USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume III > Part 14
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operations by purchasing the Pearson Block adjoining, which he remodeled and acquiring also the Abbot Building on Mer- rimack Street in 1925, an edifice which he also had remodeled and converted into one of the finest office buildings of this section at the cost of two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Today his office building houses the most prominent business figures of this community and his hotel property is the scene of conventions, business meetings and many important conferences.
In his social and civic life Mr. Nichols has found time to become identified with some of the leading movements and organiza- tions which include the Haverhill Rotary Club, the Haverhill Chamber of Commerce and the fraternal order of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religion he wor- ships at the Greek Church.
In 1926 Mr. Nichols married Pauline Salvara, the daughter of Constantine and Mary Salvara, and a native of Sparta, Greece, of which her father was formerly mayor. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols are the par- ents of two children : I. George Constantine, born August 23, 1927. 2. Katherine Mary, born July 21, 1929. The Nichols residence is at No. 719 Main Street, and was pur- chased by Mr. Nichols in 1925.
JOSEPH W. P. MURPHY, M. D .- A medical practitioner of Peabody, Dr. Mur- phy has spared no effort to prepare himself for efficient service in his chosen profession, and he is ranked among the leading physi- cians and surgeons of Essex County.
He was born at Salem, December 12, 1890, a son of Patrick W. and Eliza J. (Devine) Murphy. His ancestors came from Ireland and settled at Salem, where they have been well known for stalwart citizenship. Joseph Murphy, granduncle of Joseph W. P. Mur- phy, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, with the rank of captain, and was
Alexander st. Rogers
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captured by the Confederate forces, sent to Libby Prison and there was incarcerated for several months. He was a manufacturer of Morocco leather, with headquarters in Dan- vers, and was one of the pioneers in this business. Patrick W. Murphy was one of the leading undertakers of Salem. Dr. Mur- phy received his early education in the pub- lic schools and after graduating from the Salem High School, enrolled in Harvard Dental School, but left after one year to enter Tufts Medical School, from which he was graduated in 1914.
He became an interne at the Boston City Hospital, and after a year there, served on the staff of Bellevue Hospital of New York City for six months. Another six months were served at the Willard Parker Hospital in New York City, and to complete his preparation, he was on the staff of the Lying-in Hospital, New York City. In 1916 he began to practice at Peabody, and has established a practice that has won for him a reputation that extends beyond sectional boundaries. During the World War he served four months in the medical depart- ment, being stationed at Fort Slocum. In addition to his large private practice, Dr. Murphy is chief of the medical staff of the J. B. Thomas Hospital of Peabody, and is school physician of Peabody.
Within his profession he is a member of the American Medical Association, and the Massachusetts Medical Association. He is also a member of Leo Council, Knights of Columbus, of which he is Past Grand Knight; and of the Catholic Order of For- esters. His hobbies are horseback riding and books.
On October 10, 1927, Dr. Murphy married Elizabeth Flynn, of Peabody, and they are the parents of a daughter, Joann, born Au- gust 5, 1928. Dr. Murphy is a brother of Francis J. Murphy, of Salem, who is a mem- ber of the State Board of Welfare.
HENRY J. CARR-A member of the Salem bar who has built up a substantial practice, Henry J. Carr is representative of progressive citizenship because of his intelli- gent and active interest in advancing the welfare of his community. He was born at Salem, May 19, 1897, a son of William F. and Elizabeth N. (Dunlea) Carr, native of Ireland. His father was a painter and was well known among Salem's residents. Mr. Carr was educated in the public schools, was graduated from high school in 1915, and, deciding to become a lawyer, matriculated at Boston University Law School, from which he was graduated in 1919 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
After being admitted to the bar he began to practice in his native city, where he won a name for himself as a capable lawyer. He has gone steadily forward in his profession and has attained a respected and honorable standing among his colleagues. Although busily engaged in practice, he has taken great interest in the various activities of his community, especially in the affairs of the Democratic party and has served as chair- man of the Democratic committee. He is secretary of the athletic commission of Salem; a member of the Salem Bar Associa- tion ; the Essex County Bar Association ; the Knights of Columbus; the Young Men's Christian Association; and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is an outdoor sports- man and golf and boating are his favorite diversions.
