of Haverhill and the Peterboro School for Boys afforded Mr. Barnard his early edu- cation, and soon after leaving school he went to work in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was employed by the Boston Optical Company, remaining for a year, at the end of which time he returned to Haverhill, and there following the same line of business, was employed by the M. J. Fowler Company, in the capacity of fore- man of the bench-room, where the making and repair- ing of glasses is carried on. For eleven years he remained with this company, adding to his experience and knowledge of the business; in 1919 he became a
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registered optometrist, and two years later engaged in business on his own account, associating himself with E. W. Longfellow, of Newburyport. Fraternally, Mr. Barnard is a member of the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Barnard married, in 1917, Doris Haseltine Bailey, of Haverhill, and their children are: Doris Barbara, and Ralph Waldo, Jr. Mrs. Barnard's father, David Bailey, is engaged in the clothing business in Haver- hill. With his family Mr. Barnard attends the First Baptist Church of Newburyport, Massachusetts.
HERBERT EASTMAN KENNEY, pharmacist, of Swampscott, Massachusetts, was born July 11, 1868, in Littleton, New Hampshire, son of Lorenzo and Martha A. (Eastman) Kenney. He was educated in the public and high schools of his native town, subsequently attending the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy at Boston, graduating in 1890 with his degree. Returning to Littleton, Mr. Kenney was employed there as a druggist for eight years, after which time he became associated with the Riker-Jaynes Company, where he remained for fifteen years, being located part of the time at Boston and part at Lynn. The present branch store at Lynn was opened and started by Mr. Kenney. In 1916 he engaged in the drug business for himself at Swampscott, under the name of the Puritan Drug Company.
Mr. Kenney is a member of the Masonic Club, and the Masonic lodge and chapter at Swampscott, the council and commandery at Lynn, and the consistory at Nashua, New Hampshire. With his family he attends the Episcopal church.
Mr. Kenney married, April 9, 1895, Lizzie M. Bailey, daughter of Richard C. Bailey, and their daughter Berniece was born November 9, 1896, at Littleton.
FRANK H. THOMPSON-The city of Lynn, Mas- sachusetts, has of course long been widely known as a shoe manufacturing centre. but in connection with its shoe industry it has one unique distinction-within it is the only American factory in which celluloid box toes are manufactured. It is an appreciable industry, and the enterprise and initiative of the men at the head of this firm, the Preble-Thompson Company, Inc., have developed a business which now reaches to inter- national markets, with prospects of steady expansion, both in this country and abroad.
Frank H. Thompson, the president of this Lynn company, was born in Northwood, New Hampshire, July 4, 1866, son of Charles N. and Martha S. (Sea- ward) Thompson. The former died in 1905. He was a farmer at Barrington, New Hampshire, while his wife was of Strafford, New Hampshire.
Frank H. Thompson was educated in the public schools of Dover, New Hampshire. After leaving school he entered the shoe factory of W. W. Williams and T. G. Plant, at Lynn, and there learned how to make shoes. His next employers were Messrs. Wil- liams and Clark, of Lynn. He remained with that company for twenty-five years, and for almost all the time was in responsible position. Indeed, for the greater part of the twenty-five years he was in full charge of the plant, and his record of service to that
company is an enviable one. He left them in 1913 in order to take up the manufacture of celluloid box toes, and for that purpose he and George L. Preble formed the Preble-Thompson Company, and began to manu- facture in a small factory on Almond street. In 1914 the prospect of success was so good, indeed the demand for their unique product was so definite, that the part- ners moved to larger quarters at No. 334 Broad street, which is still the business address of the company. The plant uses about 3,000 square feet of floor space, which is sufficient for the present, though the indications of expansion are by no means indefinite. The company was incorporated in 1914, and the following then became, and still are, the officers of the Preble-Thompson Com- pany, Inc .: Frank H. Thompson, president; Charles Balcom, vice-president : George L. Preble, secretary.
