USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume III > Part 15
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On March 19, 1926, Alfred Manchester Perkins married Ruth A. J. Arth, of New York City, who has been active in the Dan- vers Garden Club, the Danvers Women's Association and other civic groups during her residence in Danvers. There are three children of this marriage: I. Donald Rod-
erick, born April 15, 1927. 2. Roland Lloyd, born June 26, 1928. 3. Lee Douglas, born December 1, 1932.
COLONEL FRANK SUTHERLAND PERKINS-Gallant soldier and loyal son of Salem, Colonel Frank Sutherland Perkins is remembered both for his brilliant military service and for his distinguished career in civil life which brought him prominence as a banker. He was for many years one of Salem's best known residents.
Colonel Perkins was born in Salem on February 29, 1872, a son of Joseph Augus- tine and Anna Upton (Waters) Perkins. He was a brother of Harry Staniford Perkins, under whose name in other pages of this volume may be found something of the his- tory of this old Essex County family.
Frank Sutherland Perkins was educated in Salem schools and, following his gradua- tion from high school in 1889, entered the employ of the Salem Savings Bank, where he remained up to the time of the World War and for a short time afterward. He acquired a thorough knowledge of banking theory and procedure, and the quality of his talents won him wide recognition in finan- cial circles. Soon after his return from the World War, Colonel Perkins was appointed State Commissioner of Records of Massa- chusetts, but resigned that office after a brief occupancy to accept an important posi- tion tendered him by the Bankers' Union for Foreign Commerce and Finance, a corpora- tion organized to do an international bank- ing business. He served with distinction in this capacity until his death.
Colonel Perkins' notable military career began on March 25, 1892, when he enlisted as a private in the 2d Corps Cadets and was assigned to Company B. On July 7, 1893, he was promoted to corporal; on April 9, 1897, he became sergeant; and on Septem-
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ber 16, 1898, he was elected and commis- sioned second lieutenant of Company B. On December 14, 1900, he was elected and com- missioned first lieutenant and assigned to Company C. In the late fall of 1903 he was appointed captain by Governor Bates, after three attempts to elect a captain had failed because of lack of quorum. He received his commission as captain on December 22, was assigned to duty with Company B on Janu- ary I, 1904, and continued in that capacity until the cadets were reorganized in 1915. He was captain of Battery D when the newly organized cadet artillery went to the Mexican border in the following year, and upon the election of Major Thorndike D. Howe, of Lawrence, then commander of the 2d Battalion, to lieutenant-colonel of the 102d Field Artillery, Captain Perkins was promoted to major, receiving every vote in the election which was held in February, 1917, at the Commonwealth Armory in Bos- ton. This testimonial of the esteem in which he was held by his men was very gratifying to him after twenty-five years faithfully de- voted to the organization. When the Mas- sachusetts troops were mustered into the National Army, Major Perkins went over- seas with the IOIst Artillery and spent nine- teen months on European battlefields. On October 26, 1918, he was promoted to lieu- tenant-colonel on the firing line, but retained command of the Cadet Battalion of the IOIst Field Artillery and came home as such. On June II, 1917, he was decorated with the Croix de Guerre of France for gallant and meritorious service, and on April 22, 1919, also received the Order of the Crown of Belgium.
Colonel Perkins' brilliant record overseas was that of his battalion, which he often said in later years was "the best battalion in the United States Army, whether regular or otherwise." He was always very close to his men, and no officer of any army in the
war was more devoted to the interests of his soldiers. From the fierce engagement at Apremont, where the cadet battalion re- ceived its baptism of fire and where Colonel Perkins earned the Croix de Guerre, through the bitter fighting at Chateau Thierry and St. Mihiel, Colonel Perkins was with his command and returned with them to the United States in the spring of 1919. He re- ceived his discharge on April 29, 1919, when the National Army was demobilized.