Mr. Carr married, June 30, 1930, Mary A. Plummer, of Salem, and they are the parents of a daughter, Jeanne Elizabeth, born Au- gust 10, 1931.
ALEXANDER H. ROGERS, publisher of the Lawrence "Eagle-Tribune" and an active figure in Essex County journalism during the past forty years, was born in Arbroath, Scotland, on November 14, 1868.
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He is a son of Barnett and Elizabeth (Dun- can) Rogers, both deceased, and was still in early childhood when he came to America with his parents. His father conducted a real estate and insurance business in An- dover during the last three decades of his life and served for a time as a member of the board of public works for the town.
Mr. Rogers was educated in the public schools of Andover, Lawrence, and Boston. He obtained his first employment as a youth in the weaving department of the Arlington Mills at Lawrence and later worked suc- cessively for the Tyer Rubber Company of Andover and as a postal clerk in the An- dover post office. He served his apprentice- ship in the newspaper printing trade with the old Lawrence "American," now out of existence, and later joined the news staff of the Lawrence "Daily Eagle" as a reporter. In 1898 he formed a partnership with the late H. Franklin Hildreth under the firm name of the Hildreth and Rogers Company, and purchased the Lawrence "Daily Eagle," which was founded in 1868, and the "Eve- ning Tribune," established in 1890. Upon the death of Mr. Hildreth in 1909, Mr. Rog- ers acquired his partner's interests and in- corporated the business, assuming at that time the duties of publisher, which he has since fulfilled. The "Eagle" and the "Tri- bune" have grown steadily under his own- ership and are today the largest and most widely circulated newspapers in Essex County.
Mr. Rogers is also a member of the board of corporators of the Lawrence Savings Bank and the Essex Savings Bank, of Law- rence, and for over thirty years has been a director of the Merrimack Cooperative Bank. He served in 1896 and 1897 as a member of the Common Council of the city of Lawrence and similarly served the city for a number of years as a member of the board of registrars of voters. Mr. Rogers is
a member of the New England Daily News- paper Association, the American News- paper Publishers' Association, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Associ- ated Press, and of many local organizations, including the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation of Lawrence, the Lawrence Cham- ber of Commerce, the Lawrence Industrial Bureau, the Lawrence Caledonian Club, the Lawrence Rotary Club and the Andover Country Club. He is a member of the Episcopal Church and is affiliated frater- nally with Lawrence Lodge, No. 150, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; Tuscan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and Lawrence Lodge, No. 65, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In addition to these connections, he is honorary president of the Eagle-Tribune Associates, a director of the Lawrence Boys' Club and a member of the New England Council and the Scots Charitable Society of Boston.
On March 20, 1895, at Lawrence, Mr. Rogers married Ethel Lynn Emerson, daughter of Charles T. and Jedidah B. Em- erson, both deceased. They are the parents of one son, Irving Emerson Rogers, born August 20, 1902, who is associated in busi- ness with his father.
NELSON MORRILL KNOWLTON --- The vice-president of the Holyoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Nelson Morrill Knowlton, has devoted the whole of his busi- ness career to insurance. Success has come from his efforts and he is a recognized authority upon the subject. He was born at Penacook, New Hampshire, Ward One, of Concord, on July 30, 1889, son of John and Susie A. (Morrill) Knowlton, both of whom were natives of New Hampshire.
The elementary and high schools of Con- cord provided him with an education. He began what was to be his life vocation on June 18, 1906, at the age of seventeen, when
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he became an employee of the Capital Fire Insurance Company, of Concord. Remain- ing with this company for seven years, in 1913 he resigned to go with the Manufac- turers' and Merchants' Mutual Insurance Company, affiliated with the above com- pany, which he served as assistant secretary from 1920 to July 31, 1925, when he removed to Salem, Massachusetts. Here he accepted the post of secretary of the Salem Mutual Fire Insurance Company. On December I, 1928, Mr. Knowlton joined the Holyoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Salem as second vice-president, and since January, 1932, he has been vice-president of the cor- poration. His record in the insurance field speaks for itself. It is well realized that it is a difficult field in which capable men are necessary and in which success is not a mat- ter of chance.