Fraternally, Mr. Thompson is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Socially he belongs to the Oxford Club, and he also is a member of the Homestead Golf Club, of Danvers.
Mr. Thompson married, October 7, 1884, Annie B. Estabrook, daughter of John and Annie ( Bowser) Esta- brook, of Sackton, New Brunswick, where Mr. Esta- brook is a contractor. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have two children: Florence, who was born in 1887; and Martha, born in 1890, who married William F. Lucke, who is connected with Sheridan Brothers, of New York City, and they have a daughter, Eunice F. Lucke.
DR. JAMES JOHNSTON McVEY, since 1909 a practicing dentist in Haverhill, Massachusetts, was born in St. John, New Brunswick, in 1875, son of Andrew and Mary (Baxter) McVey, of that place. The schools of his native city afforded him his education, and he later attended the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, then engaged in the drug business while he studied dentistry, receiving his degree of D. M. D. from Tufts College, in 1909. Immediately he returned to Haverhill and engaged in the practice of his profession at No. 191 Merrimac street, and he has met with well deserved success. During the World War, 1917-18, Dr. McVey was president of the Haverhill Dental Society, in charge of the enlisted men, and he was school dentist for the two years, 1917-19. He is a member of the Haverhill Dental Association; and the Northeastern Dental Association, of which he is also a director.
Dr. McVey married, in 1912, Blanche E. Garvin, of Haverhill, and they attend the Centre Congregational Church, Dr. McVey being a member of the Men's Club of that institution; he also is a member of the Ward- hill Young Men's Club.
JOSEPH H. JACQUES, jeweler, of Haverhill, Mas- sachusetts, was born at St. Pierre, Canada, July 21, 1871, son of Prudent and Agnes (Hamel) Jacques, of Lotbinière, Canada, where his father was engaged in farming all his life; his mother died in 1912.
Joseph H. Jacques was educated in the public schools of Manchester, New Hampshire, and after leaving school began to learn the textile business in the same city. Four years later he decided to learn the trade of watchmaker and jeweler. He worked for others in that trade until 1905, when he opened as a jeweler in Haver- hill. Since that year he has been steadily developing
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a good business. His store is located at No. 17 Essex street, and he has had good success.
Mr. Jacques is a member of the Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, belongs to a Canadian fraternal order, the St. Jean Baptiste Patriot, and also is a member of the Independent Foresters of America. In religion he is a Catholic, a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, of Haverhill.
Mr. Jacques married, in 1899, Petronille Duquette, of Worcester, Massachusetts.
LYSANDER D. CUDWORTH was born at North Woburn, Massachusetts, on January 4, 1855, and is a son of John R. and Nancy B. (Stiles) Cudworth. Mr. Cudworth's father, who was born at Greenfield, New Hampshire, and died in 1886, was a shoe manufacturer. His mother, Nancy B. (Stiles) Cudworth, was a native of Vermont.
Mr. Cudworth received his early education in the public schools of Chelsea, Massachusetts. After his graduation from the Chelsea High School, Mr. Cud- worth became associated with his brother, G. L. Cud- worth, in the shoe manufacturing business. This asso- ciation lasted for five years and then, in 1889, Mr. Cud- worth, who has always had decided artistic tastes, left his brother and engaged in the business of sign paint- ing at Chelsea. He remained at Chelsea until 1905, when he removed to Haverhill. He is still engaged in the sign painting business, having his offices at No. 60 Fleet street. Aside from his business, Mr. Cudworth has a wide reputation as a painter of great technical ability and deep artistic feeling. His paintings have won recognition for him from artists and the general public throughout the State. He has never married.
CHARLIE EDGAR WALLACE, owner of the Wallace Ice Company, of Merrimac, Massachusetts, was born in Taylor Village, New Brunswick, on Novem- ber 4, 1875, son of James Levi and Clara (Steves) Wallace, of that place. James Levi Wallace was a wood-worker until his death, which occurred in 1913, three years before the death of his wife.