Colonel Perkins always retained his mili- tary connections and was known throughout the State as one of Massachusetts' most gal- lant soldiers. When the National Guard of Massachusetts was reorganized in March, 1920, he was appointed colonel, commanding the 2d Field Artillery, of which the 2d Bat- talion, Batteries D, E and F were designated as the 2d Corps Cadets. He retained this command until his death. Colonel Perkins was also very active in veterans' organiza- tions at Salem and enjoyed the respect and affection of all in the Greater City who had worn their country's uniform. He was the first commander and the central figure in the organization of Post 23, American Legion, was president of the IOIst Field Artillery Association, a leading member of the Salem Cadet Veterans' Association and a member of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States. Although his career was terminated by death only a few years after the war, he is still remembered with the warmest regard by the soldiers of Salem. When, in 1934, Salem Chapter of the Mili- tary Order of the World War was organ- ized, it was named the Colonel Frank S. Per- kins Chapter in honor of his memory.
Colonel Perkins was a member for ten years of the Salem Republican city commit- tee and was influential in councils of his party. He was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the local Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. and Starr King
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Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He met every duty life brought him with the fidelity and courage which always distinguished him and the example of his career remains an inspiration to all who knew him.
On June 2, 1897, Frank Sutherland Per- kins married Ethel B. Manchester, daughter of the Rev. Alfred and Sarah A. (Peckham) Manchester. Her father was pastor for a number of years of the Second Church at Salem. Two sons were born of this mar- riage: 1. Alfred M., a resident of Danvers. 2. Frank Sutherland, Jr., who lives in New York City.
Colonel Perkins died on June II, 1921, in his fiftieth year. The following tribute ap- peared at the time of his death in the "Salem News," voicing both the deep regret which the community felt in his passing and the pride which it will always take in his achieve- ments :
Colonel Frank Sutherland Perkins has been mus- tered out of earthly service into that of the Infinite. Although his going removes his material being from our midst, the influence of his accomplishments still remains with us, an inspiration to his fellowmen and future generations as an example of true American citizenship of the highest type.
To his family, in the circle of which he took such pride and pleasure, goes forth the sympathy of all his wide circle of friends and acquaintances, as well as the community at large.
To his comrades in arms in the IOIst Field Artillery during the Great World War, in which he fought so gallantly as to merit and receive the Croix de Guerre medal of recognition from France and the Grand Order of the Crown of Belgium for distinguished services, comes the comforting thought and pride : "He was always for us and of us."
To his business associates, honor and integrity is the rich legacy which he leaves behind in their memory.
To the State and Nation, for which he gave so gen- erously of his time and talents, his record of patriot- ism and devotion to all their principles will remain forever emblazoned on their records in the archives of history.
In his going we lose the immediate material, but still remaining is the influence and inspiration of "all he did and all he dared."
FRANK S. PERKINS, JR .- Since the fall of 1929, Frank S. Perkins, Jr., has been asso- ciated with the musical life of New York City as an arranger and orchestrator for a number of the better known popular orches- tras and as a composer of songs. He is a member of one of Salem's most notable fami- lies and passed his early years in this city before the duties of his chosen career took him to the musical capital of the Nation.
Mr. Perkins was born at Salem on April 21, 1908, a son of Colonel Frank Sutherland Perkins (q. v.) and Ethel B. (Manchester) Perkins. His father was a well-known banker and one of the most brilliant officers contributed by the State of Massachusetts to the National Army during the World War. Mr. Perkins grew up in Salem, the home of his family for four generations, and received his early education in Middleton Grammar School and Salem High School. Subse- quently he attended Moses Brown Prepara- tory School at Providence, Rhode Island, and Brown University, where he was a mem- ber of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. He received the degree of Bachelor of Philoso- phy in 1929 and in the fall of that year he came to New York City and began the musi- cal career to which he has since devoted himself. Mr. Perkins' talent for music was manifested at an early age and before he finished his college course he had become an accomplished pianist and acquired a thor- ough knowledge of theory and composition. He had also taken a very active part in a number of musical organizations, including the Brown Glee Club, of which he was accom- panist. Soon after his arrival in New York he became connected with the musical pub- lishing house of Mills Music, Incorporated, where he was employed at first as a copyist.
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Later he was principally engaged in arrang- ing and orchestrating music for publication by his company and has since continued this association. Mr. Perkins has also done con- siderable arranging and orchestration work on a free lance basis for such well known orchestras as Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and others, and has composed a number of songs in the popular field. During a period of five years he has substantially established his reputation in a very difficult profession and in January, 1933, was elected to mem- bership in the American Society of Com- posers, Authors and Publishers. Member- ship in this organization is reserved to those who have won recognition in the fields which it covers.