Mr. Knowlton is a member of the execu- tive and agency committees of the Mutual Fire Insurance Association of New England, an association of New England agency mutual fire insurance companies. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and is a member of the Compass Club of Lynn, Massachusetts, where he resides. He was a member of Company M, Ist Infan- try, New Hampshire State Guard, from 1917 to 1922. A physical disability caused his re- jection for service during the World War. He is a communicant of the First Church (Unitarian) of Salem.
On August 16, 1916, Nelson Morrill Knowl- ton married Nancy A. Walker, of Stanstead, Province of Quebec, Canada, and they are the parents of a son, John Walker Knowl- ton, born July 17, 1925.
JEAN C. MARCHAND, M. D .- A native son of the city of Salem, Dr. Jean C. Mar- chand has served faithfully and effectively the people of his community and the profes-
sion of which he is a member. He has de- voted the whole of his active medical career to work in Salem and its environs, and here he has a host of friends.
Dr. Marchand was born on January 23, 1896, in Salem, Massachusetts, son of Elisee and Catherine (Desjardins) Marchand, both Canadians by birth, who came to Salem about 1878 to make their home. The father was a contractor and builder by trade, and is now living in Salem, as is the mother. The mother's father was, like Dr. Marchand, a physician.
In the schools of Salem, Dr. Jean C. Mar- chand received his early education, and he was graduated in 1916 from Salem High School. Entering Tufts College, he took a pre-medical course for one year, then pro- ceeded to the medical school itself and in 192I was graduated with the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine. Serving an interneship at Salem Hospital for one year, he began prac- ticing in Salem in 1922 at No. 210 Lafayette Street, the same address as that at which he now has his offices.
In addition to his regular work as a prac- titioner of medicine, Dr. Marchand is a mem- ber of the staff of the J. B. Thomas Hos- pital, Peabody, and Lynn Hospital, Lynn. Through his memberships in the American Medical Association and the Massachusetts State Medical Society, he is enabled to meet his professional colleagues and to keep in touch with all the newest developments in medicine and surgery-in short, to partici- pate in that whole interchange of thought and experience that is so essential to the proper handling of any great work. Dr. Marchand has at the same time shown a lively interest in community affairs, notably by his work with the Kiwanis Club. During the World War period, he was an enlisted member of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army, stationed in Boston. He has turned his attention to activities
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beneficial to his community, and his position is, as a result, one of high standing in his city and county, as well as in his profession. In leisure time, Dr. Marchand was fond of outdoor life and recreation, notably golf and travel. He crossed the continent three times, and was also much given to airplane travel. He was a member of the Alpha Kappa Kappa Fraternity, which he joined in his student days.
Dr. Jean C. Marchand married, on June I, 1921, Dr. Eleanor Marguerite Glebow, of Boston, a graduate of Radcliffe College, 1916, and Tufts Medical College, 1921, and now actively associated in medical practice with her husband. She is a native of Berne, Switzerland, daughter of Dr. Nathaniel Gle- bow, who was a physician in Boston, where he died in 1922. She received her early edu- cation in Munich and Vienna. In 1933 Dr. Eleanor M. Marchand was elected a member of the school board of Salem, being the fifth woman to be elected to that body in the his- tory of the city. She is also a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Ameri- can Medical Association, the Zonta Club, the Women's Professional Club, and the Salem Woman's Club. Two children were born to this marriage: I. Richard Nathaniel, on December 8, 1925. 2. Eleanor Fleur, on July 20, 1928.
FRANK DAVIS ASHBURN-Brooks School and its headmaster, Frank Davis Ashburn, play important rôles among the private secondary educational schools of Massachusetts. Headmaster Ashburn is a native of Batavia, Ohio, born February 2, 1903, son of Colonel Percy Moreau and Agnes (Davis) Ashburn. Colonel Ashburn, retired, is a former physician of the Medical Corps, United States Army. He served dur- ing the Philippine Insurrection and was sta- tioned five times in the Philippine Islands ; and was on duty in Montana, Kentucky, In-
diana, Pennsylvania, Boston, Washington, China, Liberia, Panama, and Switzerland. He was a member of the commission to Liberia and succeeded General W. G. Gorgas as Chief of Sanitation. During the World War he was with the American Expeditionary Forces for two years, and while with the War Depart- ment, at Washington, established and com- manded the M. O. T. C. at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Colonel Ashburn com- manded the Army Medical Field Service School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and in an official capacity attended the Prisoners of War Conference held in Switzerland. While in the Philippines he was chairman of the Army Board for Study of Tropical Diseases in Manila. At one time librarian at the Sur- geon General's Library, Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, he found time to write numerous scientific articles and brochures. He is the author of "Military Hygiene," and "A History of the Medical Department of the United States Army," the present au- thoritative book upon this little understood side of army activities.