Charlie E. Wallace was still a boy when the Wallace family took up residence in Merrimac. He was edu- cated in the public school of his native place in Canada, and later in the schools of Merrimac. For the long period of twenty-five years after leaving school he was connected with the I. B. Little Company, of Merrimac, dealers in carriage materials. After leaving the Little Company, he was for two years in the employ of the Walker, Wells Company, of Amesbury. When he left it was to enter into business for himself, although in an altogether different line. He bought out the Stapler Ice Company, continuing it under the name of the Wal- lace Ice Company, and he has since held to that busi- ness, with appreciable success.
Mr. Wallace is well known in the Merrimac district, and belongs to several fraternal organizations. He is a member of Riverside Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Ancient Order of United Workmen; Rebekah Lodge; United Commercial Travellers' Asso- ciation, of Haverhill, and to the local Grange. For two years he consented in an emergency to assist the
local civic authorities as a special police officer. Polit- ically he is a Republican.
Mr. Wallace married, July 31, 1905, Ellen M. Barry, of Merrimac.
WILLFRED WEYMOUTH LUFKIN, a promi- nent citizen of Essex, Massachusetts, was born there March 10, 1879, and was educated in the public schools and the Gloucester High School. The career of a news- paper correspondent attracted him at an early age, and after several years of preparation he took up this pro- fession in which he was engaged for a time. Mr. Luf- kin has been very active in public matters, and from 1917 to 1919 he was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, also a member of Congress from the Sixth Massachusetts District during the Sixty-fifth, Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh congresses. Mr. Lufkin, at the present time, occupies the position of collector of customs of the port of Boston and dis- trict of Massachusetts, having resigned his seat in Congress on July 1, 1921, to accept this appointment at the hands of President Warren G. Harding.
Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks; also the Knights of Pythias; and the Grange. His clubs are: the Army and Navy Club of Washington; the National Press Club of that city; the City Club of Boston; the Salem and Colonial clubs of Salem, Massachusetts; the Wa- chusett and Agawam clubs of Haverhill, Massachu- setts; the Union Club of Beverly, and the Common- wealth Club of Gloucester.
Mr. Lufkin married, November 7, 1914, Georgia Story, daughter of Arthur and Margie Story, and they are the parents of three daughters and a son : Willfred, Jr., Constance G., Edith, and Elizabeth.
LEROY CLIFTON RIDLON, manufacturer, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was born at Hiram, Maine, July 20, 1884, son of Herbert H. and Susie E. (Ridlon) Ridlon, the latter having the same name as her hus- band, but no relation. His father, Herbert H. Ridlon, was a native of Porter, Maine, and was for many years engaged in the lumber industry. Mr. Ridlon's mother was also a native of Porter.
Leroy C. Ridlon's education was obtained in the public schools, and after Icaving school he entered the business of shoe manufacturing, with an idea in mind to learn the business. For six years he was with the firm of E. J. Goodwin, then took up another branch of the industry, the wood heel business. In the fall of 1919 he started his own business, having as a partner a Mr. Wilbur, the firm name being Wilbur & Ridion, and this arrangement continued until the end of that year. Then Mr. Ridlon bought the interests of Mr. Cass, and in the early part of 1920 formed a partner- ship with a Mr. Kendall, under the firm name of the Kendall Shoe Company, Inc., and this is now one of the important industries of Haverhill. Mr. Ridlon is a member of the Knights of Pythias; of the Grange; the Improved Order of Red Men; and of the Loyal Order of Moose. For three years he was a member of Com- pany F, Eighth Massachusetts Regiment.
Mr. Ridlon married, in 1905, Elizabeth Mclaughlin,
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of Haverhill, daughter of John and Janet Mclaughlin, natives of Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Ridlon are the parents of five children : Janet E., Mary F., Percy H., Donald L., and James B. With his family he attends the Trinity Episcopal Church of Haverhill.