Mr. Perkins has resided since his marriage in October, 1932, at Jackson Heights, Long Island. His wife is Rose Strassburg, daugh- ter of I. Strassburg, of New York City, and they are the parents of one daughter, Bar- bara Joan, born October 25, 1933.
HARRY STANIFORD PERKINS-Dur- ing the past twenty years, Harry Staniford Perkins has served as purchasing agent of the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company of Salem, the city's largest industrial concern. He is descended both paternally and mater- nally from old families of Essex County and has spent his entire life in Salem, where his business and civic interests have brought him a position of prominence.
Mr. Perkins was born in Salem on May 7, 1874, a son of Joseph Augustine and Anna Upton (Waters) Perkins. He is a grandson of Captain Jeremiah Staniford Perkins, a tailor, who, with his brother Daniel, built the Perkins house at No. 34 Pleasant Street, Salem, and resided there until his death. Captain Perkins commanded a company in the Salem Mechanics Light Infantry and saw service with the American armies dur- ing the War of 1812.
Joseph Augustine Perkins, his son, was born in Salem and resided in the homestead above mentioned. He possessed unusual mechanical ingenuity and inventive gifts and was an expert watch and clock mechanic, working at that trade throughout his life. He was also skillful in making mechanical toys which embodied his own ideas and de- sign. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was a member of the old Salem Light Infan- try, Company A, 7th Militia Regiment, and was one of sixty-two members under Cap- tain Arthur Devereux who answered Presi- dent Lincoln's first call for volunteers in April, 1861. This company became attached to the 8th Massachusetts Regiment as Com- pany J, Salem Zouaves. Later Joseph A. Perkins served in the Ist Battalion, Frontier Cavalry, with which he remained on active duty until the close of the war. He married Anna Upton Waters and they became the parents of three children: I. Frank Suther- land (q. v.). 2. Harry Staniford, of this rec- ord. 3. Adeline Rogers, who married Her- bert Warner Dana, now of Beverly.
Harry Staniford Perkins was educated in Salem public schools, graduating from high school in 1891. For a brief period he was employed by a wholesale grocery firm in this city, but in October, 1892, became a clerk with the company now known as the Naum- keag Steam Cotton Company, entering upon the long connection which he has since con- tinued without interruption. Mr. Perkins rose gradually within the organization through the merits of his services and about twenty years ago was appointed purchasing agent of this large textile corporation. He is active in its management and by the effective ad- ministration of his duties has contributed substantially to its progress.
In spite of the pressure of business affairs, Mr. Perkins has found time for many civic interests. He served for several years as a member of the school committee and for a
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part of that time was vice-chairman of the committee, and for many years has been a member of the Salem Planning Board. He is a past president of the Salem Rotary Club, a member of the Essex Institute, treasurer of the Family Welfare Society, and for many years has been president of the standing committee of the Second Church. True to the fine traditions of his family he has also been active in military affairs, becoming a member of the Salem Cadets on October 8, 1892. In 1914, when Company E was organ- ized as a part of the 15th Regiment, Massa- chusetts State Guard, he became its captain and was later promoted to the rank of major in the 15th Regiment. He served with this command in all its details in this section be- fore and after the World War.
In addition to his other connections, Mr. Perkins is vice-president of the Hawthorne Hotel Corporation of Salem. His residence in this city is at No. 38 Washington Square, South, and his summer home is situated on Haverhill Road, town of Boxford, where he occupies a house built originally in 1684 and long known as the Colonel Thomas P. Per- ley homestead.
Harry Staniford Perkins married, in Salem, Lucretia Stevens Johnson, daugh- ter of Henry Daland and Lucretia Osgood (Sprague) Johnson, both of whom were members of old New England families. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins have four children : I. Henry Johnson, of Salem. 2. Joseph Stani- ford, who married Elizabeth Nelson Spof- ford and has three children : Judith Follans- bee, Deborah Staniford, and Joseph Stani- ford, Jr. He is also a Salem resident. 3. Lucretia Johnson, who married William Russell Burns and has two children: Wil- liam Russell, Jr., and Jeremiah Staniford. 4. Eleanor, who lives at home.