Frank Davis Ashburn received his pre- liminary schooling in a variety of places, in- cluding his birthplace, Winthrop, Massachu- setts ; San Francisco, California ; and Ancon, in the Panama Canal Zone. He was a stu- dent in the Baguio School, Baguio. Philip- pine Islands, 1911-12, and Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts, 1915-21. After being graduated from the Groton School, he ma- triculated at Yale University, from which he received the degree Bachelor of Arts, with the class of 1925. He was a student in Co- lumbia University Law School, in 1927, when he became headmaster of Brooks School. Mr. Ashburn is a member of Skull and Bones, and Psi Upsilon, Yale, and a member of the Yale Club, of New York. He is the author of "Fifty Years On," a "Short History of Groton School," published in 1934 by the Gosden Head Press.
Frederic Mi Chanden
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At Highland Falls, New York, on June 12, 1926, Frank Davis Ashburn married Phyllis, daughter of Adams and Marian (Groves) Batcheller, and they are the parents of two daughters : Phyllis, born November 3, 1928 ; and Nancy, born January 18, 1930.
BROOKS SCHOOL.
Brooks School was founded in the autumn of 1927 by a group of men, almost all of whom had had some sort of connection with Groton. The original idea of the new school came from the Rev. Endicott Peabody, head- master of Groton since 1884, and the original board of trustees consisted of Dr. Peabody, the Rev. Sherrard Billings, a master at Gro- ton, Professor Roger B. Merriman, of Har- vard, and James Jackson, Esq., of Boston. They were shortly joined by Mr. Richard S. Russell, of Boston, and North Andover, who very generously donated over seventy acres of land and buildings overlooking Lake Cochickewick at North Andover. These men formed a non-profit corporation, and ap- pointed Mr. Frank D. Ashburn, who had been studying law and teaching in New York, as headmaster. Further generous gifts by many friends, particularly by Mr. Payne Whitney, of New York, enabled the school to put up its first brick building in the spring and summer of 1927, and work began that autumn with thirteen boys, a number which rose by Christmas to sixteen. There were four masters the first year, one of whom, Mr. Arthur Milliken, still remains as senior master with the headmaster. Since that time there has been an increase in num- bers both of boys and faculty each year, with a corresponding growth in plant and equipment, until in 1934 there were one hun- dred and five boys and fourteen masters. Meanwhile, the number of trustees had risen to fifteen. There is no desire to make the school large.
Brooks is a six-year school, which prepares for any of the colleges. The students are all boarders and have a wide geographical dis- tribution. While there is a very strong bond of sympathy and interest between Groton and Brooks, there is no direct administrative connection, except that the headmaster of Groton is, in 1934, the president of the board of trustees. The present plant consists of two dormitory and classroom buildings, four other buildings used for masters and boys, a chapel, an infirmary and office building, an assembly hall, manual training and art rooms, a headmaster's house with school din- ing room attached, four squash courts, two tennis courts, three athletic fields, a boat house, and a rudimentary gymnasium.
HON. FREDERIC N. CHANDLER- Since 1907 the Hon. Frederic N. Chandler has served as justice of the Lawrence Dis- trict Court and in 1927 became standing jus- tice of that court under a life appointment. He has been for many years an important and familiar figure in this community and his interests have extended to many fields.
Judge Chandler was born in Lawrence on August 1, 1870, a son of Henry F. and Mar- garet (Richardson) Chandler, both of whom were born at Andover, Massachusetts. He is descended in the thirteenth generation from William and Anne Chandler, who came from England at an early period of Colonial settlement and made their home in the Mas- sachusetts Colony. Judge Chandler's great- great-grandfather, a Revolutionary soldier, was detached from military service and ordered to return to Andover to make pow- der for the Continental forces. This he did until the successful termination of the war. Henry F. Chandler, Judge Chandler's father, was a soldier of the Civil War and for great bravery in action with the Union troops re- ceived the Congressional Medal of Honor.