WILLIAM E. REDFERN, of the Bellevue Monu- mental Works, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was born December 7, 1870, in Meriden, Connecticut, son of William H. and Elizabeth (Shepley) Redfern. Wil- liam H. Redfern was a veteran of the Civil War, serv- ing in Company A, 10th New York Heavy Artillery, and was wounded at the battle of Petersburg Heights; he is now deceased. The mother of Mr. Redfern makes her home in Providence, Rhode Island. His father was engaged for many years in the retail shoe business in Woonsocket, retiring in later life to farming.
When William E. Redfern was a small boy his par- ents removed to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and there he attended school at North Smithfield, and resided there until he was seventeen years of age. For a few years Mr. Redfern was employed in a textile mill, becoming overseer and having the direction of eighty- five girls. In 1890 he began his apprenticeship at the stone cutting trade. Five years later he went to South Framingham and worked at the same occupation; at the end of two years he was foreman of the works. In March, 1897, Mr. Redfern founded his present busi- ness in Lawrence, the Bellevue Monumental Works. In this venture he met with success, which has increased steadily with the passing years. For a quarter of a century he has been cutting monuments in Lawrence and is widely known for the high class workmanship of his product, and is doing one of the largest businesses in this section of the State.
In 1887 Mr. Redfern joined Company A, Sons of Veterans Guards, which later was known as Company L, First Rhode Island Militia. After serving six years he was discharged with the rank of first sergeant. He then joined Company E, 6th Massachusetts Militia, at Framingham, and served two years, attaining the rank of corporal. In 1914 he was elected second lieutenant of Company L, 8th Massachusetts National Guard, Feb- ruary 23, 1914, and April 13, 1916, received his com- mission of first lieutenant and was sent to the Mexican Border on June 19, 1916. Mr. Redfern served in the World War as first lieutenant, being stationed at Lynn- field. Massachusetts. He is a charter member of John A. Brackett Camp, Sons of Veterans, and is now sec- retary of that organization.
In fraternal affiliation Mr. Redfern is a Mason, and is past master of Phoenician Lodge. He is a thirty-sec- ond degree Mason of the Scottish Rites; member of Mt. Sinai Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Lawrence Council, Royal and Select Masters, Bethany Command- ery, Knights Templar, of which he is adjutant; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is worthy patron of Lawrence Chap- ter, Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Redfern instructs the cadets of the Methuen High School in military tac- tics in addition to his many other interests.
On November 24, 1898, at Woonsocket, Mr. Redfern married Ida E. Orchard, daughter of William Orchard, of that place, and their children are: Doris E., and
William H. Redfern. Another child, Mildred, died in 1910. Mr. Redfern and his family attend the Central Methodist Church, of Lawrence.
LEVERETT PIERCE-The Pierce family records date back in Colonial annals to the seventeenth cen- tury, and the generations from that of the American ancestor to that of Leverett Pierce, manufacturer of Lynn, Massachusetts, have given many capable men to the nation, among them Franklin Pierce, fourteenth President of the United States.
Leverett Pierce, father of our subject, was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts, and died in 1882. He was a farmer for the greater part of his life, but during the Civil War was in military service, taking part in most of the major battles of that long military struggle, and eventually becoming a veteran. He was a member of the roth Massachusetts Regiment. He married Mary L. Benoit, of the Massachusetts family of that name. She died in 1890.
Leverett Pierce, son of Leverett and Mary L. (Ben- oit) Pierce, was born in Ware, Massachusetts, on February 18, 18;3. He was educated in the public schools of Natick. After leaving school he entered a shoe factory, that of J. W. Walcott, at Natick. For him he worked for about two years, then returned to his native place, where he remained for about a year. Next he was at North Brookfield, Massachusetts, and there for nine years was in the factory of E. A. & A. H. Batchellor, for the last two years as machine adjuster. In 1901 he came to Lynn, and for more than two years thereafter was machine adjuster for A. E. Little, of that city. In 1903 he became connected with the Singer Company of Lynn. With that company he remained until 1916, for the last five years as foreman of the repair department. However, in 1916, he decided to venture into business for himself, or rather into a busi- ness partnership. He associated with Joseph M. Hatch, and they jointly formed the firm of Hatch & Pierce. The firm later became the J. H. Naugle Machine Com- pany, as has elsewhere been noted in the volume, Mr. Hatch being the president, Mr. Pierce vice-president and treasurer. Their line of manufacture is shoe machin- ery, and they specialize in shoe stitching machinery. They have the largest business in that line in the city, it is stated.