KING UPTON-Throughout his active life, King Upton, of Peabody and Marble- head, ranked high among the industrial lead-
ers of his time, particularly in his own line of endeavor. At the time of his demise he was president of the American Glue Com- pany, the largest of its kind in America, and was probably the greatest expert in this business in the country. In this he followed in the footsteps of his father, a pioneer of the industry. In private life he was one of the popular and important figures in civic, social, and commercial affairs. He was a yachtsman whose flag was well known along the Atlantic Coast, and a man greatly ad- mired and beloved.
King Upton was born on April 18, 1862, at Peabody, Massachusetts, a son of George and Marian (Cloutman) Upton, of Peabody, and the grandson of Elijah Upton. In 1808 Elijah Upton built a plant in Peabody for the manufacture of glue, which thrived greatly. His son George succeeded him, and he in turn was succeeded by his son, King Upton. The Upton Company ex- panded widely until it was among the larg- est in New England, and in 1883 it became the nucleus of the American Glue Company, of which King Upton became vice-president and a director, and in February, 1918, presi- dent, an office he filled efficiently to the time of his death in 1921. He was also general manager and a director of the Hammon Glue Company; a director of the Pennsylvania Glue Company, the Highland Development Company, Cape Anne Isinglass Company, the Vinalhaven Glue Company, the North Ward Company, the Pennsylvania Garnet Company, and a number of other industrial organizations.
While primarily a very active business man, King Upton was notable for the variety and extent of his interests and activities. Fraternally he was affiliated with Philan- thropic Lodge, and all the Scottish Rite bodies of the Free and Accepted Masons. He played prominent rôles in municipal affairs, although caring more for public serv- ice than political office. He attended the
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Episcopal Church and was a generous sup- porter of all worthy projects which looked to the benefit and betterment of the com- munity. To many he is best remembered as a yachtsman, a member of such clubs as the Eastern Yacht Club, the Corinthian Yacht Club, the Boston Yacht Club, the Portland Yacht Club, and others. He was also a mem- ber of the Algonquin Club, the Boston City Club, the Boston Athletic Association and many organizations less generally known.
In 1883 King Upton married Annie Dane, of Salem, Massachusetts, the daughter of Joseph F. Dane, shoe manufacturer, and Caroline (Marks) Dane, a native of Salem. Mr. and Mrs. Upton were the parents of a son, George Upton, who was a student in Harvard University when he joined his father in business. He married Lorna Gray- don and they are the parents of five chil- dren.
The death of King Upton took place on February 27, 1921, greatly to the regret of his legion of friends and associates all over the United States. Measured by his indus- trial activities and material success, his humanitarianism and rich usefulness of serv- ice of humanity, or by any standard, the life of Mr. Upton was genuinely important, and left a name regarded highly. He honored the communities with which his career was associated and in turn was held in high honor and respect.
A. C. LAWRENCE LEATHER COM- PANY-The leather business now known as the A. C. Lawrence Leather Company, hav- ing its principal plants in the tanning city of Peabody, Massachusetts, is, by direct de- scent, something more than a century old. Its original ancestor was the firm of Field, Converse and Company, established in Bos- ton about 1832, and succeeded, first, by Field, Converse and Allen; then by Allen and Field; and, next, in 1874, by Allen,
Field and Lawrence; following which there came A. C. Lawrence and Company, and finally the present concern.
The earliest event leading to the appear- ance of the Lawrence name in this succes- sion was the journey which Arthur C. Law- rence, an orphan boy of sixteen. made to Boston in the late 'sixties from his uncle's farm in South Gardiner, Maine, to seek his fortune. He found employment with John Field, a leather merchant, and, by force of character, ability, and unbounded energy, advanced in less than ten years to a partner- ship in the firm.
At the time of the Boston fire, in 1872, he was handling the firm's sheep leather busi- ness. It is related that he visited the ruins of their store on Pearl Street, saw there nothing but the safe, still too hot to touch, and went immediately to Peabody, where he bought all the leather the firm's cash and credit would allow.
The partnership known as Allen, Field and Lawrence dissolved in January, 1894, and the new arrangements which Mr. Law- rence then made mark a transition from former ways of carrying on a leather busi- ness.