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Frederic N. Chandler received his early education in the Lawrence public schools and after completing the high school course entered Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated in 1893 with the degree of Bachelor of Letters. He prepared for his professional career at Boston University Law School, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1897. Meanwhile, in 1896, he had been admitted to the Massachu- setts bar by examination. After returning from Boston, he began the practice of his profession at Lawrence, where his activities have since centered. For eighteen months, while he was building up his practice, Judge Chandler taught in the Lawrence High School and he became the founder of the Lawrence Evening High School. He has always continued his interest in the progress of the cause of education at Lawrence and the local school system is one of the many community enterprises which have benefited through his hearty support. Judge Chan- dler served as city solicitor at Lawrence in 1910. In 1907 he was appointed special jus- tice of the Lawrence District Court and served at intervals thereafter in that capac- ity until his appointment as standing jus- tice of the court in 1927. Judge Chandler is a scholarly jurist, whose authoritative knowl- edge of the whole field of law well fits him for his present office. During the term he has sat on the bench he has made substan- tial contributions to the administration of true justice in the Lawrence district.
Judge Chandler is a member of the Ameri- can Bar Association, the Massachusetts State Bar Association, the Essex County Bar Association and the Lawrence Bar Asso- ciation. Apart from his professional con- nections, he has been active in many phases of public life and has associated himself with several important financial institutions, being now president and a director of the Lawrence Cooperative Bank, a trustee of the
Essex Savings Bank and a director of the Bay State National Bank of Lawrence. He was the founder of the present Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, which developed from the old Board of Trade, and served as its president in 1911, 1912, and 1913. Fra- ternally, he is affiliated with Grecian Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and in this Order is a member of various higher bodies, including Bethany Commandery, Knights Templar, and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Ara- bic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Boston. Judge Chandler's favorite recrea- tion is flower gardening. He is a member of the American Rose Society, the New Eng- land Horticultural Society, and spends many leisure hours in his own beautiful gardens.
On October 9, 1901, Frederic N. Chandler married Genevieve Chandler, of Collinsville, Illinois. They became the parents of one son, Gordon Henry, born July 1, 1902, died as a result of injuries sustained in an auto- mobile accident on February 4, 1930.
ALFRED MANCHESTER PERKINS- During the past nine years Alfred Manches- ter Perkins has been associated with the Eastern Underwriters Inspection Bureau of Boston. As a resident of Danvers, however, he retains his active association with the life of Essex County, in which his family for four generations has held a conspicuous place.
Mr. Perkins was born in Salem on Decem- ber 15, 1898, a son of Colonel Frank Suther- land Perkins (q. v.), one of the city's most distinguished sons, and Ethel Bradlee (Man- chester) Perkins. He received his preliminary education in Middleton Grammar School, where he completed his course in 1914, and Salem High School, from which he was graduated in 1918. In the fall of the same year he entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 1923 took the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineer- ing at that institution. For a brief period
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subsequently he was associated with the engineering firm of Stone and Webster in Boston, following which he joined the tech- nical staff of the New England Telephone Company and served in that capacity for a short period. In 1925 he entered upon his present work as fire insurance inspector for what is now the Eastern Underwriters In- spection Bureau, and has since been engaged in the inspection of mercantile and manu- facturing properties insured by the under- writers, comprising the Eastern Underwrit- ers Inspection Bureau.
Mr. Perkins is an active Mason and in this order is a member of Starr King Lodge and of all higher bodies of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, including the thirty-second degree, or the Consistory. During the World War he served for several months in the Stu- dent Army Training Corps at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has since been a member of the American Legion. He served as drum major of the Drum and Bugle Corps of Drapeau-McPhetres Post, No. 180, of Danvers, from 1930 to 1933. Be- cause of the fine military tradition of his family it is natural that he should have an interest in military affairs and this has taken the special form of a study of military music and musical organizations. He has traced their development in various nations, ancient and modern, and his collection of representa- tive examples of martial music and other pertinent data constitutes, so far as is known, one of only a few attempts to deal with this subject on a scholarly basis.
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