Mr. Pierce married, in 1896, Bertha A. Lamson, daughter of J. D. and Mary A. (Partridge) Lamson, of North Brookfield, where the former was baggage master for many years. He died in 1900, but Mrs. Lamson, who was of a Leicester, Massachusetts, fam- ily, is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have one child, Pauline L., who is now the wife of Everett C. Howe; they reside in Lynn.
FREDERICK B. DAY-The Union Blacking Com- pany, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was established in 1899, and incorporated in 1905. The first president of the company was J. G. Redshaw, who remained connected with it and in that office until his death in 1912. After his death his son, J. G. Redshaw, Jr., was made pres- ident, but resigned in 1917, Frederick B. Day then becoming president. Later in that year, when Mr. Day left to join the United States army for service during
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the World War, George S. Rouse was made president, Mr. Day becoming treasurer.
Frederick B. Day was born in East Boston, Massa- chusetts, May 11. 1893, the son of Frederick W. and Fannie M. (Lewis) Day, of East Boston, Massachu- setts. His father was a druggist there until his death, which occurred in 1900. The son, Frederick B., was edu- cated in the public schools of Boston, and graduated from the high school in the class of 1908. After further preparatory study, he entered Harvard University, where he continued his studies for three years. For the next four or five years he engaged in business, gaining a varied experience of commercial life. For two years after leaving college he was in Akron, Ohio, and there was connected with the anto tire industry of that place.
During the World War he enlisted in the Tank Corps. He was honorably discharged in April, 1919, and soon afterwards resumed his position as a member of the Union Blacking Company, Inc. That connection he still holds. The plant and offices of the company are at No. 49 Oxford street, Lynn. Mr. Day is a Protes- tant. He is unmarried.
FRANK PERRY PINGREE, of Merrimac, Massa- chusetts, an ex-service man, who is entitled to wear Three wound chevrons and many battleclasps, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on June 23, 1898. He comes of a family well known in that part of Massa- chusetts. His grandfather, Isaac Pingree, was origi- nally of Nova Scotia, but eventually of Massachusetts. He was an engineer until he retired in 1892. His wife, Martha (Furbush) Pingree, who is still living, was born in Eliot, Maine. Their son, Frank C. Pingree, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. For the last thirty- five years he has been in the employ of the Boston & Maine Railroad Company, at Lawrence. He married Clara Dawley, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, but later of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Their son, Frank P. Pin- gree, is now of Merrimac.
Frank P. Pingree was educated in the schools of Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts, and after leaving school went into the employ of Fred Mears, a dairyman. That has been Mr. Pingree's line of busi- ness ever since, though for some time before enlisting, in 1917, he was in business for himself, as a milk and dairy products dealer in Haverhill. The nation entered a state of war with Germany in 1917, and in July of that year young Pingree enlisted in the IoIst Massa- chusetts Field Artillery, and was assigned to the Sup- ply Company of that regiment. For some time the regi- ment was stationed at Boxford, Massachusetts, but went overseas in September, 1917, and between that time and the end of the war, participated in most of the hardest fighting in which American troops were engaged. Mr. Pingree was present in the following major battles: Toul sector, Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel, Verdun, and Argonne Forest. He was wounded three times in action, and was not discharged from military hospitals until April 30, 1919. He reached the grade of wagoner during his military service, and holds a cer- tificate of honorable discharge. Soon after entering civil life again he returned to dairying, and now has a good business of his own in Merrimac.
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