The tanning and the selling of leather were usually handled by separate and inde- pendent concerns. The selling concern situ- ated in the city tended to dominate. It either bought outright from the tanner for resale, or it bought hides for the tanner's account and sold the product, charging commissions for both buying and selling as well as inter- est on the cash advanced.
In 1894 Mr. Lawrence organized two con- cerns which were to own tanneries, buy raw material, produce leather, and sell to the trade for their own account.
The Winchester Tannery Company, with a tannery at Winchester, New Hampshire, made side upper leather, satin and oil grains, and wax splits, but later changed to sheep
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leather-cheap plain russets. A. C. Law- rence and Company operated in Peabody in sheep leather.
In these enterprises Horace A. Southwick, of Peabody, was Mr. Lawrence's principal partner. He was of an old tanning family and had been operating two shops-one in Tapleyville ( a part of Danvers), the other in Peabody-along the old lines, without any selling outlet direct to the trade. Mr. James H. Gavigan, for many years superin- tendent of the company's sheep skin plant, began work at Tapleyville in 1886. In his management of these affairs, Mr. Lawrence, by virtue of his natural ability as a trader and his disposition to deal fairly with his cus- tomers, attracted an ever-increasing clien- tele.
Soon the Lawrence business was recog- nized as one of the largest and strongest in sheep leather. In 1898 sales of one thousand dozen a day were made, including a large proportion made from Mazamet slats pur- chased entirely by cable through a French broker with whom Mr. Lawrence had never previously done business and whom he had never seen.
By May, 1897, A. C. Lawrence and Com- pany had given way to the A. C. Lawrence Leather Company, and that date marks a point of departure toward a constantly in- creasing prestige in the leather industry.
In January, 1900, the production of calf leather was undertaken, raw stock being purchased outright largely from European sources of supply. In August, 1900, the tan- ning of side upper leather was started; for a brief period at Winchester, then in impro- vised or rented quarters at Peabody. The development of chrome patent leather began almost at once, but for a year or two the firm had its japanning done outside under contract.
The increase of the sheep leather business required large increases of plant, and in
rapid succession, beginning about 1896, five tall, narrow frame buildings were erected. At first they were open above the cellar and first floor, as all drying was natural.
In 1902 or 1903 adjoining land was bought and the present hide plant buildings were put up, with a steadily improving type of construction. There followed the old japan- ning plant on Endicott Street, large and up to date at the time, but discarded later for the present larger and very different plant at Waters River, Peabody.
Extensive repairs, alterations, and addi- tions were made at the calf skin plant in the period from 1900 to 1910. In the latter part of this decade, three buildings on Liberty Street, Waters River, were erected to handle book and case leather finishing, the cutting of flexible splits, and the tanning of pig skin strips. The development of this last named leather makes an interesting story.
The rinds from hogs were first tanned by the company in 1907, producing a sole leather in strips of irregular shape about five inches wide and fifteen inches long. This was unpromising material, but it was useful in counters, box toes, and insoles, and was developed by the company into several spe- cialties, the most important of which was Goodyear Welting. Four to five million yards were made annually. About sixty-five tons of fatback strips were tanned weekly until the department was discontinued in 1921. By that time other uses for these strips had been found for which they were worth more than in leather.
Except for two large reinforced concrete buildings, the period of plant expansion was finished in about 1910. Within these few years the concern developed plant, tech- nique, and distribution for sheep, calf, and light cattle hide leathers and pig skin strips, all in volume and increasing variety.
At Winchester, New Hampshire, the tan- ning of sheep skins with the wool on (known
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as shearlings) for garments, slippers, and other purposes became more and more im- portant ; while at St. Paul, Minnesota, a sole and harness leather tannery was taken over and devoted to shearlings to increase the facilities for this growing specialty.
Through the war the concern was ex- tremely active. It was the earliest and the largest supplier of sheep skin jerkin leather. In 1915 it made and shipped within a few months one hundred thousand dozen skins of this leather for the British Army. The first supplies of jerkin leather for the United States Army were made in the Lawrence plants, which continued to contribute very large quantities of this leather. The com- pany also supplied a great volume of side upper leather for various types of army shoes, and during this period its plants were occupied chiefly with war work, operating with feverish activity.
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